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

Performance and Accountability in the ACTThe ACT Government already has a robust Performance and Accountability Frameworkwhich assists in delivering government priorities while ensuring transparent and accountabledecision making and resource allocation. The 2008-09 Budget initiative Accountability inGovernment aimed to:• strengthen the Government’s capacity to deliver policies and service delivery outcomes;• promote Directorate accountability and performance; and• develop a performance and accountability model and the first stage of implementation.As part of that initiative, CMD oversaw work aimed at developing a framework that:• reflected current and emerging best practice in public sector accountability acrossAustralian and New Zealand Governments;• provided a fit for purpose framework that takes into account the size and scale of the ACTas well as analysis of the costs and benefits;• directly connected government strategy and direction with public sector delivery througha systematic approach to across government strategic priorities and outcome goals thatinform and align across government budget, policy development and agency delivery; and• provided greater consistency in agency planning and reporting.This model is predicated on three pillars of government activity:• priority setting/decision making (i.e. what we do?);• service frameworks and delivery (how we do it?); and• accountability (did we do it and how well?).A review of the Performance and Accountability Framework was recently concluded andinvolved consultation with all agencies, evaluation of arrangements in other jurisdictions,analysis and advice from the Allen Consulting Group, 299 and input from the ACTAuditor-General. That review, endorsed by the Government in November 2010, 300concluded there were opportunities to strengthen the existing ACT Framework through:• improving the clarity, focus and visibility of Government priorities;• closer integration of Government planning and priority setting, agency planning andresource allocation;• enhancing the focus, integration, efficiency, and usefulness of performance indicators;• improving the clarity and integration of government plans;• further developing performance capacity across government;• enhancing coordination of Government activity to deliver shared priorities;• improving the clarity, accessibility, efficiency and usefulness of reports; and• strengthening evaluation practices across government.299 See http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/functions/publications#reviews300 This section of this report draws heavily on that document, and the efforts of staff in the Chief Minister’s Department,supported by colleagues across the ACTPS in its development are acknowledged and applauded.Strategy, Resource Allocation and the Vacant Middle Ground: 228