Quality management

The Department of Housing uses the term quality management to refer to the processes undertaken to ensure that all the necessary activities for planning, developing and implementing a service are efficient, effective and integrated throughout the organisation.

The department has a quality management system based on the international Quality Management Standard (AS/NZS ISO 9001:2000). The quality management standard provides benchmarks for a management approach which focuses on promoting customer and client satisfaction.

The department has maintained certification to the Quality Management System Standard since 1998 which demonstrates its ongoing commitment to providing quality service to all clients and tenants.

Planning

Planning is undertaken within the Department of Housing against a legislative framework which encourages concepts such as efficient, effective and responsive service delivery aimed at achieving value for money for the Government. The concepts are encapsulated in Part 2 of the Financial Management Standard 1997 and Part 3 of the Public Service Act 1996.

The department's integrated planning and performance framework ensures that its strategic direction drives all planning activities and resource decisions. It also seeks to identify ways to reduce duplication, improve coordination and integration, and streamline reporting requirements across the department.

The Department of Housing's goals and outputs align with the Government's outcomes and priorities for Queensland and the department's strategic directions and performance requirements are outlined in its Strategic Plan.

Subsidiary plans, such as the department's operational plan, service area business plans and other corporate support plans have direct links to the Strategic Plan, support Government's priorities, and provide more detail on the implementation of strategies and actions across the department's outputs and service areas.

The performance of departmental staff, including managers and Board of Management members, is linked to corporate values, goals and strategies through individual performance management plans. These enable employees and teams to understand the goals of the organisation and how individual and team outputs contribute to the achievement of overarching organisational objectives and values.

The department has embedded a risk management system based on the Australian Standard for Risk Management (AS/NZS 4360:2004). The system is integrated into the department's overall management approach through the application of risk management strategies when planning and making decisions about significant strategic issues and operational activities. Priorities for risk assessment are identified by advice and direction provided from the Board of Management. Risk assessments are undertaken for each initiative in the department's Strategic Plan, as well as activities within the department's operational plan and for other major projects or activities. The risk assessment and controls are recorded in the department's risk register and the Board of Management agrees the assessment and appropriateness of the mitigating strategies to address the identified risks, and monitors the progress of risk mitigation activities.

Process

The department's quality management system recognises the organisation's activities are a complex interrelationship of processes that assist in the delivery of products and services, and support the management of the organisation. A process approach has been adopted to manage and improve services provided to our clients. The principle of a whole-of-department focus recognises that increasingly, many of the department's key processes cross service area boundaries and as a result, service areas need to work together to ensure end-to-end processes are efficient and effective.

A series of high-level process flow diagrams describe the processes involved in delivering the department's products and services, and depict interrelationships between the service areas involved. These diagrams also indicate where other interested parties, such as the department's partner organisations in Government, the community and the private sector, contribute to the delivery of Department of Housing products and services.

Performance

The department has a comprehensive performance assessment system to analyse and report financial and non-financial performance to the Financial and Risk Management Steering Committee on a monthly basis, and performance against the department's operational plan to the Board of Management on a quarterly basis. Financial and non-financial management information and analysis from all areas of the department are considered against major performance indicators and appropriate action initiated as necessary.

The performance management system:

• translates the department's vision into clear, measurable outcomes that define success that are shared throughout the agency, with clients and key stakeholders,
• provides a tool for assessing, managing and improving the overall health and success of the department and the delivery of products and services to the people of Queensland, and
• includes measures of quality, cost, timeliness, client satisfaction, employee alignment, motivation and skills to provide an in-depth understanding of the department.

The department provides financial and operational performance reports annually to Queensland Treasury and the Australian Government. Under the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement, the department's performance is benchmarked against other states and territories based on a National Performance Indicator Framework according to effectiveness and efficiency measures. The results are published annually in the Report on Government Services.

