Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Annual Report 2011-12
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, 2012
ISSN 1441-9335
Guide to the annual report
Structure
The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Annual Report 2011-12 has been prepared in accordance with the Requirements for annual reports for departments, executive agencies and FMA Act bodies, as approved by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit under subsections 63(2) and 70(2) of the Public Service Act 1999. This report is presented in four sections as outlined below.
Executive summary
This section provides:
- a review by the Secretary of the 2011-12 year
- an overview of the portfolio structure
- a summary of the department's financial performance.
Report on performance by outcome
This section contains five chapters that detail the department's activities, achievements and performance during the year against the five outcomes as set down in the Portfolio Budget Statements 2011-12. These outcomes are:
- Outcome 1: Biodiversity and ecosystems
- Outcome 2: Sustainable population and communities
- Outcome 3: Antarctica
- Outcome 4: Sustainable water
- Outcome 5: Environmental protection and heritage conservation.
Legislation annual reports are included with the Outcome 1, 2, 4 and 5 chapters. Some Acts that the department administers require the department or minister to provide annual reports on their operation to the Parliament. This report details the operation of the eight Acts the department administers that do not report separately, focusing on how the statutory requirements of the Acts were met during the reporting year and how the Acts were administered. The Acts covered are:
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
- Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989
- Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989
- Product Stewardship (Oil) Act 2000
- Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000
- Natural Heritage Trust of Australia Act 1997
- Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act 2005
- Water Act 2007.
The department provides separate annual reports to the parliament for the following legislation:
- Environment Protection (Alligator Rivers Region) Act 1978
- National Environment Protection Council Act 1994
- Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area Conservation Act 1994.
A sixth chapter covers our corporate activities as outlined in the department's strategic plan. It details the department's effectiveness in managing the corporate governance, workforce planning, financial framework, stakeholder management and environmental performance. This outcome is:
- Corporate Outcome: sustainable performance.
Financial statements
This section contains the department's audited financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2012.
Glossary, list of requirements and index
A glossary of terms and shortened forms, a list of requirements for locating mandatory and suggested information and an alphabetic index are included.
Further information
For further information concerning this annual Report contact:
Assistant Secretary, Strategic Advice Branch
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
Post: GPO Box 787, Canberra ACT 2601
Tel: 02 6274 1111
Fax: 02 6274 1666
Email: CoordPCD@environment.gov.au
Internet: www.environment.gov.au
This annual report is available electronically at <www.environment.gov.au>.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2012
ISSN 1441-9335
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth, available from the Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
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