Performance Reporting

Part two

Output Group 4.2: Financial management

Administered items:

Financial Management
- Commonwealth Financial Counselling
- Emergency Relief
- Family Income Management
- National Information Centre on Retirement Investments
- National Research Strategy to Help Prevent Problem Gambling

Departmental outputs:

Policy services and program management
Service delivery

Financial Management

Financial Management aims to improve the financial self‑reliance and wellbeing of individuals and families. Assistance includes financial counselling, educating people in money management (including in retirement), support for people dealing with a financial crisis and finding ways to minimise problem gambling. An evaluation of money management services operating in remote Indigenous communities is planned for 2008–09.

Price
Estimate	$41.532m
Actual	$41.472m

Commonwealth Financial Counselling

The Commonwealth Financial Counselling Program funds community‑based organisations and local government community service organisations to provide free financial counselling. The counselling assists people who are experiencing personal financial difficulties to make informed decisions about their financial situation, resolving their financial problems and improving their ability to manage their financial affairs in the future.

Cost indicator: Average cost per client
Estimate	Less than $210 per client	The variance is +$25. Average cost per client has marginally increased due to increased complexity of cases and the winding down of Commonwealth Financial Counselling (Sugar Industry Reform).
Actual	$235 per client

Effectiveness—adequacy indicator: Percentage of clients (closed cases) whose problem was resolved
Estimate	60%	The variance is +32 per cent. A higher percentage of clients (closed cases) had problems resolved than initially estimated.
Actual	92%

Effectiveness—adequacy indicator: Percentage of total clients (closed cases) with improved ability to manage financial affairs in the future
Estimate	60%	The variance is +30 per cent. A higher percentage of clients (closed cases) had an improved ability to manage their financial affairs than initially estimated.
Actual	90%

Quantity indicator: Number of clients
Estimate	13,000	The variance is –1,500. Lower client numbers reflect increased case complexity and completion of Commonwealth Financial Counselling (Sugar Industry Reform).
Actual	11,500

Emergency Relief

The Emergency Relief Program provides funding to a range of community‑based organisations to help them provide emergency, financial and other assistance to individuals and families in financial crisis. The program also delivers training support for paid and voluntary workers in the sector.

Effectiveness—capacity indicator: Number of staff in the emergency relief sector attending training
Estimate	1,000	The variance is +1550. This reflects changes to the way training was delivered in some states. For example, Emergency Relief forums were held in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, enabling a larger number of Emergency Relief workers to access training.
Actual	2,550

Effectiveness—independence indicator: Number of emergency relief responses
Estimate	1,051,463*	The variance is –117,797. Service providers are not required to submit data for 2007–08 until September 2008. The actual result indicated is 2006–07 data, which does not include clients assisted under the 2007 drought assistance measures.
Actual	933,666

* These performance indicators were taken from the 2007–08 FaHCSIA Portfolio Budget Statements

Effectiveness—independence indicator: Percentage of repeat users
Estimate	Less than 10% of clients assisted	The percentage of repeat users is within the forecast range. As 2007–08 data is not available until September 2008, the actual figure is based on 2006–07 data.
Actual	6.3%

Quantity indicator: Number of service delivery outlets
Estimate	1,400	The variance is –164. The number of service delivery outlets is lower than estimated due, in part, to a change in the methodology used to calculate the number of outlets. Previously, some outlets offering both Indigenous and general services from the same location were counted as two outlets, however, now they are counted as one.
Actual	1,236

Quantity indicator: Number of agencies provided with Emergency Relief funds
Estimate	800	The variance is –52. This reflects the trend for more stand-alone outlets to be managed by parent organisations.
Actual	748

Quantity indicator: Number of clients assisted
Estimate	610,000*	The variance is +121,586. This reflects stronger than forecast growth in demand for Emergency Relief.
Actual	731,586

* This estimate was taken from the 2007–08 FaHCSIA Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements

Family Income Management

Family Income Management provides financial management education, information and ongoing support to remote and regional Indigenous communities through a number of money management services. These services are aimed at assisting Indigenous people to build financial literacy skills, support Indigenous home ownership on Indigenous land and improve family payment outcomes for Indigenous children.

