CHAPTER 1

ANNUAL REPORTS OF STATUTORY AUTHORITIES

1.1        The reports of the following statutory authorities for the financial year
2008-09 were referred to the committee for examination and report:

Attorney-General's Portfolio

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner—Native title report for 2009
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner—Social justice report for 2009
• Audio-Visual Copyright Society Limited (Screenrights)
• Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity
• Australian Crime Commission
• Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
• Australian Human Rights Commission
• Copyright Agency Limited
• Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
• Family Law Council
• High Court of Australia

1.2        As in previous reports of the committee, it has decided to select a small number of annual reports for closer examination. On this occasion, the reports of the following agencies will be examined:

• Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
• Australian Human Rights Commission
• Family Law Council
• High Court of Australia
• Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions

1.3        The committee has determined to consider, but not to report on, the annual reports of the Australian Crime Commission and Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, as other parliamentary committees (the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity respectively) have specific responsibility for overseeing these agencies.

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

1.4        The report of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was tabled in the Senate on 17 November 2009 and in the House of Representatives on 29 October 2009.

1.5        The committee was impressed with the report's detailed description of performance and activities for 2008-09. Results were presented against targets for key performance indicators were listed in the Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS). This section also presented trend information for a range of activities undertaken by the agency.

1.6        The committee was pleased to see the inclusion of 'improvement priorities for 2009-10' for each output group and will monitor progress on these in future annual reports presented by Customs.

1.7        The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) outlined performance highlights for the year under review.  Among the range of items listed were impressive results in regard to the processing of 24.33 million international air and sea passengers with 97.4 per cent of incoming air passengers processed within 30 minutes of joining the inwards queue. This was only slightly lower than last year's result but exceeded the target of 95 per cent.[1] The agency achieved a traveller satisfaction rating of 98 per cent which was slightly higher than last year's result of 97 per cent.[2]

1.8        The CEO also highlighted the refinement of strategies to improve performance, citing the example of the development of the refined cargo intervention strategy which was introduced on 1 July 2009 and takes a risk-based approach.[3] The committee examined the development of this strategy during hearings on the budget estimates 2009-10[4] and will look to next year's report for an assessment of its implementation.

1.9        In the agency's overview of financial performance for 2008-09, it reported an operating deficit of $11.8 million for the 2008-09 financial year. In his review, the CEO advised that the ongoing financial sustainability of the agency was strong and that the deficit was:

...principally the result of adjustments flowing from a number of major reviews conducted during the year of our balance sheet position. The adjustments were non-cash based and largely one-off in nature.[5]

1.10      The report is well presented and closely follows the Requirements for Annual Reports.  Accordingly, the committee considers it to be 'apparently satisfactory'.

Australian Human Rights Commission

1.11      The Commission's annual report was tabled in the Senate on 17 November 2009 and in the House of Representatives on 29 October 2009.

1.12      The Commission has again produced an informative report with a high standard of presentation. The agency has five key performance indicators (KPI) for Output 1 listed in the PBS and appears to have exceeded four targets for 2008-09. Three of these KPI relate to the Complaint Handling Section and results were presented against the set targets.[6]

1.13      Another KPI related to the extent of contact the Commission has with government, community and industry groups. The 2008-09 target was to ensure that more than 70,000 publications are distributed to these groups Australia-wide per annum and to aim for more than 4 million pages view (35 million website hits).[7]

1.14      The report noted that:

In 2008-09, a total of 75,021 publications were sent out to 4868 requests. This is an increase in the number of publications distributed in 2007-08.[8]

...

During 2008-09, the site received approximately 18,460, 234 page views on the server. This equates to approximately 93,769,855 hits on the site in total and 3,300,132 unique visits.[9]

1.15      Unfortunately, these impressive results appear not to be linked back to the 2008-09 performance targets as set out in the Portfolio Budget Statements; however, the Committee notes that the Commission appears to have significantly exceeded the set targets.

1.16      While pleased with the report's overall adherence to the Requirements for Annual Reports, the committee would have preferred to see the inclusion of a discussion of the Commission's financial performance for the year. Given the agency's tight budgetary situation,[10] a discussion which addresses any significant changes in financial results from the previous year or from the budgeted financial statements would be a useful inclusion. The committee notes that the Commission's income statement for the period ended 30 June 2009 indicates a deficit result for the last two financial years.[11]

1.17      The committee considers the Commission's report to be 'apparently satisfactory'.

Family Law Council

1.18      The Council is a statutory authority established under section 115 of the Family Law Act 1975 which commenced operation in November 1976. The Council advises and makes recommendations to the Attorney-General in relation to :

• the operation of the Family Law Act and in relation to other family law legislation;
• legal aid as it applies to family law; and
• any other matters relating to family law.

1.19      The Council may provide advice and recommendations either of its own motion or at the request of the Attorney-General.[12]

1.20      The Council is resourced by the Attorney-General's Department, with a secretariat based in the Family Law Branch, and its expenditure forming part of the Department's financial statement.

1.21      The annual report of the Family Law Council was tabled in the Senate on 2 February 2010, having been presented to the President out of session on 18 December 2009. The report was also tabled in the House of Representatives on 2 February 2010. The report is prepared in accordance with subsection 115(9) of the Family Law Act which requires the Council to:

As soon as practicable after 30 June in each year, prepare and furnish to the Attorney-General a report of the operations of the Council during the year that ended on that 30 June.

The Attorney-General shall cause a copy of a report furnished under subsection (9) to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the receipt of the report by the Attorney-General.

