Community and External Relations | Reserve Bank of Australia Annual Report - 1995

Reserve Bank of Australia Annual Report – 1995 Community and External Relations

Information services

In keeping with its efforts to be transparent in what it does, and accountable for its actions, the Bank energetically disseminates information detailing its thinking and activities. It does this through press statements, regular publications, presentations and addresses, appearances before Parliamentary committees and participation in public conferences.

As in other recent years, senior officers appeared before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Banking, Finance and Public Administration to answer questions relating to policy and other issues arising from the Bank's last Annual Report. Public submissions were also made to this and other Parliamentary committees. Copies of public talks by the Governors and other senior officers are available on request.

During the year the Bank published the proceedings of its July 1994 conference on International Integration of the Australian Economy. Other publications included a paper containing details of its international operations, Exchange Rates and Reserve Bank Foreign Exchange Operations, Daily July 1983 – June 1994 (Occasional Paper 13). The Bank also collaborated with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in preparing a publication entitled Payment Systems in Australia. The Bank's Economic Group published 12 Research Discussion Papers during 1994/95. In June 1995, a Teachers' Seminar was held, in co-operation with the NSW Board of Studies; the presentations were recorded and will be marketed in video, audio and booklet formats. A total of $20,500 was provided in 1994/95, through the Bank's Economic and Financial Research Fund (EFRF), to four university research projects while the Bank continued its contribution to the cost of a monthly survey of inflationary expectations conducted by the Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne.

As required under the Equal Employment Opportunity (Commonwealth Authorities) Act 1987, the report for 1993/94 on the Bank's equal employment opportunity program was tabled in Parliament in November 1994.

Contacts with other central banks

The Bank is continuing its efforts to strengthen ties with other central banks in the Asia-Pacific region. In February 1995, the Bank hosted the Ninth Executive Meeting of East Asia and Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP). This group of eleven central banks of the region (Australia, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) meets twice a year, once in Japan and once in another member country.

The Governors participated in several other high-level meetings in the region, including the SEANZA (South East Asia New Zealand and Australia) Governors' Symposium held in Pakistan; the South Pacific Central Bank Governors' meeting in Fiji; a meeting of Deputies from APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) Finance Ministries in Spain; and the Payments System International Conference in Sydney. Among other major regional meetings attended by senior officers were the SEANZA Forum of Banking Supervisors; the Pacific Basin Central Bank Conference; the Asia-Pacific Forex Assembly; the Four Markets Meetings (involving also Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore); and the Currency Systems International Conference.

Senior officers also attended regular meetings of the major international financial institutions, namely the Bank for International Settlements, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In the area of training, short-term attachments to the Bank were arranged for representatives from the central banks of the People's Republic of China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Vietnam, Western Samoa, and Zimbabwe. A seminar for training officers from several South Pacific central banks was hosted by the Bank in Sydney. In addition, Reserve Bank staff were seconded for short periods to provide technical assistance to the Bank of Papua New Guinea (foreign exchange trading, staff training and internal audit), the National Reserve Bank of Tonga (bank supervision and reserves management) and the Central Bank of Samoa (computer software training).

Staff assisted in training courses organised by the People's Bank of China, the Reserve Bank of Fiji and the South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) Centre, as well as at the biennial SEANZA Central Banking Course. Senior officers also participated in a number of IMF-funded missions to assist other central banks, including the State Bank of Vietnam (foreign exchange dealing), the Bank of the Lao PDR (payments systems), and the central banks of Moldova and Turkmenistan (payments systems).

A fourth post-graduate scholarship was awarded to an officer of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, who has commenced a Master of Applied Finance course at Macquarie University.

External financial assistance

In February 1994 a two-year swap facility of $85 million was made available by the Reserve Bank to the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) to help it through a period of shortage of foreign reserves. The facility is currently fully drawn. Two further temporary facilities were provided to the BPNG during the past year while the PNG authorities negotiated a package of measures with the IMF and World Bank:

In October 1994, a foreign currency swap facility for US$35 million was extended for four months; drawings under this facility reached US$19 million and were repaid in full before the facility expired in February 1995.
In May 1995, a swap facility for US$20 million was made available; this facility, which is scheduled to expire in August 1995, is currently fully drawn.

Freedom of Information Act

Section 8 statement

The Reserve Bank is an exempt agency under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 in respect of documents concerning banking operations (including individual open market operations and foreign exchange dealings) and exchange control matters.

Facilities for access and Freedom of Information procedures: Inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act, including requests for access to documents, should be directed to the Secretary, Head Office, or to the Managers of branches or the General Manager at Note Printing Australia. Applications should be accompanied by the application fee (currently $30). Facilities to inspect documents to which access has been granted are available in the Bank's branches.

Organisation and functions: The Reserve Bank is Australia's central bank. It was established by Commonwealth legislation in 1911. Its functions, powers and responsibilities are specified in the Reserve Bank Act 1959, the Banking Act 1959, the Financial Corporations Act 1974 and in Regulations made under those Acts. The Bank's organisation chart appears at the end of this Report.

Categories of documents: Lists of publications, including speeches, articles, occasional papers, information booklets, conference volumes, regular media releases and other publications, are published from time to time in the monthly Bulletin. Other documents held by the Bank are in the form of working notes and files covering policy and operational matters, statistical data, personnel, premises and general administration.

Administration

Four requests for access to documents under the Act were received in 1994/95, the same as in the previous year. Two requests were from staff and both were agreed to. A decision in respect of one request, which was refused on the grounds that the documents were exempt under the Act, was subsequently requested to be reviewed internally. Following that internal review, which confirmed the initial decision to refuse access, an application was made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a further review; that application was withdrawn by the applicant before the matter was heard. Another request, which was received in late June, was being processed at year's end. The cost to the Bank of administering the Act in 1994/95 is estimated to have been approximately $28,200, compared with approximately $1,200 in the previous year.