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Corporate plan 2015–19

JULY 2015

CanberraRed Building Benjamin OfficesChan Street Belconnen ACT

PO Box 78Belconnen ACT 2616

T +61 2 6219 5555F +61 2 6219 5353

MelbourneLevel 32 Melbourne Central Tower360 Elizabeth Street Melbourne VIC

PO Box 13112Law Courts Melbourne VIC 8010

T +61 3 9963 6800F +61 3 9963 6899

SydneyLevel 5 The Bay Centre65 Pirrama Road Pyrmont NSW

PO Box Q500Queen Victoria Building NSW 1230

T +61 2 9334 7700 or 1800 226 667F +61 2 9334 7799

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1. IntroductionFrom the Chair 1

2. PurposeThe ACMA’s mandate, purpose and standard 3The ACMA brand values 3

3. EnvironmentThe media and communications environment 5The resourcing environment 6

4. PerformanceRegulator Performance Framework 7Key Result Areas 7

5. CapabilityWorkforce planning 17Capital investment strategy 18ICT capability 19

6. Risk oversight and managementACMA Risk Management Framework 21

7. Feedback

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1. Introduction From the Chair I, Chris Chapman, the accountable authority for the Australian Communications and Media Authority, present this corporate plan, which has been prepared consistent with paragraph 35(1) (b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and section 56 of the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005. The plan is prepared in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 and is prepared for the 2015–16 reporting period. The reporting periods of the plan’s coverage is four years, spanning 2015–16 to 2018–19.

The ACMA’s mandate under its various appropriations is to deliver a communications and media environment that balances the needs of industry and the Australian community through information, advice and, where necessary, through regulation. The Federal Parliament has also charged the ACMA with a wide variety of functions in relation to the communications and media services available to Australians. The ACMA’s mandate needs to be interpreted in light of the dynamic environment of change in which we are regulating.

Our stated intention is to make communications and media work in Australia’s public interest. In discharging our various roles and functions as a proportionate and risk-based, evidence-informed regulator, we always first look to communicate and facilitate, but when circumstances require, we will, of course, regulate.

In 2012–13, the ACMA formally committed itself to casting its corporate plan in terms of public interest ‘outcomes’, rather than in the more traditional ‘outputs’ way. Work on refining the measurement for outcomes continues, now taking into account the government’s recently introduced Regulator Performance Framework.

The plan has been developed within an Integrated Business Planning Framework, which has provided a holistic approach, linking strategic planning and operational planning (division, branch and section) with internal financial, research, communications and infrastructure planning. As our deliverables and strategies cascade down through subordinate plans, our data and performance metrics will form our key performance indicators (KPIs) expressed in this corporate plan. This in turn will bring us closer to a key aspiration of strategic management, whereby any individual within the ACMA will be able to link the day-to-day work they do with relevant division and branch plans, and to understand those linkages in the context of this over-arching corporate plan.

In the preparation of this four-year plan, the ACMA has reviewed its current KPIs and further integrated the ACMA’s financial reporting and business planning processes into corporate planning and reporting

The ACMA has for quite some time also explored a flexible approach to performance measurement, supplementing our quantitative outcome measures with a qualitative assessment, which reflects the breadth, diversity, and at times, unique nature of the ACMA’s work.

This assessment is in the shape of the ACMA Meeting Our Standard narrative and associated portfolio of case studies and activities, which has been published in successive iterations since 2011. It evaluates the ACMA performance against the abovementioned formally expressed strategic intent of the organisation (to make communications and media work in Australia’s public interest).

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The ACMA is required to prepare and submit, on an annual basis, a corporate plan to the Minister, and has done so regularly. So we have readily engaged with an enhanced whole-of-government focus on planning objectives and reporting on the achievement of outcomes. We pursue these objectives and outcomes in the context of a dynamic environment, with the ultimate goal of promoting the public interest in media and communications.

Chris ChapmanChairman

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2. PurposeThe ACMA’s mandate, purpose and standardThe ACMA, a statutory authority within the federal government portfolio of Communications, operates as a non-corporate Commonwealth entity subject to the requirements of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

The regulatory functions of the ACMA are set out in the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005. The ACMA is responsible for the regulation of broadcasting, radiocommunications, telecommunications and online content in accordance with:> the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 > the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 > the Radiocommunications Act 1992 > the Telecommunications Act 1997 > other related legislation, including the:

> Do Not Call Register Act 2006 > Spam Act 2003 > Interactive Gambling Act 2001 > Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999> Telecommunications (Industry Levy) Act 2012.

The ACMA’s mandate is to deliver a communications and media environment that balances the needs of the industry and the Australian community through regulation, education and advice.

The ACMA’s purpose is making communications and media work in Australia’s public interest.

The standard against which the ACMA seeks to measure itself is to be, and to be recognised as, a world-leading, best-practice converged communications regulator.

Engaging industry and consumer stakeholders using the construct of communication, facilitation, and then regulation if necessary, we deliver outcomes that are transparent, coherent and consistent.

One of only a handful of converged regulators around the world, the ACMA strives to remain agile and relevant at a time when many new, unexpected challenges are arising in the communications and media environment.

The ACMA brand valuesThe ACMA brand symbolises and reinforces the unifying concept of convergence amongst the four traditional spheres of telecommunications, broadcasting, radiocommunications and online services. The message for our stakeholders is that we are embracing this dynamic environment and implementing innovative responses to emerging issues through our five key brand values:> Informed—to be, and to be seen as, literate in new technologies, industry trends

and regulatory developments. The ACMA continues to build and maintain an up-to-date, relevant and specialised organisational knowledge-base that underpins the ACMA's evidence-informed approach to regulation.

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> Active—to initiate projects and drive outcomes—communicating and collaborating closely with key stakeholders. The ACMA will ensure that it delivers quality products within tight time frames that are relevant and promote the organisation’s strategic direction.

> Agile—to identify and implement flexible, tailored solutions, quickly adapting to new and emerging challenges. The ACMA will continue to transform its operations to meet the needs of stakeholders in a rapidly changing communications landscape.

> Innovative—to be proactive and explore new solutions and lateral connections that sit ‘outside the square’, ensuring that ACMA decisions are wherever possible informed by ‘first principles’ reviews of options and approaches.

> Influential—to take a lead role as an aspiring thought-leader. The ACMA will continue to maintain a visible profile and seek to influence key stakeholders on major issues of interest.

Through engagement with these core values, the ACMA makes apparent its commitment to the Australian Public Service Values and Code of Conduct.

The ACMA’s mandate, purpose, standard and values are demonstrated throughout this corporate plan, providing a guide to the organisation’s delivery on its key result areas.

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3. EnvironmentThe media and communications environmentThe media and communications environment regulated by the ACMA underpins Australia’s transition to an internet-enabled economy and society. Developments in internet-enabled technologies are intensifying the pace of this transition, leading to significant structural changes occurring within communications and digital content industries, which are being matched by rapid changes in consumers’ communications and content consumption behaviours. This transition is placing particular pressures on existing regulatory frameworks designed for a pre-internet environment.

Over the life of this corporate plan, the ACMA expects further pressures in the regulatory space to arise from ongoing demand for the ACMA to facilitate access to public resources such as spectrum and telephone numbers, as Australians move to adopt 4G and 5G technologies, and to make increased use of mobile broadband, machine-to-machine communications and the internet of things.

Within the consumer and citizen environment, there is a continuing evolution of media and communications transitioning to over-the-top content and communications services. This is accompanied by strong differences emerging in consumer behaviour between different demographic segments, in particular reflecting the high take-up of new and emerging communications and content services by younger age groups. These fragmenting audiences and consumer behaviours, and changes in the nature of risks being experienced by business and citizens, pose particular challenges for regulatory design directed at uniform regulatory solutions. Internet-enabled communications and content brings many benefits to Australian business and consumers, but also introduces emerging areas of network reliability and security vulnerability, including the exposure of business and citizens to new forms of security risks such as malware threats and telemarketing scams.

