COMMISSION

AFMA Commissioners are appointed for their level of expertise in one or more of the fields of fisheries management, fishing industry operations, science, natural resource management, economics, business or financial management, law, public sector administration or governance. The new legislative amendments added expertise on matters relating to recreational or Indigenous fishing. Future appointments to the Commission will take the new requirements into consideration.

The following Commissioners held appointments during the reporting period 2019-20:

Ms Helen Kroger – Chair

Helen has held leadership positions in the private, public and not for profit sectors for the last 20 years. She is a former Liberal Senator for Victoria, Government Whip and active former member of numerous key Senate and Joint Committees. She has extensive board experience and advises corporations on regulatory compliance, governance, communications and stakeholder management issues.

Mr Wez Norris – Chief Executive Officer

Wez is an AFMA Commissioner and the CEO. He has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Natural Systems and Wildlife Management from the University of Queensland. He has worked for Queensland Fisheries, previously at AFMA, as the Manager of the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery, and then spent 10 years as the Deputy Director-General at the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, in the Solomon Islands. He has worked on a number of significant fisheries reform projects, including prawn trawl, hand-line and hand-collectable fisheries, and also held positions in the Torres Strait and in a Ministerial Office.

Ms Catherine Cooper

Catherine currently chairs the Environment Protection Agency of South Australia and Central Adelaide Waste and Recycling Authority. Catherine is an industry leader and she was a finalist in both the 1997 and 1998 Telstra Business Women's Awards. She has extensive committee and board experience including as former Chair of the Fisheries Council of South Australia, the South Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Advisory Committee and Aquaculture Advisory Council.

Mr Brett McCallum

Brett has been a director of Bresal Consulting since November 2015. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and is a past Deputy Chair of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. He is currently chair of the Western Australian Research Advisory Committee, the Australian Aquatic Animal Welfare Strategy Working Group and the Offshore Snapper Fishery Advisory Committee in the NT. His expertise covers commercial fisheries management, government policy setting, natural resource management, economics and business management. He has over 40 years’ experience in peak fishing industry representation as Chief Executive of the WA Fishing Industry Council and the Pearl Producers Association. Brett has held senior managerial positions with several leading Australian fishing, pearling and exporting companies.

Mrs Sevaly Sen

Sevaly is an applied economist with over thirty years’ experience in fisheries in Australia, Oceania, Europe, Africa and Asia. Sevaly ran her own consultancy company in the UK, worked for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in southern Africa and the Institute of Fisheries Management in Denmark. Since moving to Australia in 1999, Sevaly runs her own consultancy business. She has been a member of the Fisheries Council of South Australia, the NSW Structural Adjustment Review Committee and the Torres Strait Scientific Advisory Committee. Currently she is a member of the Torres Strait Rock Lobster Working Group, is advisor to Sydney Fish Market on sustainability issues and coordinates an FRDC sub-program.

Dr David Smith

David led the Marine Resources and Industries Research Program of CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere. The Program focused on research that supports the balanced use of marine resources, including sustainable marine industries (fisheries, offshore oil and gas) and biodiversity conservation. Prior to joining CSIRO in 2005, he was Director of the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute in Victoria. He has over 30 years’ experience in fisheries assessment and management, and research management. Since September 2018 he has been a consultant. He currently is the Independent Chair of the National Research Providers Network for Fisheries and Aquaculture and is a member of the National Marine Science Committee. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Marne and Antarctic Studies.

Mr Scott Spencer

Scott has over 40 years’ experience in natural resource management and public policy development. He is a former Secretary of the Queensland Fish Management Authority, Director General of the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water, Deputy Director General (Policy ) in the Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet and most recently, Deputy Director General, Fisheries and Forestry within the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Scott was also Chair of the Board of Directors of Sunwater Ltd and for a number of years, operated his own private consultancy. He has held numerous statutory positions including as Commissioner on the then Murray Darling Basin Commission. Scott has formal qualifications in Economics.

AFMA Commissioners – attendance at commission meetings

Five Commission meetings were held in 2019-20. The table below shows the number of meetings Commissioners attended.

EXECUTIVE

Role and function

The Executive is AFMA's senior management team responsible to the CEO for the effective operation and performance of the agency.

Membership

• Chief Executive Officer – Mr Wez Norris
• Executive Manager, Fisheries Management Branch – Ms Anna Willock
• General Manager, Operations Branch – Mr Peter Venslovas
• Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services Branch – Mr John Andersen

AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE

Role and function

The Audit and Risk Committee operates in line with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and provides independent advice and assurance to CEO of the appropriateness of AFMA's:

• financial reporting including the annual audited financial statements
• performance reporting including the framework for developing, measuring and reporting
• systems of risk oversight and management including AFMA's risk management and fraud control framework
• systems of internal controls associated with – governance, risk management, compliance and business continuity management arrangements.

The charter determining the functions of AFMA’s Audit and Risk Committee is located on the AFMA website Audit and Risk Committee Charter. The committee held four meetings during the reporting period.

Membership

From 1 July to 31 December, the committee comprised one AFMA Commissioner and three independent members. A new committee was appointed for three years from 1 January 2020 and comprised three independent member. The members were:

Permanent Advisers

The committee has regular observers attending including:

• Mr John Andersen (Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services Branch)
• Mr Robert Gehrig (Chief Finance Officer)
• Mr Michael Roses (Chief Information Officer)
• Mr Scott Connors (Senior Manager, Business Operational Support)
• Audit representatives from Bellchambers Barrett (AFMA's internal audit providers), Nexia (contracted external auditors) and the Australian National Audit Office.

