Charter and function

Landcom is a state-owned corporation, operating under the Landcom Corporation Act 2001.

Principal objectives

Landcom's principal objectives are to:

1. be a successful business and to this end: - operate at least as successfully as any comparable business and - maximise the net worth of the state’s investment in it
2. exhibit a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the community in which it operates
3. protect the environment by conducting its operations in compliance with the principles of ecologically sustainable development contained in section 6 (2) of the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991.
4. exhibit a sense of responsibility towards regional development and decentralisation in the way in which it operates
5. undertake, or assist the Government in undertaking, strategic or complex urban development projects
6. assist the Government achieving its urban management objectives
7. be a responsible developer of residential, commercial and industrial land

Principal functions

Landcom’s principal functions are:

1. to undertake and participate in residential, commercial, industrial and mixed development projects
2. to provide advice and services related to urban development, on a commercial basis, to government agencies and others.

Board of Directors, meetings and committees

Board of Directors

The Board is constituted under the Landcom Corporation Act 2001. It consists of six non-executive Directors plus the Managing Director. The directors are appointed by the Governor of New South Wales on the recommendation of the voting shareholders and after consultation with the Portfolio Minister.

During the reporting period, the Directors were:

Mr William Kirkby-Jones AM - Chairman
Mr Neil Bird AM - Deputy Chairman
Mr Sean O’Toole - Managing Director
Ms Robyn Clubb - Director
Ms Kim Cull - Director (appointed 1 July 2008)
Ms Madeline Dermatossian - Director
Ms Gae Raby - Director

Board meetings

Unless otherwise agreed, the Board meets on the fourth Monday of each month.

15 meetings were held during this reporting period. The number of meetings attended by each director was as follows:

 1 There were 11 meetings and four special meetings held during the
reporting period.

Committee meetings

The Board has established four committees, the membership of which is reviewed on an annual basis. Membership of the committees during the reporting period was as follows:

Audit and Risk Management Committee:
Ms Robyn Clubb – Chairman
Mr Neil Bird AM
Ms Madeline Dermatossian
Ms Gae Raby

Marketing and Sales Committee:
Mr Neil Bird – Chairman
Mr William Kirkby-Jones AM
Mr Sean O’Toole
Ms Gae Raby

Information Technology Committee:
Mr William Kirkby-Jones AM - Chairman
Mr Neil Bird AM
Mr Sean O’Toole

Remuneration Committee:
All Directors

Risk management and insurance activities

Risk management

Landcom is committed to good corporate governance and as such adopts a methodical approach to the process and practice of risk management. The risk framework is compliant with the Australian/New Zealand Risk Management Standard AS/NZS 4360:2004

To ensure the risk management process works effectively, Landcom has:

• Gained commitment from the Board, managing director, executive and all staff
• Assigned responsibilities within the organisation
• Refined the risk framework and improved guidelines on risk tolerance and reporting accountability
• Allocated appropriate resources to the training and development of all stakeholders in enhanced risk awareness.

The Board reviews the major strategic, business and operational risks to the organisation on a monthly basis. These are also reviewed by Board committees and the executive.

Business continuity

Landcom continues to review and refine its management of business continuity. Specific reviews of business process risk and impact analysis were conducted to refresh and validate Landcom’s business continuity plan. This plan puts in place procedures to build operational resilience for adverse incidents, minimise the impact of a disaster and enable business to continue with minimum impact on stakeholders. Testing of the plan during the reporting period focused on rehearsing disaster recovery plans. This included workplace recovery and critical business functions such as payment processing, fixed assets, corporate allocations, sales and conveyancing as well as document management.

Insurance

Landcom’s insurance cover is provided by the NSW Treasury Managed Fund.

The fund is based on the principles of self-insurance and as such places high priority on the implementation of sound risk management practice. The self-insurance scheme is administered by GIO General for risks relating to motor vehicle, property, public liability and directors/officers liability.

Workers' compensation insurance is administered by Allianz Australia under the Treasury Managed Fund.

Landcom completed its 2009/2010 Renewal Declarations for the Treasury Managed Fund in November 2008 and renewed all covers for the 2009/2010 policy period.

A review in 2008 determined that insurance for civil and landscape works should be a contractor responsibility rather than be obtained by the principal. This is because contractors are more appropriately positioned to manage site risks and can more effectively insure works under their own cover. Contractor cover is managed through the contract of engagement to assure separation of insured parties.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy

Freedom of information (FOI) applications During the reporting period, Landcom received five FOI requests and continued work on one request from the 2004/2005 reporting period.

Two requests were received from agencies seeking agreement to release documents. Landcom agreed to one of these requests, while the other was determined to be not applicable to the corporation.

Three requests were received from individuals seeking access to documents. Landcom agreed to release the information in one case and partial release in another. In the other case it did not hold the information requested.

