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Corporate Governance

Portfolio Minister

Responsibility for administration of the legislation under which ASNO operates – the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987, Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994 and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Act 1998 – rests with the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Director General ASNO

The Director General ASNO reports directly to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The position combines the statutory offices of the:

  • Director of the national authority for nuclear safeguards (formerly Director of Safeguards), as established by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987
  • Director of the national authority for the Chemical Weapons Convention, as established by the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994; and
  • Director of the national authority for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, as established by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Act 1998.

The Director General ASNO is a statutory position, appointed by the Governor-General. Remuneration for this position is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal.

Dr Robert Floyd was reappointed as the Director General ASNO on 6 December 2015 for a period of five years.

Assistant Secretary ASNO

The Assistant Secretary ASNO deputises for the Director General and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the office. Dr John Kalish has held this position since 21 April 2010.

ASNO Staff

ASNO has a small core of staff whose day-to-day activities are overseen by the Director General. ASNO staff are employed under the Public Service Act 1999 as a division within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). ASNO staff, other than the Director General, are also employed under the DFAT Enterprise Agreement. Further details can be found in Table 20 and the DFAT Annual Report 2019–20.

In 2019–20 ASNO had an allocated staff level of 16 FTE. Dr Craig Everton (formerly Director ISS) accepted a senior position in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

ASNO's organisational structure is closely aligned with its outputs and can be found in Figure 4.

Table 20: ASNO Staff at 30 June 2020
Male Female Total
SES B2 1 0 1
SES B1 1 0 1
Executive Level 2 2 3 5
Executive Level 1 2 3 5
APS Level 6 1 2 3
APS Level 5 1 1
APS Level 4 0
TOTAL 7 9 16

Figure 4: ASNO's Organisational Structure at 30 June 2020

Figure 4: ASNO’s Organisational Structure at 30 June 2020: The organisation was headed by Director General Robert Floyd. Below the DG was Assistant Secretary John Kalish. Below the Assistant Secretary are five section heads: Vanessa Robertson - CWC Implementation – who is responsible for Implementation of CWC obligations and policy and technical advice Malcolm Coxhead – CTBT and Disarmament – who is responsible for Verification measures related to CTBT, FMCT and nuclear disarmament Tammy de Wright – Bilateral Safeguards – who is responsible for Development and implementation of bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements, and tracking of Australian and foreign Obligated Nuclear Material Stephen Bayer – IAEA Safeguards – who is responsible for IAEA safeguards policy and implementation, Asia-Pacific Safeguards Network and coordination of the Australian Safeguards Support Program Charlotte East – Nuclear Security – who is responsible for Development of nuclear security regimes, physical protection of nuclear material and associated items

Training and Development

ASNO's primary training requirements are professional development of specialist skills. ASNO is proactive in managing this training, in part through participation in IAEA and OPCW led training courses and participation in international conferences and negotiations. Further details are in Table 21.

Table 21: Training and Development Activities during 2019–20
Training and development activity Person days
Formal DFAT courses 33.5
Structured work unit and on-the-job training, including planning days 13
Seminars, workshops, conferences, overseas negotiations and IDCs 25.5
External formal courses 15
Academic study 0
IAEA Consultancy 4
TOTAL 91
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