Discussion Paper for the Review of the Report on Government Services

COAG has requested that a Senior Officials and Heads of Treasuries Working Group undertake a review of the Report on Government Services.

As part of this review, a discussion paper on the Report on Government Services has been released. Interested parties are invited to provide feedback on the discussion paper from 18 May to 17 July 2009.

Read more about the Report on Government Services on the Productivity Commission’s website.

Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on Federal Financial Relations

COAG has reaffirmed its commitment to cooperative working arrangements through an historic new IGA that provides an overarching framework for the Commonwealth’s financial relations with the States and Territories (the States). 

More information on this Agreement and National Partnerships is now available.

COAG REFORM COUNCIL

The material on these pages is the responsibility of the COAG Reform Council and does not necessarily reflect the views of governments/COAG.

The COAG Reform Council has been established by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) as part of the new arrangements for federal financial relations to assist COAG to drive its national reform agenda. The council is independent of individual governments and reports directly to COAG.

The goals of the COAG reform agenda are to boost productivity, workforce participation and geographic mobility, and support wider objectives of better services for the community, social inclusion, closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage and environmental sustainability.

The council aims to strengthen accountability for the achievement of results through independent and evidenced-based monitoring, assessment and reporting of the performance of all governments. 

The council’s specific roles are to:

  • publish performance data and to compare the performance of governments against the outcomes governments have agreed to achieve under the National Agreements in healthcare, education, skills and workforce development, disability services, affordable housing, and overcoming Indigenous disadvantage
  • independently assess whether milestones and performance benchmarks have been achieved by governments, under various National Partnerships, before an incentive payment is made to reward nationally significant reforms or service delivery improvements (the council is responsible for assessments under six National Partnerships in the health and education sectors; and under the National Partnership Agreement to Deliver a Seamless National Economy, which includes 36 streams of business regulation and competition reform)
  • assess performance of the Commonwealth and the Basin States under Water Management Partnerships as part of the reforms under the Agreement on Murray-Darling Basin Reform
  • advise COAG on the aggregate pace of activity in progressing COAG’s reform agenda
  • advise COAG on options to improve COAG’s performance reporting framework.

Full details of the role of the council can be found within the COAG Communiqués and Intergovernmental Agreements on this website (particularly the Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations and the Agreement on Murray-Darling Basin Reform).

Further details about the COAG reform agenda and the role of the COAG Reform Council can also be found in Budget Paper No. 3, Australia’s Federal Relations 2009-10, available on the Budget website.

The Secretariat

A secretariat, located in Sydney and jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the States and Territories, has been established to support the COAG Reform Council in its work. The secretariat assists the council in its assessment and monitoring role, including supporting the Chairman and members of the council through advice and analysis, the preparation of papers and ensuring the effective conduct of the council’s business. In doing its work, the secretariat is required to liaise with government agencies, ministerial councils and other bodies as appropriate.

The secretariat has been established as an administrative unit within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet for carriage of legal, employment and administrative matters.

Last Updated: 25 May, 2009