During 2008–09 the department continued its commitment to good governance at all levels.

The department’s governance system emphasises the following key principles:

• leadership
• strategic direction
• accountability
• performance
• controls and assurance.

These elements support the department’s strategic themes of being an open and accountable organisation, having fair and reasonable dealings with clients and having well trained and supported staff.

The department has in place a three-year strategic plan which details how the department intends to manage its policies, programs and service delivery, and work with stakeholders and the community. The plan is reviewed annually to ensure it continues to reflect government priorities.

The plan’s strategic themes have been enhanced to reflect increased attention to humanity in the department’s dealings; evidence-based policy and decision making; and high performance in its service delivery. The department’s commitment to accountability has been strengthened in the plan by putting in place a corresponding measure for each key action. The plan also identifies specific work groups to lead and take responsibility for ensuring each action is completed. Division and service delivery plans as well as branch and section plans set out how the department will deliver on priorities and day-to-day business.

Major areas of focus during the next three years include:

• positioning migration, both permanent and temporary, as one of the keys to Australia’s prosperity and social cohesion
• creating a simpler and more responsive client focused migration and humanitarian system
• maintaining public confidence in border management
• enhancing the delivery of humanitarian settlement, Australian citizenship and cultural diversity programs
• continuing to develop a highly productive, performance-focused workforce
• managing the department’s resources strategically and with integrity.

The department aims to ensure staff have a good understanding of the department’s governance system. People in leadership roles have the further responsibility of ensuring that those in their teams are clear about the policies, procedures and business rules that govern their work and that all staff should participate fully in departmental performance management, planning, accountability and assurance processes.

National Office is taking a stronger policy and direction-setting role, and the Client Service and Network Performance Division has responsibility for improving national consistency and for ensuring service delivery is considered early in policy development.

Key governance committees

The departmental governance committee framework is an important element of the department’s arrangements for managing its business, strategic priorities and risks. The committees work within the department’s organisational structure to ensure effective decision making, management and oversight of the department’s operations and performance.

Figure 27: Structure of the department's key governance committees 2008–09

They are an integral part of the department’s governance framework and provide a crucial source of assurance to the secretary.

Figure 27 shows the department’s 2008–09 key governance committee framework.

The Executive Committee is the most senior governance committee. It provides advice to the secretary and leadership and is a key forum to guide cross-portfolio issues. The Executive Committee is not the primary decision maker in terms of day-to-day business—this remains the responsibility of departmental line managers, as appropriate.

In December 2008, Ms Elizabeth Proust’s report: Evaluation of the Palmer and Comrie Reform Agenda—including Related Ombudsman Reports was released.

The report (page 33), included references that noted ‘concern that senior people spend a great deal of time in numerous committee meetings...it may be time to revisit the number of committees and their membership’ and ‘there could be an opportunity to improve the conduct of meetings to ensure they support efficient and effective outcomes’.

With this reference in mind, the department is examining its existing governance arrangements with a view to improving them and increasing the efficiency of its governance committees.

Leadership and governance

During 2008–09, the Prominent Speaker Program continued. This program invites prominent individuals from the public, private, academic and community sectors to address the senior leadership group on a range of topics.

The program aims to develop and strengthen the leadership group’s appreciation of its central role in promoting good governance and leadership throughout the organisation.

The theme of the ongoing program is to support the department in building a high performance culture, with a particular focus on issues such as leadership, teamwork, integrity and engagement with staff.

The program has been well supported by senior officer attendance and is recognised as an avenue for knowledge building, information sharing and networking. In 2008–09 the program included presentations by:

• Mr Michael L’Estrange, Secretary Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• Ms Lisa Paul, Secretary Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
• Dr Ken Henry, Secretary to the Treasury
• Ms Felicity Hand, Deputy Secretary Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Risk management

The department continued to integrate risk management practices into a range of governance activities, including business planning, contracts and change management during 2008–09. All divisions, state and territory offices and overseas regions had risk management plans in place in 2008–09. They reported every six months on any new risks, realised risks and the status of planned controls. From this information, a departmental risk register has been developed.

A corporate/strategic risk profile was compiled from interviews held with a range of senior staff, including staff from the minister’s office and the parliamentary secretary’s office. It was reviewed by the Departmental Audit Committee and endorsed by the Executive Committee.

The profile provides a high-level view of the department’s risks and is a tool for prioritising and managing these risks. The profile also provides an opportunity for senior executives to review key risks and document future activities to reduce the likelihood or consequence of the risk occurring as part of divisional business planning. The profile is also used in developing the department’s audit program.

