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Support Services

Support Services covers a range of services that are classified under the Outcome/Outputs structure as enabling activities. This includes services to the Minister, Repatriation Commission, Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and Department executive, legislative and legal services, policy and systems management, corporate services and financial resource management.

Support to the Minister, Repatriation Commission, Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and the Department executive

Legal Services

The Legal Services Group in the Department provides a wide range of legal services to the Minister, the Repatriation Commission, the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and other areas of the Portfolio (eg the Australian War Memorial). During the 2003–04 financial year, a significant legislation program was undertaken by the Government leading to the enactment by the Parliament of the following Acts:

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004

This Act provides for the rehabilitation, compensation and other entitlements for member and former members of the Australian Defence Force.

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2004

This Act provides for transitional matters in connection with the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.

Veterans' Entitlements Amendment (Clarke Review) Act 2004

This Act gives effect to the Government's response to the Clarke Review of Veterans' Entitlements. The measures include a one-off compensation payment to veteran prisoners of war interned by North Korea or their surviving widow, indexation of above general rate disability pension to take account of both CPI and MTAWE, the introduction of the new Defence Force Income Support Allowance, increased funeral benefits and increased rent assistance for certain war widows or widowers.

Veterans' Entitlements Amendment (Direct Deductions and Other Measures) Act 2004

This Act provided for a number of minor measures that will enhance services to veterans and their dependents and improve the effectiveness of the repatriation system. The measures include the introduction of direct deduction arrangements for persons receiving disability pension, an increase in the Victoria Cross Allowance, the automatic grant of Income Support Supplement to certain ex-social security recipients and minor amendments to align the veterans' entitlements income test with social security law.

Veterans' Entitlements Amendment (Electronic Delivery) Act 2004

The amendments to the VEA contained in this Act provide for the electronic communication of claims, applications and other documents to the Department.

Family and Community Services and Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (2003 Budget and Other Measures) Act 2003

This Act provided for the 2003 Budget measure to extend the income test exemption to all compensation payments to victims of National Socialist persecution regardless of the country making the payment. Previously the exemption had been limited to compensation payments from Germany and Austria.

Minor consequential amendments to the VEA were made by the Higher Education Support (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2003 and the Health and Ageing Legislation Amendment Act 2004.

There were also three further Bills that were before the Parliament for debate during the financial year but which either had not been enacted or were awaiting Royal Assent at the end of the reporting period.

Parliamentary and secretariat support

A range of secretariat and support services was provided to the Minister, the Repatriation Commission and the departmental executive. Secretariat arrangements for the new Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission were also set in place. During the year, the Repatriation Commission met on 24 occasions and the new Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission held three meetings.

Support was provided to the Minister and her staff, including general administrative support, provision of briefing material and the preparation of replies to correspondence and parliamentary questions.

Correspondence received by the Minister was registered and responses prepared. In 2003–04, 6 448 letters to the Minister were received, a decrease of 810, or 11 per cent, on 2002–03. Of the letters received, 6 379 received a formal reply. Issues that were the subject of correspondence during the year included eligibility for the Gold Card, the adequacy of benefits for those in receipt of Special Rate (TPI) pensions, issues related to the Clarke Review of Veterans' Entitlements and the new Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Scheme.

Media and communication activities

The Department's Media and Communication Section provides strategic communications advice to the Department, working closely with business areas to develop and implement communication strategies for key departmental activities.

A major undertaking for the year was the development and implementation of a communication strategy for the dedication of the new Australian War Memorial in Hyde Park Corner, London, and the associated commemorative mission of veterans and war widows. The strategy generated considerable media coverage of the veteran mission party that travelled to London to attend the dedication. Benchmarking and tracking research commissioned as part of the strategy found that it raised awareness of the new memorial and Australia's role in the two world wars.

The Section also worked closely with the Commemorations Branch on projects including:

the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice;
the award of the Legion of Honour on the 60th anniversary of D-Day to a representative group of Australian D-Day veterans; and
the promotion of the Australians at War Film Archive.

Other priorities for the Section included providing communication advice and assistance in relation to the introduction of the new Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Scheme and the response to the Clarke Review of Veterans' Entitlements.

The Department's newspaper for the veteran community, Vetaffairs, continues to showcase the Department's policies and programs. Veterans' feedback supports its value as a key communication tool.

The effectiveness of the internal staff newsletter ©dva was recognised with a commendation from the Secretary on the second anniversary of the publication in May 2004. ©dva provides staff with information about departmental initiatives and achievements and recognises the diversity and resourcefulness of staff.

During the year, more than 150 ministerial and departmental media releases were drafted as well as some 70 speeches. A list of major media releases can be found at Appendix F. All ministerial media releases and key ministerial speeches can be found on the Internet at www.dva.gov.au.

