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Sydney Harbour Federation Trust

Corporate Plan2017-2021

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Snapper Island

Cockatoo Island

Woolwich Dock & Parklands

Platypus Neutral Bay

Chowder Bay

Middle Head

Marine Biological Station

North Head Sanctuary Manly

Macquarie Lightstation

Georges Heights

Vision planning and management of Sydney Harbour sites.

Snapper Island

Cockatoo Island



Chowder Bay

Middle Head




Georges Heights






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IntroductionFrom the Chair on behalf of the Board of Trustees

We, as the accountable authority of the Harbour Trust, present the 2017 Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Corporate Plan covering the reporting periods 2017-18 to 2020-2021, as required under paragraph 35 (1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the provisions of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Act 2001.

With the interim Harbour Trust being established in March 1999, for approaching 20 years we have remediated, rehabilitated and enabled the adaptive reuse of sites and buildings that were previously locked away. We have created extraordinary precincts and parklands that provide a lasting legacy to the people of Australia and tell the important stories of our nation.

But there is still work to do. The Government extended the life of the Harbour Trust until 2033 and has since vested additional land into our care. With 16 years remaining, there are challenges ahead. Significant capital investment is required to ensure our sites are rehabilitated and interpreted to the standard expected by the community and to ensure sustainable operations. There are also new opportunities to contribute to the productivity and liveability of Sydney, and to ensure that our sites are known and valued across Australia and internationally.

Our activities are guided by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Act 2001, Comprehensive Plan and associated Management Plans. This corporate strategy sets ambitious targets, consistent with these Plans, to broaden and deepen our work and impact.

The Harbour Trust looks forward to working with its partners and the community to achieve our ambitions.

Kevin McCann, AM, Chair



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The Harbour Trust today

Sites in total10 Number of

visits1,550,000

Iconic land on Sydney Harbour

145.9haVolunteer

hours

29,000

of land rehabilitated and open to the

public

88%

Number of tenancies

162

of assets in adaptive re-use

74%

Earned annual revenue$18m

Followers on digital channels

80,000

Statistics taken from July 2016 - June 2017

Over

88% 7Public sports

facilities



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Our visionTo create extraordinary places on the world’s best harbour that are inspiring, loved and shared.

Our missionTo bring to life our natural and cultural heritage and provide a lasting legacy for all Australians through conservation, remediation and the adaptive re-use of places in our care.

Our objectivesOur purpose, as set out in the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Act 2001, is:

1. To ensure that management of Harbour Trust land contributes to enhancing the amenity of the Sydney Harbour region.2. To protect, conserve and interpret the environmental and heritage values of Harbour Trust land.3. To maximise public access to Harbour Trust land.4. To establish and manage suitable Harbour Trust land as a park on behalf of the Commonwealth as the national government.5. To co-operate with other Commonwealth bodies that have a connection with any Harbour land in managing that land.6. To co-operate with NSW, affected councils and the community in furthering the above objects.

We achieve our purpose by vision planning, remediating and enabling the adaptive re-use of Commonwealth lands to create a network of urban parklands for the enjoyment of all Australians.

Our values We are Open We are Accountable We are Collaborative We are Entrepreneurial We are Creative We act with Integrity



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Our operating environmentThe Harbour Trust was established ‘to conserve and preserve land in the Sydney Harbour region for the benefit of present and future generations of Australians.’

As we move towards the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Harbour Trust in March 2019, our strategy is shaped by challenges and opportunities.

Our sites are prominently located in a metropolis of 5 million people* which generates nearly a quarter of Australia’s GDP. But there is pressure in Sydney. Over the next 20 years the population is expected to grow by 2 million people* generating a demand for 725,000* new homes to address housing affordability.

With population growth comes an increasing need for additional recreation facilities and accessible public open space.

By creating urban parklands and enhancing the amenity of Sydney Harbour, our sites have the potential to play an important role in the cultural life of Australia’s most global city. Our parklands provide significant connections in the circuit of harbour and coastal walks and are home to extraordinary experiences and stories.

