1.1(12) Services to other agencies in Australia and overseas (including Parliament, state representatives, business and other organisations)

Overview

The department maintained a high quality of service and support to the Parliament, ministers and parliamentary secretaries, and Cabinet, especially in supporting their overseas travel. We managed effectively the closure, then re-establishment, of offices for portfolio ministers and parliamentary secretaries following the federal election.

We provided efficient financial, human resources, ICT and property management services to government departments and agencies in Australia and overseas, and to the New Zealand Government.

The department intensified engagement with business and state and territory governments to implement the Government’s foreign, trade and aid policy and prioritise the economic diplomacy agenda.

Support to portfolio ministers

Feedback from Ministers and from their offices indicated that Ministers were highly satisfied with the department’s responsiveness in supporting the establishment and operations of their offices and in providing policy and logistical support for their overseas engagements. Ministers were very satisfied with the quality of advice on and implementation of flagship policy issues, including the roll-out of the New Colombo Plan and the conclusion of two major FTAs.

Incoming government

The department closed and re-established the offices of the outgoing and incoming portfolio Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries following the federal election. We coordinated the dismantling and installation of the physical offices in Parliament House and equipped Ministerial and Parliamentary Secretary state offices in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane to handle new portfolio responsibilities.

The department provided temporary teams of advisers and Departmental Liaison Officers in each office to assist the new Ministers and Parliamentary Secretary prior to the commencement of permanent staff.

Ministerial submissions and briefings

During 2013–14, the department produced 1562 ministerial submissions, 267 meeting briefs, 121 Cabinet briefs and 28 Cabinet submissions.

Ministerial correspondence

We received and processed 11 975 items of ministerial correspondence in 2013–14, compared with 8003 in 2012–13. This surge in numbers reflected, in large part, the integration of AusAID into the department. The roll-out of common ICT services and the deployment of additional staff assisted with the management of some post-integration difficulties over distribution, tracking and handling of ministerial correspondence.

Ministerial travel

We assisted five portfolio ministers and two parliamentary secretaries who held office over the reporting period on a total of 57 visits.

The Australian Parliament

The department gave high priority to providing services to Parliament and fulfilled our public accountability responsibilities by presenting information to parliamentary committees.

Questions on notice

The department assisted portfolio ministers with responses to 106 written parliamentary questions on notice: nine from the House of Representatives and 97 from the Senate.

We also answered 806 questions submitted in writing or taken on notice during Senate Estimates hearings—169 more than in the previous year.

High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, Ross Tysoe AO (left), and Deputy High Commissioner, Leona Landers (right), accompany Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bronwyn Bishop (third left), as she meets with Republic of Trinidad and Tobago President, HE Anthony Carmona SC ORTT (third right), President of the Senate, Timothy Hamel-Smith (second left), and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Wade Mark, Port of Spain, 5 April 2014. [DFAT]

Parliamentary travel

We assisted 49 federal parliamentarians to travel to 38 countries, including parliamentary delegation visits to nine countries. We recommended visit programs, scheduled appointments with relevant officials and provided written and oral background briefings on foreign, trade and development policy. We also assisted four former Prime Ministers with 25 visits to 18 countries.

Incoming delegations

We provided the presiding officers with briefings in preparation for their meetings with visiting parliamentarians and officials from nine countries.

Parliamentary committees

The department briefed and appeared before a range of parliamentary committees as outlined in Appendix 6. (See also Section 3.)

In accordance with section 63 of the Public Service Act 1999 and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Requirements for Annual Reports, as approved on behalf of the Parliament by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit on 29 May 2014, the department tabled its 2012–13 Annual Report on 30 October 2013. The online report, available at www.dfat.gov.au/dept/annual_reports/12_13/, received a silver award from the Institute of Public Administration Australia (Canberra).

Services to attached agencies overseas

We provided financial, human resources and property management services, on a cost-recovery basis, to 26 government departments and agencies with overseas representation, and to the New Zealand Government.

From 1 July 2013, all signatories to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) were responsible for meeting the utility and cleaning costs associated with their allocated floor space in overseas chanceries. The SLA sets out the obligations of the department and other agencies for management services and determines service delivery standards in the areas of financial, human resources and property management for Australia-based employees and locally engaged staff at posts managed by the department. Feedback from clients on our SLA implementation was positive.

We provided ICT services to over 45 agencies in Australia and overseas and payroll services to 13 agencies overseas. (See Appendix 10.)

Services to state governments and other agencies overseas and in Australia

The department worked closely with other Australian Government agencies providing briefing, policy advice and logistical support for their international work. This included the management of visit programs, participation in negotiations led by other agencies and support for Australian officials meeting with foreign counterparts.

Through our overseas network and state and territory offices (STOs), the department played a key role supporting visits by ministers, parliamentarians and officials from federal, state and territory jurisdictions. STOs were also a direct liaison point between the department and state and territory government on Australian foreign and trade policy issues.

