Part Three

The Management and Accountability component of the annual report provides an overview of the Commission’s approach to corporate governance and the management of resources within the agency.

Management and accountability

This part of the annual report sets out the Australian Public Service Commission’s approach to corporate governance and management of resources.

Achievements

The Commission’s achievements in the management of its resources have been delivered against a background of a tight budgetary climate and rising fixed costs. The Commission has sought to improve its efficiency and effectiveness through the year, which is reflected in the strategic priority of ‘improving the way we do business in the Commission’.

Achievements included:

Executive and senior management structure

The Public Service Commissioner, Ms Lynelle Briggs, is the agency head and chief executive officer of the Australian Public Service Commission. She heads the Commission’s Executive, which also includes Ms Lynne Tacy, the Deputy Public Service Commissioner and Ms Annwyn Godwin, who was appointed acting Merit Protection Commissioner on 16 October 2007 and Merit Protection Commissioner on 25 January 2008 for a period of five years.

The Commission’s Executive is supported by six Group Managers. Ms Nicole Pietrucha joined the Commission in February to lead the Evaluation Group following the departure of Ms Ngaire Hosking to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Ms Karen Wilson joined the Commission in March and she will lead Policy Group in 2008–09 while Ms Georgia Tarjan takes leave.

Corporate governance framework

The Commission’s performance expectations and planned use of resources are set out in the Portfolio Budget Statements and corporate plan. These performance parameters and plans cascade down through group business plans to individual performance agreements providing the framework for staff compliance and accountability to take place. Figure 2 shows how the Commission’s corporate governance mechanisms support the Commission’s performance management.

The Commission’s Corporate plan 2007–08 guided the Commission’s work for the year by setting out the top strategic priorities, other priorities framed against the output structure and the corporate support and culture necessary to deliver those priorities. See <www.apsc.gov.au/about/corporateplan.htm>

Figure 2: Corporate governance and performance framework

Chart

Towards the end of the year the Commission reviewed its corporate governance arrangements, rationalised the number of committees and put in place new charters. The description below reflects the position at the end of the year.

Corporate committees

The Executive establishes the directions and work programme of the Commission and directs the agenda for the Commission Management Committee. It approves business plans and budgets, and determines senior staffing matters. It meets fortnightly. Five advisory committees support the Executive in its management role.

Internal audit programme

During 2007–08 four internal audits were started.  Of these three were completed and one was carried forward into 2008–09. The completed audit reports were considered by the Commission’s Audit Committee, and no significant risks or systemic issues were identified. The Commission is implementing the accepted recommendations.

In June 2008 the Commission undertook an open approach to market tender for the provision of internal audit and other related services as the current contract with Ernst and Young expires on 4 October 2008. The contract with the successful tenderer is expected to start on 5 October 2008 for a period of two years, with the option of two one-year extensions at the end of the second year.

The Audit Committee has monitored the process established last year to support the Commissioner with her annual certificate in relation to the financial management and financial sustainability of the Commission as Chief Executive Officer under the Financial Management and Accountability Act.

Risk management and fraud control

The Commission’s participation in Comcover’s Annual Risk Management Benchmarking Survey produced an overall rating higher than the all-agencies average for the second successive year. The survey did reveal areas of improvement and work is underway to respond to the better practices. It is evident, however, that staff awareness of the Commission’s controls and guidelines around insurable and financial risks is increasing.

The Commission made significant progress with a new risk management framework in 2008. The project included the development of a risk policy, a reporting and recording mechanism for risks and their proposed mitigations; and the development and roll out of a risk management tool and associated user documentation. The framework used better practice recommendations identified in the Comcover Benchmarking Survey and employed by various other APS agencies. Work on the project will continue in 2008–09.

A review of the Commission’s fraud control plan was started in late 2007 and a new plan (Fraud control plan 2008–09) issued in July 2008. The plan complies with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines issued in May 2002. The Commission has in place fraud prevention, detection, investigation, reporting and annual fraud data collection procedures and processes that meet the Commission’s needs and comply with the guidelines.

Ethical standards

The Commission’s Executive supports a workplace culture that gives visible and strong commitment to the APS Values. All members of the Executive have given speeches at external fora promoting the APS Values and Code of Conduct.

Other activities include:

External scrutiny

Court and tribunal decisions

There were no court or tribunal decisions in 2007—08 of relevance to the Commission's activities.

Reports by the Auditor-General

There were no reports into the operations of the Commission by the Auditor-General in 2007–08. Reports of general application are considered by the Commission’s Audit Committee.

