Organisation: Australian Taxation Office
Job Title: APS5 Security Advisor
Word Limit: 300 words
Location: Wollongong
Describe a time when you have managed a team or group of stakeholders to complete a high priority task. In your response, explain how your approach to relationship management assisted in successfully achieving the desired results
Working for the Royal Australian Navy I worked on a joint task force for Immigration Boarding’s which involved the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Customs and Immigrations to intercept potentially irregular immigrants (PII’s) and determine their intentions for being in Australian Waters.
My position was section commander and I had a team of eight officers from the Defence Forces and Customs. As section commander my responsibilities were to assign team members their tasks, and report information to the Enforcement Commander to allow Canberra to make a decision based on our findings.We encountered a situation where a vessel entered Australian Waters when originally destined for New Zealand waters. We boarded the vessel and my team gathered information to determine the intentions of the 112 PII’s on board.
On boarding the vessel I identified who was in charge and located an English speaking passenger to aid communication. Next we performed a quick processing which involved using the suspected irregular entry vessel (SIEV) number provided by border protection in Canberra and assigning everyone on board a number. This enabled us to track information provided by individuals in the evidence gathering stage. Once everyone was quickly processed I directed my team to search the vessel, firstly for weapons and secondly for evidence.
On completion of the search we received direction from Canberra regarding what they wanted us to do. In this situation we were instructed to hold them for thirty-six hours. While holding them we continued to gather intelligence regarding their intentions and how they came to be on the vessel.
Information and evidenced gathered in our search and already obtained intelligence enabled Canberra to make the decision to have the passengers taken into custody by Customs, destroy the vessel and return all passengers to their originating destination.
Describe a situation where you have managed a program of work to successful completion within tight timeframes. In your response detail the steps you took to complete the work and how you determined you were successful in meeting the quality standard required
While in charge of an armory and a magazine (explosive storehouse) a security audit was conducted. The findings of the audit were that the armory itself was out of specifications for the following three items
Pistols were stored in boxes instead of locked racks in cages
Armory walls and pad contained openings for data cables which were larger than the specified 100mm wide, and
The seismic sensors were missing
The audit provided a three month timeframe to correct issues and to bring the armory and magazine in line with specifications. I was required to engage with the executive officer, the base services manager, and the defence security authority (who conducted the audit). Failure to adequately bring the armory to standard would have resulted in the requirement to conduct a security risk assessment and mitigate any risk in relation to out of specification areas.
My meeting with the executive officer and the base services manager was to determine if there was available funding to fix the defects. The outcome of this meeting was allocation had been made to repair these issues and I was given approval to request quotes for repair. Three quotes for each of the three issues was required.
On receipt of the quotations I approached the defence security authority to confirm repairs quoted would result in the successful repair of the defects. They advised this would satisfy their requirements. I then presented these to the base services manager for selection of appropriate contractors.
Whilst the contractors were on site I was required to supervise them to ensure works were completed in line with quotations. On completion of works I conducted a corrective action report for each of the defects. The defence security authority then conducted a site inspection and confirmed the armory was now compliant with regulations.
Security Advisors are accountable for providing specialised advice to clients and stakeholders on physical and electronic security and relevant policy, procedures and legislative requirements. Describe a situation where you have provided accurate and specialised advice to a client or stakeholder
While in charge of an armory and a magazine (explosive storehouse) a security audit was conducted on a second armory and magazine owned by another unit at the same base. The defects in the audit conducted were virtually identical to the defects identified in the armory and magazine I was responsible for.
I assisted the person in charge of the second location go through the process of rectifying defects including the relevant section of the defence security manual to reference to determine required works and appropriate specifications. I provided advice on the process to follow to gain approval for required repairs, request quotations and the requirement to approach defence security prior to proceeding with works to ensure works quoted would meet the audit requirements and bring this up to specification.
The second location also received a deficiency regarding missing seismic sensors. I provided advice on the companies I approached for quotations and the company who was successful in their quotation. Additionally, I provided details of the specific work required which would ensure defence security would grant approval to proceed with the quoted work.
On finalisation of the required work I assisted with the completion of the corrective action report including advice on information required to be included and how detailed the report needed to be. I was on-site when the defence security conducted their review of works. There was two corrective actions to complete and both of these passed the final inspection.
