Commonwealth Ombudsman - Annual Report 2009-2010 - Chapter 4
Chapter 4
On This Page
- Corporate governance
- External scrutiny
- People management
- Financial management
- Information management and work practices
- Feature: Ombudsman done proud at Brisbane Pride
Management and accountability
Corporate governance
Senior executive and responsibilities
Prof. John McMillan AO performed the role of Commonwealth Ombudsman until March 2010 (tenure March 2003–June 2010), when he vacated the position to take up the post of Information Commissioner Designate. Mr Ron Brent acted as Commonwealth Ombudsman from March.
Dr Vivienne Thom vacated the position of Deputy Ombudsman in April 2010 (tenure March 2006–August 2010) to take up the role of Acting Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. Ms Helen Fleming acted as Deputy Ombudsman for part of the year, as well as Mr George Masri.
The remuneration for the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman is set by a Determination made by the Remuneration Tribunal. See Note 11 in the Financial Statements for further details on executive remuneration.
The Ombudsman and the Deputy Ombudsmen make up the Executive, and together with five Senior Assistant Ombudsmen comprise the senior management team.
Photo credit: Mark Koehler
Senior management team (from left) George Masri, Diane Merryfull, Ron Brent, Anna Clendinning, Adam Stankevicius, (inset from left) Helen Fleming, Fiona Bowring-Greer
At 30 June 2010, the Senior Assistant Ombudsmen. and their areas of responsibility were:
- Adam Stankevicius – Organisational Support Services: Finance, Public Contact, Public Affairs, Human Resources, IT and International Programs
- office support and corporate services comprising security, property, human resources, records management and governance
- financial operations, risk management and business planning
- work practices and procedures
- Public Contact Team, which provides a national point of contact for all approaches to the office made by telephone, email or online
- information technology and communications infrastructure
- public affairs and outreach, including management of the office's intranet and internet sites
- management of the office's International Program and related AusAID projects.
- Anna Clendinning – Postal Industry and State Offices
- specialised advice and complaint handling relating to Australia Post and registered postal operators of the Postal Industry Ombudsman scheme
- specialised advice and complaint handling relating to more than 40 Australian Government agencies with low complaint numbers
- management and oversight of our state offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney - which handle complaints and undertake specialist work.
- Fiona Bowring-Greer (Acting) – Social Support, Child Support, Indigenous and Overseas Students
- specialised advice and complaint handling relating to the Department of Human Services and relevant policy departments (which include Centrelink, Child Support Agency and Medicare)
- the office's Indigenous Unit, with staff located in Canberra and Darwin, specialising in issues involving Indigenous people
- development of a new Ombudsman function to provide a complaints avenue for overseas students of private education and training providers.
- Helen Fleming – ACT, Immigration, Detention Review and Legal
- complaint handling relating to the ACT Ombudsman function
- specialised advice and complaint handling relating to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship
- review cases of detainees who have been held in immigration detention for six months or more
- in-house legal advice and policy service to support staff in performing their functions.
- Diane Merryfull – Defence, Inspections, Law Enforcement and Taxation
- specialised advice and complaint handling relating to the Australian Defence Force, Department of Defence, Defence Housing Australia and Department of Veterans' Affairs
- complaint handling and investigating law enforcement activities relating to Australian Government law enforcement agencies
- inspect the records of enforcement agencies for statutory compliance, adequacy and comprehensiveness
- specialised advice and complaint handling relating to the Australian Taxation Office.
Corporate planning and review
The 2010–13 Strategic Plan for the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman sets out strategic objectives for that period.
In 2010–11, the office will continue our endeavours to improve our structures and processes to deliver efficient, practical, higher quality and more consistent responses to complaints. We will also continue to focus on significant systemic issues arising from complaints, inspections and monitoring. The strategic priorities of the office are to:
- improve quality assurance and review of complaint handling
- build on the work practices and system changes to deliver improved quality, efficiency and consistency in managing complaints
- develop an enhanced approach to social inclusion and effective interaction through social media
- target outreach, relevant publications and communication activities to key stakeholders, particularly through intermediaries
- be responsive to areas of need in allocating resources.
