Corporate plan 2015–19
JULY 2015
Canberra
Red Building
Benjamin Offices
Chan Street
Belconnen ACT
PO Box 78
Belconnen ACT 2616
T+61 2 6219 5555
F+61 2 6219 5353
Melbourne
Level 32
Melbourne Central Tower
360 Elizabeth Street
Melbourne VIC
PO Box 13112
Law Courts
Melbourne VIC 8010
T+61 3 9963 6800
F+61 3 9963 6899
Sydney
Level 5
The Bay Centre
65 Pirrama Road
Pyrmont NSW
PO Box Q500
Queen Victoria Building
NSW 1230
T+61 2 9334 7700 or 1800 226 667
F+61 2 9334 7799
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1.Introduction
From the Chair
2.Purpose
The ACMA’s mandate, purpose and standard
The ACMA brand values
3.Environment
The media and communications environment
The resourcing environment
4.Performance
Regulator Performance Framework
Key Result Areas
5.Capability
Workforce planning
Capital investment strategy
ICT capability
6.Risk oversight and management
ACMA Risk Management Framework
7.Feedback
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1.Introduction
From the Chair
I, Chris Chapman, the accountable authority for the Australian Communications and Media Authority, present this corporate plan, which has been prepared consistent with paragraph 35(1) (b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act2013 and section 56 of the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005. The plan is prepared in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 and is prepared for the 2015–16 reporting period. The reporting periods of the plan’s coverage is four years, spanning 2015–16 to 2018–19.
The ACMA’s mandate under its various appropriations is to deliver a communications and media environment that balances the needs of industry and the Australian community through information, advice and, where necessary, through regulation. The Federal Parliament has also charged the ACMA with a wide variety of functions in relation to the communications and media services available to Australians. The ACMA’s mandate needs to be interpreted in light of the dynamic environment of change in which we are regulating.
Our stated intention is to make communications and media work in Australia’s public interest. In discharging our various roles and functions as a proportionate and risk-based, evidence-informed regulator, we always first look to communicate and facilitate, but when circumstances require, we will, of course, regulate.
In 2012–13, the ACMA formally committed itself to casting its corporate plan in terms of public interest ‘outcomes’, rather than in the more traditional ‘outputs’ way. Work on refining the measurement for outcomes continues, now taking into account the government’s recently introduced Regulator Performance Framework.
The plan has been developed within an Integrated Business Planning Framework, which has provided a holistic approach, linking strategic planning and operational planning (division, branch and section) with internal financial, research, communications and infrastructure planning. As our deliverables and strategies cascade down through subordinate plans, our data and performance metrics will form our key performance indicators (KPIs) expressed in this corporate plan. This in turn will bring us closer to a key aspiration of strategic management, whereby any individual within the ACMA will be able to link the day-to-day work they do with relevant division and branch plans, and to understand those linkages in the context of this over-arching corporate plan.
In the preparation of this four-year plan, the ACMA has reviewed its current KPIs and further integrated the ACMA’s financial reporting and business planning processes into corporate planning and reporting
The ACMA has for quite some time also explored a flexible approach to performance measurement, supplementing our quantitative outcome measures with a qualitative assessment, which reflects the breadth, diversity, and at times, unique nature of the ACMA’s work.
This assessment is in the shape of the ACMA Meeting Our Standard narrative and associated portfolio of case studies and activities, which has been published in successive iterations since 2011. It evaluates the ACMA performance against the abovementioned formally expressed strategic intent of the organisation (to make communications and media work in Australia’s public interest).
The ACMA is required to prepare and submit, on an annual basis, a corporate plan to the Minister, and has done so regularly. So we have readily engaged with an enhanced whole-of-government focus on planning objectives and reporting on the achievement of outcomes. We pursue these objectives and outcomes in the context of a dynamic environment, with the ultimate goal of promoting the public interest in media and communications.
