PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE COMMISSION

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon) (15:02): I offer my congratulations to Peter Slipper.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Indeed.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member will get to the question.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: My question is to the Minister for the Public Sector. Can the minister describe how the cross-government implementation of the high performance framework will improve outcomes and productivity in the Public Service?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Sector) (15:02): I thank the member for Croydon for the question. In July 2008 the government established the Public Sector Performance Commission to improve performance and promote collaboration across the public sector. One of the key outcomes—

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: One of the key outcomes from the commission was the development of a high performance framework. The framework is a systematic approach to organisational development to help foster continuous improvement and innovation within the Public Service. This program has been successfully piloted in a number of agencies and will be rolled out across all government departments in 2012.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: The senior management council has been tasked with responsibility for the implementation of the high performance framework. If members opposite are really interested in how we can improve the performance of the public sector I have actually got a folder here derived from about 15 countries around the world that are all embracing this particular approach to lift their performance, including Canada.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Point of order, Madam Speaker. There is a longstanding tradition that when a minister quotes from a government document he tables it. I ask him to table it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! He has not quoted from the document. Minister.

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: I have not quoted from it, but I am more than willing to make it available to the member for Davenport. He may find it of great interest and edification. New Zealand, Canada and the UK are very much embracing this particular proposition. We have taken from their concepts and a concept run within the private sector within Australia to develop this particular framework, and we are in the process of implementing it.

It is a tool designed to help senior management steer the public sector towards meeting a set of goals as effectively and efficiently as possible. As I said, the framework is a hybrid program that draws from the Business Excellence Framework used extensively in the private sector in Australia and performance frameworks used in the public services in New Zealand, the UK and Canada.

It will for the first time provide a standardised review mechanism for agencies to assess their performance. Many of the questions that are asked in this house focus very much on the specific performance of government agencies. This is a tool to lift overall performance across the public sector. Being able to access hard data about performance is essential for lifting productivity. As the government is the largest employer in South Australia, productivity improvements are essential for ensuring the long-term prosperity of the state, and I do not think there is any disagreement in the house on that particular point.

In excess of 100,000 South Australians—either in a full-time or a part-time capacity—are employed by the South Australian Public Service. What we do in the Public Service is going to be a great driver for overall lift in productivity across the state. The High Performance Framework will allow senior management to identify where improvements need to be made and track the progress of those particular improvements.

It is a tool that will reduce waste and maximise the effective use of resources. The High Performance Framework is just one of a number of programs that the Public Sector Management Division is implementing to drive process innovation in the public sector. It complements the South Australian Executive Service, which will provide senior executives with the professional development and training to perform their roles better and a forum with which to come up with creative solutions to problems across government.

It also complements the Sustainable Workforce Initiative, which will work towards tracking the vast array of skills and competencies in the public sector to help plan and anticipate future staffing requirements rather than being reactive to vacancies and skill shortages, as we have been in the past. These combined initiatives reflect world's best practice on how to develop high performance within organisations, and I look forward to keeping the house informed about future developments in these areas.