The office's strategic plan informs its internal business plans, which are prepared on an annual basis. There are clear links between the objectives and the key measures of success of the strategic plan and the key result areas set in the business plans for all teams and in individual performance agreements for all staff members.
This year a more formal reporting framework has been developed to ensure there is rigour in the quality and quantity of data provided to Senior Management. The senior management team considers reports on finance, human resources, operations and information technology on a monthly basis. Business plan reporting and ongoing risk assessment was conducted on a quarterly basis throughout the year.
Management committees
Management committees are set up to assist the Executive with decision making in key areas. The committees make recommendations to the Executive, which meet weekly.
Senior Management
The Senior Assistant Ombudsmen, or their representatives, meet fortnightly to discuss a broad range of issues relating to the work of the office.
Information Management Committee
The Information Management Committee ensures that the development of information technology, work practices and governance strategies align with a whole-of-office approach to information management. The Committee meets bi-monthly and is chaired by the Senior Assistant Ombudsman (Organisational Support Services) and has representatives from relevant areas in the office, including the state offices and specialist investigation areas.
Internal Audit Committee
As required by the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 , the office has an Internal Audit Committee. The committee met four times during the year. The committee's role is to review, monitor and where necessary recommend improvements to internal control, financial reporting, internal audit functions, external audit processes, and the office processes for monitoring compliance with legislation and government policy directives.
At 30 June 2010 the Audit Committee is chaired by the Deputy Ombudsman. In addition to the chair, membership comprises three Senior Executive Service officers and one external independent member. Observers include representatives from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), Walter Turnbull (the office's internal auditors) and the Chief Financial Officer.
During 2009–10 Walter Turnbull conducted one internal audit and commenced another to be finalised in 2010–11. The office is implementing the recommendations from the audit and the Audit Committee monitors progress against each action item at its meetings.
Occupational Health and Safety Committee
The office's Occupational Health and Safety Committee is made up of elected representatives from each state office and is chaired by the Manager, Human Resources who represents management. The committee met twice during the year.
Workplace Relations Committee
A Deputy Ombudsman chairs the Workplace Relations Committee. It comprises employee, management and union representatives, and is the main consultative body on workplace conditions within the office. The committee met four times during the year and considered matters such as staff survey action items, recruitment and selection guidelines, learning and development, accommodation and environmental management.
Corporate governance practices
The office's risk management activities are overseen by the Internal Audit Committee. The office's risk management framework comprises an overarching risk management policy and a strategic risk management plan. The Senior Management review the strategic risks quarterly as part of the business planning process.
During 2009–10 the office conducted risk management information sessions for staff in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra to discuss the office's strategic risks.
The office continues to participate in the annual Comcover Risk Management Benchmarking Survey, which independently assesses our risk management arrangements.
Business continuity planning
The purpose of our Business Continuity Plan is to ensure that the most critical work of the office can continue with minimal disruption, or be quickly resumed, in the event of a disaster. We revised the plan during the year to ensure that it remained a current and useful document. The plan utilises the strengths of a national office structure to respond to a potential problem with one or more of the office's eight sites. This was tested during the year when our public contact activities were twice transferred temporarily to other sites.
Fraud prevention and control
During the previous year, the office reviewed and updated its fraud control plan and fraud risk assessment. The risk of fraud remains low for the office. The Internal Audit Committee oversees the implementation of the fraud control plan.
I certify that the Commonwealth Ombudsman's office has prepared fraud risk assessments and fraud control plans and has in place appropriate fraud prevention, detection, investigation, reporting and data collection procedures and processes that meet the specific needs of the office and comply with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines.
Ron Brent
Acting Commonwealth Ombudsman
Ethical standards
The office upholds the Australian Public Service values, as specified in s 10 of the Public Service Act. The key values of the Commonwealth Ombudsman's office are independence, impartiality, integrity, accessibility, professionalism and teamwork.
The importance of the values is outlined in induction documentation and training for staff, and in internal documents such as the Harassment Prevention Policy and the Work Practice Manual. It is reinforced on a continuous basis through mechanisms such as our internal quality assurance processes, staff training and dealing with complaints about service delivery. We gauge internal perceptions of our ethical standards through surveys, the most recent being a staff survey conducted in March 2009. We also engage with the Australian Public Service Ethics Contact Officer Network, which commenced in May 2009.
Complaint management
The office has an established internal complaint and review process, which allows complaints about the office's decisions and service quality to be resolved quickly, fairly and informally. We evaluated our practices against our Better Practice Guide to Complaint Handling and this led to improvements in the way we accept and monitor complaints in our service delivery. The office's complaints and grievances mechanism is set out in our service charter and detailed reporting is provided in Chapter 3.
Commonwealth Disability Strategy
The office is committed to the Commonwealth Disability Strategy to ensure equality of access to the services of the Commonwealth Ombudsman for people with disabilities and to eliminate discriminatory practices by staff. We are committed to meeting our obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 through implementation of the Commonwealth Disability Strategy, the Commonwealth Ombudsman's Disability Action Plan and the Workplace Diversity Framework and Plan. While our Disability Action Plan formally covered the period to 2008, we continue to use this plan and the principles it contains. We will revise the plan when the review of the Commonwealth Disability Strategy by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs is completed.
The office's operations encompass the activities of regulator, service provider and employer. Employer activities are reported by the Australian Public Service Commission.
Regulator
The Commonwealth Ombudsman does not directly enforce the disability discrimination legislation, but provides a complaint resolution service about Australian Government administrative actions. This assists in meeting the objectives of the Commonwealth Disability Strategy. This can include recommendations on enforcement of legislative obligations that apply to Australian Government agencies. Recommendations and remedies arising from some complaint investigations may also be particularly relevant to people with a disability.
Service provider
In developing and maintaining our website, we have used the priority 1 and 2 checkpoints of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 as our benchmark. Activities to ensure compliance include testing colour contrast for the vision impaired, limiting the use of graphics, simplifying navigation and providing a site map, separating document formatting from content with style sheets, providing text equivalents for non-text elements, and improving metadata. During the year we continued developing our website to further improve accessibility to all members of the public.
Environmental matters
The Ombudsman is required to report on certain environmental matters under s 516A(5)(a) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), detailing the office's environmental performance and its contribution to ecologically sustainable development.
The Ombudsman continued to encourage staff to manage all resources, including energy, prudently and in an ecologically responsible manner. The office's Environmental Management Policy focuses on the conservation of energy within the workplace, including the use of light, computer equipment, water management, transport management and organic recycling. The office recycles toner/printer cartridges, paper and cardboard products, classified waste and cans, bottles and plastic. These strategies are communicated to staff through the Workplace Relations Committee, the office intranet, and induction program. We are also introducing an electronic records management system, which will help to reduce paper usage.
The office uses recycled paper, and its reports are printed on recycled stock made from elemental chlorine free bleached pulp sourced from FSC certified well-managed forests. It is manufactured by an ISO 14001 certified mill.
The office's estimated energy consumption per person per year decreased by 2.7% from 2007–08 to 2008–09. This followed a decrease of 9% in the previous year. Data for 2009–10 was not available at the time of preparation of this report.
All our offices are shared with other tenants. When an office needs to move location, one factor we try to take into account in selecting a new location is the environmental credentials of alternative locations. During 2009–10 we were fortunate to move our Canberra office to new premises. The new accommodation is classified as 'A' grade with 5.0 green star and 4.5 NABERS ratings.
External scrutiny
Privacy
The Ombudsman's office is subject to the Privacy Act 1988 . It provides information required for the Personal Information Digest. The Privacy Commissioner did not issue any report or make any adverse comment about the office in the past year.
Court litigations
The office was the respondent in two matters brought by one applicant in the Federal Magistrates Court.
