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Publications
Our environmental, social and economic performance
Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2004
ISBN 0 642 55046 8
DEH contributes to the economy by providing employment, paying wages and other benefits to its employees, and sourcing goods and services from suppliers and contractors. As an Australian Government agency it differs from private enterprises in that it pays only fringe benefit tax and GST.
Australian Government and DEH purchasing guidelines require staff to consider the environmental impact of goods and services purchased and encourage suppliers to improve their environmental performance.
At present DEH does not have a robust monitoring system for ensuring that all purchasing decisions meet good environmental purchasing practice. Our goals for 2004-05 will include the development and implementation of suitable monitoring systems to address this issue.
As at 30 June 2004, DEH employed 1340 staff. Total payroll and benefit expenses for 2003-04, excluding accrued leave entitlements, was $90.6 million. These benefits included salaries and allowances, lump sums paid to staff who left the Department permanently, superannuation contributions and performance pay.
In 2003-04 DEH's total expenditure on suppliers was $41.4 million. Table 5 provides a breakdown of expenditure by the Department's major business reporting categories.
Of the $41.4 million spent on suppliers in 2003-04, some 58% was accounted for by goods and services provided to the Department by 10 providers. Figure 9 shows those providers and the amount paid to each.
| Category | Expenditure ($ million) |
|---|---|
| Consultants and other professional services | 11 |
| Information services (ICT) | 8.8 |
| Property | 8.7 |
| Travel | 4.1 |
| Office services | 2.3 |
| Furniture and equipment | 1.3 |
| Legal services | 1.1 |
| Public relations and provision of public information | 0.9 |
| Recruitment and professional development | 0.9 |
| Transport | 0.8 |
| Insurance | 0.8 |
| Conference/workshops | 0.5 |
Figure 9: Top 10 suppliers
In July 2003, the Government decided that Australian Government departments should work towards allocating a minimum of 10% of their Canberra-Sydney business air travel to smaller airlines. By 30 June 2004, DEH had exceeded that objective, having allocated 23.1% of its Canberra-Sydney air travel to smaller airlines.
The Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 includes specific time requirements for paying small businesses. The Act requires Australian Government agencies to pay invoices of up to $5 million from small businesses within 30 days, subject to the goods or services having been accepted by the agency.
The percentage of invoices from all suppliers paid within agreed terms and within 30 days of receipts by DEH in 2003-04 (excluding the Australian Antarctic Division) was 90.09%. This outcome exceeds the Australian Government's target of 90% of payments to be made within 30 days.
DEH has two main mechanisms for ensuring that environmental issues are considered during procurement processes. Our Chief Executive's Instructions require all staff to consult and use the Australian Government's Environmental Purchasing Guide when they are procuring goods or services. This guide is supported by DEH's internal purchasing guidelines, available to all staff. The internal guidelines require staff involved in purchasing decisions to:
At present, however, DEH does not have an effective monitoring system to ensure that staff are always referring to, and applying, the appropriate guidelines during the purchasing process, or that the goods and services purchased are ones that have the least adverse environmental impact.
By the end of 2004-05: