Department of the Environment and Heritage annual report 2005–06
Volume one
Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2006
ISSN 1441 9335
Managing the department (continued)
In this section
Stakeholder relations
The department strives to provide a high standard of service to its clients. These include ministers; other Australian Government departments and agencies; state, territory and local government bodies; non-government organisations; industry; and members of the wider community.
The department values the views of its clients and stakeholders, and acknowledges and values the rights of stakeholders to scrutinise its actions. In doing so, officers of the department maintain the ethical standards required of the Australian Public Service.
Ethical standards
The department’s employees must comply with the Australian Public Service Values and Code of Conduct. Detailed guidance is available to employees via the department’s intranet. The guidance includes a code of conduct specific to the department and procedures for handling suspected breaches. Individual performance agreements require a personal commitment to the Australian Public Service Values and Code of Conduct.
The department maintains a network of workplace contact officers to raise awareness about acceptable behaviour in the workplace and to assist employees with complaints. When new employees join the department they attend an orientation programme that introduces them to the specific requirements of the Australian Public Service code of conduct, including the need to disclose any potential conflicts of interest. The programme illustrates commonly encountered ethical issues. Participants in the graduate programme also attend an ethics course.
Guidelines available on the department’s intranet warn staff against the inappropriate use of information technology. The department’s whistleblower policy ensures that allegations are treated seriously and investigated promptly and independently.
Ministerial and parliamentary services
The department advises and supports the minister and the parliamentary secretary through briefings, correspondence, website maintenance and office support services.
The department has been reviewing its workflow systems and databases currently used to support the minister. The department expects to implement a new and more integrated system before the end of 2006. The new system will offer electronic workflow for important areas of ministerial and parliamentary business, namely correspondence, briefings and parliamentary questions. The system will also automate and streamline management reporting to a much greater degree than is currently possible, improve document (version) control, and improve the overall quality of the material being produced.
The minister, the parliamentary secretary and their staff regularly provide informal feedback in the normal course of their routine contacts with senior officers of the department. Such feedback, positive or negative, is useful in framing the approach to similar matters in the future.
The department provides a fortnightly report to the executive and to the minister’s staff on workflows relating to briefings, correspondence, parliamentary questions, Cabinet and parliamentary business and legal, legislation and freedom of information matters. In 2005–06, 10 890 items of correspondence were received by the minister and parliamentary secretary and registered on the department’s database. Between 100 and 150 draft replies to correspondence were submitted for the minister’s signature each week. Reports on overdue correspondence are discussed at the relevant meeting of the department’s executive including, where appropriate, mitigating circumstances and steps needed to improve performance.
Nearly 3 000 briefing submissions for the minister and parliamentary secretary were prepared in 2005–06. The department modified its procedures to ensure a minimum five working day period between when a submission arrived in the minister’s office and when a decision was required.
| Performance indicator—parliamentary | Result 2005–06 |
|---|---|
| The minister is satisfied with the timeliness and accuracy of briefs and draft ministerial correspondence provided by the department | Minister was satisfied—procedural adjustments have improved timeliness and quality while responsiveness to requests continues at a high level |
Services to the community
The department’s Community Information Unit and the department’s switchboard (02 6274 1111) receive requests for information from the community, feedback on the department’s services and redirect enquiries to the appropriate action officer.
The Community Information Unit responded to 38 927 enquiries from the Australian community. Grant related enquiries accounted for 53.8 per cent of the enquiries, while the remaining 46.2 per cent were for general information about the department and its programmes. The unit distributed 253 759 publications in response to requests.
Service charter
The department released a new service charter in October 2005 for the period 2005–2008. The charter sets out the standards of service clients can expect from the department, their rights and responsibilities, and how to find out more about the department. The charter is available at www.deh.gov.au/about/publications/charter.html or in hard copy by contacting the Community Information Unit toll-free on 1800 803 772.
Clients can provide feedback to the department on its performance by emailing servicecharter@deh.gov.au. A feature of the new service charter is the creation of a client service officer position, an impartial contact point to accept feedback and coordinate the department’s response to members of the public who raise concerns about service standards. The client service officer can be contacted at:
Client Service Officer
Department of the Environment and Heritage
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601
Phone: 02 6274 3199
Fax: 02 6274 1322
Email: clientservice@deh.gov.au
Complaints about service
No formal complaints were received about service in 2005–06 through the client service officer.
Five client service complaints were received through the Community Information Unit and these were redirected to the appropriate area for resolution.
All future client service complaints received through the Community Information Unit will be forwarded to the department’s client service officer.
