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Annual Report 2013-2014

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Disability Access and Inclusion Plan

The Office of the Auditor General is committed to ensuring that people with disability have the same access to our services, information and facilities by implementing the strategies and initiatives identified in the Office’s Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP).

Our current DAIPis valid until 2016, however we are in the process of updating the plan to include information about how we will improve employment opportunities for people with disability to meet the outcome: People with disability have the same opportunity as others people to obtain and maintain employment with a public authority.

This process will include consulting with people with disability,their families and carers and disability organisations to provide us with the opportunity to examine our existing strategies and put new strategies into place to ensure that barriers to access and inclusion are addressed.

Our Plan ensures that people with disability, their families and carers are able to access our services and facilities, providing them with the same opportunities, rights and responsibilities enjoyed by all.

Our current plan outlines a suite of strategies to enable us to achieve six outcomes during the life of the five year plan.Our progress is reported to the Disability Services Commission annually and is presented to staff and the Executive Management Group throughout the year.

The table below shows the number of strategies planned against each outcome and the number completed (including ongoing strategies).

Table 22- Disability Access and Inclusion p115

Expenditure on advertising

In accordance with s175ZE of the Electoral Act 1907, the Office incurred the following expenditure in recruitment advertising, conducting of surveys and our contribution to the benchmarking survey of the Australasian Council of Auditors-General. The total expenditure for 2013-14 was $88 655.

Table 23- Expenditure on advertising p116

Compliance with public sector standards and ethical codes

The Office has procedures and policies in place designed to ensure compliance with public sector standards, public sector code of ethics and public sector standards in human resource management. In addition, our internal code of conduct specifies appropriate standards of employee behaviour, with direct relevance to the Office’s unique role and responsibilities. Staff members must also adhere to requirements imposed upon professional auditors.

Measures we use to inform our employees of these standards and requirements include providing information to new employees as part of the induction process, publishing the documentation on our intranet and regular information sharing sessions for all employees.

In addition, a Human Resources representative participates in our recruitment and selection processes, providing advice, support and guidance particularly in relation to the Public Sector human resource standards. Our correspondence to all applicants includes details on how to access the Public Sector Standards and all recruitment and appointment processes are independently reviewed to ensure compliance.

This year two applications for breach of standards were lodged. One of these pertained to performance management and was subsequently withdrawn, and the second related to grievance resolution and is still under review.

Further information relating to our code of conduct is on page 64 of this report and the learning and professional development section on pages 58 and 59 details the training provided to staff in this area.

Records management

In 2013, as part of our recordkeeping practices, we resubmitted our Recordkeeping Plan to the State Records Office.A significant enhancement from our previous plan was the inclusion of additional recordkeeping requirements for contracts negotiated with our outsourced service providers.

The amended Plan was approved by the State Records Commission in December 2013, who noted that:

“The Plan demonstrates significant progress towards better practice recordkeeping and compliance with the minimum requirements of SRC Standard 2: Recordkeeping Plans and SRC Standard 6: Outsourcing.”

Our plan also acknowledges our responsibility to ensure all employees are aware of their compliance responsibilities and provided with training in these areas. We achieve this through a range of tools including:

  • Requiring all employees to complete a mandatory online Recordkeeping Awareness Training program.
  • Presenting informative ‘EDRMS and general Recordkeeping Tips and Tricks’ sessions presented by Information Management staff each month at staff professional development presentations.
  • Specific graduate induction training at the commencement of each year that is specifically targeted at their role and use of the records management system.
  • Focus groups presented as required for small groups, individual business units or individual employees throughout the year.

In addition to training for all existing employees, particular focus and effort is required to inform new employees of the compliance requirements and their personal responsibilities.This is achieved through our induction process.The induction training includes

sharing information on records management policies, procedures and responsibilities, as well as training in the use of the Office’s electronic document and records management system (EDRMS).

To complement our formal instructor-led training, a new initiative this year was the development of a range of interactive online multimedia training presentations and quick reference guidebooks. Employees have indicated that both these new resources are proving to be helpful in understanding their responsibilities.

This year we have extended our Service Request Tracking software to include requests for information management and recordkeeping assistance.This software allows us to track and report on common issues across the office and this in turn assists us to determine what topics should be the focus of our whole of Office training sessions.

Increasing employees’awareness of their recordkeeping responsibilities and acceptance of our records management systems and procedures is a key deliverable of Business Services. Our comprehensive recordkeeping training program is subject to periodic reviews of its efficiency, effectiveness and currency by the professional development committee.

Our approach to records management and the efficiency and effectiveness of our recordkeeping systems was part of the Office internal audit program this year.As part of the audit, some recommendations for improvement were made which we are currently addressing.

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