Section 2 - Sugar Research and Development Corporation

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SRDC BUSINESS
Corporate governance practices
The SRDC maintains a comprehensive Business
Process Management System (BPMS) via an
internal intranet site. This system outlines the
roles and responsibilities of all employees, the
code of conduct and defi nes business and
governance practices. The suite of policies
includes topics relating to leadership; planning
and reporting; accountability; management;
fi nancial control; risk management and
monitoring.
In 2010, the SRDC reviewed and audited
its policies relating to procurement, asset
management, staff management and BPMS
system maintenance. There were also changes
to the policy on project variation.
Risk management, fraud control and business
continuity plans, health and safety management
arrangements and the protective security policy
were reviewed and a consultant was engaged
to provide policy advice on occupational health
and safety in fi eldwork.
SRDC monitoring and reporting
Research and Development Plan
2007–2012
The fi ve-year SRDC Research and Development
Plan (2007–2012) outlines the strategies and
performance measures to provide a monitoring
and measuring framework for corporate
performance. Reviewed annually, it defi nes core
business, indicates broad priorities for R&D and
defi nes the strategy to achieve outputs and
outcome.
In 2010–2011, following an internal review of
outcomes to date, the Board chose to continue
investment directions defi ned within the R&D
Plan and to support more investment in people
development activities, particularly scholarships.
In addition, a one-off integrated project to
address on-ground farming systems activities
and extension was commissioned as a response
to industry requests and will be managed by
BSES Limited.
SRDC Annual Report 2010–2011
Annual Operational Plan
This plan specifi es the broad groupings of R&D
activities that the SRDC proposes to fund during
the nominated fi nancial year together with an
estimate of income and expenditure. The AOP
is approved by the responsible Minister and is
distributed to all government stakeholders
and industry representative bodies. There were
no revisions made to the AOP in 2010–2011.
Portfolio Budget Statement
The Portfolio Budget Statement provides
a summary of the SRDC’s outcomes, outputs,
performance and fi nancial position each year.
The statement is consistent with the SRDC
Research and Development Plan (2007–2012)
and the AOP and is tabled in Parliament.
Annual Report
The Annual Report is the principal formal
accountability document. It reports on the
achievement of the performance targets;
details actual performance; and forecasts future
needs and expectations. It is also a key reference
document and forms part of an historical record
for the Corporation.
Measuring economic, environmental
and social returns from R&D investment
The SRDC is collaborating with other RDCs
to undertake a review of the current economic
impact evaluation process of R&D investment
and methodology to include the assessment
of social and environmental returns through
the use of triple bottom line reporting, which
captures any signifi cant public-good components
that benefi t the community.
The evaluation will enable the RDCs to make
better investment decisions, report outcomes
to industry and government stakeholders and
improve the performance of RD&E projects.
It is expected that a revised methodology will
be released in late 2011 for use in the 2012
evaluation process.