This Showcase has been set up to share examples of innovation in the Australian public sector, whether it be innovation in government services or service delivery, processes, how we think about problems, policies or systems. It also includes examples of Government 2.0 approaches. The aim is to help government agencies and departments share examples of innovation and to consider how innovative practices may be applied to achieve better outcomes. We invite you to submit your innovation case study to this Showcase and so help to promote and disseminate innovation at the federal, state and local government level.
Background
In May 2010, the Australian Public Service Management Advisory Committee released Empowering Change: Fostering Innovation in the Australian Public Service. Recommendation 12 of the report stated that: “Because long term value is captured through dissemination and diffusion of innovation, the APS and its agencies should institute mechanisms to recognise, celebrate and share innovation efforts…” This Showcase is one of the mechanisms for the APS to highlight and celebrate innovation in the public service.
The Showcase also hosts examples of Government 2.0 approaches. In 2010 a Government 2.0 Showcase was established to highlight Gov 2.0 examples being used by public sector agencies. Due to the complementarity of the Gov 2.0 and public sector innovation topics, in March 2011 the Showcase was expanded to be the Innovation Showcase.
Because the value of innovations are increased as they are shared, the Showcase welcomes submissions from state, territory and local governments.
Types of Innovation
Using the work of Windrum (2008) Empowering Change identified six categories of innovation in the public sector. These categories have been used to group the case studies submitted to the Showcase. The categories are:
- Services innovation—a new or improved service. An example is the new National Broadband Network, which will provide high-speed internet access to most of the country, and thereby enable sectors to develop new innovative products and services.
- Service delivery innovation—a new or different way of providing a service. An example is the Australian Government Business.gov.au website, which provides businesses with access to online registration for government services, smart forms and a wide range of government information, transactions and services in a single database and thus reduces transaction and compliance costs for businesses.
- Administrative or organisational innovation—a new process. An example is the Child Support Scheme, which provides an administrative approach to assessment of child support through a formula, rather than using courts to determine payments.
- Conceptual innovation—a new way of looking at problems, challenging current assumptions, or both. An example is the National Respite for Carers Program, which provides support for carers in addition to that provided directly to those who require care.
- Policy innovation—a change to policy thinking or behavioural intentions. An example is the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS), which improves access to higher education for all students (including the disadvantaged) and also maintains the revenue base for higher education.
- Systemic innovation—a new or improved way for parts of the public sector to operate and interact with stakeholders. An example is the establishment of Centrelink, which adopted a completely new approach to the provision of government services to the public.
An additional category of Gov 2.0 is also used to help identify the Gov 2.0 examples. An innovation may fit in more than one category.
Innovation Blog
You may also be interested in the Innovation Blog which aims to assist innovation practitioners in the public sector and to promote the importance of public sector innovation.