Senator FORSHAW —Can you tell me about the national forest inventory evaluation?

Dr O'Brien —The NFI is currently funded for four years, the period 1997-98 through to 2000-01, and will undertake an external review of performance during late 2000. The NFI is not guaranteed of funding beyond the current cycle and that is an issue for us when we have a program that is currently delivering high quality outputs to a range of government, industry and public clients. The NFI will be reviewed under an external tender which follows government tendering and contracting guidelines and those results will be available to a range of non-government stakeholders as well as to the NFI's national steering committee, which comprises representatives of all states, territories and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry as well as Environment Australia.

Senator FORSHAW —When will the tender be finalised?

Dr O'Brien —There are currently discussions within the NFI steering committee on the precise terms of reference of the evaluation. We expect to be finalising that in the next month or so before letting the tender.

Senator FORSHAW —What is the duration of the work to be done? How long before the evaluation will be completed?

Dr O'Brien —That has not been determined yet.

Senator FORSHAW —It says here during 2000-01. Is it likely to take most of the year?

Dr O'Brien —The steering committee has not made that determination. As I say, it is a committee that comprises Commonwealth and state representatives, but the evaluation will be completed in the 2000-01 financial year.

Senator FORSHAW —But at least by the time we have the next estimates hearing we should know who the successful tenderer is and what the terms of reference are?

Dr O'Brien —I would think so.

Senator FORSHAW —Has an evaluation been done before?

Dr O'Brien —Yes. There have been two evaluations of the NFI. The most recent was in 1995. The main findings of that review were, firstly, that the NFI had largely delivered on its mission by developing a Commonwealth-state-territory partnership of national forest inventory, that the NFI had actively promoted the capture of all forest values according to agreed standards to achieve improved forest management and continental level planning and, finally, that it had provided information on Australian forests for national and international reporting, which is becoming increasingly important in the context of our Montreal Protocol reporting.

Senator FORSHAW —That was 1995. There was one done prior to that, was there?

Dr O'Brien —That is right. There was one earlier than that and I do not have the details of that here.

Senator FORSHAW —Can you remember when it was?

Dr O'Brien —My recollection is 1992, but I can confirm that.

Senator FORSHAW —On page 60 of the portfolio budget statement for 1999-2000 you have the various targets set out in table 2.9. Do you have those in front of you?

Dr O'Brien —Yes.

Senator FORSHAW —Can you tell us how you assessed your performance against those targets?

Dr O'Brien —Yes. BRS's key clients are our portfolio ministers and portfolio policy areas. So we have framed our assessment of performance based primarily on client satisfaction with our products and services, but we have also used other instruments such as web performance and analysis of use there, web subscriptions, publication sales. But the key instrument is the client survey that we conduct twice yearly. We do that by employing a consultant to conduct telephone or face-to-face interviews with our clients. There is a mixture of quantitative information where the clients are asked to rate their level of satisfaction with our products and services and open-ended qualitative information where they are invited to talk about things that are good, bad and indifferent so that we get feedback. That survey was conducted for the first time last year. It is actually being repeated now in May. It gives us aggregated feedback as well as project level feedback, and we provide it to the departmental secretary and to the bureau's executive and also to the project managers whose projects are evaluated through that process.

Senator FORSHAW —Who was the consultant?

Mr Loudon —The consultant has been provided by Effective People Pty Ltd, who have a contract with our portfolio.

Senator FORSHAW —So it is an ongoing consultancy to do this review, I think you said, twice yearly, Dr O'Brien?

Dr O'Brien —Yes.

Senator FORSHAW —How long have they been engaged?

Mr Loudon —Only for this financial year. This is our first financial year of conducting the client feedback survey and we are developing the survey. This one we are conducting at the moment is using the same methodology as was used in September. I anticipate that in the next financial year we will refine the process even further.

Senator FORSHAW —Are you able to provide us with a copy of the survey result from September?

Mr Loudon —Yes. We have that information.

Senator FORSHAW —If you can provide that to the committee, that would be useful. I am assuming it is in a written form.

Dr O'Brien —Yes, it is.

Senator FORSHAW —On page 65 of last year's statement, there was a reference to a program relating to climate change measurements. It is table 2.13. Can you tell the committee how that work progressed during the year? What were the goals and how did you go in achieving them?

Dr O'Brien —This is a program called the national carbon accounting system, which has been transferred under a cross-agency arrangement to the AGO. So the AGO is now the manager and deliverer of that program. BRS's early involvement was in the concept for a national carbon accounting system and developing the shape of that program. But it is actually now delivered by the AGO. Our continuing involvement is by participation on the high level steering committee that the AGO has established for that program.

Senator FORSHAW —When was it transferred to AGO?

Dr O'Brien —The funds are transferred this financial year and the full program is transferred this financial year.

Senator FORSHAW —Did BRS do any assessment of the performance for this year?

Dr O'Brien —Not in a formal way, only through our participation on the steering committee that was steering the implementation of NCAS.

Senator FORSHAW —So to get the details I would have to go to the Greenhouse Office, which is under Environment, is it?

Dr O'Brien —Yes.

Senator FORSHAW —Is it possible for you to take that on notice and see if you can find out from them?

Mr Wonder —We can refer it to the Greenhouse Office.

Senator FORSHAW —I think the Environment estimates are completing now too.

Senator Ian Macdonald —Senator, are any of your further questions going to be politically difficult?

Senator FORSHAW —I do not have any more questions, Minister.

Senator Ian Macdonald —That is excellent.

Senator FORSHAW —But if you would like to go, I can think of some. I think we have all reached the end. Thank you to all of the participants from the department and the minister.