Publications and forms

The Department's Publications and Forms Unit designed and produced publications, information brochures, education resource kits and posters in support of departmental initiatives. Corporate documents included the 2002–03 Annual Report, the 2004–05 Corporate Plan and 2004–05 Risk Management Strategies, and DVA's fortnightly staff newsletter, ©dva. A complete list of the major publications produced in 2003–04 can be found at Appendix F.

A comprehensive review of DVA's national forms production and forms and publications warehousing and stock control arrangements was undertaken, resulting in 139 printed forms being discontinued or being available only online. This has achieved some savings in forms printing and warehousing costs. DVA now has some 297 forms of which 162 are available in both printed and online formats and 114 available only online.

A review of procurement and contract management processes found that, overall, these processes complied with Commonwealth and departmental guidelines. Some better practice suggestions, such as improved documentation of procurement and administrative procedures, have been adopted.

A Request For Tender was advertised in late May 2004 for services for the warehousing, fulfilment and distribution of departmental forms, publications and other products. This RFT seeks to extend contracted services to include warehousing and distribution of DVA's forms for health care providers, and an e-shopfront facility for online sales to the public. The tender evaluation will be completed in 2004–05.

Library services

The new library service, Library©dva, was brought into operation, providing online information services to all DVA staff. A new library website on the DVA Intranet provided staff with access to electronic sources of information, including external databases and online journals. Staff requests for journal articles, training, purchasing and reference services are submitted electronically on forms available on the Intranet. Work on implementing the online catalogue, the final component of Library@dva, will be completed by late 2004.

Records management

A new Records Disposal Authority (RDA) for compensation and pension-related records was approved by the National Archives of Australia (NAA), and will be implemented in 2004–05. It is expected that draft RDAs for records related to all other DVA and Repatriation Commission functions will be submitted to NAA by late 2004.

A cost-benefit analysis was undertaken in cooperation with NAA to investigate the impact on storage requirements of selectively culling short-term retention documents from DVA client files held in NAA facilities. The project found that the costs of culling far outweighed any savings that could be achieved from storage reductions.

An internal review was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the Department's records management environment, including the support and use of DVA's electronic recordkeeping system, the Integrated Document Management System (IDMS). The review report made several recommendations for better practice, including revision of the DVA Records Management Policy to include staff responsibilities for records management and the use of the IDMS development of a new communications strategy for records management and strengthening staff awareness and training programs for records management.

The Department considered the findings of the ANAO Audit Report No 7, 2003–2004: Recordkeeping in Large Commonwealth Organisations. Measures to address recommendations of the internal review and the ANAO report will be implemented in 2004–05.

Joint Strategic Records Management Project

A Defence, DVA and NAA Joint Working Party (JWP) on file storage solutions was established in May 2002 to consider the scope for joint storage arrangements for serving and ex-serving ADF members and related policy and administration records. Following initial data collection to identify current records holdings and projected growth, the JWP concluded that there was some scope for joint storage arrangements between Defence and DVA.

In 2003–04, the JWP began developing a longer-term joint records management and storage proposal and business case, with a view to putting a costed proposal to Government. Discussions on how to best achieve this process have resulted in Defence and DVA agreeing to undertake a joint review of their records repository management practices, processes and holdings and to recommend fully costed options for improved strategies ranging from continued separate repository systems to varying degrees of integration.

Records and Mail Management Project

A five-year Records and Mail Management Project (RAMMP) strategy has been developed to improve DVA's overall management and storage of its paper records and ensure sufficient storage capacity and quality to meet its records requirements over the period. The strategy also aims to position DVA for development of longer-term records management planning.

Internal consultation on the draft strategy paper commenced in late June 2004. It is expected that the Department's executive will consider the strategy later in 2004. The strategy is consistent with the findings of the JWP on file storage solutions.

Strategic and corporate planning

Corporate Plan 2004–05

DVA's Corporate Plan 2004–05 was issued with the Budget papers in May 2004. It sets out DVA's mission, vision, legislative responsibilities, business priorities and service delivery strategies for 2004–05 and outlines DVA's performance framework. It sets a context for the Department's business planning and reporting processes. The Corporate Plan is structured on the Outcomes framework and incorporates the changes arising from the new Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.

The plan was developed through structured interviews with all senior executives and consultation with a range of senior managers. One of the key issues this year was the re-alignment of business priorities with the new outcomes framework, which was negotiated through the Budget process. Consultations for the development of the 2004–05 risk profile identified issues that were also considered in developing the Corporate Plan.

Strategic Planning Forum

DVA's senior managers attended the annual Strategic Planning Forum in July 2003 in Sydney to discuss the business directions of the Department. The Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie AO RAN, addressed the group on The Changing Nature of Warfare. The agenda also included discussion of corporate directions, the new legislation, IT Strategic Plan, e-business, corporate governance and a hypothetical on leadership values and ethics.

