Strong policy outcomes - key initiatives

This objective pursues policy, service and administration excellence and reform. It leads the public sector response to significant state issues, policy challenges and projects. It supports the effective administration of government and the delivery of policy and projects that enable increased productivity and competitiveness in Victoria.

DPC’s outcomes on the following key initiatives have helped us achieve the Strong policy outcomes strategic objective.

Building a more secure youth justice system

DPC continues to support the government to build a modern and safe youth justice system through providing strategic advice on reforms to strengthen the custodial system to deliver rehabilitation, reduce recidivism and keep the workforce and community safe.

In 2018–19 DPC continued to provide the government with advice on developing the new youth justice centre in Cherry Creek.

Supporting social service system reform

Victoria’s family violence service system has undergone immense change in 2018–19.

DPC has provided strategic guidance on key 2018–19 family violence reforms including:

• Establishing Respect Victoria, an independent statutory authority that is leading the delivery of two of the five pillars in Victoria’s family violence prevention strategy: Free from Violence - research and evaluation; and community engagement.
• Dhelk Dja: Safe Our Way, the community‑led Aboriginal agreement developed to ensure that Aboriginal people, families and communities are living free from family violence.
• Opening four The Orange Door sites in 2018–19. The Orange Door is a new way for adults, children and young people who are experiencing family violence or families who need assistance with the care and wellbeing of children to access the services they need to be safe and supported.
• Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement, which provides guidance for a more inclusive, safe and responsive family violence service system for more people, regardless of gender, ability, sexual orientation, sex, ethnicity, religion, age or mental health.

Several key elements of the reform have taken place and are starting to deliver improved responses for the Victorian community. DPC continues to play a key strategic role in connecting key activities and departments to achieve a successful family violence reform package, aligned with the Family Violence Outcomes Framework.

Monitoring and reporting on the Royal Commission into Family Violence recommendations

In 2018–19 DPC developed and coordinated the implementation of the Family Violence Reform Monitoring and Reporting Framework. The framework is designed to ensure consistent, centralised monitoring and reporting across government of how the Royal Commission’s recommendations are being delivered, as well as how broader reforms to Victoria’s family violence system are being implemented.

DPC reports quarterly to the Victorian Secretaries’ Board’s Subcommittee on Family Violence Reform about key reform projects and on the progress of the Royal Commission’s 227 recommendations. DPC also chairs an interdepartmental committee on family violence reform that supports the subcommittee in its role in providing oversight across the reforms. As at 1 January 2019, 120 recommendations have been implemented, with 107 recommendations currently in progress.

Making community safety a priority

In 2018–19 DPC supported the development of the Victorian Government’s Community Safety Statement 2019–20 and the first report on the Community Safety Statement outcomes framework, which was launched on 1 July 2019. The three Community Safety Statements cumulatively deliver a $3 billion investment in community safety through 3,135 new police, additional police facilities and resources, as well as law and order reforms.

DPC supported the establishment and launch of the Crime Prevention Taskforce, which will assist in shaping a new crime prevention agenda for Victoria.

DPC continued to provide advice on the government’s implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse including those relating to making communities and institutions child safe.

Negotiating City Deals with the Commonwealth and local governments

City Deals are a collaboration between the three levels of government to jointly harness strengths and drive economic growth and liveability improvements for communities. On 17 January 2018 the Victorian and Commonwealth governments signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on City Deals and on 11 March 2019 announced a Geelong City Deal.

DPC advised the Premier and lead Parliamentary Secretary on Victorian City Deal opportunities and coordinated the development of Victoria’s Geelong City Deal proposal, working across departments and with regional stakeholder groups. The Great Ocean Road visitor economy was agreed as a focus of the Geelong City Deal, with major investment to include the Geelong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Shipwreck Coast Master Plan and the Revitalising Central Geelong Action Plan. The City Deal proposal was supported in the 2018/19 Victorian Budget, with a $153.2 million allocation for key projects.

Supporting future industries

Throughout 2018–19 DPC contributed to policy and program development to support the expansion of emerging and high-growth industries in Victoria. DPC administered the Premier’s Jobs and Investment Fund, which delivered projects that directly contribute to industry growth and job creation across key sectors in the state. DPC also supported the Premier’s Jobs and Investment Panel in its role in providing the Premier and government with expert strategic advice on economic development opportunities.

Supporting the implementation of the Roadmap for Reform

During 2018–19 DPC continued to support DHHS to implement the Roadmap for Reform: Strong Families, Safe Children to improve outcomes for vulnerable children, young people and families. This support included providing strategic advice to the government on reform directions and on implementing the $858.9 million investment from the 2018/19 Victorian Budget.

