Other disclosures

Victoria’s Social Procurement Framework

The department implemented its Social Procurement Strategy in February 2019. The strategy prioritises 5 social procurement objectives, which are:

opportunities for Victorian Aboriginal people
women’s equality and safety
opportunities for disadvantaged Victorians
supporting safe and fair workplaces
environmentally sustainable outputs.

In 2021–22, the department spent a total of $17.6 million through direct engagement of 119 verified social benefit suppliers. This represents an increase of around $6.2 million on 2010–21. The total spend includes a direct engagement worth $1.8 million with 33 verified Victorian Aboriginal businesses.

The increase in 2021–22 expenditure is driven by engagements of social enterprises and Victorian Aboriginal businesses for major construction projects and related services, as well as the engagement of a social enterprise, as part of the distribution of air purifier units to schools.

All procurement procedures for goods and services as well as construction works are aligned with the Social Procurement Framework.

All suppliers to the department must attest to their commitment to the Victorian Government’s Supplier Code of Conduct when responding to the department’s approaches to market. This includes engagement with the Social Procurement Assurance team at the DTF on procurements estimated to be above $20.0 million.

Social procurement in school construction

The department requires all construction related projects to incorporate Social Procurement Framework objectives and outcomes. Evaluations of tender submissions are conducted to identify and recognise businesses whose practices support social and sustainable procurement objectives.

Assessments are undertaken to review suppliers’ tender responses for the application of social and sustainable procurement objectives. Tender submissions are required to include responses to the following criteria:

employment for Victorian Aboriginal people
opportunities for disadvantaged Victorians
environmentally sustainable outputs.

The department’s Capital Programs Assurance Service provides independent assurance on projects. It reviews the requirements in tender responses against social procurement objectives. Based on these reviews, VSBA projects have demonstrated a high level of compliance.

In 2022, a revised Project Management Framework was developed to mandate the application of the Building Equality Policy. The department has updated its construction procurement plan templates and construction procurement guides to reflect the requirements of the policy to create employment opportunities for women through school construction activities.

Local Jobs First

Introduced in August 2018, the Local Jobs First Act 2003 brings together the Victorian Industry Participation Policy (VIPP) and Major Project Skills Guarantee (MPSG) policy, which were previously administered separately.

Departments and public sector bodies are required to apply the Local Jobs First policy to all metropolitan Melbourne and statewide projects valued at $3 million or more, or $1 million or more in regional Victoria.

MPSG applies to all construction projects valued at $20 million or more. The MPSG guidelines and VIPP guidelines continue to apply to MPSG applicable and VIPP applicable projects respectively, where contracts have been entered into prior to 15 August 2018.

During 2021–22, the department commenced or completed a total of 152 Local Jobs First projects, totalling $1.8 billion. This includes 145 standard projects and 7 strategic projects. Metropolitan Victoria projects averaged 68% local content, and those based in regional Victoria averaged 70% local content. The statewide projects averaged 45% local content.

Projects commenced – Local Jobs First Standard

During 2021–22, the department commenced 96 Local Jobs First Standard Projects, valued at $775 million. The projects based in metropolitan Victoria averaged 74% local content, projects based in regional Victoria expect to use 62% local content and statewide projects expect to use 50% local content.

The expected outcomes based on the reported and extrapolated information are:

an average of 70% local content overall
a total of 897,162 work hours created and 2,685,828 work retained [1]
an estimated 292,448 new apprenticeships and traineeships work hours created
an estimated 448,275 work hours for apprenticeships and traineeships retained.

MPSG projects provided an estimated 91,219 annual work hours to 88 apprentices, trainees, and cadets.

Projects completed – Local Jobs First Standard

During 2021–22, the department completed 49 Local Jobs First Standard Projects, with a total value of $322 million. The projects based in metropolitan Victoria averaged 76% local content, and those based in regional Victoria averaged 70% local content and statewide projects averaged 45% local content.

The expected outcomes based on reported and extrapolated information are:

an average of 73% local content
a total of 58,917 work hours created and 145,756 work retained
an estimated 15,638 new apprenticeships and traineeships work hours created an estimated 32,935 work hours for apprenticeships and traineeships retained.

MPSG projects provided an estimated total of 17,479 annual work hours to 300 apprentices, trainees and cadets.

Projects commenced – Local Jobs First Strategic

During 2021–22, the department commenced 3 Local Jobs First Strategic Projects, valued at $359 million. The projects based in metropolitan Victoria expect to use 86% local content and statewide projects expect to use 84% local content.

The expected outcomes based on the reported and extrapolated information are:

an average of 85% local content
a total of 93,771 work hours created and 1,008,150 work retained
an estimated 32,504 new apprenticeships and traineeships work hours created an estimated 81,306 work hours for apprenticeships and traineeships retained.

MPSG projects provided an estimated total of 113,810 annual hours to 32 apprentices, trainees, and cadets.

Projects completed – Local Jobs First Strategic

During 2021–22, the department completed 4 Local Jobs First Strategic Projects, with a total value of $346 million. All projects were based in metropolitan Victoria and averaged 29% local content.

The outcomes based on the reported information are:

an average of 29% local content
a total of 37,882 work hours created and 33,548 work retained
an estimated 37,881 new apprenticeships and traineeships work hours created an estimated 33,548 work hours for apprenticeships and traineeships retained.

MPSG projects provided an estimated total of 71,430 annual work hours to 300 apprentices, trainees and cadets.

Reporting requirements – grants

For grants provided during 2021–22, a total of zero Interaction Reference Numbers were required, which entailed an engagement with the Industry Capability Network (Victoria) Ltd.

