Rewiring Public Services ‘The Better Way’

Now, LG is at the crossroads The perfect storm or the perfect opportunity? LG has always been, and is, the ‘poor relation’ of the public sector. Almost an afterthought. Many Councils have real issues re financial sustainability: struggling to deliver, skills loss 2 speed LG economy (rich and poor) Councils are still doing things ‘their own way’ = duplication and waste turbulent change as we rush towards the Digital Society and Digital Government with an ageing population the public sector pursues reform: do more with less more change in the next 5-10 years than in the last 30 years

LG current Communities/citizens expectations are rising rapidly (24x7 and NOW and co-design) - but disengaged communities Most Councils can’t fund their infrastructure backlog Most Councils struggling to deliver services Councils continue to do things 560/79 times: duplication State Govt will not connect Commonwealth funding for LG is reducing Most Councils can’t scale the ‘Digital Divide’ Individual Councils don’t have the resources to leverage the benefits of technology Councils are rapidly losing skills and knowledge Councils continue to expand the scope of their services

The internet of everything 1990s-2000: ‘the internet will change everything’ As if! Well, it has and we ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Almost every organisation is re-thinking their business model and transforming service delivery strategies (which cloud?) World is transforming into a networked, collaborative society Next 5-10 years: the Internet of Everything Network of networks (everything connected) Linking people, processes, data and things Gov 2.0: putting government in the hands of citizens with infrastructure platforms, open data Will redefine government: community-based leadership emerging Does LG have a game plan? Is it in any plan? Is this a threat or an opportunity?

The Future of public services Existing public services and funding are fragmented: do not address local needs

The Future of public services Existing public services are fragmented: do not address local needs 19th century Government/Council silos will be replaced by collaborative, joined-up government in the cloud: better connecting people and services We are experiencing a sea-change in the way people expect to interact with service providers Commonwealth and State Govts are planning for Digital Government but LG needs to be included in ‘whole of government’ planning What about LG? We need a game plan: we need to be at the table They should be saying: ‘we can’t do it without LG’ What are they saying? ‘We’re planning our system: we’ll may give you a pipe’= opportunity for LG to lead (or be the dinosaur facing?)

Transforming into Society Networks of networks Now Citizens Government Local Govt. Networks of networks Now Networks Now Local Move from silos to citizen-centric ‘joined up’ government (seamless) Facilitates/brokers local outcomes Source of most public sector info’ Leader or lagger? Councils of the Future ‘plan the plan’ Major change management challenge

Current example: roads Australia has 810,000 kms of roads (& an ageing population) 81% managed by LG Some rural Councils spend more than half their total annual turnover on roads There is no national road data framework Councils classify roads in various ways Some freight routes stop at Council boundaries Some road managers cannot afford to maintain their roads Separate planning for State and Council roads Funding for roads is by formula, not need (metro ‘rich’ vs rural ‘poor’)

Roads: the future Roads will be planned and managed on a regional network basis (State and local) Maintenance is being increasingly outsourced Road funding will be allocated according to projected need: close the gaps (required level of service vs actual condition): PC Inquiry Starting point: road data from all road managers can be aggregated by using a common road data model Question: Position of LG?

Public Sector: Principles for the future The public sector (FSL) exists to meet citizen and community needs The public sector needs to become more productive (remove duplication and waste) more responsive more innovative and increase the transparency and quality of engagement with citizens

Principles for the future Digital Government is coming The 3 levels of government need to work more collaboratively so citizens have a seamless experience: integrated systems (one record per citizen) integrated planning (eg. road network) one answer regardless of who supplies it tell your story once Open Government: citizens can access public information and can have input and influence to improve quality of decision-making (co-design)

Principles for the future Citizens can easily find, understand and act on G information and services Assume many citizens will prefer online services There is a need for consistent data models to feed into: One library system One regional road network: $ go to close gaps Health system: one network: tell your story once etc Focus on the digitally disadvantaged

The Better Way: LG leading Community driven Untied Funding Each local community identifies and documents its own priorities on a regular basis (used to inform Council plans) existing Commonwealth/State funding arrangements for local government are not addressing areas of real need: to be reviewed, with the aims of: -reducing the 2 speed LG syndrome (sharing the burden more equitably) -providing more pooled funding with more local discretion to be applied to identified local community priorities (place-based treasury, untied funding). Refer UK trends Local Government to propose new model for consideration

The Better Way: LG leading Scope of LG activities Is there a better way? 3. Develop LG Digital Business Strategy Local Councils meet in their regional groups and identify what are core and non-core LG activities Local Councils meet in their regional groups and identify what is best managed at the State/regional/local level MAV and Councils identify new business model/plan

The Better Way: LG leading Regional ‘one stop shops’ Information Management Local Councils and State departments (regional managers) meet in their regional groups and identify the best regional structure to manage regional service activities: one stop shops (regional and local) to provide a seamless experience for citizens. Develop collaborative service strategies Each Council commits to plan for ‘single point of truth’ outcomes (eg. one name & address file) map information flows between State and local governments

The Better Way: LG leading Regional collaboration: ‘low hanging fruit’ Local Councils meet in their regional groups and identify low hanging fruit for collaboration Identify cross-government pilots