In 2018-19, IPFA embedded processes and capabilities to enable it to deliver on its key objectives. This included:

• Delivering advisory services for over $55.7 billion worth of Australian Government infrastructure investments across 11 departments and agencies
• Completing key recruitment activities to establish a high performing team of expert advisors, and with it fostering a diverse, inclusive and high-performance workplace culture.
• Implementing a comprehensive program of knowledge sharing events (“Practice”) to improve commercial and financial expertise across the Australian Government
• Nurturing and expanding collaborative and trust-based stakeholder engagement and partnerships, across all levels of Government and also with project proponents, to support the delivery of appropriate advice.

IPFA’s performance results for 2018-19 have shown significant improvements as a result, particularly in relation to stakeholder satisfaction and timeliness. In addition, feedback from IPFA’s program of knowledge sharing events (“Practice”) has been extremely positive.

Organisational Performance

Human Resource Management

Employment Statistics

As at 30 June 2019, IPFA had a total of 14 APS employees, including part-time and non-ongoing employees (based on headcount). Of these, 8 were based in IPFA’s Canberra Office, and 6 located in IPFA’s Sydney office.

A detailed profile of IPFA’s staffing profile is below.

All Ongoing Employees Current Report Period (2018-19)

All Non-Ongoing Employees Current Report Period (2018-19)

No IPFA employees as at 30 June 2019 have identified themselves as indigenous. Australian Public Service Act Indigenous Employment Current Report Period (2018-19)

IPFA had an average staffing level (ASL) of 13.1 during the year

Employment Arrangements

IPFA’s non-SES staff are employed under common law contracts under the National Employment Standards, Public Service Act 1999 and the APS Award 2015.

In addition to the APS staff above, IPFA has a number of labour hire contractors engaged for their technical or specialist skills and capabilities.

Details of the base salary ranges applying to IPFA staff in 2018-19 are provided below.

Classification	Minimum ($)	Maximum ($)
APS1*	45,900	49,980
APS2*	53,040	57,120
APS3*	59,160	64,260
APS4*	66,300	72,420
APS5	72,000	80,070
APS6	81,600	107,100
EL1	105,000	137,700
EL2	131,580	190,000
SES	234,000	234,000

Australian Public Service Act Employment salary ranges by classification level (Minimum/Maximum) Current Report Period (2018-19)

* Note: IPFA did not engage any employees at the levels of APS 1-4 during 2017-18

Non-salary benefits

IPFA provides its staff and contractors with a mobile phone and a tablet and/or laptop. These provide them with reasonable flexibility in how, when and where they perform their roles. This allows staff and contractors to balance their work, personal commitments and interests.

This flexibility is assisted by:

• Extensive use of mobile technology, including video conferencing, teleconferencing and Skype.
• Access to flexible working arrangements such as part time hours and compressed hours.
• Various forms of leave that can be accessed flexibly.

Where there is a demonstrated business need, staff may be provided with airline lounge memberships. In addition, staff may be reimbursed for costs such as professional membership fees, as well as health care costs and other wellbeing costs such as influenza vaccinations.

IPFA did not pay performance bonuses to staff in 2018-19.

Workforce Planning, Recruitment, Retention and Turnover

IPFA recognises that its people are its most valuable resources. The IPFA team has significant expertise and experience in infrastructure policy and reform, advisory and governance, sponsorship, development, procurement and delivery, corporate and project financing, and commercial and legal arrangements.

IPFA seeks to foster a diverse, inclusive, high performance and flexible working culture. This supports IPFA in attracting, engaging, enabling and retaining talented staff.

IPFA uses a variety of strategies to achieve this, notably through flexible working arrangements, targeted recruitment processes, and training and skills development.

During 2017-18, IPFA had an employee turnover rate of 15 per cent.

Ethical Standards

IPFA’s commitment to high ethical and professional standards underpins the quality of its work. The independence of IPFA’s advice is a critical factor in IPFA’s support of the Australian Government and its agencies in their infrastructure investment analysis, and subsequent decision-making and delivery of nationally significant infrastructure projects.

