ARENA is a dynamic and outcomes-oriented agency, with a highly qualified and experienced workforce. Our aim is to be agile, with the ability to respond quickly to any changes in our operating environment.

Values

The Agency has a strong commitment to modelling its values and significant efforts have been made in the reporting period to embed them into ARENA’s organisational culture. This has been accomplished through a variety of initiatives such as values-based recognition awards and through regular ARENA-wide communication.

Employees and other staff

ARENA has two employees, as stipulated by the ARENA Act. These are the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Other ARENA staff are employed by the Portfolio Department under the Public Service Act 1999 and made available to ARENA by the Secretary of the Department. The Agency also engages specialist consultants, contractors and service providers as necessary.

At 30 June 2019, ARENA had two employees (CEO and CFO) and 28 departmental staff (26.4 FTE) including staff in non-ongoing positions.

Diversity

For the reporting period, the gender ratio for the ARENA Board and senior personnel within ARENA was:

• of the seven Board members, four were female (this number increased to five when the nominated delegate for the Secretary of the Department attended Board meetings on his behalf)
• of the ten personnel in ARENA’s Executive Leadership Team (excluding the CEO), five were female.

Engagement

The 2019 ARENA People Pulse survey received a high response rate with 99 per cent of the workforce responding to the survey (an increase from 95 per cent the year before). Over the past 12 months, ARENA has increased management focus on its people and launched initiatives focused on career development and progression, engagement and leadership, resulting in a consistently high engagement score.

Planning

Significant work has occurred over the past 12 months implementing a strategic workforce plan, which has enabled ARENA to more effectively manage its workforce. The strategic workforce plan has informed the way recruitment is managed and facilitated a more active approach to positioning ARENA’s workforce for future changes. Engagement with management and the broader workforce has allowed for greater awareness of the size and shape of the workforce required to deliver ARENA’s business objectives.