The work between all levels of Government, the Greater Sydney Commission and the Committee for Sydney is providing a renewed focus on ensuring decisions made about our city’s environment deliver prosperity and liveability. There is the opportunity for us to engage deeply in this debate, and with citizens around their expectations for the built and natural environment. As an authority with responsibility for some of Sydney’s most precious and most pressured sites, we expect a high level of scrutiny on our activities.

Our sites form a critical part of Sydney’s Green Grid, but they also represent premier visitor destinations in their own right. Tourism now accounts for nearly 4% of Australia’s GDP, contributing $52.9bn to the economy+, with Sydney welcoming 12.8 million overnight domestic and international visitors each year^. There is significant growth in visitation from China and India, complementing our traditional visitors from the USA, Europe and New Zealand. In particular, cultural and heritage travellers represent almost 65% of international visitors to NSW^, and are a growing proportion of all visitors. We need to understand these trends and visitor expectations so we can provide outstanding visitor experiences.

We continue to face challenges in ensuring our financial sustainability. Substantial additional capital investment is required to enable the preservation, rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of our assets and maintenance of our sites. This is particularly important on Cockatoo Island where our UNESCO World-Heritage-listed Convict Precinct requires repair, restoration and interpretation to realise its potential.

The harsh coastal environment of our sites also increases demand for cyclical planned and reactive maintenance programs for our significant fixed asset base beyond the need for new capital funds. At present we invest 0.5% of the replacement value of our assets in their maintenance each year, which is below industry benchmarks. In addition, an understanding of the potential impact of climate change is necessary to enable us to prepare response options, both for our built assets and for the bushland and ecosystems on our sites.



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We need to explore new strategies to secure the investment required to address these challenges. The Harbour Trust legislation and plans provide the context in which this work can occur. Increasingly, mixed models of investment are being employed across the Government sector to develop and renew infrastructure. There is also a growing recognition that the commercial sector can play a significant role in both formulating and delivering projects.

The Harbour Trust was an early leader in this field, working closely with Government, community and business to deliver our objectives. We have the capacity to continue to expand these relationships through commercial partnerships and philanthropy to deliver outcomes which add to, and are valued by, the community.

Under our adopted plans, only 8% of the total area of our sites has the potential to generate a rental income. Our leasing portfolio also faces significant competition from the wider property market, and we will need to continue to offer high quality leasing opportunities which keep pace with market expectations. Business confidence in the small to medium sized enterprise sector has the potential to impact on our portfolio occupancy rates and returns.

All of our parklands have layered and complex histories and links with the community. As stewards for some of Australia’s most important sites, we have a responsibility to ensure outward looking engagement about their use and, in particular, working closely with Indigenous custodians and veterans organisations. A 2017/18 priority will be the work to rehabilitate and make open to the public the former HMAS Platypus submarine base, and to work closely with local and broader community on its development and use.+

Source Australian Bureau of Statistics^Source Destination NSW



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Our principal places

Cockatoo Island

Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the best surviving examples of convict transportation and colonial expansion through convict labour, Cockatoo Island was off-limits to the public for more than 100 years. It is Sydney’s largest island at 18 hectares and, as a result of its pivotal role in Australia’s convict and defence history, it retains an incredible legacy of over 80 colonial and industrial assets including buildings, cranes, docks and slipways. Through significant cultural partnerships, the Island has also developed a new direction as a major contemporary arts venue.

Attracting more than 300,000 visitors a year, we want to cultivate Cockatoo Island’s reputation as a premier visitor destination, by bringing to life its rich convict and ship-building heritage, and creating new opportunities for significant arts and cultural experiences on Sydney Harbour.

Our vision: To weave Cockatoo Island into the life of the city as an internationally renowned cultural and visitor destination.

Our priority: • Investigate opportunities to enhance visitation through quality interpretation,

accommodation, food and beverage, and complementary visitor experiences.

Our Comprehensive Plan, approved by the Minister, sets out the values and broad outcomes for each site. Detailed Management Plans have been prepared for each site under the Comprehensive Plan and also under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Each plan has been developed through extensive community consultation and inspires our vision for the sites.



