C O R P O R A T E P L A N 2 0 1 7 – 1 8

D E P A R T M EN T O F T H E EN V IR O N M EN T A N D EN E R G Y C O R P O R A T E P L A N 2 0 1 7 – 1 8

C O R P O R A T E P L A N 2 0 1 7 – 1 8

Department of the

Environment and Energy

Corporate Plan 2017–18

Address: John Gorton Building King Edward Terrace Parkes ACT 2600 Australia Mail: GPO Box 787

Canberra ACT 2601 Australia

Internet: www.environment.gov.au Phone: 02 6274 1111

+61 2 6274 1111 (international) Fax: 02 6274 1666

+61 2 6274 1666 (international)

© Commonwealth of Australia, 2017.

The Department of the Environment and Energy Corporate Plan 2017–18 is licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0 Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/au/

This report should be attributed as ‘Department of the Environment and Energy Corporate Plan 2017–18, Commonwealth of Australia 2017’.

The Commonwealth of Australia has made all reasonable efforts to identify content supplied by third parties using the following format ‘© Copyright, [name of third party]’.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment and Energy.

Cover image

Sunset over iceberg near Casey research station © Paul Endersby/Australian Antarctic Division

I, Gordon de Brouwer, as the accountable authority of the Department of the Environment and Energy, present the 2017–18 corporate plan, which covers the periods of 2017–18 to 2020–21, as required under paragraph 35(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. The corporate plan is prepared in accordance with section 16E of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014.

Table of contents

Table of contents

Message from the Secretary 1

Our purposes and activities 2

Our strategic priorities 3

Operational context 6

Operating within and beyond government 7

Acknowledging our risks and risk appetite statement 8

Capabilities 10

Preparing our workforce for the future 11

Partnering for better outcomes 13

Building a positive risk-management culture 14

Making evidence-based decisions 14

Fostering innovation 15

Continually improving our ICT and digital capabilities 16

Communicating and engaging effectively 17

Pursuing regulatory maturity 17

Measuring our performance 19

Appendix A: Our purposes and activities 22

Appendix B: Mapping the Department’s Portfolio Budget Statements 2017–18

to the Corporate Plan 2017–18 46

The Department acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them

and their cultures and to their elders both past and present.

Table of contents

Message from the Secretary

Message from the Secretary

As our primary planning document, this corporate plan sets the direction for the Department for the next four years. Significant developments since the last corporate plan—the recently released Australia State of the Environment 2016 and the Finkel review—provide an opportunity to reflect on our achievements and on how we support the Government to improve outcomes for Australia’s environment and people.

The state of the environment report confirms that our marine environment, natural and cultural heritage areas, the Antarctic environment and the air quality of our cities are in generally good condition. Our environmental watering activities are having a positive effect on water bird and fish stocks and we are seeing urban populations using energy more efficiently. But challenges remain: climate change is an ongoing pressure, invasive species, land-use change and habitat

fragmentation continue to threaten ecosystems, and we have not yet reversed the decline in threatened species and threatened ecological communities.

The Finkel review highlights the need for good energy governance and policy to

ensure energy security and reliability, access to affordable energy, and reduced emissions.

This plan builds on the progress we have made and positions us to respond to these challenges. Over the next four years, we will focus on good governance, sound evidence and strong collaboration to deliver against our full suite of responsibilities and respond to significant and emerging issues. This is reflected in our strategic priorities—they set out the most important actions we need to progress.

Information is essential in making

evidence-based decisions and in communicating to others what we do, why we do it and what it means for them.

We are most effective when we are open, clear and accurate in the information we provide, consultative in our approach, objective in our analysis and persuasive in our advice. Our new Knowledge and Technology Division will enhance our use of information, data and our underpinning information and communication technology infrastructure.

We can’t respond to the challenges alone. We need to look beyond government, to collaborate more and leverage the activities of others. We are doing this through partnerships with the community and business, co-designing regulatory approaches, data sharing, and finding better ways to deliver our services.

A diverse, strong and supported workforce will ensure we are best placed to adapt to the needs of the future work place. Through our people strategy, we are cultivating a positive leadership culture, nurturing and growing our skills, embracing the benefits of diversity and creating healthy workplaces.

The approach we take to reconciliation matters to our shared future. We are making clear progress in implementing our reconciliation action plan to ensure that we value the experience, perspectives and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We embrace diversity knowing we are stronger as an inclusive and consultative organisation.

This corporate plan reinforces the importance of our work, to us, to the Australian community, to business and to Government. All staff should see their work in this plan, and reflect it in their performance discussions.

— Dr Gordon de Brouwer

Secretary, Department of the Environment and Energy

Our purposes and activities

Our purposes and activities

We deliver major Government initiatives to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Australia’s natural resources and to maintain a competitive and reliable energy system as we transition to a lower emissions future.

We support our Minister in achieving government objectives and meeting our legislative and policy responsibilities.

We do this across four purposes that set out the high-level outcomes we seek to achieve. We will achieve these results by focusing on nine activities that are supported by the cross-cutting science, information and research activity.

‘With the right choices, policies, management and technologies, Australia has the capacity to ensure economic prosperity and meet people’s health, education, social and cultural needs, while protecting the environment for future generations.’

—Australia State of the Environment 2016: overview, independent report to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Energy (p. xiii)¹

Department’s Role

The role of the Department of the Environment and Energy is to advise on and implement environment and energy policy to support the Government in achieving a healthy environment, strong economy and thriving community now and for the future.

Purposes

Environment and Heritage

Conserve, protect and sustainably manage Australia’s biodiversity and heritage

Climate Change Develop and implement a national response to climate change

Antarctica Advance Australia’s strategic, scientific and environmental interests in the Antarctic

Energy

Support the reliable, affordable, sustainable and secure operations of energy markets.