In responding to these pressures in the industry and citizen environment, the ACMA expects to adopt different strategies to address emerging areas of risk or problems, and respond within the construct of communication, facilitation and, if necessary, regulation. This multi-pronged response recognises that the ACMA needs to work in conjunction with industry and citizens to maximise benefits and mitigate risks occurring from Australia’s internet-enabled transition. One response strategy is the use of better practice regulatory approaches by the ACMA to extend or repurpose regulation, or withdraw from direct regulation where there is a case to reduce regulatory burden. Another response is the use of facilitation strategies by the ACMA working with industry representative bodies to influence industry participants towards desired outcomes. A further response relies on the use of communication strategies to mitigate the risks that may occur where there are information asymmetries occurring between industry participants and consumers and citizens affected by media and communications.

Within the wider policy backdrop, the expected outcomes of the Spectrum Review will have implications for the ACMA’s forward work program and will likely require the ACMA to implement substantial changes to the spectrum management framework. Within the life of this plan, the ACMA will continue to pursue opportunities to reduce the regulatory burden on industry and citizens and to explore areas for continuous improvement identified under the Regulator Performance Framework for Commonwealth regulators.

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The resourcing environmentOver the life of the corporate plan, the ACMA will continue to manage its resources within a continuing decreasing envelope. To deploy its resources efficiently, respond to changing industry and stakeholder demands, and deliver on its legislative remit, the ACMA will use an even greater mix of strategies. Workforce planning will assist the ACMA in determining the appropriate capabilities and staff required to meet future needs. Capital investment supported by a targeted ICT investment is directed to providing a capability for industry and citizens to undertake online transactions and have a single point of contact through the ACMA’s Customer Service Centre. Underpinning this capability is a focus on smart process and smart data, to enhance the portability of skills and make better use of existing data.

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4. PerformanceThis corporate plan reflects the ACMA’s strategic vision for the next four years and is framed around five distinct strategic areas of activity, designated as Key Result Areas (KRAs). The ACMA has also identified a strong alignment between the ACMA’s strategic functions, as expressed in the plan through its Key Result Areas (KRAs) and requirements of the Regulator Performance Framework (RPF). The ACMA has incorporated elements of the RPF’s key performance indicators (KPIs) within this plan.

Regulator Performance FrameworkAs part of the government’s deregulation agenda, a new RPF was developed to measure the efficiency and effectiveness with which regulators undertake their roles, and in particular, their impact on regulated entities. This new framework comes into operation for the 2015–16 financial year. The framework encourages regulators to:> minimise the impact of regulatory burden on regulated communities> increase their transparency and accountability> focus on continuous improvement of regulatory frameworks.

The RPF consists of six key performance indicators (KPIs) that cover common core regulatory activities: > KPI 1—Regulators do not unnecessarily impede the efficient operation of regulated

entities.> KPI 2—Communication with regulated entities is clear, targeted and effective.> KPI 3—Actions undertaken by regulators are proportionate to the risk being

managed.> KPI 4—Compliance and monitoring approaches are streamlined and co-ordinated.> KPI 5—Regulators are open and transparent in their dealings with regulated

entities.> KPI 6—Regulators actively contribute to the continuous improvement of regulatory

frameworks.

The ACMA has identified a strong alignment between the RPF’s KPIs and the ACMA’s strategic functions, as expressed in the ACMA’s corporate plan through its Key Result Areas (KRAs).

Key Result AreasThe ACMA’s key functions, expressed as outcomes, are as follows> KRA 1: That the allocation and use of public resources maximise the public

value to the Australian community. > KRA 2: That national safety and security interests are appropriately

supported in the planning and delivery of communication infrastructure services.

> KRA 3: That consumer, citizen and audience safeguards are effective, reflect community standards and deliver on consumer experience.

> KRA 4: That citizens engage positively, confidently and securely in an evolving connected economy and society.

> KRA 5: That the ACMA is an increasingly resilient, agile, efficient and knowledge-based organisation.

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Each KRA is supported by a set of strategies that describe the elements of how the ACMA delivers on each KRA. Each strategy has a set of performance indicators, which are inclusive of the RPF KPIs, to allow an assessment of how well the ACMA has delivered on its legislative remit.

This corporate plan also identifies the sources of evidence that will be used to measure performance under each indicator over the life of the plan.

Figure 1 below provides a high-level mapping of the relationship between the ACMA’s KRAs and the RPFs KPIs.