IPFA staff and contractors are obliged to adhere to standards of integrity and behaviour governed by the APS legislative, regulatory and ethical framework, and reinforced in IPFA policies and procedures. Their accountability for performance, probity and ethical behaviour is aligned with the APS values and APS code of conduct as set out in the Public Service Act 1999.

Disability Reporting

IPFA is committed to a diverse workforce and provides reasonable adjustment and support to employees with a disability. Both its Canberra and Sydney offices are accessible for employees and visitors.

Reporting on disability is available from the Australian Public Service Commission’s State of the Service Report and the APS statistical bulletin. Both of these reports are available from www.apsc.gov.au.

Supporting Employees with Carer Responsibilities

IPFA fully supports employees with carer responsibilities. Carer support, consistent with the requirements under sections 7 and 8 of the Carer Recognition Act 2010, includes:

• Family-friendly work arrangements, such as access to and leadership in availing of flexible working arrangements.
• Specific leave provisions to support IPFA staff with caring responsibilities.
• A non-discriminatory definition of immediate family that recognises family members by blood, marriage, traditional kinship, current or former partner or de facto partner, and those in a genuine domestic or household relationship.

Work Health and Safety

IPFA is committed to providing a safe workplace for all staff and contractors. As part of this commitment, IPFA has:

• Developed work health and safety policies and procedures.
• Provided ergonomically appropriate workstation equipment, including sit-stand desks and dual monitors.
• Promoted the use of taxi and other car-with-driver services where employees are required to work longer hours or attend late-evening functions.

During 2018-19, there were no notifiable Work Health and Safety incidents that required reporting to Comcare. No directions or notices were given to IPFA by Comcare, and no work health and safety investigations were undertaken. IPFA has no active workers compensation claims as at 30 June 2019.

Other Management Issues

Fraud Prevention and Control

Section 10 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014, requires that Australian Government entities include a section detailing their compliance with the rule. In accordance with PGPA Fraud rule, IPFA has:

• prepared fraud risk assessments and fraud control plans.
• has in place appropriate fraud prevention, detection, investigation and reporting mechanisms that meet its specific needs.
• All reasonable measures have been taken all reasonable measures to appropriately deal with fraud relating to it.

No instances of fraud or potential fraud were detected during 2018-19.

IPFA’s Fraud and Corruption control policy and plan support IPFA’s risk management process.

Compliance with Financial Law

In 2018-19, IPFA had no significant issues under paragraph 19(1) (e) of the PGPA, relating to non‑compliance with the finance law.

External Scrutiny

During 2018-19, IPFA appeared at Senate Estimates, before the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, on 3 occasions:

• 22 October 2018.
• 18 February 2019.
• 8 April 2019.

No decisions made by a court or administrative tribunal or by the Australian Information Commissioner had or may have a significant effect on the operations of IPFA in 2018-19. IPFA was not subject of any agency capability reviews or reports by a Parliamentary Committee or the Commonwealth Ombudsman during 2018-19.

Other than for the audit of its financial statements under section 43 of the PGPA Act, IPFA was not subject to any reports or reviews by the Australian National Audit Office.

Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation

Section 516A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) requires that Australian Government entities include a section detailing their environmental performance and contribution to ecologically sustainable development in their Annual Report.

IPFA’s day-to-day operations continue to look for practical ways to reduce its impact on the environment in the areas of energy efficiency and waste reduction. These include:

• With two offices across both Sydney and Canberra, supporting the use of electronic solutions such as video-conferencing, telephone conferencing and Skype, as far as possible for meetings and conferences.
• Minimising paper usage through adoption of digital signatures on routine forms and internal correspondence, as well as adopting electronic storage procedures for key records.
• Providing recycling bins and using recycled products and materials where practical.
• Reducing power consumption, by having lights automatically dim in workplaces following periods of inactivity.

Information Publication Scheme

IPFA received no requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 during 2018‑19.

Information to be published in accordance with the Information Publication Scheme, including any future requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, will be made available at the IPFA website https://www.ipfa.gov.au/privacy-legals#freedom-of-information.