Government advertising expenditure

Consultancy expenditure

Information and communication technology expenditure

Measure	$ million
Business as usual ICT expenditure	383.2
Non-business as usual ICT expenditure
Operating expenditure	5.8
Capital expenditure	29.3
Total ICT non-business as usual expenditure	35.1
Total ICT expenditure	418.3

Disclosure of major contracts

Goods and services purchased under critical incident protocols	$ (ex GST)
Goods purchased under protocols in 2021–22	138,518,357
Services purchased under protocols in 2021–22	13,546,872
Total	152,065,229

Freedom of Information

The FOI Act allows the public a right to access documents held by the department. The purpose of the FOI Act is to extend as far as possible the community’s right to access information held by government departments, local councils, ministers and other bodies.

People can apply to access documents created by, or supplied to, the department. They may also obtain access to maps, films, microfiche, photographs, computer printouts, computer discs, tape recordings and videotapes. Information about the type of material produced by the department is available at www.vic.gov.au/freedom-information-requests-department-education-and-training .

Under the FOI Act, the department can refuse public access to certain documents or information, either fully or partially. Examples of documents that the department may refuse access to include:

cabinet documents
some internal working documents
law‑enforcement documents
documents covered by legal professional privilege, such as legal advice
personal information about other people
information provided to the department in confidence.

Under section 49A of the FOI Act, applicants who are not satisfied by a decision made by the department can seek a review by the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner within 28 days of receiving a decision on access.

Freedom of Information statistics

During 2021–22, the department received 761 FOI requests. Of these:

690 were from individuals seeking access to their own records
14 were requests from members of parliament
35 were from media organisations
22 were from members of the public seeking policy-related and other miscellaneous documents.

The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner was asked to review 22 requests, and 3 went on appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

This Annual Report contains the information required to be published pursuant to section 7 of the FOI Act. Further information is available at: www.vic.gov.au/freedom-information-requests-department-education-and-training .

Making a request

A request for access to documents can be made by writing to the department’s FOI Unit. A request must:

be in writing
identify as clearly as possible the document(s) being requested
be accompanied by the appropriate application fee (the fee may be waived in certain circumstances).

Access charges may be required in certain circumstances. Examples of access charges include charges for search, retrieval, and extraction of certain documents from databases.

Freedom of Information contacts

Agency	Postal address	Email	Telephone
Department of Education and Training	Manager, Freedom of Information Department of Education and Training GPO Box 4367 Melbourne 3001	foi@education.vic.gov.au	(03) 7022 0856
VCAA	Level 7 2 Lonsdale Street Melbourne 3000	vcaa.foi@education.vic.gov.au	(03) 9032 1700
VRQA	Level 4 2 Lonsdale Street Melbourne 3000	vrqa@education.vic.gov.au	(03) 9032 1554
Merit Protection Boards	Level 4 2 Lonsdale Street Melbourne 3000	meritboards@education.vic.gov.au	(03) 7022 0040
Victorian Institute of Teaching	Level 9 628 Bourke Street Melbourne 3000	vit@vit.vic.edu.au	(03) 8601 6100
Disciplinary Appeals Boards	Level 4 2 Lonsdale Street Melbourne 3000	dab@education.vic.gov.au	(03) 7022 0040
Independent office of School Dispute Resolutions	Level 4 2 Lonsdale Street Melbourne 3000	school.resolution@education.vic.gov.au	(03) 7022 1199
VATL	41 St Andrews Place Melbourne 3000	academy@education.vic.gov.au	(03) 8199 2900
VSA	GPO Box 4367 Melbourne 3001	www.skillsauthority.vic.gov.au	(03) 9059 5107

Further information regarding FOI can be found at www.vic.gov.au/freedom-information-requests-department-education-and-training .

Compliance with the DataVic Access Policy

Compliance with the Building Act

Mechanisms to ensure buildings conform to the building standards

The department complies with the Building Act 1993, the National Construction Code and other statutory obligations related to constructing and modernising educational facilities. The school modernisation and building compliance programs progressively ensure that existing buildings comply with relevant legislative requirements.

Major works projects (with a value greater than $50,000)

For details of all major works projects, see the 2021–22 Budget Paper No. 4: State Capital Program.

A list of all sites that had capital works projects in a construction status during 2021–22 is provided below.

