Annual Report 2002– 03 I Annual Report 2002– 03 I Volume 1 Vo lume 1 Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services 1118 Telephone: 1300 653 227 aCS Internet: www.facs.gov.au F making a difference Annual Report 2002–03 I Volume 1 © Commonwealth of Australia 2003 ISSN: 1442-5238 ISBN: (Volume one) 0642770980 ISBN: (Volume two) 0642770999 ISBN: (set) 0642770972 ISBN: CD-ROM: 1920851003 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth available from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Intellectual Property Branch, Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, GPO Box 2154, Canberra ACT 2601 or posted at http://www.dcita.gov.au/cca Department of Family and Community Services Box 7788 Canberra Mail Centre ACT 2610 Telephone 1300 653 227 (for the cost of a local call, mobile phones at mobile rates) Internet: www.facs.gov.au/annualreport ABN: 36 342 015 855 FaCS, Social Security Appeals Tribunal and Australian Institute of Family Studies ABN: 36 342 015 855 004 Child Support Agency Acknowledgments Annual Report Team: Liz Clarke, Sophia Collison, Carmel Curran, Greg Moores and Wendy Tierney Editor: Jeff Fitzgibbon Proof reading: Janet Willis Contents Letter of transmittal iii Preface 1 Secretary’s introduction 2 Part 1: Overview—the big picture Departmental overview 10 Family and Community Services portfolio structure 19 Organisational structure 21 Financial performance overview 24 Child Support Agency—General Manager’s review 28 Part 2: Achievements and challenges—performance insights Building the evidence base 34 Redeveloping the Child Care Support Broadband 36 Helping parents support their children—the Child Support Agency 37 FaCS–Centrelink strategic alliance 40 Responding to communities in crisis—Bali, bushfires and drought 42 Bali taskforce 42 Canberra bushfires 44 Counselling for drought-affected regions 45 Implementing welfare reform 47 Supporting people with disabilities 51 Helping men with relationships 53 Coordinating support in Indigenous communities 55 Making a difference internationally 57 Part 3: Glossaries and index List of acronyms and initialisms 62 Index 63 v A user’s guide This year’s annual report of the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS)—the fifth—has been divided into two volumes for ease of access and readability. It is a continuing challenge for the department to maintain a manageable publication size while ensuring mandatory requirements are met. This is a difficult task for a department that has appropriations of more than $60 billion to report. Volume one provides an overarching view of the department’s functions and summary of its achievements. Volume two provides more detail, covering performance reporting, management and accountability, appendixes and financial statements. Each volume has its own contents page, glossary and index. A CD-ROM of the full report is enclosed in Volume one. This report is available online on the FaCS web site at www.facs.gov.au/annualreport Our essential aim is for the report to meet the needs of our readers—Senators, Members and the public. vi FaCS Annual Report 2002–03 I Volume 1 Preface The Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) is responsible for shaping social policies and ensuring they are delivered efficiently through partnerships with other government and non-government organisations. As well as families, FaCS focuses on groups with differing needs such as young people and students, people living in rural and remote areas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. FaCS is responsible for about one-third of total government outlays as is detailed in the remainder of this report. FaCS’ national office is in Canberra. FaCS also has locations in each state and territory throughout Australia, and rural and regional areas. FaCS is part of the Australian Government’s Family and Community Services portfolio. The portfolio is responsible for a broad range of social policy issues affecting Australian society and the living standards of Australian families, communities and individuals. The portfolio consists of: ◗ FaCS*, which incorporates the Child Support Agency ◗ Centrelink, which delivers income support payments and services on behalf of FaCS ◗ The Australian Institute of Family Studies. * The resources needed to support the operations of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (SSAT) are also provided through FaCS. Preface 1 Secretary’s introduction As Secretary of the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS), I am pleased once again to introduce our annual report and the departmental overview. This year’s two-volume report for 2002–03 covers FaCS’ performance against our three outcomes. Volume one gives a broad picture of the achievements, challenges and highlights of our policy and program implementation. Volume two includes performance, management and accountability details. The Child Support Agency (CSA) features prominently throughout this report, including a review by the General Manager, Catherine Argall. As a first for FaCS—indeed, as a first for a federal government agency—the department, including the CSA, is also reporting separately on its internal operations against the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). Reporting on the TBL acknowledges that successful organisations are not just concerned with financial issues and shareholder profits—their operations have broader impacts as well. Our TBL report covers performance against social, environmental and economic indicators for 2002–03. The report also makes a number of commitments and establishes benchmarks for performance in future years. Focusing on participation The year saw participation firmly on the political, legislative and departmental map. As part of the Australians Working Together (AWT) implementation, the Personal Support Programme was bedded down and more than 450 Personal Advisers started work in Centrelink. The passage of AWT legislation paves the way for introducing other important measures in the coming year, including the second wave of Personal Adviser appointments, the Working Credit initiative, and new participation obligations for people on Parenting Payment and mature-age workers. The department also looked at Newstart Allowance requirements and some changes to breaching policies were agreed. The challenge was to find a balance between ensuring that job seekers make every effort to improve their employment prospects while protecting those whose personal circumstances make it difficult for them to comply. 2 FaCS Annual Report 2002–03 I Volume 1 In planning for and implementing AWT measures, FaCS worked in close and collaborative partnerships with several departments, especially the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. The progress we made on AWT was a great example of what can be achieved by working alongside other Australian Government agencies. I believe cooperation like this with other departments will continue to grow from strength-to-strength in the coming year. Taking a whole-of-government approach During the year, other cooperative partnerships across departments and with state and territory governments contributed to the success of several other FaCS activities. As an active member of the interdepartmental Taskforce on Work and Family, we worked with other departments and agencies to review options that promote choices for parents in balancing their work and family lives. Following the Government’s announcement on developing a National Agenda for Early Childhood, we convened a Taskforce on Child Development, Health and Wellbeing. This includes high-level representation from other federal departments with responsibilities for children’s issues. The taskforce prepared a consultation paper, designed to promote stakeholder and public discussion on the agenda’s content. Along with a number of Australian Government ministers, Professor Fiona Stanley—an early childhood expert and Australian of the Year—supported the initiative. We aim to continue widespread community consultations throughout 2003. Integrating responses A whole-of-government approach is also reflected in the Indigenous Community Coordination Pilots. Supported by the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders through the Council of Australian Governments, the pilots are testing integrated responses to the needs of Indigenous communities. FaCS is the ‘sponsoring’ agency for the Wadeye community pilot in remote Northern Territory. I am taking a hands-on interest in progress and making sure the Australian Government delivers on its share of responsibilities. It is still early days at Wadeye and I believe we cannot claim success until we satisfy the community’s own vision for success. However, initial results are showing that things can work a lot better when you have a tri-partite relationship between the Australian Government, the Northern Territory Government and the community itself. Secretary’s introduction 3 Consulting with others In the past year, the department placed more emphasis on seeking input from key stakeholders, including experts, peak bodies, non-government organisations, service providers, communities and families themselves. This recognises that the department alone does not