RAND conducted an analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of Australia's newly integrated Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The integration reflects an important inflection point in the history of customs, immigration, and border-management activities within the government of Australia.

Cover: Assessment of the Consolidation of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP)
Read Online

Assessment of the Consolidation of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP)

by Daniel M. Gerstein, Karen Edwards, Dulani Woods, Julie Newell, Jennifer D. P. Moroney

Download

Download eBook for Free

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 1.6 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Purchase

Purchase Print Copy

 FormatList Price Price
Add to Cart Paperback98 pages $24.00 $19.20 20% Web Discount

Research Questions

  1. What did the two organisations look like separately?
  2. What has been done in the integrated organisation to harness the strengths of both former agencies?
  3. What had been done to mitigate the weaknesses of the two former organisations?

In 2014, the Australian government announced the integration of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) into a single government department, including the formation of the Australian Border Force (ABF).

A year after the integration began, the DIBP leadership sought an independent analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of the integrated department. This analysis required the RAND Corporation to take a deeper and longer view of the two organisations as they existed, understand how the combined organisation has been able to incorporate into a single entity, and assess the degree to which the new organisation has been able to mitigate weaknesses and reinforce strengths.

The integration of the DIBP reflects an important inflection point in the history of customs, immigration, and border-management activities within the government of Australia. The degree to which this reform achieves its goals largely rests on the ability of the leadership to keep up the momentum, bring the workforce along, and ensure that the necessary capacities that have been built are able to survive.

Key Findings

The analysis suggests key findings in four areas: (1) the case for change, (2) building a single border-management organisation, (3) assessing progress and performance, and (4) looking towards the future.

  • Systemic shortfalls in both the customs and immigration organisations, punctuated by several high-profile failings, were noted in the decade prior to the integration.
  • Despite long and proud histories, neither organisation had adequately developed the capabilities or professionalisation in the workforce expected of a modern border-management organisation.
  • Despite the turbulence of the integration and the reform effort, reduced resources, and increased operational tempo, the DIBP saw overall positive trends in performance during the period from 2014 to 2016.
  • Shortly after the integration formally began, during the early phase of execution, difficulties with a loss of momentum regarding the reorganisation were observed.
  • Corrective measures were implemented, including developing new metrics for assessing operational effectiveness and efficiency.
  • The announced one-year timeline for integration was unrealistic; in many areas, the newly formed DIBP remains in the early stages of reform — an example is building a single DIBP culture, which will take much longer to achieve.
  • More effort on capacity-building is required across the department; leadership visibility will be required to ensure continued momentum.
  • Building a single DIBP culture (including workforce morale and professionalisation) remains the single biggest challenge for the DIBP.
  • Achieving the full reform is at least three to five years away. Some officials commented that it could take a generation until the comprehensive change envisioned by the DIBP leadership is realised.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter One

    Introduction

  • Chapter Two

    The Case for Change

  • Chapter Three

    Assessing Operational Effectiveness as a Result of the Integration

  • Chapter Four

    Conclusions

  • Appendix A

    Assessment Plan: The Case for Change

  • Appendix B

    Interviews Conducted

  • Appendix C

    Interview Questions

  • Appendix D

    Assessment Plan: Operational Effectiveness

  • Appendix E

    Detailed Findings from Assessing Operational Effectiveness as a Result of the Reorganisation

Research conducted by

This study was sponsored by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) and was conducted by researchers within RAND Australia; RAND Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment; and the RAND National Security Research Division.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.