Whole-of-government strategies and frameworks

Whole-of-government work that impacts on your relationships with community organisations and citizens includes:

• In August 2011, the Kia Tūtahi Standing Together Relationship Accord was signed at Parliament. The Accord is an important symbol of commitment between government and communities to engage effectively to achieve social, economic and environmental outcomes. It sets expectations about how government agencies and communities will work together.
• In September 2009, the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector released a Cabinet paper entitled Government Commitment to Building Strong Community Relationships. This paper proposed a programme of actions to strengthen government engagement with citizens and communities. Progress was reported to Cabinet in January 2011
• The 2009 Building Better Government Engagement (BBGE) project identified ways to improve government engagement with community and voluntary organisations and citizens in policy and service development processes

While New Zealand currently has a short, straight-forward, two-page Statement of Government Intentions for an Improved Community-Government Relationship to influence government agency performance, other countries have special offices, comprehensive agreements and protocols to try to improve their community-government relationships.

Each approach has advantages and disadvantages, so lessons can be learned from the different examples.

The Compact on relations between Government and the voluntary and community sector in England was an agreement between the British Government and the sector in 1998 to improve their relationship for mutual benefit.

There are commitments by both sides. The Compact includes principles such as recognising that groups are independent and have the right to campaign. The Compact applies to:

• central government departments, including government offices for the regions
• executive non-departmental public bodies, which have a relationship with the voluntary and community sector
• a range of organisations in the voluntary and community sector.

In discussion to review the Compact in 2008, the Commissioner for the Compact raised concerns about giving the Compact statutory powers, saying it could impose legal obligations on Third Sector organisations. A refreshed, shorter version of the Compact was published on 16 December 2009.

The Scottish Compact Implementation Strategy sets out specific actions intended to encourage and build on the everyday relationships between the Scottish Executive and the voluntary sector. The Compact and the Implementation Strategy are also supported by Good Practice Guidance covering funding, partnership working, consultation, and policy proofing.

The Australian National Compact is a high-level, aspiration-based agreement setting out how government and the sector want to work together in new better ways to improve the lives of Australians.

In the USA, President Obama's Office of Public Engagement aims to increase transparency and public participation for a more open government.

"Government should be transparent, participatory and collaborative.  Public engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions.

Our commitment to openness means more than simply informing the American people about how decisions are made. It means recognising that government does not have all the answers, and that public officials need to draw on what citizens know."

Barack Obama

Building on An Accord Between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector, the Code of Good Practice on Policy Dialogue was developed by the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector.

The Code is a tool for deepening the dialogue between the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector at the various stages of the public policy process in order to achieve better policies for Canadians.