❓ The WA parliamentary question addresses the progress and impact of the 2017 Machinery of Government (MoG) changes, focusing on completion timelines, IT platform integration, staff stress leave, contract employment, and internal reviews. The answer provides updates on progress, challenges, and future plans, while declining to provide specific data on stress leave and citing confidentiality for internal reviews.
AnsweredQoN 4948Legislative Assembly
Asked
21 March 2019
Member
Portfolio
Premier; Minister for Public Sector Management; State Development, Jobs and Trade; Federal-State Relations
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to your announcement in early 2017 of significant Machinery of Government (MoG) changes to the public sector and ask: (a) When do you expect to complete the MoG changes; (b) Are you aware many amalgamated agencies still have multiple operating platforms; (c) When do you expect amalgamated agencies to be operating off the same platform; (d) Can the Premier list the number of agency staff across the general Government sector who have taken leave for stress related reasons over the last 2 years; (e) Can the Premier list the proportion of staff in the general Government sector who are on terms of contract other than full time permanent and part time permanent for each agency: (i) Can the Premier include in this list the breakdown of the different employment conditions that fall into this group; and (f) Has the Premier or his agencies engaged any internal reviews of the MoG changes and progress to date: (i) If yes, will the Premier table this internal review?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
8 May 2019
Response time
8 days
Department of the Premier and Cabinet
(a) The State Government has committed to long term reform of the public sector to drive greater collaboration on complex policy issues, strengthen agency accountability and responsibility, and deliver better quality services at the most efficient cost. The fragmented nature of the WA public sector has been identified in successive reports (the Service Priority Review and Special Inquiry into Government Programs and Projects ) as inhibiting these objectives. The machinery of government changes made in 2017 were the first step: the harder task is the cultural change in the sector which will take 5-7 years.
(b) Yes, it is a symptom of an historically fragmented public sector and a lack of central government leadership.
(c) Decisions will be made by individual agencies, with the guidance and support of the Office of Digital Government, in a financially sustainable manner, and noting that the expiration of existing contracts will vary. It should be noted that the policy goal is an interoperable public sector: this does not necessarily mean all should have the same operating systems as there are contemporary technological solutions to deliver interoperability.
(d) The percentage of Personal Leave taken relating to instances of stress is not recorded by the Department. Further, the Department of Premier and Cabinet does not record this information for employees across the general Government sector.
(e)-(e)(i) [Please see tabled paper no].
(f) The Expenditure Review Committee (ERC) has commissioned capability reviews of some agencies, notably the Department of Communities, Department of Training and Workforce Development, and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. This is in line with recommendation 16 of the Service Priority Review, which recommended introducing a regular cycle of agency capability reviews to drive ongoing improvement across the sector. These reports are ERC in confidence.
(a) The State Government has committed to long term reform of the public sector to drive greater collaboration on complex policy issues, strengthen agency accountability and responsibility, and deliver better quality services at the most efficient cost. The fragmented nature of the WA public sector has been identified in successive reports (the Service Priority Review and Special Inquiry into Government Programs and Projects ) as inhibiting these objectives. The machinery of government changes made in 2017 were the first step: the harder task is the cultural change in the sector which will take 5-7 years.
(b) Yes, it is a symptom of an historically fragmented public sector and a lack of central government leadership.
(c) Decisions will be made by individual agencies, with the guidance and support of the Office of Digital Government, in a financially sustainable manner, and noting that the expiration of existing contracts will vary. It should be noted that the policy goal is an interoperable public sector: this does not necessarily mean all should have the same operating systems as there are contemporary technological solutions to deliver interoperability.
(d) The percentage of Personal Leave taken relating to instances of stress is not recorded by the Department. Further, the Department of Premier and Cabinet does not record this information for employees across the general Government sector.
(e)-(e)(i) [Please see tabled paper no].
(f) The Expenditure Review Committee (ERC) has commissioned capability reviews of some agencies, notably the Department of Communities, Department of Training and Workforce Development, and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. This is in line with recommendation 16 of the Service Priority Review, which recommended introducing a regular cycle of agency capability reviews to drive ongoing improvement across the sector. These reports are ERC in confidence.
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