2.4 External governance arrangements
The key decision makers in the Australian blood sector and their primary roles and relationships with each other are set out in the National Blood Agreement and the National Blood Authority Act 2003 and are summarised and depicted at Figure 2.
Australian Health Ministers' Conference
The Australian Health Ministers' Conference is ultimately responsible for overseeing and managing the sector in conjunction with the Australian Government. It sets the governance, policy and financial framework under which the National Blood Authority operates. Ministers' key decisions on the management of blood and blood-related products in 2006–07 included:
- endorsement of the implementation of a detailed business study of the operations of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service to determine fair and reasonable funding arrangements
- matters affecting the National Blood Authority's operations relating to the agreement to supply blood products to Australians who are overseas and subsequent amendment of the National Blood Agreement
- agreement to fund universal bacterial contamination testing of platelets and to implement universal leucodepletion.
The health ministers also agreed to the nominees for appointment to the National Blood Authority Board.
Minister for Health and Ageing
The Minister for Health and Ageing is responsible under the National Blood Authority Act 2003 for the appointment of the National Blood Authority Board and General Manager, for determining additional functions of the National Blood Authority and for issuing policy principles the National Blood Authority must comply with in the performance of its functions. The Minister carries out these statutory roles with endorsement from all health ministers in the Australian Health Ministers' Conference.
The Minister also has ministerial portfolio responsibility for the National Blood Authority as part of the Health and Ageing portfolio. In 2006, the Minister provided the General Manager with a Statement of Expectation, to which the National Blood Authority responded with a Statement of Intent. The National Blood Authority's achievements against the Statement of Intent are provided at Table 1 in Part One: Overview.
Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council
The Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council is charged with providing effective and efficient support to the Australian Health Ministers' Conference by advising on strategic issues relating to the coordination of health services across the nation and, as necessary, with New Zealand. The council considers blood sector matters referred to it by the Jurisdictional Blood Committee and Clinical, Technical and Ethical Principal Committee and reports, as necessary, to the Australian Health Ministers' Conference. The Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council has no statutory power and decisions are reached by consensus.
Clinical, Technical and Ethical Principal Committee
The Clinical, Technical and Ethical Principal Committee was established in 2006 to consider and provide advice to the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council on a range of issues including: clinical, technical and medico-ethical developments that are likely to affect more than one jurisdiction; appropriate options for the ongoing coordination of the clinical and technical services that are managed on a national basis; the appropriateness, effectiveness and safety of clinical and technical developments; any policy implication arising from such issues; the impact of these developments on the delivery and management of health-care and other services; and the impact of such developments outside the health-care sector.
Jurisdictional Blood Committee
All Australian governments are represented on the Jurisdictional Blood Committee, which was established by the National Blood Agreement 2003. Since September 2006, it has been a subcommittee of the Clinical, Technical and Ethical Principal Committee. The Jurisdictional Blood Committee is the conduit between governments and the National Blood Authority. It represents jurisdictional positions on blood policy, demand, supply planning and product distribution, and on funding and evidence-based approaches to emerging products, services and technologies. It oversees the National Blood Authority's role in blood supply contracting. It is also the primary body responsible for providing advice and support on these matters to the Australian Health Ministers' Conference through the Clinical, Technical and Ethical Principal Committee and Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council.
National Blood Authority Board
The primary role of the Board is to provide advice to the General Manager on the performance of the National Blood Authority and to liaise with governments, suppliers and others on matters relating to the National Blood Authority's functions. The Board has no capacity independent from the National Blood Authority to engage personnel, enter into dealings with other parties or hold money, nor does it perform a governance role. It acts as an advisory body to the General Manager, who is ultimately responsible and accountable for the National Blood Authority under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.
National Blood Authority General Manager
The National Blood Authority's General Manager is a statutory officer who reports to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Under the National Blood Authority Act 2003, the General Manager is responsible for the management of the National Blood Authority and the implementation of blood policy decisions. The General Manager is prescribed as the chief executive of the National Blood Authority under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 and as agency head under the Public Service Act 1999.
While the General Manager has ultimate responsibility for the management of the National Blood Authority, under the National Blood Authority Act 2003 the General Manager is responsible for keeping the Board advised of the NBA's operations, requesting advice from the Board on strategic matters relating to the performance of the National Blood Authority's functions, and having regard to this advice. In managing the National Blood Authority, the General Manager also has regard to policy principles issued by the Minister for Health and Ageing under the Act, policy decisions of the Australian Health Ministers' Conference and the Jurisdictional Blood Committee, and Australian Government policy and compliance requirements relating to Commonwealth agencies.