The former Service Delivery and Performance Commission conducted a service delivery and performance management review of the Department of Housing during 2007-08. This review assessed the efficiency and effectiveness of the department's service delivery and its organisational capacity across six elements:

• planning and strategy,
• resource management,
• performance measurement and monitoring,
• governance,
• evaluation and continuous improvement, and
• leadership and capability.

For five of these elements, the department rated at the ‘embedded' level of maturity which demonstrates it is operating at a sophisticated level of organisational performance. For the element of ‘resource management', the department was assessed at the highest rating of having a ‘leading' level of maturity.

Some of the key messages from the report were that the department:

• has a strong service delivery culture aimed at providing available services and using resources efficiently,
• exceeds the national average on most measures of efficiency. In particular, vacancy rates are kept low and the stock of assets is well-managed and maintained,
• has a solid corporate governance framework and sound supervision and monitoring systems which enable accountable and evidence-based decision making,
• has an active involvement in research and development of policy, and
• has a willingness and capacity to reform service delivery arrangements, particularly in the area of provision of value for money, in achieving improved outcomes for clients and Government.

In addition to these positive results, 19 recommendations were included in the review report, many of which reflected work in progress for the department, and therefore acted as confirmation that the department is on an appropriate path to continue to transform the social housing system in Queensland.

Continuous improvement

An essential part of quality management is continuous improvement to enhance performance and strive for excellence. The department conducts a rolling program of self assessments using a systems appraisal process whereby systems are appraised following an assessment of the inherent risks in delivery of a product, service or conduct of an organisational support function. The department's rolling plan of systems appraisals specifies the systems and schedule of appraisals over a three-year period, and progress is monitored and reported to the Board of Management on a quarterly basis. In 2007-08, the department conducted 96 system appraisals across the three categories of corporate, financial and non-financial systems.

Findings from the appraisals and the corrective actions undertaken are recorded in the department's Innovation and Improvement Register. An enhanced version of the Innovation and Improvement Register was released in October 2007 and further upgrades, including a revised user-friendly help function and more comprehensive reporting functions, have also been implemented since this time.

Additional departmental functions and activities focusing on continuously improving processes and services include:

• Board of Management review of strategic direction,
• the Risk Management system,
• service area senior management and team meetings,
• constant reviews undertaken by policy and development teams within service areas based on feedback received from clients and front-line staff,
• individual suggestions raised through the Innovation and Improvement Register,
• audits and systems appraisals,
• inter-service area meetings, and
• analysis and reporting of data.

During 2007-08, training in both systems appraisals and statistical sampling was organised for quality officers and auditors within the department. The Quality and Environmental Management Systems Network met on a regular basis to discuss issues such as progress on system appraisals, audit findings and corrective actions, training needs and to share knowledge and experiences relating to quality and environmental management.

A re-certification audit was conducted on the department's Quality and Environmental Management System in October 2007 by an external auditor that confirmed the systems and processes used throughout the department met the necessary criteria for retaining certification, meeting international standards for quality and the environment. In addition, a surveillance audit on the department's Quality and Environmental Management System is scheduled for December 2008.

Business continuity

The department has developed business continuity plans using a risk management approach to allow the department to continue to provide essential services in the event that normal business operations are interrupted for any reason.

During 2007-08, the department broadened its strategic approach to business continuity management by implementing an overarching business continuity management framework. This framework integrates the department's arrangements for managing internal interruptions, as well as contributing to external recovery activities. The framework describes how the department links with the Queensland Disaster Management System, details the department's approach to minimising the impact to the department's business due to disruptions, and outlines the roles and responsibilities of areas within the department.

In 2007-08 the department integrated the whole-of-Government arrangements for Coordinating Public Information in a Crisis and the Queensland Government Action Plan for Pandemic Influenza.

For 2008-09, the department will continue to maintain business continuity management arrangements as well as finalise its three-year Business Continuity Management Testing Program. This program identifies the testing of plans based on a priority basis, and any identified improvements or deficiencies are recorded and actioned through the department's Innovation and Improvement Register.