Education

Asset Management and Risk Management
Asset
management
Assets are managed within whole-of-government policies
and guidelines. Key strategies for the effective and efficient
use of assets include:
• optimising the use of built resources to support the
provision of a range of educational programs and
curriculum choices at dispersed sites
• managing capital funding for building improvements
equitably and according to priorities, ensuring
appropriate standards of accommodation to support
best practice in service delivery
• optimising maintenance effort through strategic
management and managing resources in accordance
with statutory obligations, occupational health and
safety, optimum service delivery and asset retention
progressing initiatives to identify, rank and mitigate
risks within the context of the government’s overall
risk management strategy
• progressing towards industry best practice in
procurement practices and full compliance with
Treasury requirements
• maximising the responsible use of facilities, facilitating
partnership agreements for sharing facilities, and using
community and shared facilities where appropriate
• supporting the Asset Strategy Steering Committee
to provide strategic oversight and direction in asset
management
• oversight of the Strategic Asset Management Plan
(SAMP).
Risk
management
The department’s risk management activities are
governed by its Risk Management and Audit Committee
(RiMAC). The committee is chaired by the Secretary
with members including Deputy Secretaries, the Director
responsible for LINC Tasmania, the Manager Internal
Audit and one external member.
Five meetings were held during the year, some of which
were attended by the Tasmanian Auditor-General,
staff from the Tasmanian Audit Office and the external
financial auditor.
Key risk management activities undertaken during the
year included:
• development of risk management plans for key
management areas and subsequent presentation
to RiMAC
• continuation of the implementation of the
Information Security Project
• seminars, presentations and workshops across
Tasmania to assist schools and corporate sites
with the implementation of risk management plans
and activities
• general advisory services to raise risk awareness
throughout the department
• seasonal influenza vaccination for departmental staff.
ICT risk
management
ICT risks are managed within a whole-of-government
framework, and are supported by department policies
and guidelines. The following key strategies enable
effective and efficient use of the ICT system:
• Backups of all systems occur regularly to minimise the
risks of losing data, with backups stored offsite. High
availability options are considered for critical systems,
with specific redundant hardware components in
servers (e.g. additional power supplies and network
cards) included as a minimum requirement.
• Disaster recovery plans are tested for several major
systems on a rotational basis.
• Access from outside the departmental network is
restricted, and a range of access levels have been set
for staff, students and the public to ensure that access
to information is limited to a ‘needs-only’ level.
• Risks to confidentiality, integrity and availability are
identified, and mitigation strategies implemented
where appropriate.
78 Required Reporting » Asset Management and Risk Management