Major works sites

Schools [1]	School	School	School
Ainslie Parklands PS	Aintree PS	Aireys Inlet PS	Aitken Hill PS
Alamanda K-9 C	Albanvale PS	Alexandra PS	Alexandra SC
Alfredton PS	Alkira SC	Alphington PS	Altona C
Altona Green PS	Altona Meadows PS	Altona PS	Anakie PS
Antonio Park PS	Apollo Bay P-12 C	Ardeer PS	Armadale PS
Armstrong Creek School	Arnolds Creek PS	Ascot Vale Heights School	Ascot Vale PS
Ascot Vale West PS	Ashburton PS	Aspendale PS	Athol Rd PS
Auburn PS	Auburn South PS	Avenel PS	Avoca PS
Bacchus Marsh C	Bacchus Marsh PS	Bairnsdale SC	Ballarat PS
Ballarat SS	Bandiana PS	Banyule PS	Baringa SS
Barton PS	Barwon Valley School	Bass Valley PS	Bayside P-12 C
Bayside SDS	Bayswater South PS	Bayswater West PS	Beaconsfield Upper PS
Bealiba PS	Beaufort ECC	Beaumaris PS	Beeac PS
Beechworth PS	Belgrave South PS	Bell Park North PS	Bell PS
Bellbrae PS	Belmont HS	Belmore S	Berendale S
Beulah PS	Beverford District PS	Beverley Hills PS	Big Hill PS
Black Hill PS	Black Rock PS	Blackburn HS	Blackburn Lake PS
Bonbeach PS	Boneo PS	Boronia West PS	Box Hill HS
Briar Hill PS	Brighton Beach PS	Broadford PS	Broadford SC
Broadmeadows SDS	Brunswick East PS	Buangor PS	Bundarra PS
Bundoora PS	California Gully PS	Camberwell PS	Cambridge PS
Camms Road PS	Campbells Creek PS	Camperdown C	Carlisle River PS
Carlton PS	Carrington PS	Carwatha P-12 C	Casey Fields PS
Castlemaine North PS	Castlemaine SC	Chalcot Lodge PS	Charles La Trobe P-12 C
Chatham PS	Clifton Springs PS	Clunes PS	Cobram and District SS
Coburg HS	Coburg West PS	Cockatoo PS	Coimadai PS
Colac PS	Collingwood ELS	Copperfield C	Craigieburn PS
Craigieburn SC	Cranbourne East PS	Cranbourne East SC	Cranbourne Park PS
Cranbourne PS	Cranbourne West PS	Croxton SS	Croydon Hills PS
Croydon SDS	Dallas K	Dandenong North PS	Dandenong Valley SDS
Darnum PS	Darraweit Guim PS	Davis Creek PS	Deanside K
Dederang PS	Delacombe PS	Diamond Creek East PS	Diamond Valley SDS
Diggers Rest PS	Dimboola Memorial SC	Dingley PS	Dohertys Creek P-9 C
Don Valley PS	Doncaster SC	Dromana PS	Dromana SC
Drouin PS	Drouin SC	Drouin West PS K	Dunolly PS
Eagle Point PS	Eaglehawk PS	Eaglehawk SC	East Loddon P-12 C
Eastwood PS and Deaf Facility	Edenhope C	Edgars Creek PS	Edgars Creek SC
Elevation SC	Elisabeth Murdoch C	Elphinstone PS	Eltham North PS
Eltham PS	Emerald SC	Emerson S	Eppalock PS
Epping PS	Epsom PS	Eskdale PS	Essendon East Keilor District C
Essendon North PS	Essex Heights PS	Eucalyptus Parade K	Euroa PS
Featherbrook C	Footscray City PS	Footscray HS	Footscray North PS
Footscray PS	Foster SC	Fountain Gate PS	Fountain Gate SC
Frankston SDS	Fyans Park PS	Gaayip-Yagila PS	Gardenvale PS
Garrang Wilam PS	Gilgai Plains PS	Gisborne SC	Glen Huntly PS
Gleneagles SC	Glenroy Central PS	Glenroy West PS	Greenhills PS
Grey Street PS	Halls Gap PS	Hampden SS & Terang C	Hampton Park PS
Harkaway PS	Harrietville PS	Hayes Hill PS	Healesville HS
Healesville PS	Heatherwood S	Heathmont C	Heathmont East PS
Hesket PS	Hoddles Creek PS	Holy Child K	Holyoake Parade PS
Hopetoun P-12 C	Horsham C	Huntly PS	Hurstbridge PS
Horsham C	Irymple PS	Irymple South PS	Jennings Street S
Jindivick PS	John Henry PS	Kambrya C	Kangaroo Flat PS
Kangaroo Ground PS	Kensington PS	Kerrimuir PS	Kew PS
Keysborough Gardens PS	Keysborough PS K	Kiewa Valley PS	Kilberry Valley PS
Kinglake PS	Kinglake West PS	Kingsbury PS	Kingsley Park PS
Kismet Park PS	Knox Central PS	Knox Park PS	Koo Wee Rup PS
Koroit and District PS	Korumburra SC	Kunyung PS	Kurnai C
Kyabram P-12 C	Kyneton HS	Kyneton PS	Lalor Gardens PS
Lalor PS	Lalor PS K	Lalor SC	Lancefield PS
Landsborough PS	Lara PS	Launching Place PS	Laurimar PS
Le Page PS	Lilydale Heights C	Lilydale HS	Little Bendigo PS
Lockwood PS	Lockwood South PS	Lollypop Creek PS	Longwood PS
Lorne P-12 C	Lyndale Greens PS	Lyndale SC	Lyndhurst PS
Lyndhurst SC	Macarthur PS	Macclesfield PS	Macedon PS
Mackellar PS	MacRobertson Girls HS	Maffra SC	Maiden Gully PS
Mallacoota K	Manor Lakes P-12 C	Maribyrnong SC	Marnebek S
Maryborough Education Centre	McClelland SC	Meadows PS	Melba SC
Melrose PS	Melton SC	Melton SS	Melton West PS
Mentone Park PS	Merbein P-10 C	Merino CS	Mernda Central P-12 C
Merriang SDS	Merrifield West Secondary S	Merrijig PS	Metung PS
Mickleham PS	Middle Park PS	Middleton Drive K	Mill Park Heights PS
Mitta Mitta PS	Monash SDS	Monbulk PS	Moolap PS
Moomba Park PS	Mooroolbark East PS	Mooroopna North PS	Mordialloc C
Moreland PS	Morwell Park PS K	Mossfiel PS	Mount Alexander 7-12 C
Mount Beauty PS	Mount Beauty SC	Mount Eliza North PS	Mount Erin SC
Mount Ridley P-12 C	Mount Ridley Special S	Mount Rowan SC	Mount View PS
Mount Waverley Heights PS	Mount Waverley North PS	Mount Waverley SC	Movelle PS K
Narre Warren South P-12 C	Newborough PS	Newbury PS	Newhaven PS
Newlands PS	Nichols Point PS	Niddrie PS	Noble Park ELS
Noble Park SC	Northcote HS	Northern Bay P-12 C	Northern S For Autism
Northcote HS	Northern Bay P-12 C	Norwood SC	Nowa Nowa PS
Nullawarre and District PS	Nullawil PS	Numurkah PS	Nungurner PS
Oakleigh PS K	Oberon HS	Ocean Grove PS	Officer Rix Road PS
Officer SC	Officer SS	Old Orchard PS	Orchard Grove PS
Orrvale PS	Osbornes Flat PS	Outdoor S	Oxley PS
Parkdale PS	Parkdale SC	Parktone PS	Pascoe Vale Girls SC
Pascoe Vale North PS	Pascoe Vale PS	Pender’s Grove PS	Peninsula Specialist C
Pentland PS	Peter Lalor SC	Pinewood PS	Plenty Parklands PS
Point Cook P-9 C	Portland South PS	Preston HS	Preston PS
Preston South PS	Puckapunyal PS	Pyalong PS	Ramlegh Park PS
Rangebank PS	Rangeview PS	Raywood PS	Red Cliffs East PS
Red Cliffs PS	Red Hill CS	Reservoir East PS K	Reservoir PS
Reservoir West PS	Riddells Creek PS	Ringwood Heights PS	Ringwood North PS
Ringwood SC	Riverdale East PS	Riverwalk PS	Rockbank Murray Road PS
Rockbank PS	Rosamond SS	Rosebud SC	Rosedale PS
Rosehill SC	Rosewood Downs PS	Rowville PS	Rubicon Outdoor S
Rushworth P-12 C	Ruskin Park PS	Sale C	Saltwater P-9 C
Sandringham C	Sassafras PS	Scoresby SC	Seabrook PS
Seaford PS	Selby PS	Seville PS	Shepparton East PS
Sherbourne PS	Silvan PS	Somers PS	Somerville PS
South Oakleigh SC	Southern Autistic S	Specimen Hill PS	Springhurst PS
Springside West SC	Springvale Park SDS	St Andrews PS	St Leonards PS
Stanhope PS	Strathewen PS	Strathmore North PS	Strathtulloh PS
Streeton PS	Sunbury C	Sunbury Downs C	Sunbury Heights PS
Sunbury PS	Sunshine C	Sunshine Heights PS	Surf Coast SC
Surfside PS	Surrey Hills PS	Swan Hill PS	Sydenham - Hillside PS
Sydney Road Community S	Talbot PS	Talgarno PS	Tallarook PS
Taradale PS	Tarneit Missen House PS	Tarneit Rise PS	Tarneit Senior C
Taylors Lakes SC	Tecoma PS	Teesdale PS	Templestowe Heights PS
The Basin PS	Thomastown SC	Thornbury HS	Tinternvale PS
Toolern Vale and District PS	Tooradin PS	Torquay Coast PS	Torquay P-6 C
Traralgon C	Traralgon South PS	Tulliallan PS	Tylden PS
Ultima PS	Undera PS	University HS	University Park PS
Upper Ferntree Gully PS	Upper Yarra SC	Upwey PS	Vermont South Special S
Verney Road S	Waaia-Yalca South PS	Wahgunyah PS	Wallan PS
Wallington PS	Wandong PS	Wangaratta District SS and Appin Park PS	Wangaratta West PS
Wantirna PS	Warracknabeal Education Precinct	Warragul Regional C	Warrandyte PS
Warringa Park S	Warrnambool C	Watsonia PS	Wedge Park PS
Wellington SC	Welshpool and District PS	Wesburn PS	Westall PS
Western Autistic S	Westmeadows PS	Wheelers Hill SC	Williamstown HS
Williamstown PS	Winters Flat PS	Woady Yaloak PS	Wodonga Middle Years C
Wodonga PS	Wollert East SC	Wollert West PS	Wonthaggi SC
Woodford PS	Woodmans Hill SC	Woori Yallock PS	Wycheproof P-12 C
Wyndham Central SC	Wyndham Park PS	Wyndham Vale PS	Yackandandah PS
Yarra Hills SC	Yarra Ranges SDS	Yarram SC	Yarraman Oaks PS
Yarrambat PS	Yarrawonga P-12 C	Yinnar PS	York Street K
Yuille Park P-8 Community C

