During 2019–20 we quickly adapted to new ways of working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We activated our business continuity plan in the early stages of the pandemic. By mid-March 2020 all agency staff were working from home. We continue to invest in staff development by identifying training and other development opportunities. We undertook a major review of our records management practices and developed an agency-specific Records Authority in collaboration with the National Archives of Australia. This means that significant documents relating to Australia's asbestos legacy will now form part of the national archives. This will greatly improve our compliance obligations relating to the keeping of records and will significantly reduce the time involved creating, storing and retrieving documents.

As a micro agency, our corporate governance structure and processes are streamlined and include weekly meetings with all staff and the executive who oversight the risk management system and corporate compliance. Regular reporting on ASEA’s risk profile is provided to the Audit Committee.

In June 2020, the agency commenced a project to review and revise the entire suite of corporate policies in consultation with staff.