Address: Main Office: John Gorton Building
Support for environment and heritage organisations
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- Figure 1: Donations to environmental organisations
- Ministerial and Parliamentary Services
- Table 5: Number of ministerial correspondence items over the last five years
- Table 6: Community information 2009–10 to 2010–11
- Inquiries and complaints
- Feedback on performance of service delivery
- Figure 2: Website statistics
- External scrutiny Courts and tribunals
- Australian Capital Territory v Queanbeyan City Council and Another [2010] FCACFC 124
- Auditor-General Reports
- Parliamentary committee reports
- Environmental sustainability
- How the department applies the principles
- Contribution of outcomes
Support for environment and heritage organisations The department supports community environment and heritage groups, through a number of taxation concessions and Grants to Voluntary Environment and Heritage Organisations. Grants to Voluntary Environment and Heritage Organisations Grants to Voluntary Environment and Heritage Organisations (GVEHO) help community-based environment and heritage organisations to meet the administrative costs of their activities. In 2010–11 funding totalling $1 906 600 was provided to 261 organisations. The grants are made up of:
Taxation concessions The Register of Environmental Organisations is a list of approved environmental organisations. Donations of money or property to these organisations for the conservation of the natural environment are income tax-deductible. During 2010–11 the department assisted over 150 organisations interested in applying formally for entry to the Register. The Minister for Sustainability, Environment Water, Population and Communities and the Assistant Treasurer, Senator the Hon. Bill Shorten, approved the listing of 41 organisations and their public funds on the Register. Ten organisations and their public funds were removed from the Register. At 30 June 2011 the register listed 546 organisations, compared to 514 at 30 June 2010. Statistics for 2009–10 show that the public donated more than $121 million to tax-deductible environmental organisations to help protect and enhance the natural environment. Figure 1: Donations to environmental organisations The department also maintains an apportionment register. Under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, donors that have donated money or property valued at more than $5 000 to a tax-deductible environmental organisation, or who have entered into a perpetual conservation covenant with an accredited conservation program, may elect to apportion their donation over a period of up to five years by sending an election form to the department. The department recorded two apportionment elections and variations during 2010–11. Stakeholder relations The department provides advice and support to the minister, parliamentary secretary and the department in their stakeholder and communication activities. Ministerial and Parliamentary Services The Ministerial and Parliamentary Services Section managed parliamentary business for the portfolio, including the management and coordination of ministerial correspondence, ministerial briefings, cabinet material, community cabinet meetings, questions on notice and senate estimates. The section recorded, performed quality assurance checks on, and tracked documents flowing to and from the ministers and parliamentary secretaries offices and the portfolio. The section also provided advice to portfolio line areas on ministerial and parliamentary matters. Ministerial workflow system The department has reviewed and enhanced its current ministerial workflow system to ensure it is compatible with the department’s new ICT environment. Work is still underway to determine the most cost-effective and suitable solution to meet the department’s long-term needs. Workflow statistics for 2010–11 In 2010−11 the department prepared over 2 250 briefing submissions for ministers and the parliamentary secretaries. In 2010–11 there were 11 459 items of correspondence received by ministers and the parliamentary secretaries and registered on the department’s database. The following chart shows statistics in ministerial correspondence over the past five years. Table 5: Number of ministerial correspondence items over the last five years
Public affairs Effective communication and stakeholder engagement is critical to the success of government policies and programs. The public affairs section of the department provides strategic and communications services to both inform the development of policy and deliver against portfolio outcomes. As well as ensuring that citizens and organisations have the information they need to understand their rights and responsibilities, communication is fundamental to creating, building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders and ensures that the public not only take an interest in, but can also contribute to, the department’s policies and activities. Regular discussion and consultation with stakeholder groups has enabled the department to have a strategic approach to issues that are to be tackled at a local and regional level. In doing so, the department has been able to communicate with a diverse range of audiences about the issues of most relevance to them. Communication channels used to engage and communicate include advertising, print and electronic publications, events, forums, workshops, sponsorships, traditional media and social media including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Other corporate deliverables included the coordination of federal budget media and materials and the coordination and investment of sponsorships across the portfolio, such as the Banksia Foundation’s Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year and the Environment Minister’s Young Environmentalist of the Year awards, as well as the Australian Museum’s Peter Hunt Eureka Prize for Environmental Journalism. Media monitoring and management is central to broader issues management. The public affairs media unit manages and coordinates media monitoring to provide media outreach and training across the portfolio and to respond to media enquiries. Public affairs engaged in proactive media to communicate the department’s programs to a broad Australian audience.
