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Learning from Failure by Professor Peter Shergold

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Learning from Failure by Professor Peter Shergold © Commonwealth of Australia 2015 All material produced by the Australian Public Service Commission (the Commission) constitutes Commonwealth copyright administered by the Commission. The Commission reserves the right to set out the terms and conditions for the use of such material. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 and those explicitly granted below, all other rights are reserved. Unless otherwise noted, all material in this publication, except the Commission logo or badge, the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and any material protected by a trade mark, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. Details of the licence are available at <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/>. Attributing Commission works Use of Commission material licensed under a Creative Commons BY Attribution 3.0 Australia licence requires you to attribute the work in the manner specified by the Commission (but not in any way that suggests that the Commission endorses you or your use of the work). Almost any form of words is fine provided that you: • provide a reference to the publication, its author, and, where practical, the relevant pages • make clear whether or not you have changed Commission content • make clear what permission you are relying on, by including a reference to this page or to a human-readable summary of the Creative Commons BY Attribution 3.0 Australia licence • do not suggest that the Commission endorses you or your use of our content. For example, if you have not changed Commission content in any way, you might state: ‘Sourced from the Australian Public Service Commission publication Learning from Failure by Professor Peter Shergold. This material is licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons BY Attribution 3.0 Australia licence.’ If you have made changes to Commission content, it would be more accurate to describe it as ‘based on Australian Public Service Commission content. Enquiries For enquiries concerning reproduction and rights in Commission products and services, please contact [email protected]. ISBN: 978-0-9943750-0-1 Letter of Transmittal The Hon Greg Hunt MP Minister for the Environment Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 Dear Minister In accordance with the Terms of Reference issued to me on 24 December 2014, I have undertaken an independent review of government processes for implementing large programs and projects, including the roles of ministers and public servants. As requested, the review has taken account of the findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program, the report of the Independent Audit of the NBN Public Policy Processes (the Scales Review), and best practices in Australia and internationally. I have pleasure in presenting you with my report, Learning from Failure: Why large government policy initiatives have gone so badly wrong in the past and how the chances of success in the future can be improved. I very much appreciate the opportunity you have given me to consider such important issues. You will note that whilst I have come to conclusions as to how to improve the management of major projects I have not made recommendations to the Government. My strong preference is that the review be made widely available for public comment and discussion. I hope, in particular, that the views of the Australian Public Service on its proposals will help to inform the Government’s response. In preparing this report I was assisted by a secretariat drawn from a number of Australian Government agencies. I record my appreciation for their insights, commitment and enthusiasm. I also express my thanks for those who met with me and the secretariat over the course of the review, and I am particularly grateful to the peer reviewers who commented on an earlier draft of this report. Yours sincerely Professor Peter Shergold AC 12 August 2015 Table of Contents Letter of Transmittal ................................................................................................................... Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... Terms of Reference ................................................................................................................... i The Future: Avoiding Repetition of Failure................................................................................ ii Executive summary: 28 proposals for improvement ................................................................ iii A Providing Robust Advice ............................................................................................. iii B Supporting Decision Making ........................................................................................ iv C Creating a Positive Risk Culture .................................................................................. v D Enhancing Program Management.............................................................................. vii E Opening Up the APS ................................................................................................. viii F Embracing Adaptive Government ............................................................................... x Reflections on Failure............................................................................................................... 1 Lessons from the Past.............................................................................................................. 8 A | Providing Robust Advice ................................................................................................... 15 Problems exposed ............................................................................................................ 15 Problems addressed ......................................................................................................... 16 B | Supporting Decision Making ............................................................................................. 25 Problems exposed ............................................................................................................ 25 Problems addressed ......................................................................................................... 26 C | Creating a Positive Risk Culture ....................................................................................... 36 Problems exposed ............................................................................................................ 36 Problems addressed ......................................................................................................... 37 D | Enhancing Program Management .................................................................................... 45 Problems Exposed ............................................................................................................ 45 Problems Addressed ........................................................................................................ 46 E | Opening up the APS ......................................................................................................... 53 Problems exposed ............................................................................................................ 53 Problems addressed ......................................................................................................... 53 F | Embracing Adaptive Government ..................................................................................... 63 Problems exposed ............................................................................................................ 63 Problems addressed ......................................................................................................... 64 The Future: Learning from Mistakes ...................................................................................... 84 Acronyms ............................................................................................................................... 85 Appendix | Acknowledgements and Consultation .................................................................. 86 Organisations ............................................................................................................ 86 Individuals .................................................................................................................. 87 Secretariat ................................................................................................................. 88 Reviewer .................................................................................................................... 89 Endnotes ................................................................................................................................ 90 Terms of Reference 1. The Government has asked Professor Peter Shergold AC to lead an independent review of Government processes for the development and implementation of large public programmes and projects, including the roles of ministers and public servants. 2. The Review will make practical recommendations to enhance the capacity of the Australian Government to: a. Design and implement large public programmes and projects; b. Develop robust and effective governance and accountability arrangements for such programmes and projects; c. Understand the broader environment in which programmes and policies are design and implemented (including through effective public consultation
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