The McGowan Government has launched Western Australia’s first State Commissioning Strategy for community services with a focus on long-term outcomes for individuals and the community.
Commissioning is the cyclical process of planning, purchasing, managing, monitoring and evaluating services with the aim of ensuring that every available dollar is allocated in the optimal manner.
The strategy will drive greater cohesion and transparency between State Government agencies, service providers, peak bodies, consumer advocates and service users when commissioning services.
The State Commissioning Strategy and its implementation plan reflect a shift away from the current purchasing model to a more holistic, proactive and sustainable commissioning approach. This will result in people having better access to services when they need them.
It will also build greater capability, capacity and flexibility for community services to allow agile responses to changing community needs.
The strategy and implementation plan will drive a fundamental shift in the delivery of community services that:
- meet the needs of users, at the right time and in the right location;
- are sustainable and delivered by organisations that meet the diverse needs of service users;
- are evidence based with robust quality standards; and
- are culturally safe and tailored to local community needs.
It takes into consideration commitments made under the Closing the Gap report and the Aboriginal Empowerment Strategy. It also recognises existing services and policies developed for social housing, homelessness, domestic violence, out-of-home care, youth and age-based programs, and mental health services.
As stated by Finance Minister Tony Buti:
“The State Commissioning Strategy for community services and implementation plan signal an important change to the way community services are procured and delivered across the State.
“The goal of commissioning services with a longer-term vision will ensure better planning and transparency with a focus on sustainable services. The strategy encourages employment of women, youth and Aboriginal people to progress a diverse workforce in the sector.
“The strategy maps out how the Government can deliver these important services by working together to design integrated and place-based services, with a focus on prevention and early intervention.”
As stated by Community Services Minister Simone McGurk:
“The McGowan Government is committed to supporting the community services sector to deliver essential services for all Western Australians.
“This strategy and implementation plan maps out how we all work together to deliver important services that are adaptable to the changing needs of our community.
“I would like to thank members of the community services sector who have contributed their time to providing input to the strategy. We look forward to continuing to work with the sector and service users to realise these important changes over the coming years.”
Finance Minister’s office – 6552 6400
