Outcomes and planned performance

2.1 Outcomes and performance information

Government outcomes are the intended results, impacts or consequences of actions by the Government on the Australian community. Agencies deliver programs which are the Government actions taken to deliver the stated outcomes. Agencies are required to identify the programs which contribute to Government outcomes over the Budget and forward years.

AFMA’s outcome is described below together with its related program, specifying the performance indicators and targets used to assess and monitor the performance of AFMA in achieving government outcomes.

Outcome 1: Ecologically sustainable and economically efficient Commonwealth fisheries, through understanding and monitoring Australia’s marine living resources and regulating and monitoring commercial fishing, including domestic licensing and deterrence of illegal foreign fishing.

Outcome 1 Strategy

AFMA is pursuing ecologically sustainable and economically efficient Commonwealth fisheries by:

• applying the Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and Guidelines to Commonwealth fisheries through fishery harvest strategies
• prioritising fisheries research based on balancing catch and cost against ecological risk, and using ecological risk assessment and ecological risk management to meet AFMA’s responsibilities for environmentally sustainable fisheries
• providing incentives for voluntary compliance through simplified regulation of the commercial fishing industry, effective licensing services and promoting direct industry involvement in managing their fisheries
• deterring illegal fishing in Commonwealth fisheries through targeted enforcement based on compliance risk assessments
• deterring illegal foreign fishing in the Australian Fishing Zone by providing the fisheries focus in the Australian Government border protection arrangements, prosecuting offences and disposing of forfeited boats, gear and catches.

Outcome 1 Budgeted Expenses and Resources

Table 2.1 provides an overview of the total expenses for outcome 1 by program.

Table 2.1: Budgeted Expenses and Resources for Outcome 1

Contributions to Outcome 1

Program 1.1: Australian Fisheries Management Authority

Program objective

• Ecologically sustainable and economically efficient Commonwealth fisheries, through understanding and monitoring Australia’s marine living resources and regulating and monitoring commercial fishing, including domestic licensing and deterrence of illegal foreign fishing.
• This program has a collective focus operating through a service mechanism. The program undertakes regulating, advising/informing and protecting activities through direct service delivery.

Program expenses

AFMA program expenditure reduces by around $4.5 million between 2008–09 and 2009–10 but remains relatively stable into the forward year estimates. The main changes between 2008–09 and 2009–10 are:

• lapsing of funding related to AFMA’s foreign compliance activities
• lapsing of funding provided under the Securing our Fishing Future measure for science, data and compliance projects ($2 million in 2008–09)
• A reduction in expenditure on business improvement and information technology projects from AFMA’s cash reserves.

Program 1.1 Deliverables

AFMA aims to better understand and monitor Australia’s marine living resources relevant to AFMA managed fisheries for the long term sustainability of target and non-target species through:

• ecological risk assessment of Commonwealth commercial fishing
• identifying management responses to fishing impacts for species assessed as being at high risk from fishing.

AFMA pursues ecological sustainability and maximising the net economic returns to the Australian community from fisheries management by:

• applying the Commonwealth Harvest Strategy Policy which defines targets for pursuing precautionary, economically efficient catch levels
• conducting risk based compliance enforcement to deter illegal fishing in AFMA managed fisheries.

AFMA aims to deter illegal foreign fishing in the Australian Fishing Zone and thereby minimise its impact on Australian fisheries resources by providing the fisheries focus within the Australian Government Civil Maritime Surveillance and Response Program.

Program 1.1 Key Performance Indicators

The Commonwealth Harvest Strategy Policy and associated Guidelines provide a framework to maintain key commercial stocks at ecologically sustainable levels and maximise economic returns from fisheries management through precautionary default settings.

• AFMA, the Bureau of Rural Sciences and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics will review and test harvest strategies to assess their effectiveness at meeting the objectives of the Commonwealth Harvest Strategy Policy over 2009–2012. Progress will be reported in AFMA’s annual reports.

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