Appendix 15 - Government Business Manager - roles and responsibilities20
Background
Since mid-2007, the Australian Government has been implementing national emergency measures in the Northern Territory. These measures were introduced in response to the national emergency confronting the welfare of Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory.
The Government's planned response to this national emergency is aimed at arresting the scourge of abuse of children in Indigenous communities, as described in the Little Children Are Sacred report prepared by Pat Anderson and Rex Wild QC and to improve the future for children and their families.
The Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) is being led by a Taskforce of eminent Australians, chaired by Dr Sue Gordon, Chair of the National Indigenous Council and a Magistrate in the Children's Court in Western Australia. Major General David Chalmers has been appointed as the full-time operational commander of the Taskforce Operational Group which will coordinate the government's response 'on the ground' in the Northern Territory. Major General Chalmers, who has considerable organisational and command experience in humanitarian endeavors including in East Timor and Sumatra, will also be a member of the Taskforce.
The role of the Taskforce Operational Group is to plan and deploy police and support services in Indigenous communities (following initial surveys that scoped existing facilities and established priorities) and to tailor and coordinate the implementation of services into those communities. The group also manages the network of Government Business Managers (GBMs) being engaged by the government to work in and with Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Staff in Indigenous Coordination Centres (ICCs) in the Northern Territory will assist in the deployment of services.
To provide support for the Taskforce Operational Group, staff from across government agencies in areas such as health, employment, education, social services and defence are being organised. GBMs will report to a senior member of the Operational Group who provides support, advice and other assistance.
Government Business Managers duty statement
Roles and responsibilities
The Australian Government has placed GBMs in many Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory situated on land held under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 and the Pastoral Land Act 1976 (the latter known as 'community living areas'). Depending on the circumstances, some GBMs may operate from one community but provide business management and support in one or more surrounding communities. An analysis of community priorities is currently being carried out drawing on community surveys that are being conducted in communities across the Northern Territory.
GBMs will be responsible for the strategic management and coordination of Australian Government services provided in Indigenous communities under their watch and supporting the implementation of the emergency response in those communities. It is expected that they will be employed initially for a period of 12 months.
GBMs will be the face of the Australian Government Intervention in the Northern Territory at the community level.
Responsibilities of GBMs will include:
- working with relevant agencies, including ICC
staff, exercising a leadership role in coordinating
Australian Government services to the community
and organising the benefits to the community of
all Australian Government funding provided to the
community. Each agency's staff maintain agency
line reporting relationships, but carry out their work
under GBM guidance as to:
- organisation, timing, sequencing and connections with other initiatives being pursued by the Australian Government—to achieve maximum leverage
- ensure effective and orderly engagement with the community
- advising the Operational Centre on (and in some instances directing) the revision of service delivery or replacement of service providers where current provision is not functional
- working with the Northern Territory Government and local government services (including public housing) to ensure coordinated service delivery
- providing the key liaison and consultation point in communities, including communicating the NTER measures at the local level and engaging with acknowledged and respected elders and working collaboratively with other Australian and Northern Territory Government agency representatives on the ground
- providing regular reports to the Taskforce Operations Group and key stakeholders on the progress of initiatives and advising where further measures might be required in the community
- where appropriate, working with key stakeholders to support the implementation of transition strategies, including in relation to planned local government reforms in the Northern Territory.
- Ability to oversea and coordinate a range of services on the ground including contract management experience.
- Ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with Indigenous people.
- Ability to negotiate with and influence a range of key stakeholders, some of whom may have competing priorities.
- Experience in working in the field, preferably with remote Indigenous communities.
- Ability to operate according to the Australian Government's position as an individual or as part of a team and to achieve outcomes in a difficult, complex and sensitive environment.
- Ability to engender trust and respect from Indigenous communities and key stakeholders in situations which can require a directive approach and solid support for overall government policy.
- Resilience, organisational skills, high-level leadership skills, judgment and initiative.
- Ability to quickly analyse a situation and formulate appropriate responses.
- Darwin provides day-to-day operational support and Darwin provides day-to-day operational support and acts as a conduit for seeking the resolution of policy, cross-agency and other issues arising on the ground.
- Program management support, including managing program funding agreements, will be provided through the ICCs in the Northern Territory, state offices or national office of the relevant funding agency.
- GBMs will be able to draw on FaHCSIA and other agencies' Panels of Experts or other procurement activities to source expertise for special services.
- Additional support, such as on genter-sensitive issues, may also be provided as required.
The GBM's role is to develop a detailed understanding of the community in which they work, the service delivery and funding arrangements, and ensure that Australian Government objectives are achieved. It is not a community development officer role. The scope of GBM work will vary depending on the level of response and range of services applied in individual communities.
Required skills
Support for GBMs
Support for Government Business Managers will be provided as follows: