2000 ANNUAL REPORT - Contents Page

Operational Reporting
 
  • How our Staff are Employed
  • Staff Numbers and Remuneration
  • Staff Training
  • Workplace Safety
  • Accountability to Industry
  • External Reviews
  • Corporate Publications
  • Public Relations
    		•
  • Project Listings
  • Royalties
  • RIRDC’s Commercialisation Policy Framework
  • Scholarships
  • Fraud Control
  • Y2K Issues
  • Freedom of Information
  • The Web
    		•

    The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Quality Management Systems has recently received ISO 9002 Quality Assurance accreditation from SGS International Certification Services Pty. Ltd.


    Key Objective

  • To attract and retain an innovative, productive, creative and committed group of staff.
    • Key Results
  • More staff now doing a greater mix of tasks.
  • Corporate IT systems which are Y2K compliant and GST ready.
  • Corporate systems accredited with ISO 9002 Quality Assurance from SGS International Certification Services Pty. Ltd.
  • No claims lodged with Comcare in 1999/2000.
  • Absenteeism of 15 hours per employee in 1999/2000, down from 32 per employee in 1998/1999.
  • $1,280 per person training investment.
    • The Year Ahead
  • Continued priority on staff undertaking work related continuing education programs to ensure their preferences continue to grow and they stay with the Corporation.
  • Have a workplace which results in zero Comcare claims.
  • Ensure the Corporation is in the lowest 25 per cent quartile on absenteeism when compared to industry benchmarks.
    • How our staff are employed

    RIRDC staff are employed under Section 87 of the PIERD Act 1989. This legislation requires the Corporation to determine the appropriate established terms and conditions of employment for its staff.

    During 1999/2000 all staff other than those on individual contracts were covered by the RIRDC General Terms and Conditions of Employment set in October 1998. These terms covered a two-year period that expires on 30 September 2000. Under these arrangements the Corporation reserves the right to employ new staff on either individual contracts or on the general terms and conditions.

    Staff numbers and remunerations

    At the end June 2000 the Corporation had 16 staff members engaged on a full-time basis. Eight of these were on individual contracts. RIRDC also had a number of part-time staff. The staff structure at the end June 1999 is shown in Figure 1. Details on the salaries of full-time staff are summarised in the table below. Consistent with its legislative obligations, the Corporation is an equal opportunity employer.

    Base salaries of full-time RIRDC staff
     
    Salary Range  ($)  Staff at 30 June 2000  Staff at 30 June 1999
    120 001–130 000
    110 001–120 000
    100 001–110 000
    90 001–100 000
    80 001–90 000
    70 001–80 000
    60 001–70 000
    50 001–60 000
    40 001–50 000
    30 001–40 000
    20 001–30 000
    1
    -
    -
    2
    1
    -
    1
    5
    1
    5
    1
    1
    -
    -
    -
    2
    1
    -
    2
    3
    5
    1

    Staff training

    The Corporation's training investment in 1999/2000 was $20,485. This compares with $28,659 in 1998/1999. On a per capita basis for our full-time staff, this represents an investment of nearly $1,280 in 1999/2000. This investment focused primarily on on-going tertiary education and computer application courses. Examples of tertiary educational assistance included the Australian Graduate School of Management MBA Program and the Graduate Diploma in Business Administration at the University of New England. Four Directors participated in the Company Directors' Course in 1999/2000 run by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

    Workplace Safety

    The Corporation continued to implement occupational health and safety standards in 1999/2000. This included ergonomic assessments for all staff, which enabled workstations to be set to individual needs, encouraged safer work patterns and raised awareness of OH&S principles among Corporation staff.

