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Annual Report 2002–03 You are currently viewing: Annual
report > Management and Accountability
Management and accountabilityManagement of human resourcesThe department continued to have in place structures, systems and procedures to provide assurance to the Clerk that the department's staff were performing efficiently, effectively and ethically. The most significant of those structures and plans and their relationships to the department's broader planning and evaluation framework are identified in Figure 7. Investors in PeopleThe department was reaccredited as meeting the Investors in People standard during the year. Investors in People is an international quality standard that sets a level of good practice for improving performance through people. The standard provides a basis for continuous improvement of both the department and its people. The key principles and indicators that comprise the standard and the accompanying Investors in People program were noted in the discussion of the department's initial accreditation in last year's annual report. The National Association of Testing Authorities Certification Services International awarded the reaccreditation in August 2002, following a comprehensive audit inspection involving an assessment of relevant human resources processes and 20 individual interviews with a representative cross-section of departmental staff. The initial accreditation required a commitment from the department to develop our leadership, communication, staff development, and planning and evaluation practices. Action was taken to strengthen and deepen that commitment during 2002–03. The annual reaccreditation assessment will next take place in August 2003. Workforce planningAs noted last year, in 2001–02 the department's Executive considered the department's future workforce requirements to identify any potential gaps between expected staffing needs at middle and senior management levels and the supply of staff to fill those positions over the subsequent five years. While no specific initiatives were undertaken in 2002–03, senior staff of the department attended workforce planning seminars conducted by the Australian Public Service Commission to monitor developments. It is expected the Executive will revisit this matter in the near future to determine whether specific action is required. Certified agreementsThe department's two certified agreements are designed to produce employment conditions that are attractive to existing and potential staff, to enable current and emerging requirements to be met and to enable the department to better serve the House and the Parliament. Administrative AgreementThe Department of the House of Representatives Certified Agreement 2002–03 (the Administrative Agreement), certified in January 2002, covers all staff in the department except SES and operational security staff. The agreement is comprehensive in that it replaced all pre-existing references to staff conditions of employment, including awards and agreements. A 4 per cent pay rise was paid to staff with effect from 1 January 2003. This followed an assessment of how well the department had met certain performance indicators set out in the agreement. The agreement has a nominal expiry date of 31 December 2003. Negotiations for a replacement agreement will commence early in the new financial year. The administrative staff salary scales (for Executive Bands 1 and 2 and Parliamentary Service (PS) Levels 1 to 6) available under the Administrative Agreement and any applicable Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) from January 2003 are set out in Table 4.
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| Classification | Salary scale $ |
|---|---|
| PSS Level 3 | 36,890–38,905 |
| PSS Levels 1–2 | 28,876–34,139 |
The Security Agreement expired on 30 June 2003. The Joint House Department, which will assume responsibility for all security staff as a result of the Podger review recommendations, began negotiations on a new agreement with staff in late 2002–03.
All SES staff continued to be covered by individual AWAs, the conditions of which were in keeping with the provisions applying to other staff under the certified agreements. The nature and amount of remuneration and conditions of service for SES staff were determined by agreement between each individual and the Clerk through the AWAs. Under arrangements outlined in their AWAs, the four SES staff shared in $33,000 in performance bonuses during the year.
A further 14 staff, below the SES level, were also covered by AWAs.
In 2002–03 salaries and allowances totalled $16.3 million ($14.1 million in 2001–02). The increase in 2002–03 reflected the changes required in security staffing arrangements.
The department's training and development expenditure as a percentage of salaries expenditure and person days spent on training in 2001–02 and 2002–03 are set out in Table 6. The average number of training days for staff decreased from 5.3 days to 4.8 days off-the-job training per person per year.
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|
| Expenditure as percentage of annual payroll | 2.7 | 2.3 |
| Average training days per person | 5.3 | 4.8 |
| Average staffing level | 222 | 225 |
The attendance of staff at training courses in 2001–02 and 2002–03 is set out in Table 7.
| Classification | Average staffing level in department 2002–03 |
Total number of training days attended by staff 2002–03 |
Average number of training days 2002–03 |
Average number of training days 2001–02 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SES | 4.1 | 26.5 | 6.5 | 7.0 |
| Executive Band 2 | 21.4 | 76.6 | 3.6 | 4.9 |
| Executive Band 1 | 38.4 | 119.1 | 3.1 | 1.8 |
| PS 6 | 21.4 | 86.7 | 4.1 | 3.5 |
| PS 5 | 6.9 | 30.1 | 4.3 | 3.0 |
| PS 4 | 14.9 | 96.4 | 6.5 | 3.8 |
| PS 3 | 31.2 | 94.6 | 3.0 | 4.5 |
| PS 2 | 35.4 | 61.1 | 1.7 | 4.3 |
| PS 1 | – | – | – | – |
| PSS 1–2 | 51.6 | 497.7 | 9.6 | 11.2 |
| Totals | 225.2 | 1,089 | 4.8 | 5.3 |
Note: Figures have been rounded.
