Page 2499 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 17 June 2009
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purchaser/provider model to a true partnership, when they were first introduced. This was a result of a great deal of work by the joint community and government reference group at the time. I was a member of the joint community and government reference group representing Volunteering ACT at the time, and I clearly remember the many months of work undertaken by both the not-for-profit sector officials and the government at that time.
The ACT will be able to use the emergence of a national compact to strengthen our social compact, to build on the positive elements and the positive aspects of the relationship and to use the development of a national agreement to enhance our earlier model here in the ACT. Whilst the federal government plays a leading role in policy development, the states and territories such as the ACT have, in the past, been responsible for the provision of the vast bulk of social services, particularly through the not-for-profit sector, and also of course through government agencies on the ground. This experience will be invaluable in forming the national process, I believe.
Australia’s “new federalism” has had a real impact on the relationship between the not-for-profit sector and the federal government, as well as the dynamic between the sector and the states and territories. The current Rudd Labor government has demonstrated a commitment towards reforming the state and federal relationships and this new federalism has and will continue to influence what happens in the ACT. The product of this new way of working together can be seen in the national reform agenda which will restructure service delivery at the federal, state and territory levels.
We can look at similar initiatives in Canada and Great Britain that provide some interesting perspectives on the commonwealth initiative. Indeed, I was first introduced to the idea and value of the compact through my contact with and visit to the Home Office in the United Kingdom in the formative years of the British compact.
Perhaps of greater relevance to the ACT’s role regarding our compact is the Canadian experience. It took seven years to establish an accord that was not dissimilar to the compact that the Rudd government is proposing. Although the Australian system of government is obviously not a direct replica of the Canadian system, it is worth considering the excessive time taken by the Canadian government to reach an agreement with the community services sector, which was largely as a result of a breakdown between the states and provinces, responsible for funding the community services sector, and the Canadian government. When one considers the nature of the federalism that is being expressed through the proposed commonwealth initiative—that is, a national compact—it seems important to learn from this example.
One of the challenges of this initiative is to make a national compact work in the context of Australia’s unique but evolving federalism. During the consultation process the not-for-profit organisations identified an increase in cooperation between governments as one of the four priority areas that need to be addressed in the compact.
Cooperation between the ACT, the federal government and the not-for-profit sector to reduce red tape and facilitate more streamlined processes is another area identified as critical during the consultation process. At each forum, participants raised the need for accountability mechanisms and reporting systems for the sector to be simplified and
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