Chris Chapman
Chairman
2.Purpose
The ACMA’s mandate, purpose and standard
The ACMA, a statutory authority within the federal government portfolio of Communications, operates as a non-corporate Commonwealth entity subject to the requirements of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
The regulatory functions of the ACMA are set out in the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005. The ACMA is responsible for the regulation of broadcasting, radiocommunications, telecommunications and online content in accordance with:
the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005
the Broadcasting Services Act 1992
the Radiocommunications Act 1992
the Telecommunications Act 1997
other related legislation, including the:
Do Not Call Register Act 2006
Spam Act 2003
Interactive Gambling Act 2001
Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999
Telecommunications (Industry Levy) Act 2012.
The ACMA’s mandate is to deliver a communications and media environment that balances the needs of the industry and the Australian community through regulation, education and advice.
The ACMA’s purpose is making communications and media work in Australia’s public interest.
The standard against which the ACMA seeks to measure itself is to be, and to be recognised as, a world-leading, best-practice converged communications regulator.
Engaging industry and consumer stakeholders using the construct of communication, facilitation, and then regulation if necessary, we deliver outcomes that are transparent, coherent and consistent.
One of only a handful of converged regulators around the world, the ACMA strives to remain agile and relevant at a time when many new, unexpected challenges are arising in the communications and media environment.
The ACMA brand values
The ACMA brand symbolises and reinforces the unifying concept of convergence amongst the four traditional spheres of telecommunications, broadcasting, radiocommunications and online services. The message for our stakeholders is that we are embracing this dynamic environment and implementing innovative responses to emerging issues through our five key brand values:
Informed—to be, and to be seen as,literate in new technologies, industry trends and regulatory developments. The ACMA continues to build and maintain an up-to-date, relevant and specialised organisational knowledge-base that underpins the ACMA's evidence-informed approach to regulation.
Active—to initiate projects and drive outcomes—communicating and collaborating closely with key stakeholders. The ACMA will ensure that it delivers quality products within tight time frames that are relevant and promote the organisation’s strategic direction.
Agile—to identify and implement flexible, tailored solutions, quickly adapting to new and emerging challenges. The ACMA will continue to transform its operations to meet the needs of stakeholders in a rapidly changing communications landscape.
Innovative—to be proactive and explore new solutions and lateral connections that sit ‘outside the square’, ensuring that ACMA decisions are wherever possible informed by ‘first principles’ reviews of options and approaches.
Influential—to take a lead role as an aspiring thought-leader. The ACMA will continue to maintain a visible profile and seek to influence key stakeholders on major issues of interest.
Through engagement with these core values, the ACMA makes apparent its commitment to the Australian Public Service Values and Code of Conduct.
The ACMA’s mandate, purpose, standard and values are demonstrated throughout thiscorporate plan, providing a guide to the organisation’s delivery on its key result areas.
3.Environment
The media and communications environment
The media and communications environment regulated by the ACMA underpins Australia’s transition to an internet-enabled economy and society. Developments in internet-enabled technologies are intensifying the pace of this transition, leading to significant structural changes occurring within communications and digital content industries, which are being matched by rapid changes in consumers’ communications and content consumption behaviours. This transition is placing particular pressures on existing regulatory frameworks designed for a pre-internet environment.
Over the life of this corporate plan, the ACMA expects further pressures in the regulatory space to arise from ongoing demand for the ACMA to facilitate access to public resources such as spectrum and telephone numbers, as Australians move to adopt 4G and 5G technologies, and to make increased use of mobile broadband, machine-to-machine communications and the internet of things.
Within the consumer and citizen environment, there is a continuing evolution of media and communications transitioning to over-the-top content and communications services. This is accompanied by strong differences emerging in consumer behaviour between different demographic segments, in particular reflecting the high take-up of new and emerging communications and content services by younger age groups. These fragmenting audiences and consumer behaviours, and changes in the nature of risks being experienced by business and citizens, pose particular challenges for regulatory design directed at uniform regulatory solutions. Internet-enabled communications and content brings many benefits to Australian business and consumers, but also introduces emerging areas of network reliability and security vulnerability, including the exposure of business and citizens to new forms of security risks such as malware threats and telemarketing scams.
In responding to these pressures in the industry and citizen environment, the ACMA expects to adopt different strategies to address emerging areas of risk or problems,and respond within the construct of communication, facilitation and, if necessary, regulation. This multi-pronged response recognises that the ACMA needs to work in conjunction with industry and citizens to maximise benefits and mitigate risks occurring from Australia’s internet-enabled transition. One response strategy is the use of better practice regulatory approaches by the ACMA to extend or repurpose regulation, or withdraw from direct regulation where there is a case to reduce regulatory burden. Another response is the use of facilitation strategies by the ACMA working with industry representative bodies to influence industry participants towards desired outcomes. A further response relies on the use of communication strategies to mitigate the risks that may occur where there are information asymmetries occurring between industry participants and consumers and citizens affected by media and communications.
Within the wider policy backdrop, the expected outcomes of the Spectrum Review will have implications for the ACMA’s forward work program and will likely require the ACMA to implement substantial changes to the spectrum management framework. Within the life of this plan, the ACMA will continue to pursue opportunities to reduce the regulatory burden on industry and citizens and to explore areas for continuous improvement identified under the Regulator Performance Framework for Commonwealth regulators.
The resourcing environment
Over the life of the corporate plan, the ACMA will continue to manage its resources within a continuing decreasing envelope. To deploy its resources efficiently, respond to changing industry and stakeholder demands, and deliver on its legislative remit, the ACMA will use an even greater mix of strategies. Workforce planning will assist the ACMA in determining the appropriate capabilities and staff required to meet future needs. Capital investment supported by a targeted ICT investment is directed to providing a capability for industry and citizens to undertake online transactions and have a single point of contact through the ACMA’s Customer Service Centre. Underpinning this capability is a focus on smart process and smart data, to enhance the portability of skills and make better use of existing data.
4.Performance
This corporate plan reflects the ACMA’s strategic vision for the next four years and is framed around five distinct strategic areas of activity, designated as Key Result Areas (KRAs). The ACMA has also identified a strong alignment between the ACMA’s strategic functions, as expressed in the plan through its Key Result Areas (KRAs) and requirements of the Regulator Performance Framework (RPF). The ACMA has incorporated elements of the RPF’s key performance indicators (KPIs) within this plan.
Regulator Performance Framework
As part of the government’s deregulation agenda, a new RPFwas developed to measure the efficiency and effectiveness with which regulators undertake their roles, and in particular, their impact on regulated entities.This new framework comes into operation for the 2015–16 financial year. The framework encourages regulators to:
minimise the impact of regulatory burden on regulated communities
increase their transparency and accountability
focus on continuous improvement of regulatory frameworks.
The RPF consists of six key performance indicators (KPIs) that cover common core regulatory activities:
KPI 1—Regulators do not unnecessarily impede the efficient operation of regulated entities.
KPI 2—Communication with regulated entities is clear, targeted and effective.
KPI 3—Actions undertaken by regulators are proportionate to the risk being managed.
KPI 4—Compliance and monitoring approaches are streamlined and co-ordinated.
KPI 5—Regulators are open and transparent in their dealings with regulated entities.
KPI 6—Regulators actively contribute to the continuous improvement of regulatory frameworks.
The ACMA has identified a strong alignment between the RPF’s KPIs and the ACMA’s strategic functions, as expressed in the ACMA’s corporate plan through its Key Result Areas (KRAs).
Key Result Areas
The ACMA’s key functions, expressed as outcomes, are as follows
KRA 1: That the allocation and use of public resources maximise the public value to the Australian community.
KRA 2: That national safety and security interests are appropriately supported in the planning and delivery of communication infrastructure services.
KRA 3: That consumer, citizen and audience safeguards are effective, reflect community standards and deliver on consumer experience.
KRA 4: That citizens engage positively, confidently and securely in an evolving connectedeconomy and society.
KRA 5: That the ACMA isan increasingly resilient, agile, efficient and knowledge-based organisation.
Each KRA is supported by a set of strategies that describe the elements of how the ACMA delivers on each KRA. Each strategy has a set of performance indicators, which are inclusive of the RPF KPIs, to allow an assessment of how well the ACMA has delivered on its legislative remit.
This corporate plan also identifies the sources of evidence that will be used to measure performance under each indicator over the life of the plan.
Figure 1 below provides a high-level mapping of the relationship between the ACMA’s KRAs and the RPFs KPIs.