Access and equity
The department contributes to the Australian Government’s access and equity annual report on whole-of-government progress in implementing the Australian Government’s Charter of Public Service in a Culturally Diverse Society (see www.dimia.gov.au/multicultural/access_equity).
The department’s performance in implementing the charter in 2005–06 for its core roles as policy adviser, regulator, purchaser, and provider is summarised in the following table.
| Performance indicator | Results 2005–06 |
|---|---|
| Policy adviser role | |
| New or revised policy/programmes that impact in different ways on the lives of people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds are developed in consultation with people from those backgrounds | Indigenous people have been involved in the development of policy and programmes through participation on the Bushlight Steering Committee, Indigenous Advisory Committee, Envirofund state and national assessment panels, natural resource management regional bodies and the Community Water Grants National Advisory Panel Indigenous people have been consulted on new or revised policies/programmes including developing priorities for environmental research under the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility in north Queensland, revising the guidelines for the delivery of future Envirofund grant funding rounds and implementing integrated waste and used oil management practices in remote and Indigenous Australia |
| New or revised policy/programme proposals assess the direct impact on the lives of people from a range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds prior to decision | Impacts on the lives of Indigenous people were considered in relation to programmes such as the review of the Bushlight Project and accessing Natural Heritage Trust resources and Community Water Grants The national review of environmental education in Australia considered existing environment education programmes that specifically involve communities of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and made recommendations for future resources, programmes, research and policy development |
| New or revised policy/programme initiatives have a communication strategy developed and sufficiently resourced to inform people from relevant cultural and linguistic backgrounds | Communication strategies for new or revised policy/programme initiatives have included the use of plain English in all communications, advertising grant funding rounds via the Indigenous media network and non-English speaking media, providing translator services and incorporating Indigenous art and imagery in targeted promotional material |
| Regulator role | |
| Resources are provided so that publicly available and accessible information on regulations is communicated appropriately to people from a range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and especially to those identified as having a high level of non-compliance | Indigenous people were informed about how the department helps to protect and preserve areas and objects in Australia that are of particular significance to Indigenous peoples through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 and the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 by using plain English correspondence and by providing opportunities for telephone and face-to-face meetings |
| Purchaser role | |
| Purchasing processes that impact in different ways on the lives of people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds are developed in consultation with people from those backgrounds | Indigenous people helped develop purchasing processes for Commonwealth reserve management plans, and service level agreements between the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community and the Director of National Parks, to help the Wreck Bay community provide services to Booderee National Park Parks Australia examined how to involve traditional owners more in the delivery of services such as construction and maintenance of park assets for reserves in the Northern Territory |
| Tendering specifications and contract requirements for the purchase of goods or services are consistent with the requirements of the Charter | The department’s tendering specifications and contract requirements comply with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines. The principles of the guidelines are consistent with the Charter of Public Service |
| Complaints mechanisms enable people regardless of cultural and linguistic backgrounds to address issues and raise concerns about the performance of service providers and the purchasing agency | Complaint mechanisms are built into the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines which apply to the department’s purchasing arrangements |
| Provider role | |
| Providers have established mechanisms for planning for implementation, implementation, monitoring and review that incorporate the principles underpinning the Charter | Indigenous people are represented on the regional bodies responsible for developing natural resource management plans and are assisted by facilitators funded through the Natural Heritage Trust Indigenous culture is presented to visitors to Commonwealth reserves, following consultation with Indigenous representatives on the boards of management and advisory committees of these reserves |
| Providers have established service standards that utilise the cultural and linguistic diversity of their staff, or their staff’s cross-cultural awareness to facilitate and enhance service delivery | Service delivery was enhanced by providing cross-cultural awareness training for staff. Regional bodies implementing the Natural Heritage Trust were encouraged to provide cross-cultural awareness training The department supported Indigenous participation in natural resource management through the Indigenous Land Management Facilitator Network and the National Indigenous Engagement Coordinator, which are identified Indigenous positions. Access for non-English speaking applicants was also assisted through the provision of translator services for the Envirofund and Community Water Grants rounds |
| Complaints mechanisms enable people regardless of cultural and linguistic background to address issues and raise concerns about the performance of Providers | The department has a service charter and a client service manager to deal with complaints by phone and internet The department has a ‘Contact Us’ facility on the website inviting comments, queries and feedback |
| Employer role | |
| No indicator | The department promotes recruitment and career development of Indigenous employees especially for positions that deal with Indigenous clients. The department also promotes awareness of Indigenous issues through the annual celebration of NAIDOC week |
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