Annual report 2002-2003
ISSN 0311-449X
Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2003
Administrative Services
Objective
The objective of the Administrative Services Group is to provide the highest quality administrative support to the board, the Executive Management Team and to staff. Core activities cover office, human and financial resource management and infrastructure services, and cost-effective information technology network and desktop services.
Description
The institute's Corporate Plan and Portfolio Budget Statements set out its performance expectations and planned use of resources at the broadest level.
A wide range of corporate and support services is undertaken by the Administrative Services Group, including:
- human resource management
- information technology
- financial management and reporting
- accounts payable and receivable
- contractual arrangements
- asset management
- fleet and stores management
- freedom of information
- occupational health and safety
- office services
- all general services.
Corporate Governance
Board of Management
Details of membership of the AIC Board of Management are provided on pages 8 and 9 of this report and at note 13 of the notes attached to the financial statements. There were three board meetings held during the year: 5 July 2002 in Canberra, 28 November 2002 in Hobart and 21 March 2003 in Canberra. All board members attended the July meeting, with one apology for the November meeting (Mr Nigell Hadgkiss) and one apology for the March meeting (Dr Ken Levy).
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee was established in March 1999 in accordance with the provisions of section 32 of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.
The committee's primary role is to receive internal audit reports on the conduct of institute business, undertake reviews in accordance with perceived business risks as approved by the board, and to monitor compliance with committee recommendations. The Audit Committee comprised all members of the Board of Management, and meetings were coordinated with board meetings.
Indemnity and insurance premiums for officers
The AIC, through ComCover, provides indemnity insurance for the director and members of the Board of Management. The insurance premium for 2002-2003 was $8,427.
Human resources
Human resources include personnel liaison services, staff development, recruitment, industrial relations, occupational health and safety and equal employment opportunity. Personnel and payroll functions are outsourced to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Operational practice has maintained a high level of activity ensuring quality services to staff of the AIC throughout the year.
The institute participates in the Commonwealth Corporate Managers' forum and in training and development programs offered by the major public service agencies.
There were no voluntary or involuntary redundancies during 2002-2003.
Workforce Planning
The executive management of the institute continually reviews its workforce requirements. Staff are employed according to the output requirements imposed by the requests for research and support activities.
Agency Agreement
The institute's third agency agreement, which was certified in August 2002, has continued to be implemented during 2002-2003 without disputes.
Australian Workplace Agreements were in place with four senior staff of the institute during 2002-2003.
Performance assessment
The institute has reached agreement with staff representatives on the policy and protocols required for a Performance Assessment Scheme. The scheme was formally introduced during 2002-2003.
Staffing summary
Summary information setting out aggregate staffing statistics for the financial year is shown in Table 2.
| Category | Salary less than $40,000 | Salary $40,000 and under $60,000 | Salary $60,000 and above | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | EFT staff years | No. | Equiv. FT staff years | No. | Equiv. FT staff years | No. | Equiv. FT staff years | |
| Female | ||||||||
| Full time | 3 | 2.04 | 18 | 16.62 | 10 | 8.44 | 31 | 27.10 |
| Part time | 4 | 0.51 | 2 | 1.09 | - | - | 6 | 1.60 |
| LWOP/other | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.00 |
| Total | 7 | 2.55 | 20 | 17.71 | 10 | 8.44 | 37 | 28.70 |
| Male | ||||||||
| Full time | 2 | .23 | 7 | 6.99 | 8 | 5.54 | 17 | 13.76 |
| Part time | 9 | .15 | 1 | 0.49 | - | - | 10 | 1.64 |
| LWOP/other | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0.00 |
| Total | 1 | 2.3 | 8 | 7.48 | 8 | 5.54 | 28 | 15.40 |
| Total staff | 1 | 4.9 | 28 | 25.19 | 1 | 13.98 | 65 | 44.10 |
| EFT = equivalent full time; LWOP = leave without pay | ||||||||
General services
General services include building services, security, cleaning, asset management, motor vehicles and stores management and other corporate services.