Activities

Investing in our environment and

heritage Reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions

Antarctic science, policy and presence

Energy market reform and energy efficiency programs

Environmental watering

Regulating to protect our environment

and heritage Adapting to climate

change Energy security

Environmental health

Science, information and research

Our identity We are stewards of Australia’s natural resources and an authority on the Australian environment and energy markets.

Our people

• Our diversity

• Our leadership

• Our skills and expertise

• Our relationships

• Our collaboration

• Our contribution

• Our resilience

• Our professionalism

• Our stewardship

Further information on the Department’s performance measures and how they map to our outcomes and programs is available at Appendix A and B.

1 WJ Jackson, RM Argent, NJ Bax, GF Clark, S Coleman, ID Cresswell, KM Emmerson, K Evans, MF Hibberd, EL Johnston, MD Keywood, A Klekociuk, R Mackay, D Metcalfe, H Murphy, A Rankin A, DC Smith and B Wienecke (2017), Australia state of the environment 2016: overview, independent report to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Energy, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra, p. xiii.

Our strategic priorities

Our strategic priorities

Our strategic priorities identify areas of focus for the next 12 months and beyond. Each Deputy Secretary has provided priorities for the areas of the Department for which they are responsible, with energy and climate change presented as an integrated set of priorities. The priorities seek to capitalise on recent achievements and respond to the challenges we face in leading a national approach to reliable, affordable, sustainable and secure energy markets and as stewards of Australia’s environment.

Our climate change and energy functions include ensuring ongoing affordability, reliability and security of our electricity systems while transitioning to a low emissions economy. We do this by leading energy market reform to support investment and market outcomes in the long term interests of consumers, consistent with our Paris agreement commitments. Our climate change and energy priorities are:

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implementing the Government’s response to the Finkel review

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finalising the Government’s 2017 review of climate policy, and subsequent implementation

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improving energy productivity through the National Energy Productivity Plan

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progressing the COAG Energy Council reform program

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finalising the approach to fuel quality and vehicle and emissions standards for Australian vehicles

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supporting the development of new clean energy technologies and innovation

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strengthening Australia’s climate resilience

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supporting transition in affected communities

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progressing return to compliance with International Energy Agency stockholding obligations

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International Energy Agency reform

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engaging internationally on energy and climate issues

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reporting on greenhouse gas and energy outcomes.

Rob Heferen

Deputy Secretary, Energy Jo Evans

Deputy Secretary, Climate Change and Renewables Innovation

Our strategic priorities

Our strategy and operations functions include corporate and high-level policy support for the Department, the Department’s science and information base and the Department’s activities in Antarctica. Our strategy and operations priorities are:

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By implementing the Australian Antarctic Strategy and 20 Year Action Plan, we have a once in a generation opportunity to improve the protection and understanding of Antarctica. In addition, modernising the infrastructure on Macquarie Island will be a specific priority.

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Enabling a greater understanding of, and more effective responses to, Australia’s environmental and energy challenges through more focused application of our science, technology and data capabilities. In particular, through central involvement in whole-of-government data and digital initiatives including the Data Integration Partnership for Australia where the Department is one of the four analytic hubs.

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This corporate plan makes clear that our success in delivering the Government’s agenda for the environment and energy depends on the capability of our people and the strength of our systems. We are aiming to grow capability, including through promoting diversity, over the coming years.

Matt Cahill

Deputy Secretary (A/g), Strategy and Operations Our environment protection functions include developing policy advice,

regulating and investing to protect Australia’s environment and heritage, in a way that supports social and economic development in Australia.

Our environment protection priorities are:

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implementing our Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan, with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Government, to protect the Great Barrier Reef

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enhancing our regulatory maturity through more effective and efficient environmental regulation. In particular, we will focus on large, regional-scale strategic assessments to support the sustainable development of our cities, and natural resource and agricultural sectors

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delivering environmental water to restore and protect the Murray–Darling Basin’s rivers, wetlands and floodplains, and evaluating our effectiveness in delivering outcomes for the Basin

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investing in partnerships through the National Landcare Program to deliver on-the-ground conservation of our biodiversity, natural heritage and wetlands across Australia.

Dean Knudson Deputy Secretary, Environment Protection

Our strategic priorities

Desert flora of the Cravens Peak Reserve in Central West Queensland (© Nick Rains)

Operational context

Operational context

Once every five years, the state of the environment report provides a comprehensive and independent national assessment of the state, trends and management of Australia’s environment. Australia State of the Environment 2016, released in March 2017, provides an account of the biophysical context in which we operate, sets out the challenges we face, highlights successes, and presents a future outlook.

Similarly, Dr Finkel’s Independent review into the future security of the National Electricity Market articulates the opportunities and challenges we face on energy matters and provides recommendations for an improved energy outlook. It represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the National Electricity Market, to make it more resilient to the challenges of change, and to enable the new and better services Australians want.

Both of these reports inform our responses to our international obligations and domestic challenges.

‘During the past five years, environmental policies in Australia have had some notable success in improving the state and trends of parts of the Australian environment … There are, however, areas where the condition of the environment is poor and/or deteriorating.’

—Australia State of the Environment 2016: overview, independent report to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Energy (p. xiii) The state of the environment 2016 report tells us that our marine environment, natural and cultural heritage areas, and the air quality of our cities are all generally in good condition. This is also true for the Antarctic environment and our water management is improving biodiversity outcomes in the Murray–Darling Basin. More than 17 per cent of our land is now being managed to protect species, up from 13 per cent in 2011.

Pressures and threats remain. The main drivers of environmental change are population growth and economic activity. The main pressures facing the Australian environment remain climate change, land-use change, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and invasive species. The interaction between these and other pressures results in cumulative impacts that amplify environmental threats. We need a deeper understanding and greater capacity to identify and measure cumulative impacts.

‘Australia’s electricity system is in transition. There is no going back from the massive industrial, technological and economic changes facing our electricity system. No country is immune to the change. What distinguishes countries’ approaches to the transition is how well-prepared they are in ensuring a secure, reliable and affordable electricity system.’

