Chapter 3Annual reports of agencies
3.1Annual reports for the 2022-23 financial year (the reporting period) from agencies within the Attorney-General’s and Home Affairs portfolios were referred to the committee for examination and report between 1 May 2023 and 31 October 2023. These annual reports are set out in paragraph 1.12.
3.2On this occasion, the committee has examined in more detail the reports of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC).
National Emergency Management Agency
Tabling of the report
3.3The National Emergency Management Agency Annual Report 2022-23 was tabled in the House of Representatives on 16 November 2023 after being tabled in the Senate on 20 October 2023. The annual report was presented to the Minister for Home Affairs on 22 September 2023, meeting the requirements under section 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act).
Coordinator-General’s review
3.4In his review, the Coordinator-General of NEMA, Mr Brendan Moon AM, reflected on the work conducted by NEMA since its establishment on 1September 2022. Mr Moon noted that NEMA is the first end-to-end response, recovery, and resilience agency in Australia, continuing the work of the former National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA) and EmergencyManagement Australia (EMA). The Coordinator-General noted NEMA’s focus during the reporting period was on identifying its fundamentals, settings its foundations, and planning for the future while continuing to coordinate assistance to all levels of government and the community.
3.5Mr Moon noted that during the reporting period, NEMA worked in consultation with its stakeholders and staff to outline NEMA’s purpose, vision and strategic objectives in NEMA’s Statement of Strategic Intent. Mr Moon remarked that this would provide the roadmap for NEMA’s work in disaster resilience.
3.6During the reporting period, NEMA invested in capabilities, data and information, and partnerships to strengthen emergency management in Australia, including by:
establishing the Disaster Ready Fund and overseeing the allocation of $200million in funding under Round 1;
commencing work on establishing Australia’s first national stockpile of critical disaster goods and services;
expanding the use of geographic information systems; and
launching a taskforce to drive uplift in public safety communications.
3.7The Coordinator-General reflected on the number and scale of disaster events experienced during the reporting period. Between 1 September 2022 and 30June2023, there were:
29 Australian disaster events;
284 disaster declarations;
244 Local Government Areas impacted; and
multiple international disaster events including the Türkiye-Syria earthquake, Canada Wildfires, and the 2022-23 South Pacific cyclones in Vanuatu.
3.8In response to these events, Mr Moon noted that NEMA provided support by:
committing financial support to all states and territories except the ACT since the start of flooding in September 2022;
administering more than $2.5 billion in programs including infrastructure initiatives, mental health programs, and recovery payments;
administering 41 non-financial requests for assistance from states and territories;
activating 8 Crisis Coordination Teams;
coordinating 93 National Coordination Mechanism meetings; and
supporting 85 disaster assistance personnel in deployments for international disaster events.
Performance reporting
3.9NEMA’s reporting framework is set out in the Department of Home Affairs Portfolio Budget Statements 2022-23 (Home Affairs PBS) and the National Emergency Management Agency’s Corporate Plan 2022-23 to 2025-26 (NEMACorporate Plan). The Home Affairs PBS outlines NEMA’s one outcome and six related programs, as well as several performance measures.
3.10The NEMA’s outcome is:
To develop, lead and coordinate the Commonwealth’s approach to emergency management, including the support of activities relating to preparedness, response, relief, recovery, reconstruction, risk reduction and resilience for all-hazard emergencies and disasters.
3.11The NEMA Corporate Plan identified four strategic objectives in relation to its outcome and purposes:
leading and coordinating national action and assistance across the emergency management continuum;
building scalable, coordinated emergency management capability for nationally significant, cross-jurisdictional and international crises;
building evidence, intelligence, and insights to empower communities, leaders and stakeholders to make effective decisions; and
contributing to saving lives, reducing harm, and maintaining public trust to mitigate the consequences of disasters and build back better through investment in people, capabilities and communities.
3.12Each strategic objective is linked to key activities and performance measures by which NEMA assesses its performance. The performance statement in the annual report clearly sets out the relationship between the purposes, key activities, and strategic objectives. The performance of NEMA is assessed against performance measures outlined in the NEMA Corporate Plan. The annual performance statement in NEMA’s Annual Report measures performance from both NRAA and EMA until 31 August 2022 and NEMA for the remainder of the reporting period from 1 September 2022 to 30 June 2023.
