Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner

Good Governance

Nine Governance Principles

Principle 1: Government and public sector relationship

The organisation's relationship with the government is clear.

Principle 1 is a governance principle that is unique to the public sector and fundamental to any democratic political system. Ensuring clear and transparent relationships between the elected government and the bureaucracy is critical to prevent any undue influence in the administration of the public function and to ensure the swift and efficient implementation of government policies and strategies.

Standards (what is required?):

1.1

A document defines responsibilities and accountabilities between the chief executive officer and the minister.

Mandatory requirements | Guidelines | Good practice examples

Operations (how do you achieve it?):

1.2

Processes exist to manage communication and other interaction between ministers and other parliamentary representatives and the organisation.

Mandatory requirements | Guidelines | Good practice examples

Monitoring (how do you know you are meeting the standards?):

1.3

Communication and other interaction are recorded and monitored.

Mandatory requirements | Guidelines | Good practice examples

Reporting (how do you let the right people know?):

 

The organisation's annual report identifies compliance levels against the relevant standards.

Annual compliance reporting addresses compliance with WA's requirements for good governance.

All material matters are reported to the relevant oversight bodies.

Mandatory requirements | Guidelines | Good practice examples

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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: August 17 2009