The department continued to maintain an in-house community information unit that received requests for information and feedback on the department’s services. The unit also managed the department’s publications shop front. In 2010–11 the community information unit responded to 13 292 enquiries from the Australian community—17.6 per cent about grant and rebate programs and 82.4 per cent seeking general information about the department and its programs. The unit distributed 20 848 publications.
* The department changed its web statistical reporting tool at the beginning of July 2009. The methods of measurement and metrics used for reporting have been refined, and as a result, the 2009−10 and 2010−11 data should not be compared to that provided in previous years. ** The decrease from the 2009–10 statistics is due to machinery of government changes. Seven websites were transferred to other agencies and are no longer reported by this department. In addition, staff and search engine web crawler visitor statistics are now excluded from the www.antarctica.gov.au website. Inquiries and complaints The department’s client service officer received five enquiries and 15 complaints in 2010–11. The complaints related to the department’s policies and programs. Requests for information and assistance were forwarded to the appropriate work area for action. Feedback on performance of service delivery The department received feedback from eight people about service delivery standards through its client service officer in 2010–11. Of these, two people said the department had provided poor service and six people had said the department’s service delivery did not meet their expectations. Many of the negative responses related to delays in providing information. Service charter The department’s service charter for 2009–12 sets out the standards of service clients can expect. The document is available on the department’s website or in hard copy by contacting the community information unit toll free on 1800 803 772. The client service officer can be contacted at: Client Service Officer
Websites
The department’s websites are considered critical information and service resources for stakeholders and staff. They are the primary communication tool for the department’s national and global audiences and are the most broadly-accessed medium for the work undertaken by the department including official decisions made under the EPBC Act. The department has continued to improve access to online information. For example the www.antarctica.gov.au website was redeveloped and launched in August 2010 to include a new look and feel and an improved content management system. A new site was released to promote events relating to Antarctic Centenary celebrations (centenary.antarctica.gov.au). For the first time a webcam was on the icebreaker Aurora Australis providing time-lapse movies of voyages during the season. Following Machinery of Government changes, the department transferred websites covering Arts and Culture to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Trends
The department completed the transition planning stage towards implementing the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 standards. The department is embracing social media as a means of greater public information sharing, consultation and promotion, supported by a clear governance and accountability framework for staff. Figure 2: Website statistics During 2010–11 there were over 9.6 million visitsth1 to the department’s websites. The most popular website was the environment.gov.au site with more than 4.7 million visits2. 1 The decrease from the 2009–10 statistics is due to Machinery of Government changes. Seven websites were transferred to other agencies and are no longer reported by this department. In addition, staff and search engine web crawler visitor statistics are now excluded from the www.antarctica.gov.au website. 2 The decrease from the 2009–10 statistics is due to a number of heavily used areas of the website being transferred to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. External scrutiny Courts and tribunals Federal Court The Federal Court delivered its decisions in the following significant matters:
This was an appeal by Bat Advocacy NSW Inc of an earlier decision. The minister had approved conditions for relocation of grey headed flying foxes from the Royal Botanic Gardens. Bat Advocacy NSW claimed that the minister had failed to take into account relevant mandatory considerations when dealing with a controlled action under the EPBC Act and challenged the decision under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977. The court found that the conditions imposed demonstrated that the matters had been taken into account and dismissed Bat Advocacy NSW Inc’s application.
This matter was referred to the Full Federal Court on appeal. Queanbeyan City Council (the QCC) entered into an agreement with ACTEW Corporation Ltd for the supply of water to the QCC. The Australian Capital Territory imposed on ACTEW a water abstraction charge, and a utilities (network facilities) tax. Both the water charge and the utilities tax were passed on to QCC. QCC began proceedings, arguing that the water charge and the utilities tax were duties of excise beyond the legislative competence of the ACT by reason of section 90 of the Australian Constitution. ACTEW and the ACT argued that the utilities tax was not an excise because it was not a tax on the ownership of facilities, and the water charge was a fee for service. The Court found that neither the water charge nor the utilities tax was a duty of excise. This decision has been appealed to the High Court. The matter has been heard, but no decision delivered. Commonwealth Ombudsman The Commonwealth Ombudsman did not issue any formal reports about the operation of the department. The department received seven notifications of investigations. These related to management of a number of departmental programs. The Ombudsman recorded one finding of administrative deficiency. Auditor-General Reports The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) released three performance audits specific to the department during 2010–11. Audit Report No.9 2010–11 Green Loans Programs The Green Loans Program was designed to help make existing homes greener and more energy and water efficient. The ANAO examined key aspects of the establishment and administration of the Green Loans Program by the department, previously known as the Department of Environment Water Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), and the program’s transition to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE). The ANAO found that the primary cause for the administration problems encountered by the program was largely an absence of effective governance by DEWHA during the program’s design and early implementation. No recommendations were made, as both DEWHA and DCCEE had announced changes to improve corporate and program governance, enhance internal control mechanisms and systems, and strengthen accountability frameworks.