Executive Remuneration

Information about remuneration for senior executives

Information about remuneration for senior executives

Financial Performance

The work of IPFA is funded by Government appropriation. As a non-corporate Commonwealth entity, IPFA aims to operate to a break even position, rather than to make a surplus.

Overview of Financial Performance and Future Financial Viability

IPFA is operating within its appropriation and has sufficient cash reserves to fund its debts as and when they fall due. In monitoring financial performance, IPFA excludes the impact of depreciation and amortisation expenses, consistent with the net cash appropriation arrangements introduced by the Government in 2010-11.

In 2018-19, after adjusting for depreciation and amortisation expenses, IPFA recorded an operating deficit of $202k, against an approved budgeted deficit of $912k. IPFA has received approval to carry $650k from prior year surpluses into 2019-20, which will be reflected in its next Budget Statements. This reprofiling of expenses between is to support IPFA as embeds operations particularly from the 2018-19 Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook measure “Supporting Infrastructure Investment – additional resourcing“ first two years’ work program.

IPFA budgets to remain financial sustainable into the forward estimates.

During 2018-19, IPFA procured much of its back office operations from other entities (notably the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development) and the private sector. This enabled IPFA to avail of economies of scale in the delivery of these services, and also purchase technical services only as required.

Expense Impacts

IPFA spends most of its budget on employees and contract services. IPFA is split between two roughly equivalent-sized offices, in Canberra and Sydney.

IPFA’s total expenses for 2017-18 was $5,241k.

Revenue Impacts

IPFA received the vast majority of its income from appropriations from Government. An amount of $48,500 was received in the form of Resources Received Free of Charge, and relates to the provision of audit services from the Australian National Audit Office.

Financial Position

As at 30 June 2019, IPFA had net equity of $816k, representing $1,663k of assets and $847k of liabilities. Most of IPFA’s assets and liabilities are of a financial nature, with the largest asset balances being cash and receivables (including appropriation receivables), and liabilities relating to employee provisions and supplier payables.

Entity Resource Statement

The entity resource statement provides additional information about the various funding sources that IPFA may draw upon during the year.

Entity Resource Statement Summary Current Report Period (2018-19)

Purchasing and Procurement

IPFA’s purchasing activities were undertaken in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act) and the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

The CEO’s Accountable Authority Instructions (AAIs) support these by providing further direction to IPFA staff and contractors when conducting procurement activities on behalf of IPFA.

No contracts in excess of $10,000 (including GST) were exempted by IPFA’s CEO from being published on AusTender on the basis that they would disclose exempt matters under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

IPFA held no contracts to the value of $100,000 or more that did not provide for the Auditor-General to have access to the contractor’s premises.

Consultants

IPFA engages consultants where specialist or technical expertise is required. Consultants are typically engaged in Commonwealth agencies to:

• Investigate or diagnose a defined issue or problem
• Carry out independent reviews or evaluations
• Provide objective advice
• Provide recommendations to assist in decision making.

IPFA’s decision to engage consultants is assessed to ensure value for money and compliance with the PGPA Act, the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and IPFA’s Accountable Authority Instructions.

During 2018-19, no new consultancy contract was entered into. In addition, one ongoing consultancy contract was active during 2018-19, involving total actual expenditure of $27k.

Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on contracts for consultancies. Information on the value of contracts and consultancies is available on the AusTender website.

Number and expenditure on Consultants Current Report Period (2018 19)

Procurement Initiatives to support Small Business

IPFA supports small business participation in the Commonwealth Government procurement market. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and Small Enterprise participation statistics are available on the Department of Finance’s website.

IPFA’s procurement practices support SMEs by the use of the Commonwealth Contracting Suite for low-risk procurements under $200,000. This reduces process costs for SMEs by creating consistency and simplifying liability, insurance and indemnity requirements. Practices also support the use of electronic systems or other processes to facilitate on-time payment, including the use of credit cards.

Advertising and Market Research

IPFA did not undertake media advertising campaigns and therefore did not make any payments to advertising agencies in 2017-18. IPFA did not make any payments to direct mail organisations or polling organisations.

Grant Programs

IPFA does not administer any grant programs.