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Department of the Environment and Heritage Annual Report 2003-04

Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2004
ISSN 1441 9335

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Overview (continued)

Departmental overview

Outline of portfolio structure

As at 30 June 2004 the Environment and Heritage Portfolio was made up of:

See Figure 1 for a structure diagram of the Environment and Heritage Portfolio.

Changes during 2003-04

On 1 July 2003, the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator became a prescribed agency under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 and now reports as an agency in its own right. Before becoming a prescribed agency, the office reported in the Department's annual report.

On 1 January 2004 the Australian Heritage Council replaced the Australian Heritage Commission, which until that date was a Commonwealth authority within the Environment and Heritage Portfolio.

Role and functions of the Department

The Department advises the Australian Government on policies and programmes for the protection and conservation of the environment, including natural, cultural and Indigenous heritage.

Protecting the environment is a shared responsibility. The Department works with other Australian Government agencies, industry sectors, the community, and other levels of government to protect Australia's environment and heritage. It represents Australia in international environmental agreements and forums. Examples include the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Antarctic Treaty System, the International Whaling Commission and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

The Department manages major environmental programmes, the most significant of which come under the umbrella of the Natural Heritage Trust and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. Both the Trust and National Action Plan are administered jointly with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

The Department administers the Commonwealth environmental laws listed in Appendix 6, including the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

See Table 1 and each section of the 'Review of performance' for more details of the Department's responsibilities.

Organisational structure

As at 30 June 2004 the Department had nine divisions as shown in Table 1, which summarises the main responsibilities of each division. Figure 2 shows how the divisions were further divided into branches, and identifies the responsible senior executives.

Changes during 2003-04

At the beginning of 2003-04 the Department underwent a restructure. The former Environment Quality Division and Policy Coordination Division were merged to form the Policy Coordination and Environment Protection Division. The Marine and Water Division and Natural Heritage Division were disbanded.

Marine and Water Division functions were reassigned to the Approvals and Wildlife Division, the Parks Australia Division, the National Oceans Office, the Australian Antarctic Division and the new Land, Water and Coasts Division. Natural Heritage Division functions were reassigned to the Natural Resource Management Programmes Division, the Approvals and Wildlife Division, and the Land, Water and Coasts Division.

Also, in April 2004 a new Marine Protected Areas Task Force was formed in the Land, Water and Coasts Division.

The Department changed the wording of its corporate logos from 'Environment Australia' to the 'Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage', consistent with advice received from the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in July 2003.

Table 1: The Department's divisions and their main responsibilities
Division Main responsibilities
Australian Antarctic Division Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories, international whale and seabird conservation, Antarctic science.
Approvals and Wildlife Division Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (environmental impact assessments, listing of threatened species and communities, regulation of wildlife trade, monitoring compliance, enforcement).
Corporate Strategies Division Human resources, financial management, environmental education, knowledge management, IT.
Heritage Division World, national and Commonwealth-owned heritage.
Land, Water and Coasts Division Biodiversity policy, environmental aspects of water reform, native vegetation, land management and repair, coastal sustainability, protecting wetlands, marine protected areas.
Natural Resource Management Programmes Division Natural Heritage Trust and National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (shared with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry).
Parks Australia Terrestrial parks and reserves (including Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Booderee national parks, and the Australian National Botanical Gardens), National Reserve System, Indigenous policy coordination, Australian Biological Resources Study.
Policy Coordination and Environment Protection Division Air quality, ozone protection, eco-efficiency, management of hazardous substances, chemicals, industry partnerships, international policy coordination, corporate governance, budget coordination, economic advice, legal services, public affairs.
Supervising Scientist Division Environment Protection (Alligator Rivers Region) Act 1978 (uranium mining activities).

Outcome and output structure

In 2003-04, the Department had two outcomes:

Outcome 1: The environment, especially those aspects that are matters of national environmental significance, is protected and conserved.

Outcome 2: Australia's interests in Antarctica are advanced.

The Department's outputs that contributed to Outcome 1 were:

The Department's outputs that contributed to Outcome 2 were:

In practice, many of the Department's activities formed part of more than one of these outputs. Understanding these activities may require a reading of more than one of the sections in the 'Review of performance', using the index to this annual report to aid navigation.

In addition, the Department carried out other activities such as human resource management, which were funded from the departmental appropriations.

Figure 1 shows the Environment and Heritage Portfolio's output and outcome structure. It shows which parts of the Portfolio contributed to these outputs and outcomes. Other agencies in the Portfolio also contributed to the Department's environment outcome.

The Bureau of Meteorology had its own Outcome 1: 'Australia benefits from meteorological and related science and services'.

Figure 1: The Environment and Heritage Portfolio

Figure 1: The Environment and Heritage Portfolio

Figure 2: Organisation chart including senior executives

This chart is available as a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view the PDF file.

If you cannot access the organisation chart, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.

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