Effectiveness—capacity indicator: Percentage of clients whose assets have increased
Estimate	50%	The variance is +7 per cent. 57 per cent of savings plans have provided increased net assets such as refrigerators, air conditioners, furniture, motor vehicles and boats. Some savings plans have not yet reached fruition.
Actual	57%

Effectiveness—capacity indicator: Percentage of clients whose debt has reduced
Estimate	50%	The variance is –22 per cent. 28 per cent of participants with debt payment plans achieved a reduction in debt. These included debts to Centrelink, fines and lending institutions.
Actual	28%

Quantity indicator: Number of money management plans (including budgets) developed
Estimate	800	The variance is +691. The development of money management plans or budgets by participants is highly encouraged at all money management services.
Actual	1491

Quantity indicator: Number of people that accessed money management information and training
Estimate	1,000	The variance is +1,202. A total of 2,202 clients were helped by money management workers. This assistance takes two forms—ongoing and one‑off education, information and/or support.
Actual	2,202

National Information Centre on Retirement Investments

The National Information Centre on Retirement Investments (NICRI) is an independent consumer service funded by the government. NICRI provides the public with free information on planning and saving for retirement, investment options and the effective use of financial resources in retirement.

Quality—assurance indicator: FaHCSIA satisfied that the NICRI met terms and conditions of government funding, as specified in the funding agreement between FaHCSIA and NICRI
Estimate	100%	The actual result was the same as the estimate indicated in the 2007–08 FaHCSIA Portfolio Budget Statements. NICRI distributed over 175,000 leaflets, responded to almost 4,000 telephone calls and attended 80 presentations for Centrelink Financial Information Service Officers and other organisations. The NICRI website recorded over 55,000 ‘hits’.
Actual	100%

National Research Strategy to Help Prevent Problem Gambling

Gambling Research Australia (GRA) is an initiative of the Ministerial Council on Gambling (MCG). It is funded and managed by the Australian and states and territory governments to undertake research on gambling related issues. In 2007–08, GRA undertook research on youth, children at risk, pre‑commitment to spend strategies, predictors of relapse in problem gambling, the influence of venue characteristics on a player’s decision to attend a gambling venue, gambling and the impact of new and emerging technologies and associated products and understanding gambling in indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Quality—assurance indicator: Research undertaken is of a high standard (timely, fulfils terms of reference, complete, methodologically sound) and contributes to policy understanding and development at the national and state level
Estimate	100%	There has been increasing interest in gambling‑related research in the past 2 years. The gambling research industry is still growing and has not been able to keep up with demand. As a consequence, there has been a decrease in the number of suitably-qualified researchers available to take up government research. For this reason, the Department was unable to undertake additional independent research into gambling in 2007–08.
Actual	N/A

Policy services and program management

Price
Estimate	$4.497m
Actual	$4.402m

Quality—assurance indicator: Department ensures that service providers meet terms and conditions of funding
Estimate	100%	The actual result was the same as the estimate indicated in the 2007–08 FaHCSIA Portfolio Budget Statements.
Actual	100%

Quality—assurance indicator: Research and evaluation is of a high standard (timely, fulfils terms of reference, complete, methodologically sound) and contributes to policy understanding and development
Estimate	100%	The actual result was the same as the estimate indicated in the 2007–08 FaHCSIA Portfolio Budget Statements.
Actual	100%

Quality—assurance indicator: Service agreements/contracts that meet legislative, government policy and departmental requirements in place with all service providers
Estimate	100%	The actual result was the same as the estimate indicated in the 2007–08 FaHCSIA Portfolio Budget Statements.
Actual	100%

Quantity—client satisfaction indicator: Ministers and their offices are satisfied with the quality of policy advice and Department meets standards for policy advice
Estimate	100%	Ministers and their offices did not provide feedback on individual output groups but did provide feedback on departmental performance as a whole. Further information on ministerial and parliamentary services can be found in Part 3 of this report.

Quantity indicator: Major pieces of research and evaluation completed
Estimate	3	The variance is –2. An evaluation of the Sugar Industry Reform element of Commonwealth Financial Counselling was completed. The evaluation of MoneyBusiness and Family Income Management has been postponed until 2008–09.
Actual	1

Quantity indicator: Number of contracts/service agreements under management
Estimate	852	The variance is –47 There has been further consolidation of services with a number of service outlets now funded through parent organisations.
Actual	805

Quantity indicator: Number of service providers under management
Estimate	852	The variance is –60. There has been further consolidation of services with a number of service outlets now funded through parent organisations.
Actual	792

Quantity indicator: Number of items to Ministers’ offices
Estimate	75 items of ministerial correspondence 25 submissions and briefings	Detailed information on actual results for this indicator can be found in Part 3 of this report.

Service delivery

Price
Estimate	$4.846m
Actual	$4.743m

Quality assurance indicator: Service providers deliver services to the standards agreed with FaHCSIA
Estimate	100%	The variance is –0.1per cent. Six Emergency Relief providers did not meet FaHCSIA standards regarding acquittal of funding.
Actual	99.9%

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