Page 2142 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 21 June 2011
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This government does not rest on its laurels in this regard. We have demonstrated our commitment to continuous improvement by releasing a revised performance and accountability framework in February this year. This framework identifies measures and opportunities to strengthen and build on existing practice, improve the transparency and openness of government operations. Critical amongst these reforms is a commitment to improving the clarity, focus and visibility of government priorities.
The government’s revised performance and accountability framework also focuses on improving the clarity, accessibility, efficiency and usefulness of reports produced for the Assembly and the broader public. This focus is demonstrated by the development and release of the measuring our progress website. This website measures our progress towards an ACT that is healthier, fairer and safer, smarter, more prosperous, vibrant, sustainable and one which delivers high-quality services. The framework emphasises the need for the government to ensure its reports are accessible, efficient and timely. In particular, to improve accessibility of reporting, the government is committed to clear and concise presentation, more timely performance reporting, use of a range of different and emerging media to communicate effectively and developing more user-friendly information, for example, by providing full datasets and interactive interfaces online.
Under this revised framework, the government is also committed to strengthening evaluation practices across government. This is exemplified by the public release of the ACT government evaluation policy and guidelines in December last year. Evaluation refers to the process of measuring and assessing the impacts and merits of government policies, strategies and programs. It is a means of strengthening government accountability, driving continuous improvement and enhancing government reporting.
I would like to turn to another important initiative of the government: the government information office. The government’s commitment to openness will be further highlighted by the creation of a government information office in the Chief Minister and Cabinet Directorate. The government has provided $1.216 million over four years for this initiative. The funding includes a director role to lead this initiative across government. The office will, among other things, coordinate and focus our efforts in open government and strengthen government accessibility and transparency. The initiative responds to a central recommendation of the recently conducted Hawke review of the ACT public service to harness the opportunities offered to government by information and communication technology and will develop our approach to knowledge management and open-government approaches.
The key responsibility of the new government information office will be the development of an ACT government knowledge management framework addressing information governance, knowledge management, data management, record keeping, information access and information security. The successful and proactive management of knowledge in government will assist in more informed government decisions, collaborative practice across government as well as supporting the government and community in co-production. The framework will set out the key knowledge management principles for a collaborative, responsive, open, transparent and innovative ACT public sector.
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