Number of building permits, occupancy permits, or certificates of final inspection issued in relation to buildings owned by the department

During 2021–22, the department had 303 building permits, 132 occupancy permits, and 158 certificates of final inspection issued.

Mechanisms for inspection, reporting, scheduling and carrying out of maintenance works on existing buildings

The department engages compliance program managers to carry out inspections, reporting, scheduling, and rectification works to ensure that existing buildings comply with current building regulations. Compliance programs cover areas such as asbestos removal, fire service upgrades, integration (disability access), environmental works (such as the removal of underground petroleum storage systems) and works aimed at preventing falls.

The department also operates the Make Safe and Emergency Maintenance programs. The Make Safe program involves works to eliminate the risk of immediate hazards resulting from an incident (fire) or event (storm). The Emergency Maintenance program addresses unforeseen, urgent infrastructure maintenance issues that pose a risk to safety, where schools do not have the financial capacity to rectify the issue.

Number of emergency orders and building orders issued in relation to buildings

One emergency order was issued in 2021–22, due to a classroom fire. This building was removed.

Number of buildings that have been brought into conformity with building standards during the reporting period

During 2021–22, no buildings were required to be brought into conformity with building standards.

[1] C: College, CS: Consolidated School, ECC: Early Childhood Centre, ELS: English Language School, HS: High School, K: Kindergarten, PS: Primary School, S: School, SC: Secondary College, SDS: Special Development School, SS: Specialist School

Compliance with the Public Interest Disclosures Act

The Public Interest Disclosures Act 2012 (PID Act) encourages and assists people to make disclosures of improper conduct by public officers and public bodies. It protects people who make disclosures and establishes a system for investigation and rectification.

Improper employee conduct is not tolerated, nor are reprisals against those who disclose such conduct. The department ensures transparency and accountability in administrative and management practices and supports disclosures that reveal improper conduct, including corrupt conduct, conduct involving a substantial mismanagement of public resources, or conduct involving a substantial risk to the health and safety of individuals or the environment.

The department takes all reasonable steps to protect people who make disclosures from reprisals. It also affords natural justice to the person who is the subject of the disclosure to the extent that is legally possible.

Reporting procedures

Disclosures of improper conduct or detrimental action by the department or any of its employees, may be made to the department’s:

Secretary
Public Interest Disclosure Coordinator or public interest disclosure officers
manager or supervisor of the discloser
manager or supervisor of the person who is the subject of the disclosure.

Alternatively, disclosures can also be made directly to the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC):

Level 1, North Tower, 459 Collins Street
Melbourne Vic 3000

Phone : 1300 735 135
Website : www.ibac.vic.gov.au
Email : See the website above for the secure email disclosure process, which also provides for anonymous disclosures.

Further information

The department has published guidelines regarding the procedures it has instituted to comply with the PID Act at www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/report-fraud-or-corruption/overview

Disclosures under the Public Interest Disclosure Act

	2021–22	2020–21	2019–20	2018–19
The number of disclosures made by an individual to the department and notified to IBAC: assessable disclosures.	7	10	8	18

Competitive Neutrality Policy

Compliance with the Disability Act

The Disability Act 2006 reaffirms and strengthens the rights of people with disability and recognises that this requires support across government and community.

The Disability Act requires that public sector bodies (including all government departments) prepare a disability action plan, and report on its implementation in their Annual Report.

A disability action plan is a strategy to remove barriers that prevent people with a disability from using the department’s goods, services and facilities, and from gaining and keeping employment. Disability action planning also strives to promote the inclusion and participation of people with disability in the community and achieve changes in attitudes and practices to eliminate discrimination.

The department’s Disability Action Plan 2018–2021 highlights how the department supports the Victorian Government’s vision of an inclusive Victoria. It outlines the actions taken by the department to support people with a disability to use departmental services and to engage with, or work for, the department. It is aligned to the State Disability Plan: Absolutely Everyone.

Reducing barriers to accessing goods, services and facilities

Every year, the department delivers and regulates statewide learning and development services for at least one-third of all Victorians. The department is building an inclusive education system that allows all students to learn and thrive on the same basis as their peers.

In 2021–22, the department continued its implementation of the almost $1.6 billion Disability Inclusion reform across Victorian government schools. Disability Inclusion is delivering a new strengths-based Disability Inclusion Profile, a new tiered funding model providing more resources to schools to support students with disability, and investment in building skills and knowledge in inclusive education across the school system.

Reducing barriers to persons with a disability obtaining and maintaining employment

The department, in conjunction with staff, developed a Disability Employment Plan 2019–22 . This plan describes the department’s commitment to boosting employment opportunities and career experiences for people with disability. The plan continues to improve employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disability in the department.

Promoting inclusion and participation in the community

The department’s Disability Action Plan 2018–21 identifies priorities and actions to build inclusive education for people with disability across Victoria—in early childhood centres, schools and higher education settings.

The department also manages a suite of policies and programs to strengthen inclusive education in Victorian government schools, including the Disability Inclusion reforms which will replace the existing Program for Students with Disabilities over a 5-year implementation period between 2021 and 2025. Other programs include the Inclusive Kindergarten Facilities Program, and additional transport, welfare and support services for students and children with disability.

Achieving tangible changes in attitudes and practices that discriminate against people with a disability

The department’s disability champion, the Deputy Secretary, PES, continues to champion disability inclusion across the department. A key focus of the role is to raise awareness across the department to ensure accessibility and inclusion. In addition, the Deputy Secretary, FPIS, is the executive sponsor for the department’s Enablers Network. The network is a conduit for staff with lived experience of disability policy and program development.

Compliance with the Carers Recognition Act

Office-based environmental impacts

The department’s Environment Management System was established to meet government requirements under Financial Reporting Direction (FRD) 24 and to reduce environmental impacts. It allows the department to monitor environmental performance and further reduce environmental impacts of office-based activities.

In line with government directives, the department reports against a range of indicators for energy and water consumption, transportation, waste generation, paper purchasing, green procurement and greenhouse gas emissions. Consumption and usage are captured through the Energy and Sustainability Platform (ESP) provided by the Shared Services Provider’s (SSP) contractor, Jones Lang LaSalle. This online tool allows reporting across the department’s Victorian offices and the VSA’s offices.

The environment management system objectives include:

reducing greenhouse gas emissions
reducing the amount of waste and maximising the amount of reused and recycled resources
ensuring that new capital works incorporate environmentally sustainable principles
making environmentally sound purchasing decisions for capital items and consumables
encouraging staff to reduce environmental impacts
regularly reporting on environmental performance
adopting an environmental management system based on ISO14001 to drive continual environmental improvement across the department.

