DIMA Annual Report 1997-98
Part One: Portfolio and Corporate Overview
Immigration and multicultural affairs portfolio
Corporate overview
Role, mission and corporate goals
Structure and senior management
Social justice and equality
Arrangements for the disadvantaged
Women's issues
Internal and external scrutiny
Discretionary grants
Role, mission and tasks
The Department's role is to manage the movement of people into and out of Australia. Its mission is to contribute to Australia's economic, social and international interests through programs directed to the:
- lawful and orderly entry and stay of people;
- settlement of migrants and refugees and their acquisition of citizenship; and
- appreciation of the advantages of cultural diversity within a framework of national unity.
Accordingly, the Department plays a strategic role in managing the movement of people into and out of Australia, in ensuring that migration meets identified needs and that migrants are appropriately settled.
The tasks assigned to the Department in the Administrative Arrangements Orders are:
- migration of people, including refugees, to Australia;
- Australian citizenship;
- ethnic affairs;
- post-arrival arrangements for migrants, other than migrant child education; and
- multicultural affairs.
[ Picture - The Department's leadership team at the annual planning day in May 1998
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Structure and senior management
[ Structure and management diagram ]
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Social justice and equity
The Department has assisted Commonwealth departments and agencies over the last 12 months to incorporate the service principles outlined in the Charter of Public Service in a Culturally Diverse Society into their policies and programs.
For example, the Department has liaised with the Department of Industry, Science and Tourism to ensure departments and agencies take account of the Charter's principles in their Client Service Charters.
In addition, it has worked with the Public Service and Merit Protection Commission so that the new Australian Public Service (APS) framework recognises, values and responds to the diversity of Service staff and clients.
Access and equity issues have also been brought to the attention of the National Multicultural Advisory Council, which is developing a report to Government on a multicultural policy and implementation framework for the next decade.
The Commonwealth's Adult Migrant English Program and the Translating and Interpreting Service continue to make a significant contribution to achieving Charter principles by improving access to Government services and to Australian society more generally for newly-arrived migrants and refugees.
The Charter was formally launched by the Minister in July 1998.
[ Top Of Page ]Arrangements for the disadvantaged
The Department is well placed to meet the needs of staff with disabilities, and there has been progress during the past year in fine-tuning strategies. For example, when leasing and fitting out departmental office accommodation there have been improvements in recognising the needs of people with disabilities.
Activities to support our own agency-specific action plan have been steady. For example, DIMA recently launched a new Client Service Charter which provides additional focus on the quality and accessibility of departmental services.
All departmental clients now have access through a variety of modes to provide the Department with direct feedback, which will be incorporated into reviews and improvements to service delivery.
DIMA's Disability Action Plan was implemented in 1997 and details strategies relating to staff and clients. It includes a requirement that the needs of staff with disabilities are addressed in the development of all departmental human resource policies.
DIMA's commitment to meeting the needs of staff with disabilities has been achieved through the implementation of its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) programs, which have had a number of strategies relating to the employment of people with a disability.
The EEO Program 1995–1998 has been incorporated in all management practices through divisional, State and Territory-level EEO plans.
As at 30 June 1998, 5.5 per cent of DIMA staff identified themselves as having a disability. This exceeds the APS 2000 target of five per cent. This commitment to the needs of departmental staff with disabilities will continue with the implementation of the Department's Workplace Diversity Program in 1998–99.
Women's issues
Domestic violence has been a key issue for the Department during 1997–98. Arising from the Prime Minister's National Summit on Domestic Violence in November 1997, DIMA has begun to investigate privacy and other legal issues associated with the disclosure of a person's domestic violence history to third parties involved in the migration application process.
DIMA has also undertaken a second major distribution of the departmental video and booklet, Marrying and migrating ... you have to work at it, which were developed in response to concerns about the incidence of serial sponsorship and violence against women sponsored to Australia as spouses and fiancés.
In keeping with its strategy to ensure that the needs of migrant and refugee women are being addressed in the development of services by other agencies, DIMA has continued to provide policy advice on a wide range of women's issues through interdepartmental committees and networks.
