Output 4.2—Cabinet Implementation Unit

Page Index

• Feedback on performance
• Key results

Feedback on performance

Feedback from all stakeholders was very positive. The information in Cabinet submissions and reports was seen to provide valuable support for Cabinet’s decision-making processes.

In a post-implementation review of the Cabinet Implementation Unit (CIU) in late 2004, stakeholders commented positively on the unit’s work, particularly in relation to changes to the way new policy proposals are developed and significant policy measures are tracked. The review recommended strategies to increase the unit’s effectiveness, and these are being implemented.

Output 4.2 was assessed as having effectively monitored the implementation of strategic Cabinet decisions.

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Key results

The CIU continued to refine and implement processes to assist Australian Government agencies to make effective submissions to the Cabinet, and to ensure that Cabinet had the information necessary to make informed decisions, during 2004–05. We also expanded our efforts in monitoring the implementation of successful proposals, and promoting best practice in project management across the public sector.

A special article on the CIU and its first 18 months of operation appears later in the annual report.

Information for decision making

During the reporting period, new systems and forms were put in place to require moderate-risk and high-risk policy proposals coming before the Cabinet to provide information about any implementation issues, and the delivery framework proposed to address them.

The CIU and the relevant policy areas of the department continued to work closely with other departments and agencies, as they drafted papers for submission to the Cabinet, to ensure that implementation issues were fully and consistently presented in the papers. We also contributed an implementation perspective to the department’s briefing of the Prime Minister where required.

In order to strengthen and extend the treatment of implementation issues in the budget decision-making process, and to facilitate future monitoring, we incorporated lessons learned from the 2004–05 budget process into revised templates for portfolio budget and Cabinet submissions.

Follow-up of Cabinet decisions

The CIU monitors the implementation plans prepared by departments and agencies and produces quarterly ‘traffic light’ reports to the Prime Minister and Cabinet on progress in implementing those initiatives. The reports are the principal mechanism for follow-up of Cabinet decisions. In partnership with the relevant department or agency, we evaluate progress and identify factors that might prevent timely delivery. If there is a problem, we work with the agency to resolve it or, in some cases, to realign the scope or the timeframe of the project to accommodate unforeseen circumstances. At the end of June 2005, we were monitoring 51 major policy initiatives comprising approximately 230 individual measures.

In 2004–05, the CIU also completed three wider implementation reviews, which allowed us to draw out common lessons from the experience of implementing complex major policy initiatives. The purpose of these reviews was to identify and remove barriers to implementation.

Better practice across the Australian Public Service

The unit has a key role in promoting better practice in project management across the Australian Public Service. We seek to generate a culture which values good implementation practice and consideration of implementation issues during policy development.

During the year, we facilitated regular ‘community of practice’ gatherings, and our staff delivered on average at least one presentation each month to agencies and forums across government, promoting principles of effective project management and explaining the role of the unit. Members of the departmental Executive also spoke on the role and functions of the CIU in a variety of public and internal forums.

The unit is currently reviewing and updating the Guide to Preparing Implementation Plans, which appears on the department’s website. We are also contributing to the development of a whole-of-government website under the auspices of the Management Advisory Committee.

The CIU is part of the current review framework for government activities, and is working with other parts of the department and with the Department of Finance and Administration to determine whether there is any immediate scope for improvement of the review framework.