Key updates from last year’s annual reporting

New data from one site has been added to the reportable site list through the ESP this year, thus improving efficiency and accountability.
To allow precise reporting, 4 sites have been removed from the reportable site list because data has not been available through the ESP.
Almost three quarters of the department-owned operational fleet are hybrid vehicles, and the department no longer owns diesel-fuelled vehicles.

All consumption data is for the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, to allow for a full reporting year and to improve accuracy for annual reporting. Variance in consumption for most indicators in 2021–22 can largely be attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and should be considered when reviewing these figures.

Organisational boundary for the purpose of environmental reporting

The reportable site list excludes schools, early childhood facilities, and TAFEs. It also excludes office-based locations not in the ESP database and with fewer than 10 FTE. Office staff numbers (FTE) and office tenancy net lettable area details used for reporting calculations are shown in the table below.

Full-time equivalent staff and net lettable area

Indicator	2021–22	2020–21	2019–20
Office FTE	5,071.2	4,667.7	4,500.8
Office net lettable area	73,216.3	74,775	74,775
Number of offices	32	35	35

In 2021–22 the department’s FTE increased by 8.6% from the previous year.

Energy usage

The data below was collected through the ESP. It represents 97% of the department’s office-based locations for electricity and 69% of the department’s office-based locations for gas. The department continues to work with the SSP’s contractor, Jones Lang LaSalle to improve these figures.

Energy consumption

Indicator	2021–22	2020–21	2019–20
E1. Total energy usage segmented by primary source (MJ)	27,397,516	28,866,316	33,277,172
Electricity (MJ)—excluding green power	23,748,592	22,764,191	26,434,947
Natural gas (MJ)	3,648,924	6,102,125	6,842,225
Green power (MJ)	–	–	–
LPG (MJ)	–	–	–
E.2 Total greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption (tonnes CO₂-e)	6,521	6,511	8,601
Electricity (tonnes CO₂-e)—excluding green power	6,333	6,197	8,221
Natural gas (tonnes CO₂-e)	188	314	379
LPG (tonnes CO₂-e)	–	–	–
E.3 Percentage of electricity purchased as green power (%)	–	–	–
E.4 Units of office energy used per FTE (MJ/FTE)	5,715	6,971	7,394
E.5 Units of office energy used per office area (MJ/m²)	403	439	473
Voluntary/optional indicators
2 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne (base building and tenancy)	5.5 stars	5.0 stars	4.5 stars
80 Collins Street, Melbourne (base building)	4.0 stars	5.0 stars	4.5 stars
35 Collins Street, Melbourne (base building)	4.5 stars	4.0 stars	–
7-15 McLaren Street, Bendigo (whole building)	6.0 stars	6.0 stars	–

Actions undertaken

Certification was achieved for 6 Star Green Star rating and Gold WELL of Level 3, 35 Collins Street, Melbourne.
A new site (Ringwood) has been added to the reporting list that reports electricity consumption.

Target

The department will contribute to the state’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 28–33% by 31 March 2025. Department-specific targets are to be confirmed.

Explanatory notes

Total energy consumption reduced by 5% from 2020–21. Electricity consumption increased by 4% but natural gas consumption decreased by 40%. The variation in electricity and gas for 2021–22 can be attributed to the intermittency of staff’s presence in offices across Victoria due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The department is continuously looking for opportunities to improve reporting and further reduce energy consumption.

The data collected through the ESP represents 97% of office accommodation for electricity and 69% of office accommodation for gas. Jones Lang LaSalle (SSP’s contractor) has informed the department that some sites do not have access to gas data. The limitation of not having access to gas data has been considered when calculating the percentage of sites that report natural gas.

Invoiced and accrued data have been used for this section. Invoiced data accounts for 61% and accrued data accounts for 39% for electricity. For gas, invoiced data accounts for 89% and accrued data accounts for 11%. Generally, sites with accrued data are sites where Jones Lang LaSalle needs to request data directly from the landlord rather than receiving regular invoices from the utility provider.

Waste and recycling

The data below was collected through the ESP and represents 59% of its sites across Victoria. The department continues to address waste generation through a variety of re‑use and recycling methods and initiatives.

Waste and recycling

Indicator	2021–22	2020–21	2019–20
Ws1: Total units of waste disposed of by destination (kg)	42,050	94,844	107,531
Landfill	14,175	21,452	41,161
Comingled recycling	3,667	5,633	12,685
Paper and card	3,655	6,277	15,486
Secure documents	16,946	54,105	31,987
Organics	3,607	7,378	6,212
Ws2: Total units of waste disposed of per FTE by destination (kg/FTE)	19	45	46
Landfill	8	13	18
Comingled recycling	2	4	5
Paper and card	2	5	7
Secure documents	5	17	14
Organics	2	6	3
Ws3: Recycling rate (%)	58	77	62
Ws4: Greenhouse gas emissions associated with waste disposal (tonnes CO₂-e)	23	34	58
Voluntary/optional indicators
Recycling services (kg)	508	1,318	–
Soft plastics recycled (kg)	1	–	–

Actions undertaken

By February 2022, the department phased-out problematic single-use plastics, including straws, cutlery, plates, drink stirrers, expanded polystyrene food and drink containers, and cotton bud sticks within its department offices, in preparation of the statewide ban from February 2023.
The department continues to establish 3‑stream (landfill, recycling and organic) waste management practices in all office accommodations (new included).
A soft plastics recycling scheme is being trialled on our sites in Level 3 at 35 Collins Street and 2 Treasury Place.
The department continues to divert disused recycled office supplies from landfill using recycling services, although it has been strongly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Target

The department will contribute to the state’s target to halve the volume of organic material going to landfill from 2020 levels by 2030. Department-specific targets are to be confirmed.

