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Legal services
During the year, internal legal advice for the Department was provided by the Legal Group and supplemented by advice from external sources, including the Australian Government Solicitor, Blake Dawson Waldron, Clayton Utz, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Minter Ellison and Phillips Fox, under the terms of deeds of standing offer administered by the Legal Group.
Legislation and statutory instruments
The Legal Group assisted in preparing ten bills which were passed or introduced, and four regulations which were made during the year. The Legal Group drafted 19 other subordinate statutory instruments and a number of appointment instruments. Appendix 4 sets out full details of major legislation that required significant input from the Legal Group during the year.
Other legal services
During the year, the Legal Group provided advice, together with external legal providers, concerning the Connect Australia package. In particular, the Legal Group was involved in drafting funding agreements for the Broadband Connect subsidy program for the 2005–06 and 2006–07 periods, and provided advice about the management of those agreements. The Legal Group was also involved in the development of the expression of interest for Broadband Connect released by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts on 8 June 2006.
In addition, the Legal Group advised on the development of policy and legislative schemes for:
- media reform (including media ownership, ACMA's broadcasting enforcement powers, digital television and new digital services);
- digital radio; and
- regulation of content on convergent mobile devices.
The Legal Group also advised on:
- new arrangements for the Satellite Phone Subsidy Scheme;
- the development of a multi-million dollar funding agreement for National ICT Australia Ltd (NICTA) from 2006–07;
- the review of the Spam Act 2003; and
- arrangements for the proposed new Indigenous television service.
The Commonwealth was a major funder of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and the Legal Group assisted the Department to put in place the funding agreements and other contracts connected with the funding of the highly successful Games.
The Legal Group also participated in the Working Group on Telstra's CDMA to 3GSM transition.
The Legal Group was closely involved in the preparation of updated Chief Executive's Instructions and Financial Delegations setting out financial management responsibilities in the Department, and a procedural rule on conflicts of interest and receipt of gifts, all of which came into effect on 17 February 2006.
Members of the Department’s Legal Group. (L–R): Adam Carson, Kyla Morgan, Julie Lopez.
Administration and liaison functions
The Legal Group performed a departmental coordination and liaison role in relation to legislation bids, regulation impact statements, implementation of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and privacy issues. A total of 19 FOI requests were received during the year.
Procurement advice and contracts reporting
Following the 2004–05 Ernst & Young review of the Contracts Unit, the Department has implemented a number of the recommendations on guidance material and procedures. During 2005–06, the Contracts Unit was restructured into a Knowledge Management and Reporting Section and a Procurement Advisory Unit.
During the year, the Procurement Advisory Unit provided procedural advice about the calling of tenders and contract documents used by the Department and coordinated the Department's reporting on contracts to meet various accountability requirements.
A more comprehensive presence on the Department's intranet site has been developed, offering a higher, more focussed level of support to internal staff. Internal documents, including standard form agreements and market approach documents, have been redeveloped and prepared for inclusion within an online document development software toolset. It was developed in the Legal Group in the first half of 2006 with a view to implementation in the line areas at a later date.
Mandatory reporting of all contracts over $2000 within the Department's newly created Central Contracts Register commenced in early 2006. Procedural rules relating directly to procurement have been developed along with amendments to current rules, producing a higher level of clarity for staff dealing with procurement.