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Better Together

Department of the Premier & Cabinet

Strategic Engagement Unit

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Public Value Video

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Public Value

Harvard professor Mark H. Moore

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Reforming Democracy

… people should have more opportunity to be involved in the decisions that affect their lives.

Voting in a general election once every few years is no longer enough – we need a more consistent effort in collective decision-making and collaborative problem solving. This is a task that calls for a major change in the way government works with the community.

It will require and support leaders in government to:

Seek opportunities to partner with business, NGOs and the community
Bring the community into designing policies and services
Build our ability to collaborate within and outside government

Jay Weatherill, (Former) Premier SA

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Engaging communities – deciding PV

Direct democracy
Deliberative democracy

Demonstrating new ways of working

Collaborating to create new value
Government as a platform

Building capacity – accessing opportunity

Public sector
Community / Enterprise

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An initiative that saw the Premier and Cabinet Ministers�visit three regions per year (~2015-17)

… was a series of events allowing the Government to hear from local people about the matters affecting them and their communities

… was informed and driven by issues raised by the local community during an extensive pre-engagement process

… was usually held on a Sunday night and involves a casual BBQ followed by a Q&A session with the community

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117,000

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Link to YourSAy website homepage

Extensive engageement - Planning Charter

Light touch – Feral Pigs

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Brand has two audiences:

South Australians – an overarching program of engagement
State government employees – capacity and capability building

Since 2014 over 2000 SA government employees undertook ‘Principles’ training and additional master classes and showcase events

Advice, planning and mentoring consultancy to SA government departments for their engagements – environment, child protection, community services, transport, etc

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Principles of Engagement video

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Participatory Budgetting�Australia

Participatory budgetting

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Local municipalities

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South Australia

1.7m total population
1.3m in the Greater Adelaide Region (metropolitan area)
5^th largest Australian state by population
4^th largest state by size (nearly 1m km²)
Driest state in the driest continent

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2015-6

Fund My Idea was a grant program delivered through the State Government’s Country Cabinet program.

Up to $50,000 was allocated through Fund My Idea for projects that assisted the region meet its economic and social needs.

Project proposals are received from communities and are voted on by those communities.

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2015-6

The community decided...

2,500 people took part in allocating $1 million to improve the wellbeing of disadvantaged, vulnerable and isolated South Australians. They selected from the 85 projects seeking funding.

As a result of the community's decision, $1,012,000 was provided to projects to help a diverse range of South Australians.

2017

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55% �Application process was easier and quicker�

64%

Used less resources

than similar grant programs

24%

Recruited new members

$

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2,329 people

14 projects ($970,000)

3 members

21 projects ($866,000)

In common:

6 projects

($310,000)

The pilot presented a unique opportunity to test the theory that the community will make a better decision than a panel of experts.

So a key component of the evaluation was to compare the outcome of both approaches.

To do this I established an expert panel and charged it with assessing the same applications that the community were assessing.

We then used a range of measures – mostly statistical - to allow an objective comparison of the outcome of the two approaches.

Click - Over two thousand people took part in Fund My Community. They used our online allocation tool to choose projects, by creating a Plan. On average, they spent half an hour taking part, equating to just over one thousand hours of deliberation.

The community selected 14 projects for a total of $970,000 funding.

Click - In comparison, the expert panel met twice, for a total of about 8 hours, equating to 24 hours deliberation. The panel consisted of 3 public servants, each of whom had significant experience and knowledge in the community sector.

The panel chose 21 projects, for a total of $866,000. Having reviewed the proposals, the panel decided not to allocate the full million dollars.

Click - The community and the panel chose 6 projects in common.

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How does Fund my Community compare with traditional grant funding processes?

Community makes better decisions than an grant assessment panel

We have evaluated Fund My Community and compared it with a traditional, expert panel process with similar objectives and guidelines

The evaluation looked at all aspects of the program including user experience, processes, efficiency and outcome.

We have found that Fund my Community creates value in that it delivers better decisions �

Firstly the community consistently allocates funding to where it’s needed most. It allocates funding more accurately than a panel, according to levels of regional disadvantage.

The community is less risk adverse than a panel – it is prepared to invest in new projects that received a higher risk rating than the panel – allowing innovative projects to be supported.

And we found that the amount of funding the community allocates is closer to the amount of funding sought by organisations.

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	Comparable grant program 2014-15	FMC 2015	FMC 2016
Decision-making cost per application	$179	$16	$8
Total cost per application	$1,111	$502	$326
Management cost as a % of grant budget	9.4%	7.6%	3.4%
Management cost as a % of distributed grant budget	11.7%	8.8%	3.9%
% grant budget distributed	80%	87%	99%

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United Nations Award 2017

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2015-6

2017

2018

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103 �Projects�funded�

25%

Unfunded groups reported they would still realise project

$

$20m�

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2015-6

2017

2018

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2019

2020

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My favourite example …

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o p e n s t a t e . c o m . a u

@ O p e n S t a t e S A

2017 Themes

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Martin Luther King, Jnr

We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope