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

with respect to the relationship between the public service and not for profit agencies, someparts of the public service work in active partnership with us, focusing on outcomes, anddemonstrating a broad understanding and appreciation of delivery of human services ‘at thecoalface’. Others prefer to manage us as for other suppliers of goods and services. 67That observation reveals the extent to which this approach to public service is evolving anddeveloping (and the opportunities for the ACTPS to shape its evolution in Canberra) alongwith the need for clarity of purpose and relationships discussed in more detail below.The benefits to the ACTPS and ACT Government of adopting a public value approach andgenuinely engaging the citizenry and stakeholders in policy development and design aresignificant: “policies and services will more closely meet public needs if they are developedwith the help of people affected by them. Policies will be better informed and based onevidence. Involvement is also likely to improve acceptance of policy measures andsatisfaction with services”. 68 These sorts of sentiments lie behind the Chief Minister’sinitiatives to engage the ACT community in key issues, as well as observations like thosemade by the ACT Council of Social Service’s (ACTCOSS) Submission to the Review that:one area requiring focus is the overlap that occurs when both government and the communitysector deliver services – for example the mental health sector, disability support andinformation provision. There is a need to ensure both government and non-government viewsare considered in the development of policy. Also, consideration of how the policies will beapplied to both government and community needs to be undertaken early in the policy69development processes to ensure consistency for those accessing the services.The Review welcomes the constructive suggestion set out in ACTCOSS’s Submission that:to strengthen the policy work of the ACT Government and the community sector, supportedstaff exchange programs could be explored … Such exchanges would increase the skills andunderstanding of both the community sector and government. 70The APSC notes participatory decision making and engagement of the citizenry andstakeholders is particularly valuable, especially if solutions to problems require behaviouralchange:because wicked problems are often imperfectly understood it is important that they are widelydiscussed by all relevant stakeholders in order to ensure a full understanding of theircomplexity. If a resolution of a wicked issue requires changes in the way people behave, thesechanges cannot readily be imposed on people. Behaviours are more conducive to change ifissues are widely understood, discussed and owned by the people whose behaviour is beingtargeted for change. 7167 Submission No.5. Communities@Work.68 Management Advisory Committee (2004a) Connecting Government: Whole of Government Responses to Australia’s PolicyChallenges. Commonwealth Government, Canberra, p.97.69 Submission No.19. ACT Council of Social Services.70 Submission No.19.71 Australian Public Service Commission (2007a) p.27.Governing the City State: 63