People management

Workforce planning

The Commission’s workforce planning strategy sets out the medium to long-term approach to managing workforce issues, in the support of its business planning operations. The strategy is under review to ensure it remains aligned with the Commission’s strategic priorities and reflects better the Commission’s critical characteristics and culture.

At 30 June 2008, the Commission employed 224 staff, excluding EL1 casual employees employed in the Commission’s regional offices (see Output 1—APS policy and employment services) who provide fee-for-service work. Of these 224 staff, 202 were employed on an ongoing basis with the majority of the 224 staff based in Canberra (79.9%).

Table 20: Commission staff numbers at 30 June, 2001–08
  June 2001 June 2002 June 2003 June 2004 June 2005 June 2006  June 2007 June 2008
Note: These figures do not include 28 EL1 casual, non-ongoing employees providing fee-for-service work but do include 14 staff on long-term leave and two statutory office holders. More detailed information about the Commission's workforce is set out in Appendix H.
Ongoing 122 135 159 165 168 167 178 202
Non-ongoing 36 26 27 25 16 27 27 22
Total 158 161 186 190 184 194 205 224

Notable trends in the Commission’s staffing are:

The Commission continued the practice of conducting bulk recruitment campaigns for Executive level employees during 2007–08 with one campaign conducted in early 2008. The aim of bulk recruitment rounds is to achieve orders of merit for filling existing and future job opportunities and to test the potential of internal candidates against the range of jobs in the Commission.

The Commission experienced difficulty in attracting certain skills sets in 2007–08, including ICT, financial, policy development, and learning and development skills.

Entry level recruitment

In January 2008 four graduates, including two Indigenous graduates, started the Commission’s graduate development programme. The programme offers a variety of structured learning and development activities, including a Diploma of Government (Management) and access to on-the-job and technical learning and development opportunities.

The Commission also recruited one Indigenous cadet. Two Indigenous trainees successfully completed their traineeships in 2007—2008.

The Commission also hosted four work experience placements for secondary students during 2007—08.

Corporate learning and development

The 2007–08 corporate learning and development programme continued the practice of linking Commission, Group and individual capability to organisational performance improvements. The programme represents a significant investment by the Commission in the development of all staff including graduate, cadet and trainee staff (see Table 21). The programme includes an online calendar. The availability of this calendar enables staff across the Commission to have access to upcoming courses and allows for constant updating as new course information become available.

The corporate learning and development programme for 2007–08 focused on capability development priorities in the areas of strategic thinking, policy development, people management, financial management and procurement, and presentational/representational skills.

In 2007–08 staff participated in Executive Level and SES residential leadership development programmes as well as programmes targeted at staff with high potential such as the Executive Masters in Public Administration from the Australia and New Zealand School of Government and Career Development Assessment Centres.

Staff continue to take advantage of the Commission’s Study Encouragement Scheme, which supports study towards qualifications in the fields of public administration, human resource management, learning and development, public policy and governance. The number of staff accessing the Study Encouragement Scheme has remained steady at 11 in 2007–08.

Staff development also occurs through the delivery of Corporate Made Easy and Good Oil sessions on a range of topics aimed at keeping staff informed about the development of the Commission’s products and services, the roles and responsibilities of various teams and tools and tips to help them perform effectively in their jobs.

The corporate learning and development programme supplements other development opportunities funded by Groups.

Table 21: Participation rates in training and development activities, 2000–01 to 200708
Participation rates 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007-08
Note: Figures include indirect costs (e.g. salary during training).
Total staff days 761 562 678 1176 570 420 351 312
Average days per staff member 4.8 3.5 3.7 6.1 3.1 2.3 1.7 1.4
Total cost ($) 140,000 145,000 247,000 617,000 280,000 175,000 124,000 235,034
Average cost per staff member ($) 886 900 1330 3250 1519 902 605 $1049

Health Week

Health Week 2007 was conducted between 19 and 23 November, with some team participation activities held in the lead up to Health Week. During the week staff were able to participate in a range of health screenings, activities such as golf, pilates, tai chi and yoga.  Dynamic and interactive health and lifestyle related information sessions and daily emails with healthy recipes and health tips were also provided.

State of the Service agency and employee surveys

The Commission is oversampled in the annual State of the Service employee so that we can access a report for our agency—the Commission results would otherwise be too small. The results of the 2006–07 employee survey compare very favourably with APS-wide survey results. A high percentage of those surveyed said that the Commission is a good place to work (83%) and the majority were proud to work in the Commission and would recommend it to others as a good place to work (77%). The result complemented the positive results for the Commission from our all-staff survey conducted in March and April 2007. However, the survey identified a small number of areas which required improvement or further exploration, such as recordkeeping practices and the management of underperformance.

