The design and implementation of policies and programs need to be better

THE Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit today tabled its report for the Inquiry into Policy and Program Design and Implementation.

Committee Chair Linda Burney said specific recurring issues identified in the Auditor-General reports included in the inquiry appear to be impacting the effectiveness of government policy and program design, including inadequate stakeholder engagement, a lack of effective performance measures, and deficiencies in the advice to government.

Ms Burney said, "Ineffective decision-making and a departure from best practice resulted in some common issues across the audits examined by the Committee, even though they involved very different programs.

"This inquiry has highlighted that Commonwealth entities must remain vigilant in ensuring that they continue to meet best practice requirements when designing and implementing policies and programs for the benefit of the Australian public."

The committee has made 11 recommendations in this report which include requests for progress updates from audited entities on a variety of issues including stakeholder engagement planning, legislative changes, and information management processes.

The committee has also recommended that the Australian Government prioritises legislation that aligns the Health Insurance Act with the modern technological requirements of telehealth and that reforms the existing partner and child family visa programs to make them truly demand driven.

The report can be downloaded from the inquiry website.

 

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