3.13Of 13 performance measures, five were ‘achieved’ and three ‘partially achieved’. NEMA further reported that five measures were ‘on track’, meaning the measure is on track to be met with final assessment to be made in a future reporting period. The report explained that many of NEMA’s policies and programs are ‘long-term objectives’ extending beyond the reporting period.
3.14NEMA could improve its performance reporting by including quantitative information that measures the effectiveness of its performance. For instance, performance measure 4.2 requires NEMA to assess its 2022-23 performance against the ‘[n]umber of outreach sessions conducted by NEMA to jurisdictions on options for betterment in DRFA applications’. In its annual report, NEMA indicated that ‘NEMA officials meet regularly with relevant state and territory officials’ in relation to betterment funding. However, NEMA did not provide a precise indication of the number of outreach sessions that were conducted.
Australian National Audit Office performance audit
3.15On 18 May 2023, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) published a report on the Administration of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. The audit examined the effectiveness of NEMA in administering Australian Government funding provided to state and territory governments through the Disaster Recovering Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
3.16Overall, the ANAO audit found that NEMA had been ‘largely effective’ in its administration of the DRFA. However, the ANAO reported that NEMA had ‘not effectively monitored or reported on DRFA performance’. For instance, the ANAO report noted that NEMA did not monitor and report on the ‘timeliness’ of completing DRFA assurance activities. Additionally, the ANAO found that NEMA did not monitor performance ‘against the DRFA determination’s principles’ and found that the description of the DRFA provided in the Portfolio Budget Statements was ‘inaccurate’.
3.17The ANAO made three recommendations to improve performance monitoring and reporting of the DRFA, agreed to by NEMA. Recommendations by the ANAO suggested that NEMA ‘establish monitoring and reporting arrangements’ for its administration of the DRFA, including by ‘clearly and accurately’ presenting DRFA information in its Portfolio Budget Statements.
Financial performance
3.18NEMA recorded a departmental operating surplus of $0.6 million for the 2022-23 financial year. The operating surplus excluded finance costs and depreciation and amortisation.
3.19As at 30 June 2023, NEMA reported financial assets of $61.5 million in excess of total liabilities of $46.0 million. NEMA’s equity position at the end of the reporting period is $39.4 million. NEMA further reported variances between its financial position and the 2022-23 October Budget were due to machinery of government changes resulting from the establishment of NEMA.
3.20NEMA reported that it conducts a number of administered activities such as disaster and emergency financial support. During the reporting period, NEMA reported that the operating result for these activities was significantly lower compared to previous years due to a lower volume of personal benefit expenses. In particular, NEMA noted its policy responsibility for pandemic payment arrangements had ceased in 2023.
Other matters
3.21While the annual report largely meets the requirements of the PGPA Act and the PGPA Rule, this report appears to be lacking with respect to the following mandatory requirements:
list of requirements (PGPA Rule 17AJ(d); and
a direct electronic address for the report (PGPA Rule 17AJ(g)).
3.22The committee commends NEMA for including a list of requirements in its annual report. However, to assist the reader and fully comply with the requirements of PGPA Rule 17AJ(G), NEMA could include the relevant page number reference alongside the relevant requirement.
3.23While NEMA has included its website address (in accordance with PGPA Rule 17AJ(f)), to fully comply with the mandatory requirements of PGPA Rule 17AJ(g) an explicit reference to the website address for the annual report is also required.
Conclusion
3.24Noting the comments above, the committee considers the annual report to be ‘apparently satisfactory’.
Australian Law Reform Commission
Tabling of the report
3.25The Australian Law Reform CommissionAnnual Report 2022-23 was tabled in the House of Representatives and the Senate on 17 October 2023. The annual report was presented to the Minister for Home Affairs on 4 October 2023, meeting the requirements under section 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act).
Review by accountable authority
3.26In his foreword to the annual report, President of the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) the Hon Justice Mordecai Bromberg noted that he was appointed to the role during the reporting period on 10 July 2023 following his predecessor the Hon Justice Sarah Derrington AM.
3.27Justice Bromberg stated that the ALRC was due to complete two inquiries by the end of 2023. This included the Financial Services Legislation inquiry and the Anti-Discrimination Law Inquiry. Justice Bromberg thanked the stakeholders and expert commentators who made submissions and contributed to these inquires which assisted the ALRC in understanding the technical, practical, and social ramifications of its recommendations.
