Home About Us Sector Development Policy Publications Events Search

 



Combined Voices
QCOSS Sector Development



Background to the Compact development process

What will the Compact look like? 
In considering what the Queensland Compact might look like, compacts and partnership agreements that were already in place between state government and the non-government sector in  New South Wales,  Victoria, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and Western Australia were drawn upon as examples.
 
Additionally, agreements that are in place between Federal Governments and the community and voluntary sectors in the United Kingdom, Scotland and Canada were also drawn upon, especially the Compact of the United Kingdom.
 
In 2000, a Statement of Partnership between the Queensland Government and the community services sector was developed by the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Queensland. The document outlined a shared vision and principles to underpin the relationship between government and the sector, detailing the roles and responsibilities of each party. Although this document was signed off by Cabinet, the vision and principles were actualised due to an absence of detail to guide implementation of the partnership in practice.
 
In developing the Queensland Compact, the Community Services Futures Forum considered that the concepts and principles contained in the Community Services Strategy:  Statement of Partnership between Government and Community Services provide a good base, and pushed for them to be revived, with the addition of an operational section to guide and ensure implementation of the principles for the partnership. The principles of the draft Queensland Compact were developed based on the 2000 Statement of Partnership.
 
 
The Compact – not just another document
Critical to the success of the Compact is the existence of a framework for implementing and monitoring the Compact. The Community Services Futures Forum has done extensive work to develop a framework to give practical effect to the Compact, drawing on the experience of other jurisdictions.
 
From the outset of the Compact negotiations with the government, the Futures Forum has been pushing for the implementation and monitoring framework to include a joint sector-government governance committee to oversee the implementation of the Compact action plan. The Futures Forum has also been pushing for an independent Compact review process with results to be made public.  
 
 
For more information about the Queensland Compact, contact Lisa Toh, QCOSS Sector Development Project Officer on (07) 3004 6901 or email lisat@qcoss.org.au.