Paper to the ABS NatStats08 Conference Melbourne
November 2008:
Planning and measuring
state level progress:
the WA experience
Peter Wilkins
“If we could first know where
we are and whither we are
tending, we could better
judge what to do, and how to
do it …”
-- Abraham Lincoln
Overview
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Some context
WA reporting of performance
Budgets as state plans
Improving usefulness and usage
IMPACT
EFFECTIVENESS
OUTCOME
OUTPUTS
EFFICIENCY
OUTPUT
WORKLOAD
PROCESS
COST
INPUTS
Brief WA history
Mid 80s
Efficiency and effectiveness
Late 80s
TQM, evaluation
Mid 90s
Late 90s
Public sector, risk &
knowledge mgt; customer
focus, balanced scorecard
Output-based management
00s
Outcome-based management
Late 00s? TBD
Towards performance governance
Mechanisms for integrating, aligning &
framing:
• Citizen engagement
• Integrative initiatives eg measurement,
accountability and citizen participation
• Whole of government and societal
indicators and impacts
Bouckaert, G and Halligan J 2008
WA Framework
Better Planning: Better Futures (2006)
• Five Goals and 21 Strategic Outcomes
Example:
• Goal 1 Better Services
Enhancing the quality of life and well-being of all people
throughout Western Australia by providing high-quality,
accessible services
• Strategic Outcome 1.3 A safe community
– People should be safe in their homes, their communities and their
workplace and their property should be secure. The impact of
human and natural hazards on the community will be minimised.
Strategies will aim to ensure that people are protected from others,
act in ways that reduce accidental harm to themselves and do not
attempt to harm others, including members of their own family.
Specific Strategies
WA Framework (2)
Budget Papers
Example: WA Police
Mission: To enhance the quality of life and
well-being of all people in Western
Australia by contributing to making our
State a safe and secure place.
Four Desired Outcomes eight Services
4. A safer and more secure community
Service 8. Implementation of the State
Crime Prevention Strategy
WA Framework (3)
Effectiveness KPIs:
Reported rate of home burglary the 1000 residential dwellings
Proportion of the community who feel ‘safe’ or ‘ very safe’ at
home alone after dark
Proportion of the community who feel ‘safe’ or ‘ very safe’ at
home alone after dark
Efficiency KPIs:
Average cost per community safety and crime prevention
partnership managed
Average cost per hour for research, policy development and
support to the Community Safety and Crime Prevention
Council
Average cost per $1 million in grants funding administered
Selected audited KPIs
DCS Budget papers 2008-09
Relationship to Government Goals
Government
Goal
Desired
Outcome
Enhancing the
A safe, secure and
quality of life and
decent corrective
wellbeing of all
services system
people
which
throughout
contributes to
Western Australia
community
by providing high
safety and
quality,
reduced
accessible
offenders'
involvement in
services.
the justice
system.
Services
1. Adult Offender
Services
2. Juvenile Offender
Services
Virginia Performs
Virginia Performs
Performance Indicators
• Intended as a guide to understanding
organisational performance
• Provide an insight into an
organisation’s achievement
• Are indicators, not
precise measures of performance
Factors affecting use
Characteristics of the
environment
Characteristics of the
information
• information needs
• decision characteristics
• types of activity being
reported on
• skills and work-styles of
senior managers
• political climate
• competing information
• leadership and interest
groups
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information quality
credibility
relevance
communication quality
findings
timeliness
accessibility of
information
Wilkins 2006
How useful?
Evidence might include:
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contributions to decision-making
satisfaction of users of the information
the quality of the information reported
views of the preparers of the information
linkage of internal and external domains
What could most usefully be
covered?
• On target, and what this means?
ie the basis of the targets is explained.
• Getting better?
• Better than others?
• Logical links between observed trends
and the agency’s service(s)? ie cause
and effect are explained
• Limitations made clear?
Relevant and Appropriate
 The measures and indicators must relate to
outcome and outputs being measured.
 Indicators provide sufficient information to
enable assessment of agency performance,
including
 Against targets
 Trends over time
 Compared to others
Fairly Represent
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Comprehensive/Completeness
Verifiable by independent assessment
Free from bias or distortion
Quantifiable
Notes to Explain
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how the indicators have been derived
any variations from previous indicators
why the indicators are relevant
why these are key indicators
how the indicators can assist the user
impact of unusual events or
circumstances
Performance Stories
• What was expected?
• What was achieved and why?
Causality: Contribution Analysis
• Theory of change
• Evidence
• Contribution story
Mayne 2004
Information sources & types
• The majority of public sector
performance information is never seen
by the public or the Parliament
• External reporting is largely a supplydriven process
• Increased interest in whole-ofgovernment reporting
An Example
Outcome
“A responsive vocational education and training sector which
meets the needs of Western Australian students and employers
Effectiveness Indicator
Vocational education and training (VET) participation rate
Table17: Vocational Education and Training (VET) Participation Rate
(Percentages), 2003-2007
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Target in 2007-08
Budget Papers
8.1
7.8
7.9
8.0
8.4
8
Contact details
Dr Peter Wilkins
Office of the Auditor General
4th floor Dumas House
2 Havelock St
WEST PERTH
Western Australia 6005
AUSTRALIA
Phone:
Mobile:
Fax:
Email:
+61 8 9222 7588
+61 407 380 772
+61 8 9322 5664
pwilkins@audit.wa.gov.au
References (1)
Bouckaert, G and Halligan J 2008. Managing Performance: International
comparisons.Routledge, London
Mayne, J. (2004). Reporting on outcomes: Setting performance expectations and telling
performance stories. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation 19(1) 31-60.
Mayne, J. and Wilkins, P. (2005). “Believe it or not?”:The Emergence of Performance
Information Auditing. In Schwartz, R. and Mayne, J. (eds.). Quality Matters: Seeking
Confidence in Evaluation, Auditing and Performance Reporting. New Brunswick, NJ,
Transaction Publishers.
van Schoubroeck, L. (2008) Strategic planning: why would politicians be interested? Some
insights from Western Australia. Canadian Political Science Association Annual
Conference. 6 June. Vancouver, http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers2008/van%20Schoubroeck.pdf.
van Schoubroeck, L. (2008). Key Performance Indicators: Where are they now?
Paper prepared for the Office of the Auditor General Perth, Western Australia.
http://www.audit.wa.gov.au/pubs/KPIs_WherearetheynowpaperLVS.pdf
References (2)
WA Department of the Premier and Cabinet (2006) Better Planning: Better Futures: A
Framework for the Strategic Management of the Western Australian Public Sector,
Government of Western Australia.
WA Department of Treasury and Finance (2004) Outcome Based Management: Guidelines
for use in the Western Australian Public Sector, Perth, Government of Western Australia.
http://www.dtf.wa.gov.au/cms/uploadedFiles/obmnov04.pdf.
Wilkins, P. (2002). State Whole-of-Government Planning and Reporting : Involving
Citizens In Government. Paper to the IPAA National Conference “Powerful Connections”
Adelaide November 2002.
Wilkins, P. (1998). Reporting performance: Lessons on how and why from North America.
Paper to the Practitioner and Academic Symposium Institute of Public Administration of
Australia National Conference, Hobart.
Wilkins, P. and Mayne J. (2002) Providing Assurance on Performance Reports: Two
jurisdictions compared http://www.audit.wa.gov.au/reports/providingassurance.html
Virginia Performs (2008) Virginia Performs: Measuring Virginia,
http://www.vaperforms.virginia.gov/index.php.