Figure 1: Mapping of ACMA functions to RPF KPIs—Green indicates alignment

ACMA KRA outcome and function KPI 1 KPI 2 & 5 KPI 3 KPI 4 KPI 6

KRA 1: That the allocation and use of public resources maximises the public value to the Australian community (Including licensing, numbering and interference management)

KRA 2: That national safety and security interests are appropriately supported in the planning and delivery of communication infrastructure services

KRA 3: That consumer, citizen and audience safeguards are effective, reflect community standards and deliver on consumer experience (Investigation, compliance and enforcement, and the establishment of appropriate safeguards)

KRA 4: That citizens engage positively, confidently and securely in the developing information economy and evolving networked society

KRA 5: That the ACMA remains relevant as an increasingly resilient, agile, efficient and knowledge-based organisation (regulatory reform and the provision of advice and information through reporting, research and stakeholder engagement)

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KRA 1: That the allocation and use of public resources maximises the public value to the Australian community The ACMA is the custodian of two public assets—the radiofrequency spectrum and telephone numbers—that are critical to Australia’s future economic growth and the well-being, safety and security of its citizens. Driven in large part by the ongoing transformation of the information economy and networked society, the uses and value of particular parts of the spectrum and of particular ranges of telephone numbers are changing rapidly. Against this background, the ACMA aims to maximise the public value of these assets to the Australian community.

Strategies Key performance indicators

Menu of evidence to support KPIs

Effectively plan the radiofrequency spectrum to enable the efficient allocation of spectrum towards its highest public value use.

The ACMA facilitates allocation of spectrum to highest-value use through use of market mechanisms where appropriate.

A high proportion of available spectrum is allocated to meet demand so the productive potential of the economy is enhanced.

Adequate spectrum is allocated to organisations providing public or community services, while minimising any adverse economic impacts.

The ACMA is recognised as continually improving spectrum users’ access to public resources.

> Advice to government on improvements/reviews to regulatory frameworks.

> Percentage of licence applications/renewals completed in target time frames.

> Percentage of arrangements in place that were subject to cost-benefit review.

> Deregulatory measures achieved.

> Pricing, allocation, licensing, renewal improvements to accessing spectrum.

> Radcommunications stakeholder consultation.

Allocate and renew broadcast, telecommunications and radiocommunications licences and numbers in a timely way that minimises costs to industry, citizens and the ACMA.

The administrative cost of applying for licences and numbers is reduced.

The ACMA allocates and renews licences within planned time frames.

Client satisfaction with the ACMA’s allocation and renewal processes is high.

> Percentage of licence applications/renewals completed in statutory time frames.

> 100 per cent of non-assigned licence applications allocated within 14 days of application.

> Percentage of requested numbers allocated within target time frames.

> Transaction costs of allocation and renewal through business process improvement reduced.

> Average time taken to

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issue licences.> Stakeholder survey.> ACMA responds to

enquiries within target time frames.

Monitor and resolve interference complaints in a transparent, innovative and efficient manner.

Resolve interference complaints within target time frames.

A graduated risk-based approach to compliance and enforcement activities is applied in managing all interference risks.

Stakeholders are informed of priority compliance areas.

> Number of harmful interference events resolved within target time frames.

> Number of complaints about interference actioned within target time frames.

> Rate of reports of harmful radio interference decreases over time.

> Annual publication of compliance priorities.

Minimise the risk of unsafe telecommunications equipment and cabling by establishing and enforcing technical standards and labelling requirements.

A graduated risk-based approach to compliance and enforcement activities is applied.

Number of complaints about customer equipment and cabling reduces over time.

> Percentage of complaints/ investigations resolved within target time frames.

Manage the telephone numbering scheme to maximise flexibility, innovation and efficiency.

Numbering scheme arrangements are responsive to industry developments and consumer demand.

A sufficient supply of numbers is available for allocation.

Costs associated with the provision of the numbering function decrease as a result of improved administration and outsourcing.

> Consultation with stakeholders on changes to numbering arrangements.

> Outsourcing arrangements put in place.

> Stakeholder satisfaction with number supply

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KRA 2: That national safety and security interests are appropriately supported in the planning and delivery of communication infrastructure servicesACMA supports national safety and security interests through its allocation of spectrum and through targeted regulation of the telecommunications and internet industries, to ensure the accuracy of telephone location and identity information.



