Attorney-General: Accommodation (Question No. 2148) Senator Humphries asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 10 September 2012: In regard to each department and agency within the Minister's responsibility: (1) Has there been a reduction in the number of plants in departmental and agency offices; if so: (a) by what percentage; (b) on what date did it come into effect; (c) what was the reason for the reduction; and (d) how much will each department and agency save as a result. (2) What is the budget for the facilities management branch (or equivalent) in the: (a) 2011-12; and (b) 2012-13 financial years. (3) What is the name of the organisation contracted to supply plants to departmental and agency offices. (4) If a reduction in the number of office plants has taken place, when was the contracted organisation first made aware of the decision. (5) Were staff consulted regarding a possible reduction in plants prior to it taking place. (6) Have any complaints been registered from staff in relation to reductions in office plants. Senator Ludwig: The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question: Please refer to the following table. (1) Attorney-General's Dept. Yes Administrative Appeals Tribunal Yes Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Yes Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity No—there has been no reduction Australian Crime Commission No Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Yes Australian Federal Police No. There has been no reduction in office plants at NHQ since July 2011 Australian Government Solicitor No AGS is a government business enterprise (GBE) operating on a commercial and competitive basis in providing legal and related services to government and its agencies. AGS does not receive any appropriations. It would be an unreasonable diversion of AGS business resources to provide the further details sought having regard to the records kept, the nature of the information sought and AGS's role as a GBE. Australian Human Rights Commission No Australian Law Reform Commission No Australian Institute of Criminology No Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre As a cost savings measure AUSTRAC has not engaged plant hire services since March 2010 CrimTrac No Family Court of Australia No Federal Court of Australia No Federal Magistrates Court of Australia No High Court of Australia No Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia ITSA has reduced the number of plants in its Sydney office by 66% with effect from 30 June 2012. The reduction was a result of refurbishment work in the foyer area which reduced the space available for plant displays. This reduction will result in annual savings of $1,560 National Native Title Tribunal Yes Office of the Australian Information Commissioner No Office of Director of Public Prosecutions No Office of the Parliamentary Counsel No, there has been no reduction in plant numbers only a reduction in cost (see answer to (d) below) (1) (a) Attorney-General's Dept. 18.5% Administrative Appeals Tribunal 100% reduction in Adelaide and Perth Registries by early 2009. Canberra Registry has not had plant hire within the last decade. Brisbane Registry retained its plants on termination of the maintenance contract in 2008 and plant numbers have steadily declined as dead plants are not replaced. An exact percentage reduction in plant numbers is unknown, but 100% of costs were eliminated. Hobart Registry plant hire is provided via arrangements in place as part of the Commonwealth Law Courts tenancy at a cost of $826pa but is likely to be reduced in 2012-13 as part of a review of funding arrangements. Melbourne and Sydney Registries reduced plant hire in 2008 limiting coverage to public areas only. An exact percentage reduction in plant numbers is unknown, however costs reduced 72% in Sydney and 55% in Melbourne. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 20% reduction Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity See response to Q(1) Australian Crime Commission N/A Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Approximately 75.7% Australian Federal Police See response to Q(1) Australian Government Solicitor AGS is a government business enterprise (GBE) operating on a commercial and competitive basis in providing legal and related services to government and its agencies. AGS does not receive any appropriations. It would be an unreasonable diversion of AGS business resources to provide the further details sought having regard to the records kept, the nature of the information sought and AGS's role as a GBE. Australian Human Rights Commission N/A Australian Law Reform Commission N/A Australian Institute of Criminology N/A Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre See response Q(1) CrimTrac N/A Family Court of Australia N/A Federal Court of Australia N/A Federal Magistrates Court of Australia N/A High Court of Australia N/A Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia See response to Q(1) National Native Title Tribunal The National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) has reduced its expenditure on pot plant hire by approximately 87% since 30 June 2010. The details of the NNTT's expenditure on pot plants from the year 2009-10 are set