The Home Insulation program (HIP) provided incentives for home owner-occupiers to have insulation installed. It was part of the Energy Efficient Homes Package which was designed to generate economic stimulus and improve the energy efficiency of Australian homes. The ANAO audit assessed aspects of the establishment and administration of HIP by DEWHA as well as the transition of the program to DCCEE. It found that HIP could have benefited by DEWHA considering and applying some of the critical design features implemented in similar programs in other jurisdictions including the early introduction of an approved product list, requiring installers to complete mandatory training, and implementation of a sound compliance and audit program. No recommendations were made in this report because of the closure of the program and the improvement strategies being implemented. Audit Report No.27 2010–11 Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin (RTB) The Restoring the Balance Program is one of several initiatives being implemented under the Australian Government’s policy for water reform called Water for the Future. The ANAO audit assessed whether the department’s processes for purchasing water entitlements were well-administered, and whether sound arrangements were in place to support timely and effective decisions by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) on the use of available water. The overall findings were that the department had established adequate arrangements to administer the program, noting that the phase examined was ahead of the release of the Basin Plan. Decisions on where to buy entitlements have been informed by the best information available at the time. A standard process to assess applications and transfer legal ownership to the Commonwealth was also established. In addition, the CEWH’s processes provided reasonable assurance that allocated water was delivered as specified. The department is working to implement the two recommendations made by the ANAO.
Inquiry into Managing our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts Inquiry report, Managing our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate: the time to act is now, was released on 26 October 2009. The department worked closely with the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency to develop the government response to the inquiry report which was released on 23 November 2010. Inquiry into Product Stewardship Bill 2011 Following its introduction to the Senate on 23 March 2011, the Product Stewardship Bill 2011 was referred to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee. The committee held public hearings on 13 April 2011 and received 25 submissions to its inquiry. The committee presented its report to the Senate on 9 May 2011, which recommended that the Senate pass the Product Stewardship Bill, subject to minor changes. The changes recommended by the committee were to develop and publish annually a priority list of products to be covered by product stewardship schemes, establish an advisory group to advise on declaring priority products and to preserve the effectiveness of existing product stewardship schemes. The amended Bill reflected all of the committee’s recommendations and was passed by Parliament on 22 June 2011 and enacted by Royal Assent in July 2011. Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT)—Amendments to Appendices I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora The department attended a hearing of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties on 21 March 2011. The hearing discussed the proposed listings for shark and blue fin tuna species that were not adopted at the CITES 15th Conference of the Parties (CoP15), and future listings of other species. JSCOT reviewed and agreed with the amendments and will continue to monitor Australian proposals at the 16th Conference of the Parties (CoP16). The committee anticipated that the department would also continue to assess, and if appropriate, initiate opportunities during CITES negotiations for joint nominations of at-risk Australian marine species. The committee provided no further recommendations. Inquiry into the status, health and sustainability of Australia’s koala population The Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communication conducted an inquiry into the status, health and sustainability of Australia’s koala population, with particular reference to:
The department provided a written submission in February 2011 and appeared before a public committee hearing on 19 May 2011. The Threatened Species Scientific Committee was also requested to appear before the inquiry. The committee is expected to announce its findings during 2011–12. Environmental sustainability This section is presented in accordance with the requirements of section 516A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Section 516A requires government departments to report on:
How the department applies the principles The department is the lead agency for developing and implementing national policy, programs and legislation to protect and conserve the natural environment and deliver the government’s sustainability agenda. In 2010–11 the department led the development of the government’s sustainable population strategy Sustainable Australia—Sustainable Communities: A Sustainable Population Strategy for Australia, which outlines the government’s vision for a sustainable Australia. The measures under the strategy, such as the suburban jobs, sustainable regional development and measuring sustainability programs are aimed at enhancing wellbeing and opportunities for current and future generations across the three foundations of economic prosperity, environmental sustainability and livable communities. The details of these programs are included in Chapter Six of this annual report. The department is responsible for regulating matters of national environmental significance through administration of the EPBC Act, which promotes ecologically sustainable development through the conservation and ecologically sustainable use of natural resources. Further examples of how the department applies the principles of ecologically sustainable development are summarised in Table 1. More details on specific programs are contained in the chapters covering Outcomes 1 to 6 of this annual report.
Each of the department’s outcomes contributes to ecologically sustainable development, as follows. Outcome 1: Biodiversity and ecosystems. The department’s work to conserve and protect Australia’s terrestrial and marine biodiversity and ecosystems contributes to the conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity, thereby helping to maintain the ecological processes on which life depends. Yüklə 5,14 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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