The success of current strategies and initiatives within the Royal Australian Navy have been assessed in the recently released Navy scorecard and supporting report.

The scorecard and report shows the success of current strategies and initiatives by the Chief of Navy and management, covering the period from October 2000 to February 2001.

In operational roles, the Navy has continued to perform well, having supported efforts in Bougainville, East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

The RAN has also supported information gathering and civil surveillance in northern Australia, the Southern Fisheries, along with the highly successful 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The reporting period also saw an overall increase in Navy's performance in meeting preparedness objectives issued by the CDF and CN.

These improvements are largely due to the increased availability of the Collins Class submarines and the ability to maintain other platforms at the required readiness state.

However, all is not a bed of roses, with deficiencies remaining in equipment condition, although shortfalls in personnel numbers are also impacting in particular on the hydrographic, patrol boat, amphibious and aviation platforms.

Navy continues to suffer from too many people leaving, compounded by shortfalls in recruiting, however some improvement against previous trends was reported.

Overall, Navy personnel numbers fell slightly during the reporting period, although to a much lesser degree than for the corresponding period last year. This trend is a result of both reduced separations and higher achievements for recruiting.

While overall staffing numbers stabilised to a degree, critical shortfalls remain for several categories.

To address these issues, the Navy Human Resource Management Plan was issued in February following its approval by the CN, seeking to rebuild numbers by addressing a range of personnel-related initiatives and functions.

Externally, the Navy continues to be held in high regard, with research by Newspoll indicating a sizeable majority of Australians think the Navy is doing a good job. Significantly, only 6.3 per cent of Australians disagree with this view.

The report and scorecard can be found on: http://defweb.cbr.gov.au/navy/. [Defence network only]

Submitted by Directorate of Navy Personnel Management