Figure 1:Mapping of ACMA functions to RPF KPIs—Green indicates alignment
ACMA KRA outcome and function / KPI 1 / KPI2 & 5 / KPI 3 / KPI 4 / KPI 6KRA 1: That the allocation and use of public resources maximises the public value to the Australian community (Including licensing, numbering and interference management)
KRA 2: That national safety and security interests are appropriately supported in the planning and delivery of communication infrastructure services
KRA 3: That consumer, citizen and audience safeguards are effective, reflect community standards and deliver on consumer experience(Investigation, compliance and enforcement, and the establishment of appropriate safeguards)
KRA 4: That citizens engage positively, confidently and securely in the developing information economy and evolving networked society
KRA 5: That the ACMA remains relevant as an increasingly resilient, agile, efficient and knowledge-based organisation(regulatory reform and the provision of advice and information through reporting, research and stakeholder engagement)
KRA 1: That the allocation and use of public resources maximises the public value to the Australian community
The ACMA is the custodian of two public assets—the radiofrequency spectrum and telephone numbers—that are critical to Australia’s future economic growth and the well-being, safety and security of its citizens. Driven in large part by the ongoing transformation of the information economy and networked society, the uses and value of particular parts of the spectrum and of particular ranges of telephone numbers are changing rapidly. Against this background, the ACMA aims to maximise the public value of these assets to the Australian community.
Strategies / Key performance indicators / Menu of evidence to support KPIsEffectively plan the radiofrequency spectrum to enable the efficient allocation of spectrum towards its highest public value use. / The ACMA facilitates allocation of spectrum to highest-value use through use of market mechanisms where appropriate.
A high proportion of available spectrum is allocated to meet demand so the productive potential of the economy is enhanced.
Adequate spectrum is allocated to organisations providing public or community services, while minimising any adverse economic impacts.
The ACMA is recognised as continually improving spectrum users’ access to public resources. / Advice to government on improvements/reviews to regulatory frameworks.
Percentage of licence applications/renewals completed in target time frames.
Percentage of arrangements in place that were subject to cost-benefit review.
Deregulatory measures achieved.
Pricing, allocation, licensing, renewal improvements to accessing spectrum.
Radcommunications stakeholder consultation.
Allocate and renew broadcast, telecommunications and radiocommunications licences and numbers in a timely way that minimises costs to industry, citizens and the ACMA. / The administrative cost of applying for licences and numbers is reduced.
The ACMA allocates and renews licences within planned time frames.
Client satisfaction with the ACMA’s allocation and renewal processes is high. / Percentage of licence applications/renewals completed in statutory time frames.
100 per cent of non-assigned licence applications allocated within 14 days of application.
Percentage of requested numbers allocated within target time frames.
Transaction costs of allocation and renewal through business process improvement reduced.
Average time taken to issue licences.
Stakeholder survey.
ACMA responds to enquiries within target time frames.
Monitor and resolve interference complaints in a transparent, innovative and efficient manner. / Resolve interference complaints within target time frames.
A graduated risk-based approach to compliance and enforcement activities is applied in managing all interference risks.
Stakeholders are informed of priority compliance areas. / Number of harmful interference events resolved within target time frames.
Number of complaints about interference actioned within target time frames.
Rate of reports of harmful radio interference decreases over time.
Annual publication of compliance priorities.
Minimise the risk of unsafe telecommunications equipment and cabling by establishing and enforcing technical standards and labelling requirements. / A graduated risk-based approach to compliance and enforcement activities is applied.
Number of complaints about customer equipment and cabling reduces over time. / Percentage of complaints/ investigations resolved within target time frames.
Manage the telephone numbering scheme to maximise flexibility, innovation and efficiency. / Numbering scheme arrangements are responsive to industry developments and consumer demand.
A sufficient supply of numbers is available for allocation.
Costs associated with the provision of the numbering function decrease as a result of improved administration and outsourcing. / Consultation with stakeholders on changes to numbering arrangements.
Outsourcing arrangements put in place.
Stakeholder satisfaction with number supply
KRA 2: That national safety and security interests are appropriately supported in the planning and delivery of communication infrastructure services
ACMA supports national safety and security interests through its allocation of spectrumand through targeted regulation of the telecommunications and internet industries, to ensure the accuracy of telephone location and identity information.