What we mean by commissioning
Through the 2021 development of our Commissioning Approach, we identified what we mean when we speak about commissioning as a process and practice in the ACT.
Commissioning is used in many sectors and defined simply as a way of ‘authorising a person or organisation to do or produce something.’[i] We commission services within a system to meet the needs of the Canberra community.
Identification of service needs, and opportunities for re-design, are best served when we have a collective understanding of community needs and service delivery gaps. Further, we can only integrate our services into a system when we see where community needs overlap or intersect. Commissioning helps us – government and non-government organisations – develop this collective view of need, services and the whole system.
Commissioning for us has started with the various funded sub-sectors. Over time it will be about how all the sub-sectors, and government delivered services, integrate to form a service system that meets the needs of the Canberra community.
Commissioning is
- Involves community and government working together to plan and determine what services people want and need and the way they are provided (phases - discovery & strategise).
- Ensures this collaborative design is client-centred and informed by lived experience, outcomes focused and involves stakeholders (phase - design).
- Ensures this collaborative design then informs Government priorities and investment (invest).
- Encompasses co-production in the delivery of services to meet community need (deliver).
- Is a cyclical process which transforms systems, informs and shapes policy, drives investment, guides service planning and supports relationships (phase - integrate)
- Uses collaborative design processes that are representative, transparent, share decision-making and place fewer constraints on what options might be pursued (Phase - design).
- Relies on collaborative, trusting and sustainable partnerships with and across sectors (each phase).
- Integrates data, builds an evidence base to inform service design services and applies continuous improvement processes to service delivery (each phase).
- Is evaluated regularly to ensure we deliver commissioning in a way that reflects our shared principles (each phase).
As we continue to develop our understanding and commissioning capability, it is useful to reflect on what is not considered commissioning as a cycle or practice:
Commissioning is not:
- Community or stakeholder consultation that is one-way or passive
- Just another procurement process – it is a relationship practice
- Single source procurement without a process to assess need or service redesign where amendments to existing funding arrangements are made
- Only one on one discussions between government and funded sector partners that exclude other voices or listeners – a process that lacks transparency and inclusion
- Government designing priorities or investment through siloed approaches
Procurement or investment that occurs without a transparency or collaborative design process
Page updated: 28 Feb 2024
