DHA Executive

Ms Madeline Dermatossian

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Executive Management Program, Harvard Business School
• Diploma in Law, Solicitors Admission Board
• Member of The Law Society of New South Wales
• Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors

Key responsibilities include:

• Acquisitions
• Developments and constructions
• Property and tenancy services and maintenance
• Property investment program
• Sales, marketing and portfolio management
• Alternative funding arrangements
• Business planning and strategies
• Service and project delivery
• Business plan achievements

The COO works closely with the Managing Director and contributes to the overall direction and management of the organisation. This includes all business projects, initiatives and the work of the operational General Managers and their associated business units.

The COO also partners with the Chief Financial Officer to develop, implement and manage all aspects of the operational and development budget.

Mr John Dietz

General Manager, Property Provisioning Group (PPG)

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Bachelor of Economics
• Bachelor of Science
• Masters Degree in Project Management (in progress)

Key responsibilities include:

• Development programs, acquisitions and delivery
• Land and housing supply management

The General Manager, PPG, is responsible for DHA's development and construction agenda. This includes developing and implementing a development and construction program that supports the business objectives of the organisation. This ensures that land and housing supply targets including developments, acquisitions, constructions, leasing and upgrades are correctly forecast and achieved.

Mr Brett Jorgensen

General Manager, Property and Tenancy Services (P&TS)

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Master of Business
• Bachelor of Engineering Civil (Honours)
• Advanced Diploma of Business
• Diploma of Real Estate Management
• Diploma of Contract Management

Key responsibilities include:

• Property and tenancy management services
• Housing allocation and maintenance services
• Client relations and performance management reporting to Defence

The General Manager, P&TS, is responsible for meeting DHA's objectives relating to the delivery of housing services to Defence members and their families. This includes the provision of housing allocation and maintenance services, portfolio and housing stock management, accommodation booking services and the administration of RA. The division is responsible for managing, maintaining and enhancing DHA's relationship with Defence.

Mr Elvio Bechelli

General Manager, Portfolio Management, Marketing and Strategic Projects (PMMSP)

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Bachelor of Business
• Member of Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants

Key responsibilities include:

• Property investment program
• Marketing and communication
• Portfolio management
• Strategic business opportunities

The General Manager, PMMSP, is responsible for all sales and marketing activities. The property investment program is a major source of funding to enable business operations. The role also has oversight of strategic projects and provides support to the COO's division.

Mr Jon Brocklehurst

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Chartered Accountant
• Bachelor of Science – Economics and Accounting (Bristol)

Key responsibilities include:

• Finance
• Human resources
• Business solutions and technology
• Investment management
• Treasury and risk management

The CFO ensures responsible fiscal management and capital planning, sound corporate governance and effective risk management for the organisation.

The CFO also has responsibility for the management of DHA's portfolio of strategic investment property.

Mr Shane Nielsen

General Manager, Business Solutions and Technology (B&TS) and Chief Information Officer

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Bachelor of Applied Science (Computing Science)

Key responsibilities include:

• Information Communications and Technology (ICT) development and delivery
• Business process management, improvement and re-engineering

The General Manager, BS&T, is responsible for the delivery of business-as-usual activities and innovation driven initiatives that provide efficiencies to the broader organisation. The BS&T division supports project management, business contract fulfilment, staff development, productivity increases and enhanced customer service. It is also responsible for the delivery of ICT infrastructure, telephony and business solutions.

Ms Lesley Pothan

General Manager, Corporate Affairs

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Bachelor of Commerce and Accounting

Key responsibilities include:

• Human resource services
• Learning and development
• Corporate services
• Internal audit
• Customer relations
• Legal services
• Work health and safety

The General Manager, Corporate Affairs, provides strategic direction for people management including workforce planning and organisational development needs and opportunities. The division is responsible for providing core support functions, including all aspects of human resources and corporate services. The division delivers facilities management with approximately 20 office leases, emergency and protective security, procurement and contract management, and management of a fleet of 170 vehicles.

Mr Ross Jordan

Company Secretary

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Laws
• Master of Social Science
• Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors

Key responsibilities include:

• Corporate governance including liaison with Shareholder Advice Units
• Board and committee secretariat and support
• Liaison with Ministers' offices

The Company Secretary's main responsibilities include management of the Board and committee secretariat, liaison between DHA and the Ministerial and Shareholder Units and ensuring that DHA's legal framework and corporate governance requirements are met in accordance with the DHA Act and the CAC Act.

Mr Vern Gallagher

General Manager, Strategic Relationships and Innovation

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Bachelor of Science Physics (University of Melbourne)
• Graduate Diploma Management (University of NSW)
• Graduate Diploma Human Resources Management (University of Canberra)

Key responsibilities include:

• Major stakeholder relationships
• Strategic direction
• Innovation in housing and delivery
• Research and development

The General Manager, Strategic Relationships and Innovation, is responsible for innovation focussed projects across the business and the development and maintenance of key external relationships. These include Defence policy, Government Departments, State Governments, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works and housing bodies.

Mr Robert Henman

General Manager, Investment Management

Educational qualifications and memberships:

• Bachelor of Business (Accounting)
• Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA)
• Graduate Diploma, Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD)
• Advanced Diploma of Financial Licensing Management
• Fellow of Finance and Treasury Association (FFTP)

Key responsibilities include:

• Investment housing portfolio
• DHA IML
• Treasury
• Risk management

The General Manager, Investment Management, is responsible for the investment housing portfolio, cash flow, managing investments and borrowings and liquidity management. Business continuity, fraud, insurances, and the annual risk management plan are also managed as part of this role.