The following table shows all categories affected by the Freedom of Information Act 1989 requests in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009.

Privacy

Landcom is committed to ensuring individuals’ privacy is protected and our activities comply with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 (Commonwealth).

Our privacy management plan is based on the following 12 information protection principles of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act (PPIP), which establish standards for using personal information.

There were no complaints made relating to the use of personal information during the reporting year.

Landcom’s Summary of Affairs was published in the NSW Government Gazette in December 2008 and our Statement of Affairs was updated.

The FOI and Privacy Coordinator can be contacted by writing to:
FOI and Privacy Coordinator Landcom
PO Box 237
Parramatta NSW 2124

or by email to: enquiry@landcom.nsw.gov.au

Creating and maintaining a safe, diverse and ethical work culture

Occupational health and safety

Landcom’s commitment to providing a safe and healthy work environment for employees, clients and stakeholders is highlighted by its commitment to continuous improvement in occupational health and safety. This is achieved through effective planning, consultation, implementation, monitoring and review.

The Board has endorsed continuous improvements to the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) framework, meeting targets outlined by the NSW Government’s ‘Taking Safety Seriously’ and ‘Working Together’ strategies.

Centralised accountability for the OH&S System and the processes underpinning its management is taken by the General Manager Finance & IT and functionally by the business services manager.

An OH&S consultation committee operates with staff volunteers and nominated management representatives, in accordance with Landcom’s OH&S policy which is reviewed as required.

The committee meets quarterly to review previously raised issues, new issues or any near-miss incidents brought to its notice.

The OH&S system and processes have enabled:

• a forum for employees and management to openly discuss OH&S concerns
• a regime of prevention, inspection, identification and reduction of OH&S hazards
• a continuous improvement philosophy to OH&S within Landcom
• hazard identification inspections at all employee locations using defined checklists
• maintenance of an OH&S actions database to monitor the status of hazard elimination or mitigation.

Landcom is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment. Unfortunately two lost time workplace strain injuries and three minor journey incidents occurred during the reporting period.

Ethnic Affairs Priorities Statement 2007–2009

Landcom’s ethnic affairs priorities statement is delivered through extensive community consultation before and during the development and marketing/sales phases of projects.

The corporation communicates with the community through its community welcome and development program and through stakeholder consultation programs. The welcome program provides services and home ’welcome’ visits to customers who move into Landcom estates. Welcome kits provided to new residents as part of this program include information about local Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) organisations, services for CALD residents and information on how to access the free interpreter service.

Over the past year, Landcom’s welcome program made contact with over 600 households in 12 new housing estates. Approximately 20%-25% of these households were from CALD backgrounds where the main language spoken in the home was not English. Specific initiatives were implemented to assist these community members and to bring different community groups together. In May representatives from all Landcom welcome programs attended a one day workshop at Sydney University on ‘Working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities’.

During the year, Landcom expanded its walking school bus project, established at Parklea Public School during 2006/2007. The school is located in Glenwood where more than 35% of households speak a language other than English (ABS 2006). The project has had significant social outcomes and has seen participation from a high proportion of CALD families. More than 120 students now participate regularly, with more than 50% coming from a CALD background.

'Harmony Day' events were held in March 2009 as part of Landcom’s welcome program in Blacktown, Shellharbour and Camden. These were a celebration of each communities’ diversity and multiculturalism: 34% of Blacktown residents, 19% of Shellharbour residents and 16% of Camden residents were born overseas (ABS 2006).

To better inform these activities, Landcom conducts a new resident survey to capture basic demographic information and obtain feedback on its sales and marketing processes. The survey asks residents for information on their and their parent’s country of birth to better target future sales and marketing campaigns and community development programs.

Landcom also has a stakeholder consultation workbook which provides guidelines to project teams planning community engagement activities. The workbook includes information for effectively engaging members of ethnic minority groups, including the provision of interpreters and written translation services.

All promotional materials for Landcom residential developments provide references to the availability of interpreter and translation services. Posters detailing the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs’ translating and interpreting services are also on display in all Landcom sales offices. Where appropriate, marketing campaigns for individual projects target specific CALD groups identified through market research as potential purchasers.

Merit selection practices are used and the principles of cultural diversity communicated in all Landcom recruitment processes. In addition, staff training, conducted annually, incorporates cross-cultural components.

Over the next two years, Landcom will continue to implement and review its performance against its ethnic affairs priority statement.

EAPS 2007-2009: Performance report

The priorities established for Landcom during 2008/2009 and the details of its performance against these priorities are set out in the table below.

Please click the table to enlarge.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

Landcom is an equal opportunity employer and has an EEO policy in place. Its code of conduct also stipulates the organisation’s commitment to EEO.

Landcom undertook the following initiatives in accordance with its EEO plan for 2008/2009:

• All new employees received a formal induction to the organisation. Among other issues, the intention is to make all new employees aware of Landcom’s policies on OH&S, fair treatment at work, working from home and on grievance procedures.
• Ongoing training in EEO principles for new employees.
• Professional development opportunities for all staff through career and development plans formulated as part of Landcom’s individual performance review process.
• Ongoing training, where necessary, on merit recruitment principles.
• Ongoing coaching/mentoring through Landcom’s training and development program, which provides a structure for the growth and development of employees.

In addition, Landcom continued to offer employment opportunities for Indigenous people through its indigenous scholarship and actively sought suitable candidates.

NSW Government action plan for women

To meet the objectives of NSW Government’s action plan for women Landcom:

• Promoted the development of career plans for all women through the performance management system (including access to professional development programs).
• Implemented an annual training and development program, which includes coaching and mentoring for women.
• Provided access to part-time employment arrangements.
• Provided access to its working from home policy.

Guarantee of Service

Code of conduct

Landcom places the utmost importance on integrity, probity and the promotion of a positive and responsive attitude among staff. Its code of conduct has been specifically prepared to provide support and guidance for these values and has the full support of the Board and executive.

The code provides an ethical framework for the way in which Landcom conducts its business, reinforcing employee obligations and the Government’s broader codes of practice. It applies to all staff and directors.

All new employees are briefed on the code during their induction to the organisation. They are also required to sign an acknowledgement form which accompanies the code to confirm their understanding of Landcom’s ethical standards.

Complaints and compliments system

Landcom welcomes feedback from all its stakeholders and has instituted a complaints/ compliments handling system.

This system is supported by a policy and procedures which provide guidance to staff and an explanation to customers on Landcom’s complaints handling process. The policy relates to Landcom’s products and services, conduct and other relevant policies and procedures. The Landcom executive reviews the complaints to determine if there is cause to implement corrective or preventative action. The majority of the complaints are dealt with within seven days.

A summary of the complaints received during the reporting period is provided in the table set out below. There has been a 20% fall in the number of complaints received in comparison to the previous (2006/2007) reporting period.

In addition, during 2007/2008, Landcom also received eight formal compliments relating to its customer service and its management of community events.

Executive Positions

Remuneration of senior executives at or above Senior Executive Service (SES) level 5

Total remuneration for senior executives is calculated as the sum of the cost of employment, including contributions to a superannuation scheme by Landcom and novated lease
payments for a motor vehicle, where such an option has been exercised.

The payment of an ’at risk’ component is determined based on the performance of both Landcom and the individual senior executive.

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Executives with remuneration equal to or exceeding SES level 1
Number of executives with remuneration equal to or exceeding equivalent of SES level 1
(excluding SES Level 5 or above) at the end of the current reporting year: 17
Number of such positions filled by women in the current year: 3

Total Staff (exclusive of SES level 1 or above) by pay level

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Promotional Activities

Promotion

During the reporting period, Landcom produced a number of publications that were designed to promote the release of land, with each land release being supported by a sales plan and an advertising campaign.

In addition, information concerning our corporate activities was communicated to Landcom stakeholders through the Annual and Sustainability Report 2007/2008; and via Landcom’s website at www.landcom.com.au.

Production cost of annual report

The overall cost of producing, printing and building a HTML website of the 2008/2009 annual report is estimated at $40,000.

Miscellaneous Activities

Consultancies

We spent a total of $210,361 during the reporting period on consultants. These engagements were for facilitation of Landcom’s strategic planning workshop, upgrade of existing Information Technology systems and developing policy and procedures documentation.

Overseas visits

No overseas trips were taken during the 2008/2009 year.

Heritage and conservation management

The whole of the Prince Henry site and its heritage buildings, landscapes and landscape items were listed on the state heritage register during the reporting period. Any development application relevant to these sites, whether by Landcom or otherwise, was referred to the Heritage Council by Randwick City Council during the application process.

Some 13 heritage listed buildings have been sold by Landcom to private sector developers who are in the process of restoring and/or adaptively reusing them. Privately owned buildings where restoration and/or adaptive reuse are complete are now in excellent condition. The six heritage buildings Landcom restored are also in excellent condition. Buildings yet to be restored are generally in a poor (but stable) condition.

Associated heritage listed landscapes are currently under Landcom’s direct care and are in excellent condition.

Disclosure Of Approved Exemptions

Following Landcom’s corporatisation on 1 January 2002, approval was granted for the following reporting exemptions (relevant to this annual report). The list of exemptions, some with conditions attached, was approved by NSW Treasury to overcome concerns about the loss of commercial confidentiality for statutory state owned corporations.

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References: ARSBA – Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Act 1984,
ARSBR – Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Regulation 2005.