The State of the Service Report 2006–07 identified the need for work on the management of unplanned absences in the Commission. As a first step the arrangements for monitoring the data were strengthened and the Commission Management Committee discusses trends and causal factors impacting on workplace absences on a regular basis. This work will continue in 2008–09.

The Commission was again oversampled in the 2008 State of the Service employee survey and the results will be available towards the end of 2008. The Commission is also planning an all staff survey in September 2008 which will be used to help inform the development of the Commission’s next collective agreement.

Employment Agreements

The Australian Public Service Commission Collective Agreement 2006–2009 is in its third year of operation after being approved by staff on 20 June 2006. It is a comprehensive agreement made directly with staff under section 327 of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 and nominally expires in June 2009.

The Commission provides terms and conditions of employment under its collective agreement to 154 employees (68.7%). Of those 154 employees 11 have those terms and conditions supplemented by a determination made under section 24(1) of the Public Service Act 1999. Supplementation typically covers terms and conditions such salary and access to performance bonus.

A further 1% of employees (two SES officers) have all of their terms and conditions set out in a determination made under section 24(1) of the Public Service Act 1999.

Sixty-six employees (29.5%), including 9 SES employees, continue to have their terms and conditions set out in AWAs.

The terms and conditions of the Commission’s two statutory office holders are determined by the Cabinet Secretary taking into account the advice of the Remuneration Tribunal.

The salary ranges for the Commission’s classification levels covering the collective agreement, section 21(1) determinations and AWAs are set out in Table 22.

Table 22: Salary ranges, 30 June 2008
Classification Minimum Maximum
Note: The Commission employs only one SES Band 2 and one SES Band 3 employee and therefore their salaries are not included in this table.
APS 1–2 $34,275 $43,680
APS 3–4 $45,620 $54,080
APS 5–6 $56,375 $69,680
EL 1 $75,382 $93,392
EL 2 $86,868 $114,566
SES 1 $120,000 $154,669

Performance management

The Commission’s performance appraisal scheme directly links annual assessment of individual performance with remuneration. The scheme integrates corporate, group and individual performance planning, providing a basis for consideration and development of individual needs and, where necessary, management of poor performance.

The Commission’s scheme provides for annual productivity increases in base pay and depending on performance, the possibility of salary advancement.

In July 2007 the Commission paid $64,656 in performance bonuses to 19 employees covered by AWAs during the 2006—07 assessment cycle. Details of payments made to staff are included in Table 23.

Table 23: Performance pay, 2007–08
Classification No. of staff No. receiving Total payment Average payment Range
Note: These amounts represent payments for the performance cycle 2006–07 and were paid in July 2007.
APS 1–6 107 0 0 N/A N/A
EL 1 60 9 $26,000 $2,888 $2,000-$4,000
EL 2 27 5 $21,250 $4,250 $3,000-$5,500
SES 10 5 $43,380 $8,676 $4,240-$16,640

Other people management matters

The Commission conducted an investigation into the conduct of a member of staff under the Commission’s procedures for dealing with suspected breaches of the APS Code of Conduct. It was determined that the employee had breached the Code of Conduct and a sanction was imposed. The matter related to sections 13(7) and 13(11) of the APS Code of Conduct.

Financial performance

2007–08 income

The Commission’s income for 2007–08 totalled $40.2 million. Appropriation from government accounted for 51.7%, sales of goods and services accounted for 48.2% and other income the remaining 0.1% (see Table 24).

Table 24: Income sources, 2004–05 to 2007–08
Income source 2004–05
%		 2005–06
%		 2006–07
%		 2007–08
%
Appropriation from Government 52.8 47.3 51.8 51.7
Sale of goods and services 47.1 52.6 48.0 48.2
Other income (gains from sale of assets and resources received free of charge) 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1

Appropriation funding

Appropriation funding increased from $20.6 million in 2006–07 to $20.8 million in 2007–08. An increase in funding was sourced from the 2008–09 Portfolio Budget Statement measure to provide a Career Transition and Support Centre of which $0.4 million related to and was accounted for in 2007–08.

Non-appropriation income

Income from the sale of goods and services in 2007–08 is earned from development programmes (62.7%), employment services (21.9%), international assistance (9.0%), better practice and evaluation (6.3%) and other services (0.1%).

