Whole of Government

Key themes in 2006–07

There are a range of imperatives which make being successful at whole of government work important. These include the demand for sophisticated whole of government policy advice which comprehends a range of stakeholders’ views, pressures to deliver more streamlined government services, and the requirement to respond quickly and in a coordinated way to crisis situations, whether as a result of natural disasters or security issues.

Whole of government approaches are also essential to deal with some of the most challenging policy issues that confront Australia. Like other countries, Australia is facing a range of complex policy issues that go beyond organisational and jurisdictional boundaries and can appear intractable. These policy issues, often marked by a long history of chronic policy failure, are sometimes referred to as ‘wicked’ problems. Examples of such problems include dealing with the growing rates of obesity among adults and children, climate change, Indigenous disadvantage, and land degradation.

Wicked problems are almost always characterised by social complexity. They cross the boundaries of APS agencies, State and local governments, and other organisations, and usually involve many stakeholders. A comprehensive understanding of a wicked problem generally requires the perspective of multiple organisations and stakeholders, and any package of measures identified as a possible solution requires the involvement, commitment and coordination of multiple organisations and stakeholders to be delivered effectively. The requirement to tackle wicked problems is one of the key imperatives that makes being successful at whole of government work increasingly important.

The importance of whole of government approaches in addressing wicked problems is being recognised internationally. In the UK, for example, the Social Exclusion Task Force is supporting 12 pilot projects to help the most chronically excluded adults in society. The projects recognise that the multiple difficulties this group can face (childhood abuse, addictions, mental health problems, homelessness, and severe vocational skills deficits) often require cross-agency approaches. The programme is based on collaboration between four agencies and is coordinated by the Cabinet Office.

Other countries are also focusing on improving the ability of the public sector to work collaboratively. In New Zealand, for example, one of the six development goals for the State Services is ‘Coordinated State Agencies’. New Zealand plans to produce a detailed report on progress against the development goals later in 2007, and has developed a range of performance indicators for assessing progress. These include the extent to which behaviours exhibited by State servants support coordination in pursuit of results, and the extent to which systems support strategy, design and service delivery staff to work together.

Other whole of government issues that have received attention over the last year include:

the establishment of shared services for ICT or other back of house processes (e.g. finance and HR) in the USA, the UK, and in some Australian jurisdictions, for example, South Australia
more coordinated approaches to emergency management, for example, the establishment of a comprehensive national policy aimed at ensuring the continuity of Federal Government operations during times of national emergency in the USA
a focus on more streamlined citizen-focused services across government agencies, including through the use of e-government and improved ICT technologies.

Streamlined service delivery has received particular attention in Canada, the UK and New Zealand. In Canada, Service Canada now provides services for many federal departments and acts cooperatively with provinces and territories. In the UK, cross-cutting Public Service Agreements are being developed to reflect a government-wide set of service priorities, underpinned by Delivery Agreements setting out the role of each organisation in the delivery chain, and strengthening accountability at all levels. In New Zealand, the Government is working towards two key milestones:

by June 2007—‘no wrong door’—any citizen accessing government services will be referred appropriately to the organisation best able to address their concerns
by June 2008—‘right doors in the right places’—government agencies working together to coordinate the availability of services across the country, using co-location, joint services and management of different physical and electronic channels.

Cross-agency collaboration was a theme that received considerable attention at the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) Biennial Conference held in Sydney in October 2006. At this conference, there was a consensus that for cross-government collaboration to work, it should be genuine and have a purpose. This was seen as particularly evident in crisis situations, when much is expected of government, and where the public sector works well together to achieve good outcomes. The challenge is to extend this level of collaboration more to the regular activities of government.

There is, however, also increasing recognition of the need to better identify issues which lend themselves to whole of government approaches. While critical, there is an acknowledgement that whole of government approaches are not appropriate in every situation. Programmes delivered by a single agency are often the most efficient and effective way of delivering outcomes and, even when done well, whole of government working can be relatively costly and time consuming. A literature review, conducted as part of the evaluation of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) trials in Indigenous communities, suggested that whole of government and partnership approaches aimed at changing the economic, health and social circumstances of disadvantaged communities (in particular, Indigenous communities) require long-term commitments of 10 to 20 years in order to be realised.² The resources for whole of government should be targeted to where they will best add value.

2 Morgan Disney and Associates Pty. Ltd, Tracey Whetnall Consulting & Wis-Wei Consulting Pty Ltd 2006, Synopsis Review of the COAG Trial Evaluations: Report to the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination, <https://www.oipc.gov.au/publications>