—Independent review into the future security of the National Electricity Market: blueprint for the future, Commonwealth of Australia 2017 (p. 5) Our energy activities occur against a backdrop of unprecedented change. Australia’s National Electricity Market was designed for a world that was less complex than today’s, in which traditional generation (coal, gas and hydro) provided all of our energy needs.

Technology is transforming the electricity sector, and consumers are driving the change. Demand for electricity has declined, use of distributed self-generated energy has increased and electricity retail prices have risen.

These changes are occurring as we transition to a lower emissions economy.

The challenges articulated in the state of the environment 2016 report and the Finkel review are complex.

Solutions will take time, resources and partnerships. Over the next four years we will take an evidence-based and collaborative approach that capitalises on existing national frameworks to address the challenges. The integration of our energy and climate change responsibilities allows us to provide comprehensive advice to government.

‘Bringing energy and climate change functions together is achieving better outcomes for both

elements of the Department’s work.’

Operational context

Representing Australia internationally

We are the Australian Government lead for over 20 multilateral agreements, many of which provide the constitutional basis for the Department’s legislation, policy and programs. These forums were created to encourage the international community to protect the environment and support secure and reliable energy markets. Engaging in these forums alongside other governments and international organisations facilitates information exchange and helps Australia to learn and benefit from international actions to protect the environment and to advance our global energy interests.

The Australian Government is committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda address the social, economic and environmental aspects of development. The Department leads on giving effect to the goals concerning energy, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water and life on land. We support a range of other goals, including those concerning clean water and sanitation, sustainable economic growth and sustainable cities and communities. Further information on the link between these goals and the Department’s purposes and activities is in Appendix A.

Over the next four years, we will continue to be an influential and constructive adviser on environment and energy issues, advancing sustainable development both regionally and globally.

Operating within and beyond government

Our responsibilities, how and where we work, who we work with and the issues we face are diverse. Often the scope of the problems we address extends beyond our direct influence. This affects our ability to achieve our purposes.

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We have the most influence over how we conduct our work, who we engage with, how and where we allocate our resources, our approach to risk, the quality of the information and advice we provide and the policies we develop.

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We have moderate influence over how others engage with our policies, programs and regulations and the actions they take in response.

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And we are able to influence but not control broader government decisions and budgets, the economy, and the value others place on our role and our work.

The legacy of historical environmental damage and the changes already underway in the world’s climate systems cannot be undone over the period of this plan. But we can, in partnership with business, the community and other governments, respond to them.

Opportunities for us to improve the way we work and our ability to achieve our purposes in 2017–18 and for the immediate future include:

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An emphasis on partnerships—The state of the environment 2016 report, the Finkel review and the Australian Public Service transformation agenda emphasise the need for governments to work in partnership with others.

We have opportunities to work with business, non-government organisations, communities, landholders and individuals, including Indigenous Australians.

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Developments in technology—Technology is revolutionising the way information is accessed and used to support decision-making and is driving rapid shifts in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors.

Citizen science is rapidly increasing, improving environmental observations and providing information to support more effective management. Harnessing the opportunities presented by these trends requires us to invest in our technological and digital capabilities.

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Public trust—The OECD has reported that in many OECD countries, including Australia, trust in governments is diminishing. Trust in institutions is important for the success of government policies, programs and regulations that depend on the cooperation and compliance of citizens.² We can better support government policy and achieve outcomes that meet Australia’s environment and energy needs when we are a trusted source of information and advice. We are building trust by being collaborative, harnessing the expertise of others, being open and accurate in the information we provide to the public and objective in our analysis and advice.

2 http://www.oecd.org/gov/trust-in-government.htm

Operational context

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Internal governance changes—A strong internal governance structure enables an outward-facing strategic focus across the Department. We introduced four departmental governance committees in 2014 to strengthen and embed our strategic focus. We established a fifth committee, the Regulatory Maturity Committee, in 2016 to identify, advise on and promote opportunities to improve our regulatory capability and practice.

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The APS Transformation Agenda—Reshaping the Australian Public Service to be more agile, modern, connected and responsive is ongoing. As part of this transformation, we are working with the Australian Taxation Office to standardise, consolidate and automate back-office services, and with the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science’s Business Grants Hub to deliver simpler, more consistent and more efficient grants administration.

Acknowledging our risks and risk appetite statement

The Department undertakes a wide range of activities in the pursuit of better environmental and energy outcomes for Australia. Given the inherent uncertainty in our operating environment, we take a considered approach to risk management. For most of our categories of risk, we give equal regard to the pursuit of innovation and exposure to risk. We believe we can pursue opportunities presented by risks as we have solid management systems in place.

We learn from our mistakes.

The amount of risk taken across the Department depends on the context and objectives of the work.

We tolerate those risks which permit us to:

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achieve our stated purposes and activities efficiently and effectively

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comply with all applicable laws and regulations

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conduct our work in a safe and sound manner, with a particular focus on work health and safety.

An example of where we accept high residual risk to achieve an objective is our operations in extreme and remote environments. These are inherently high risk environments. Through mature and well-documented risk management procedures, we actively mitigate residual operational and work health and safety risks to tolerable levels.

Operational context

Indigenous rock art (© Cathy Zwick)

Capabilities

Capabilities

Our previous corporate plan identified six capabilities to help us better achieve our purposes and build our influence over the short to medium term. We have made progress with each of these capabilities and will continue to grow them over the next four years. We have identified two additional capabilities for 2017–18 and beyond in response to findings of the state of the environment 2016 report and the Finkel review—‘Partnering for better outcomes’

and ‘Making evidence-based decisions’.

The following diagram shows the capabilities, how they link to achieving our purposes and the three lenses through which we approach our work. These capabilities are described in the following pages.

CAPABILITIES

SUPPO RTING A STRONG ECON OMY

M EA

N IN G FU

L EN G AG EM

EN T W IT H IN DI GE NO US AU STR ALI ANS SERVIN G TH E CO MM

UN ITY IN TH E P

RE SE NT A N D

FO R T RE H E F U TU PURPOSES

Fostering innovation

Impro ving o

ur ICT a

nd Partnering for

Communicating and digita

siel capilitab

better outcomes

based decisions

engaging effectively maturity

for th e future

emaganm

ent c ulture

Pursuing regulatory Prepa

ring o

ur workforce

g a poinildBu

sitiv

e risk

Making evidence-

Environment and Heritage

Antarctica

Energy

Climate change

ROLE

Capabilities

Preparing our workforce for the future

We continue to build a productive, innovative and engaged workforce with an inclusive culture that reflects our diversity of skills, knowledge and backgrounds. We are committed to investing in our people and will identify and develop the expertise and skills we need now and into the future to deliver the Department’s purposes.

Our People Strategy 2017–2021 identifies how our workforce requirements are changing in response to broader changes in the Australian Public Service in areas such as digital technologies and the expectations of the public service. Our challenge is to improve the way we do our work, interact with technology and data, and collaborate with government, communities, business and the public. To support our workforce for the future, we will deliver initiatives under the following four pillars.

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Cultivate leadership—We expect our leaders to be influential, inclusive, respectful, accountable, innovative and collaborative.

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Nurture and grow our skills—We identify, attract and build the skills and knowledge we need now and into the future.

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Embrace the benefits of diversity—We openly value and embrace the diversity of skills, knowledge and perspectives that our people bring with them.

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Facilitate safe and healthy workplaces—We are committed to ensuring the health and safety of our people and the people who our work directly affects.

‘The Graduate program provides great exposure to the diverse areas of the Department. It is a great opportunity to develop skills and contribute to matters of national environmental significance.’

—Lani Barnes, 2016 Indigenous graduate

We recognise that a workplace that is inclusive and values people for who they are is more likely to be healthy and productive. Diversity, the things that make us different from one another, can include characteristics such as age, cultural background and ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, language and education. Diversity characteristics can also include working arrangements, location, professional skills and life experience.

We are implementing initiatives, actions and targets to achieve greater diversity and an inclusive organisational culture: we have a target of 50 per cent of women in our senior executive, flexible working arrangements are accessible to all employees, and there is gender balance on SES recruitment panels. There are staff-led networks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, those with disability or caring responsibilities, and on gender equity.

We provide our people with flexible arrangements to support their full participation in the workplace.

We have a firm commitment to engaging Indigenous people in our work through recruitment and retention, supply of goods and services, and on-ground delivery of programs and projects. Our Indigenous Employment and Capability Strategy 2016–2019 supports the recruitment, development and retention of Indigenous employees and addresses the need for a supportive and culturally inclusive work environment. In strengthening reconciliation, we acknowledge and celebrate National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week and deliver cultural awareness training to our people.

In April 2017, 5.7 per cent of the Department’s employees were of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

This is a pleasing result and reflects rising Indigenous employment in national parks in particular.

‘I have found that the Indigenous Apprenticeship Program with the Department has gifted me the confidence and courage to be able to grow and accept challenges and new experiences I would not have found in another workplace. Every day, I look forward to welcoming new challenges and viewing them from a different angle which I will be able to take into my work and personal life into the future, and for that, I can’t thank this program and the Department enough for giving me the opportunity to do so.’

—Kayla Clayton, 2017 Indigenous apprentice

Capabilities

‘Learning from the experiences of staff who get out on country and meet with Indigenous stakeholders provides invaluable lessons for how we can engage respectfully and with meaningful outcomes.’

—Briony Papps, Protected Areas and Indigenous Policy

Closing the Gap in Indigenous disadvantage

The cultures, identities and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are closely linked to and affected by the work of the Department. We understand this and are serious about our reconciliation commitment. We acknowledge our recent achievements while strengthening our commitment to reconciliation.

We recognise that the participation of Indigenous people and communities should be central to program design and delivery. We work to make our programs more physically and culturally accessible to Indigenous people and more responsive to the diversity of urban, regional and remote needs. An example is our approach to protecting places of enormous cultural importance through jointly managed parks, heritage programs and threatened species strategies.

Aligning with whole-of-government priorities, we seek to protect and enhance the cultural identity of Indigenous people and ensure their needs and aspirations are attainable in the development and outcomes of our work.

The Department’s Reconciliation Action Plan 2016–2019, launched in 2016, is central to our goal of being a leader in reconciliation.

The plan has five focus areas:

We have met or are on track to meet more than two-thirds of our targets. The number of staff undertaking cultural awareness training has doubled since the launch of the plan and with concentrated effort we can achieve the target of 50 per cent by 2018. Staff are enthusiastically adopting the acknowledgement of country at the start of meetings, which pays respect to the traditional custodians of the land.

We are developing communities of practice across the Department. Our Indigenous Engagement Network is a staff-led group that brings people from across the Department together to share what members have experienced and learned and to find efficiencies in the Department’s engagement activities.

‘We worked to make the Department’s Reconciliation Action Plan accessible, with actions which staff members could commit to, no matter how far along their own journey towards reconciliation. While it’s great to see that we are meeting many of the targets which were set out in the Plan, what I find most heartening is what I think has been a strengthening of the foundations of reconciliation in a deeper and more respectful relationship with Indigenous people. I’ve experienced it in the leadership shown by the Department’s Senior Executive, I’ve heard it in the stories told by Indigenous staff members, and I’ve seen it in the initiative of staff from across the Department to bring together an Indigenous Engagement Network to share their experiences and learnings. For me this culture and this attitude is part of what’s great about working in our Department.’

—Mark Taylor, Reconciliation Chair 2017

Capabilities

We focus on creating a workplace free from bias, stigma and discrimination that recognises the strength of a diverse workplace. In January 2017, 1.8 per cent of our staff self-identified as having a disability. We have set ourselves a target of 2.5 per cent to be reached in two years.