3.28The President further reflected on the ALRC’s extensive participation in community engagement. Particular activities included public engagements and presentations at seminars and in the media, as well as engagement with universities, academics, and researchers. Additionally, the President noted that throughout the reporting period, the ALRC had continued to provide internships for law students and has supported the career development of its staff through postgraduate studies.
3.29Looking at the year ahead, Justice Bromberg highlighted the ALRC’s forthcoming inquiry into justice responses to sexual violence. The President described the inquiry as ‘an important step in the process of ensuring that victim-survivors of sexual violence receive far better access to justice across Australia’.
Performance reporting
3.30The ALRC’s reporting framework is set out in the Attorney-General’s Department Portfolio Budget Statements 2022-23 (AGD PBS) and the Australian Law Reform Commissioner Corporate Plan 2021-25 (ALRC Corporate Plan). The Attorney-General’s PBS outlines the ALRC’s one outcome and one related program, as well as several performance measures.
3.31The ALRC’s outcome is:
Informed government decisions about the development, reform and harmonisation of Australian laws and related processes through research, analysis, reports and community consultation and education.
3.32In support of this outcome, the ALRC Corporate Plan outlines the agency’s function, which is to review Commonwealth laws though inquiries and make recommendations for reform that:
bring the law into line with current conditions and ensures that it meets current needs;
remove defects in the law;
simplify the law;
adopt new or more effective methods for administering the law and dispensing justice;
promote uniformity between states and territories; and
provide improved access to justice.
3.33The performance of the ALRC is assessed against key performance indicators outlined in the ALRC Corporate Plan. During the reporting period, the ALRC achieved all seven of its key performance indicators.
3.34The ALRC could improve its performance reporting by including a summary statement outlining the number of its key performance indicators which were ‘achieved’ or ‘not achieved’ as part of its report on performance.
3.35The committee acknowledges the ALRC’s strong performance against its targets.
Financial performance
3.36The ALRC reported an operating surplus of $268,085 for the 2022-23 financial year. ALRC further reported total equity of $1,123,751.
3.37The main sources of the ALRC’s $2,796,317 operating revenue included $2,648,000 in revenue from government, $118,317 in revenue from the sale of publications, and $30,000 in revenue from audit renumeration. Additionally, the ALRC reported $2,528,232 in operating expenses during 2022-23, $302,962 less than in 2021-22.
Other matters
3.38While the annual report largely meets the requirements of the PGPA Act and the PGPA Rule, the report appears to be lacking with respect to the following mandatory requirements:
statistics on the entity’s employees on an ongoing and non-ongoing basis (PGPA Rule 17AG(4)(aa) and 17AG(4)(b));
a summary statement detailing reportable consultancy contracts (PGPA Rule 17AG(7)(a) and 17AG(7)(b));
a summary statement detailing reportable non-consultancy contracts (PGPA 17AG(7A)(a) and 17AG(7A)(b)); and
additional information about organisations receiving amounts under reportable consultancy contracts or reportable non-consultancy contracts (PGPA Rule 17AGA).
3.39While the ALRC has included statistics on the entity’s APS and non-APS employees at the end of the 2022-23 reporting period, to fully comply with the mandatory requirements of PGPA Rule 17AG(4)(aa) and 17AG(4)(b) the statistics for employees at the end of the previous reporting period are also required.
3.40The committee commends the ALRC for including a summary statement detailing the number of consulting contracts entered into during the reporting period, as well as the number of consulting contracts which were active during the period. However, to fully comply with the requirements of PGPA Rule 17AG(7)(a) and 17AG(7)(b), the value of the total actual expenditure on all such contracts should be included in the summary statement.
3.41Additionally, the ALRC has not included a summary statement detailing the number of new non-consultancy contracts that were entered into during the reporting period as required by PGPA Rule 17AG(7A)(a). If there are no such non-consultancy contracts to report on, then a statement to this effect could be included in the report. Furthermore, as the ALRC has not included a summary statement about non-consultancy contracts, the committee cannot determine whether the ALRC is required to provide additional information about organisations receiving amounts under non-consultancy contracts as required by PGPA Rule 17 AGA.
Conclusion
3.42Noting the observations in preceding paragraphs, on balance the committee considers the annual report to be ‘apparently satisfactory’.
Senator Nita Green
Chair