MOBILE PHONES

114 Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (31 July 2007). With respect to Departmental mobile phones:

(a) how many employees currently have a departmental mobile phone;

(b) what is the annual expenditure on mobile phones and related costs;

(c) what is the formal process currently in place to allow the allocation of mobile phones to be justified against the Department's policy criteria;

(d) have all Departmental employee mobile phones been approved by the employee's manager;

(e) what arrangements are in place to ensure employees reimburse the Department for the cost of private calls or calls not actually made by the employee; and

(f) has the Department reported back to the Auditor General on these issues?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON (Elder—Minister for Transport, Minister for Infrastructure, Minister for Energy): I provide the following information:

The below relates to the Department for Transport Energy and Infrastructure (DTEI) prior to the inclusion of the ex-Department for Administrative and Information Services (DAIS) divisions. These new divisions continue to receive their ICT Services, including those associated with mobile phones, through the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF).

(a) There are currently 1006 employees who have mobile phones. This includes 135 from the Passenger Transport Division.

(b) The annual expenditure for the mobile phones, including call costs and handset purchases is $446,000.

(c) The process requires a business case providing justification and outlining the business need for the mobile handset/service/accessory and must be approved by the section manager or nominated delegate prior to the acquisition of services from the service provider.

(d) DTEI policy requires all departmental mobile phones be approved by the employee's manager.

(e) DTEI has an electronic process which requires all users of departmental mobile phones to verify that the calls recorded on the individual mobile reports are valid and to identify any personal calls. The employee is required to reimburse the department for private use of the phone.

DTEI provided a response to the Auditor-General in late 2006.