Staff Profile

Simon Stringer

Deputy State Director, Perth

I joined the department as a policy graduate in 2005 and have worked on free trade agreement negotiations, arms control and counter-proliferation issues, and trade/economic development agendas in the Iraq Taskforce. I have been posted to Poland and have undertaken short term missions in China, United Arab Emirates and Iran—quite a range of undertakings over such a short period.

I work as Deputy Director of the WA State Office, which is quite different to my experience in Canberra and at post. Work here requires more direct interaction with business, education, and non-government communities, and the state and local governments. During my 2.5 years here, the office has assisted with the hosting of numerous high-level meetings/events, including CHOGM, AUSMIN, AUKMIN, IORA and the annual Africa Down Under (ADU) mining conferences.

Working on these meetings has been both challenging and rewarding. For example, last year’s ADU Conference was attended by nine African mining ministers, many senior African government officials and seven Australian heads of missions, as well as over 2000 delegates and 160 exhibitors. I was responsible for coordinating the department’s liaison team whose role, in conjunction with Austrade, was to assist African ministers and senior officials in engaging with Australian companies. I felt this was a particularly good example of the different agencies within the portfolio coordinating to achieve trade outcomes.

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Team Profile

Joint Agency Coordination Centre Team

In March 2014, the department seconded a team of officers to the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) in Perth, which was established following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 to coordinate the Government’s support for the international search. The team included Julienne Hince, David Crisante, Claire Murray, Courtney Hoogen and Silai Zaki.

As one of the first agencies on the ground, the team drew on the department’s international crisis expertise to assist establishing clear operating protocols, including diplomatic liaison with those nations affected by MH370, and to progress contingency planning in response to possible search outcomes.

With support from Canberra, our Western Australian state office and overseas posts, they led JACC’s engagement with foreign government representatives from the eleven affected nations. Working in conjunction with consular officers in Canberra, the team also ensured consular support was provided to the families of the six Australian passengers.

JACC was the subject of intense international media and public scrutiny, fielding hundreds of enquiries each day. The department’s media officers provided expertise and support for the team’s engagement with domestic and international media, responses to public enquiries and whole-of-government communication.

International and domestic media being updated on efforts to locate missing flight MH370 by JACC Chief Coordinator, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston AC AFC (Ret’d), and Minister for Defence, Senator David Johnston (back centre), Pearce, April 2014. [Department of Defence]

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Services to business

Trade policy coordination, business liaison and state and territory offices

The department worked with Austrade to provide Australian companies with advice on the international business environment and market access opportunities.

STOs facilitated consultations with state and territory governments, industry, non-government organisations and tertiary institutions on a wide range of issues affecting Australia’s economic and trade interests, for example:

• The Darwin office promoted opportunities for Australian business in Singapore through a presentation to representatives from the financial, agricultural, technology, and energy sectors.
• The Melbourne office organised two tours to regional Victoria for the consular corps to demonstrate the sophistication of the state’s manufacturing, tourism and agribusiness.
• The Perth office worked with Protocol Branch on the visit by the Canberra diplomatic corps to Western Australia in May 2014 (see, 1.1(13)).
• The Hobart office supported the Tasmanian Premier’s trade mission to Indonesia, Hong Kong, China and Japan, which included the signing of an Antarctic gateway MOU between the Tasmanian Government and China’s State Oceanic Administration.
• To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Australia–ASEAN relations, the Adelaide office supported the South Australian Government and the Council for International Trade and Commerce South Australia to host an event on opportunities for Australian business in ASEAN.
• In June 2014, the Brisbane office supported a Queensland–Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry business delegation to Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, comprised of small and medium enterprises in the services industry.
• In May 2014, the Hobart office hosted Elizabeth O’Neill Award winner, Ms Fitria Sofyani (a senior Features Editor with Marie Claire Indonesia), for three days. (See also 1.1(14).)
• The Sydney office worked with the state government to support two visits to regional NSW for the consular corps and organised sectoral specific visits to CSIRO, ANSTO and SBS to promote Australian excellence in science, technology and multicultural broadcasting.

Trade statistics

The department provided high quality public information on Australia’s trade relationships with other countries through country fact sheets, trade statistics publications and time series trade data. The department produced a new statistical publication on the G20, and launched an interactive trade data website—‘Australia’s Trade at a Glance’ http://dfat.gov.au/trade/australias-trade-at-a-glance/.

Outlook

The department will maintain a high standard of service to the Parliament and support the efforts of federal parliamentarians, parliamentary delegations and committees to advance Australia’s interests overseas. Assisting portfolio ministers and the parliamentary secretary to advance our foreign, trade and aid priorities through policy and administrative support will remain an enduring, high priority.

In line with the Government’s economic diplomacy agenda, we will continue to enhance our engagement with state and territory governments, other agencies and the business community in Australia and overseas. This will include consultation on trade policy and investment issues.