    Human Resources Benchmarking(a) RIRDC in Context
     
    Q1
    		 Median
    Q3
    Average
    By Size(b)        
             
    Training expenditure

    Per employee ($)

    		        
    – Benchmark
    658
    1,128
    2,014
    1,914
    – RIRDC    
    1,280
    		  
             
    Training Expenditure as % of Base Salary Costs        
    – Benchmark
    1.3
    2.3
    4.2
    3.4
    – RIRDC    
    2.2
    		  
             
    Total Staff Turnover (%)        
    – Benchmark
    16.5
    20.6
    26.2
    24.2
    – RIRDC    
    23.5
    		  
             
    By Industry (c)        
             
    Training expenditure

    Per employee ($)

    		        
    – Benchmark
    430
    949
    1,282
    1,022
    – RIRDC    
    1,280
    		  
             
    Training Expenditure as % of Base Salary Costs        
    – Benchmark
    1.1
    2.0
    2.6
    2.1
    – RIRDC    
    2.2
    		  
             
    Total Staff Turnover (%)        
    – Benchmark
    9.6
    12.82
    20.0
    15.3
    – RIRDC    
    23.5
    		  
    (a)William M. Mercer Cullan Egan Dell, "HR Benchmarking – how effective are your HR Practices?" June 2000-08-10
    (b)"By Size": The RIRDC benchmark group is < 200
    (c) "By Industry": The RIRDC benchmark group is public service


     

    Our People

    Our Staff Values:

    Our Staff Values:
    Accountability to Industry

    For the purposes of reporting on operations in 1999/2000, RIRDC had three organisations prescribed by Section 7 of its legislation. This requires RIRDC to report annually on its activities each financial period. This accountability runs parallel to RIRDC’s Annual Report to the Minister and the Parliament. Separately, it is relevant to note that the Deer, Honeybee and Rice Industries are nominated as representative bodies for the Primary Industry (Excise) Levies Act 1999. Formal reporting during 1999/2000 occurred as follows:
     

    RIRDC’s reporting to these three prescribed bodies was done when industry meetings were being held for their own purposes. The Corporation made no payments towards the costs of these meetings.

    On 11 September 1999 and 25 March 2000 the Corporation reported to the Deer Industry Association of Australia on the operations of sub-program 2.4 Deer. The cost of this consultation to the Corporation was nearly $8000.

    The reporting of these consultation arrangements is in accord with guidelines issued by the then Minister on 6 July 1998 on the ‘Funding of Consultation Costs by Primary Industry and Energy Portfolio Statutory Authorities’.

    In relation to these guidelines, it should be noted that three of our representative organisations held operative research contracts with the Corporation in 1999/2000.
     
    Org Project No. Project Title
    NFF MS990-10 Sponsorship of the NFF National Young Farmers Forum
    AEIA AIE-6A Development of AEIA website (EIDF)
    AEIA MS990-46 International Industry Updates 2000 (EIDF)
    ACM WS989-10 Support for The Eleventh Poultry & Feed Convention, Gold Coast, 10-13 October 1999

    External Reviews

    During 1999/2000, the Corporation engaged external consultants to review and advise on operational issues as outlined below.

    The expenditure on external reviews during 1999/2000 amounted to $69,011.

    Corporate Publications

    The Corporation continues to have a very active publications program. Sales catalogues are issued twice a year to an increasingly wider range of audiences and revenue from sales in 1999/2000 was $187,969, up from $168,766 from the previous year.

    The Corporation now has almost 600 publication titles (including final reports, short reports, newsletters and five year plans) available to our stakeholders on a wide cross-section of research topics and issues. Details on new publications issued in 1999/2000 for each sub-program are set out under each respective sub-program.

    In June 2000 RIRDC launched its catalogue through its own internet bookshop, enabling people to view and buy all the Corporation’s research publications electronically. The address of the Corporation’s electronic bookshop is www.rirdc.gov.au/eshop

    The Corporation’s pricing policy is based on recouping only the costs of printing and distribution for sub-program specific publications. Corporate publications are free and, for 1999/2000, included:

    Corporate documents

    Newsletters Five Year Plans

    Public Relations

    The Corporation’s Public Relations program focuses on extension of report results and the use of RIRDC as a conduit for general inquiries about diversified industries.