In the first matter, the applicant sought an order that the Ombudsman make certain recommendations to an agency concerning his complaint. The Federal Magistrates Court dismissed the matter, taking the view that the Ombudsman's functions had been properly performed. The applicant appealed this decision to the Federal Court of Australia. The Federal Court of Australia dismissed all of the applicant's grounds of appeal. The applicant then sought an extension of time to appeal the decision to the Full Federal Court of Australia. The applicant filed notices of a constitutional matter under s79B of the Judiciary Act 1903 . The Federal Court of Australia declined to grant an extension of time. The applicant then sought to appeal the decision to the Full Federal Court of Australia. The Full Federal Court dismissed the appeal with costs awarded against the applicant.
In the second matter, the applicant sought orders to, among other things, set aside our decision declining to investigate his complaint. The Court dismissed this application, noting that under section 6 of the Ombudsman Act 1976 , the Ombudsman has a broad discretion whether to investigate particular complaints. The applicant appealed this decision to the Federal Court of Australia. The Federal Court of Australia dismissed all of the applicant's grounds of appeal and awarded costs against the applicant. The applicant sought special leave to appeal against this decision in the High Court of Australia. The High Court of Australia refused to grant special leave.
Tribunal litigation
The office was the Respondent in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in three matters. All three applications were withdrawn at directions hearing.
Courts, tribunals, complaint bodies and regulators
The Ombudsman has jurisdiction to investigate the actions of court staff, other than when they are exercising powers of the court or performing functions of a judicial nature. We can investigate actions of the registry of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The office's jurisdiction also extends to other statutory tribunals, to bodies with complaint functions and to regulators. We receive modest numbers of complaints about each of these bodies.
These agencies present a unique set of circumstances for the Ombudsman's office, arising from their special characteristics. Typically they are created, empowered and resourced with a view to their being able to put the final position on the matters within their competence. They work in areas where a high degree of specialist knowledge is required of their personnel. Their legislation often gives them a high level of protection from liability for what they do. Because their decisions are intended to be conclusive, subject to review by the courts (or in some cases, the AAT), the utility of a recommendation by the Ombudsman is very limited. Consequently, the Ombudsman generally does not investigate the merits of a decision made by one of these agencies, or the manner in which a tribunal member conducts a hearing.
Reports to the Auditor-General and Parliamentary committee enquiries
There were no reports specific to the operation of the Ombudsman's office by the Auditor-General or by Parliamentary committees. Our Internal Audit Committee examines all reports by the Auditor-General that may be relevant to the office, to identify any requirements for improvements in office procedures.
People management
Human resources
Effective and productive management of staff is a critical function within our office. Small and geographically dispersed, we face challenges in developing a well skilled and stable workforce.
The office continues to analyse the current business and economic climate in relation to our workforce profile. Emerging trends are evident in the following publications:
- Australian Public Service Commission 'State of the Service' Report 2008–2009
- Commonwealth Ombudsman staff survey
- the recommendations in 'Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for Reform of Australian Government Administration'.
A key human resources outcome we have been working towards is extending the average tenure staff have with our office. Lower staff turnover will result in efficiencies such as less effort and cost for recruitment and training, increased organisational knowledge, and improved consistency and effectiveness of our core business activities.
Staff survey
In March 2009 we conducted a staff survey. The results provided a measure of employee satisfaction at an organisation-wide level. The response rate was extremely high, with 93% of staff participating in the survey. Results were compared to the 2007 staff survey and in some instances also compared to a 'State of the Service' benchmark to provide a broader Australian Public Service (APS)-wide perspective.
Overall, the results showed that the majority of Ombudsman office staff were satisfied with the office as an employer and almost 90% were proud to tell others that they worked for the office. In many areas we significantly exceeded the 'State of the Service' benchmark.
We have prioritised organisational improvements to lift staff satisfaction with the office. The analysis highlighted the two main areas for improvement as career progression, and recognition and feeling valued.