In late 2016, the Department’s Diversity and Disability Champion, Deputy Secretary Dean Knudson, hosted ‘five-plus- five forums’, where five staff with disability or with caring responsibilities shared their experience with five senior leaders. Their stories have given senior executive participants a personal understanding of the daily challenges and barriers to equal opportunity in our workplace. An outcome of the forums is a set of clear priority actions, informed by our staff with disability or caring responsibilities, that will make a real difference to people’s experience at work every day.

‘The five-plus-five forum was a very humbling experience. I appreciated the opportunity to share my own story. But most of all, I appreciated the honesty and openness of other participants who shared their extraordinary stories. It made me really sad to hear about how some of them hadn’t received the support they needed from their managers. I’m looking forward to the Department having better systems in place to provide support for people with disabilities so that they can contribute to their full potential.’

— Participant, five-plus-five forum

Partnering for better outcomes

We don’t and shouldn’t operate alone. A multidisciplinary, coordinated approach that brings together government, the community and business to develop effective solutions to environmental and energy challenges is fundamental to achieving our purposes. There are opportunities for this across all our work. For example, communities,

landholders and individuals are playing an increasing role in environmental management and protection.

Partnerships with Indigenous Australians are important because Indigenous capacity and participation in

management of land and sea is critical to improving environmental management outcomes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are partners in the Department’s work, and Indigenous culture is an important aspect of our natural resource management and heritage protection responsibilities.

Partnerships with industry representatives are strengthening our engagement with the regulated community.

We have partnered with the National Farmers’ Federation, for example, to build a better understanding between the Department and the agricultural sector, ensure communication is user-focused and consistent, and encourage two-way engagement.

Worldwide, government and business are increasingly working together to achieve environmental outcomes, often finding opportunities to create economic value at the same time. This is recognition of the environment as a shared asset and a shared responsibility.

Partnerships for environmental outcomes

Australia State of the Environment 2016 emphasises the need to look beyond traditional funding sources and consider where private conservation investments can help achieve positive environmental change at a larger scale. As well as expanding the pool of resources invested in managing natural capital and looking for more coordinated, flexible and efficient ways to invest, partnerships allow us to explore how we can exchange knowledge and ideas.

For many years, we have worked in partnership with different sectors to achieve goals for mutual benefit.

The Reef Trust and the Threatened Species Prospectus are two examples we are looking to build on.

The Threatened Species Prospectus, launched in February 2017, invites the business and philanthropic sectors to co-invest in conservation projects and deliver biodiversity outcomes. It includes more than

Capabilities

50 projects, valued at over $50 million, developed in consultation with zoos, state and territory governments, non-government organisations and committed community groups. Already projects have achieved their funding targets. Birdlife Australia, the Foundation for Australia’s Most Endangered Species and WWF Australia recently secured philanthropic co-investments for projects that protect south-eastern red-tailed black cockatoos, shy albatrosses and numbats.

We continue to work with volunteers, community and conservation groups, scientists, farmers, businesses and state and territory governments to achieve environmental outcomes across Australia. Our partnerships team is looking at how we can work with more people, in new and different ways, to improve the health of our environment together. This includes exploring and testing conservation financing mechanisms and partnership models.

Building a positive risk-management culture

A positive risk-management culture allows us to understand what affects our work and how we can adapt the way we work to best achieve our purposes. We want our staff to identify and mitigate risk, engage with risk and learn from mistakes. This is a matter of individual leadership, regardless of work classification.

We have a clear risk management framework that includes strategic risk assessment by the Executive Board and Portfolio Audit Committee, operational risk assessments by managers and oversight by a Chief Risk Officer.

This year we have introduced tolerance levels for each category of risk. Clearly articulated statements on risk appetite and tolerance will enable staff to make better informed decisions and better understand the expectations of the Executive Board. These statements set out how, in pursuing our objectives, we should allocate resources to keep risks within tolerable levels.

‘Good decision-makers engage with risk. By creating a positive risk culture, staff across the Department will be able to talk about risk without hesitation and learn from mistakes. They will understand when to escalate a risk, how best to document and manage it, and that embracing risks can often lead to opportunity.’

—Lucy Vincent, Chief Risk Officer

Making evidence-based decisions

Accurate and current information on the condition of Australia’s environment and energy system underpins policy development and decision-making.

Over the next four years we will focus on improving the Department’s information management, investment in research (creating and collecting data) and technology (providing access to data). Our new Knowledge and Technology Division will harness opportunities to access, use and provide data and information as a valued asset in a joined-up way and support decision-making by business and communities.

‘The new Knowledge and Technology Division aims to catalyse, link together, and build on the already impressive range of activities across the Department focused on strengthening our evidence base and enhancing the effectiveness of our communication and operations.

It will act as a focal point to support innovation and capture the opportunities available in the digital era of applying science, technology, information services and data to the Department’s responsibilities.’ 

— Beth Brunoro, First Assistant Secretary, Knowledge and Technology Division

Capabilities

An area of increasing activity for the Department is environmental-economic accounting. This is a framework for capturing and organising information on the environment, its contribution to economic activity and the impact of that economic activity on the environment. Understanding the implications of economic growth and the contribution of different economic sectors to particular environmental problems enables better analysis of environmental policy and management practices.

Environmental-economic accounting—strategy for a common national approach

Developing a full system of environmental-economic accounts is a long-term endeavour requiring ongoing commitment. In November 2016, Commonwealth, state and territory environment ministers agreed to pursue a common national approach to environmental-economic accounting. This will:

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provide for nationally consistent reporting on Australia’s environment

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create stronger links for decision-makers and the community between social, economic and environmental outcomes

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inform decision-making and environmental management decisions

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coordinate efforts and ensure efficient use of resources to build environmental-economic accounts

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ensure that environmental information is findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable by the community, business, government and other stakeholders.

