Monitoring and Evaluation

Our commissioning progress is determined by more than the number of active cycles.

As commissioning matures within the ACT Government and across the sector, we will monitor:

• whole-system reform and how well we deliver the overarching commissioning priorities
• support provided for commissioning capability and skills development across the government and non-government sector
• outcomes delivered or commissioned that improve wellbeing through the quantity and breadth of active commissioning cycles across the ACT Government
• experience of commissioning participants against the shared principles

To guide our progress, we have identified how far we have come, where we are and where we are headed as commissioning matures as a practice and reform through to 2030.

(*) Partnering being a growing number of commissioned partnerships that are able to evaluate their relationship; Services or programs being a growing number of commissioned services or programs which are subject to evaluation; System being aspects of the human services system that are able to be evaluated

We began commissioning with clear drivers for change which over our 10-year reform period evolve through the pursuit of the reform priorities to realise the reform outcomes:

• Better respond to community need, both existing and emerging, through increased flexibility and opportunities for innovation.
• Improve integration across the service systems to support seamless and holistic care, and transitions between services.
• Reduce pressure on our hospitals and other crisis services, such as homelessness or statutory services for children, young people, and families, by prioritising prevention and early support.
• Improve equity in health and life outcomes for priority population groups, through commissioning decisions made about where and how to focus support.
• Improve sector sustainability through closer partnerships and better understanding the needs of our service delivery partners.

To deliver the outcomes of commissioning as a reform we:

• undertake clear actions to address the strategic challenges impacting and influencing the delivery of the commissioning priorities; and
• drive commissioning as a practice through knowledge development and adoption.

The 2024 Commissioning Roadmap outlines the key actions we need to take to keep the 10-year reform on track. We will report on these actions in the next Commissioning Roadmap (2025 to 2028).

We have enhanced the commissioning practice guidance and continue to support each commissioning cycle with resources, advice, and training to drive practice consistency and skills development.

A significant challenge to capability development are the high rates of staff attrition in both the sector and across the ACT Government.  We are actively monitoring skills within government and the non-government sector to identify capability areas to strengthen and improve with tools, advice, and training. Our first 15 commissioning cycles have identified the following key areas to strengthen commissioning skills and capability, which will be the focus of skills development from 2022-2024.

We provide skills and capability tools, advice, resources, and links online through the commissioning website, open to both government and non-government organisations.

The ACT Wellbeing Framework (the Framework) is made up of 12 domains that matter most to Canberrans when considering their quality of life. The Framework is intrinsically linked to the human services system that seeks to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes for people experiencing challenges and vulnerability within our community.

We have provided clearer linkages to the ACT Wellbeing Framework throughout the 2024 Roadmap to support alignment with the outcomes articulated in this Framework. As commissioning cycles mature through to 2024, advocacy, services, programs, and projects will start to realise the aspirations of the ACT Wellbeing Framework across the Domains.

We track the commissioning experience against the shared principles through a post-activity survey. Participants are given a link to the post-activity survey after each commissioning activity.

To date only 200 participants have provided feedback from 15 active commissioning cycles involving more than 2000 participants. This level of feedback is inadequate to demonstrate meaningful progress against the shared principles. Efforts will be made to increase the participant response rates and transparently indicate progress by 2024.