Working with Government Agencies in Indonesia November 16, 2008
Posted by Peter McCawley in News from the Indonesia Project.Tags: AusAID, capacity building, governance, intergovernmental cooperation, key performance indicators, public sector management
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Links between the Indonesian government and the ANU are strong. Every year there are many exchange visits between Indonesian government agencies and the University. The latest area of cooperation involving the Crawford School and the Indonesia Project involved a four-week capacity-building program for 12 executive staff from the Menko Perekonomian (Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs) in Jakarta which concluded on 14 November.
The capacity-building program for the Menko Perekonomian staff, supported by a grant from AusAID, focused on the theme of ‘Coordination in Government.’ In speaking to the group, former Australian Primary Industries Minister John Kerin noted that ‘policy co-ordination is the most difficult job in government’. The range of lectures and meetings, therefore, was designed to cover a wide range of coordination issues.
In addition to meeting Her Excellency the Governor-General, Ms Quentin Bryce, the Menko Perekonomian group met many senior public servants at the federal and state level. Numerous ANU and other university staff, including from the Crawford School and the Indonesia Project, prepared presentations for the group on many aspects of coordination of government functions in Australia and Asia.
In effect, the Menko Perekonomian group spent much time discussing a wide range of aspects of government management, both in Australia and in Indonesia. In comparison with the situation in many other countries, standards of government management in Australia in recent years have been relatively high. Key reforms to public sector management in the 1980s and 1990s in Australia led to markedly improved performance of public sector agencies. Management mechanisms such as the establishment of transparent and measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) increased pressure on Australian public sector managers to meet agreed goals.
There are plans for a second executive team from the Menko Perekonomian to visit ANU next year.
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