Corporate Governance

Portfolio Minister

Responsibility for administration of the legislation under which ASNO operates—the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987, Non-Proliferation Legislation Amendment Act 2003, Non-Proliferation Legislation Amendment Act 2007, Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994 and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Act 1998—rests with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Stephen Smith MP.

Director General ASNO

The Director General ASNO reports directly to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The position combines the statutory offices of the:

Director of the national authority for nuclear safeguards (formerly Director of Safeguards), as established by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987
Director of the national authority for the Chemical Weapons Convention, as established by the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994
Director of the national authority for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, as established by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Act 1998.

The Director General ASNO is a statutory position, appointed by the Governor-General. Remuneration for this position is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal.

Mr John Carlson has held the position of Director General ASNO since the establishment of ASNO on 31 August 1998, having previously held the position of Director of Safeguards since 1989. Mr Carlson’s current term of appointment will expire at the end of 2009.

Assistant Secretary ASNO

The Assistant Secretary, ASNO, deputises for the Director General and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the office. Dr Geoffrey Shaw has held this position since January 2008.

ASNO Staff

ASNO has a small core of staff whose day-to-day operations are overseen by the Director General. ASNO staff are employed under the Public Service Act 1999 as a division within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). ASNO staff, other than the Director General, are also employed under the DFAT Certified Agreement. Further details are in Table 13.

In 2008–09 ASNO achieved an average staff level of 14.2 (against an approved level of 15.5).

ASNO Administrative Review

ASNO has commenced a detailed review of its administrative processes, and implementation of a quality management system, to ensure ASNO processes are fully accountable, effective, efficient and meet ASNO’s goals and responsibilities. The services of an external consultant have been engaged to assist with this process. The first stage of the review is focusing on accounting for AONM. Further stages will cover the nuclear permit system, inspections, reporting to the IAEA and ultimately all of ASNO’s functions.

Figure 8: ASNO’s Organisational Structure

Table 13: ASNO Staff at 30 June 2009

	Male	Female	Total (Approved)
SES B2	1	0	1 (1)
SES B1	1	0	1 (1)
Executive Level 2	3	2	5 (5)
Executive Level 1	2	0	2 (2.5)
APS Level 6	1	2	3 (3)
APS Level 5	0	0	0 (0)
APS Level 4	0	2	2 (3)
TOTAL	8	6	14 (15.5)

Training and Development

ASNO’s primary training requirements are professional development of specialist skills. ASNO is proactive in managing this training, in part through a schedule of conference programs. In the reporting period one staff member attended a nuclear materials accountancy training course in the United States. Further details are in Table 14.

Table 14: Training and Development Activities

Training and Development Activity	Person Days
Formal DFAT courses	12
Structured work unit & on-the-job training including planning days	30
Seminars, workshops, conferences, overseas negotiations & IDCs	35
External formal courses	8
Academic study	5
Other (IAEA Consultancy)	32
TOTAL	122

Financial Management

The Audit Act 2001 requires ASNO to submit an annual Financial Statement to the Auditor-General. As ASNO is funded as a division of DFAT, this financial statement is published in the DFAT Annual Report. Further details of ASNO activities relating to financial management and performance are also contained in the DFAT Annual Report.

Administrative Budget

Table 15: ASNO Administrative Costs[26] [27] [28]

		2007–08	2008–09
Salaries²⁷		$1 723 376	$1 847 224
Running Costs	General	$335 093	$361 168
	Seismic monitoring²⁸	$576 776	$579 860
	Nuclear & radiological security enhancement for Asia and the Pacific	$204 370	$246 566
	Sub-Total	$1 116 239	$1 187 594
TOTAL		$2 839 615	$3 034 818

Uranium Producers Charge

ASNO is responsible for the implementation of the Uranium Producers Charge. This charge is payable to Consolidated Revenue on each kilogram of UOC production (set in 2006 to 5.6012 cents per kilogram). The charge collected in 2008–09 was $479,481.

Australian Safeguards Support Program

The cost of the Australian Safeguards Support Program (ASSP) totalled approximately $485,000 in 2008–09. This amount included approximately $200,000 of direct expenditure by ASNO relating to services provided to the IAEA, including participation in SAGSI (total includes travel costs and salaries). Expenditure on ASSP projects by ANSTO amounted to approximately $235,000. Other Australian government agencies contributed services in support of the IAEA through the ASSP valued at approximately $50,000.

Environmental Management System (EMS)

Under coverage of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ASNO has continued its Environmental Management System (EMS). Reduction in the negative impacts on the environment has continued with the improvement in methods of waste recycling and the re-use of materials. ASNO continues to provide input into the development of programs and processes as a continuing member of the DFAT EMS committee. ASNO also provides specialist advice on the licensing, storage and disposal requirements for radioactive sources. In May 2009, DFAT was audited by an accredited certifying body, NCS International (NCSI), against the International Standard for Environmental Management Systems, ISO 14001:2004. Following this, DFAT received certification to the International Standard in June 2009 for a further three year period.

[26] Excludes GST.

[27] Includes Long Service Leave accruals.

[28] Undertaken by Geoscience Australia.

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