Key achievements in 2018–19 included: strengthening kinship care to improve outcomes for children and prevent entry into residential care; promoting the wellbeing and safety of children through introducing new Child Information Sharing legislation; and extending support for young people leaving out-of-home care through the Home Stretch program.

Securing a new national education agreement and making Victoria the Education State

Throughout 2018–19 DPC, together with the Department of Education and Training, worked to advance Victoria’s interests through negotiating the new National School Reform agreement for education. The Deputy Premier signed Victoria’s bilateral schools’ agreement on 17 June 2019. The agreement, which commenced on 1 February 2019 and will expire on 31 December 2023, establishes key funding and reform areas between Victoria and the Commonwealth.

Securing a new national health agreement

Throughout 2018–19 DPC, together with DHHS, has continued to advance Victoria’s interests through negotiating the new national agreement for health, which is due to come into effect on 1 July 2020.

Developing Asia capabilities

DPC partners with several organisations to achieve this initiative, including:

• collaborating with Asia Society Australia to utilise its expertise and extensive networks to enhance Victoria’s connections to, engagement with and knowledge of Asia
• continuing to work with the Australia India Institute to deliver a program that supports the objectives of Victoria’s India Strategy, including by building knowledge, understanding and connections between Victoria and India
• working with ANZSOG on the 2018 India Advanced Leadership Dialogue to develop government-to-government links and deepen understanding between the Victorian and Indian public sectors

The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) also delivers a significant part of this initiative on behalf of DPC, including through the Asia Capabilities programs. See DJPR’s Annual Report for more information.

Supporting delivery of the Major Transport Infrastructure Program

DPC continued its work in 2018–19 with the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority, overseeing many of the major transport projects in construction, including Level Crossing Removal Project, Metro Tunnel Project, West Gate Tunnel Project and North East Link Project. The Victorian Government has 29 major transport projects in construction at an investment of $57 billion and the creation of more than 12,000 jobs.

DPC has also been a key participant in the establishment and continued operation of the Network Impact Management Plan Taskforce in coordinating and managing major construction and disruptions.

Cyber security strategy for better detection, prevention and response to cyber attacks on Victorian ICT systems

In 2017 DPC led the release of the Victorian Government’s Cyber Security Strategy 2016–2020 to improve the cyber resilience and governance in government and major infrastructure and service providers.

As at 30 June 2019, DPC led the delivery of 18 of 23 strategy action items, with three in progress. Key deliverables in 2018–19 were:

• establishing the Cyber Incident Response Service
• supporting more than 250 organisations on more than 600 cyber incidents
• research to increase insights into the level of cyber incidents affecting government and critical infrastructure
• working with the Victorian Electoral Commission to protect the integrity of the 2018 Victorian state election
• consolidating multiple security contracts to achieve efficiencies

Data insights to enable better decisions and outcomes powered by analytics

In 2018–19 the Victorian Centre for Data Insights (VCDI) delivered technical and strategic advice and training across government to support improved policymaking and service design using data. VCDI partnered with departments and agencies to apply advanced analytics tools and techniques including machine learning, text mining, natural language processing and neural networks to identify and prioritise opportunities and risks across sectors including health, transport, justice and public safety.

As stewards of Victoria’s Data Reform Strategy, VCDI also provided tailored advice and coaching to embed a data-driven culture across the Victorian public service (VPS) and transform public sector data use to enable better outcomes.

Pick My Project

Pick My Project has given Victorian residents the opportunity to choose local community building projects for funding. It is an online $30 million community grants initiative that empowers Victorians to come up with project ideas and then vote for their favourite project ideas to be funded. DPC delivered a strong engagement process - exceeding both idea and voting targets - driving more Victorians towards accessible digital participation. DPC will continue to support and learn from delivering the 237 successful project ideas throughout 2019–20.

Service Victoria

During 2018–19 more than 404,000 people successfully used the Service Victoria online customer platform, with customer satisfaction at more than 95 per cent. Service Victoria cut the time for customers to complete a transaction by more than 25 per cent.

An additional seven transactions were built on the platform, including applications for the solar rebate program, which began on 1 July 2019. New features were also released to remove some of the final roadblocks to fully online services such as online identity verification and a digital licence pilot for recreational fishing licences in a new mobile wallet.