out in the table below: Year Total Expenditure Savings (year to year) 2009-10 $8052 - 2010-11 $7261 $ 791 2011-12 $2951 $ 4,310 2012-13 $1040 (estimated) $ 1,911 Total $ 7,012 Office of the Australian Information Commissioner N/A Office of Director of Public Prosecutions N/A Office of the Parliamentary Counsel N/A (1) (b) Attorney-General's Dept. August 2012 under the new plant contract when AGD moved into 4 National Circuit (4NC), Barton Administrative Appeals Tribunal Reductions were effective in August/September 2008 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 1 November 2011 Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity N/A Australian Crime Commission N/A Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Between December 2008 and December 2011 (as contracts expired) Australian Federal Police N/A Australian Government Solicitor N/A Australian Human Rights Commission N/A Australian Law Reform Commission N/A Australian Institute of Criminology N/A Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre N/A CrimTrac N/A Family Court of Australia N/A Federal Court of Australia N/A Federal Magistrates Court of Australia N/A High Court of Australia N/A Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia N/A National Native Title Tribunal Savings in respect of pot plant hire by the NNTT commenced in 2009-10 Office of the Australian Information Commissioner N/A Office of Director of Public Prosecutions N/A Office of the Parliamentary Counsel N/A (1) (c) Attorney-General's Dept. To keep in line with the same as existing allocation as premises at Robert Garran Offices (RGO), Barton Administrative Appeals Tribunal As part of an internal budget review in 3rd quarter 2008 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation A sub-tenant relocation to another building (the tenancy agreement included plants) Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity See response to Q(1) Australian Crime Commission N/A Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Reduction in leased properties and to reduce property operating expenses Australian Federal Police See response to Q(1) Australian Government Solicitor N/A Australian Human Rights Commission N/A Australian Law Reform Commission N/A Australian Institute of Criminology N/A Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre See response Q(1) CrimTrac N/A Family Court of Australia No Federal Court of Australia N/A Federal Magistrates Court of Australia No High Court of Australia N/A Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia See response to Q(1) National Native Title Tribunal The NNTT implemented savings measures in 2009-10 in response to a 7.7% reduction in its annual appropriation (from $32.15m in 2008-09 to $29.68m). Discretionary expenditure, including pot plant hire, was significantly reduced, in order to meet budget targets for 2009-10 and also in anticipation of further decreases in the NNTT's appropriation in the forward years Office of the Australian Information Commissioner N/A Office of Director of Public Prosecutions N/A Office of the Parliamentary Counsel N/A (1) (d) Attorney-General's Dept. Approximately $40,000 pa Administrative Appeals Tribunal $26,172pa inc GST Australian Security Intelligence Organisation ASIO will save $304 per month Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity See response to Q(1) Australian Crime Commission N/A Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Approximately $108,792 from 1 July 2012 Australian Federal Police See response to Q(1) Australian Government Solicitor N/A Australian Human Rights Commission N/A Australian Law Reform Commission N/A Australian Institute of Criminology N/A Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre See response Q(1) CrimTrac N/A Family Court of Australia No Federal Court of Australia N/A Federal Magistrates Court of Australia No High Court of Australia N/A Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia See response to Q(1) National Native Title Tribunal As reflected in the table at 1(a), savings from year to year amount to $7,012 Office of the Australian Information Commissioner N/A Office of Director of Public Prosecutions N/A Office of the Parliamentary Counsel As a result of new contractual arrangements from 1 November 2011 OPC negotiate a more competitive price for the supply of office plants, a reduction of 39% and $1,764 per annum (inc GST) (2) (a) Attorney-General's Dept. The facilities management budget was: $1,513,739 in financial year 2011-12. The budget for plants, as a subset of the facilities management budget, was: $108,000 in financial year 2011-12 Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal does not maintain a facilities management branch or equivalent due to its size. These duties form as part of the Manager, Property & Security's role and the Finance and Accounts area of the Tribunal. During periods of lease renewal or fitout, additional support is sought from commercial suppliers Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The facilities management budget was: $5,851,500 in financial year 2011-12. The budget for plants, as a subset of the facilities management budget, was: $34,400 in financial year 2011-12 Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity ACLEI's Corporate Services Section manages ACLEI's premises and facilities. ACLEI does not run separate budget line items for facilities management Australian Crime Commission $3.518m Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Customs and Border Protection does not have a facilities management branch as this function is embedded across the agency The actual spend on plant hire for 2011-12 was $66,553 Australian Federal Police 2011-12 Actual - $3,274,160 Australian Government Solicitor In 2011-12 AGS spend around $23,500 on plant hire which is about the same amount as in the previous year AGS does not have a facilities management branch or equivalent Australian Human Rights Commission The actual spend on indoor plant hire for 2011-12 was $18,831 Australian Law Reform Commission The ALRC does not have a specific budget for facilities management Australian Institute of Criminology $415 Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre $1,332,000, which includes $802,274 in contracted property related services CrimTrac $2,452,000 Family Court of Australia 2011-12 - $1,399,301 (GST Exclusive) Federal Court of Australia $143,424 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia 2011-12 $45,746 (GST Exclusive) High Court of Australia The budget for the building operations section for 2011-12 was $2,661,735 Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia The facilities management budget for 2011-12 was $4,450,365. This budget comprises rental expense, instalment outgoings, carparking, energy, cleaning and repairs and maintenance National Native Title Tribunal N/A. As of 1 July 2012, the NNTT is funded as a sub-program of the Federal Court of Australia, which meets all of its corporate expenses Office of the Australian Information Commissioner The Finance and Services section of the Australian Human Rights Commission co-ordinates indoor plant hire on behalf of the OAIC under a memorandum of understanding in relation to the provision of corporate services The actual spend on indoor plant hire for 2011–12 was $6,277 Office of Director of Public Prosecutions $329,000 (ex GST) actual expense Office of the Parliamentary Counsel As a small agency OPC has no facilities management area (2) (b) Attorney-General's Dept. For the 2012-13 budget facilities management merged with the property section and the combined budget is $1,430,161 of which the plant budget is $66,000 Administrative Appeals Tribunal N/A Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The facilities management budget was: $5,940,500 in financial year 2012-13. The budget for plants, as a subset of the facilities management budget, was: $35,800 in financial year 2012-13 Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity ACLEI's Corporate Services Section manages ACLEI's premises and facilities. ACLEI does not run separate budget line items for facilities management Australian Crime Commission $3.243m Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Customs and Border Protection does not have a facilities management branch as this function is embedded across the agency The Budget for 2012-13 is $32,000 Australian Federal Police 2012-13 Budget - $3,781,859 Australian Government Solicitor See response to Q(2) (a) Australian Human Rights Commission The Budget for 2012-13 is $19,000 Australian Law Reform Commission N/A Australian Institute of Criminology $415 Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre $1,713,360 which includes $1,066,153 in contracted property related services. Note: figures exclude office and car parking lease costs CrimTrac $2,235,000 Family Court of Australia 2012-13 - $759,029 (GST Exclusive) Federal Court of Australia $183,203 Federal Magistrates Court of Australia 2012-13 $47,148 (GST Exclusive) High Court of Australia The budget for the building operations section for 2011-12 was $2,661,735 Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia The facilities management budget for 2011-12 was $4,450,365. This budget comprises rental expense, instalment outgoings, carparking, energy, cleaning and repairs and maintenance National Native Title Tribunal N/A Office of the Australian Information Commissioner The Finance and Services section of the Australian Human Rights Commission co-ordinates indoor plant hire on behalf of the OAIC under a memorandum of understanding in relation to the provision of corporate services The budget for indoor plant hire in 2012–13 is $6,500 Office of Director of Public Prosecutions $272,800 (ex GST) estimated full year expenses Office of the Parliamentary Counsel N/A (3) Attorney-General's Dept. Instyle Indoor Plant Hire Administrative Appeals Tribunal Current suppliers are: Melbourne – Frenchams Sydney – Tropical Plant Rentals Hobart – Penny Dann Australian Security Intelligence Organisation For security reasons ASIO does not reveal details of service providers Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity N/A Australian Crime Commission Instyle Plant Maintenance Frenchams Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Tropical Folige Pty Ltd T/A Living Simply Australian Federal Police Instyle Indoor Plant Hire has been contracted as the office plant supplier for NHQ (EBB) since July 2011 Australian Government Solicitor Capital Plants Hire. On