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

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unit … to build capacity for strategic policy development <strong>and</strong> direction-setting advice.” 321The Council also supported recommendations for better partnership arrangements withCanberra based universities <strong>and</strong> research institutions to provide policy research <strong>and</strong> analysis.Sustainable improvement to <strong>the</strong> effectiveness of <strong>the</strong> ACTPS must be based on <strong>the</strong> capabilitiesof its workforce. Reducing <strong>the</strong> fragmentation between service delivery, regulation <strong>and</strong> policydesign will enable <strong>the</strong> ACTPS to model leading practice <strong>and</strong> genuinely engage inparticipatory decision making.The Strategic Board, through a Policy Council sub-committee (to be formed from <strong>the</strong> currentPolicy Forum), will be responsible for whole of government policy co-ordination <strong>and</strong>streng<strong>the</strong>ning <strong>the</strong> policy capability of <strong>the</strong> ACTPS. Council members would be individually<strong>and</strong> collectively responsible for enhancing <strong>the</strong> provision of coaching <strong>and</strong> mentoring for nonexecutivepolicy officers. A cornerstone of this work will be early <strong>and</strong> collaborativeengagement with those who execute front line service delivery of <strong>the</strong> relevant subject area.Creating connections between policy, implementation, service delivery <strong>and</strong> regulation <strong>and</strong>building networks <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing between <strong>the</strong> policy designers <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> deliverers willassist in building sustainable policy <strong>and</strong> sustainable quality service delivery.Braithwaite’s Pyramid provides important principles for ACTPS policy development: “<strong>the</strong>hypo<strong>the</strong>sis is that it is normally best to start with less interventionist policies at <strong>the</strong> base of <strong>the</strong>pyramid <strong>and</strong> only move up to more interventionist strategies when those lower in <strong>the</strong> pyramidfail”. 322 Officials who work at <strong>the</strong> coal face of service delivery <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> immediacy of day-todayactivities are in a good position to provide practical advice as to <strong>the</strong> merits, application<strong>and</strong> implementation potential of regulation. This has certainly been <strong>the</strong> experience of <strong>the</strong>Office of Regulatory Services (ORS) – see below.Policy <strong>and</strong> Regulation – a Practical ApplicationWhe<strong>the</strong>r to separate or combine policy <strong>and</strong> regulatory functions is much discussed, withdifferent approaches taken depending on <strong>the</strong> circumstance <strong>and</strong> objectives of regulation. TheVictorian Government identifies several reasons against combining policy <strong>and</strong> regulatoryfunctions, including:• <strong>the</strong> increased risk of ‘regulatory creep’ because of <strong>the</strong> potential predisposition of aregulator to align policy preferences with its institutional interest to maintain or exp<strong>and</strong>its role;• <strong>the</strong> potential for a regulator to be drawn into <strong>the</strong> political process which may possiblycompromise its perceived or actual independence <strong>and</strong> its capacity to make impartialdecisions;321 Submission No. 26.322 Braithwaite, J. (2004) 2004 <strong>Chief</strong> Health Officer Seminar Serieshttp://healthstewardship.anu.edu.au/_documents/<strong>Chief</strong>_Health_Officer_Seminar_Series/2004/Braithwaite_trans.pdfp.3.Capability, Capacity <strong>and</strong> Effectiveness: 249

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