Business improvement and project management support

Continuous improvement

Continuous improvement (CI) is a significant component of DVA's performance management strategy. It comprises two levels:

Small Step CI

Small step CI is a structured, team-based approach to change. The application of CI principles enables local work groups to identify opportunities for improving their business operations. The National Continuous Improvement Committee (NCIC) monitors the progress of small step CI. During 2003–04, business areas reported 271 activities to the NCIC.

As part of the small step CI process, the Secretary presents the National Better Practice Award twice a year to formally recognise achievement. This award seeks to encourage and reward work teams that develop innovative solutions.

During 2003–04, nine projects were nominated from six business entities. Nominations were considered by each of the Department's Deputy Commissioners and Division Heads and the CPSU representative, recommendations were made to the Secretary and awards presented to:

Improving time taken for GARP forms to be returned to CCPS claims assessors, South Australia/Northern Territory State office — November 2003; and
Improving special veterans' access to free rail travel entitlements, Compensation and Support Division, National office — May 2004.

Both these CI projects contributed significantly to DVA's culture of continuous improvement and have resulted in direct benefits to DVA clients and staff.

In addition to the formal NCIC meetings, CI representatives from across the Department held telephone conferences in September 2003 and March 2004 and participated in workshops in November 2003 and May 2004 to promote and progress small step CI activity under the stewardship of the NCIC.

Big step CI

This level focuses on major CI activity with national application and is monitored by the Executive Management Group. Major activities undertaken during 2003–04 included the IT Infrastructure Transition Project and the Records and Mail Management Project.

Protective security

DVA's protective security function is co-ordinated within the National Fraud Control Unit. Matters are reported to the Protective Security Committee, which is a sub-committee of the National Audit and Fraud Committee.

The Department's protective security policy and manual have been developed based on a risk assessment of protective security measures within DVA and an assessment of the Department's compliance with the standards set by the Australian Government Protective Security Manual.

Business analysis and statistical information

The provision of timely, relevant and accurate statistical and business information is an integral part of DVA's management information system. The Business Information Section (BIS) undertakes business and spatial data analysis and provides current client numbers and projections based on demographic modelling and high quality statistical services to the Minister, Department and external stakeholders.

The development and maintenance of veteran population projections is a vital component of DVA's planning processes and critical to the Forward Estimates process. During 2003–04, the Department engaged the Australian Government Actuary to review the models used by DVA to project client population numbers. The report by the Actuary focussed on the models for two recipient groups — disability pensioners and health treatment card holders — as well as the underlying survivor population. It made a number of recommendations for enhancing these models towards achieving the levels of accuracy required under the Government's Budget Estimates Framework Review and most of these are being implemented.

During 2003–04, DVA continued its strategic partnership with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare from whom it receives high level statistical consultancy and advice.

Human resource management

DVA negotiated and implemented Enterprise Agreements for DVA, the Vietnam Veterans' Counselling Service and the Office of Australian War Graves during 2003–04. The agreements reflected a greater emphasis on work-life balance, with the introduction of more flexible leave arrangements and a free, confidential information and resource service, Work/Life Links.

In addition, DVA has begun the implementation of its Workplace Injury Prevention and Management Strategy (WIPMS). This strategy is designed to help DVA reduce and prevent workplace injury and illness and reduce consequent costs over several years.

For more detailed information on these and other people services activities, please see the Our People chapter.

Information technology

The Information Management Unit (IMU) uses innovative approaches and latest technology products and services to provide cost effective IT support for DVA's business operations. As at 30 June 2004, the IMU had a complement of 150 permanent staff and 127 contractors.

During the year, DVA paid $32.1 million to IBM Global Services (IBM GS) for IT infrastructure services and $14.9 million to other IT suppliers. This compares to last year's spending of $31.4 million and $14.8 million respectively.

Implementation of new infrastructure

The IMU, in association with IBM GS, completed a major implementation of new infrastructure during the year. A number of complex technical projects were completed to transition to a new voice and data operating infrastructure and service culture.

This implementation included an upgrade to a new mainframe computer and LINUX operating environment, consolidation of servers, migration of server and data files, improvements to the data communications and voice services and establishment of a server farm using Citrix MetaFrame technology.

The introduction of Citrix MetaFrame saw an initial rollout of 1 500 new thin-client devices that enabled the replacement of all Windows 95 operating system devices on the network. The new infrastructure will substantially simplify and improve the operational environment.

Corporate systems

File management

The production Integrated Document Management System (IDMS) was migrated to a new SAN-connected server at the Tuggeranong Data Centre in March 2004. All six State object servers were decommissioned. Both IDMS and the Feedback Management System were packaged for access in the MetaFrame environment.

