The breadth of our responsibilities reveals the complexity of our work and the context in which we operate. Often the scope of the problems we address extends beyond our prescribed responsibilities and areas of direct influence. The table below shows this complexity and our level of influence. It presents some of the factors that have the potential to affect our performance and our ability to achieve our purposes. Along with agencies across Government, our operating environment continues to be one of smaller budgets, increasing devolution of government functions, shared stewardship with business and the community, new technologies, increasing demands and expectations from the general public and greater scrutiny. As with the biophysical environment, some of these factors are not fully within our control but can provide a catalyst for change, highlighting the need for the Department to build collaborative partnerships with governments, business and the community. Table 1: Our level of influence Factors Greater influence Factors Partial influence Factors Less Influence — — — Support of the Minister and Budget allocations Pressures external to the Government Department including the State of Australia’s economy actions of international Reporting on the state of governments Decisions by business to Australia’s environment invest in energy markets Policy decisions of state and Scanning for emerging local governments Perception that environment and opportunities and economy are mutually Machinery of government Investing in our environment exclusive changes and heritage Perception of the Department Legacy effects of Our environment and energy and importance of the work environmental damage (e.g. policy advice we do species loss) Administration and Energy Impacts of climate warming enforcement of already in the climate Environmental protection and Commonwealth energy and conservation activities systems environment laws undertaken by states, Our science and information territories and regional base bodies Our engagement with the Uptake of energy efficiency community initiatives Our implementation of Compliance with and government agendas (e.g. enforcement of innovation, regulatory reform, Commonwealth digital transformation) environmental laws by others Our approach to risk Setting of environment related international Our workforce planning and obligations working conditions Cooperation with public and Our business operations private stakeholders Passing of new initiatives through Parliament Innovative financing partnerships
The breadth of our responsibilities reveals the complexity of our work and the context in which we operate. Often the scope of the problems we address extends beyond our prescribed responsibilities and areas of direct influence. The table below shows this complexity and our level of influence. It presents some of the factors that have the potential to affect our performance and our ability to achieve our purposes. Along with agencies across Government, our operating environment continues to be one of smaller budgets, increasing devolution of government functions, shared stewardship with business and the community, new technologies, increasing demands and expectations from the general public and greater scrutiny. As with the biophysical environment, some of these factors are not fully within our control but can provide a catalyst for change, highlighting the need for the Department to build collaborative partnerships with governments, business and the community. Table 1: Our level of influence Factors — Greater influence Factors — Partial influence Factors — Less Influence Support of the Minister and Government Reporting on the state of Australia’s environment Scanning for emerging and opportunities Investing in our environment and heritage Our environment and energy policy advice Administration and enforcement of Commonwealth energy and environment laws Our science and information base Our engagement with the community Our implementation of government agendas (e.g. innovation, regulatory reform, digital transformation) Our approach to risk Our workforce planning and working conditions Our business operations Budget allocations State of Australia’s economy Decisions by business to invest in energy markets Perception that environment and economy are mutually exclusive Perception of the Department and importance of the work we do Energy Environmental protection and conservation activities undertaken by states, territories and regional bodies Uptake of energy efficiency initiatives Compliance with and enforcement of Commonwealth environmental laws by others Setting of environment related international obligations Cooperation with public and private stakeholders Passing of new initiatives through Parliament Pressures external to the Department including the actions of international governments Policy decisions of state and local governments Machinery of government changes Legacy effects of environmental damage (e.g. species loss) Impacts of climate warming already in the climate systems Innovative financing partnerships
corporate-plan-2016-17.docx