Community Services Bulletin

This is the Community Services Procurement Bulletin. August 2023 edition. It is compiled by the Department of Finance.

General Manager Update

Welcome to the August edition of the Community Services Bulletin. I hope you have all been making the most of the sunny days sprinkled into our wet and windy Makuru weather. I for one am excited to be heading into Djilba and wildflower season for our beautiful state.

Stepping into Lara’s role while she takes some leave has given me some insight into all that is happening in community services. It has been a privilege to learn more about the important work undertaken by the sector.

In line with the State Commissioning Strategy Implementation Plan, line agencies have been developing draft Agency Commissioning Plans (ACPs). Thank you to everyone involved as I know that agency staff were busy putting the finishing touches on their ACPs before submission. Plenty of great questions were asked about how the information will be reviewed and shared with the sector and we are keen to prioritise transparency to ensure that the information shared will be meaningful and useful for service providers.

Finally, if you haven’t already seen our Commissioning Toolkit, I recommend checking out the tools. They cover all stages of the commissioning cycle and will be useful to anyone transitioning from procurement to commissioning practice.

Kat Abbott, General Manager

Supporting Communities Forum Communique

The May and June 2023 Communique summarises:

  • updates received from the Supporting Communities Forum on work done to progress the priorities of the Forum; and
    presentations from invited guests.
  • It includes an update on the extended term of the Forum. You can access the communique on wa.gov.au.

State Commissioning Strategy Update and Governance

We are eleven months into the Implementation Plan of the State Commissioning Strategy.

Work is well underway with key achievements so far including:

    • Development of the SCS governance structure (images below);
    • Facilitation of commissioning capability training for commissioning agencies, with approximately 150 participants across 12 agencies so far;
    • Development of the Commissioning Toolkit. This toolkit provides guidance on how to undertake commissioning tasks; and
    • Development of the framework for 2023 – 2025 Agency Commissioning Plans by commissioning agencies.

We are currently hard at work on:

  • Updating the Delivering Community Services in Partnership Policy to reflect the ability to directly engage Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations;
  • Researching current pricing models;
  • Developing a self-assessment tool to assist agencies to measure capability; and
  • Updating the Planning in Partnership guide with commissioning guidance.

If you have any questions regarding the Plan or SCS please contact the Community Services Procurement Policy team. If you are from a government agency and are interested in commissioning training, please email us to be placed on a waitlist for upcoming training.

WA State Commissioning Strategy

To view the Governance Structure please click this link.

To view the Overview and Purpose please click this link.

Communicate intentions: Second stage of the Commissioning Cycle

The second stage of the commissioning cycle is to communicate intentions. This is important during the planning stage of the commissioning process, but communication with stakeholders should be ongoing throughout the commissioning cycle.

View a diagram of the Commissioning Cycle.

Communicating intentions ensures transparency which promotes market shaping, sector viability, innovation to respond to upcoming needs, and assists smaller organisations to be successful. This transparency also shows respect to service providers and enables the market to respond appropriately.

The effective communication of intentions also ensures ongoing accountability for agencies in the expenditure of public funds.

When communicating intentions, it is important that commissioning agencies set reasonable expectations when engaging stakeholders and communicate the findings of the needs analysis. Agencies must communicate their plans to the market to allow stakeholders to plan and prepare for commissioning activities. When undertaking co-design, the limitations and constraints of the co-design process should be communicated early on to ensure all stakeholders have clarity and realistic expectations.

Stay tuned for our next bulletin where we will continue to explore the stages of the commissioning cycle!

Procurement Capability Indicator 2023-2024

We are excited to announce that the Procurement Capability Indicator (PCI) 2023-2024 is now available.

The PCI is an online assessment tool designed for state agencies to identify procurement and contract management strengths and development areas in both teams and individuals.

There are three versions of the questionnaire, customised to suit the nature of procurement undertaken by officers operating in the three streams of procurement – community services, goods and services and works.

As in previous years, Finance will fund agency participation costs.

If your agency is participating this year, and your role primarily involves community services procurement, we encourage you to complete the community services version of the questionnaire of the PCI.

More information on the PCI is available online, including a short video guide.

If your agency is interested in participating or has any PCI questions, please contact ProcurementAdvice@finance.wa.gov.au to arrange access.

Ronald McDonald Volunteering

Finance staff recently spent a rewarding day volunteering at Ronald McDonald House in Nedlands.

The visit involved cooking up a storm to provide a light lunch for the children and their families, followed by a tour of the facilities.

Ronald McDonald House provides a warm and supportive home-away-from-home for families of children travelling to Perth Children’s Hospital for treatment.

If your community service provider is looking for corporate volunteers, please contact the Community Services Procurement Policy team and let us know!