pARt 6 MAnAGeMent AnD AccountABilitY - Family Court of Australia

Performance Management and Development SystemThe Courts’ Performance Management and Development System aims to align individual outcomes toteam and branch business plans, leading ultimately to achieving the two Courts’ visions and businessplans. Participation is mandatory for all employees except probationers. Employees must participate inthe system to be eligible for the salary increases provided under the new Enterprise Agreement and forsalary advancement within their classification scale.Performance management and development provides a framework to develop individual performance toassist an employee to achieve his or her potential. It is a continuous process and imposes responsibilitieson both individual employees and their supervisors/managers. It relies on ongoing and open discussionsto provide clarity on what is expected to be done, how it could or should be done, and to recogniseprogress and achievement against agreed outcomes. It fosters a working environment that values theCourt’s people, recognises diversity and acknowledges their contribution to organisational success.The target in 2009–10 was for 100 per cent of employees participating in the system. This was achieved.Employee assistance programPART 6MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITYThe Court’s employee assistance program provides a free, confidential counselling service to the judiciary,Court employees and their immediate families experiencing personal or work-related problems. Theservice also provides a telephone advisory service for managers.Converge International managed the program and provided generic data to the Court to guide thedevelopment of wellbeing strategies.Peer support networkThe nature of the Court’s core business means that employees may be exposed to and involved inhighly sensitive and stressful situations. During 2009–10, the Court continued a proactive approach tolessen the risk of stress in the workplace by introducing a peer support system within registries and theNational Support Office.The system provides a network of trained staff in the workplace to ensure that skilled support is availablefor immediate assistance should an individual experience a distressing situation or difficult event. Thesystem is designed to complement the employee assistance program and allows support to be availableimmediately should an incident occur.Peer support officers from any location can provide assistance as required, that is, there is no restrictionon staff accessing officers from outside their immediate work area. All communication with trained peersupport officers is strictly confidential.Productivity gainsThe first full year of the single administrative structure for the Family Court and the Federal MagistratesCourt continued to produce efficiency savings through the more efficient allocation of resources,elimination of duplicated services and the rationalisation of court services.Synergies were achieved in the area of training where program delivery was made available to the staffof both courts, thus reducing cost and capturing a greater number of staff.As part of the single administration, the review of client services and registry management structuresresulted in a number of changes being introduced to further reduce duplication, improve the overall126 Family Court of Australia — Annual Report 2009–2010