[ Top Of Page ]Internal and external scrutiny
A number of internal processes and external bodies assist the Department exercise good corporate governance.
The Departmental Audit and Evaluation Committee (DAEC) continued to exercise direction over the Department's internal audit function.
The DAEC comprises each Division Head, with the Deputy Secretary as chair. One of its primary roles is to oversee audit and evaluation activity within the Department. In mid–1997, the Department decided that internal audit services could more effectively be delivered through an external provider. Following a competitive selection process, a contract was signed with Ernst and Young in February 1998 for a period of two years.
The first audit completed under the contract, on offshore revenue collection, provided assurance (and remedial actions when required) on the Department's revenue systems.
Fraud control activities included training sessions conducted for more than 1 700 Australian staff to enhance their understanding of the conduct expected of departmental officers and to provide advice on how best to perform their duties ethically.
A total of 178 allegations relating to the conduct of departmental officers were received. The majority of cases investigated were found to be unsubstantiated or disproved.
Five matters were referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions for criminal prosecution. One Australian officer and five locally-engaged staff were dismissed. Four officers resigned while under investigation.
The Department made submissions to the following Parliamentary committee inquiries which tabled reports during 1997–98:
- Joint Standing Committee on Migration – inquiry into working holiday visas;
- Joint Standing Committee on Migration – inquiry into criminal deportation;
- Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade – inquiry into ASEAN;
- Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade – inquiry into Australia's trade relationship with India;
- Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade – inquiry into Australia's dialogue on human rights in the Asia Pacific region;
- Joint Standing Committee on Treaties – inquiry into the potential consequences for Australia arising from the matter known as the MAI;
- Senate Community Affairs References Committee – inquiry into housing assistance;
- House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs – inquiry on aspects of Section 44 of the Constitution;
- Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee – inquiry into public accountability of Government services provided by private contractors;
- Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee – inquiry into Administrative Decisions (Effect of International Instruments) Bill 1997; and
- Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee – inquiry into sexuality discrimination.
Reporting on complaints from the Ombudsman, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and on Freedom of Information applications, may be found under sub-program 6.1.
Reporting on decisions by the courts and administrative tribunals may be found under sub-programs 5.1 and 5.2, respectively.
No reports tabled by the Auditor-General were of direct policy or operational significance to the Department.
[ Top Of Page ]Discretionary grants
The Department managed the following discretionary grant programs:
Community Settlement Services (CSS) Scheme comprising:
- worker-based grants (formerlyGrants-in-Aid), which subsidise the employment of qualified workers to provide assistance to migrants and humanitarian entrants. The grants were awarded initially for 12 months but were subsequently extended for a further 12 months to 30 September 1999. The grants ranged from $12 090 to $62 760 in 1997–98; and
- project-based grants (formerly Migrant Access Projects Scheme grants), which are provided to improve the design, planning and delivery of settlement services for migrants and humanitarian entrants. The grants were awarded for 12 months and ranged from $650 to $367 500 in 1997–98.
Community Relations Agenda (CRA) grants were established in 1995 to promote community understanding through funding projects in the area of youth, local government, law and the police, the media, arts, culture and sport. No new awards were made in 1997–98 and no further awards are expected. CRA grant payments of $170 000 were finalised for the production of a video series on young people from non-English speaking backgrounds.
Core funding is provided to Migrant Resource Centres to initiate and manage services to individuals and communities to help with settlement. Funding levels are determined each year and in 1997–98 ranged from $103 400 to $448 000.
The Government provided funding to the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia Inc. (FECCA). FECCA is the umbrella body for the various State, Territory and regional ethnic communities' councils and national ethnic organisations and received a grant of $350 000.
In 1997–98, grants totalling $4.3 million were directed under the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy to 37 community-based organisations for support and assistance of refugees and humanitarian program entrants during their initial settlement in Australia. Services provided to humanitarian entrants included health assessment and information and referral services.
A list of grant recipients is provided in the supplementary information to this Annual Report.