Public Participation-What you had to say
Further in the series- Issues raised in Submissions on Draft National Action Plan
Commitment 5.2 Enhance public participation in government decision-making
People want government to commit to lifting its game- more participatory democracy.
From the PM&C round up:
Angus King Switched on Solar!
Yes.
Daniel Marsh Sociometry (consultancy)
Should be amended to clarify the framework is not intended to include state, territory and local governments. The draft NAP should consider explicit links through COAG processes to alignment of revised frameworks – particularly important where agencies share decision-making (e.g. some envt approvals).
Ambition should be challenging ourselves to a higher level of performance. The greater barrier is capacity within government. Consider a quality management system – having a policy and guidance is not sufficient. Should be expanded to address: policy, objectives/targets, risk assessments, resources, roles and responsibilities, competency, training and assessment, documentation and control, performance incident investigation, corrective and preventative actions, audit and review. It is the ability of organisations to evaluate successes and failures and adapt their practices that will lead to improved decision-making. Guidance and tools are useful, but improvements require culture change that can be underpinned by quality management systems.
Propose a commitment 5.3 requiring development through consultation of a Policy Impact Statement, Program Impact Statement, or Project Impact Statement for major Commonwealth undertakings. Similar to the RIS but more robustly based on evidence. Consultation without hte focus of such systematic ex-ante impact assessment can be unfocused.
Carole Excell OGP Natural Resources Working Group (World Resources Institute)
Supports this commitment – innovative and welcome. Should include mention of seeking public participation in any decisions related to environment – specific examples of good practice can be found on the EnvironmentL Democracy Index rankings: http://www.environmentaldemocracyindex.org/rank-countries#2
Leanne Hartill IAP2 Australasia
The milestones appear realistic and achievable.
IAP2 should be involved in this commitment, as they have access to both international and national examples of best practice engagement. Should incorporate the IAP2 Core values as they provide an opportunity to direct good participatory processes but also a tool against which to assess the process.
Michael Croker Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand
Supports this commitment and would like to be involved in drafting the framework.
Karen Burgess The BubbleGum Club
This commitment should be informed by the Open Government spirit. Without this, there is a risk this membership is little more than maintaining a connection with the international community.
Bob Douglas
Amend objectives, with the following proposed words: “We will
a) facilitate an independent co-design process, in partnership with civil society, of the governance, reporting and accountability for the OGP Action Plan and future plans
b) provide untied financial support for a feasibility study for an independent, publicly funded and civil society led “Public Interest Council”.
The Public Interest Council of Australia would:
– provide a national focus on the environmental sustainability, welfare and well-being of the Australian population and extent to which the conditions of social life in Australia allow social groups and individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfilment.
– also monitor progress in meeting SDGs
– could sponsor fora, conferences, surveys, investigations to understand the various elements of public interest and a common good.
Dr Madeleine Roberts
Improving public participation in government decision-making has not yet been advanced in any tangible way.
Beth Slatyer Individual
Commitment lacks ambition and detail. The description of the Status Quo fails to tease out the barriers to better policy development, including the lack of policy capacity in the government and public service, the lack of specialist knowledge in the public service, the reliance on consultancy firms etc.
PM&C to develop a framework for best practice policy development – focussing on the whole policy development cycle.
Fund civil society to undertake a stocktake of current approaches to public and civil society participation in government decision making, including most importantly an analysis of which approaches are accepted, trusted, and seen to add value, and which are not.
Mozart Olbrycht-Palmer Pirate Party
Improvements should be made to encourage and facilitate public participation much earlier in the legislative and decision-making processes.
Increase the use of exposure drafts before introducing legislation. Improve publicity of consultations.
Kat Szuminska OpenAustralia Foundation
Development of a “whole-of-government framework” is preceded by the development of prototypes in collaboration with the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) in accordance with the Digital Service Standard (DSS).
Sue McKerracher Australian Library and Information Association
With more than 1500 physical locations, 8.6 million registered members and 112 million visits per annum, public libraries are well placed to support participation and engagement.
Natasha Molt Law Council of Australia
The ALRC’s recommendations in relation to scrutiny mechanisms be adopted as a milestone in relation to this Commitment.
Chris Snow Individual
• Members of the public and private sectors have a right to be equal partners in gov decision-making, subject to the executive and legislatures being the ultimate decision-makers.
• Non-gov participants should determine the structure and functions of any organisation which represents them.
• Non-gov participants should have sufficient information provided in sufficient time.
• Communicate in plain language the needs and interests of Non-gov participants
• Non-gov contribution will include negotiation rights.
Rob Gravestocks Articulous Communications
We would propose a customisable engagement framework for federal government bodies which could be modified, shared and used as collaborative learning tools. Developed via a series of workshops and summits supported by staff and stakeholder training, and supported by a range of online and face-to-face engagement mechanisms (see submission for more detail).
Mel Flanagan Nook Studios
To strengthen the commitment to public participation, actors should include the general public.
Recommend the wording “work towards improving” be changed to “will improve”.
Strongly recommend the government commit to embedding participatory design into the design of policy and government services.
To deliver true public participation, my recommendation is the Government should create an initiative under the National Innovation Agenda or establish a new procurement framework for private enterprises and non government organisations to pitch unsolicited proposals to government, access funding to develop and prototype ideas, and collaborate with government in designing and delivering online and offline solutions to enhance participation.
Cath Elderton
Public sectors leaders to do work that’s focussed on better understanding their inner selves, so they can develop a clarity about their intentions and purpose as public servants, and build their skills as leaders and followers.
Notice the reference to IAP2, which is also heartening in your submission.
Crispin Butteriss
Suggest: “Australian Government agencies will collectively demonstrate global public participation leadership by adopting, resourcing and implementing leading practice P2 polices, structures, processes and methodologies, and digital technologies to enhance policy development and service delivery outcomes for Australians by 2018.”
Joe Waller
• A deep explanation of the current state of the engagement across the different levels of government.
• More focus on the capacity building in the design of engagements rather than just default to the status quo.
• A commitment from organisations to provide a supporting environment for consultation managers to move beyond the status quo.
• A greater understanding about the resourcing, skill set and commitment to facilitate engagements.
Robyn Cochrane
Inclusion of IAP2 Australia Board and/or practitioners as ‘non-government actors’ as they are professionals operating in this space. Consider inviting IAP2 practitioners to be contribute to and review pilot initiatives.