Departmental outputs Cost
Ratio of departmental expense to administered expense
For every dollar spent on administered items under output Group 1.4, 7.9 cents were spent on departmental outputs.
Policy advice Quality—Client satisfaction
Ministers and Ministers’ offices satisfied with the quality of policy advice and FaCS meets standards for policy advice
Ministers and their offices did not provide feedback on individual output groups but did provide feedback on departmental performance as a whole. Information on ministers’ and their offices’ assessment can be found in Part two—Ministerial and parliamentary services.
Technical quality of policy advice for Outcome 1—Marginally satisfactory.
Quantity
Number of items to ministers
385 ministerial submissions and other written briefings or advice prepared; 3524 ministerial replies to correspondence completed.
Price
$2.9 million
Purchasing, funding and relationship management Quality—Assurance
FaCS ensures that service providers meet terms and conditions of funding Service agreements/contracts that meet legislative, government policy and FaCS requirements are in place with all service providers
In 2002–03 FaCS had separate service agreements in place with Centrelink, HIC and ATO for the delivery of Child Care Benefit.
FaCS ensured that service providers met the terms and conditions of funding. Service agreements and contracts met legislative, government policy and departmental requirements.
Quantity
Number of contracts/service agreements under management—3 service agreements
As at June 2003, FaCS had in place 3140 funding agreements with child care providers under a range of child care support programs.
Price
$19.3 million
Research and evaluation Quality—Assurance
Research and evaluation is of a high standard (timely, fulfils terms of reference, complete, methodologically sound) and contributes to policy understanding and development
Research and evaluation during 2002–03 was of a high standard. It met timelines and terms of reference and the results confirmed that sound methodology was used.
Quantity
Major pieces of research and evaluation completed—3
Research on the impact of non-parental child care
Research papers on:
the cost of child care
the contribution of child care to the Australian economy
Price
$1.7 million
Service delivery Quality—Assurance
Service providers deliver services to the standards agreed with FaCS
The agreements between FaCS and Centrelink, FaCS and HIC, and FaCS and the ATO include the provision of regular performance and management information reports to FaCS. These reports enable FaCS to evaluate both the quality of service provided and the level of compliance with the agreements.
Quality—Client rights and obligations
Number of reviews and appeals
Table 20: Reviews and appeals—Output Group 1.4
Payment type
|
Authorised Review Officers
|
Social Security Appeals Tribunal
|
Administrative Appeals Tribunal
|
Reviews finalised
|
Percentage changed
|
Reviews finalised
|
Percentage changed
|
Reviews finalised
|
Percentage changed
|
Child Care Benefit
|
529
|
3
|
101
|
1
|
10
|
0
|
Control of incorrect payment and fraud: savings in administered items arising from compliance activities
Mechanisms common across most payment types for detection and control of incorrect payment and fraud are described in the section on Right payments to the right people.
In 2002–03, an interrogation of the Centrelink mainframe data indicated that 5 372 child care service operator reviews were completed. Child Care Benefit is paid on an ongoing advance/acquit basis. No debts or overpayments are raised as part of this ongoing process. Performance outcomes for debt recovery and prosecution activity are reported in the section on Right payments to the right people.
Significant increases in the number of reviews reported over previous years’ results reflect a widening of the definition of what constitutes a review rather than an increase in underlying review activity.
Price
$92 million—Centrelink
$32.1 million—FaCS
Outcome 2 I Stronger Communities
The community has access to affordable housing, community support and services and assistance in emergencies
Description
This outcome reflects the Government’s commitment to support and to strengthen communities. Building on the capabilities of communities, FaCS will:
encourage the development of community capacity for self help
help to ameliorate the effects of pressures on and within communities
provide housing assistance that links with broader community support to encourage participation
facilitate partnerships between business, community groups and governments to achieve well targeted and tailored solutions.
Figure 10: Outputs contributing to Outcome 2
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