Corporate Plan
Other formats
This information is also available in the following formats:
- Corporate Plan 2008-2011
PDF [662kb]
-
Corporate Plan 2008-2011
Word [275kb]
Secretary's foreword
This Corporate Plan sets the framework for the department’s diverse activities. It shows how our daily work contributes directly to the goals and objectives of the portfolio and, more broadly, the priorities of the Australian Government.
This plan will guide us through a period of significant and exciting change as we implement the government’s priorities to position our portfolio industries for the challenges ahead.
We will build the capacity of our committed and skilled staff to address emerging strategic issues. We will maintain our economic and science infrastructure for developing and implementing evidence-based policy.
We need to be flexible and responsive in delivering the government’s policies and programs in order to advance the interests of Australia’s agriculture, food, fisheries and forestry industries in ways that protect and enhance our natural resource assets. To be effective, we also need to work cooperatively with other government agencies and build constructive relationships with portfolio industries and stakeholders.
This plan will guide our efforts in the important work to be done over the next three years and beyond.
Dr Conall O’Connell
Secretary
Who we are and how we work
Our portfolio
Our portfolio minister, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, provides the policy leadership for the broad range of portfolio activities.
We are a diverse, dispersed and responsive organisation that employs more than 4500 people across Australia and overseas. Our staff includes policy officers, quarantine officers, scientists, economists, meat inspectors, researchers, veterinary officers, program administrators, communicators and project managers.
We work in places as varied as airports, mail centres, shipping ports, laboratories and abattoirs with our people located in regional centres, rural communities, capital cities and international offices.
The agriculture, fisheries and forestry portfolio covers:
- seven departmental divisions
- the Bureau of Rural Sciences (BRS)
- the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE)
- the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS)
- Biosecurity Australia (BA), a prescribed agency
- The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC), a statutory authority
- three regulatory authorities–the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), and Wheat Exports Australia (WEA)
- seven research and development corporations–cotton, fisheries, grains, grape and wine, land and water, rural industries, and sugar.
Our values
Our departmental values direct the way we relate to our stakeholders and to each other. These are:
- Integrity - being accountable and observing sound business practices in accordance with the Public Service Act 1999 and other relevant legislation
- Respect - being sensitive to individuals’ needs and the diversity of viewpoints
- Fairness - being objective in our decision making
- Openness - being accessible and communicating clearly
- Professionalism - dealing competently with our clients and our colleagues.
Our behaviour
These values, the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct and our Client Service Charter guide our behaviour.
Our accountability and performance framework supports a culture of responsibility, leadership, planning and performance management, internal communication and corporate governance. We demonstrate how we meet our statutory requirements, especially those under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997, through routine reporting against our agreed output groups.
The work of each individual within our organisation directly contributes to the achievement of our department’s outcome.
What we do
Working in partnership across governments, nations, trading partners and industry sectors, we strive to achieve the departmental outcome:
Australian agricultural, fisheries, food and forestry industries that are based on the sustainable management of and access to natural resources, are more competitive self-reliant and innovative, have increased access to markets, are protected from diseases and are underpinned by scientific advice and economic research.
We aim to effectively and efficiently deliver our portfolio services and provide quality policy advice through our five output groups:
Sustainable management of resources – promotes resource management practices that strengthen national capacity for the sustainable use of Australia’s natural assets in a changing climate.
Productive, innovative and competitive portfolio industries – develops and implements policies and programs to encourage productive, innovative and competitive portfolio industries.
Access to markets – assists Australia’s agricultural, food, fisheries and forestry industries to be more sustainable, competitive and profitable by maintaining and improving international market access opportunities.
Managing pest and disease risk – manages the risk of exotic pests and diseases entering Australia through quarantine controls at the border and manages the impact of major pest and disease incursions on portfolio industries through effective post-border control arrangements.
Portfolio research support – provides research, analysis and tools to improve the quality of decision making by government and industry.
The challenges we face
Australia’s agriculture, food, fisheries and forestry industries operate in a dynamic and complex environment. They face a number of pressures including climate change, increased competition from overseas producers, appreciation in the value of the Australian dollar and higher input costs.
We will implement the Government’s priorities to better position portfolio industries to respond to these challenges. We will focus on responding to the impacts of climate change, increasing productivity and improving our biosecurity and quarantine system as well as maintaining and expanding international market access for Australian agrifood products.
The Government’s major agricultural policy initiatives, which aim to help the sector respond to the impacts of climate change, will equip portfolio industries with research, tools and information to adapt to and to manage the effects of climate change and the introduction of emissions trading. Increased climate variability has implications for the way we support drought–affected farmers. We will focus on a review of drought policy in order to develop an improved policy that better prepares farmers for a changing climate.
The Government’s integrated natural resource management initiatives will help land managers be more resilient to climate change and improve the productive use of our natural resources. We will work jointly with other government departments to deliver these arrangements.
The need for continuous improvement in the productivity of portfolio industries has never been greater, particularly with the increasing pressures of climate change. New policy and program initiatives aimed at boosting investment in research and innovation, increasing productivity and reducing red tape in agricultural, food, fisheries and forestry industries will be implemented.
Australia has an enviable record of protecting our primary industries and environment from pests and disease. As the movement of people and products increase around the world, our quarantine and biosecurity measures need to continually adapt to new pressures. We will implement appropriate changes arising from reviews to ensure Australia’s quarantine and biosecurity arrangements remain as vigorous as possible.
We will continue to work with industries and other government departments to achieve real reform in international agricultural markets and to increase our access to foreign markets for agriculture, fish, forest and food products. The aim is to open new markets and maintain existing ones, reduce trade distortions, remove technical market access barriers and develop international trade standards.
These challenges will require us to work collaboratively with Australian Government agencies and state and territory jurisdictions, industry organisations, the community and other stakeholders to ensure an accepted approach that delivers results.
Contact us
Copies of this plan and other publications about our national, international and regional activities, functions and services, can be obtained from:
Information Officer
Department of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry
GPO Box 858
Canberra ACT 2601
Phone - Switchboard +61 2 6272 3933
Email
Please note: This document was reviewed following the Federal Election and was updated December 2008.
If you experience any trouble accessing the above files contact Planning, Reporting and Risk Management