There are several other areas that have less influence on overall satisfaction but are still considered a significant influence on how staff feel about the office. They are:
- recruitment and selection processes
- internal communication
- IT and information systems
- work-life balance.
Over the past 12 months we have:
- introduced an internal mobility register allowing staff to nominate to move within the office and improve career development opportunities
- introduced an online training and development system through Employee Self Service
- commenced refreshing the core module training for internal training
- moved to new premises in the ACT office, in the new building which allowed all staff to be located on the one level.
We will continue to review and further develop our human resources policies and guidelines to reflect responses from the staff survey.
Workplace relations
The current collective agreement reaches its nominal expiry on 30 September 2010. Negotiations are currently underway for a new enterprise agreement to cover the period until 30 June 2011.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman Collective Agreement 2008–2010 focuses on people, remuneration and employment arrangements, working environment and lifestyle, further streamlining of personnel practices and processes, and performance management and improvement to underpin salary increases.
A total of 151 employees are covered under the office's current collective agreement. Conditions are provided for the office's five Senior Executive Service (SES) staff under s 24(1) of the Public Service Act. No staff are employed under Australian workplace agreements or common law contracts.
The collective agreement does not make provision for performance pay. Salary advancement within each of the non-SES classifications is linked to performance. Determinations under s 24(1) provide for SES annual salary advancement, also based on performance, and do not make provision for performance pay. Non-salary benefits are not usually offered to employees with the exception of car parking as salary packaging for SES officers.
The office's Workplace Relations Committee provides a forum for discussion of issues surrounding implementation and operation of the agreement. It also provides the consultative, advisory and information-sharing mechanism between management and employees on matters affecting employment conditions in the office.
The committee consists of the Deputy Ombudsman or representative, three other members from senior management, two staff representatives and two union representatives.
The committee met four times in 2009–10.
Staffing profile
At 30 June 2010 the actual number of employees was 159, including the Ombudsman and a Deputy Ombudsman. One hundred and thirty-one employees were full-time. Twenty-eight employees (17.6% of employees) were part-time and of these, 27 were ongoing. The full-time equivalent number of employees for the year was 146.
Table 4.1 shows the numbers of employees by gender and APS classification and salary range. Table 4.2 shows the office's staffing profile by location. Tables 4.3 and 4.4 show the office's part-time employee profile by location and classification.
During the year, 18 employees were engaged on an ongoing basis and 31 ongoing employees left the office, equating to a turnover rate of 20.5% (compared to 26% in the previous year). There were 44 separations including ongoing and non-ongoing employees. This included 11 transfers, 16 resignations, five retirements and five excess employees. Seven contracts ended. Table 4.5 shows staff separations by classification.
Table 4.1: Staffing profile by level, gender and salary range at 30 June 2010
| At 30 June 2010 (at 30 June 2009) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APS classification and salary range | Men | Women | Total | |||
| Ongoing | Non-ongoing | Ongoing | Non-ongoing | Ongoing | Non-ongoing | |
| APS1 $38,749 - $42,830 | - | - | - | - | - (-) | - (-) |
| APS2 $43,854 - $48,631 | - | - | - | - | - (-) | - (-) |
| APS3 $49,952 - $53,914 | - | - | 2 | - | 2 (2) | - (-) |
| APS4 $55,672 - $60,446 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 25 (23) | 2 (2) |
| APS5 $62,094 - $65,844 | 10 | - | 14 | 1 | 24 (18) | 1 (1) |
| APS6 $67,067 - $77,040 | 17 | 1 | 18 | - | 35 (42) | 1 (4) |
| EL1 $85,976 – $97,917 | 14 | 1 | 26 | - | 40 (43) | 1 (1) |
| EL2 $99,163 - $117,320 | 7 | - | 12 | - | 19 (26) | - (-) |
| SES $140,922 - $158,714 | 1 | - | 4 | - | 5 (6) | - (-) |
| Statutory officers | 3 | - | 1 | - | 4 (3) | - (-) |
| Total | 62 | 3 | 92 | 2 | 154 (163) | 5 (8) |
Note: under the collective agreement, officers moving to the office from a higher salary range may be maintained at that salary until increments in the Ombudsman office salary range exceed the salary differential. Note: 'EL' is 'Executive Level'.
Table 4.2: Staffing profile by location at 30 June 2010
| Location | Men | Women | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACT | 47 | 68 | 115 |
| NSW | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| NT | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| QLD | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| SA | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| TAS | - | - | 0 |
| VIC | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| WA | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 65 | 94 | 159 |
Table 4.3: Staffing profile showing part-time employees by location at 30 June 2010
| Location | Men | Women | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACT | 5 | 15 | 20 |
| NSW | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| NT | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| QLD | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| SA | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| TAS | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VIC | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| WA | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 23 | 28 |
Table 4.4: Staffing profile showing part-time employees by classification at 30 June 2010
| Classification | Men | Women | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| APS1 | - | - | - |
| APS2 | - | - | - |
| APS3 | - | 1 | 1 |
| APS4 | - | 2 | 2 |
| APS5 | - | 4 | 4 |
| APS6 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| EL1 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| EL2 | - | 2 | 2 |
| SES | - | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 5 | 23 | 28 |
Table 4.5: Staffing profile showing staff separations by classification at 30 June 2010
| Location | Ongoing | Non-Ongoing | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| APS1 | - | - | - |
| APS2 | - | 1 | 1 |
| APS3 | - | - | - |
| APS4 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| APS5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| APS6 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| EL1 | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| EL2 | 6 | - | 6 |
| SES | 1 | - | 1 |
| Statutory officers | 1 | - | 1 |
| Total | 31 | 13 | 44 |
Career development and training
The office continues to focus on learning and development opportunities for staff. Our learning and development framework is based on three elements—leadership, corporate and core business programs.
There is currently a suite of 11 core training modules designed specifically to develop core competency and skills in investigations, inspections, writing, administrative law, office practices and record keeping. These modules are conducted regularly and all staff are required to attend the sessions.
Each staff member is encouraged to undertake learning and development programs that are designed to promote their capability in relation to their corporate and core business training and development.
A new electronic scheduling system was implemented that identifies learning and development opportunities, provides online booking facilities and records the training history for each employee.
Staff representatives delivered a variety of in-house training on information technology, financial, risk and fraud management and investigation workshops across all offices. This proved to be of great value resulting in an increase in consistency in the use of the office's complaint management system, financial framework and record keeping compliance.
The office supports staff attendance at courses, seminars and conferences identified in their personal development plans. We recognised and implemented development opportunities through job rotation, special project work, higher duties, placements with other agencies and representation on work committees. These programs have been well received with many staff taking up the opportunities to further develop their skills.
The office also supports staff who undertake relevant study at tertiary institutions. We offer staff assistance through study leave and/or financial assistance.
Occupational health and safety
During the year there were no accidents or injuries reportable under s 68 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 (OH&S Act) and there were no investigations conducted within the office under sections 29, 46 or 47 of the OH&S Act.
All new employees are advised of the importance and responsibilities of both staff and management for health and safety in the workplace during their induction. New employees are provided with a workplace assessment in the first week of commencement and familiarisation with their physical work environment. Staff who work from home are also given workplace assessments.
Occupational health and safety committee and representatives
A health and safety representative is located at each office site. The representatives manage OH&S matters either through the OH&S Committee that meets twice a year, regular staff meetings or by seeking assistance from the OH&S officer. The Occupational Health and Safety Committee met twice in 2009–10.
Health and safety initiatives
During 2009–10 the office:
- met obligations for Comcare premiums—there was a significant reduction in the premium, reflecting the continuing success of our approach to managing OH&S
- arranged health assessments, where necessary
- conducted individual workplace assessments
- facilitated eye examinations, where necessary
- made first aid facilities and supplies available, and provided first aid training to First Aid Officers (refresher and senior first aid for new officers)
- provided OH&S training to representatives
- provided harassment and bullying awareness workshops
- conducted regular simulated fire evacuations
- conducted two health and safety inspections
- targeted individual health awareness through health management initiatives such as providing flu shots to employees free-of-charge and holding trauma awareness workshops
- implemented a national health month, which comprised a diverse range of health and wellbeing activities and information sessions.