Provide appropriate support to law enforcement, emergency services and national security.

Data supplied to law enforcement, emergency services and national security agencies is highly reliable.

> Compliance and data audits on CSP compliance undertaken.

> Percentage of investigations resolved within target time frames.

Monitor and regulate the provision of emergency call services to support access for all Australians.

That ACMA determinations contribute to maintaining effective emergency call service access during the transition to an increasingly broadband-enabled environment.

Emergency service organisations and telecommunications stakeholders are supportive of approaches to improved handling of emergency calls, including better access to mobile location information.

> Consultation/review on issues of regulatory significance undertaken as appropriate.

> Satisfaction rates measured through feedback at ECSAC.

Work with federal, state and territory government users to transition to a harmonised government spectrum within the 400 MHz band.

Implement harmonised government spectrum in accordance with key milestones in the 400 MHz Plan.

Reduced congestion within the 400 MHz band.

> Key project milestones met.

> Increased ability to issue licenses in the 400 MHZ band over time.

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KRA 3: That consumer, citizen and audience safeguards are effective, reflect community standards and deliver on consumer experienceThe ACMA’s aim is to allow markets to innovate, and competition to flourish, and to encourage investment, by creating regulatory arrangements that are stable and predictable. Against this background, the ACMA will apply direct consumer, citizen and audience safeguard measures when necessary to underpin the functioning of an efficient market, or when industry self- or co-regulation has clearly failed to provide appropriate safeguards. When intervention is required, the ACMA will apply the lowest-cost, most effective measure to safeguard the public interest.



Work with the telecommunications industry to maintain effective telecommunications safeguards.

That telecommunications safeguards, including those associated with Australia’s new broadband network, protect the interests of citizens and small businesses who purchase or use telecommunications services.

ACMA provides support for industry and consumer information initiatives.


> Satisfaction of consumers with telecommunications services and related information.

> Number of complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

> Research to inform telecommunications safeguards.

Work with industry to maintain effective safeguards for spam, telemarketing and fax marketing.

That citizens and businesses have effective and accessible avenues of complaint and advice regarding unsolicited communications.

That the number of complaints and reports about unsolicited communications received from businesses after they have been sent informal warnings is low.

Maintain effective operation of the Do Not Call Register for citizens and businesses.


> Of all businesses that are sent an informal warning, the proportion that are the subject of further unsolicited communications complaints or reports.

> Of all businesses that are the subject of a breach finding in an investigation, the proportion that are the subject of further unsolicited communications complaints or reports.

> Research to inform spam, telemarketing and fax marketing safeguards.

> Percentage DNCR availability for industry and citizens.

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Work with broadcasters to maintain effective broadcasting safeguards that reflect community standards, including in codes of practice.

That broadcasting rules are informed by an appropriate evidence base and produce diversity in broadcasting services.

That citizens have effective and accessible avenues of complaint for broadcast content that breaches community standards.

That broadcasting providers comply with regulatory requirements to meet community standards.


> Media and ownership diversity registers are kept current, with control notifications finalised within statutory time frames.

> Broadcasting captioning exemption/target reduction order and media diversity applications assessed within statutory time frames.

> Relevant information on broadcasters’ compliance with regulatory requirements is published.

> Research to inform broadcasting safeguards.

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KRA 4: That citizens engage positively, confidently and securely in an evolving connected economy and societyThe ACMA promotes and facilitates secure interactions in the information economy. The ACMA is involved in fit-for-purpose responses in an evolving connected society and information economy. In conjunction with digital citizens and industry, the ACMA adopts a range of strategies and tools to develop solutions in a dynamic communications and content environment.



Promote secure engagement in the information economy and evolving connected society.

Provision of information to internet providers, critical infrastructure providers and other stakeholders about malware infections on their networks and related cybersecurity threats to enable them to assist citizens and small businesses to interact securely and safely with the digital networked economy.

> 100 per cent data provided to AISI members within 24 hours.

> Feedback survey of AISI members (data only every three years).

Work with the online industry to maintain effective interactive gambling safeguards.

That citizens have effective and accessible avenues of complaint for online/interactive gambling content.