Operational practice is under continual review. Internal Audit has reported on accounts receivable and payable, data integrity, financial analysis and reporting, assets management cash management payroll processing, IT environment and credit cards. Further reviews are either already in progress or scheduled for conduct in the coming year. The institute maintains a sensible strategy of risk management for a wide range of services and issues.
Advertising and market research
A total of $7,948 was paid for advertising during 2002-2003. Advertising was generally undertaken to promote development programs, advertise tenders or recruit employees. Expenditure included recruitment advertising of $4,809 and other miscellaneous advertising of $3,139.
The AIC did not employ the services of market research, polling or direct mail organisations during 2002-2003.
Consultancy services
A list of consultants contracted by the institute during the reporting period is shown in Table 3.
| Name of consultant | Purpose of engagement |
|---|---|
| 80-20 Software Pty Ltd | Document management system |
| Acumen Alliance | Financial Management Information System |
| Alcohol & Drug Foundation ACT Inc | IDRS |
| Alexandra Palk | Research project |
| Amonavis Business Consulting | Learning & Knowledge Development management |
| AON Risk Services Aust Ltd | Library valuation |
| Australian Federal Police | Learning & Knowledge Development training |
| BE Williamson Consulting | Business consultancy services |
| Benoit Dupont | Research project, Trends & Issues paper |
| Cathy Carey | Training presentations |
| Claire Mayhew | Research project |
| Conference Coordinators | Conference services |
| Datacol Research | Data capture services |
| Davidson Trahaire | Counselling services |
| Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business | Advocacy services |
| Edith Cowan University | Drugs project data collection services |
| Effective People | Scribing services |
| Empower Justice Services | Learning & Knowledge Development training |
| FieldenHummer | Internal audit |
| Glenda Adkins | Research project, Trends & Issues paper |
| Forsythe Consultants | Drugs project data collection services |
| Hauritz and Associates Pty Ltd | Drugs project data collection services |
| Ian R Woods | Research project |
| Informed Sources Pty Ltd | Services for library cataloguing and indexing |
| Infront Systems Pty Ltd | IT services |
| Jamie Walvisch | Research project |
| Margaret Massam | Research project |
| Milgrove Consulting Group Pty Ltd | Learning & Knowledge Development training |
| Pacific Laboratories | Urinalysis services |
| Paul Williams Consulting | Research project |
| Portfolio Dynamics | Learning & Knowledge Development training |
| Richard Kocsis | Research project, Trends & Issues paper |
| Rob White | Research project, Trends & Issues papers |
| Roy Morgan Research Pty Ltd | Services in relation to data collection |
| Urban Consulting Services | Learning & Knowledge Development business plan |
| University of South Australia | Research project |
| SAS Institute Australia Pty Ltd | Research data migration |
| Shona Morrison | Research project, Trends & Issues papers |
| Southern Cross University | Information Services review |
| Walsh and Associates | Drugs project data collection services |
Purchasing
Purchasing activities within the AIC were conducted in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines. The AIC met the Government's timetable to pay all suppliers electronically by December 2002.
Financial operations
The AIC operates it own network-based financial-management information system, which includes general ledger, debtors and creditors, asset management and purchasing. In addition, a number of services are outsourced. The institute has adopted full accrual accounting and budgeting in response to financial management initiatives occurring in the wider context.
Financial performance
Operating revenues consisted of revenues from government ($3,939,000), contract research ($2,457,976), training ($41,960) and other items ($361,908).
Total revenue increased by 11 per cent compared with 2001-2002.
In budget terms, 2002-2003 revenues exceeded budget by some $1,502,844.
Budgeted revenue is $1,059,000 for 2003-2004.
Operating expenditures in 2002-2003 were $6,651,650 and represented an increase of 14.4 per cent compared to 2001-2002.
Overall operating results indicate an operating surplus of $149,194 compared to a surplus of $310,688 in 2001-2002.
Freedom of information
This statement is provided in accordance with section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. It refers to the structure of the AIC and the categories of documents it holds, with information on how access can be made.
Establishment, organisation and functions
The earlier section titled Enabling Legislation, Objectives and Functions (page 7), and Appendix 6, Staff and Associates, provide detail on the role of the AIC, and its structure and functions.
Categories of documents
Documents held include:
- General: internal papers and records, including working drafts, statistical records, copies of facsimiles, interagency and general correspondence and papers, policy documents (including recommendations and decisions) and work plans.
- Executive: briefing papers and submissions prepared for the Attorney-General, ministerial correspondence and replies to parliamentary questions.
- Research: research, development and evaluation papers, records of consultations, statistical data holdings, conference proceedings and publications.
- Administration: finance, establishment, personnel, recruitment, staff development, office services and tender files.
FOI requests during 2002-2003
There were no freedom of information requests made to the AIC in 2002-2003.
Freedom of information requests can be made by writing to the Manager, Administration and Finance, Australian Institute of Criminology, GPO Box 2944, Canberra, ACT 2601.
Occupational health and safety
The institute has an Occupational Health and Safety Policy and a Workplace Consultative Committee. Both are established in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991. The committee is a joint management-employee body. The institute has nominated health and safety representatives who are members of the committee. No changes to these arrangements were necessary during 2002-2003.
No directions were given to the institute under section 45 the Act and no notices were given under sections 29, 46 or 47 of the Act.
The institute continued to make available to all staff and their families access to an Employee Assistance Program.
There were no major occupational health and safety issues during the year.
Commonwealth Disability Strategy
During 2002-2003 the institute continued developing its arrangements to satisfy the implementation of the Commonwealth Disability Strategy. The various roles as defined in the strategy were assigned and drafting of a formal institute policy progressed. Implementation of the strategy is expected to continue into 2003- 2004.
In relation to access to the institute and its resources for persons with disabilities, the institute has performed a risk assessment of its physical environment. It is implementing an electronic document framework to ensure that such documents are available, as required, for ease of use by persons with disabilities. Interpreter and other disability services can be made available on request.
Ecologically sustainable development
This is a report on compliance with the reporting provisions of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC). Under section 516A(3) of the EPBC Act, the directors of the AIC must ensure that a report prepared under the provisions of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 complies with the reporting provisions (subsection 6) of the EPBC Act.
The AIC has adopted a range of measures as listed below in order to fulfil its obligations under the EPBC Act. These include:
- active recycling of paper, plastic and bottles, and computer toner cartridges
- installation of equipment that incorporates energy-saving devices such as desktop computers, photocopiers, dishwashers and printers
- use of lighting and air conditioning management systems
- water conservation - toilets with half-flush systems
- reductions in consumable supplies through reduced printing of material available on the Internet, electronic databases, email and document management systems, leading to lower consumption of paper, toners and energy.
The institute is committed to practices that assist ecologically sustainable development and improve environmental performance. The institute does not administer any legislation or have any appropriations directly related to these issues.
Information Technology services
These services comprise the local and wide-area networks, desktop PCs and office automation services such as telephone and security monitoring systems, electronic mail, intranet and access to Internet services.
A new standard operating environment was implemented across the AIC's computing infrastructure during 2001-2003. Components of the network have been further developed to reflect increasing loads due to staffing growth and increasing dependence on electronic services such as Internet and email. Delivery of quality IT services continues at a relatively high-average cost and reflects the disproportionate economies of a small-scale operation in an outsourced environment.
The institute developed its Online action plan in accordance with the Australian Government's Online Strategy and the guidelines issued by the NOIE. The plan was posted on the AIC's web site in April 2001. During 2002-2003 significant progress was made on implementation of the document management system and work continued on other elements of the action plan.
In addition, during the year, the AIC commenced redevelopment of its Internet and intranet web sites to meet the level of information and service delivery required by the Australian Government in its Government Online Information Service Obligations.