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North Head Sanctuary, Manly

With more than 80 buildings set in 72 hectares of natural bushland, our site represents over 40% of the public domain at North Head and it is sensitively managed in recognition of its unique natural and environmental values. In addition to promoting public access and sympathetically re-purposing the heritage buildings of the former School of Artillery for well-being, education and visitor-orientated uses, we want to make its quarantine and military history more accessible and widely known. An important priority continues to be managing North Head’s threatened flora and fauna, which includes an endangered population of Long-nosed Bandicoots and intact remnant Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub. We will achieve our aims for the site in partnership with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, North Head Sanctuary Foundation and veteran organisations.

Our vision: To reveal Sydney’s natural escape on the city’s doorstep.

Our priority: • Develop a Precinct Strategy for North Head Sanctuary, consistent with the Management

Plan, which integrates visitation, public and commercial use, and asset renewal plans for the site.

• Interpret the history of North Head’s Third Quarantine Cemetery.




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Headland Park, Mosman (Georges Heights, Middle Head, Chowder Bay)

The 40 hectares of Headland Park connects the Indigenous and former military sites at Chowder Bay, Georges Heights and Middle Head with the Sydney Harbour National Park and Mosman Council Reserves to create a unified parkland experience. Over the last 15 years we have transformed these vacant, fenced-off lands into a highly valued community asset by linking beaches, bushland and harbour lookouts with 5km of new walking tracks, and adapting heritage buildings for a thoughtfully curated mix of educational, cultural, recreational and business activities. With cafes, restaurants and event venues, a marine research institute, passive and active recreation opportunities, an artists’ precinct, childcare centre and outdoor education facility, the park is well used and generates a robust income from the diverse range of complementary tenancies.

Our vision: To maintain a spectacular harbourside parkland that offers opportunities for culture, recreation, education and enterprise.

Our priority:• Implement an Interpretation Plan for Headland Park which includes opportunities to

link with the work of NPWS in the Sydney Harbour National Park.• Work with stakeholders to create a seamless, network of foreshore walks.• Secure an appropriate use for 10 Terminal at Middle Head which protects its heritage

values and is compatible with public access to the surrounding parkland.




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Sub Base Platypus

Yet to be revealed to the public, the former HMAS Platypus site on the foreshore of Neutral Bay is a hidden piece of Sydney’s waterfront undergoing a major transformation. The submarine base has a fascinating early industrial and maritime history, playing key roles in the urbanisation of the North Shore and the defence of Australia. A place of innovation, knowledge and precision, Sub Base Platypus is set to become a creative community hub inspired by its industrial legacy. Rehabilitated workshops and studios will be punctuated by a series of waterfront terraces and squares with their own distinct character, culminating in an urban park linking to the green grid of Kirribilli and North Sydney.

Our vision: Create a series of waterfront public spaces with a hub of innovation and creative enterprise at its heart, bringing together community, business and culture.

Our priority: • Permanently open the site to the community for the first time.• Deliver capital projects to create new public domain and facilitate adaptive

re-use of buildings.• Re-activate the buildings with a complementary range of public and commercial

activities appropriate to the scale and nature of the site.




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Steward Our ParklandsCare for, conserve, and enhance our parklands and built assets, applying the principles of ecological sustainable development.

Link to our objectives:1, 2 and 4

We will... Be a leader in the conservation, interpretation and adaptive re-use of heritage assets, and progressively bring more spaces back to life.

Implement a Strategic Asset Management Plan that protects and preserves our built and natural assets.

Prepare capital development plans and business cases for investment in, and renewal of, under-utilised assets of heritage significance.

Undertake major capital works projects to open new public domain and facilitate the adaptive re-use of buildings.

Partner with Indigenous custodians to care for the land.

Establish a new Reconciliation Action Plan and through this mechanism explore ways to deepen our relationship with Indigenous custodians across all functions of our organisation, including ecological and heritage management.

Rehabilitate and preserve our natural environment.

Continue to invest in making our sites accessible while respecting their environmental values.

Improve the management of the natural environment in collaboration with stakeholders and neighbouring land managers.

Support and facilitate the appropriate re-introduction of native species, bush regeneration and ecological burns.

Continue to remove or register and safely manage remnant contaminants in line with accepted remediation protocols.

Our approach

In 2017/2018 we will: Finalise our 10 Year Strategic Asset Management

Plan.

Develop a new Reconciliation Action Plan in consultation with community stakeholders.

Open Sub Base Platypus to the public by delivering the first stage of public domain and access improvements.