Payroll and Human Resources Information System

The Payroll and Human Resources Information System (PAHRIS) was made available in the MetaFrame environment and a PeopleSoft Employee Self Service proposal is being investigated.

Departmental Online Accounting and Reporting System

An upgrade to QSP Version e5 was implemented in March 2004. An additional feature, Budget Advisor is being readied for implementation. The Departmental Online Accounting and Reporting System (DOLARS) was made available in the MetaFrame environment.

Departmental Management Information System (DMIS)

Significant projects completed this year included the Compensation Business Processing (CBP) and Medical and Allied Health (MAH) Data Marts. The Executive Decision Support System was implemented and work commenced on its expansion to include executive level reporting from the pharmacy, CBP and MAH data subject areas.

The CBP Data Mart replaced the previous highly manual processes for compiling Compensation Balanced Scorecard data, with a system that delivers high quality data for management and performance analysis as well as the automated creation of reports. The CBP Data Mart replaces the Performance Reporting System, which will be decommissioned in July 2004.

The MAH Data Mart solved many problems that existed in previous systems, such as accuracy and timeliness of data, as well as providing new capability where none previously existed. In particular it provided additional support to the allied health area by overcoming limitations in the existing Allied Health Information Management System (AIMS) and providing a new management information system to accommodate requirements for the analysis of medical data.

The upgrade of the Departmental Management Information System (DMIS) server infrastructure was completed this year, providing the capacity to accommodate future growth and performance requirements. Two new servers were commissioned and introduced into the DMIS environment, resulting in significant improvements to end-user response times and data mart build times. The end-user business intelligence systems were successfully transferred to the MetaFrame environment.

It is envisaged that 2004–05 will be a year of consolidation for the DMIS project, focusing on performance enhancements and tuning. Development of the Mental Health Data Mart was stopped temporarily due to competing priorities in December 2003. Work on this project will recommence early in 2004–05. It is anticipated that a new project for the development of a Public Hospitals Data Mart will be initiated.

Compensation and income support systems

Compensation Claims Processing System

Enhancements were made to the Compensation Claims Processing System (CCPS) during the year. These were targeted mainly at improving its operability and processing efficiency. The major change was replacing the underlying Database Management System to deliver support efficiencies. Significant work was also done in tuning the system to the new MetaFrame environment. The Income Support Incapacity Calculator (MAGPIES) has been incorporated into the main CCPS code.

DEFCARE into DVA Project

A project was initiated to move the DEFCARE system used for processing claims under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act from the Defence computing environment to the DVA environment. The change is expected to take place at the start of the new financial year.

Military Compensation Processing System

A project was initiated to put in place an interim system for processing claims under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act from 1 July 2004. It is the first step to bring the processing of the compensation aspects of all the Acts administered by the Department into one integrated system.

Defence Service Homes

The Defence Service Homes Client Eligibility Loans System (CELS) was transferred to the new MetaFrame environment. Changes were made to the Defence Service Homes Insurance website to allow online payment of insurance policy premiums by credit card.

Health systems

HOTSPUR, the public hospital purchasing system designed to improve the reconciliation of public hospital data in all states, was completed this year. HOTSPUR enables faster calculation and correction of the case mix data supplied by state departments of health, more automated calculation of the value of services and comprehensive reporting.

Veterans' Home Care

In early 2004, the Veterans' Home Care system was modified to manage contract changes (including renewals and novations) for service providers and assessment agencies. To save development time the contracts project re-used some functions of the Customer Registration System to manage these supplier relationships using the corporate Object Method Framework.

Secure Online Communication System

The Secure Online Communication System (SOCS) was enhanced to allow Westpac to electronically transfer Defence Service Homes information to DVA securely over the Internet via the DVA e-business zone. Additional functionality to allow the secure transmission of hospital data to DVA also was implemented during the year along with performance enhancements to the application.

Internet

DVA is responsible for a range of departmental websites as sources of information for members of the veteran and wider communities, including:

During 2003–04, DVA Internet/Intranet services were enhanced through the implementation of improved systems. New hardware in the form of upgraded Intranet and proxy servers was purchased and these are supported by a number of new software applications that provide better filtering and reporting capability:

Content Keeper — a filtering technology used to manage staff access to the Internet and provide detailed usage statistics;
Packeteer — a bandwidth management software application which allows DVA to set priorities on all Internet traffic; and
Anti-Spam Sheriff — an anti-spam software appliance that ensures all e-mail messages from the Internet are scanned to exclude "spam" before being directed on to the DVA mail system.

Quality certification

In April 2004, Standards Australia International Global Assurance Services conducted a triennial audit of the IMU Quality Management System. The audit examined all aspects of IMU operations against the requirements of ISO9001: 2000. Certification to the international standard was retained, with the auditor citing high levels of client communications, clear strategic IT direction, improvements to the system and systematic process reviews as highlights.

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