Income from development programmes and employment services amounted to $16.5 million in 2007–08 and made up 40.9 per cent of the Commission’s total income from all sources. This income is earned in an open market where agencies have choice about where they source their services and the level of services they acquire. As demand can be volatile, the Commission devotes considerable effort to estimating income and expenditure and to monitoring its financial performance during the year.

The Commission is reaching the point where it will soon be fully dependent on the recovery of costs for the supply of employment services and leadership, learning and development programmes. The extent of this funding as a proportion of the Commission’s overall sources of funds in recent years is set out in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Commission income 2003–04 to 2007–08

Chart

Operating result 2007–08

The Commission’s operating result for 2007–08 was a surplus of $0.1 million (see Table 25). The small surplus reflects careful monitoring and management by the Commission in the light of increasing fixed costs and a tight budgetary climate.

Table 25: Operating result, 2004–05 to 2007–08
  2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
Surplus $0.872 m $1.134 m $2.344 m $0.097m

Budget outlook

In developing its 2008–09 Budget the Commission has continued to adopt a conservative approach with the aim of achieving an underlying balanced outcome in the 2008–09 year and forward estimates. There are some risks to the Commission’s budget in 2008–09 and in the forward years, arising from a tighter budgetary climate and the potential impact on the Commission’s revenue, as well as the costs of establishing arrangements for the provision of ICT infrastructure services.

Non-appropriation income is projected to be $0.2 million lower than 2007–08 levels as agencies continue to scale back recruitment and reduce investment in development programmes.

Funding for the 2008–09 Budget measure to provide a Career Transition and Support Centre, which commenced operations on 1 May 2008, will increase by $1.0 million, from $0.4 million for two months of operation in 2007—08 to $1.4 million for full year operations in 2008—09.

Purchasing

The Commission’s purchasing is consistent with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines, January 2005, our Chief Executive’s Instructions and operational guidelines.

The Commission uses a devolved procurement model. To ensure procurement is in line with established policies and practices, relevant information is provided to staff.The Commission has established a framework for managing risks in respect of procurement activities and operational guidelines to support staff accessing risks associated with their projects. The Commission has published the Annual Procurement Plan on Austender (as required under the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines) to facilitate early procurement planning procurement for 2008–09.

Consultants

The Commission engages consultancy services in circumstances where it requires particular expertise that is not available internally. During 2007–08, 13 new consultancy contracts were entered into involving total actual expenditure of $313,000. Information on contracts and consultancies for 2007–08 are available through the AusTender website.

Table 26: Expenditure on consultancy contracts
  Number of new consultancies let Number of ongoing consultancy contracts that were active Total actual expenditure on new consultancy contracts $’000 Total actual expenditure on ongoing consultancy contracts that were active $’000 Total actual expenditure on all consultancy contracts $’000
2005–06 16 4 183 180 363
2006–07 9 9 168 368 536
2007–08 13 6 258 313 571

Additional details for consultancy contracts over $10,000 can be found on the Commission’s website.

Australian National Audit Office access clauses

The Commission’s standard form services and consultancy contracts provide for access by the Australian National Audit Office.

Asset management

The Commission manages assets with a gross value of $10.1 million. The major asset categories are land and buildings (leasehold improvements), infrastructure, plant and equipment and intangible assets (software and intellectual property). These assets are managed by Groups to meet their business needs. The Commission annually reviews its capital budget and plan. As a result a four year capital investment plan is developed from which the Commission manages its future asset purchases and disposals. All assets owned by the Commission, including any IT assets, are subject to an annual stocktake, which is used to update and verify the accuracy of asset records. Assets are depreciated at rates applicable for each asset class, as verified by the  Australian National Audit Office.

Exempt contracts

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Commissioner can issue exemptions from the requirement to publish any contract or standing offer in AusTender, on the grounds that it would disclose matters that might normally be exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act. The Commissioner did not issue any such exemptions during 2007–08.

Discretionary grants

During 2007–08, the Commission did not administer any discretionary grant programmes.

Information management

The Commission outsources its IT infrastructure support services to Volante (Commander) Pty Ltd under the Group 8 cluster arrangement with four other agencies: the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, the Australian Communications and Media Authority and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. In 2005 Group 8 extended the Service Agreement for the full term of nine years. The contract expires on 26 June 2009. Work on a cost-effective strategy for sourcing services when the contract comes to an end was started during they year. However, the costs of establishing a new arrangement are likely to be substantial and there is uncertainty about the commercial terms likely to be available to the Commission. Managing the transition to a new contract or other arrangement is a key focus for 2008–09.

In addition to the management of the contract with Volante, the Commission’s ICT team supported the release of <www.APSjobs.gov.au> and further enhancements of the site during the year (see Output 1.2). Other activities included:

Communications

A strategy for reaching key decision-makers in agencies was completed during the year so that client agencies receive the information they need in a timely way and in a format which best meets their needs. The work resulted in a small enhancement to  the Commission’s mailing list database.

A representational pack for Commission staff was also developed to support them in their discussions with agencies about Commission products and services.

The highly successful Work Shorts, which is a regular programme of short and entertaining seminars, featuring five-minute updates from Commission staff on programmes, projects and new products continued through the year.

Other information

New accommodation

The Commission’s lease for its Sydney office expired in November 2007, without the option of further extension. Following an evaluation, the Commission relocated the office to 221 Georges Street, Sydney on a 10-year lease.

The accommodation was designed to achieve a modern, versatile, secure, ergonomic and functional working environment. Best use has been made of natural light, sensor lighting, energy efficient appliances and sustainable products in the design of the tenancy. The result is high quality accommodation that includes a professional and well designated training room for use by APS employees enrolling in our programmes.

Work started to move the Perth office into new accommodation which is now planned for late 2008. Staff moved into temporary accommodation in February 2008.

Security

The Commission was planning to update its security plan in 2007–08. Owing to other priorities and taking account of a risk assessment this work has again been postponed.

The Commission’s security committee met twice between July 2007 and March 2008. In March 2008 the committee was disbanded following a review of the Commission’s governance structure. Its work has been allocated to other committees and the Group Manager, Corporate.

Security awareness briefings are provided to new staff as part of induction and focus on internal security practices and procedures.

Australia Day awards

The Commission’s Australia Day celebrations include the presentation of Australia Day awards to non-SES members of the Commission. Generally the awards are restricted to employees who have worked in the Commission for 12 months or more.

In January 2008 the Commissioner presented awards to nine of our colleagues: six individual awards and one group award. Awards were presented to:

Workplace diversity

The Commission’s workplace diversity programme contributes to ensuring the Commission fosters an environment that values diversity of backgrounds and ideas and achieves the creativity and performance that flows from diverse contributions. The programme is under review which will take into account the Commission’s Reconciliation action plan 2007–2010.

The Commission’s representation of women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people born overseas, people born overseas with English not their first language and people identifying as having a disability are set out in Table 27.

The Commission’s representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people with disability compares favourably with APS-wide averages. Historically the Commission has reported annually on employment of these groups as a proportion of all employees (ongoing and non-ongoing), whereas APS-wide employment figures reported in the annual APS statistical bulletin report Equal Employment and Opportunity (EEO) status for ongoing employees only. The APS Statistical Bulletin 2007–08 will be released in December 2008.

Table 27: Representation of EEO groups as a percentage of staff1, as at 30 June
EEO Groups 2002 % 2003 % 2004 % 2005 % 2006 % 2007 % 2008 %

Note: Further information on the Commission’s staffing numbers and equal employment opportunity (EEO) statistics are included in Appendix H.

1 The figures include ongoing and non-ongoing employees, but exclude EL1 casual employees providing fee-for-service work.

Women 67.7 68.3 68.4 66.3 69.1 73.7 73.7
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 3.7 3.8 3.2 4.3 4.6 4.9 5.4
People with disability 3.1 5.4 7.9 9.2 8.2 8.3 8.5
Born overseas 16.1 15.1 16.3 20.7 21.1 18.0 16.5
Born overseas and English not first language 5.0 7.5 5.3 7.6 7.2 7.3 7.1

NAIDOC Week

In July 2007 the Commission celebrated NAIDOC Week with a range of activities. In particular a plaque was unveiled in recognition of the traditional owners of the land in the Commission’s head office in Canberra. The plaque is part of the Commission’s Reconciliation action plan 2007–2010 which highlights our commitment to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The unveiling was performed by the Australian Public Service Commissioner, Lynelle Briggs and Ngunnawal elder, Matilda House, representing the Ngunnawal people. The occasion consisted of speeches and a didgeridoo recital.

Other NAIDOC Week activities included:

Reconciliation action plan

The Commission released its Reconciliation action plan 2007–2010 in May 2007. Good progress is being made against the majority of the key result areas. Some of these achievements are reported in Output 3.1. The Commission has also established permanent plaques in the entrances to each of its regional offices recognising the traditional owners of the land. Discussions are being held with the owners of the Commission's Canberra office for a  permanent placement of a plaque. Further information on the Commission’s Reconciliation action plan 2007–2010 can be found on the Commission’s website.

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