Subject to the availability of new funds to undertake rehabilitation works, bring Snapper Island into the asset portfolio.



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Cockatoo Island



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Performance Measures: Base2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

2020-2021

% of our land open to the public 88% 89% 90% 90% 90%

Source Data: Precinct spatial maps

% of our built assets in active use 74% 75% 81% 84% 88%

Source Data: Asset register

Visitor satisfaction with the public domain

N/A >80% >80% >80% >90%

Data source: Visitor Survey Cockatoo Island, North Head Sanctuary and Headland Park



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Welcome EveryoneOur parklands are for all Australians and we welcome both domestic and international visitors. We want to ensure our sites tell their rich stories, are easy to access and are places of exploration and discovery.

Link to our objectives:1 and 3

We will... Make our places ones of discovery and delight that draw visitors.

Work with trusted partners and tenants on a program of events and experiences.

Expand opportunities for students and adults to learn about and experience our places.

Explore and implement, where viable, compatible opportunities for new permanent visitor experiences.

Create ambitious and compelling interpretation of the rich stories of our places, using new media and technologies.

Create new opportunities for passive and active recreation.

Make our parks more widely known.

Expand our marketing, including through digital strategies to reach out to new audiences, and ensure our marketing is evidence based.

Champion our parklands and achievements, as central to the Sydney cultural, recreation and tourism experience, and explore partnerships with Tourism Australia, Destination NSW and the Committee for Sydney.

Work with our tenants and partners to promote our parklands.

Strengthen ties with those with a deep connection to our sites, including Indigenous custodians, military families and veterans, and the industrial workforce of Cockatoo Island.

Grow our oral history program to record and preserve the stories of the past.

Work with Indigenous custodians to reflect and record their connection to the land and their continuing, contemporary relationship.

Partner with veterans organisations to deliver commemorative events and public programs to honour their continuing contribution to our society.



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Make visiting our places a great experience.

Welcome everyone through our visitor centres, orientation and volunteer programs.

Offer a range of opportunities for visitors to eat, drink, stay, and share their experiences with others.

Improve accessibility for visitors of all ages and all abilities.

Develop access strategies and work with our transport partners to improve connectivity to the sites.

Through our asset strategies ensure an accessible, enjoyable and safe public domain, with easily understood wayfinding.

Increase our services and experiences for non-English speaking visitors.

In 2017/2018 we will: Develop a Precinct Strategy for North Head Sanctuary, consistent with the Management Plan, which integrates visitation, public and commercial use and asset renewal plans for the site. This will include making buildings available for adaptive re-use, enhancing bush remediation work and partnering with veteran and wildlife organisations.

Investigate opportunities to enhance visitation to Cockatoo Island by improving interpretation of the World-Heritage-listed Convict Precinct, delivering quality accommodation, food and beverage and visitor experiences, and building multi-year arts partnerships to make the Island one of Sydney’s premier visitor destinations.

Review and develop initiatives to ensure each principal site includes substantive interpretation of Indigenous relationships with those places.

Implement new wayfinding and signage within Headland Park and Sub Base Platypus.

Measure and assess the efficiency of the management and use of our existing sports facilities and develop a recreation strategy to explore opportunities for increased active recreation on our sites.

Benchmark our approach to brand, marketing and publicity and implement changes to ensure site visitation and awareness are increased.

Establish an annual visitor survey across all our principal places to provide evidence and insight into our work.



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2018-2019

2019-2020

2020-2021

Number of visits 1,550,000 1,650,000 1,600,000 1,850,000 1,800,000

Source Data: Visitor numbers data for Cockatoo Island, North Head, Headland Park and Sub Base Platypus

Visitor Satisfaction 80%* >80% >80% >80% 90%

Source Data: Vistor Survey Cockatoo Island, North Head Sanctuary and Headland Park*2016 average visitor satisfaction for Cockatoo Island only

Measuring our success:

Build PartnershipsUnderpin our work through collaboration and engagement with partners to help us deliver our vision. We are responsible for important public places, and we want to encourage dialogue and debate about their future and the choices we make to ensure sustainability.


We will... Work openly with the community and other stakeholders as we plan our work and implement our vision.

