From the Director General

We have made significant progress towards our vision of creating an enriched quality of life for all Western Australians through sustainable communities. Left: Director General - Greg Martin

It has been an exciting and challenging year for all of us at the Department for Planning and Infrastructure.

I am proud that this year’s annual report is a showcase of government initiatives that are making real improvements to the lives of Western Australians.

The Minister for Planning and Infrastructure has provided very strong policy and community consultation leadership and direction for the Department and at times we have struggled to keep up. However we have all learned from this very positive experience and as a result are better able to meet community needs.

Many of our major highlights are good examples of how the Department is listening to its stakeholders and responding to changing lifestyles and trends that place Western Australia firmly on the contemporary world map.

Our achievements also provide an excellent yardstick for how vigorously we have embraced the State Government’s five key priorities in its strategic plan for achieving a sustainable Western Australia: People and Communities, The Economy, The Environment, The Regions and Governance.

Part of a changing world
We no longer live in a quarter-acre, nine-to-five world. Western Australia is no longer split simplistically into a city-country divide. Some of our fastest growing urban areas are hundreds of kilometres from Perth in relatively isolated locations. Western Australia’s population and economic growth is still one of the highest in Australia, but our population is ageing. Almost one in five people now have some form of disability. Almost all new jobs will be in the service industries and the number of part-time jobs is rising exponentially.

In addition, relatively low interest rates in recent times have contributed to a surge in demand for land and a jump in the number of planning approvals and subdivision applications received by the Department.

It should also be remembered that Western Australia is part of the global community and must address issues such as modernising our business practices, supporting e-business opportunities, improving transport security and providing critical infrastructure for our export industries.

We also know that Western Australians are extremely protective of their quality of life and rightfully demand to have their say in what happens in their own backyard, and we have embraced the desire of community interest groups to be involved in what we do.

Responding to the challenges
In the last 12 months the Department has directed substantial resources to tapping into these contemporary attitudes and trends. We have released blueprints to take many communities into the future and to balance economic, environmental and social needs of future generations.

We have worked hard to respond to the growing demand for land and have established an innovative approach to ensuring affordable housing is available across Perth. We have produced valuable population forecasting tools for business, industry and governments to ensure services such as land supply, water, electricity and schools can be planned together.

We have modernised and simplified a range of legislation, regulations, planning and design codes so that we are better able to meet the expectations of today’s Western Australians. Our comprehensive revamp of the state’s licensing infrastructure has equipped us to deal with some six million transactions each year.

In recognition of the growing importance of regional Western Australia, we have strengthened our presence in the regions by establishing a series of ‘one-stop shops’ and appointing senior regional service managers across the state. In addition, we have introduced an innovative ‘Executive Director Sponsorship’ program in which each Executive Director provides a top-level conduit between a nominated region, senior staff in other agencies and in local government, as well as within the Department.

Our community consultation has been second to none, led by our Minister’s initiative to create the flagship event ‘Dialogue with the city’. This groundbreaking event has changed forever the way that the views of Western Australians are harnessed to drive improvements to our city.

The principles laid out at Dialogue have become the foundations for the way we plan Perth’s future. There is much more to do and further engagement with the community will be needed to develop implementation strategies.

Making a difference
In addition to building better places to live, I am pleased to be able to say that the Department’s other products and services have made important contributions to the state’s economic and social wellbeing.

This year, for the first time, we used university research to objectively measure the economic impact of the Department’s activities. These figures are indicative of the positive effects our work has on the community:

• Our work in the area of planning approvals directly contributed to economic activity valued at more than $3 billion and generated some 85,000 direct and indirect jobs across Western Australia.
• The Department provides support to the building and development industries by contributing an average of 10,000 new building lots each year, with a value in excess of $1 billion.
• Of all state government agencies, the Department is the second highest contributor to Western Australia’s revenue base, providing funds for valuable community services.
• As a regulator, we collect more than $1 billion each year.
• We take our responsibility for future generations very seriously as we manage 93 per cent of Western Australia’s land mass through the Crown land section of the Department.

On behalf of the Government, we also give back to the state: in 2003-04, we distributed over $40 million in local community grants and subsidies to help build local bicycle and boating facilities and regional airport infrastructure, improve public transport safety, assist students, pensioners and people with a disability, and support regional air services and shipping routes.

Our partners
One of our important roles is to work with other agencies and with industry to create policies that benefit all members of the community. During the year we undertook a review of the planning approvals process - an initiative undertaken in partnership with industry leaders such as the Property Council of Australia and the Urban Development Institute of Australia. I’m pleased to be able to report that the positive outcomes resulting from such collaborative partnerships are being adopted at all levels of the Department.

Improving our community within
A very important community is our own staff, and this year we introduced a range of initiatives under the Business Excellence Framework designed to give staff more support.

Our values workshops were delivered to nearly one third of our staff. We conducted the inaugural staff survey to measure staff attitudes and opinions and have consolidated our performance management system to enable staff and managers to work more closely together. We have also introduced 360 degree feedback regarding leadership performance.

I am proud that our standard of financial accountability set last year has continued to improve through the strengthening of Internal Audit’s role and scope and our move towards finding a better funding model based on demand for services. The Department is also the nominated host agency for the Shared Services Centre (Cluster 5) and preparations are under way to support this government initiative.

To the future
A functional review of the Department for Planning and Infrastructure commenced in March 2004, to examine how well we serve the community and the State Government. The review was led by a former Director General of Transport, Stuart Hicks, and supported by managers from the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Treasury and Finance.

The results of that review will shape our activities and refine our operating processes and service delivery. I’m confident that the recommendations made by the review committee will realise the full potential of the agency and I look forward to implementing them to ensure a stronger and more effective Department. See the detailed analysis of the recommendations of the functional review.

The Department’s focus on improving lives with ‘outside-the-square’ innovation such as the hydrogen cell bus trial, means we will be well placed in the coming year to deliver our vision of an enriched quality of life to the communities of Western Australia.

Greg Martin
Director General