DR ALLAN HAWKE AC TO REVIEW ACT PUBLIC-SECTOR STRUCTURES, CAPACITY

Distinguished former departmental secretary Dr Allan Hawke, AC, has been engaged by the Chief Minister's Department to review the structure and capacity of the ACT public sector, as the mid-point of this term of government approaches.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said the Government wanted to be sure that the configuration of the public sector remained appropriate for meeting the broad-ranging needs of government and to deliver on the Government's agenda for the remainder of the term, particularly in relation to major priorities such as sustainability, housing affordability and transport, which crossed traditional agency parameters.

Dr Hawke has been asked to examine:

the capacity of existing public-sector structures to support the government of the day with strategic and direction-setting advice;

effectiveness in delivering on government policies and objectives;
performance and accountability mechanisms;

how existing structures differentiate between the roles of policy and regulation;

across-government coordination of service delivery; and

structures that would improve resilience and innovation across the public sector.

The reviewer, Dr Hawke, was a former Secretary of a number of Commonwealth departments, including Defence, Transport & Regional Services, and Veterans' Affairs. More recently he has headed up reviews of Commonwealth environmental legislation and the role of Ministerial Councils.

The ACT review will commence immediately and Mr Stanhope said he looked forward to seeing Dr Hawke's findings by the end of the year. There will be opportunities for consultation and for individuals to make submissions to the review.

The review will form part of a suite of work currently being undertaken by the Government mid-term, including the review of taxation being headed up by former Treasurer Ted Quinlan, a continuation of the Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee's identification of potential efficiencies, and finalisation of a formal document outlining the Government's priorities for the reminder of the term.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said today that the review of structures and operational effectiveness would complement and build on work undertaken in 2006 through the Costello Review, which focused primarily on efficiencies.

Media Contact:

Chantelle Lustri 6205 2775 0434 560 770 chantelle.lustri@act.gov.au
Jess Wurf 6205 0504 0411 772 700 jess.wurf@act.gov.au