The department conducted its fourth Leadership Survey in May 2003, following similar surveys in 1998, 1999 and 2001. The Leadership Survey was primarily designed to measure where our managers are in relation to 13 leadership skills and behaviours, as outlined in the department's Leadership Statement. Comparison of the four surveys over time delivers a valid evaluation of the effectiveness of the leadership program. The survey questionnaire asked all staff to rate their direct supervisors, their SES managers and the Clerk against the 13 leadership skills and behaviours. They were also asked to rate the importance of the factors to themselves.
The overall ratings of managers were very satisfactory, with all groups receiving an average leadership factor rating of 'high'. Since the first survey in 1998, there has been an average 28 percentage point improvement in the ratings of supervisors, overall. As an evaluation of the department's leadership development program, this indicates a strong return on investment. Responses to the survey questionnaire highlighted areas for improvement, with consistency and communication across the department being the main areas. The department plans to address these issues in the new financial year.
Specialist training for security staff included formal courses in Security Guarding (Certificates II and III) and courses on various aspects of first aid treatment.
Nineteen staff (an increase on the 16 staff who participated in 2001–02) participated in the department's Studybank scheme. They received financial assistance of $12,478 ($10,108 in 2001–02), along with some study leave on full pay.
The Clerk's Statement of Skills was reviewed during 2002–03 to reflect the department's increased emphasis on people skills, including the adoption of leadership as a core capability. The statement of skills arose from the Investors in People program and is designed to inform staff of the skills and knowledge they need to work effectively in each of the work areas of the department.
The department has developed and implemented a workplace diversity program, in accordance with section 18 of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999.
A comprehensive review of workplace diversity issues within the department was undertaken during 2002–03. This included a substantial rewrite of the workplace diversity program, streamlining the previous program with clearer objectives, strategies, actions and performance indicators related to workplace diversity.
In January 2003, all harassment contact officer positions were declared vacant and the vacancies were advertised as open to all staff. Expressions of interest were received from eight volunteers and all of them were accepted to participate in the harassment contact officer network. All contact officers received appropriate training or retraining. The Clerk launched the revised network in February 2003 and the revised workplace diversity program in May 2003, at the monthly management forums.
The department's occupational health and safety (OH&S) policy and agreement with relevant staff representatives was originally formulated in 1991 under the terms of section 74 of the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991 – the OH&S Act. The agreement was reviewed in 1996 and again in 2001. The department's policy places specific OH&S responsibilities on all managers and staff. During 2002–03 those responsibilities continued to be met.
In 2002–03 there was one dangerous occurrence requiring notification under section 68 of the OH&S Act, which involved the removal of a person from the House of Representatives Chamber by two members of the Parliamentary Security Service.
No investigations were carried out and no directions or notices were given by the department in relation to sections 30, 45, 46 or 47 of the OH&S Act.
The department's OH&S committee met twice during the year. Summaries of the meetings were made available to staff through the staff bulletin.
The number of claims for compensation was smaller than in 2001–02 and no additional OH&S issues were identified during 2002–03.
We gave additional emphasis to the training of staff in OH&S principles and the provision of appropriate OH&S documentation during the year, in response to the findings of the OH&S audit conducted by Comcare last year. Workplace assessments were conducted for all staff during the year. Table 8 illustrates the injury groups and claims incidence for the department for the past three policy periods.
| Incidence | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Injury group | Mar 2000– Feb 2001 |
Mar 2001– Feb 2002 |
Mar 2002– Feb 2003 |
| Back | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Fracture excluding back | – | – | – |
| Strain excluding back | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Open wounds | – | – | 1 |
| Contusion/crush | 1 | 1 | – |
| Other injuries | – | – | – |
| Occupational overuse syndrome | – | – | 1 |
| Stress | – | – | – |
| Other diseases | 1 | – | – |
| Totals | 9 | 7 | 5 |
Note: The department renews its OH&S policy annually in March.
Administrative staff participated in the annual cycle of the ongoing work performance management process. This entailed setting annual work and development objectives, conducting annual assessments of work performance, providing upwards feedback from staff members to their supervisors and setting individual development plans for all staff members.
The individual development plans provide important information used to develop the department's internal training program each year.
All security staff completed their third work performance assessment cycle and commenced their fourth cycle. The Joint House Department will complete the assessments for the fourth cycle over the next financial year.
The department advertised to fill 22 ongoing vacancies during 2002–03 (39 in 2001–02), eight of which were filled by internal applicants. Of the 14 successful external applicants, seven were women (in 2001–02, six of the 18 successful external applicants were women).
During the year, the Security Controller's Office recruited 10 non-ongoing staff. This recruitment replaced staff who had left to take up secondments to other parliamentary departments or had obtained permanent employment elsewhere.
In 2002–03, the department used an assessment centre process as part of two selection processes for Parliamentary Service Level 4 and Level 6 vacancies. This process involved group discussions by candidates and the completion of written exercises, together with personal interviews and referee assessments.
SES managers continued to conduct exit interviews with staff leaving the department. As we found last year, the results showed that the department did not have any significant difficulties in retaining staff. In addition, an electronic exit interview form was introduced during the year. The results indicated that the staff had been very satisfied with their conditions of service, their feelings about their job, their personal relations with others, their participation and recognition, and their opportunities for development, whilst employed by the department.
Table 23 in Appendix 10 lists the reasons staff gave for leaving in 2002 – 03.
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