Promoting affordable, reliable and secure energy

Throughout 2018–19 DPC supported Victorian government departments and entities including the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and Solar Victoria to develop key energy policy and program initiatives. These included:

• launching the Solar Homes Program, which will bring solar panels, solar hot water or solar batteries to 770,000 homes over the next 10 years
• securing 928MW of new large-scale renewable energy as a result of the Victorian Renewable Energy Auction Scheme
• abolishing costly standing offers and setting a fairer price for electricity, known as the Victorian Default Offer, from 1 July 2019

Office of the Victorian Government Architect

The Office of the Victorian Government Architect (OVGA) led the following projects in 2018–19.

Joined the Victorian Government’s largest ever design-focused trade mission

Led by Creative Victoria, Melbourne was the official partner city for Business of Design Week 2018 in Hong Kong. The theme of Melbourne’s presence in Hong Kong was Think-Collaborate-Create, which captured Melbourne’s attitude to design excellence and inventiveness. At this international event the OVGA presented on liveability, sport and design, highlighting the OVGA’s sustained focus on design quality at Melbourne and Olympic parks.

Refreshed and broadened the skill base of the Victorian Design Review Panel

This initiative included specialists in structural design, housing, schools and Aboriginal cultural awareness - strengthening the panel’s position and ability to provide authoritative and expert design advice. In 2018–19 the panel reached another milestone with the review of more than 350 projects since its inception in 2012, continuing to provide constructive design review to improve the quality of design outcomes on significant projects across Victoria.

The Case for Good Design - A Guide for Government

In 2018–19 the OVGA completed work on this new publication. The Case for Good Design provides an overview of the evidence base that explores the benefits of well-designed places and the effect of poor design on members of the Victorian community.

Collaborate across government

The OVGA collaborated across the Victorian Government on significant projects to build a common understanding of design principles. The OVGA’s ongoing design stewardship of city-shaping projects such as the Melbourne Metro Rail Project, North East Link Project, Sunshine Health, Wellbeing and Education Precinct, Level Crossing Removal Project, Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation and Public Housing Renewal Program ensures design quality is appropriately embedded and championed in the life cycle of projects.

Involvement in key projects with design excellence

The OVGA received industry support for its involvement in several key projects that have been awarded for design excellence. Projects included: level crossing removal projects such as Caulfield to Dandenong and Rosanna station; Swan Street Bridge Upgrade; Jock Comini Reserve Amenities; Frankston station; the new Members’ Annexe for Parliament House; the Port of Sale redevelopment; and the new South Melbourne Primary School.

Promote fair and equitable workplaces

In 2018–19 DPC’s Industrial Relations Victoria group provided support and advice for public sector bargaining matters, including approving 27 final agreements for public sector departments and agencies. Other ways DPC promoted fair and equitable workplaces in 2018–19 include:

• assisted in finalising a major enterprise agreement for Victorian TAFE teachers
• developed and implemented a revised wages policy and enterprise bargaining framework focused on the government’s operational and public sector priorities to deliver real benefits for the public sector and all Victorians
• established the Labour Hire Licensing Authority to oversee the Victorian Labour Hire Licensing Scheme and developed regulations to support the scheme
• supported passage of the Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2018 to provide portable long service benefits in the contract cleaning, security and community services industries from 1 July 2019 and drafted regulations to bring early childhood and disability services within the scope of the scheme from 1 January 2020
• introduced the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Amendment Act 2019 to assist owner drivers and forestry contractors by improving industry enforcement and compliance
• commenced the Inquiry into the Victorian On-Demand Workforce to investigate the conditions of workers working in the ‘gig economy’, also called the ‘on-demand’ economy
• led the Victorian Government’s participation in major Fair Work Commission cases including the annual wage review
• developed the Women in Construction Strategy (implementation will begin in 2019–20) to support attraction, recruitment and retention of women in the building and construction industry
• assisted the Equal Workplaces Advisory Council to develop gender equity principles
• engaged Incolink to provide occupational health and safety training to businesses and workers in the building and construction industry
• provided advice and support to assist businesses to implement new long service leave laws that provide greater flexibility to women, families and those transitioning to retirement
• ensured protection of children working in Victoria by administering child employment laws, including assessing and issuing more than 11,200 child employment permits and undertaking 180 child employment investigations
• finalised 99 investigations into breaches of long service leave laws and recovered more than $337,000 in outstanding long service leave entitlements for employees
• provided critical industrial relations support and advice for the Victorian Government’s major building and infrastructure projects, particularly the Major Transport Infrastructure Program

Progress towards achieving the objective

The output performance measures that provide information on DPC’s progress in achieving the ‘Strong policy outcomes’ strategic objective are outlined below.

Note: nm = new measure

Further details on DPC’s 2018–19 performance against its output performance measures are covered in the section Performance against output performance measures.