Output 4.2—Cabinet Implementation Unit

Page Index

• Qualitative assessment
• Key results

Qualitative assessment

Methodology

Formal and informal feedback on the work of the Cabinet Implementation Unit was provided by the Prime Minister, in response to briefing by the unit, and by the Secretary, the Secretary to Cabinet and the departmental Executive, through regular meetings.

Feedback

Feedback on the unit’s work, from all stakeholders, was very positive, with the information provided as part of the implementation assessments for proposals seen to be adding significantly to Cabinet’s decision-making processes. The increasing numbers of proposals for which implementation assessments were sought partly reflected the value placed on the work of the unit.

Key results

Establishing the unit

The unit was established on 15 October 2003 and the recruitment of its staff had largely been completed by January 2004. While some staff came from within the department, others with varied experience were recruited from other agencies or from outside the Australian Public Service. Secondments were arranged from Centrelink, the Australian Taxation Office, and the departments of the Treasury, and Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Considerable early efforts were made to establish good working relationships with other departments, including through monthly portfolio secretaries’ meetings and the work of a steering committee with membership drawn from several agencies.

The unit in operation

The Prime Minister agreed to have the unit work with other agencies to review the implementation of a number of Australian Government initiatives. The results of those reviews, developed in consultation with the relevant agencies, feed into Cabinet decision making, and other government decision making, in a variety of ways.

During the 2004–05 Budget process, the unit assisted agencies in providing short implementation assessments on selected new policy proposals they put forward for the government’s consideration. In cases where proposals were adopted, formal implementation plans are to be developed to assist the management of the proposals. The unit prepared—and published on the department’s website—guidelines for project management that provide a framework agencies can use, in addition to their established planning frameworks, in preparing implementation assessments and plans.

This process was followed in relation to over 60 proposals in the 2004–05 Budget, and the unit is now monitoring implementation in relation to 20 packages which may comprise over 100 individual measures. The department, through the unit, will report regularly to the Prime Minister on the progress of the initiatives, and will work with implementing agencies to ensure that any emerging problems are addressed.

Planning is now underway to apply the lessons learned during the 2004–05 Budget process to the standard documentation for proposals brought forward to Cabinet, so as to strengthen and extend the treatment of implementation issues and to facilitate future monitoring.

The Australian Public Service Management Advisory Committee report Connecting Government: Whole of Government Responses to Australia’s Priority Challenges,issued in April 2004, proposed a central role for the Cabinet Implementation Unit in promoting whole-of-government approaches. At the end of June 2004, work was in progress to define the unit’s role in this regard.