AFMA's Business Partnership and Strategy team provides administrative support to the Audit and Risk Committee.

RESEARCH COMMITTEE

Role and function

The role of AFMA's Research Committee is to advise the AFMA Commission on the strategic directions, priorities and funding for monitoring and research relevant to meeting AFMA's information needs and objectives and review finalised research projects in terms of delivery of outputs, and outcomes, adoption/impacts and required adjustment to AFMA processes. In doing so the primary functions of the committee are to:

• review and advise on research, monitoring and assessment priorities for Commonwealth fisheries
• review AFMA's five year research plans for Commonwealth fisheries
• provide advice to the AFMA Commission on allocation of AFMA research funds
• assess research, monitoring and assessment investments for the Commonwealth fisheries for consistency with management needs.

The committee held two meetings in 2019-20.

Membership

• Mr Brett McCallum (Chair and Commissioner)
• Dr David Smith (Commissioner) – invited participant
• Mr Wez Norris (CEO)
• Ms Anna Willock (Executive Manager, Fisheries Management Branch)
• vacant (Committee Secretary)

Permanent Advisors

• Mr Ryan Murphy (Senior Manager, Policy, Environment, Economics and Research)
• Ms Yvonne Zunic (Manager, Research)

Regular Observers

The committee also invites regular observers from the following agencies and departments to attend and provide expert advice:

• Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Oceans and Atmosphere
• Commonwealth Fisheries Association
• Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
• Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences
• Persons associated with Indigenous fisheries
• Persons associated with Recreational fisheries

STRATEGIC DELIVERY COMMITTEE

The Strategic Delivery Committee met throughout 2019-20 to provide Executive oversight of all AFMA significant projects. The committee uses a risk-based tiered approach to prioritise projects undertaken by the agency to ensure appropriate governance and monitoring arrangements are in place. Each project is assessed based on risk factors that weigh the alignment and impact of the project on our corporate objectives. The committee monitors resources assigned and budget impacts, to ensure that milestones/targets are met to achieve project success.

Major projects reviewed by the committee in 2019-20 included development and implementation of the AFMA ICT Strategic Plan.

The Business Operational Support team provides co-ordination and administrative support to the Strategic Delivery Committee.

Membership

• Mr John Andersen (Chair and Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services Branch)
• Ms Anna Willock (Executive Manager, Fisheries Management Branch)
• Mr Peter Venslovas (General Manager, Fisheries Operations Branch)
• Mr Robert Gehrig (Chief Finance Officer)
• Mr Michael Roses (Chief Information Officer)
• Mr Tod Spencer (Senior Manager, National Compliance Strategy)
• Mr Scott Connors (Senior Manager, Business Operational Support)

DATA AND INFORMATION GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

AFMA extended the duties of its previous Information and Governance Committee to include the responsibilities of managing the agency's data management holistically within the agency. The Data and Information Management Committee is responsible for ensuring that data and information is treated as an asset and supports organisational outcomes. It ensures that risk and compliance issues are identified and addressed for as long as the data and information is required.

The committee provides a strategic oversight to managing data, information and records to reduce business risk, increase accountability, and improve operational efficiencies. The committee provides oversight to ensure data and information integrity and reliability, are searchable, accessible and that appropriate access controls are employed.

The committee provides governance and oversight on a range of initiatives to improve our data and information governance processes which are linked to the AFMA ICT Strategic Plan. The committee also considers the impacts the Government's Digital Transformation Agenda has on the agency and ensures that Whole of Government initiatives are taken into account when designing and implementing systems that involve public and stakeholders.

Existing AFMA information governance documents are being reviewed and a consultant has been engaged to develop an overarching Information Management Strategy which will provide a pathway for meeting the requirements of the Australian Government's Digital Continuity 2020 Policy.

Membership

• Mr John Andersen (Chair and Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services Branch)
• Mr Michael Roses (Chief Information Officer)
• Mr Ryan Murphy (Senior Manager, Fisheries Services)
• Mr Tod Spencer (Senior Manager, National Compliance Strategy)
• Mr Thomas Kaufhold (Senior Records Management Officer and Secretariat)
• Ms Kerry Smith (Senior Manager, Foreign Compliance)

SECURITY GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

The AFMA Security Governance Committee met quarterly during 2019-20 to consider the current security governance arrangements and the security threats and vulnerabilities to AFMA. The committee reviews our personnel, physical and information security arrangements and ensures compliance with the Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF). In 2019-20 the committee reviewed AFMA's Security Governance hierarchy, responded to the Information Security Manual and “Essential 8” information security mitigation measures recommended by the Australian Cyber Security Centre, drafted a Data Breach Response Plan, Cyber Incident Response plan, and updated personnel security vetting procedures. In addition the committee kept informed on the Cyber Security Project to further strengthen AFMAs cyber security posture and provided input and feedback through this project where required.

This year the committee was bolstered by a partnership between AFMA and the Indigenous Cyber Security provider Dreamtime Supply to assist in the delivery of our PSPF obligations, focusing on cyber security.

Membership

• Mr John Andersen (Chair and Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services Branch)
• Mr Michael Roses (Chief Information Officer)
• Mr Scott Connors (Senior Manager, Security and Property)
• Mr Dave Newton (ICT Operations Manager)
• Mr Gareth Peak (ICT Cyber Consultant and AFMA ITSA)
• Mr Ranjith Selvarajan (Network Engineer)