A performance audit of the Department of Defence’s public communications and media activities has found its practices to be “not fully effective”.
In his report Defence’s Management of its Public Communications and Media Activities, Auditor-General Grant Hehir found that while the Department had largely established a policy and management framework for its public communications and media activities, it had not clearly articulated its overarching objectives or expected outcomes for those activities.
“The absence of clearly documented objectives, expected outcomes and related performance measures limits the assurance provided to senior leaders, through internal reporting, that Defence’s public communications and media activities are delivering meaningful results,” Mr Hehir said.
He said that while the Ministerial and Executive Coordination and Communication (MECC) Division provided regular reports to Defence senior leaders on output measures such as timeliness of responses to media enquiries, reports did not provide information on achievement of outcomes or reasons why activities had not been completed on time.
Mr Hehir found that of the 197 communication plans submitted for review, only 40 per cent (79) were cleared at the level of seniority required by the Defence Communication Manual.
“Only 23 per cent of plans included budget information and 49 per cent included criteria for evaluating the outcomes of the activity,” Mr Hehir said.
He said risks and sensitivities were considered in 68 per cent of communications plans supplied to the Australian National Audit Office.
The Auditor-General recommended that Defence clearly document its objectives, expected outcomes and related performance measures for its public communication and media activities and assess risks to the achievement of the documented objectives.
He also recommended it clarify its expectations for the evaluation of planned activities and introduce arrangements to provide assurance that evaluations were completed as expected and in a timely manner.
Defence has accepted the recommendations of the Auditor-General.
The Auditor-General’s online report can be accessed at this PS News link and his 66-page printed report at this link.