Annual Report 2004-05

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 organisation, 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), though 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. 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, which became a prescribed agency on 1 July 2005, buys, maintains, upgrades and disposes of the specialist military equipment used by the ADF to train for and conduct operations. The contribution of the Defence Materiel Organisation is detailed in Chapter Six - Defence Materiel Organisation. Corporate Services and Infrastructure Group manages the Defence estate of land, buildings and infrastructure and a wide range of corporate services, including legal advice, personnel administration and the management of garrison support and maintenance contractors. The contribution of the Corporate Services and Infrastructure Group is detailed in Chapter Five - Group Contributions.

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, the Chief Information Officer's Group, the Chief Finance Officer Group, Defence Personnel Executive, the Inspector-General Group and Coordination and Public Affairs Division are all owner support groups and their contributions are detailed in Chapter Five - Group Contributions.

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 Cost 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 Three - People and the Inspector-General is discussed in the 'Internal Audit and Risk Management Arrangements' section of the Appendices.