Chapter 1 - DEPARTMENTS

Department of Health and Aged Care 2000-2001

Timeliness

1.6 The report was presented to the President on 1 November 2001 and tabled in the Senate on 12 February 2002 and in the House of Representatives on 13 February 2002, within the required 15 sitting days.

Quality

1.7 The annual report provides a well structured and comprehensive overview of the Department’s outcomes and activities. The outcome performance reports in Volume 1 of the report provide useful information on Departmental activities, including major achievements and underachievements of individual outcomes. These outcome reports are complemented by more detailed performance information in Volume 2 of the report, where the Department’s outcomes are reported against specific performance measures as detailed in the 2000-2001 Portfolio Budget Statements.

1.8 The report is ‘user-friendly’ and provides performance information in a clear, concise and well-presented manner. The report is well-indexed with the appendices to the report providing a range of data, including information on staffing and EEO matters, consultancies and advertising.

Reporting requirements

1.9 All reporting requirements are met.

Performance reporting

1.10 As noted above, the report provides details of the Department’s activities during the 2000-01 financial year against the performance indicators presented in the 2000-2001 Portfolio Budget Statements. The Department has split the annual report into two volumes this year. Volume 1 provides an overview of the Department’s activities and outcome performance reports - these reports are written in an ‘essay-style’ to make them easier to read and to provide more background information on Departmental activities. This volume also includes the financial statements. Volume 2 contains more detailed performance information by outcome with the Department’s performance measured against specific performance measures. This volume also contains appendices providing a range of statistical and other information relating to the Department.

1.11 The Department noted that this revised format is intended to make the report more ‘user friendly’ with Volume 1 being a ‘snapshot of the Department’s performance over the past 12 months’ while Volume 2 provides a ‘more detailed analysis’ of the Department’s performance against individual performance measures (Volume 1, p.iii). This approach has generally improved the ‘readability’ of the report given the size of the annual report and the need to present the information in an accessible format.

1.12 The report highlights a number of ‘achievements’ during the year, including the introduction from 1 January 2001 of the new Residential Aged Care Accreditation System - ‘the culmination of several years of improvements in capital investments and care arrangements’ (p.6); improvements in childhood immunisation; overall reductions in smoking prevalence; improvements in the regulatory arrangements for food and for gene technology; improved access to medical services for Indigenous people; and initiatives to improve access and services in rural and remote Australia (Volume 1, pp.6-7).

1.13 In addition to a discussion of achievements, the report also discusses areas of ‘underachievement’ indicating areas where outcomes have not been met. These include delays in implementing some components of the Regional Health Strategy; delays in signing new framework agreements on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and an underestimation of the growth of projected Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme expenses (p.7). Information on underachievements by outcome is also discussed in more detail in Volume 1, Part 2 of the report, under ‘Outcome Performance Reports’.

1.14 While in general the outcome reports provide a balanced approach to performance reporting some outcome performance reports tend to concentrate on ‘achievements’ more than other areas, for example, in relation to residential care (Volume 1, pp.82-85) and hearing services (Volume 1, pp.150-57). Performance reporting needs to be balanced across all areas of Departmental activities to ensure a high level of accountability.

External scrutiny

1.15 The report provides information on external scrutiny of its activities by numerous bodies including the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), the Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Parliament (Volume 1, pp.19-22).

1.16 In relation to ANAO audits, the Committee in its last report noted that while the annual report referred to specific audits undertaken, there was little discussion of these reports, in particular the Department’s responses to issues raised in these reports. The Committee is pleased to note that in the current report more detail is provided on ANAO reports including Departmental action in relation to the reports (Volume 1, pp.19-20).

1.17 Regarding Commonwealth Ombudsman’s reports, the Department noted that the Ombudsman released a report on his review of the Aged Care Complaints Resolution Scheme in July 2000. The Department stated that it cooperated closely with the Ombudsman’s Office on this review and accepted and acted on the recommendations in this report (Volume 1, p.22).

Consultancies

1.18 The report indicates that the Department engaged 344 consultants during 2000-01, an increase from 1999-00 when 257 consultants were engaged (p.516). A detailed breakdown of individual consultancies across outcomes, including the justification for particular consultancies is provided in the report (pp.516-40). The Committee notes that there has been an increase in expenditure on consultancies in 2000-01 - where payments totalled $21.6 million - compared with the previous year’s expenditure of $18.9 million (p.516). The Department should provide some explanation when significant increases in expenditures on consultancy services occur in the future.

Department of Family and Community Services 2000-2001

Timeliness

1.19 The report was presented to the President on 29 October 2001 and tabled in the Senate on 12 February 2002 and in the House of Representatives on 13 February 2002, within the required 15 sitting days.

