Whole of Government

Whole of Government activity

Working with other government agencies is a normal part of work for many APS employees.

In particular, interactions with other government agencies are widespread among SES and EL employees. In 2007:

78% of SES and EL respondents reported that during the last 12 months, their job required them to deal directly with people from other Commonwealth agencies
38% reported that their job required them to deal directly with people from State or Territory public service agencies
11% reported that their job required them to deal directly with people from local government agencies.

For all APS employees, the level of contact with other Commonwealth and State agencies was slightly lower, but still substantial. Sixty-one per cent of respondents to the employee survey said that their job had required them to deal directly with people from Commonwealth agencies and 34% said that they had been required to deal with State or Territory agencies. The level of contact with local government agencies (19%) was actually higher than it was for SES and EL employees.

Although contact is widespread, participation in formal multi-agency forums or structures continues to be much lower. Of those SES and EL employees who had been required to deal directly with other public service agencies, only 43% had participated in formal whole of government structures. Fourteen per cent had been a member of a taskforce, 29% had been a member of an inter-departmental committee (IDC) and 16% had been a member of a joint team.

Consistent with the high level of contact with other agencies, the majority of agencies (60%) reported that they had focused on an initiative or initiatives to improve their capacity to enhance whole of government activities in 2006–07. A further 5% (four agencies) stated that such initiatives were being developed. Nevertheless, a substantial minority of agencies (35%) had not focused on any relevant initiatives in 2006–07. These agencies were mostly small, but there were also two large and ten medium agencies that had not focused on any initiatives.

Table 10.2 shows the priority that agencies placed on improving effectiveness in a number of areas related to whole of government work when focusing on these initiatives. For each area it compares agency priority with the proportion of relevant SES and EL employees who often or usually experienced a related issue in whole of government activities. Employees, for example, were asked how frequently, based on their experience in whole of government activities, are agencies’ ICT systems sufficiently compatible to support whole of government work.

Table 10.2: Employee experience in whole of government activities and agency priority initiatives, 2006–07
Whole of government priority	High/Very high priority (% of all agencies)	Experience of whole of government activities	Often or usually experienced (% of relevant SES and EL employees)
Enhancing ICT compatibility	34	Agencies’ ICT systems sufficiently compatible	32
Improving financial and accountability arrangements to facilitate whole of government work	33	Financial and accountability arrangements facilitate whole of government work	27
Ensuring agency’s performance management system adequately recognises/rewards whole of government	19	Agency’s performance management system adequately recognises/rewards work whole of government outcomes	29
Building relationships with other agencies	52	Other agencies willing to collaborate	47
Ensuring the agency’s SES employees have the capacity to collaborate	40	SES employees in agency collaborate effectively	57
Ensuring agency’s EL employees have the capacity to collaborate	34	EL employees in agency collaborate effectively	70
Ensuring other key staff in the agency have the capability to collaborate	28	Key staff in agency have necessary capabilities to work effectively with other APS agencies	70
Source: Agency and employee surveys

Table 10.2 shows some variation between agency priorities and the experience of employees. Nevertheless, the results suggest that the priority invested in building relationships with other agencies and ensuring SES capacity has had some positive impact on the experience of those involved in whole of government activities. The lower agency priority placed on issues of ICT incompatibility and Budget and accountability, despite relatively poor employee experience in this area, is likely to reflect a view by agencies that these issues need to be addressed at the system or service-wide level. The issues covered in Table 10.2 are discussed in more detail below.