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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 9 Hansard (22 August) . . Page.. 3133 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

determine the quality issues to be included in any tender specifications;

determine evaluation criteria for such a program; and

monitor the implementation and evaluation of any such program.

The first thing I want to say is that, of course, the Greens are very supportive of any programs that enhance the health and fitness of children in our schools. However, this debate is more about the tender process and service purchasing processes of the Liberal government.

The tender document Provision of a health and fitness assessment program for ACT government primary school students raises a number of questions about this government's approach to service purchasing, and its willingness or even capacity to develop tender documents that adequately specify quality. The ACT government and ACTCOSS produced a report called More than the sum of its parts: planning for and assessing quality in ACT government services, in 1998, which contained comprehensive analysis and recommendations on the matter. The tender for health and fitness testing does not reflect the values and principles so clearly articulated in this report.

The specifications for quality in this tender are almost nonexistent. The contractor is given responsibility for designing, developing and implementing the program, as well as developing the evaluative criteria. The contractor will also be able to charge for particular information, which raises serious questions about access.

Performance indicators in the request for tender are basically just numbers, or quantitative assessments of the program objectives. These include the number of schools assessed, the number of students assessed, the number of additional reports provided to parents/carers on a user-pays basis, the number of in-service sessions provided to schools on a fee-for-service basis, and the number of sample programs provided to schools.

In the request for tender:

The main objectives in seeking tenders under this request for tender ("RFT") are to select a suitably qualified and experienced tenderer who can be contracted:

1. To design and implement an effective HAFAP for ACT government primary school students.

2. To effectively report the results of the assessment program to schools and other nominated persons.

3. To provide schools with sample curriculum programs targeting specific age groups and fitness levels.

Where is the quality in this? I will just give a couple of quotes about the ACT approach from the report More than the sum of its parts, which said:

Experience elsewhere in Australia and overseas also indicates that the current ACT approach to defining and measuring quality could be broadened and further developed. Specifically, there is a need for:

a clearer focus on the achievement of objectives (outcomes);

the development of more sophisticated ways to understand quality which recognises the limitations of the current (mostly quantitative) measurement paradigm; and

the identification of negotiated standards of quality expected in government outputs and outcomes.

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