Annual Report 2001-02: Output Group 2

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Output 2.1 - Social Policy

Qualitative assessment
Key results

Output 2.1 Social Policy	Performance indicators
Policy development and advice to government on social policy issues, including health, community services, education, employment, immigration, indigenous policy, income support and families, including for presentation of the Government's decisions in these areas.	Quality: The degree of satisfaction of the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's Office and the departmental Executive, as expressed through formal and informal feedback mechanisms, with the quality and timeliness of policy advice and the achievement of key tasks. Cost of Outputs - $5.0m

Qualitative assessment

Methodology

During 2001-02, the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's Office, the Secretary and the departmental Executive provided regular feedback on Output 2.1. Feedback was provided through regular meetings and formal discussions. Formal individual performance reviews in the context of the department's performance appraisal framework provided further feedback.

Feedback

Output 2.1 was assessed as having provided effective and timely advice, briefing and support on health, community services, income support, immigration, indigenous, education, families, and employment policy issues.

Key results

The Social Policy Division continued to focus on key outputs and outcomes, particularly in relation to unauthorised arrivals, developments in human cloning and research involving embryos, continuing welfare reform, early childhood issues and indigenous policy initiatives arising from the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting held in 2002. The division participated in many issue-specific task forces and made significant contributions to the development of interdepartmental, cross-sectoral collaborative processes.

The division manages its outputs through the following four branches, the key results of which are outlined below:

Health and Community Services Branch
Income Support Branch
Employment, Families and Indigenous Policy Branch
Education and Immigration Branch.

Health and community services policy

The Health and Community Services Branch continued its key role in the area of health policy, particularly regarding the development of policies on human cloning and research involving embryos. The branch worked closely with the Department of Health and Ageing in the lead-up to COAG and subsequent development of nationally consistent legislation to prohibit human cloning and provide a nationally consistent approach to research involving embryos, for further consideration by COAG. Other health policy issues also involved significant contributions from the branch, including assessing options for improving the pharmaceutical benefits scheme and preparing for the renegotiation of the Australian health care agreements.

We maintained our involvement in the area of community services policy, playing an important oversight role during the renegotiation of the Commonwealth-State-Territory Disability Agreement.

We also worked cooperatively with staff of other government departments and internal units of the department in developing approaches to issues regarding medical indemnity insurance.

Family and income support policy

The Families and Income Support Branch continued to provide policy advice on key social policy issues related to families, children and youth affairs. The branch assisted in the development of the Government's response to the Family Law Pathways Advisory Group's final report and provided secretariat support to the interdepartmental task force, chaired by the department, convened for this purpose. The branch also participated in a range of other interdepartmental committees such as:

committees established in the lead-up to the World Congress on Commercial and Sexual Exploitation of Children and the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children
a cross-agency task force examining childhood development, health and wellbeing strategies, with particular emphasis on early childhood intervention and prevention strategies.

The branch played a key role in the development of policy on income support issues and worked closely with the Departments of Family and Community Services and Employment and Workplace Relations in the development of the second stage of the Government's welfare reform agenda. That work focused on initiatives to recognise and improve the work capacity of people with disabilities, as announced in the 2002-03 Budget, and the development of a public discussion paper on a simplified payment system.

Social housing issues relate closely to the branch's income support work. We continued to work towards improved social housing outcomes by participating in an interdepartmental committee preparing the Commonwealth's negotiating position for the next Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement.

The branch provided policy advice and briefing to the Prime Minister's Office on issues of concern to the veteran population, including by liaising with the Department of Veterans' Affairs on budget initiatives and matters relevant to the current independent review of veterans' entitlements.

In late June 2002 responsibility for family policy was transferred from the Families and Income Support Branch to the new Employment, Families and Indigenous Policy Branch.

Employment and indigenous policy

The Employment and Indigenous Policy Branch provided advice and information to the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's Office and the departmental Executive on a broad range of issues related to indigenous affairs. This included coordinating the Commonwealth's input to a progress report on implementing the reconciliation framework agreed to by COAG in November 2000.

To underpin governments' commitment to reconciliation and to drive future work, the April 2002 COAG meeting agreed to trial a whole-of-governments cooperative approach in up to 10 communities or regions. The branch worked with state and territory governments to determine the locations and nature of those initiatives. The branch also worked with the Commonwealth task force established in the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to oversee the implementation of the initiative. The branch commenced work with the Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision, following a COAG decision to produce a regular report against key indicators of indigenous disadvantage.

The branch also provided advice and information to the Prime Minister and Prime Minister's Office on issues related to employment services, including advice on arrangements for the third Job Network contract, due to commence in 2003, and on the development of the role of the Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership.

Also of relevance to the branch's employment policy responsibilities was the secretariat support it provided to the Welfare Reform Consultative Forum, which was established in December 2000 to advise the Government on its response to the Final Report of the Reference Group on Welfare Reform, known as the McClure Report. The forum is jointly chaired by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and the Minister for Family and Community Services and consists of representatives of the welfare sector, the employment services industry, employers and government. During 2001-02 the forum provided advice to the Government on its continuing agenda for welfare reform following the release of the Australians Working Together package in the 2001-02 Budget.

Education and immigration policy

Much of the Education and Immigration Branch's focus over the period 2001-02 involved support for the Government's unauthorised boat arrivals strategy. This involved working closely with other agencies to strengthen surveillance and interception arrangements; introduce new visa arrangements for unauthorised arrivals processed offshore; and establish and operate asylum claims processing facilities offshore. Additionally the branch provided advice and briefing to the Prime Minister on strategies to build regional cooperation against people smuggling.

The branch worked closely with other areas of the department on issues concerning education, research and innovation, including the implementation and monitoring of the initiatives announced in the 2001 Backing Australia's Ability package. The branch also contributed to developing the Government's parameters for higher education reform.

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