Engage broadly with the community as we review and refresh our Management Plans for the sites. Champion our places in NSW and continue to explore how we can integrate our

plans with broader plans for Sydney and Australia.

Extend and build philanthropic and commercial partnerships.

Devise and implement a philanthropic partnership program. Explore opportunities for commercial sponsorship of projects, assets, programs

and events. Continue to encourage donations and bequests to support our programs.

Enable public benefit use of our assets through our rental subsidies to better deliver our vision.

Support and grow our volunteer activities in the fields of natural and built environment, visitor experience and administrative support.



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In 2017/2018 we will: Lead and contribute to discussions on cultural

heritage and the public domain, and share stories of our success.

Continue to work with our Community Advisory Committees in planning our work and strengthen opportunities for community engagement.

Support and partner with our volunteers.

Ensure we have the right policy settings to enable development of corporate sponsorships beyond tenancy relationships.

Work with the Department of Veterans Affairs to strengthen partnerships with veterans organisations.

Renew our partnership with Australian Wildlife Conservancy to care for North Head Sanctuary.


2018-2019

2019-2020

2020-2021

Number of volunteer hours 29,000 30,500 32,000 34,000 35,500

Source Data: Volunteer Manager Records

Number of significant, multi-year cultural, environmental and heritage partners

5 6 7 8 9

Source Data: Marketing, Communications and Visitor Experience Records

Value of philanthropic and sponsorship contributions

$5k $5k $50k $50k $50k

Source Data: Financial records



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A Robust BusinessBe an operationally self-sufficient and financially sustainable organisation by generating a stable and mixed revenue stream. Over time, seek to be self-reliant without the need for capital injections.


We will... Safeguard and grow our residential and commercial leasing revenue by developing commercial strategies for each site and attracting and nurturing quality tenants to help us deliver our vision and service the community.

Be consistent and accountable for leasing decisions.

Manage the leased portfolio professionally, with good client service and according to commerical principles.

Attract and grow tenancies that support the delivery of our vision and link with the community.

Continue to offer, and review periodically, rental subsidies to not-for-profit organisations that help deliver our objectives.

Be responsive to compatible new commercial opportunities that align with our Management Plans.

Develop a sound understanding of the financial challenges facing the Harbour Trust and explore potential solutions.

Present compelling business cases and partnership strategies to Government and other stakeholders for capital investment in, and adaptive re-use of, priority sites, where they are beyond the financial capacity of the Harbour Trust to implement.

Work with the Government to enable the Harbour Trust to fulfil its vision and intent of the Act, and explore opportunities to unlock investment constraints to improve the capacity of the Harbour Trust to be operationally self sufficient.

Implement financially viable events and accommodation strategies.

Grow the Venue Hire business in line with our Events Strategy.

Explore opportunities to expand Harbour Trust or partner-provided visitor accommodation to support our strategic goals for the sites.



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In 2017/2018 we will: Develop a Harbour Trust business strategy to:

- Quantify the requirements to complete the asset renewal and remediation work across all our sites.

- Consider the opportunities and constraints of our legislative framework.

- Explore alternative ways of doing business to best achieve our objectives.

- Develop business cases in relation to priority capital needs.

Performance Measure Base2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

2020-2021

Leasing Revenue $12.0m $12.5m $14.5m $16.5m $19.0m

Source Date: Financial records

Venue Hire Revenue $0.8m $0.6m $0.6m $0.6m $0.7m


Visitor Accommodation Revenue $2.2m $1.9m $1.9m $2.0m $2.0m


Review and reform, as necessary, the Harbour Trust’s approach to commercial lease arrangements to ensure best commercial practice. Proactively attract and secure public and

commercial uses at Sub Base Platypus to deliver the site vision.



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Strengthen our capabilitiesBe a great organisation to work for and strengthen our ability to achieve our goals.

Link to our objectives:1 - 6

We will... Attract and retain an outstanding, diverse workforce and invest in its development.

Support and grow talent through development and learning plans, putting in place measures to manage performance, and reinforcing a culture of continual improvement.

Build a greater diversity in the organisation, to more closely reflect the communities we serve.

Support and grow our volunteer force as a vital component of our team.

Shape our organisation to achieve our goals.