The department provides training and distributes promotional material to raise awareness and knowledge among staff of risk management principles and the risk management framework. Training includes modules in both the compliance and investigation courses run by the College of Immigration. In 2008–09 the department also developed an e-learning training package which can be accessed by all staff, both onshore and offshore.

A network of risk management contacts in the department meets regularly to discuss risk management issues. A help desk is also available to assist staff with risk management issues.

Implementation of recommendations from the 2007 Risk Management Framework Review continued during 2008–09.

The department has a business continuity framework, and business continuity plans covering its operations in all states and territories of Australia and in its overseas network. Additionally, the risk associated with potential pandemics is addressed through the department’s pandemic planning process.

Fraud control measures

The Departmental Audit Committee (DAC) oversees the department’s obligations under the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines 2002.

The objective of the DAC is to provide independent assurance and assistance to the secretary and the Executive Committee on the department’s risk profile, fraud control plan, control and compliance framework and external accountabilities.

In 2008–09, the Governance, Planning and Assurance Branch had overarching responsibility for developing the framework and governance for fraud prevention, detection and investigation within the department, and improving links with business planning, risk management and financial management. Since 1 July 2009 the chief lawyer has been responsible for this function.

Fraud control responsibilities include strategic planning, providing policy advice and support, providing fraud awareness training, enhancing fraud analysis and reporting consistent with Chief Executive Instruction 14—Fraud Control and Stakeholder Engagement.

To ensure that the department meets its Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines accountabilities, key actions for 2008–09 included:

• developing the DIAC Fraud Control Plan 2008–10. The fraud control plan was officially launched to all staff by the secretary in March 2009. To better understand the fraud risks faced by the department, fraud has been grouped into three broad categories, based upon the supporting legislation of each category: visa and citizenship; financial; and administrative fraud. The plan identifies a number of action items to address specific fraud risks. The plan additionally documents fraud prevention, detection, investigation, reporting and data collection processes to meet the requirements of the guidelines
• undertaking a number of fraud risk assessments. This included several program fraud risk assessments as well as a wide-ranging assessment of administrative fraud risks, covering fraud in many of the core areas listed in the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines 2002. Fraud risk assessments have been incorporated into the department’s business planning process and a timetable of program fraud risk assessments for 2009–10 has been developed and endorsed by the DAC
• establishing a centralised fraud risk register
• developing and delivering an education and training program including an e-learning fraud awareness package. The e-learning package is still under development and will be launched in the first half of 2009–10. The e-learning package will be available to all staff
• providing annual fraud data to the Australian Institute of Criminology.

Departmental Audit Committee

The Departmental Audit Committee (DAC) was established in compliance with section 46 of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. The DAC provides independent assurance and assistance to the secretary and the Executive Committee on the department‘s risk management, quality assurance and fraud control frameworks, and its external accountability responsibilities.

In 2008–09 the DAC considered an annual audit plan and a rolling three-year internal audit program based on key corporate risks. A Financial Statements Sub-Committee is responsible for overseeing the preparation of the annual financial statements, including facilitating resolution of any identified issues in a timely manner. The DAC reviews and clears the annual financial statements before submission to the secretary.

The department works cooperatively with the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) to coordinate overall audit activity within the department and to ensure there is no duplication of the audit effort. The ANAO is invited to attend meetings of the DAC and Financial Statements Sub-Committee.

Internal audit and quality assurance

The internal audit function is managed by the department’s Internal Audit Section which reports to the secretary and operates under the authority of the Internal Audit Charter. The internal audit program is primarily delivered by the department’s primary provider, Ernst & Young, with additional capabilities in audit, risk management, fraud control and business continuity management sourced through a panel of secondary providers.

In line with recommendations by the Institute of Internal Auditors (Australia), the department has a strategic three-year internal audit plan and has brought annual expenditure on internal audit back to Australian Public Service benchmarks.

Drawing on the National Quality Assurance Framework, the department has continued to provide quality assurance training, advice and guidance on consistent standards in the design and review of quality assurance processes, enabling program managers and the DAC to identify trends and emerging portfolio-wide risks.

A quality assurance plan for 2009 was approved by the DAC in February 2009. The plan focuses on strengthening quality assurance capability across the department and on risk profiling. Work is ongoing across divisions in integrating quality assurance as a management assurance tool.