The APS is too often perceived by stakeholders to be a closed book, reflecting a risk averse culture, reluctance to provide information and sometimes tokenistic approaches to consultation. Sharing more of its work with partners, and genuinely listening to and acting on their insights, will help deliver better outcomes and earn public trust.
What we think is needed
- Regular release of, and transparency around data, analysis, research and evaluations, driven by an ongoing commitment to create greater public value.
- Formal commitments to work in partnership with others (for example, civil society and business) on core policy, delivery and regulatory work – with all parties publicly accountable for adhering to those commitments.
- Proactive approaches to engaging with Australians on their views and expectations of the APS, including through regular citizen surveys.
What is shaping our thinking
- Initiatives underway as part of Australia’s ‘Open Government National Action Plan’.
- Steps in Australia and elsewhere to increase openness and engagement. For example, the Victorian framework for planning and implementing effective public participation exercises, and New Zealand’s decision to proactively release some traditionally confidential material.
- Evidence that technology has lowered barriers to understanding what people want and expect from government and their satisfaction with public services. For example, Indonesia allows citizens to report on services in real-time by SMS, while other countries use citizen surveys to understand what drives public trust and satisfaction over time.
- The regular national survey of citizen experiences and satisfaction with the APS and the services it delivers, being undertaken by PM&C.
What we are still exploring
- The extent to which the Freedom of Information regime is helping the APS balance openness with the importance of providing frank and fearless advice to government.
- Suitable mechanisms to authorise and empower senior APS officers to lead by example in setting an ‘openness by default’ culture.
Comments
Thu, 02 May 2019
Collaboration at local, state and federal levels of delivery will facilitate identification and trial of solutions to the issue which manifest. Ongoing liaison with those within the community and other sectors is also crucial so that new ways of working can be adjusted to improve outcomes. Collective impact initiatives such as the Bourke Reinvestment initiative and Opportunity Child May provide some examples of models whcich can be utilised. A key strength of the APS is the ability to convene those from other sectors and the community. Acknowledging and utilising this strength should be key to any model.
Wed, 01 May 2019
The Commonwealth may need to walk before it can run on this issue. After reading a sample of the submissions to this Review, I was struck by the large number of comments coming from Centrelink staff (and also, but less frequently, from tax officers and customers) about low quality services being provided to clients, poor treatment of staff, use of under skilled contractors and unreliable IT. Neither the elected government nor the APS can afford to have a large dysfunctional interface with the public as implied by these comments. Sometimes, these sort of complaints refer to issues related to particular individuals, sometimes they reflect the unfortunate impact on workers of otherwise positive structural change and sometimes they relate to systemic and fixable administrative and funding issues that desperately need addressing. I think finding out whether we have a problem of the latter kind should be one of the highest priorities for this Review.
Tue, 23 Apr 2019
Establish true, and genuine partnerships across all layers of government and private sector when it comes to designing services for citizens. Each will bring their own element of expertise and 'best of breed' - be it designing screens for an online application of some kind, or an app for a mobile device. Keep the citizen's needs and experience centric to all that is done, and each member partnering in co-design will bring a different perspective to the table. A powerful partnership will be productive and rewarding.
Mon, 01 Apr 2019
Agencies that need to be spread out across the country for on the ground access should have that feature, moving agencies that do not need to be location specific just to "boost an economy" is a falsehood. Hope to see some commonsense decisions made about what agencies can support the country from remote towns. This idea that Canberra is somehow a melting pot of the nations public servants is proven incorrect time after time however the comments about a "Canberra Bubble" etc do not help
Mon, 01 Apr 2019
I think this priority would be strengthened with some additional wording about place based policy. any nuancing of services or activities based upon location whould be based upon the fact that there is a point of difference in the location which requires a change to the design for that location.
The other thing that is really important here is the collection of data, particularly geo-locational data and the usage of this data for both design and evaluation. This would enable Government to make better place-based decisions on a wide range of fronts - in ther same way that the retail sector in particular has pioneered the use of place-based big data analytics to guide purchase and stocking decisions for different locations.
Thu, 28 Mar 2019
It's not just service delivery that needs whole of government approaches. It's also policy development. The only mechanism we have to work across agencies on getting good policy solutions is to set up taskforces or inter-government committees. It's incredible how much resistance I've seen to establish a taskforce - ownership culture, resourcing constraints and unimaginative structures make this unattractive. Yet the public expect well thought through, holistic, policy solutions.
Wed, 27 Mar 2019
Currently there is minimal case management used in delivering government services. Policy and legislation limits release of personal information to other government and non government agencies. An improved information sharing system/process needs to be created and used to assist Citizens access assistance in a timely manner. The current legislation and policy is risk adverse and contributes to inefficient and unproductive siloing of information. Wholistic, Government led co - ordinated case management to assist vulnerable community members will contribute to improved citizen experience. Reforming privacy and improving information sharing within agencies will enable better wrap around servicing for citizens.
Tue, 26 Mar 2019
Have a scheme whereby you are required to work in a different agency for a certain amount of time. Volunteers can nominate to get onto this scheme, and then every year they are committed to say work for a month or two in a different agency. This will provide people with first hand knowledge of challenges faced by each agency. Furthermore it will create networking opportunities and contacts between agencies. It could even be a swap arrangement, whereby a person in Health at a certain APS level swaps with another agency of the same APS level. They then are committed to train each other their respective roles. The volunteers can opt out at any stage.
Fri, 22 Mar 2019
This needs to be supported by legislative frameworks that are permissive (not prohibitive) for information sharing and resourcing that recognises the upfront effort and investment to design, test and implement integrated solutions underpinned by modern technology.
Thu, 21 Mar 2019
This is a really important part of improving the quality of our advice and ensuring that the APS's policy and program proposals are robust, evidence-based, informed by genuine engagement and implemented in a true partnership. My suggestion is that there may be an opportunity here to an embed an approach along the lines of the IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum throughout the APS, so that a concerted effort towards the empowerment end of the spectrum is part of our BAU.