Part 2—Output 1: Core Department
Performance
Deliver government commitments and Budget measures effectively
In 2007–08, the Core Department monitored progress achieved across the Human Services Portfolio in delivering policy initiatives and commitments against agreed timeframes and government expectations. This process also provided an opportunity for the agencies to identify any risks or issues arising from implementation.
The Core Department also worked with the Human Services agencies to advise the Minister of possible pressures agencies might face to ensure that government deliberations on future policy development are informed by the capacity of service delivery agencies to deliver.
In 2007–08, the Core Department’s participation in many interdepartmental committees and working groups, including on the Child Support Scheme, migration and humanitarian matters, welfare payment reform, Indigenous affairs including the Northern Territory Emergency Response, education, child protection and mental health, enabled it to fulfil one of its major roles, providing advice to government on service delivery issues.
The Core Department also provided advice to working groups on a wide range of policy and implementation issues to ensure that service delivery perspectives were included in their deliberations. Input from the Human Services Portfolio in the policy development stage of new proposals ensures that service delivery implications are considered at an early stage of new policy development.
In 2007–08, the Core Department provided comment on service delivery implications for a significant number of Cabinet submissions in the policy areas of:
- social inclusion;
- homelessness;
- immigration;
- Indigenous affairs;
- carer payment (child);
- welfare payments reform;
- removal of discrimination against same-sex couples and their children;
- housing affordability; and
- health reforms, including new listings on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Election commitments
Substantial savings were sought from the Human Services Portfolio under the ‘Savings for Labor’s better priorities’ platform.
Since the 2007 election, the Portfolio has achieved more than $1.3 billion in savings over the four years 2007–08 to 2010–11, of which $271.6 million was realised in 2007–08.
The larger part of these savings came from implementing the new Government’s election commitments, three of which were savings proposals with 2007–08 implications. These were discontinuing the Access Card Program, reversing the 2007–08 Budget measure to provide additional funding to the Portfolio Department of Human Services and discontinuing the Local Liaison Officer Program. The first two of these measures had a particular impact on the Core Department.
A further election commitment was a proposal to establish a Medicare office in Emerald, Queensland. The Medicare office will be co-located within the existing Centrelink Customer Service Centre. This was agreed to and announced in the 2008–09 Budget.
Budget strategy 2008–09
As in past years, the Core Department was responsible for coordinating the Budget process for the Human Services Portfolio. The 2008–09 Budget provided an additional $660 million to the Human Services Portfolio. The funds will be provided over four years to implement 63 measures, of which 54 were brought forward by other portfolios.
These measures included the provision of additional funding for Centrelink’s call centres, for maintaining the investment in the infrastructure established under Centrelink’s IT Refresh program and for Medicare Australia to improve access to the electronic claiming of Medicare rebates.
The 2008–09 Budget also included funding of $10 million in 2008–09 for the Core Department to facilitate work on reforming service delivery to improve customer convenience and access to services. This includes extensive analysis of options to improve the future delivery of services by the Human Services agencies. In addition, funding was provided for the ‘Fraud and compliance—assessments to verify income and assets’ Budget measure, which will enable Centrelink to undertake more reviews generated from data-matching with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Further information on these measures is set out in Drive the Job Capacity Assessment Program.
The Core Department will continue to work closely with Human Services agencies and policy departments to ensure that these new measures are implemented in a timely and effective manner.
Access Card Program
On 26 April 2006, the previous Government announced that it would introduce an Access Card, built on smartcard technology, for use in the administration and payment of health, social services and veterans’ benefits.
The aims of the Access Card Program were to:
- improve customer service and convenience;
- improve the integrity of government outlays by providing better protection for an individual’s identity and through reducing fraud by ensuring that the right people get the right services and payments; and
- increase efficiency and security through technology.
Work on the Access Card Program continued in the Department in the first half of the year. During this time, detailed business requirements (numbering in excess of 1,500 individual requirements) were completed. Functional performance specifications were also completed, as was a working prototype of the card. A geo-demographic capability was developed for mapping customer interactions and advanced business intelligence.
Following the election, the new Government discontinued the Access Card Program in line with its ‘Savings for Labor’s better priorities’ election commitment.
The new Minister, Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig, confirmed the termination of the Access Card Program formally on 24 December 2007. This decision also provided the formal authority to cease the major related procurement activities. Every effort was made to minimise further expenditure while ensuring that proper process was followed in closing the program.