Realign the organisation to ensure we can deliver on our ambitious plans, and shift resources to areas with major delivery targets.

Become a data driven organisation. Develop metrics and use data to assess our performance and direct future action.

Recognising that our sites are a complex mix of natural, heritage and industrial assets, take all appropriate steps to ensure our workplace and parklands are safe for all by mitigating and managing risks.

Maintain a safety and risk aware culture.

Implement strategies to heighten knowledge about the nature of our sites and enable safe and comfortable visitation.

Ensure a safe and healthy work environment.

Ensure the culture of our organisation is focused on visitor and client service and delivering quality and best value outcomes.



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In 2017/2018 we will: Ensure a strong safety culture through leadership,

reforming WHS policies, procedures and practices and staff training. Realign organisational resources to support the

implementation of this plan.

Undertake a workplace culture and engagement survey.


2018-2019

2019-2020

2020-2021

Average employee engagement score N/A 72% 74% 76% 78%

Source Data: Annual Organisational Culture Inventory Surveys

% of employees with effective Personal Development Plans linked to Corporate Plan

N/A 95% 98% 100% 100%

Source Data: HR Professional Development Records

Lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) for staff and volunteers

18.3 <10 <10 <10 <10

Source Data: HR Records

Develop and implement a workforce and talent development strategy.

Review and update IT resources to support the implementation of this plan.

Undertake a parkland safety audit.



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Capabilities Our ambition is to be a nimble organisation that fosters innovation in design and delivery, and a cross-disciplinary approach to our work. With 63 Full Time Employees and annual revenue of $18M we need to ensure our work is focused to areas of the highest benefit.

Workforce Planning

We strive to be a workforce strengthened by a diversity of knowledge, experience and backgrounds. In particular, as managers of lands, it is important that our workforce meets and exceeds targets for Indigenous employment. We seek to ensure the right mix of skills and competencies within our staffing. To achieve our goals, training and development of our people will continue to be a focus. We will also dedicate effort and resources to improving the well-being of our team.

EngagementCommunity interest in, and expectations of, our work is high. Our leadership capability and our ability to communicate our work and engage with citizens will therefore be critical to our success. We will ensure that the Community Advisory Committees and the broader community continue to have input into our planning processes.

Financial SustainabilityAs an operationally self-funding government agency, the long term financial security of the Harbour Trust is based on its capacity to generate sustainable revenue. One of its priorities is to develop a business strategy to bridge the gap between capital requirements and available funds. The organisation will also focus on increasing visitation, collaborations and partnerships, and raising its public profile, to ensure a positive flow-on effect to its commercial leasing, venue hire and accommodation activities. A strengthened knowledge base about our visitors and our impact will assist in this work.

Asset ManagementOur complex asset base requires active management supported by a strategic asset management plan and a system to review the use and future life of our assets. The organisation will continue to develop and implement proactive strategies to protect and enhance the asset base.

ICTGrowing our ICT capacity will improve our capabilities to better target our investment and ensure best practice, proactive asset management. We are currently building this capability through the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning system, Microsoft Dynamics AX. This system will eventually cater for the IT demands of Finance, Property and Asset Management.



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Deregulation AgendaThe Government is committed to improving efficiencies and reducing regulatory burden. This commitment aims to strike the best balance between necessary and appropriate regulation while also strengthening the efforts of the Government to remove costly red tape where it is unwarranted or unnecessary.

The Harbour Trust will continue to review its processes around its regulatory tools to ensure that they are streamlined, where possible, while ensuring that high standards are maintained for the protection of biodiversity, heritage values and the environment. The Harbour Trust’s licences, permits and planning approvals are captured under the deregulation agenda.

Risk Management and OversightThe effective assessment and management of risk underpins the Harbour Trust’s governance framework. It is critical to the control environment for which the Board of Trustees (as the Accountable Authority) has responsibility under section 17 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

The Harbour Trust utilises the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy to identify, assess and manage its risks. The risk management framework is also informed by the principles and guidelines articulated in the Australian Risk Management Standard (AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009).

The risk management framework includes policies, guidelines and operational tools to support informed decision making for the management of risks.