The current collective agreement includes a 'promoting good health' allowance. This is available to all staff as a reimbursement for health-related lifestyle expenses.
To promote a supportive working environment, the office provides staff with access to an employee assistance program that provides a confidential counselling service, facilitation of teamwork issues, career advice and the management of any work-related or personal issues.
These measures contribute to maintaining a very low rate of accidents and compensable injuries in the workplace. Our workers compensation record is good, with unplanned personal leave rates decreasing. The average amount of unplanned personal leave for the office has decreased from almost 11 days per person in 2006–07 to eight days in 2009–10.
Financial management
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman's operations are largely funded through parliamentary appropriations. Revenue is received from the ACT Government for the provision of ombudsman services in relation to ACT Government agencies and the Australian Federal Police when providing police services to the ACT.
Revenue is also received from AusAID to support the work of ombudsmen and similar entities in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island nations. Details of the office's resources are included in Appendix 6.
The most significant item that had an impact on the office's financial results this year was the relocation of the Canberra office from Farrell Place to Childers Street. The office leased new accommodation on 1 December 2009 for a 15-year term. The lease offered a two-year rent free period. The fitout and furniture for the new accommodation cost approximately $2 million. The impact of this new leasing arrangement was an increase in the office's expenses and therefore operating loss, and reduction in appropriation receivable offset by an increase in assets.
Financial performance
The deficit of $1.120 million for the year ending 30 June 2010 compared to the $0.929 million surplus in 2008–09. The office has received approval from the Finance Minister to operate at a loss of $1.100 million.
Total expenses for the office were $21.458 million. The increased level of expenses reflects timing differences in receiving funding and allocating resources required to support Ombudsman Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) initiatives, the use of surplus funds from the previous financial year to implement 'one-off' structural and business changes for the office and the accounting treatment of the office's Canberra accommodation lease.
Appropriation revenue in 2009–10 was $18.795 million, $0.569 less than in 2008–09. This is due in part to the office receiving $0.566 million in 2008–09 as a result of its acquittal of the NTER 2007–08 no win – no loss funding. The office received further funding of $0.122 million at Additional Estimates for the Norfolk Island government reform measure. This was offset by $0.231 million for whole-of-government departmental efficiencies.
Financial position
The office's total equity—sum of the office's assets less its liabilities—has decreased by $0.944 million due mainly to the deficit in 2009–10.
The Ombudsman's office is a small office with a standard suite of assets, such as information technology items, which require no special management measures beyond those which are standard in an accrual-based budgeting framework.
The office's total assets increased to $9.884 million in 2009–10 from $8.872 million in 2008–09. During 2009–10, the office leased new accommodation for its Canberra office. As a result of the new fitout, the value of the property, plant and equipment assets has increased. The office's assets by category at 30 June 2010 were:
- receivables (amounts due to be paid to the office—46% of total assets)
- property, plant and equipment (29%)
- other financial assets (relating to lease incentives – 13%)
- intangibles (non-physical assets such as software – 5%)
- cash (4%)
- other non-financial assets (relating to prepayments – 3%).
The balance sheet shows cash holdings of $0.368 million ($0.128 million in 2008–09). The office's appropriation receivable decreased by $1.974 million, from $6.297 million in 2008–09 to $4.323 million in 2009–10.
The office's non-financial assets increased by $1.540 million to $3.666 million in 2009–10 ($2.125 million in 2008–09), primarily due to purchase of furniture and fitout for the new Canberra accommodation.
Total liabilities increased by $1.956 million to $7.621 million in 2009–10 ($5.665 million in 2008–09). The change in liabilities was primarily due to the lease incentive for the new Canberra accommodation.
