Compact Governance Committee Independent Chair, Carolyn Mason
I am very pleased to present the first annual report for the Queensland Compact Governance Committee (CGC). It is a significant milestone in the history of government and the Non-profit Community Services Sector relationships in Queensland to be reporting against a shared Action Plan that implements a whole-of-government, whole-of-sector policy. This rightly represents a maturing of the relationship and an acceptance that change must happen if the challenges of providing human services to meet the needs of all Queenslanders are to be addressed.
Our first task as a committee was to develop a collective understanding of the Compact and agree on a two-year Action Plan based on it. This process in itself provided the first test of the relationship. It would be honest to say that the plan represents a respectful compromise. As the Independent Chair, this was a reality check to understand that while there is strong shared commitment from all members, there will not always be shared agreement on the nuances of the actions required and undertaken. CGC members will view the Compact through the lenses of their constituents' interests by virtue of appointment as representatives of the Community Services Futures Forum or government agencies.
Our first twelve months can be considered in two ways. First, it has been a journey with stories to tell about what people and groups have done under the Action Plan, what people have seen and felt has happened and not happened, and what is different for them. We have tried to provide some stories through the case studies featured in this report. Second, the work represents a series of activities designed to deliver outputs in a program-logic framework. We will be monitoring evidence of a contribution to short and medium-term outcomes during 2010. The long-term outcome is the achievement of a better quality of life and a fair community for all Queenslanders, now and in the future.
In presenting this report, we have chosen to use the structure of our Action Plan, taken from the four goals and agreed commitments of the Compact itself. This enables us to be quite clear about what we have done and how, what has not yet been done and what may have progressed differently. Our priorities for 2010 under specific actions are identified, and in fact 22 priorities are presented. However, these may evolve during the year with continued engagement with the government and community sectors as the CGC tries to be responsive to emerging issues and policy directions.
The Compact is a whole-of-government policy, but with the amalgamation of six entities into the Department of Communities following the State Government election in March 2009, government members are now drawn from two departments, the Department of Communities and Queensland Health. This creates some exciting opportunities to facilitate the progress of projects, as well as providing a stronger regional focus. The support of other departments on appropriate projects has been appreciated, and we intend to extend this during 2010, together with greater engagement with specific community stakeholder groups, and attention to volunteering in the sectors.
As the Independent Chair, I view my role as facilitating the contributions of the members and supporting them to be bold and to drive the change we all want to achieve for our clients. If the CGC does not tackle some of the hard issues, there are no other forums that have the authority or representation that can. We all remain very conscious of this in our deliberations.
I express my deep appreciation to the members of the CGC for their shared commitments, openness, support and respectful compromises on issues, and I do recognise the workload you have taken on, particularly through the working parties. The members of the Secretariat enthusiastically support the work of the CGC and I thank them most sincerely, for their dedication and professionalism. I acknowledge the fact there are other people who have contributed in the several years leading up to this historic agreement and thank them also.
Finally, thank you to the Honourable Karen Struthers, Minister for Community Services and Housing and Minister for Women, for her enthusiasm and support for ensuring the Queensland Compact becomes a strong policy framework across government to achieve action and change in this state.
Carolyn Mason
Independent Chair
Compact Governance Committee
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