Quality

1.20 The annual report provides a comprehensive review of the Department’s operations, including detailed performance reports. In addition, it includes a portfolio and departmental overview, which includes information on the portfolio structure and an explanation of the basis for performance reporting in the report. The report is well structured, ‘reader-friendly’ and the sections on performance reporting provide a useful overview of Departmental outcomes.

1.21 The Committee notes that its comments made in its last review of FaCS’ annual report towards providing a more thorough assessment of how far the Department has progressed towards meeting its outcomes in the body of the report have been addressed in the current report. The Committee is pleased to note that the report acknowledges the comments the Committee made in its last report on aspects of the Department’s annual report (p.268).

Reporting requirements

1.22 All reporting requirements have been met.

Performance reporting

1.23 Performance reporting in the annual report is based on the outcome and output structure for FaCS and the performance indicators in the 2000-01 FaCS Portfolio Budget Statements. The Department’s reporting framework provides a structure for reporting on three outcomes - stronger families, stronger communities and economic and social participation. Part I of the report provides the Secretary’s review; the portfolio and departmental overview which covers the portfolio structure; FACS’ organisational structure including the outcome and output structure; and social justice and equity impact. Part Two contains a description of the performance reporting framework; and performance reporting under the outcome and output structure, which provides an account of FaCS’ performance against specific indicators. Part Three provides information on management and accountability over 2000-01 and includes separate sections covering departmental agencies.

1.24 The Secretary’s review discusses a number of achievements including the release of the McClure report on welfare reform and the Australians Working Together package of changes (pp.7-8, see also pp.215-219). The review notes that in the coming year initiatives will include implementation of measures announced in Australians Working Together and the Stronger Families and Communities strategy initiatives - ‘in support of this, FaCS will continue to enhance our project and financial management capacity’. (p.9) The Secretary’s review also notes that the ‘the relationship between FaCS and Centrelink will evolve into a more mature and structured partnership with the signing of the second three-year Business Partnership Agreement’ (p.9). Further details are provided in the report (pp.231-232). FaCS also noted that a ‘major challenge’ will be to ‘strengthen our partnerships with the states and territories to promote FaCS’ outcomes’. (p.9) The Department will be involved in negotiating new agreements, including the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement and the Commonwealth-State Disability Agreement. The Committee notes that the Secretary’s review discusses the delivery of outcomes largely in terms of ‘achievements’. A more explicit acknowledgment of areas where outcomes have not been met would add more balance to this section of the report.

1.25 In its last report the Committee noted that that there was a need for the Department to explicitly acknowledge where outcomes have not been achieved in the body of the report, and suggested that the ‘performance summaries’ which occur after the discussion of the performance of each ‘output group’ should discuss areas where goals and targets may not have been met. The Committee is pleased to note that this has been addressed in the current report with ‘performance summaries’ now providing more balanced performance information.

External scrutiny

1.26 The report provides concise information on the external scrutiny of its activities by a range of agencies, including ANAO and the Commonwealth Ombudsman, and the Parliament during 2000-01 (pp.262-269).

1.27 In relation to ANAO audits, FaCS indicated that it was the subject of five such reviews in 2000-01. A summary of these audit reports is provided in the annual report and the Department’s actions in response to the recommendations in these reports is also discussed (pp.265-67).

1.28 The Committee notes that in 2000-01, the Commonwealth Ombudsman received 2178 complaints about the Child Support Agency (CSA) - a departmental agency. The number of complaints received was approximately the same number as it received in the previous year.[2] In relation to the CSA Complaints Service, the Ombudsman stated that its review of the effectiveness of this Service concluded that it ‘functions at a high standard’ and that the results of the review ‘provide a sound basis for my office to continue generally declining to investigate matters that have not been dealt with by the CSA’s Complaints Service’.[3] FaCS indicated that this decision reflects a high level of confidence in the Complaints Service (p.302).

1.29 The Ombudsman also raised a number of other issues in relation to the administration of the CSA, including Agency delays in dealing with objections, especially in relation to changes in assessment decisions and issues relating to the collection and enforcement of child support (pp.57-63).

Consultancies

1.30 The report provides details on consultancy services, including the cost of the consultancies and the justification for individual consultancies (pp.351-371).

1.31 During the 2000-01 financial year, 248 consultancy services were engaged (where the amount paid was $10 000 or greater) with an overall expenditure of $16.5 million for the portfolio as a whole, excluding Centrelink, compared with $19.6 million in the previous year (p.353). Of these consultancy services, the Department engaged 204 - for a total amount of $14.6 million (p.353). The report notes that FaCS successfully maintained the cost of consultants to slightly under its last year’s figure of $14.7 million.

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