Part three
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management
Information management
The Information Technology Advisory Committee guides and manages the Commission’s information services and oversees development and implementation of the Commission’s information technology strategy.
IT outsourcing
The Commission has received its IT services under a group contract with Volante (formerly Ipex), an Australian small to medium sized enterprise, since June 2000. Other members of the group, known as Group 8, are the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Department of Environment and Heritage, the Australian Broadcasting Authority, the Australian Communications Authority, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Service and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
As a small agency, the Commission has obtained significant benefit from being a member of a group that includes some large agencies with deep IT capability.
The total value of the Group 8 contract is approximately $48 million per annum of which the Commission’s share is $1.4 million (2.9%).
The Group 8 contract was for an initial period of five years, concluding in June 2005, and included options to extend the contract for two periods of two years each. In June 2004 the Group extended the contract for a period of four years to June 2009. There is no scope to further extend the contract beyond these options and it will be necessary to undertake a tender process prior to 2009.
The contract extension included enhancements to the provisions of the contract with Volante to strengthen service delivery in applications development and to improve the management of services.
These changes also ensured that no detriment resulted from the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Service (and its consequent disengagement from Group 8) and the planned merger from 1 July 2005 of the Australian Broadcasting and Communications Authorities to form a single entity (the Australian Communications and Media Authority).
Online service delivery
The Commission undertakes a significant proportion of its transactions online, all publications are available electronically, and public servants can nominate for Commission learning and development courses online and pay course fees electronically direct to the Commission’s bank. These services are resulting in productivity gains for agencies and the Commission through streamlining of payment administration.
Internet and intranet
The Internet has become one of the most significant dissemination channels for information the Commission produces. The Commission’s web site <www.apsc.gov.au> has continued to improve in quality and usability. It has a sound navigational and graphical structure and the Commission seeks to improve accessibility for all users. The Commission has focused on publishing its major documents in a high quality electronic format as soon as practicable after release.
The Commission’s intranet has been set up as a corporate portal run by a database system. It is used to share significant documents and information across the Commission and has the capability to run interactive applications. It is being used to allow work teams to collaborate and share information more effectively. We have developed software tools to manage workflow in the merit protection function of the Commission and to collect information on the Commission’s contracts.
Library
The library continues to play an important role in supporting policy development and research activities within the Commission. The fortnightly bulletin Library News continues to be distributed throughout Australia and identifies current reports, papers, books, articles and Internet sites on topics such as public administration, leadership, management and human resource management.
