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Building Better Governance: Launch of publications

4.30 pm Thursday 25 October 2007

Thanks Lynelle - it is a pleasure to participate in the launch of the APSC’s new series of publications on “Contemporary Government Challenges,” and to say a few words on building better governance.

Agencies have never had greater authority than they have today, to tailor administration to best suit programme delivery within the framework of legislation and government policy ;

no one would wish the hands of the clock to be turned back to the days when there was much greater central control.

But the authority agencies now have to control their own destiny brings with it added responsibility:

responsibility to manage their affairs efficiently and effectively;
responsibility to actively explore opportunities to improve programme effectiveness and delivery.

In other words, agencies are expected to manage both the risks to performance and, as importantly, opportunities for better performance.

And this explains why, in the last decade, there has been an emphasis on the importance of sound governance in the public sector.

The early focus on governance in the public sector was on the foundations of good governance

now we are seeing the emphasis being given to the people dimensions of governance.

Historically, the focus was on the importance of the governance board, audit committees, executive reporting, etc;

and these issues are still fundamental.

But now we are seeing greater emphasis being given to:

the leadership role of the governance board;
the make up of the audit committees and the positive growth in the number of independent members to provide a different perspective and greater rigour to agency issues;
a stronger focus on personal accountabilities in terms of executive reporting.

And this personal dimension to governance is well-recognised in the APSC publication, which indicates that:

‘governance can only work if it is part and parcel of the culture of the organisation – it needs to be actively upheld and implemented by every person. Everyone must know and act on their responsibilities’

The personal dimension also shows up in the APSC case studies.

The work of the ANAO shows good governance to be a key success factor in agency, programme and project performance.

Our experience shows there are a couple of key factors in successful governance:

taking the time to establish governance arrangements tailored to suit the agency/programme/project;
- time spent up-front reaps rewards downstream.
Leadership by senior executives makes a significant difference;
- in fact it is the number 1 factor in project success (followed by user involvement, experienced project manager, clear business objectives and minimising scope),

The long term challenge for all of us is to embed sound governance approaches into the culture of organisations

as Jim Collins said, in ‘Good to Great’ one of the better management books of recent times:

“A culture of discipline involves a duality. On the one hand, it requires people who adhere to a consistent system; yet, on the other hand, it gives people freedom and responsibility within the framework of that system. A culture of discipline is ….. about getting disciplined people who engage in disciplined thoughts and who then take disciplined action.”

This challenge is met, in large measure, by having the appropriate governance (including goals and strategies), but strongly supported by leadership, communication and training.

The APSC publication, supported by training, and complemented by agency efforts and some stimulation by the ANAO, will all make a positive difference to better governance in the APS.

Thank you.

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