Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

facilitate the expansion of Canberra Connect’s approach to other areas of governmentservices.Over time the one ACTPS model would mean that Directorates would not continue to runtheir own shop fronts or counter services. There should be a single ACTPS shop front(carrying the Canberra Connect brand) in major commercial centres where they can bereadily accessed by the community who choose to deal with the ACTPS that way. MoreCanberra Connect shop fronts may be required over time, and it is likely the call centrecapacity will also need to expand to meet greater demand.Canberra Connect is one of the ACT Government’s most successful initiatives and it iscritical that any proposal to alter Canberra Connect’s governance arrangements does notjeopardise its success. As Canberra Connect largely operates autonomously, transferring theservice to another agency would be, administratively, straightforward.The strategic whole of government nature of the proposed Chief Minister’s Department’scommunication function, including its community engagement responsibilities, has strongsynergies with Canberra Connect’s business model. Both organisations providecommunication services within and outside government, including in relation to emergencycoordination and advice. Bringing these functions together would also create a central ‘hub’for coordination of all ACT Government communications thus creating a focal point forDirectorates in sharing and releasing information.Part of the logic in bringing Canberra Connect to the proposed Chief Minister’s Departmentalso lies in the opportunities it creates to embed feedback from the community intoperformance monitoring and policy development processes. The public interface ofCanberra Connect provides almost real time feedback on performance and is a rich vein ofinformation that could be better applied to improving service delivery. While thisinformation is routinely circulated now, it will achieve greater prominence through beinglocated at the centre.In this context, the Review notes the Auditor-General has recently tabled a report into thehandling of complaints and feedback by TAMS, and Canberra Connect in particular. 187 Theconclusions drawn were:Overall, TAMS and Canberra Connect have a sound framework within which theycan recognise and respond to feedback and complaints provided by the ACTcommunity, including a good management information system. Most issues raised byACT residents through various communication options were considered in a timelymanner and in most cases, action was taken by the responsible business areas withinTAMS. There was, however, a lack of ongoing communication with the providers offeedback and complaints to keep them informed of action taken.187 See http://www.audit.act.gov.au/auditreports/reports2010/Report%207--2010%20Management%20of%20Feedback%20and%20Complaints.pdfAdministrative Arrangements Changes: 127