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KRA 5: That the ACMA is an increasingly resilient, agile, efficient and knowledge-based organisationThe ACMA is embracing opportunities for transformation and change, deploying people and resources to meet current and emerging business needs, transforming business processes, service delivery and stakeholder engagement through an increased use of knowledge technology and social media engagement. The ACMA seeks opportunities for continuous improvement by engaging with stakeholders on the progress and evaluation of regulatory initiatives to reduce regulatory costs over time.



Enhance organisational capability through effective workforce planning and people management.

Organisational capability requirements determined.

Resource needs are defined, prioritised and managed appropriately to support the achievement of ACMA outcomes.

> Workforce Plan and Learning and Development Strategy in place and adjusted as required.

> Initiatives identified in Workforce Plan delivered on time.

> Resources managed within ACMA's funding envelope.

> No substantive breaches of key legislation or adverse audit or review findings.

> Staff survey results indicate increased levels of employee satisfaction and engagement.

Design capital investment program to maximise leverage on technologies already in place within the agency.

Capital investment program leverages off technologies currently in place.

> Quantifiable benefits (financial and non-financial) harvested from ICT investments.

Maximise use of existing ICT systems to enhance ICT capability.

Current suite of commercial off-the-shelf systems re-used, reconfigured and use extended.

Increase use of shared services.

> Reduced cost in delivering ICT business solutions.

> Reduced on-going support and maintenance costs.

Deliver effective engagement with external ACMA stakeholders.

Timely delivery of ACMA communications engagement activities.

Stakeholders are engaged with the ACMA on issues relevant to them.

> 98 per cent system uptime for client-facing systems (excluding planned outages).

> Enquiries and complaints handled in accordance with Customer service

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charter and responded to within target time frames.

> Service complaints handled in accordance with Customer service charter.

> Top 200 stakeholder survey identifies increased stakeholder satisfaction with communication and engagement activities.

Better regulation design by the continuous enhancement of regulatory design and administration of regulation.

ACMA makes best use of existing provisions and enhances regulatory settings.

Conduct research into emerging regulatory issues and challenges for the regulatory environment.

> Deregulatory achievements.

> Changes to regulatory settings that reduce costs and improve effectiveness of regulation over time.

> Advice to government on improvements/reviews to regulatory frameworks.

> Research published to inform stakeholders.

Better regulation administration by adopting processes and practices that minimise the regulatory burden on industry and citizens and use risk-based assessment for regulatory practice.

Cost to industry of complying with regulations reduces over time.

ACMA implements business process improvements.

> Percentage of OBPR compliant preliminary assessments and RIS’ conducted for implementation/changes to regulation.

> Deregulatory initiatives.> Stakeholder satisfaction.

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5. Capability Workforce planningThe ACMA’s workforce plan sets out strategies to ensure that the ACMA workforce has the capabilities and skill sets required to deliver against the agency’s mandate, within the context of a changing environment and an expected decline in appropriation funding.

The ACMA faces a challenging operating environment. Most notably, it faces a constrained budget outlook as well as increasing stakeholder scrutiny and expectation as digital technologies drive significant shifts in the media and communications sector.

Workforce analysis highlights many workforce strengths for the agency. These include a highly skilled and professionalised workforce, good gender balance and an average age of 44, which means that the Australia-wide trend of an ageing workforce will not have a broad immediate impact on our agency staff numbers or cause significant loss of corporate knowledge. Including APS service, our staff tenure is solid with an average of 13.5 years and an average overall turnover rate of 9.3 per cent.

Workforce planning enables us to determine which job families and job roles may require additional attraction and retention strategies to meet our business priorities. Workforce analysis helps with this identification by considering the impact of a range of factors on job families and job roles and enabling the identification of business critical roles (roles where a vacancy will have a significant tangible impact on the ability of the agency to meet its strategic priorities). The factors considered include: > number of positions in the agency (internal supply)> difficulty to recruit (external supply) > time it takes to achieve full competency (level of specialisation) > voluntary turnover > age demographic, including number and percentage aged 55 and over.

Applying these factors in the context of our business priorities indicates that the agency faces particular challenges in the ICT and engineering and technical job families, and these challenges are likely to increase into the future.

