Page 2507 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 17 June 2009
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Canberra social plan sets out the ACT government’s priorities and actions across all areas of service delivery and is a template against which government decision making can be judged over the next 10 to 15 years. The community sector funding policy reflects the ACT government’s commitment to partnerships. The policy aims to enhance the effectiveness of community service provision and the viability of the community sector.
The ACT government is dedicated to fostering a city in which the community sector and the government work together to ensure that all members of the community can contribute to and share the benefits of this community. The social compact is the foundation of a robust, effective and respectful partnership. It sets out undertakings to which each sector is committed in working together for the public good. There is a strong relationship between the community sector and the government, which is demonstrated through the consultative processes, joint policy work, funding arrangements and the development of new services and community initiatives. How well these arrangements work has a strong bearing on the effectiveness of each of the sectors and the benefits and outcomes that are a result of these relationships.
In collaboration with the community sector, the ACT government established the joint community government reference group and one of the areas of focus for this group, amongst other objectives, is to monitor and guide the implementation process for the social compact. We understand that decision making is most effective when it considers and actively utilises both the collective experience and strengths of the broader community and the expertise within the public sector. This type of partnering is at the heart of the compact.
Our collaborative approach to policy development provides an opportunity to draw out the views of different groups in the community and supports shared ownership and accountability for decisions that emerge from this joint planning and policy process. The social compact provides a strong foundation to progress our government’s citizen centred governance framework for the future.
Ms Porter touched on her experience in the not-for-profit sector, and I too come to this Assembly with extensive experience in working in the non-government sector, not-for-profit sector, and such work has included a number of years working in the Northern Territory, establishing general practice services in Indigenous communities, managing a rural health service that had emergency housing, family counselling and supported accommodation, plus a range of nursing and other community services. More recently, my experience of the not-for-profit sector was working across the university departments to ensure an adequate workforce for rural Australia and to work with communities around how to deliver their health services.
I think that we can all agree that the community sector is an incredibly important part of Australia and we want to help this sector to flourish by promoting partnership with the government and by promoting an understanding of this sector. The social compact states:
The relationship between the two sectors is significant because they share many goals and values and are interdependent in many roles and functions. The
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