The Harbour Trust has an organisation-wide Risk Register and Risk Profile with appropriate treatment plans. Each business unit also has a risk register with appropriate treatment plans. These registers are reviewed on a quarterly basis.



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A Note on MetricsIn 2017/18 we will improve our capabilities in measuring and monitoring the metrics we use to assess our performance and future direction. This will necessarily mean we will need to enhance our capacity to collect and analyse data around the number of visits to our sites and the level of visitor satisfaction.

The base metrics and performance measures presented in this Plan are derived as below. In many cases, factors positively influencing one performance measure may negatively influence another, and regular performance tracking will be undertaken throughout the Plan period to better understand this inter-relationship to improve our decision-making.

Base Metrics

Number of visits

The estimate of the individual number of visits made by visitors to Headland Park, Cockatoo Island, North Head Sanctuary and Sub Base Platypus. • Cockatoo Island visits are measured by traffic counters at the Parramatta, Camber and Marina Wharves. • Headland Park visits are currently measured by car park use and extrapolated data from vehicle and pedestrian counts during June 2017.• North Head Sanctuary visits are measured by a combination of NPWS and Harbour Trust vehicle counters and pedestrian counts commencing in March 2017, extrapolated for the year.

In 2017/18 we are installing new visitor counting technology at our principal sites to improve the accuracy of our data. This will include Sub Base Platypus as the site is opened to the public in stages from 2018. The performance measures reflect the significant increase in visitor numbers anticipated on Cockatoo Island during Biennale of Sydney

Earned annual revenue Our self-generated income comprising leasing, venue hire, accommodation, parking, tours and merchandise and bank interest. Project-specific grant funds from government are excluded.

• Leasing Revenue comprises rents received from residential and commercial leases (including contributory partners). • Venue Hire Revenue comprises licence fees received from the use of land and buildings for events, conferences or filming activity.• Visitor Accommodation Revenue comprises income from the Cockatoo Island campground and holiday houses.

The Leasing, Venue Hire and Visitor Accommodation revenue streams are closely interconnected. For example, Investing in re-purposing unused assets will increase our revenue, but without new capital investment, increasing leasing stock may necessarily require reducing the number venues for hire; hosting a major public event may reduce the availability of venues for hire, but it may increase visitor accommodation revenue; increasing the number of contributory partners may reduce our leasing revenue.

Assets in adaptive re-useThe proportion of buildings with the potential for adaptive re-use that are in active use.This metric is dependent on capital investment by us or our partners in re-purposing buildings for appropriate new uses.

Land rehabilitated and open to the publicThe proportion of our sites that are accessible by the public. It includes both parkland and the footprints of those buildings open to the public for interpretation, visitor facilities, events or Food & Beverage operations.

This metric is directly affected by capital invested in making land and buildings safe and accessible for public enjoyment.

Public sports facilitiesFormal facilities available for use or hire by the public including sports ovals and courts.

Visitor satisfaction with the public domainAn approval score given by visitors to the quality of the parkland, tracks and visitor amenities at Cockatoo Island, Headland Park and North Head Sanctuary, as measured in quarterly visitor surveys.

Visitor satisfactionAn approval score derived from responses to questions about the overall visitor experience at Cockatoo Island, Headland Park and North Head Sanctuary, as measured in quarterly visitor surveys.

LTIFR (Lost time injury frequency rate)LTIFR measures the number of injuries resulting in time lost from work per million hours. Our base LTIFR in June 2017 represents 2 lost-time injuries over 109,244 hours works, and our target LTIFR of under 10 represents no more than 1 lost-time injury per annum.

As a small organisation with a high proportion of employees engaged in construction-related and outdoor activities and a strong culture of incident reporting, our LTIFR will always be higher than the current government sector LTIFR.



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Snapper Island

Cockatoo Island



Chowder Bay

Middle Head




Georges Heights


Snapper Island

Cockatoo Island



Chowder Bay

Middle Head




Georges Heights


Sydney Harbour Federation TrustBuilding 28, Best AvenueMosman NSW 2088

Phone: (02) 8969 2100Fax: (02) 8969 2120Email: [email protected]

For more infomation about the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, visit our website at: www.harbourtrust.gov.au

Snapper Island

Cockatoo Island



Chowder Bay

Middle Head




Georges Heights


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