Annual Report 2003-04

Accountability Arrangements

Corporate Governance

Defence - its organisation and functions

The organisation known as 'Defence' comprises the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the Department of Defence.

Defence is staffed by Australian Public Service (APS) and ADF personnel. While some parts of Defence are almost exclusively military or civilian, most are not. In most of our organisations, military and civilian personnel work together, each bringing particular expertise and experience, to deliver Defence outcomes.

The ADF is made up of the three Services (Navy, Army and Air Force) but many ADF members work in the Defence Groups. The Defence Groups are the other high-level Defence functional areas that deliver Defence outcomes and/or support those that do. The Services and Groups are broadly categorised into one of the three groupings below, according to the nature of their core work. But each Group and Service also supports, fundamentally in many cases, the ability of the others to achieve Defence outcomes.

Delivering Defence Outcomes

Defence is directly responsible for delivering six core outcomes to the Government. Outcome One, Defence Operations, is the core business of the Chief of Joint Operations. The Services deliver the Navy, Army and Air Force outcomes (Defence Outcomes Two, Three and Four). Outcomes Five and Six are delivered by the Strategy Group and Intelligence Group respectively.

Other Defence Groups are divided into two broad categories: Enabling Groups and Owner Support Groups.

Enabling Defence Outcomes

The Enabling Groups are those that provide the equipment, infrastructure and support that underpin Defence's ability to deliver its outcomes. The Defence Materiel Organisation buys, maintains, upgrades and disposes of the specialist military equipment used by the ADF to train for and conduct operations. Corporate Services and Infrastructure Group provides the accommodation (including living accommodation for many ADF members), training facilities, information and voice services and garrison support necessary to run Defence. The contribution of these Groups is detailed in Chapter Three.

Supporting our owner

The Owner Support Groups provide specialist advice and support to the Government and Defence to ensure the efficient and effective operation of Defence and the development of our future capability. The Capability Development Group, the Defence Science and Technology Organisation and the Chief Information Officer's Group are all owner support groups and their work and their contributions to the Defence Outcomes are detailed in Chapter Three.

The Chief Finance Officer, Defence Personnel Executive and the Inspector-General Groups are also owner support groups, but their contributions are identified in other areas of this report. The Chief Finance Officer Group is responsible for the financial information provided in this report including the Financial Statements, Financial Overview, Capital Budget overview and the Price to Government and Explanation of Significant Variations analysis for each of the Defence Outcomes.

The work of the Defence Personnel Executive is reported in Chapter Five (People) and that of the Inspector-General is discussed in the 'Internal Audit and Risk Management Arrangements' section of the Appendices.

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