Report on performance

civil aviation.

Australia actively participated in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council during 2007-08.

ICAO held its tri-annual General Assembly in September 2007. Australia was represented by an interagency delegation led by the Department. During the assembly, Australia was re-elected as a State of Chief Importance in Air Transport (Category 1) member of the ICAO Council.

The Department maintains a full-time presence at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Throughout 2007-08, up to three officers were based at the Montreal office, representing Australia in council matters and on the ICAO Air Navigation Commission. The Department also administered Australia's annual contribution to ICAO.

maritime transport.

The Department administers the payment of Australia's annual membership fee to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), an agency of the United Nations which promotes safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans. Membership allows Australian Government officers to participate in meetings of committees and subcommittees of the IMO.

In 2007-08, the Department:

• attended two meetings of the IMO's Maritime Environment Protection Committee, one meeting of the Legal Committee and one IMO subcommittee meeting (Bulk Liquids and Gases);
• contributed to the following IMO instruments that promote the aims of the IMO and advance Australia's interests:
  - agreement of guidelines on the control and management of ships' ballast water and sediments; and
  - development of a proposed international convention on ship recycling;
• contributed to negotiations on the text of a draft Protocol to the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea (the HNS Convention); and
• continued to develop a proposed international framework to address greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping.

Road, rail and intermodal transport.

Australia's contribution to high-quality international transport research, aimed at promoting economic reform and growth, involves participation in, and an annual funding contribution to, the OECD/European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) Joint Transport Research Centre. Australia is also a founding member of the International Transport Forum, a newly launched successor to the ECMT

Payment is made in line with Australia's international obligations.

During 2007-08 the Department continued to pay Australia's contributions promptly. Table 4.35 summarises payments under the three administered programs.

Civil aviation: $1.5 million.

The actual cost of this program in 2007-08 was $1.5 million.

Maritime transport: $0.3 million.

The actual cost of the program in 2007-08 was $0.3 million.

Road, rail and intermodal transport: $0.04 million.

The actual cost of the program in 2007-08 was $0.04 million.