| Recommendation: 8 | Harness external perspectives and capability by working openly and meaningfully with people, communities and organisations, under an accountable Charter of Partnerships | Overall status: Underway |
| Thodey guidance | Status | Delivery on Thodey |
|---|---|---|
| Secretaries Board to develop a Charter of Partnerships to promote an open APS and guide external engagement and collaboration. | Complete | The Secretaries Board established a Partnership Priorities Sub-committee (PPC) that met for the first time in February 2023. The PPC oversaw the development of the Charter of Partnerships and Engagement, which was released in November 2023. The Charter sets clear expectations – for government, the APS and the community – on how the APS will work with external partners. |
| All agencies to embed Charter expectations into individual and agency head performance management and corporate planning and reporting. | Underway | Across 2024, the APS Reform Office will lead activities to embed the Charter across the service to build the mindsets and behaviours to engage and partner meaningfully. |
| All agencies to draw on diverse and rich community and partner insights in advice to Government, including in Cabinet and budget processes. | Underway | Assessments of partnership capabilities are built into the recently established capability reviews, and assessments are ongoing regarding agency maturity levels for engagement based on international standards. The Budget Process Operational Rules (BPORs) were updated in December 2022 to include a refreshed set of overarching objectives, including a focus on evaluating expenditure to inform and improve the development of new policy proposals. The Cabinet Handbook was also updated to support First Nations perspectives and engagement as part of the policy lifecycle. |
| Government to commission a review of privacy, FOI and record-keeping arrangements to ensure that they are fit for the digital age, by: supporting greater transparency and disclosure, simpler administration and faster decisions, while protecting personal data and other information, and exempting material prepared to inform deliberative processes of government from release under FOI. | Underway | In January 2020, David Tune completed a Functional and Efficiency Review into the National Archives of Australia, which made a series of recommendations aimed at enhancing the management, preservation and use of Commonwealth information in the digital age. In August 2021, the Government agreed to all 20 recommendations in full or in principle. This complements additional work being carried out by the Attorney General’s Department and the National Archives of Australia on record-keeping and integrity. |