a month by month basis rather than a contract. Australian Human Rights Commission Instyle Indoor Plant Hire Australian Law Reform Commission N/A Australian Institute of Criminology Capital Indoor Plant Hire Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre N/A CrimTrac Instyle Indoor Plant Hire Family Court of Australia Ambius Instyle Indoor Plant Hire Penny Dann Posh Indoor Plant Hire Tropical Plant Rentals Federal Court of Australia Green Design. In the Commonwealth Law Courts Buildings, plants are provided through the building managers Federal Magistrates Court of Australia Ambius High Court of Australia Capital Indoor Plant Hire Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia The organisations contracted to supply plants to ITSA are Capital Indoor Plant Hire and Ambius National Native Title Tribunal Since 2009-10, the NNTT has used a total of three suppliers to provide hire plants at various times: Ambius Indoor Plants Advance Plant Services Pty Ltd Pynes Indoor Garden Hire & Garden Management Office of the Australian Information Commissioner Instyle Indoor Plant Hire Office of Director of Public Prosecutions Capital Indoor Plant Hire Office of the Parliamentary Counsel Instyle Indoor Plant Hire (4) Attorney-General's Dept. When the tender was put out in 2009 for 3-5 Nation Cct and January 2011 for 4 National Cct, they were advised of the new building and the requirements Administrative Appeals Tribunal August 2008 (excluding Hobart) Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 27 October 2011 Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity N/A Australian Crime Commission N/A Australian Customs and Border Protection Service November 2008 (first ACT reduction), November 2010 (national). Australian Federal Police N/A Australian Government Solicitor N/A Australian Human Rights Commission There has been no reduction in plants Australian Law Reform Commission N/A Australian Institute of Criminology N/A Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre Yes CrimTrac N/A Family Court of Australia N/A Federal Court of Australia N/A Federal Magistrates Court of Australia N/A High Court of Australia N/A Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia 1 June 2012 National Native Title Tribunal Suppliers were informed of the decision to terminate or reduce pot plant hire (as relevant) as soon as practicable after the decision was made to terminate or reduce. All terminations or reductions were made in accordance with the terms of the relevant agreements Office of the Australian Information Commissioner There has been no reduction in plants Office of Director of Public Prosecutions N/A Office of the Parliamentary Counsel N/A (5) Attorney-General's Dept. No. Staff were advised that the cost of hiring plants was going to be centralised and that we would be keeping the same allocation of plants throughout 4NC to match RGO Administrative Appeals Tribunal Limited consultation, however management explained the reasoning to all staff via e-mail at the time of implementation. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Not applicable – reduction in plants occurred in a sub-tenanted area, where the sub-tenant relocated to another building Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity N/A Australian Crime Commission N/A Australian Customs and Border Protection Service N/A Australian Federal Police N/A Australian Government Solicitor N/A Australian Human Rights Commission There has been no reduction in plants Australian Law Reform Commission N/A Australian Institute of Criminology N/A Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre Yes CrimTrac N/A Family Court of Australia N/A Federal Court of Australia N/A Federal Magistrates Court of Australia N/A High Court of Australia N/A Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia Yes National Native Title Tribunal Yes. Information about the measures being taken to reduce expenditure (including through the hire of pot plants) was communicated to employees through national video link ups conducted by the Registrar and President, initial and follow-up announcements on the Tribunal's intranet and discussion at the Tribunal's Consultative Forum Office of the Australian Information Commissioner There has been no reduction in plants Office of Director of Public Prosecutions N/A Office of the Parliamentary Counsel N/A (6) Attorney-General's Dept. No Administrative Appeals Tribunal Minor complaints at the time of implementation Australian Security Intelligence Organisation N/A Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity N/A Australian Crime Commission N/A Australian Customs and Border Protection Service N/A Australian Federal Police N/A Australian Government Solicitor N/A Australian Human Rights Commission N/A Australian Law Reform Commission N/A Australian Institute of Criminology N/A Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre N/A CrimTrac Nil Family Court of Australia No Federal Court of Australia N/A Federal Magistrates Court of Australia N/A High Court of Australia N/A Insolvency and Trustee Services of Australia N/A National Native Title Tribunal N/A Office of the Australian Information Commissioner N/A Office of Director of Public Prosecutions N/A Office of the Parliamentary Counsel N/A