    The media role has been expanded over the past year to increase the Corporation’s profile in urban, rural and regional media – raising the level of recognition from target audiences resulting in greater publication sales, web hits, media exposure and general inquiries.

    Working with industry partners, a total of 34 news releases focussing on the impact of research on industry, have been issued by RIRDC or on behalf of RIRDC during the period.

    A major initiative this year has been the development of an electronic newsletter, direct to the desktops of 1700 subscribers. These recipients are identified "secondary communicators" from agribusiness, consulting, corporate, governmental and educational backgrounds.

    The newsletter contains short articles on RIRDC and general industry news with links to the RIRDC website for full articles.

    Major projects like the Rural Women’s Award are co-ordinated to ensure the greatest impact with broad distribution of information through State networks and media.

    The identification and broadcast system introduced last year has been continued and expanded to better target media and RIRDC programs.

    The Corporation continued to market its products both directly and indirectly through:

    RIRDC’s Target Audiences
    1 Producers Current Potential/new entrants
    2. Grower organisations Industry Associations NFF  State-based affiliates
    3. Government and policy makers Federal Minister Parliamentary Secretary AFFA State Ministers
    4. Research partners & technical providers State departments for agriculture and resources CSIRO Universities Private companies Austrade & Supermarket to Asia Others
    5. Media Rural specialists Metropolitan Regional Trade incl. food industry R&D journalists Others
    6. Community Libraries Educators Interested others
    7. End users Consumers Marketers
    8. Internal Canberra-based staff Externally based staff Directors Advisory Committee Members

     

    		 Contractors

    The Web
    www.rirdc.gov.au

    Development of the Corporation's Internet site during the year continued to provide more core research information and services to stakeholders and the general public - in line with the Government's guidelines to provide all appropriate services online.

    The number of visits or "hits" to the site continued to grow exponentially, peaking at a monthly high of nearly 95,000.

    The site was analysed for privacy implications leading to a privacy statement linked to all pages. The Australian Privacy Commission declared the site fully compliant with Government requirements and an example for other agencies to follow.

    A major addition to the site was an electronic shop which allows clients to purchase research publications online using their credit card details. The shop uses a secure gateway which is supported by nearly all the major banks and financial institutions. Online sales, priced at a cost-recovery level, were running at about $400 a month and growing.

    The reports, along with many other unpublished final research reports, are also available free as downloadable files. During the year more than 100 new titles were posted to the site bringing the total to nearly 400. Large files were posted as PDFs (portable document files) with a separate summary in a small html file which is instantly visible on the Internet.

    Another strategically important initiative was a free electronic newsletter of major research findings and developments emailed monthly to more 1,700 subscribers in the agribusiness, agricultural, government and educational fields. The newsletter, which contains "live links", directs stakeholders to fresh information of interest to them on the Corporation website. The newsletter is also published online together with an interactive subscription form for new subscribers.

    Other additions to the site included:

    Other Sites

    RIRDC Rural Women’s Award 2001
    www.ruralwomensaward.gov.au

    This site was established in November 1999 when the Corporation first launched the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award 2000 and has been maintained in line with the recent launch of the Award’s year 2001 program. Access to the site can also be gained through RIRDC’s home page.

    RIRDC Extranet

    The Corporation has established an Extranet which enables its Directors and external research managers access to corporate information, previously only available as a local area networked Intranet.

    This site works both locally and online and is constantly updated and monitored. It is password protected so that only authorised users can gain access.

    Project Listings

    This Annual Report does not contain a listing of projects under contract. There were 634 at the end of June 2000.

    As an aid to getting the details on each of these individual projects, the Corporation has finalised its ‘Research-in-Progress’ report, which shows ‘current status’ of projects at the end of May 2000.

    In addition, all projects completed in 1999/2000 have summaries showing their key outcomes. As already noted, this report Research-in-Progress, June 2000 has been published on our website (www.rirdc.gov.au) under each respective program area.

    Royalties

    During 1999/2000 the Corporation received $24,128 in royalty income from the following activities.

