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Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner

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Good Governance

The number of accountability requirements of government - and their sometimes seemingly differing expectations - is a key concern for public sector organisations. The 'OPSSC Good Governance Guide – Helping you comply with the standards' has been developed to assist you to meet this challenge and comply with the relevant public sector standards.

A first of its kind, the Guide combines all across-government accountability requirements into a single and simple framework – a one-stop-shop to check your accountability obligations. Based on the corporate governance principles developed by the Australian Stock Exchange, the nine governance concepts for the public sector are:

  1. Government and public sector relationship
  2. Management and oversight
  3. Organisational structure
  4. Operations
  5. Ethics and integrity
  6. People
  7. Finance
  8. Communication
  9. Risk management

In this section:

  • How to use the Guide?
    The Good Governance Guide is made up of a series of products that you can use in whichever form and combination best suits your needs.
  • Nine Governance Principles
    The principles were developed specifically for the WA public sector in consultation with WA's regulatory bodies and a wide range of public sector organisations.
  • Operational Matrix
    The matrix provides further details about applicable standards, how you reach these, how you check if you are meeting your target, and how you report about this.
  • Accountability Map
    A comprehensive overview of the mandatory requirements applicable to WA public sector bodies as well as available guidelines.
  • Practice Exemplars and Tools
    Understand how the governance principles could be translated into practice in an organisation similar to yours.
  • Good Governance Maturity Model
    Identify your organisation's risk profile, assess the state of its current governance framework and plan how to fill any possible gaps.
  • Checklist
    Do a quick appraisal of whether you are still on track with respect to your accountability obligations and to communicate this to your staff and the broader public.

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Key resources


Disclaimer

OPSSC is providing the Good Governance Guide and the related Maturity Model free of charge to the WA public sector and the wider community. OPSSC, on behalf of the State of Western Australia, retains all intellectual property rights. OPSSC must be properly acknowledged whenever reference is made to the Good Governance Guide, the Maturity Model, other products of the Good Governance Guide or parts thereof. None of these products or parts thereof may be used for the purpose of generating profit for yourself, your organization or a third party.

Page last updated: June 09 2011