We are working with state and territory governments and other stakeholders to deliver a strategy for a common national approach to environmental-economic accounts by December 2017. The strategy will provide short-, medium- and long-term action plans, with milestones, resourcing and timeframes for priority work.

This collaboration will include a national workshop and pilot work to build capability and demonstrate the value of environmental-economic accounting for decision-making.

Fostering innovation

We are committed to the Government’s innovation agenda. Building innovation capacity can help us solve problems, be more efficient, refine our interventions and respond effectively to changes in our operating environment.

Over the next four years we will continue to build a culture of innovation that engages with and accepts risk and the lessons that can be learned from failure. We will embed an evaluative mindset and encourage experimentation.

We will drive innovation through collaboration with private industry and academia. Internal and cross-government innovation networks that encourage skills development, connections between people and cross-disciplinary collaboration will be crucial in achieving this cultural change.

Fostering innovation using behavioural insights for energy efficiency

The study of behavioural insights draws on psychology, sociology and economics to understand how people actually make decisions in the real world.

The Department is applying behavioural insights principles to environment and energy policy challenges.

This includes collaborating with private sector partners and with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government. Behavioural insights theory advocates reframing conservation problems as behaviour change problems, trialling methods to better understand our stakeholders’ motivations, and reducing barriers to action to improve environmental outcomes.

The Appliance Energy Efficiency Branch and Behavioural Economics Team are working in partnership with a major online appliance retailer to test the effectiveness of a new energy rating label design. Behavioural insights research around motivation suggests that consumer understanding of the label may be improved by showing an obvious link between energy-efficient products and long-term cost savings.

Capabilities

Continually improving our ICT and digital capabilities

In 2017–18, our investment in ICT will focus on reducing operating risk, complying with legislative and whole- of-government requirements, increasing our efficiency and continuity through digitisation, increasing agility by updating desktop software, and reducing complexity for business and the community.

We will invest in ICT and digital initiatives to continue the transformation of services to:

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improve community engagement through the ‘Online Services’ portal on our website

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improve workplace productivity through efficient end-user computing for staff

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improve ICT agility through new infrastructure and cloud services

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strengthen ICT security

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further develop our enterprise architecture to consolidate and standardise operations and technology, reducing complexity and cost.

Online Services, now available through our website, provides a platform for users of the Department’s digital services to engage directly with support systems. Client management, financial management, records management, workflow management and payment management are integrated in a single, service-based framework. We will continue to introduce and improve digital services as our leading ICT priority.

We are planning our ICT sourcing arrangements to take into account the changing shape of ICT services in a digital- first and cloud-ready age. Improving our ICT capabilities will require significant investment over the next four years.

CASE STUDY

Visit https://soe.environment.gov.au/how-why/soe-digital © Department of the Environment and Energy

State of the environment goes digital

State of the environment reporting is an essential part of Australia’s environmental management. The state of the environment 2016 report delivers the best available information for researchers, managers and the general public by providing an independent assessment of the condition and trends of the Australian environment. By publishing this assessment, as well as the underlying data, it provides transparent and accurate information for decision-makers and the community.

To better communicate the report’s information to a wide audience, we have integrated three separate whole-of-government systems to form a cohesive platform, SoE Digital. SoE Digital uses the power of govCMS, data.gov.au and NationalMap to encourage discovery, use, reuse and remixing of environmental information and data. It’s a tool that makes environmental information easier to discover and easier to interpret.

SoE Digital allows users to quickly and easily understand the current state and trends of various

components of Australia’s environment. Along with high-quality narrative, it includes over 200 interactive graphs and 130 interactive maps. The data that support each map and graph are also published on the site.

SoE Digital enables users to see how effective policy decisions and management actions have been.

SoE Digital is an example of the power of improving our digital capabilities and fostering innovation.

It’s the largest, most complex site hosted by govCMS, and is actively used by the Australian public. In the first eight weeks after launch, SoE Digital had nearly 15,000 unique visitors, who spent a combined 60 days on the site. It was one of four finalists in the Digital and Data category of the 2017 Public Sector Innovation Awards.

Capabilities

Communicating and engaging effectively

Our communication and engagement with the Australian community and business is fundamental to our effectiveness. The communication mechanisms and sources of information people depend on are constantly changing. We will respond to these changes by trialling new approaches to reach wider audiences.

Social media is a powerful tool for us to connect the work we do with the community we serve. Our social media accounts are growing rapidly, with our Threatened Species Commissioner reaching more than seven million people—around one in three Australians. We will continue to look for opportunities that help Australians connect their interests with our work.

We are most effective when our advice reflects an understanding of those we work with and is sound, current, reliable and expressed in plain and simple language. Over the next four years, we will continue to consult widely and use new technologies to better engage the community.

Pursuing regulatory maturity

We are committed to continually improving our regulatory capability and delivering environment and energy outcomes through better practice regulation. Over the last 12 months we have built a solid foundation for this work. This includes establishing the Regulatory Maturity Committee and the Office of Compliance, co-designing our new regulatory framework with business and the wider community, clearly defining regulatory outcomes and performance measures, and rewriting our approach to engagement, starting with the website.

Our new regulatory framework will inform our decisions, our engagement strategy, our risk posture, and the approach we take to enforcement. It will help us communicate with our diverse community who we are, what we do and how we will engage across our regulatory spectrum.

In 2017–18, our top priorities are:

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promoting our collective identity and approach through the new regulatory framework

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continuing to improve our engagement with the regulated community, including redesigning our communications material, especially with the farming, residential development and mining sectors

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supporting and developing our regulatory staff through guidance and training based on clear job profiles

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undertaking a baseline evaluation of our regulatory performance to enable us to measure progress against our regulatory maturity outcomes.

Over the next four years our priorities continue to be:

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investing in integrated regulatory ICT and work systems that are fit for purpose and future-proofed and user centred

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ensuring consistent, predictable and risk-based regulatory decisions and behaviours aligned with the regulatory framework

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having regular and meaningful engagement with regulated entities and stakeholders, providing relevant information and seeking feedback on performance

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seeking out and applying best practice examples and improvements from other regulatory agencies as we continue to build our regulatory capability

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ensuring staff understand their responsibilities and are supported by guidance material and training aligned with a set of core regulatory capabilities.

Our regulatory maturity program builds on the strong foundation of our past and focuses on establishing ourselves as a trusted and mature regulator that delivers environmental and energy outcomes. Greater engagement and communication with the regulated community will improve clarity and certainty for businesses, and support more efficient and effective processes. We will review progress regularly, undertaking targeted consultation and course correction as needed to ensure reforms are effective and enduring and have the support of the regulated sectors, our staff and the wider community.

Capabilities

CASE STUDY

Flowering Mallee, Peniup WA (© Janine Kuehlich)

Regulatory Framework

Co-designing a regulatory framework for the Department

A central element of becoming a leading practice regulator is developing a framework that clearly describes our role in environmental and energy regulation and provides confidence in and clarity about the regulatory system. To ensure we developed a well-designed product that meets the needs of our diverse stakeholders, we undertook a co-design approach to the development of the framework.

Co-design is a collaborative process that brings together different perspectives and experiences to solve complex problems. Participants in this collaboration included:

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a core design team—a small group of people from within and outside the Department with diverse backgrounds and perspectives

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an internal reference group—experienced regulatory staff to review draft content and advise the core design team

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an external stakeholder group—primary stakeholders from across our regulatory spectrum to

‘test drive’ draft content from a user perspective and refine the product.

Co-design enabled us to work with stakeholders from across government, industry, advocacy and community groups, acknowledging their role as important players in the regulatory system rather than passive spectators or commentators. We invited participants to create and refine the content that was most useful to them, reflecting their diverse perspectives and experience.

Trialling this approach to develop a critical piece of the Department’s regulatory identity initially felt riskier than a traditional consultation process. But involving such a wide range of stakeholders from the start lowered the risk by building a shared understanding of the product early and avoiding creating something that didn’t answer people’s questions or explain their place in the regulatory system.

The process gave us confidence in the framework’s ability to meet stakeholder expectations and improve public understanding of our role in regulation. The regulatory framework outlines our commitment to being an effective, responsive and trusted regulator and will be available on the Department’s website in September 2017.

Measuring our performance

Measuring our performance

‘A learning organisation is one that acquires, creates, evaluates, and disseminates knowledge—

and uses that knowledge to improve itself—more effectively than do most organisations.

The best learning organisations tend to use both independent and participatory evaluations to build learning capacity, gather multiple perspectives on how they are doing, and keep themselves honest.’

Evaluation methodology basics: the nuts and bolts of sound evaluation, E. Jane Davidson, 2005, p. 3 We measure our performance to demonstrate our accountability to the Minister and the Government and through them to the Parliament and the Australian public. We are changing the way we do this, focusing on continuous improvement so that we become a true learning organisation. We are committed to making our performance- reporting processes more mature by using them to demonstrate progress, inform decision-making and make our interventions more effective.

We continue to review and refine our suite of performance measures, working to get the right balance between meaningful measures that we can report on annually and our pursuit of long-term environment and energy outcomes.

Appendix A sets out our performance measures and how we will measure and assess our progress against our purposes and activities.

Supporting evaluation of our work

The Department is building an evaluative culture, whereby it deliberately seeks out information on its performance and uses that information to better manage and deliver its programs and improve its performance. As part of this effort, the Department is building staff capability across all levels of the organisation, so that evaluative thinking is embedded in every aspect of the business.

—Vanessa Hood, visiting fellow (Evaluation) Evaluation supports continuous improvement in the quality and value of our activities so that they can contribute most effectively to our objectives at project, operational or departmental level. The Department is committed to evaluating its policies, programs and regulations.

To support our Evaluation Policy 2015–2020 and further develop our evaluation processes, we have an implementation plan that articulates four streams of activity: building an evaluation culture, building evaluation capability and capacity, establishing a strategic approach to evaluations, and embedding evaluation in departmental systems and processes.

During 2017–18, we will review our evaluation policy, including progress to date and whether it continues to meet the Department’s changing evaluation needs.

Measuring our performance

National Environmental Science Program—a collaborative approach to environmental and climate science for decision-making

The National Environmental Science Program is an ongoing program with a current allocation of $145 million, funding six research hubs and emerging priority projects from 2015 to 2021. It builds on the lessons from previous Australian Government spending on environmental research, particularly its immediate predecessor the National Environmental Research Program. Findings from the independent evaluation of the NERP led to improvements in program design. An example of this is the approach to engagement and participation of Indigenous people in research activities. Measures embedded in NESP support the transition from engagement of Indigenous people under NERP to meaningful partnerships under NESP. These include:

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Indigenous-specific key performance indicators developed by Indigenous people

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guidance for researchers on the Department’s expectations for Indigenous participation

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the development of Indigenous participation strategies for each research hub

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the inclusion of Indigenous people in hub governance models

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Indigenous-specific assessment of all research.

As a result, innovative collaborations and tools are being generated between Indigenous stakeholders and researchers.

Other changes resulting from the NERP evaluation include NESP’s:

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priorities being developed at the start to guide hub research. We periodically review these in response to changes in Government priorities and decision-making needs

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flexible framework that allows for incremental research approval, rather than establishing the scope of research at the start of the program, supported by flexible budget allocation

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greater emphasis on good science communication and knowledge sharing, recognising the contribution of these activities to research being adopted. Knowledge brokers and specialist communicators operate at program and research level to connect stakeholders with the research, facilitate partnerships and share science knowledge

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focus on the discoverability and accessibility of its research outputs and data. We explicitly require researchers to apply open access principles.

Feedback from the recently finalised mid-term evaluation of NESP will inform our ongoing changes to program design.

