Annual Report 2007-08
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Annual Report 2007-08 Department of Premier and Cabinet © Crown in the Right of the State of Tasmania 2008 For copies or further information regarding this annual report please contact: Department of Premier and Cabinet GPO Box 123 HOBART Tasmania 7001 Phone: (03) 6233 3738 Fax: (03) 6233 2769 Email: [email protected] Website: www.dpac.tas.gov.au ISSN 1448 9023 (print) ISSN 1448 9031 (online) This report is printed on carbon neutral paper Department of Premier and Cabinet GPO Box 123 HOBART TAS 7001 Phone: (03) 6233 3738 Fax: (03) 6233 2769 Email: [email protected] Website: www.dpac.tas.gov.au David Bartlett, MP PREMIER Dear Premier In accordance with the requirements of Section 36(1) of the State Service Act 2000 and Section 27 of the Financial Management and Audit Act 1990, I enclose for presentation to Parliament, the 2007-08 Annual Report of the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Yours sincerely Rhys Edwards Secretary 17 October 2008 The Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC) is a central agency of the Tasmanian State Government. The Department is responsible to the Premier and the Minister for Local Government as portfolio ministers, and also provides support to the Parliamentary Secretary and other members of Cabinet. The Department provides a broad range of services to the Cabinet, other members of Parliament, Government agencies and the community. The Department works closely with the public sector, the community, local government, the Australian Government and other state and territory governments. The Department also provides administration support to the State Service Commissioner and the Tasmania Together Progress Board, each of which is separately accountable and reports directly to Parliament. Department of Premier and Cabinet Annual Report 2007-08 2 Content Secretary’s Report 5 Departmental Overview 7 Governance 8 Activity Report 2007-08 12 Output Group 1 - Support for Executive Decision Making 13 Output 1.1: Strategic Policy and Advice 14 Output 1.2: Climate Change 18 Output 1.3: Social Inclusion 21 Output Group 2 - Government Processes and Services 23 Output 2.1: Management of Executive Government Processes 24 Output 2.2: Principal and Subordinate Legislation 31 Output 2.3: Tasmanian Government Courier 33 Output 2.4: Corporate Support to Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices and the Office of the Governor 34 Output 2.5: Representation in Canberra 35 Output 2.6: Support for the Stolen Generations Assessor 38 Output Group 3 - Electronic Services for Government Agencies and the Community 40 Output 3.1: ICT Policy Development and Implementation 41 Output 3.2: Management and Ongoing Development of Service Tasmania 44 Output 3.3: Management of TASINET and Networking Tasmania 46 Output 3.4: Information Systems Management 49 Output Group 4 - State Service Management 51 Output 4.1: State Service Employment and Management 52 Output 4.2: Support for the State Service Commissioner 55 Output Group 5 - Support for the Tasmania Together Progress Board 56 Output 5.1: Support for the Tasmania Together Progress Board 57 Output Group 6 - Community Development 61 Output 6: Community Development 62 Output 6.1: Women Tasmania 65 Output 6.2: Disability Bureau 69 Output 6.3: Seniors Bureau 71 Output 6.4: Office of Aboriginal Affairs 75 Department of Premier and Cabinet Annual Report 2007-08 3 Output 6.5: Multicultural Tasmania 78 Output 6.6: Office of Children and Youth Affairs 80 Output Group 7 - Development of Local Government 85 Output 7.1: Development of Local Government 86 All Output Groups - Corporate Services 91 Corporate Services 92 Supporting Whole-of-Government Corporate Initiatives 95 Tasmania Together 96 Tasmania Together – Lead Agency Responsibility 100 Disability Action Plan 102 DPAC’s Carbon Emission Reduction Plan 103 Departmental Information 104 Freedom of Information (FOI) 105 Legislation Administered 107 Departmental Publications 110 Our People and Policies 114 Our Finance Policies and Procedures 126 Financial Resources Summary 127 Asset Management, Pricing and Risk Management Policies 128 Government Procurement 130 Contributions and Grants 134 Financial Statements 157 Appendix 222 Jim Bacon Foundation 223 Tsuneichi Fujii Fellowship Foundation 228 Abbreviations 235 Compliance Index 237 Contacting the Department 240 Activities accompanied by the Tasmanian Together logo indicate that these activities directly support the achievement of a Tasmania Together benchmark. Department of Premier and Cabinet Annual Report 2007-08 4 Secretary’s Report The Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC) has undergone many changes during 2007-08. The most significant being the change in heads of the agency over the past year. Linda Hornsey was the Secretary of the Department from July to September 2007. Evan Rolley was the Secretary from October 2007 to May 2008 and I was appointed to the position of Secretary in June 2008. I therefore would like to acknowledge the work of the previous Secretaries during the majority of the year, in particular, their work in establishing the Tasmanian Climate Change Office and the Social Inclusion Unit. This year we have taken on extra roles with a busy COAG agenda. Working groups were established to provide practical plans in seven key areas which both the Commonwealth and the States need to work together on. The seven key areas are: health and ageing education, skills and early childhood climate change and water infrastructure business, deregulation and competition housing indigenous reform. Tasmania had representatives in each of these areas. It has been a great opportunity to collaborate with other departments. The Secretary of DPAC was nominated to be the Deputy Chair of the National Housing Working Group. Taking part in this process has provided Tasmania with the opportunity to play a significant role in the way national policies concerning affordable housing will be put into action. Premier Lennon set out the State Government’s priorities and policies in early 2008. These included literacy and numeracy, affordable housing, child welfare, infrastructure projects, drought proofing Tasmania and climate change initiatives. A major priority was building stronger social inclusion policy frameworks for the State. This led to the establishment of the Social Inclusion Unit in February 2008. Mellissa Gray (Astrinakis) was appointed the first Director of the Unit. The Unit has been working on projects with other government departments and key community groups to provide better, practical outcomes for the socially disadvantaged. In the few short months since being established, the Unit has hosted visits from Rosanne Haggerty and Theo Maras, who met with prominent public and private sector groups to help shape practical measures to address homelessness in Tasmania. Rosanne Haggerty’s report, Ending Homelessness in Tasmania, provides a basis for further work on a Tasmanian Homelessness Strategy. The report included recommendations based on the Common Ground model she pioneered. Ms Haggerty’s recommendations provide a solid basis for the Government’s plan to halve primary homelessness by 2010. Another area of initial work for the Unit involved the Literacy Action Plan. The Policy Division has been working together with the Department of Education, Dr Carol Christensen and a range of stakeholders in the community and the business sector. The Department of Premier and Cabinet Annual Report 2007-08 5 Literacy Action Plan will provide local-level actions focusing on early childhood, school-age and adult literacy. Climate change is a major priority for the State Government; this was reflected by establishing the Tasmanian Climate Change Office within DPAC at the beginning of 2008. The Office has been leading the implementation of the Government’s climate change strategy by providing advice on and assisting with the development of a whole-of- government policy on climate change. The Tasmanian Climate Change Office has been working with business, industry and the community to identify economic opportunities and facilitate innovative climate change initiatives. The Office has also been coordinating the implementation of Dr Kate Crowley’s framework for action to reduce Tasmanian Government emissions. Dr Crowley is the Acting Dean of Graduate Research at the University of Tasmania, and the inaugural Chair of the Tasmanian Climate Action Council. The Office also prepared legislation to put before Parliament setting a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for the State of at least 60 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. The Government is taking steps to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions, like changing over its car fleet to more fuel efficient vehicles, and encouraging Government agencies to develop their own emissions reduction plans. It is always nice to receive recognition for the work we are doing at DPAC. I am pleased to congratulate the members of the DPAC Disability Action Plan Working Group. The Disability Action Plan working group was recognised by National Disability Services (NDS), the national industry association for non-government disability service providers, for making DPAC the first Tasmanian Government department to develop a Disability Action Plan. In addition, the Disability Bureau was recognised for implementing the Companion Card Program and its work promoting disability action planning across government. Service Tasmania Unit Manager Glenn Hill, who chaired the DPAC working group, received an honourable mention. The award was presented by NDS National CEO Ken Baker and accepted by Disability Bureau Manager Beverley Funnell on behalf of DPAC. The Department ensures that Tasmanian businesses are given every opportunity to compete for agency business. It is the Department’s policy to support Tasmanian businesses whenever they offer best value for money for the Government. The tables on pages 130-133 summarise the level of participation by local businesses for contracts, tenders and/or quotations with a value of $50,000 or over (excluding GST). I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Frank Ogle and his team at the Public Sector Management Office who have been working tirelessly for a positive outcome for the Public Sector Unions Wages Agreement (PSUWA) 08.