STRATEGIC REVIEW OF Geoscience Australia May 2011 Strategic Review of Geoscience Australia May 2011 Copyright Notice With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence (CC BY 3.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en). This work must be attributed as: “Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Finance and Deregulation, Strategic Review of Geoscience Australia” Use of the Coat of Arms The terms under which the Coat of Arms can be used are detailed on the following website: http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/coat-arms/. Contact us Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of this work are welcome at: Strategic Review Branch Department of Finance and Deregulation John Gorton Building, King Edward Terrace, Parkes ACT 2600 CONTENTS Terms of Reference .................................................................................................................... v Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. ix Recommendations .................................................................................................................... xv 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 Policy context......................................................................................................................... 1 Role of Geoscience Australia ............................................................................................. 1 Contribution of the resources sector to the economy ............................................................. 2 GDP, exports and employment .......................................................................................... 2 Royalties and taxation ........................................................................................................ 3 Exploration ......................................................................................................................... 3 Capital expenditure and new projects, including infrastructure ........................................ 4 Supported industries........................................................................................................... 4 Circumstances leading to the Review .................................................................................... 5 Conduct of the Review....................................................................................................... 5 2. About Geoscience Australia .............................................................................................. 7 Overview of the organisation ................................................................................................. 7 Background to the Australian Geological Survey Organisation ........................................ 7 Background to Australian Surveying and Land Information Group ................................. 8 Following the Australian Geological Survey Organisation and Australian Surveying and Land Information Group merger ........................................................................................ 9 Structure and size ............................................................................................................... 9 Geoscience Australia’s core capabilities ............................................................................. 12 Key facilities and networks .............................................................................................. 13 Information and communications technology ..................................................................... 15 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 15 Other assets .......................................................................................................................... 17 Overall cost profile .............................................................................................................. 17 3. Economic Value of Geoscience Australia Products and Activities ................................. 19 Consultancy evaluation of the economic value of geospatial, Earth monitoring, groundwater and hazards information ................................................................................. 19 Empirical evidence ........................................................................................................... 20 Conceptual model ............................................................................................................ 21 Page i Quantitative modelling..................................................................................................... 23 Consultancy evaluation of the economic value of pre-competitive information ................. 24 Empirical evidence ........................................................................................................... 25 Conceptual model ............................................................................................................ 26 Quantitative modelling..................................................................................................... 27 Other reviews ....................................................................................................................... 27 Geospatial capability ............................................................................................................ 29 Independent advisor role .................................................................................................. 29 Latent capability ............................................................................................................... 29 Review Assessment ............................................................................................................. 32 Empirical evidence ........................................................................................................... 32 Conceptual model ............................................................................................................ 37 Quantitative modelling..................................................................................................... 43 4. Strategic Planning and Prioritisation ............................................................................... 47 Strategic planning ................................................................................................................ 47 Policy mandate ................................................................................................................. 47 Policy environment .......................................................................................................... 48 Geoscience Australia Strategic Plan 2010-12 .................................................................. 50 Governance ...................................................................................................................... 52 Aligning programs to Government priorities ................................................................... 53 ANAO Performance Audit – Recommendation 1 – strategic planning ........................... 55 Relationship with the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism ........................... 55 Relationship with other Government agencies .................................................................... 59 Other Commonwealth agencies ....................................................................................... 59 State and Territory agencies ............................................................................................. 62 Overlap and duplication ................................................................................................... 67 Performance and standards management ............................................................................. 69 Visibility of Geoscience Australia outputs ...................................................................... 69 Internal performance management .................................................................................. 71 ANAO Report – Recommendation 4 – measuring and reporting performance ............... 71 Acquittal of Budget funding ............................................................................................ 72 5. Financial Sustainability .................................................................................................... 79 New policy initiatives .......................................................................................................... 83 Section 31 revenue ............................................................................................................... 88 When should funding be directly appropriated to Geoscience Australia? ....................... 90 Page ii Cost Recovery ...................................................................................................................... 92 Perspectives on cost recovery .......................................................................................... 93 Australian Government policies ...................................................................................... 95 Commonwealth Spatial Data Access and Pricing Policy ................................................ 97 Geoscience Australia's experience and policies ............................................................