Benchmarking the performance of the Australian Government

Came across an interesting study by KPMG on "Benchmarking the performance of the Australian Government Service"

In September 2009, the Prime Minister of Australia announced his ambition to further strengthen the Australian Public Service (APS). As a first step, he has established an Advisory Group on Reform of the Australian Government Administration to develop a blueprint for reform of the public service. Its mission is to advise on how to create “the best public service anywhere in the world unified in pursuing excellence and putting Australia and Australians at the centre of everything [it does]”.

To inform the Advisory Group’s work, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet commissioned KPMG to compare the performance of the APS against leading public services around the world.

The Advisory Group drew up a set of key criteria which reflect the characteristics of a model public service. According to the Advisory Group, the public service of the future must:

-have a values-driven culture that retains public trust;

-provide high-quality, forward-looking and creative policy advice;

-deliver high-quality programs and services that put the citizen first;

-provide flexible and agile responses to changing realities and government priorities; and

- be effective and efficient in all operations.

This study compares the performance of the Australian Public Service (APS) to those of eight other public services in France, Denmark, Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands. It evaluates six key criteria, including the effectiveness and efficiency of operations, the ability to provide flexible and agile responses to changing realities, and the capacity to attract and retain people of the highest quality. According to the results of the survey, the APS is a high performer where responsive to changes in the economy is concerned but performs comparatively poorly in terms of its capability for coordinated, informed and strategic policy.

This is fascinating comparative study of the public service in these 8 countries and provides some food for thought for all those interested in the performance of public services.