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Departmental overview
Role and functions
The vision of the Commonwealth Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) is that Australia will continue to develop dynamic and world-class communications, information technology and cultural and sport sectors. The Department builds on the underlying opportunities provided by new technologies to enrich the economic, social and cultural wellbeing of all Australians.
To support this vision, the Department provides strategic advice and professional support to the Australian Government on a wide range of policy areas including the arts, cultural development, broadcasting and online regulation, information and communications technology, intellectual property, sport and telecommunications.
The Department also administers legislation, regulations, grants and incentives to industry and the wider community, and supports advisory councils and committees. In world forums, the Department seeks to maximise Australia's opportunities in global markets and on related international treaties and agreements.
The Department's staff work towards achieving four outcomes:
- a rich and stimulating cultural environment and a stronger, sustainable and internationally competitive Australian sport sector;
- competitive and effective communications and information technology industries and services, and improved access to Government information;
- Australians value science and technology's contribution to our culture and economic prosperity; and
- increased use, enjoyment and safety of Australia's audiovisual heritage.
To achieve these outcomes, the Department's resource management practices and corporate services support a highly-skilled, motivated and focused workforce by investing in training and development initiatives, retaining and attracting highly-skilled staff, and promoting excellence and continuous improvement.
The roles and function of the Department are set out below.
Arts and culture
The Department encourages excellence in, and access to, Australia's cultural activities by developing policies, conducting research, collecting statistics, administering legislation and grants, and managing Old Parliament House and the National Portrait Gallery.
Program areas include tax incentives for the arts and film, support for touring cultural activities and assistance for national elite training institutions. The Department also supports the national collecting institutions and helps maintain a strong and vibrant Australian film industry.
Broadcasting and online regulation
The Department provides policy advice and administers programs relating to the television and radio broadcasting sector, including national, commercial, subscription and community broadcasters, intellectual property and the regulation of online content.
In particular, the Department administers television and radio blackspots programs designed to extend the reach of television and radio services to the Australian community.
Information and communications technology
To encourage and support the growth of this important sector, the Department administers a range of measures facilitating information and communications technology (ICT), small-to-medium enterprise development, multinational engagement in Australia's ICT sector, innovation promotion and support infrastructure development. These measures include the Building on IT Strengths program, the Advanced Networks Program, the National Communications Fund, the ICT Centre of Excellence and industry development arrangements for Commonwealth Government ICT procurement.
The Department also has a significant role in preparing advice on policy initiatives relevant to the ICT sector. Current activities include development of an ICT Framework for the Future, a shared Government-industry stakeholder plan for Australia's ICT industry over the next decade.
Intellectual property
The Department advises on a range of issues relating to intellectual property. This includes the management of intellectual property in the public and private sectors, and the rights of creators including moral rights, performers' rights and Indigenous cultural intellectual property. The Department has joint responsibility, with the Attorney-General's Department, for copyright policy matters relating to the Copyright Act 1968 and advises on the Government's copyright
reform agenda.Sport
The Department is responsible for advising the Government on several key sports issues, in particular anti-doping and the potential for growth in the sport and leisure industries. The Department works closely with the Australian Sports Drugs Agency and the Australian Sports Commission. The Department is also coordinating the Federal Government's involvement in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.
Telecommunications and post
The Department is responsible for advising the Government on a range of telecommunications and postal policy matters and for implementing a number of programs, including Social Bonus programs designed to improve telecommunications services to rural and remote Australia and the Government's response to the Telecommunications Service Inquiry. Competition, consumer choice and universal access are key underlying principles.
The Department works closely with industry and agencies like the Australian Communications Authority, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
Organisational structure
The Department is led by the Secretary, assisted by the Executive Director for Arts and Sports and the Executive Director for Communications who, together, comprise the Executive. Supported by the Department's Senior Executive Service, the Executive provides leadership through decision-making on the development of broadcasting, telecommunications, information technology, intellectual property, cultural and sport policy.
The Department is supported in its operations by the Corporate and Business Division and the Legal Group. The Department has operational groups including ScreenSound Australia the National Film and Sound Archive, Questacon the National Science and Technology Centre, Artbank, the National Portrait Gallery and
Old Parliament House.These units are responsible for delivering the Department's outputs under each of the four outcomes, and the Department's organisational structure is illustrated on pages 18 and 19.
ScreenSound Australia and Questacon form part of the Department's overall accountability framework and, in consultation with the Secretary, these groups decide their respective strategic directions and management policies.