Media Release
05 February 2016
The Administration of Norfolk Island (ANI) and the Norfolk Island Hospital Enterprise (NIHE) are under budget for the year to 31 December 2015 by $3.09 million and $60,206 respectively.
The majority of the ANI surplus is due to timing differences in the receipt of funding from the Australian Government. With the impact of these items removed, ANI is under budget by $0.73 million. However there have been a number of areas identified where additional funds are required in the second half of 2015/16 and the modest savings achieved in the first half of the year will be reallocated to these areas.
NIHE is essentially on budget when the impact of an anonymous $50,000 donation is taken into account.
The areas where additional ANI funding has been directed provides an indication of the initiatives underway to transition to a Regional Council from 1 July 2016. These initiatives include:
- Bolstering decision making and operational management capacity and capability at the Executive level;
- Designing and implementing the processes required to facilitate Regional Council elections in late 2015/16;
- Investing in staff development through the implementation of a cultural change program; and
- Implementing a new Enterprise Business Management System (subject to approval of the business case from the Commonwealth).
These initiatives will form part of the ANI 2015/16 Operational Plan which will be made available to the community very soon. The Operational Plan will establish objectives and priorities for each area of ANI, define performance measures and assign responsibilities. This will enable the community to better understand service delivery levels and standards and hold ANI accountable for meeting these. Performance against planned outcomes will be assessed in the 2015/16 Annual Report to ensure transparency and accountability regarding performance.
Overall I am confident ANI and NIHE's financial performance during the year to date and the new measures referred to above provide the financial resources required for each entity to achieve their 2015/16 operational objectives.
The Hon. Gary Hardgrave