Mr Henman is a Responsible Manager and Compliance Officer of DHA IML and a Director of Crace Developments Pty Limited on behalf of DHA.

Internal and external review

Internal and external review systems are an important part of ensuring internal control systems are effective and that the business is operating in accordance with applicable laws and procedures.

Internal audit

Internal audit services are outsourced to KPMG. These services give objective and independent assurance to the Managing Director, the Executive and the DHA Board Audit Committee that financial and operational controls are operating efficiently, effectively and ethically.

Through an internal audit plan, the KPMG internal audit function assists DHA to achieve its objectives by providing a systematic and disciplined approach to evaluating and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of risk and financial management, control and governance processes. The plan promotes better practice and identifies potential risks that could impede achievement of successful outcomes, as well as providing recommendations to improve business performance. The Board Audit Committee monitors the implementation of internal audit recommendations and reports progress to the Board.

Risk management

Enterprise-wide risk management is integral to DHA's business operations. It is reflected in the corporate governance and delivery against core objectives. Risk management is centrally coordinated and relies on regular reviews of business processes and procedures, internal and external audits, as well as various documents such as the Risk Management Policy, business continuity plan, Fraud Policy and financial delegations. An annual risk management plan is prepared based on the methodology set out in the Australian Standard on Risk Management AS/NZS/ISO 31000:2009. It addresses both governance and business risks and is approved by the Board after endorsement by the Board Audit Committee.

Each year DHA participates in Comcover's benchmarking survey where participating Commonwealth agencies' risk management practices are assessed and rated accordingly. DHA achieved a rating of 8.5, which compares with the average maturity level across all participating agencies of 7.0.

Fraud prevention measures

DHA undertakes a regular Fraud Risk Assessment (FRA) consistent with the PGPA Act (including PGPA rule 2014) and in accordance with the Australian Standard on Risk Management AS/NZS/ISO 31000:2009 and Australian Standard AS 8001:2008 Fraud and Corruption Control. The FRA is a proactive approach to minimising the potential for fraud in business, whether by staff or external third parties.

The Fraud Control Plan (FCP) is based on the FRA and summarises DHA's fraud-control strategies. Supporting the FCP is the Fraud Policy. These establish the framework for management and staff on the approach to fraud control. The FCP and Fraud Policy provide guidance to staff on action to deter and detect fraud and are available on DHA's intranet. DHA treats potential fraud seriously and acknowledges the significance of 'whistle-blowers' in detecting fraud. The risk manager provides annual updates to the Board Audit Committee on the effectiveness of internal controls and on efforts to mitigate exposures to fraud. No instances of fraud were recorded during the 2013–14 financial year.

Parliamentary committees

Before commencement, public works with an estimated value in excess of $15 million require consideration by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works and approval from the Parliament. During 2013–14, two projects were referred to the committee for consideration. They were the development and construction of housing for Defence members at RAAF Base Tindal (NT), and RAAF Base Darwin (NT). DHA also received committee approval for medium works, valued between $2.0 million and $15.0 million, at 11 sites around Australia.

A decision was taken by the Parliament during the 2013–14 year that DHA projects would no longer be scrutinised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works. Defence projects will continue to be referred to the Committee.

DHA comes under the scrutiny of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. It was required to appear before the Committee once during 2013–14.

Freedom of information

DHA is required to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Seventeen requests were made for access to information under the Act during 2013–14; two received practical refusal notifications, four were withdrawn, two were pending a decision at 30 June 2014, eight were granted in part, and one granted in full. All requests for information were processed within statutory timeframes.

Requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 for access to information should be made in writing to:

Company Secretary
Defence Housing Australia
26 Brisbane Ave
BARTON ACT 2600
E. foi@dha.gov.au

Privacy

DHA takes its obligations of handling information on staff and customers seriously and adheres to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) as detailed in the Privacy Act 1988. Privacy reforms made to the Privacy Act 1988 by the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 came into effect on 12 March 2014. DHA has successfully transitioned to the new privacy arrangements to ensure compliance with the new APPs.

Ombudsman

During 2013–14, the Commonwealth Ombudsman received 35 approaches concerning DHA's business. Seven of these were the subject of investigation, one of which is ongoing.

Indemnities and insurance

DHA maintains directors' and officers' liability insurance. The insurance covers DHA officers and directors in respect of legal liabilities (including legal expenses) that a director or officer may be legally obliged to pay in certain circumstances. The policy has some exclusions, such as wilful breach of duty, breach of professional duty and any claim arising out of libel, slander or defamation.

Access to documents

Copies of the DHA Act are available from Canprint Communications or over the counter from Information Victoria bookshop, Print applied technology or Service SA Government legislation outlet.

An online version of the DHA Act can be downloaded from the Attorney-General Department's website at comlaw.gov.au.

The Annual Report can be downloaded from dha.gov.au. DHA also produces and distributes brochures and other promotional material. Requests for copies of publications can be made to:

Head of Marketing Communication
Defence Housing Australia
26 Brisbane Ave
BARTON ACT 2600
T. 02 6217 8444
E. communications@dha.gov.au