Section 3: Corporate Management and Accountability

• Overview
• Corporate governance
• External scrutiny
• Management of human resources
• Management of financial resources

Overview

The management of departmental resources, including staff deployments, required a pragmatic and flexible approach in the face of unanticipated international demands. Major natural disasters in Japan and New Zealand, coupled with political crises in the Middle East, triggered an unprecedented consular response. During January–March 2011 over 550 staff worked on the crises in Canberra; 89 additional staff were deployed overseas on short term missions to provide assistance to Australians.

Australia’s diplomatic footprint was expanded with the opening of embassies in Addis Ababa and Lima, and the strengthening of consulates-general in Chennai and Mumbai. The department continued to support the Government’s international security objectives through its diplomatic presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. The United Nations Security Council campaign and people smuggling were core resourcing priorities.

Over $9 million was invested in training and development. A major staff survey on the department as an organisation and as a place to work proved a valuable exercise, the results of which provide a basis for future benchmarking.