Explanatory notes

The department continues to share its waste collection points at the Treasury Precinct with other tenants. Each bin collection point serves several organisations making it difficult to accurately measure waste contributed solely by the department. A calculation provided by SSP’s contractor, Jones Lang LaSalle, has been used to calculate waste disposed of at 2 Treasury Place.

Compared to last year, all streams have had a considerable decrease. Waste directed to landfill decreased by 34%, comingled recycling decreased by 35%, organics decreased by 51%, paper and card decreased by 42% and secure documents decreased by 69%, despite the increase in FTE. The reduction in waste generation for 2021–22 can be attributed to the intermittent presence of staff on sites due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waste generation would normally be supplemented by the results of a waste audit to a cohort of sites occupied by the department that represent about 30% of FTE. However, the waste audit was not undertaken. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, most office-based staff were working from home and waste audits would not have been representative of normal operating conditions, therefore not providing significant value to the report. The department is looking for further opportunities to improve waste reporting and continue waste reduction.

Paper

The data below was collected through the current Victorian Government mandated State Purchase Contract stationery supplier and represents 100% of the department’s (non-school) office sites and 100% of FTE staff.

Paper purchasing and usage

Indicator	2021–22	2020–21	2019–20
P1: Total units of A4 equivalent copy paper used (reams)	4,201	3,799	27,543
P2: Units of A4 equivalent copy paper used per FTE (reams/FTE)	0.8	0.8	7
P3: Percentage of 75–100% recycled content copy paper purchased	51	64	59
P3: Percentage of 50–74% recycled content copy paper purchased	–	–	–
P3: Percentage of 0–49% recycled content copy paper purchased	49	36	41
Voluntary/optional indicators
Percentage of certified paper used	100	–	–
Percentage of publications available electronically	–	–	–

Actions undertaken

As part of the State Purchase Contract arrangement during 2021–22, there has been a continued focus on redirecting product selection for white A4 copy paper purchases to a 100% recycled product.

A new departmental corporate printing policy was released in late 2021, giving staff clear requirements on expectations around acceptable printing. FollowMe Print has been rolled out across the department so staff can use their building access pass to securely print documents at any printer. In addition to reducing paper waste, FollowMe Print contributes to improved security, sustainability and workforce mobility.

Groups and regions were provided with their first paper usage report in February 2022, outlining how printing and mail digitisation practices have changed, compared to pre-pandemic and how groups and regions compare to each other.

Target

Updated department-specific targets are to be confirmed.

Explanatory notes

Total copy paper usage in 2021–22 saw a slight increase from the 2020–21 period, likely due to staff returning to work in office locations. The target of maintaining less than one ream per FTE has been met, with less than one (0.83) reams of paper being used per FTE.

Maintaining the target is dependent on department staff maintaining the current reduced levels of copy/printer paper usage when returning to the office. Staff commitment to a ‘paperless office’ strategy and only printing when necessary is key to meeting this target.

The department is working towards automated printing reporting so that teams can easily track printing and target support to areas that require printing as part of an existing manual process. Printer fleet reduction is underway with redundant printers decommissioned and additional requirements for printers met by reallocation from the existing fleet.

The proportion of copy paper purchased with the highest recycled content has decreased to 51% in 2021–22, compared to 64% in 2020–21.

The department will continue to drive higher levels of recycled content purchases in 2022–23 through internal promotion of the revised product selection available under the State Purchase Contract.

Water

The data below is based on water meter readings that have been uploaded to the ESP database by Jones Lang LaSalle. Data shows that 72% of the department’s office sites cover about 84% of FTEs.

Water consumption

Indicator	2021–22	2020–21	2019–20
W1: Total units of metered water consumed by water source (kilolitres)	11,756	12,305	18,723
W2: Units of metered water consumed in offices per FTE by usage type (kilolitres/FTE)	2.8	3.3	5.7
W3: Units of metered water consumed in offices per unit of office space (kilolitres per metre squared)	0.20	0.20	0.42
Voluntary/optional indicators:
Details of National Australian Built Environment Rating System water rating/s achieved (star rating)
2 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne (base building and tenancy)	5.0 stars	–	–
80 Collins Street, Melbourne (base building)	5.0 stars	–	–
35 Collins Street, Melbourne (base building)	4.5 stars	–	–
35 Collins Street, Melbourne (Level 3 tenancy)	6.0 stars	–	–
7–15 McLaren Street, Bendigo (whole building)	6.0 stars	–	–

Actions undertaken

The department undertook a refurbishment of the tenancy on Level 3, 35 Collins Street. It is the first department in Victoria to achieve both Gold WELL V2.0 and Green Star 6 ratings for a new fitout.

Target

Updated department-specific targets are to be confirmed.

Explanatory notes

Total water consumption decreased by 5% compared to last year. Low water consumption for 2021–22 might be attributed to the intermittence of staff’s presence from offices across Victoria, due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Some departmental sites share water meters with other non-departmental buildings or with other parts of the organisation that are not corporate. Data for these sites has been calculated based on the percentage of the net lettable area held by the department’s buildings.

Transportation

Of the department-owned operational fleet of 371 [1] vehicles:

74.1% are hybrid electric vehicles
25.9% are petrol-fuelled
none are diesel-fuelled.