1.22      The committee notes that, while the Council appears to have met its tabling requirements, this year's report was tabled considerably later than other recent reports of the Council.[13]

1.23      The report provides a good account of the activities of the Council during the year. Appendix C of the report provides some information required under the Requirements for Annual Reports.

1.24      In line with its statutory functions under subsection 115(3) of the Family Law Act, the Council provided four letters of advice to the Attorney-General on matters relating to family law. Areas of advice for 2008-09 included arbitration, kinship carers for indigenous children, binding financial agreements, and mental health in the family law system.[14]

1.25      As well as a description of activities for the year under review, the Council's annual report also forms an ongoing account of the work of the Council. The report includes statistics of the implementation of Council recommendations and a list of all reports and papers published by the Council since 1976. While the committee would not encourage agencies to include excessive historical detail in their annual reports, it considers this inclusion appropriate in the Council's case given the modest size of the report.

1.26      The Council (three non-judicial members) also provided a submission in response to the consultation paper Improving Access to Justice: A better Framework for the Family Courts (the Semple Report).[15]

1.27      The Committee considers the annual report of the Family Law Council to be 'apparently satisfactory'.

High Court of Australia

1.28      The High Court of Australia's annual report for 2008-09 is submitted in accordance with section 47 of the High Court of Australia Act 1979. The Court is not a prescribed agency under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997, due to its status under its enabling legislation.[16] Therefore, the Requirements for Annual Reports do not apply to the annual report of the Court.  However, subsection 3(3) of the Requirements for Annual Reports provides:

In the case of an agency (including an executive agency established under section 65 of the Public Service Act 1999) that is neither prescribed under the FMA Act nor comes within the CAC Act, these Requirements may be used to the extent that they are consistent with any reporting requirements contained in the agency’s own legislation (if any).[17]

1.29      The Court's report provides a clear and concise account of the year in review, including detailed statistics for judicial workload.

1.30      Statistics relating to the judicial business of the Court during the year under review were provided.  It was noted that during this period the Court delivered judgements in 60 appeals and in five other matters, and decided 569 Special Leave Applications. It was further noted that 95 per cent of the applications for leave or special leave to appeal and 92 per cent of the appeals decided during this period were completed within nine months of filing. This compared favourably with the figures of 86 per cent and 80 per cent respectively for the previous year.[18]  While the inclusion of statistics on timeliness is useful, the committee considers that an assessment against target timeframes would enhance the report.

1.31      The report was tabled in both the Senate and the House of Representatives on 2 February 2010 and was received by the President of the Senate out of session on 11 December 2009. Despite being tabled well after 31 October 2009, the Court has satisfied its reporting requirements in accordance with its enabling legislation. Nevertheless, the committee encourages agencies not subject to the Requirements for Annual Reports to table their reports as close as possible to the 31 October timeframe, in accordance with Government policy.  The committee further notes, however, that the tabling time of this year's report is an improvement on the Court's tabling of annual reports in recent years.[19] The committee considers that timeliness in annual reporting is an important element of accountability.

1.32      The report notes the changes to the composition of the Court during 2008-09: the appointment of Chief Justice Robert French and Justice Virginia Bell, and the retirement of Chief Justice Murray Gleeson and Justice Michael Kirby.[20]

1.33      The Court's budget and resourcing levels have been the subject of some attention in recent years and have been raised at estimates hearings of this committee.[21] The committee notes that the court continued to operate at a deficit and reported an operating loss of $1,493,850 in 2008-09.[22] The annual report also indicates that the Court had obtained approval for a further operating loss in 2009-10 and that increasing operating losses were likely in the future.[23] The Chief Justice advised in his overview that the Court had '[a]pproached the Government during the year with a view to seeking rebasing of its funding and a separate Appropriation Act'.[24]

1.34      The Chief Justice provided an update on the maintenance and repair work to the High Court building and surrounds which was undertaken during 2008-09. This included repair of leaks within the building and the restarting of the fountain.  He further noted, however, that the fountain and parts of the forecourt still require remediation work.[25] The committee has examined this matter in some detail at recent estimates hearings[26] and will continue to monitor the Court's progress in completing this work.

1.35      The committee considers the report of the High Court to be 'apparently satisfactory'.

Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions

1.36      The annual report of the Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions was tabled in the Senate on 17 November 2009 and in the House of Representatives on 29 October 2009.

1.37      The report noted the Office's 25^th anniversary which was celebrated in March 2009.

1.38      The Director highlighted the release in March 2009 of the revised Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth during the year. The policy:

...provides guidelines for the making of decisions regarding the prosecution process and serves two main purposes, namely to promote consistency in decision making, and to inform the public of the principles upon which the CDPP performs its statutory functions. [27]

1.39      The Director also explained that the revised prosecution policy is a refinement of the previous policy, with the introduction of new sections on victims and prosecution disclosure. However, the fundamental principles underlying the prosecution policy, including the test for commencement of prosecution, have not changed.[28]

1.40      The Director noted in his Overview the release of the Victims of Crime Policy which has been developed in response to the changing nature of the Office's legal practice and the increasing number of offences involving individual victims.[29]

1.41      Both of these policies are included as appendices to the report.

1.42      Performance information was clearly presented against key performance indicators as listed in the Portfolio Budget Statements. The inclusion of results for the previous financial year provides a useful reference. The Office exceeded all performance targets for 2008-09.[30] 

1.43      The committee congratulates the Office on presenting a report that is informative, attractively presented and which closely adheres to the Requirements for Annual Reports. The committee considers the annual report to be 'apparently satisfactory'.

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