SES perspectives on the barriers and enablers to service improvement
The following key quotes from key APS leaders provide a direct insight into current thoughts an perceptions around the challenge of trust in service delivery and potential changes to address issues of distrust. This research works to [dis]prove some of these claims and help refine the changes to make a real impact in trust in Australian public service delivery.
Defining the challenge
“The most fundamental problem is that people don’t really make any distinction between the APS and the government and we can’t solve the fundamental problem”.
“What worries me is we keep on knowing what the problem is, we keep on articulating it and why are we not doing anything about it? That’s what worries me. So my question is, have we sufficiently articulated the barriers from a bureaucratic perspective to actually make change? We seem to know what the problems are but we actually don’t get out on the ground and try to do real solutions when we need to (KS8)”.
“I think if you’re entrusted to do something, I think everything that you do, should be done in the good faith of delivering it because you want to do it for the betterment of Australia and the Australian people. I’m just not sure that we’re all committed to that vision (KS12).”
“People and communities don’t really give a crap about what agency they’re using. They’re not really interested in our government structures. I think what they’re interested in is getting on and doing the things they need to be doing in an efficient and effective way and being able to do that freely. I think we’re sort of moving along that path but I also think there’s a huge amount of complexity even in the simplest services that we provide for users, around compliance and paperwork and all that kind of stuff. And, if you’ve got no exposure to government then you’re suddenly having to be in that space, I think it’s a pretty horrific experience” (KS11).
“We actually keep promoting SES because of their cleverness, for want of a better description. Yeah, they’re economists and they’re this and they’re that. We don’t promote people on their engagement skills I don’t believe. We don’t promote on their broader problem-solving skills. So it’s not about whether you’re recruiting them, whether you’re promoting them internally wherever you’re getting them from. I think we go on about diversity, we are missing the diversity in the broad depth and breadth of skills that you need and we do not need a whole bloody SES of economists (KS8)”.
Making the change
“Don’t make assumptions. As humans we will take the quickest route. Our brains are just wired to do that so we will often make quite significant generalisations about regional areas. We make assumptions that they don’t have very good internet access, we make assumptions that they all have fabulous relationships with their neighbours that live 5ks down the road. We all make assumptions that we know each other’s business and I think that’s really dangerous/ We need to find out”. (KS9).
“Delivering better services and by this I mean services that involve less effort and are more tailored to the person will improve their satisfaction with the government and their trust in government (KS1).”
“We need to use complaints as an opportunity for learning (KS5).”
“I think an opportunity [for disruptive change] is the APS review. So I think the APS review could be one of the things that leads us to operate differently (KS2).”
“Making use of natural pathways so rather than inserting something new and disrupting the natural order of things for the citizen, we make use of the doctors, GPs and the newsagents, the post offices, the existing mechanisms that are in place that they already rely on and have trusted relationships with…use of third parties…what we’ve found in that space…is that use of third parties is a good thing but only when they are a trusted entity and known to the individual. I think that applies probably to a greater extent in regional areas than it would in cities (KS9).”
“Invest in capability for service delivery. That has to be our platform. And we haven’t done that, we’ve neglected it, both sides of parliament (KS6).”