Measuring our performance

Ningaloo Marine Park © Tony Howard and Department of the Environment and Energy

Appendix A: Our purposes and activities

Appendix A: Our purposes and activities

Our purposes and activities focus on what we want to achieve, how we intend to get there and how we will measure and assess our performance. The performance measures for each activity are drawn from the 2017–18 Environment and Energy Portfolio Budget Statements.

Science, information and research

Role

Purposes

Activities

Our identity

Our People

Investing in our environment and heritage

Environmental watering

Regulating to protect our environment and heritage

Environmental health

Reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions

Adapting to climate change

Antarctic science, policy and presence

Energy security

Energy market reform and energy efficiency programs

Many of our activities align with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The goals address the social, economic and environment aspects of development. The Department leads on giving effect to five of the goals - Goal 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy; Goal 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production; Goal 13 on Climate Action; Goal 14 on Life below Water; and Goal 15 on Life on Land. The work of the Department helps give effect to many other goals. The Department’s core activities in Appendix A have been mapped to the most relevant goal or goals.

Appendix B maps our portfolio budget statement outcomes and programs to our purposes and activities.

We will report against these measures in the Department’s 2017–18 annual performance statements.

Appendix A: Our purposes and activities

PURPOSE

Conserve, protect and sustainably manage Australia’s biodiversity and heritage

ACTIVITY

Investing in our environment and heritage

Relates to PBS Outcome 1 Program 1.1

Intended result

Improve the extent, condition and connectivity of Australia’s unique biodiversity and natural resources, including the Great Barrier Reef, through protection of habitats and mitigation of threats to threatened species and ecological communities.

Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals The initiatives under this activity give effect to:

Delivery strategies

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Delivering biodiversity conservation and natural resource

management programs, including the Reef Trust, 20 Million Trees, the National Landcare Program and Improving Your Local Parks and Environment Program.

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Implementing initiatives to improve the health of the Great Barrier Reef, including the Reef 2050 Plan and Reef Water Quality Protection Plan.

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Implementing the Threatened Species Strategy and the Threatened Species Recovery Fund.

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Representing Australia’s interests at international forums on biodiversity matters and meeting obligations under international agreements.

Performance measurement and assessment

Performance criterion: Australia meets its obligations under international environmental agreements (for 2017–18 and beyond).

Targets

2017–18 2018–19 and beyond

In collaboration with the Queensland Government, by June 2018, improve the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef from broad scale land use by reducing pollutant loads in priority areas, relative to 2008–09 baseline levels.

ü

Continued implementation of the Reef 2050 Plan. Continued stakeholder engagement through the Reef 2050 Plan governance structures, including the Reef 2050 Advisory Committee and Independent Expert Panel.

ü

Reef Trust continues investment through phased investment strategies to deliver projects that address key threats to the Great Barrier Reef, with a focus on improving water quality and coastal habitats, and protecting biodiversity.

ü

Performance criterion: Australia’s biodiversity, including priority threatened species, ecological communities, cetaceans and migratory species, and significant heritage places, are identified, conserved and protected (for 2017–18 and beyond).

Targets

2017–18 2018–19 and beyond

Contracted projects to plant 20 million trees in place by June 2020. ü

Threatened Species Strategy targets are met. ü

56 regional natural resource management organisations have delivered against National Landcare Program objectives.

National Landcare Program delivers against program objectives and contracts are in place.

Improving Your Local Parks and Environment Program projects deliver against program objectives.

ü

Green Army program objectives delivered. N/A—concluding program

95 per cent of Biodiversity Fund projects substantially complete, delivering 53,800 ha of revegetation to improve vegetation condition and/or increase extent.

N/A—concluding program

Appendix A: Our purposes and activities

Assessment

To improve implementation of its natural resource management programs, the Department continues to invest in the supporting monitoring, evaluation and reporting infrastructure.

The Department’s monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement tool was developed to meet project and program reporting requirements of Australian Government natural resource management programs. It allows grant recipients to record and upload data about the progress of their projects on a continual basis and to submit reports online. It has enhanced the quality and usefulness of project reporting by linking project activities with the contribution they are making to Australia’s biodiversity conservation work. The Department works cooperatively with the Atlas of Living Australia to improve the tool’s functionality and features.

Through co-investing with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the Department can draw on biodiversity knowledge projects targeting work to further develop national monitoring, evaluation and reporting capability. These projects are improving the assessment of the impacts of natural resource management activity and investment.

To monitor the impact of programs that support the Reef 2050 Plan, the Australian Government is investing in the development of an integrated monitoring and reporting program in collaboration with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Queensland Government, and science, industry and community partners. The monitoring and reporting program monitors biophysical, heritage, water quality, and social and economic changes that affect the Reef and uses this information to adaptively manage the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The program enables us to assess the effectiveness of on-ground actions and investments to protect and restore the Reef’s values, address threats, and ensure development and use of the Reef remains ecologically sustainable.

The Department continues to enhance its capacity to target and address strategic priorities through activities to learn, improve, build on and adapt our program investment and policy tools to achieve the best outcomes in priority areas around Australia. Lessons include the findings from the 2016 review of delivery arrangements for the National Landcare Program, analysis of results from the natural resource management regional organisations’ annual self- assessments against Australian Government performance expectations, the three-year evaluation of the Green Army program, and the revision of Australia’s biodiversity conservation strategy.

The Department has invested in long-term ecological monitoring to assess the outcomes of the Environmental Stewardship Program. Eight years’ worth of data collected to date indicates that the program is generating better outcomes for the environment. A further six years of monitoring is planned. This will provide one of the most significant long-term, consistent datasets to assess the impacts of sustainable land management and biodiversity conservation.

We will use case studies to assess the effectiveness of our engagement in international forums, including our leadership in advancing Australia’s interests and negotiating outcomes that reflect Australian interests, particularly in collaboration with regional parties.

The Department will complement performance monitoring activity with process and impact evaluations at critical points during policy and program development and implementation. This will include examining the effectiveness of our partnerships in delivering against objectives.