Report on Government Services 2013
The Report on Government Services 2013 is being released on 31 January 2013. The Report is produced by a Steering Committee of senior officials from Australian, State and Territory governments for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). The Steering Committee was chaired during 2012 by Gary Banks, then Chairman of the Productivity Commission. Gary Banks' term of appointment as Chairman of the Commission and of the Steering Committee ended on 31 December 2012.
The Report promotes awareness about the performance of government services and helps drive improvements in design and delivery. The services covered by the Report are particularly important for the more disadvantaged members of society, who benefit from better access to services and improved delivery. There are also economic benefits from improving the efficiency of these services - governments spent over $170 billion on the services covered in this year's Report, equivalent to around 11.8 per cent of Australia's national income.
This is the eighteenth edition of the Report. Enhancements on previous editions include further development of the overviews for each of the broad service sectors. High level summaries of performance are now included in the areas of: Child care, education and training; Justice; Emergency management; Health; Community services; and Housing and homelessness.
Some chapters of the Report focus on the performance of agencies that provide services to specific groups in society - for example, the chapters on: Aged care services; Services for people with disability; and Early childhood education and care. The Report also aims to present information on the performance of services provided to the following special needs groups: Indigenous Australians; people living in communities outside the capital cities; and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. However, the Steering Committee notes the paucity of data on outcomes for these groups in some service areas.
Information on each service covered by the Report is summarised in the attached Factsheets. Improvements in the 2013 Report are outlined in the introductory sections of each service-area chapter. The most recent data (and any errata) will appear on the Steering Committee's web page.