We also need a strategic view of our learning and development needs. The 2015–18 Learning and Development Strategy will help ensure that the agency focuses its learning and development activities on those capabilities considered strategically important. The strategy aims to establish a learning culture to facilitate personal development and enable the agency to achieve its goals. Those capabilities already identified as strategically important by the agency are listed below—work is underway or planned to ensure we have access to these capabilities: > ICT > engineering and technical > leadership > change management > project management.

During this reporting period, we will review and update our existing workforce plan to ensure that we focus our efforts on maintaining capability in an affordable manner to meet our responsibilities.

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The focuses of our workforce planning during the reporting period will be on two key areas:1. Workforce affordability and agility—so we have the right numbers of suitably

skilled and affordable staff and can use them flexibly in response to changing priorities or circumstances. > As part of the three-year budget process and discussions around longer-term

resourcing of the agency's strategic priorities, develop more granular estimates of likely affordable staffing numbers by division, by strategic priority, and by job family and job role.

> Use these more granular estimates to continue to use and refine the agency's agility processes to manage to affordable and appropriately skilled staffing levels.

> Implement options to further enable internal job agility and to manage agency-wide 'surge' or 'swing' capacity.

2. Agency capability—to build agency-wide capability so that our staff have the skills to deal with the agency’s rapidly changing, challenging and sometimes uncertain environment.> Continue to implement strategies to build agency capability in those areas

considered critical: ICT, engineering and technical, leadership, change management and project management.

> Implement the Learning and Development Strategy 2015–18 and start using this to focus activity and resources to provide quality and relevant learning aligned to performance outcomes.

Capital investment strategyThe ACMA’s capital investment program covers ICT, technical equipment and the property portfolios. The ACMA considers all capital investment decisions on a return on investment and continuation of capacity basis.

The ACMA’s ICT capital investment strategy is designed to leverage off systems that the agency has already successfully deployed, rather than purchasing new technologies. The focus is on improving how we use technology already available within the agency to improve processes and the use of data, to ensure maximum value is obtained from our existing investment.

During this reporting period, the ACMA will deliver on a four-year program to replace its radiocommunications planning, licensing and allocation tool sets. This enhanced capability will deliver state-of-the-art engineering and frequency assignment tool sets and customer interfaces that will improve our overall efficiency and provide an enhanced customer experience.

Another major investment initiative that will be further progressed during the reporting period is a body of work around the ACMA’s spectrum monitoring function. The purpose of the project is to put into service new high frequency direction finding (HFDF) facilities across Australia.

The original approach for delivery of this project was to outsource for a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) HFDF system, via a request for tender process. A revised approach involving sharing with Defence was developed in late 2013 and finalised at the end of October 2014. Participation in Project Nullarbor, an upgrade to the Defence High Frequency Communications System (DHFCS), will provide the ACMA with access to four HFDF receiver sites in mainland Australia from the end of 2016.

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The ACMA’s capital investment strategy is endorsed by its Executive Group. Sound management of the ACMA’s capital investment strategy is achieved by an appropriate capital management framework and policies including the use of asset registers, capital budgeting prioritisation frameworks, time-recording and reporting.

ICT capabilityThe ACMA’s ICT capability approach is articulated in our Information and Communications Technology Strategic Plan, which itself builds on the five-year ICT transformational roadmap. The key results of the ACMA’s ICT transformation to date have been the establishment of a modern and resilient infrastructure layer, the delivery of core business improvement applications and enhanced and modern customer interaction initiatives.

Enhancement of our ICT capability occurs in the context that all new system development must be integrated with core systems and productivity tools, and that major business ICT projects must establish inter-project integration and ICT standardisation adherence plans.

The previous two ICT strategic plans have focused on implementing a resilient ICT infrastructure and a comprehensive application portfolio. The new plan will focus on improving how we use technology within the agency to maximise efficiencies in processes and the use of data.

A major focus will be on smart process and smart data. This will be achieved by re-using, configuring, combining and extending upon our suite of commercial off-the-shelf systems based enterprise products, known as the ‘stack’.

Smart process By leveraging off the ICT technology stack, we will reuse COTS applications to quickly deliver focused business solutions that provide familiar interfaces, standardised interactions and reusable processes. This enables cost-effective configuration of ICT solutions for the business, whilst providing a unified end-user experience and reducing on-going support and maintenance costs.

Smart data The ACMA has substantial data holdings and provides data to external stakeholders either via electronic raw or structured data or via refined reports. We are identifying cross-functional operational/compliance data to leverage and facilitate processes, and enable informed and knowledgeable advice to stakeholders.

We are exploring, and will continue to explore, opportunities for shared services arrangements particularly within the government environment.

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Our ICT priorities for this reporting period are to:> Maximise value from system investment

The ACMA’s focus will be on leveraging the existing hardware and software the agency has already successfully deployed, to ensure maximum value is obtained from our existing investment.

> Deliver manageable, agile projects The use of an agile project methodology (specifically ‘Scrum’ in concert with PRINCE2) has proven to be very successful for the ACMA. Based on lessons learnt from projects over the past four years, the conclusion is that projects under $1M and with a duration of less than nine months have the highest rate of delivering successful outcomes when this more flexible methodology is deployed. Over the life of this plan, the ACMA will continue to leverage off these lessons learnt, to optimise the benefits realised from ICT projects.

> Prioritise information management (IM) Over this reporting period, there will be renewed focus on IM with the newly developed information management governance framework. The purpose of the framework is to ensure that the ACMA's information management governance instruments (strategy, policy, procedures and other related documents) are aligned with the government’s requirements; and can effectively be operationalised within the ACMA.

> Train, and train again During this reporting period, the ACMA will continue to ensure more and better-directed training is provided when new technology or systems are introduced, or where existing systems are enhanced. Improved training methods are expected to result in more informed staff, thereby facilitating maximum value out of the existing investment in hardware and software. Continuing to build the ACMA’s knowledge capital will continue to improve innovation in ICT processes.

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6. Risk oversight and management

ACMA Risk Management FrameworkThe ACMA is committed to promoting a culture that is risk-aware, makes decisions based on a structured and rigorous approach to risk management, and encourages informed risk taking in support of the achievement of ACMA outcomes.

The ACMA’s Risk Management Framework sets out a system of risk oversight and management and maintains a system of internal control designed to comply with the requirements of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy and International Standard ISO 31000:2009.

The framework is comprised of six interrelated components that provide the foundation for designing, implementing, monitoring, reviewing and continually improving risk management throughout the ACMA:1. Policy and guidance—sets out the ACMA’s expectations, approach and

responsibilities for risk management.2. Strategic risk—identifies the agencies enterprise level risks.3. Division risk—identifies the risks associated with delivering on the ACMA’s

corporate plan objectives.4. Program/project risk—identifies specific risks to individual program/project

deliverables.5. Risk reporting— establishes a process through which risk is monitored and

reported regularly; and seeks to draw relationships between risks at the strategic, division and program/project level to provide a clear and holistic picture of risk.

6. Education, training and continuous improvement—supports and continually refines the ACMA's risk-management practices and builds a strong culture of risk awareness.

The ACMA’s Risk Management Framework is part of its approach to integrated governance, which seeks to ensure business planning, risk management, performance measurement, assurance mechanisms and reporting structures are all aligned to agency outcomes. Included in the risk framework are the agency’s management instructions, fraud control policy, compliance policy, and business continuity procedures.

The framework is underpinned by a number of governance arrangements that provide assurance and a consistent approach to risk management across the agency. The Committees with risk oversight include:> the Executive Group, who have regular visibility of risks associated with the

ACMA’s corporate plan objectives> the Audit Committee, who monitor the agency’s risk management framework and

its fraud risks and business continuity arrangements> the Strategic Finance Committee, with oversight of finance risk.

Our Risk Management Framework ensures that changing environmental factors are suitably considered in the evaluation of risks, and that robust control testing is applied to provide a higher degree of assurance that the risk is well-managed and that the ACMA is on track to deliver on its objectives.

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In this reporting period, the ACMA will continue its focus on integrated governance and look at improvement strategies for building risk-management capability within the agency.

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7. FeedbackThe ACMA welcomes feedback on the Corporate plan 2015–19. Please email us at [email protected].

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mailto:[email protected]

introduction - acma.gov.au · web viewthe use of an agile project methodology (specifically...

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