The data below measures the kilometres, energy consumption and associated emissions for work-related travel by corporate employees, segmented by transport type, excluding public transport. This data includes department-owned fleet and hired vehicles but excludes executive vehicles.

The data reported below for 2019–20 relates to transport that occurred in the financial year. Data from 2020–21 and going forward relates to the period from 1 April to 31 March, to align transport data with other emissions data in this report.

Energy consumption of operational vehicles

Indicator	2021–22	2020–21	2019–20
T1: Total energy usage consumption by fleet vehicles (MJ)	3,734,815	2,595,797	10,706,341
Diesel	85,975 [2]	134,889	308,542
LPG	–	–	–
Unleaded	1,729,991	1,562,315	7,718,546
Hybrid	1,918,849	898,593	2,679,253
T2: Total distance travelled by fleet vehicles (km)	1,612,022	1,249,238	5,887,186
Diesel	17,752	51,274	99,970
LPG	–	–	–
Unleaded	613,670	667,184	3,890,864
Hybrid	980,600	530,780	1,896,352
T3: Total greenhouse gas emissions from fleet vehicles (tonnes CO₂-e)	266	185	763
Diesel	6	10	23
LPG	–	–	–
Unleaded	123	111	550
Hybrid	137	64	191
T4: Greenhouse gas emissions from fleet vehicles per 1,000km (tonnes CO₂-e)
Diesel	0.36	0.19	0.23
LPG	–	–	–
Unleaded	0.20	0.13	0.14
Hybrid	0.14	0.10	0.10
Total distance travelled by air (km)	84,259	55,910	2,395,060
T5: Percentage of staff using sustainable transport to get to and from work by locality
CBD	92	– [3]	–
Regional	7	–	–
Voluntary indicators
Number of petrol hybrid, electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles	274	168	178

Actions undertaken

The department leases environmentally friendly operational vehicles, including 4‑cylinder or hybrids, through the Approved Vehicle List from VicFleet, when they are available and suitable for use. The department also uses externally managed pool vehicles where suitable, to minimise fleet expansion.

Target

The department will contribute to the state’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 28–33% by 31 March 2025. Department-specific targets are to be confirmed.

Explanatory notes

In 2021–22 the department’s vehicle usage continued to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions.

The extended import timelines experienced by the new car industry due to the COVID‑19 pandemic delayed the department’s transition to a majority hybrid fleet. The department has 161 new vehicles on order, of which 18 are electric (Zero Emission Vehicles), 3 are diesel vehicles and 140 are hybrid, to replace vehicles that have reached the end of their lease terms.

The data used to calculate the percentage of staff using sustainable transport to get to and from work by locality was collected from the department’s Hybrid Working Survey 2021. In this case, sustainable transport refers to taking public transport only. The department is working to improve the collection of data to accommodate for this section of the Annual Report.

Greenhouse gas emissions

The emissions disclosed below are taken from the previous sections and combined to show the department’s greenhouse gas footprint.

Department emissions

Indicator	2021–22	2020–21	2019–20
G1: Total greenhouse gas emissions from energy use (tonnes CO₂-e)	6,521	6,511	8,601
G2: Total greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle fleet (tonnes CO₂-e)	266	185	618
G3: Total greenhouse gas emissions from air travel (tonnes CO₂-e)	17	10	577
G4: Total greenhouse gas emissions from waste disposal (tonnes CO₂-e)	23	34	58
G5: Greenhouse gas emissions offset purchased (tonnes CO ₂-e)	103	(10)	(577)
Voluntary indicators
Total greenhouse gas emissions from water consumption (tonnes CO₂-e) [4]	16	14	23
Grand total greenhouse gas emissions created by the department	6,740	6,744	9,300

Actions undertaken

In 2021–22, the department had a net zero carbon footprint for its corporate travel including air travel, accommodation, and car rental by purchasing 103 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions offset.

Target

The department will contribute to the state’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 28–33% by 31 March 2025. Department-specific targets are to be confirmed.

Explanatory notes

The increase of total greenhouse gas emissions from energy and water consumption compared to last year – despite having used less energy and water overall – is that the conversion factors are slightly higher this year, compared to last year’s, for both indicators.

The department’s total greenhouse gas emissions retained a very similar figure compared to last year’s data. These figures can largely be attributed to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic with staff working from home.

Greener procurement

The department follows the Social Procurement Framework and is committed to achieving positive environmental outcomes through sustainable procurement practices that achieve value for money, while minimising environmental impacts.

Infrastructure project tenders are also evaluated against the criteria of their ‘ability to satisfy environmental sustainability requirements’.

The department continues to promote the purchase of environmentally friendly products, specifically stationery and office products. Business units are encouraged to re-use stationery through the department’s ‘Swap Shop’. The department is working to improve this initiative.

[1] The total fleet during 2021–22 was 373 vehicles. However, two vehicles were used by VCAA, and have been excluded from the department’s Annual Report. Last year’s figures included a wellbeing vehicle that has been disposed of and not replaced.

[2] The department reports diesel energy usage for vehicles hired via the SSP. There are no diesel vehicles in the department’s operational fleet.

[3] Information on staff travel is not available this year, because the department’s travel survey was not completed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the majority of staff were working from home the data collected would not be representative of normal staff travel.

[4] Greenhouse gas emissions from water consumption is calculated using the Environmental Protection Authority methodology and emissions factor for water consumption as stated from section 3.8 Reticulated water, Greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and management plan 2020–21.