Procurement and grants
The Ombudsman's office is committed to achieving the best value for money in its procurement practices. Purchasing practices and procedures are consistent with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and are set out in the Chief Executive's Instructions.
The office published its Annual Procurement Plan on the AusTender website (as required under the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines) to facilitate early procurement planning and to draw to the attention of businesses our planned procurement for the 2009–10 financial year.
The office engages consultants when the expertise required is not available within the organisation, or when the specialist skills required are not available without diverting resources from other higher priority tasks. In accordance with procurement guidelines, consultants are selected by open tender, panel arrangements, select tender or direct sourcing. The main categories of contracts relate to information technology, financial services, human resources services, governance and legal advice.
During 2009–10 the office entered into two new consultancy contracts involving total actual expenditure of $43,472 (inclusive of GST). In addition, two ongoing consultancy contracts were active during 2009–10, involving total actual expenditure of $110,928 (inclusive of GST). See Appendix 5— Consultancy services advertising and market research for details of new consultancy contracts. (Details are also available at http://www.ombudsman.gov.au.)
Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on contracts for consultancies. Information on the value of contracts and consultancies is available on the AusTender website (http://www.tenders.gov.au).
Table 4.6 shows expenditure on consultancy contracts over the three most recent financial years.
Table 4.6: Expenditure on consultancy contracts, 2007–08 to 2009–10
| Year | Number of consultancy contracts | Total actual expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | 8 | $248,678 |
| 2008–09 | 6 | $236,295 |
| 2009–10 | 4 | $154,400 |
The office's standard contract templates include an ANAO audit clause. The office did not sign any contracts in the reporting period of $100,000 or more (inclusive of GST).
The office did not exempt any contracts or standing offers that cost more than $10,000 (including GST) from publication in AusTender.
The office did not administer any grant programs during 2009–10.
Information management and work practices
In 2009–10 we continued to improve our use and management of information and work practices to support the performance of Commonwealth Ombudsman functions. We employed a whole-of-office strategic approach to information management that began in 2007–08. We are mindful of the increasing reliance on information technology for both internal purposes and as a form of communication with the public.
So as to build on the work practices and system changes of the past several years, we have continuously reviewed our information management practices. The aim is to deliver improved timeliness, efficiency and effectiveness in managing complaints, conducting inspections and generating reports.
Completed projects during 2009–10 include:
- a project to implement an electronic records management system
- the preparation and application of a number of issues papers to review business practices within the office
- the redevelopment of the work practice guidelines and improved electronic accessibility for staff
- mapping of office workflows to assist in learning and development opportunities for staff and the evaluation of business practices
- the virtualisation of all IT servers
- improved IT security and office security services
- improved internet service delivery.
We are continuing to broaden our electronic records management system in order to better integrate our complaint management system and workflows. A particular area of focus is our public contact centre capability.
IT security is being improved to give better information protection, along with enhanced interoperability with other agencies. We continue to look at ways in which our intranet can be improved.
We are looking into improvements to work practices and IT systems that will assist in the monitoring of issues of interest and automating the transfer of complaints to other agencies.
Feature: Ombudsman done proud at Brisbane Pride
Rainbow ribbons embellished the Ombudsman's message at Brisbane's Pride Fair Day, promoting equity and access to our services among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people and their communities.
More than 12,000 people marched to Musgrave Park on Saturday, 12 June for Pride Fair Day, where our staff spoke to more than 1,000 people about our services.
The office also hosted an information stall at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day in February and was a sponsor of the 7th National LGBTI Health Conference, Health in Difference 2010: Doing Diversity Conference , a major Asia-Pacific regional conference held in Sydney in April.
Our outreach to the LGBTI community was prompted by the Australian Government's landmark legislative reforms which removed discrimination against same-sex couples from 85 pieces of legislation. As a consequence of these reforms, same-sex couples have more contact with government about social security and veterans' payments, child support, aged care, Medicare and pharmaceutical benefits, tax and superannuation.
Ombudsman staff at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day, February 2010