- Director General’s introduction
- Agency overview
- Operating context
- Performance
Director General’s introduction
As the Accountable Authority for IP Australia, I am pleased to present our 2024–25 Strategic Corporate Plan, which covers the periods of 2024–25 to 2027–28, as required under paragraph s35(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
In developing this Strategic Corporate Plan, we completed a comprehensive review of our enterprise strategy and performance framework. We recognise the importance of a strong, fit-for-purpose performance framework that reflects our ambitions as an agency, accurately captures the operating and risk environment that may impact our ability to achieve our purpose and is meaningful to our staff, customers and stakeholders.
As a result, we have consolidated our vision and purpose to create a single, unifying statement to focus our critical operational activities and agency initiatives. Our refined purpose is enabling Australians to benefit from great ideas by providing a world-leading IP system.
We achieve this through:
- The administration of the intellectual property (IP) rights system.
- The regulation of patent and trade marks attorneys.
- Educating our customers on the role of IP in their business.
- Providing advice to the Australian Government to better shape the IP rights system domestically and internationally.
We have also refined our Strategic Objectives to better demonstrate our organisational priorities and emphasise those areas we want to focus on across the period of the plan. A new Strategic Objective 1.2 ‘Increase awareness of the IP system’ reflects the considerable education and awareness activities our agency undertakes to help Australians understand how IP rights can benefit them. We have also added ‘efficiency’ in Strategic Objective 1.1 to demonstrate our strong focus on financial sustainability and cost-effective service delivery.
We will continue to use our knowledge and connections to influence and shape the domestic and international IP system to benefit Australian innovators. This includes making the IP system more accessible, by supporting the cultural integrity and economic potential of Indigenous Knowledge held by First Nations people.
Our commitment to continuous improvement, adaptation, and innovation remains. Providing excellent customer experiences, supported by modern products and systems, is non-negotiable. Our data capabilities and IP expertise will continue to empower us to provide analytics and economic insights to support researchers, businesses, and government policymakers, enabling the Australian industry to be strong, resilient, and internationally competitive.
To maintain our highly skilled workforce and adapt to rapidly changing technologies, we must continue to prioritise and maximise opportunities to effectively manage our systems and minimise the overall cost of IT and maintenance. We also want to continue to be an employer of choice, and we will do this by implementing key initiatives under our new People Strategy 2024–2027.
As we celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Patent Office’s opening, we are proud to continue the important work of delivering and maintaining a world-leading IP system. This directly contributes to Australia’s economic prosperity through job creation, growth, and improved living standards. We are committed to ensuring that the IP system remains modern, effective, and efficient.
Michael Schwager
Director General, IP Australia
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Agency overview
Chapter 2 of IP Australia’s Corporate Strategic Plan
Compliance
This corporate plan has been prepared in accordance with the requirements set out in section 35(3) of the PGPA Act. The tables below detail the matters included to comply with section 16E(2) of the PGPA Rule.
Introduction
PGPA Rule 16E(1)
- Page 4 - The corporate plan for a Commonwealth entity must cover a period of at least 4 reporting periods for the entity.
PGPA Rule 16E(2)1(a)
- Page 4 - The corporate plan must include a statement that the plan is prepared for paragraph 35(1)(b) of the PGPA Act.
PGPA Rule 16E(2)1(b)
- Page 4 - The corporate plan must specify the reporting period for which the plan is prepared.
PGPA Rule 16E(2)1(c)
- Page 4 - The corporate plan must specify the reporting periods covered by the plan.
Purpose
PGPA Rule 16E(2)2
- Page 4 & 6 - The corporate plan must state the purposes of the entity.
Key Activities
PGPA Rule 16E(2)3
- Page 6 - For the entire period covered by the plan, the corporate plan must outline the key activities that the entity will undertake in order to achieve its purposes.
Operating context
PGPA Rule 16E(2)4(a)
- Page 10 - For the entire period covered by the plan, the corporate plan must state the environment in which the entity will operate.
PGPA Rule 16E(2)4(b)
- Page 12 - For the entire period covered by the plan, the corporate plan must include the strategies and plans the entity will implement to have the capability it needs to undertake its key activities and achieve its purposes.
PGPA Rule 16E(2)4(c)
- Page 14 - For the entire period covered by the plan, the corporate plan must include a summary of the risk oversight and management systems of the entity, and the key risks that the entity will manage and how those risks will be managed.
PGPA Rule 16E(2)4(d)
- Page 11 - For the entire period covered by the plan, the corporate plan must include details of any organisation or body that will make a significant contribution towards achieving the entity’s purposes through cooperation with the entity, including how that cooperation will help achieve those purposes.
PGPA Rule 16E(2)4(e)
- For the entire period covered by the plan, the corporate plan must include how any subsidiary of the entity will contribute to achieving the entity’s purposes.
Performance
PGPA Rule 16E(2)5(a)
- Pages 17–23 - For each reporting period covered by the plan, the corporate plan must include details of how the entity’s performance in achieving the purposes will be measured and assessed through specified performance measures of the entity that meet the requirements of section 16EA of the PGPA Rule.
PGPA Rule 16E(2)5(b)
- Pages 17–23 - For each reporting period covered by the plan, the corporate plan must include details of how the entity’s performance in achieving the purposes will be measured and assessed through specified targets for each of those performance measures for which it is reasonably practicable to set a target.
Publication
PGPA Rule 16E(3)
- The corporate plan must be published on the entity’s website by the last day of the second month of the reporting period for which the plan is prepared (i.e. 31 August 2023).
This corporate plan was published as soon as practicable after the plan was prepared.
Distribution
PGPA Rule 16E(5)
- The corporate plan must be given to the responsible Ministers and the Finance Minister as soon as practicable after the plan is prepared, and before the plan is published on the entity's website.
This corporate plan was given to the responsible Minister, and the Finance Minister prior to publication.