    RIRDC's Commercialisation Policy Framework

    In December 1998, the Board adopted the following commercialisation framework for the Corporation (Resolution 47–1998–3).

    Which Road – Public Domain or Commercial Vehicle?

    • Public domain mechanism is the primary adoption vehicle for the commercialisation of RIRDC research outcomes.
    • Commercial mechanisms such as licensing are secondary and will be pursued where appropriate; for example, where the commercialisation processes set up their own incentives which foster adoption.
    Should RIRDC Alwalayss Claim Ownership?
    • RIRDC retains contractual rights to the ownership of intellectual property rights arising from contracted projects.
    • RIRDC retains the rights to decide whether such intellectual prpoperty should be subject to arrangements such as licensing, patenting or plant breeders' rights.
    Conditions for Intellectual Property Agreements
    • The choice of licensing options should be those which enhance commercialisation but it should be noted that RIRDC has a preference for allocating intellectual property rights which are non-exclusive.
    • RIRDC and the potential contracting party will agree on a set of minmimnum performance criteria before any commercialisation agreement covering an intellectual property right is finalised.
    • Where an exclusive right is awarded, an appropriate tendering process should be undertaken.
    • Where an intellectual property right is awarded, RIRDC requires indemnity provisions against any damages that may arise out of the licensed technology.
    • The holder of the intellectual property right cannot grant a sub-licence without the written authority of RIRDC.
    Should RIRDC Sell its Intellectual Property Rights?

    Intellectual Property Rrights held by RIRDC may be assigned in exchange for an upfront fee provided there is a commercialisation timetable in the assignment. A breach of the timetable voids the assignment.

    Lead Agency, Ownership and Equity Sharing Arrangements

    • Provided the research contract partner has demonstrated commercial competencies, RIRDC is prepared to accept this agency to lead intellectual property negotiations subject to the agreement of broad negotiation parameters.
    • Equity sharing/royalty arrangements must be finalised before an intellectual property right can be licensed.
    Inventory Arrangements for Project Intellectual Property

    RIRDC will maintain a formal register of all intellectual property rights which are subject to commercialisation arrangements.

    Should RIRDC Fund Start-up?

    RIRDC will seek to foster commercialisation by supporting the development of business plans for the commercialisation of specific RIRDC funded research and, subject to its merits, may provide repayable loans to foster the development of such research.
     

    Scholarships

    A key aim of the R&D program is to ensure that portfolio-related industries are supported by people with high-quality scientific, technical and leadership skills. In 1999/2000 the programs also continued to support conferences and field days aimed at providing the platform for transferring information and commercialising R&D outcomes.

    The formal postgraduate education program of the Corporation seeks to ensure the industries have a continuous supply of well-trained people. In 1999/2000 the Corporation spent $360,623 on this area, $331,323 for continuing scholarships and $29,300 for new scholarships.

    Scholarships awarded in 1999/2000
    Name
    Sub-program
    Research topic
    Organisation
    Tyron Venn Agroforestry Socio-economic evaluation of management options for native forests on Aurakun community land, Cape York University of Queensland 
    Andrew Beaton New Animal Products Factors that influence meat quality from kangaroos University of Sydney
    Jenifer Ticehurst Agroforestry Hydrological analysis of the spatially explicit integration of agroforestry into Australia's farming systems Australian National University 
    Ongoing scholarsips

    Since 1985, 56 scholarships have been awarded by RIRDC (and its predecessor ASRRC). The Corporation sponsored 17 ongoing post graduate scholarships and junior research fellowships in 1999/2000.
     
    Name
    Sub-program
    Research topic
    Organisation 
    Louise Hilton Chicken Meat; Eggs The overall objective of this research is to enhance disease resistance and vaccine efficacy in poultry through the administration of cytokine therapy CSIRO Animal Health
    Andrew Woodward Agroforestry and Farm Forestry The use of Abscisic Acid and Compatible Solutes as a Determinant of Salt Tolerance in Eucalyptus spp. Edith Cowan University
    Michelle Peters Eggs To develop an attenuated strain of Chicken Anaemia Virus suitable for vaccination of chickens University of Melbourne
    Lisa Jane Daniel Resilient Agricultural Systems Development of Biotechnology: Rural Industry Integration Processes University of Queensland
    Xuanli Ma Wildflowers and Native Plants Development of Molecular Markers to Support Wildflower Breeding University of Western Australia
    Louise Silvers Resilient Agricultural Systems To examine the biological basis of host specificity of myxomia virus strains from North and South America and from Australia in different leporid species at both the cellular and molecular level Australian National University 
    Matthew Rudd Chicken Meat & Eggs Identification of virulence determinants of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) CSIRO Animal Health
    Greg Underwood Chicken Meat; Eggs Tropism and transport of Marek's disease virus during the initial phase of infection Institute for Animal Health, Compton, UK
    Wei Leng (Belinda) Chung Eggs Defined probiotic preparations for competitive exclusion of enteropathogens from poultry University of New South Wales
    Andreas Kocher Chicken Meat Increasing the nutritive value of grain legumes for poultry by use of more efficacious enzyme systems University of New England
    Anne Morgan Wildflowers & Native Plants Development of Acacia baileyana and A. baileyana Purpurea for cut-foliage and cut-flowers University of Adelaide
    David Pearson Resilient Agricultural Systems Brokering a new reality in sustainable food production – the necessity for marketer mandated information in the organic food industry University of New England
    Gemma Graham New Animal Products The role of leptin in seasonal weight loss and puberty in the emu University of Western Australia
    Ron Newman Chicken Meat Manipulation of lean tissue deposition by altering the sensitivity of tissues to the metabolic hormones University of Sydney
    David Witcombe Chicken Meat; Eggs Production and characterisation of recombinant antigens of Eimeria and their potential use in a maternally-delivered vaccine against poultry coccidiosis University of Technology, Sydney
    Kate Lawrence Resilient Agricultural Systems Analysis of systems and processes of consultation and decision making in regard to vocational education and training (VET) in Australia for the rural sector University of Adelaide
    Timothy Wilson Eggs Masters in Avian Health University of Melbourne

    Fraud Control

    The Corporation has a comprehensive fraud control plan that complies with the Fraud Control Policy of the Commonwealth – Best Practice Guide for Fraud Control.

    The plan is integrated with the RIRDC’s quality management systems and internal audit program. It is reviewed and updated annually by the Audit Committee to ensure it remains relevant to our business.

    Project audits are an important element of the plan to ensure research providers have appropriate systems and controls in place for project management.

    Our current fraud control plan expired on 30 June 2000 and a new plan with an expanded project audit element has been put in place.

    Y2K Issues

    The Corporation’s Y2K program was completed by September 1999 in accordance with the Government’s requirements. The direct expenditure incurred in adressing the Y2K issue was approximately $7,000. This figure does not include the money spent in upgrading computers, software and hardware as part of its normal process of maintaining and upgrading office equipment.

    No operational difficulties were experienced from the Y2K changeover.

    Freedom of Information

    The Corporation publishes or holds the following categories of documents: those provided free to the public, while stocks are available, or displayed on the Corporation’s website; those sold to the public on a partial cost-recovery basis; and general administrative documents, including project and personnel files.

    A listing of projects funded by the Corporation in 1999/2000 is set out in Research-in-Progress, June 2000 which is on the Corporation’s website. Funding information on individual projects is available, on request, from the Corporation.

    The Corporation received one request under the Freedom of Information Act in 1999/2000 and following consultation this request was withdrawn. General inquiries about access to documents or other matters relating to FOI should be directed to:

    Mr Claudio Ciuffetelli
    Manager, Business & Finance
    Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
    PO Box 4776
    KINGSTON ACT 2604

    Phone: (02) 6272 4656
    Fax: (02) 6272 5877
    Email: claudioc@rirdc.gov.au

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    Last updated: 11 October 2000
    Copyright © RIRDC
    http://www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/anrep00/operationalreports.html