Program closure process
An extensive process of program closure was adopted following the new Government’s decision. This included work on a range of areas including:
- formal notification confirming the termination of the program;
- finalisation and closure of all contracts used by the program, or responsibility for continued contract management handed over to the Department;
- the review and finalisation of all program documentation to ensure that any remaining issues, risks and outstanding actions were dealt with appropriately;
- disbanding the program team, with individuals returning to other duties within their home organisations, assigned to other duties within the Department, outposted to other agencies or moved to employment elsewhere; and
- the completion of a review to assess and evaluate the performance of the program and its management processes to identify lessons learned.
Following the election, companies involved with the Access Card Program were advised to cease working on Access Card–related activities. In December 2007 they were formally advised that the Core Department was ceasing their contracts.
At the time of the election, two major Access Card tenders were under evaluation:
- Access Card Systems Integrator; and
- Card Issuance and Management Services.
In early December 2007, tenderers were advised that continuation of the program’s procurement process was being reassessed. Tenderers were formally notified in early January 2008 that the program was closed and, as a result, the Core Department had discontinued the procurement processes. Tenderers were provided with information on their submissions through formal feedback sessions as part of the closure of the program.
In early January 2008, the Core Department formally advised Medicare Australia, Centrelink and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs of the termination of the Head Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Access Card and all subordinate MOUs with effect from 11 January 2008.
Following the closure of the Access Card Program, a total of $1.046 billion was returned to the Budget, including $242.1 million that was appropriated for the 2007–08 financial year.
Benefits
The Core Department and the participating agencies realised significant benefits from work on the Access Card Program which will prove useful in future work on service delivery reform. The Core Department gained a detailed knowledge of Human Services agencies’ systems and processes, and of agency and industry capabilities. It also developed strong relationships with service delivery stakeholders across the Australian Government, the State and Territory governments, and the health and community sectors.
In addition, the Core Department developed a common cross-agency data model and technical specifications for online transactions, and made progress in developing policies across the Human Services agencies in relation to common data and system standards. It also developed a services-oriented architecture operating model for common processes across the Human Services Portfolio.
The Core Department gained knowledge of the global smartcard industry and helped to develop international smartcard standards that could drive smartcard technology and infrastructure across Australia.
Through the Access Card Program, the Core Department improved its technology and business capability, which it will be able to apply to future service delivery initiatives and to improving the protection of customer information and addressing fraud.
Specific capabilities, skills and expertise were developed in user authentication, security, business intelligence, procurement and contract management, program design and policy formulation. This expertise has already been applied to the maintenance of, and performance improvement in, existing service delivery programs and will be of value in managing future service delivery initiatives.
The Core Department also developed a unique interactive web-based geospatial capability, known as the Geo-Demographic Interactive Simulation Tool (GIST). This tool plots the Portfolio’s service delivery footprint across the health and social services landscape. GIST currently supplies a set of rich information based on Australian Bureau of Statistics census and Portfolio agency data to provide a comprehensive picture of service delivery demand across Australia.
Service delivery reform
The 2008–09 Budget allocated $10 million to DHS to examine new opportunities for the future delivery of health and welfare services. This includes funding to develop business cases, risk assessments and implementation plans aimed at modernising and improving service delivery by Centrelink, Medicare Australia and other agencies in the Portfolio.
The reform initiatives under development focus on providing simpler and more convenient services to customers, while achieving government objectives in a more efficient and flexible manner. A series of working groups have been established to explore specific areas of reform in detail. These working groups comprise senior officers from across the Portfolio and are working to develop business cases, risk assessments and, where appropriate, proposed implementation plans.
A detailed work program has been established to develop options, including for:
- a faster, more accurate and higher quality service at the front line;
- better on-the-ground assistance to regional and Indigenous Australia and to the broader community in times of emergency;
- a greater choice in service delivery channels, including more convenient and better use of online channels, or face-to-face and telephone services if preferred;
- the convenience of being able to access multiple government services in one location through a one-stop-shop approach; and
- reduced red tape so that people do not have to provide the same information on multiple occasions.
Homelessness
The Core Department’s input into the development of the Government’s Green Paper on homelessness, Which way home? A new approach to homelessness, included consideration of the potential role that services such as the Centrepay system can play in preventing people falling behind financially. The Core Department’s input also included consideration of improving the way vulnerable customers are referred to housing and other service providers. The Human Services Portfolio will continue to work in this priority area while the Government considers community responses to the Green Paper.