Message from the Independent Chair 2010

Compact Governance Committee Independent Chair, Carolyn Mason

Welcome to the Queensland Compact Governance Committee's (CGC) second annual report. It is now more than two years since the Compact was launched and this Committee was established, and it has been two years of exciting and important activity.

This annual report clearly demonstrates the importance of the Action Plan in driving progress towards the Compact vision and outlines an extensive range of work undertaken in some challenging and complex areas. The Action Plan, supported by the extent and quality of the resources available on the Compact Knowledge Hub, remains the structural element supporting the Compact.

It is the people with great commitment to implement the Compact across the state who are at the heart of our work, and it was ‘heart' that was so evident in the recent responses we witnessed to the series of natural disasters that challenged Queensland in early January 2011. The Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) and National Disability Services (NDS) were quick to pay tribute to the incredible work done by government, volunteer emergency services and the community sector during the Queensland floods followed by Cyclone Yasi. Jill Lang, QCOSS Director and CGC member, made the important point that the value of investing in establishing a strong community services sector will become even more apparent in the coming weeks, months and years of recovery across the state. I am confident the activities initiated under the Queensland Compact played their part in Queensland's community recovery endeavours this summer.

This challenging time has reminded me of what the internationally renowned leadership consultant, Meg Wheatley, said some years ago during a presentation on the US Government's review of responses following the Hurricane Katrina disaster when she commented "... the most important way to prepare for the future is to prepare our relationships.(1)" One of her main findings was that relationships had not been built among government, emergency services and communities, and this substantially contributed to what were judged as inefficient and ineffective responses during the disaster. As she also observed, you cannot build relationships during an emergency!

Government and the Non-profit Community Services Sector are prioritising Queensland's recovery effort. As a result, the evaluation of the first two years of the Queensland Compact has been postponed and will become a review of the first three years of its operation. The Action Plan has been extended to March 2012 to maintain momentum on current initiatives as outlined in this report.

Projects such as the workforce development initiative and the Human Services Quality Standards are at the national forefront in addressing sector capacity and sustainability. Progressing this work to improve the sustainability and quality of the human services sector will be key priorities for the Compact in 2011. The regional implementation of the Compact is also an exemplar for policy implementation being scoped to meet local needs and priorities. We look forward with interest to learning from regional efforts to improve services for clients through better government-sector working arrangements as this work unfolds. Work on national health reforms will be closely monitored by the CGC to ensure non-profit health and community service providers are active participants in the planning and roll-out of this important wellbeing agenda across our communities. Efforts made to improve service delivery to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will be continued, and consideration of a proposed national disability insurance scheme will focus the attention of government and sector members.

My thanks go to all CGC members, Secretariat and support staff, and the paid and voluntary workers in government agencies and sector organisations across the state for their dedication, spirit and commitment to improving the way we work together in order to improve outcomes for Queenslanders. This dedication was most inspiring during Queensland's recent natural disasters and continuing to work together will be more important than ever this coming year with recovery efforts being undertaken in so many of Queensland's communities.

Carolyn Mason

Independent Chair

Compact Governance Committee

1. Margaret Wheatley (2003) 'When Change is Out of Our Control' in Human Resources for the 21st Century. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Available at www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/whenchangeisoutofcontrol.html.