The objective of this framework is threefold:
- First: it provides guidance and support to the APS, to enhance engagement with community expertise to improve policy, program and services, and deliver better outcomes for citizens.
- Second: it publicly communicates the quality and types of engagements the public can expect from the APS.
- Third: it reaffirms the commitment of the APS to being accountable to the public and transparent in its operation.
The framework seeks to achieve its objectives by establishing guidance materials, which are:
- Principles: underlying truths that guide good engagements.
- Ways to engage: establishing the four key ways that the APS engages with the public.
- Standards: guidelines of expected behaviour from a public servant when they are engaging.
- A guide to the right engagement: an interactive decision tool that helps public servants choose the right engagement for the problem at hand.
- The open dialogue roadmap: builds the case for more deliberate engagements, and sets out a practical method to conduct them in government, called ‘informed participation’.
About the framework
The framework is based on extensive user research and has been developed and tested through a collaborative and open design process. Its content draws on the generous contributions of nearly 1,000 people from the APS and the public.
Engagement took place over three phases (discover, create, deliver) and used three ways to engage (information sharing activities, consultation and collaboration).
