I am delighted to present my first annual report as Director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
I have joined the Institute at a time when the demands on its services have never been greater. 2010–11 was an exceptionally busy year in which a number of important projects central to achieving our strategic objectives commenced or were completed, with attention to both building our key infrastructure for the future and delivering outcomes for the community.
The AIHW values its strong relationships with the Department of Health and Ageing, the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and relevant state and territory departments.
The Institute continues to publish a range of highly-regarded publications with a total of 135 reports released during 2010–11. Most of these received extensive media attention.
A key area of achievement was work on behalf of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in measuring and monitoring performance indicators used by COAG in developing and implementing its policy reform agenda across the health and community sectors. This work was undertaken in collaboration with the relevant national information committees in the health, housing and homelessness and community services sectors, as well as the COAG Reform Council and the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision.
AIHW's efforts in this area are well-regarded, and it was pleasing that its work in relation to performance indicators under the National Healthcare Agreement was acknowledged in the recent COAG review of performance indicators and targets.
The launch of the MyHospitals website was a major initiative for the AIHW during the year and attracted considerable public interest. The site provides public access to hospital-level data and is being enhanced with the addition of new types of hospital data.
As reported last year by my predecessor, Dr Penny Allbon, the demand for the Institute's services continues to increase and, in line with our strategic direction of strengthening our policy relevance, the AIHW has further expanded the range and depth of its collections and analysis over the past year.
A priority in this regard was the development of a new system for collecting data from more than 1,500 non-government agencies that provide services for homeless people. The new Specialist Homelessness Services Collection and associated client management tool, which commenced on 1 July 2011, will support the information needs of COAG in tackling the problem of homelessness in Australia. This was a major challenge for the Institute, which was made possible with the effective engagement of key stakeholders.
AIHW continues to invest to ensure it stays abreast of the latest developments in information and communications technology. An important initiative during the year was a substantial enhancement of our data integration (data linkage) capability. This is important in terms of our bid to become an 'integrating authority' under the new arrangements for statistical data integration involving Commonwealth data.
Another initiative of which the Institute is very proud is our new data validation tool, Validata®, which will substantially enhance our ability to meet the challenges of producing timely and quality data. This tool helped us achieve our annual release of hospital data significantly earlier than in previous years and, with appropriate refinements, will assist us in other data gathering activities.
The AIHW guards its reputation for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the information about millions of Australians in its collections, and has robust arrangements for the release of information to researchers which are overseen by the AIHW Ethics Committee. During the year the Board reviewed the Institute's Ethics arrangements with a view to ensuring continued compliance with relevant statutory and regulatory requirements, while facilitating researchers' legitimate needs for access to information. In June 2011, the AIHW Board approved the findings of the review and agreed to a number of recommendations which will be implemented over the course of 2011–12.
During the year we continued to focus on improving the accessibility and appeal of our publications. Consistent with our strategic direction of getting our messages out better, the Institute's biennial publication about the health and welfare of Indigenous Australians was released in a new format—as an Indigenous 'observatory'—a website covering a range of relevant issues. Similarly, the Cancer in Australia, 2010 report was released with a companion 'in brief' publication, similar to the popular Australia's health 2010—in brief companion report. New ways to release AIHW information online were pioneered with the release of a data snapshot on asthma.
The Board's decision in June to implement Creative Commons BY 3.0 licensing as the default for Institute publications will enhance the value of the Institute's data to policy makers, researchers and other interested users. The Board also reviewed the Institute's media embargo policy, to ensure it remains relevant in the current media environment.
During the year, additional appropriation funding was received for AIHW's COAG development work. AIHW's appropriation funding grew from $20.7 million in 2009–10 to $21.4 million in 2010–11. This represented 40% of our total revenue in 2010–11, a decrease over the 2009–10 proportion of 45%. Contract funding continued to show strong growth, particularly for work contracted by the Department of Health and Ageing.
The AIHW received a significant increase in its appropriation funding in 2009–10. This will fall by approximately $4.0 million in 2011–12 due to the ending of the data development component of COAG funding as planned in 2009. Funding for Closing the Data Gap work will reduce by $0.9 million in 2012–13. After this time, appropriation funding will stabilise.
The rapid expansion in Institute staff numbers seen in 2009–10 (from 270 to 372) slowed during the year under review, by the end of which there were 393 staff employed at the AIHW.
Attracting and retaining high-quality professional staff remains a key priority for the Institute. The AIHW offers interesting and fulfilling work, competitive salaries, good work–life balance and a positive work environment. Part-time workers made up more than 22% of staff at 30 June 2011.
During the year, I was delighted to welcome three temporary exchange staff from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, including Mr Brent Diverty, who joined the AIHW senior executive team. Ms Lisa McGlynn also joined as Head of the Health Group during the year.
I am fortunate to lead a highly experienced management team at AIHW, each member of whom leads teams of dedicated staff committed to making a difference in their subject areas of expertise.
I would like to record my thanks to the outgoing Board Chair, the Hon Peter Collins AM, QC, who very ably led the organisation as it grew from a small to a mid-sized agency in a relatively short period of time, as it met the many challenges that inevitably arise with such rapid growth.
I wish also to acknowledge the work of my predecessor, Dr Penny Allbon, who was AIHW Director for nearly five years. The organisation has an enviably high reputation amongst its many stakeholders and the general public due to the quality of its information products. Dr Allbon fostered a strong professional culture at the Institute which positioned it to achieve its important work on behalf of the Australian nation.
I look forward to building on these developments and to leading the Institute, under the guidance of the Board and the new AIHW strategic directions it approved in June 2011.
David Kalisch
Director