Financial Management
The Audit Act 2001 requires ASNO to submit an annual financial statement to the Auditor-General. As ASNO is funded as a division of DFAT, this financial statement is published in the DFAT Annual Report. Further details of ASNO activities relating to financial management and performance are also contained in the DFAT Annual Report.
Administrative Budget
After the reduction in operational costs in the previous reporting period due to COVID-19, ASNO administrative budget returned to a more typical level, as reflected in Table 16.
| 2020–21 | 2021–22 | |
|---|---|---|
| Salaries | 2,280,254 | 2,380,260 |
| Running Costs | ||
| (General) | 247,228 | 479,257 |
| Seismic monitoring1 | 558,204 | 555,413 |
| Sub-Total | 805,432 | 1,034,670 |
| Total | $3,085,686 | $3,414,930 |
Regulatory Performance Measures
Previously, ASNO has reported its Regulatory Performance in a stand-alone product available on the DFAT website.2 This reporting has now been incorporated into the ASNO Annual Report.
Performance Measures:
| Measure | Performance |
|---|---|
| Processing of permits and approvals | |
| 90% of nuclear permits to possess and transport nuclear material are processed (new, varied, revoked and expired) within 21 calendar days (See Outputs 1.1 and Output 1.2.) | Met |
| 90% approvals for the transfer of uranium ore concentrate (UOC) internationally are within 7 calendar days (See Output 1.3.) | Met |
| 90% of Schedule 2 or 3 chemical import permit applications are processed within 7 calendar days (See Output 1.5.) | Met |
| 90% of Schedule 1 chemical import permit applications are processed within 43 calendar days (See Output 1.5.) | Met |
| 90% of chemical facility permit applications processed within 21 calendar days (See Output 1.5.) | Met |
| International Inspections | |
| 100% of IAEA inspections in Australia are facilitated by ASNO staff (See Output 1.1 and Appendix D.) | Met |
| 100% of OPCW inspections in Australia are facilitated by ASNO staff (See Output 1.5.) | Met |
| Domestic Outreach/ASNO inspections | |
| Conduct outreach visits/ASNO inspections to ten or more regulated entities (including permit holders and relevant industry) (See Output 1.1, 1.2 and 1.5.) | Met |
| Transparent Implementation of Regulations | |
| ASNO Annual Report (https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/security/asno/annual-reports) | Met |
| Publish Cost Recovery Implementation Statement for the Uranium Producers Charge (https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/uranium-producers-charge-cost-recovery-implementation-statement.pdf) | Met |
| International Reporting | |
| Australia meets all its reporting requirements to the IAEA and the IAEA maintains the 'broader conclusion' for Australia that all nuclear material in Australia remains in peaceful use (See Output 1.1.) | Met |
| All exported Australian Obligated Nuclear Material (AONM) and Foreign Obligated Nuclear Material (FONM) are satisfactorily accounted for (See Output 1.3.) | Met |
| Australia implements best practice for nuclear security in Australia and maintains high standing as a world leader in nuclear security (See Output 1.2.) | Met |
| Australia meets all its reporting requirements to the OPCW (See Output 1.5.) | Met |
Uranium Producers Charge
ASNO is responsible for the Uranium Producers Charge. This charge is payable to Consolidated Revenue Fund on each kilogram of uranium ore concentrate produced (set on 1 December 2018 at 13.5502 cents per kilogram). The charge rate was not changed in 2019, 2020 or 2021.
1 Undertaken by Geoscience Australia.
