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Western Australian Strategies

Whole-of-government ACCO Strategy – Department of the Premier and Cabinet

The key rationale behind the ACCO Strategy is that when ACCOs are involved in planning, designing and delivering services, Aboriginal people are more likely to engage with those services and likely to experience better outcomes. This is because, ACCOs are accountable to their communities, Aboriginal people make the key decisions, ACCOs are connected to their local communities.

The ACCO Strategy outlines three objectives that support the WA Government’s commitments in the National Agreement and Aboriginal Empowerment Strategy:

1. Greater involvement of ACCOs in planning and designing services
2. ACCOs delivering more services to Aboriginal people
3. Sustainability of ACCOs

It provides guidance on how to achieve these objectives through four focus areas:

Key focus area	Strategy Vision
1. Relationship between government agency and ACCO sector throughout the commissioning cycle	Government agencies know their ACCO sector well in accordance with their purpose and business. Government agencies have relationships with ACCOs that are transparent, fair and open.
2. Service planning and design at the start of the commissioning cycle	Services that primarily serve Aboriginal people are planned and designed in partnership with ACCOs. Mainstream services that are used by Aboriginal people are planned and designed with ACCOs recognised as key stakeholders. The resourcing implications for ACCOs’ involvement in service planning and design are recognised.
3. Strategic procurement and contracting within the commissioning cycle	ACCOs are prioritised in procurement as service providers to Aboriginal people. Procurement strategies consider early engagement with ACCOs, contract un-bundling to reduce contract size, or allocated a dedicated proportion of funding to ACCOs. Where there are ACCOs in the relevant place with capacity to provide a service, restricted tenders or direct approaches are used to ensure ACCOs deliver the service (consistent with the WA Procurement Rules and the Delivering Community Services in Partnership Policy. Where partnerships between ACCOs are other providers are used, agencies ensure these partnerships are genuine.
4. Capability and capacity – in both service delivery and commissioning	Government agencies identify gaps in ACCO service capacity and, through strong relationships and engagement, identify how to support existing ACCOs or new ACCOs to fill the service gaps, and from National Sector Strengthening Plans for the priority sectors of Health, Housing, Disability and Early Childhood Care and Development. Government agencies incorporate capacity supports into the budgeting and planning for commissioning. ACCOs have effective peak body representation, led by the Council of Aboriginal Services WA.

 

Western Australian Aboriginal Empowerment Strategy 2021-2029

The Western Australian Aboriginal Empowerment Strategy (the Strategy) outlines how the Western Australian Government will work towards a future in which ‘all Aboriginal people, families and communities are empowered to live good lives and choose their own futures from a secure foundation’.

The Strategy was developed in partnership with the Aboriginal Advisory Council of Western Australia, setting out the WA’s approach to meeting its commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (National Agreement).

The Strategy sets out a high-level framework for future WA Government policies, initiatives and programs that lead to better outcomes for Aboriginal people and their communities, built around genuine partnerships and engagement, strong accountability and culturally responsive ways of working.

Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) Strategy – Department of Communities

The Department of Communities released the Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Strategy in August 2022.
As WA’s major human services department, the Department of Communities brings together vital services and functions that support individual, family and community wellbeing.

The ACCO Strategy aims to improve the way that the Department of Communities commissions and delivers services to Aboriginal children, families and communities, while supporting the development of ACCOs to increase their capability to deliver place-based, culturally appropriate services across WA.

In line with the National Agreement, the ACCO Strategy aims to facilitate the delivery of culturally secure outcomes for Aboriginal children, families and communities and is directly aligned to Priority Reform 2 of the National Agreement.

National Agreements

Closing the Gap

Partnership Agreement

In March 2019, a formal Partnership Agreement was established between the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and the Coalition of Peaks.

The Coalition of Peaks is a representative body of over 50 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled peak bodies, and is an equal partner alongside governments in all matters relating to Closing the Gap. Currently, the Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australian (AHCWA) is the sole Western Australian representative on the Coalition of Peaks.

The Partnership Agreement outlines how the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and the Coalition of Peaks work and share decisions together on the design, implementation and monitoring of Closing the Gap strategies and policies.

This brings both opportunity and responsibility for stakeholders as Aboriginal people and governments are sharing decisions on Closing the Gap, under a formal agreement.

The Partnership Agreement is based on the shared beliefs that:

• When Aboriginal people are included and have a genuine say in the design and delivery of services that impact on them, the outcomes are better;
• Aboriginal people need to be at the centre of Closing the Gap policies, to bring about change to matters that affect them, and;
• Two way communication is imperative for priority reforms to take shape.

National Agreement on Closing the Gap

Under the Partnership Agreement, it was agreed that the National Indigenous Reform Agreement, an Agreement signed by Australian governments in 2008 setting out the original Closing the Gap strategy, needed to be replaced by a new National Agreement focussing on genuine partnership and involvement of Aboriginal people and their communities.

In July 2020, the Joint Council finalised the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (National Agreement).

The National Agreement is an ambitious and historic commitment that has equitable outcomes for Aboriginal people at its centre.

It is an essential long-term reform in the way that governments across the country work with Aboriginal people and it sets a clear path for change.

The National Agreement has been driven by a partnership between Aboriginal people and all Australian governments, and it must be the overarching framework for all Aboriginal Affairs policy activities from all governments into the future.

Previous Closing the Gap initiatives were focussed only on socio-economic targets, however the new National Agreement has four Priority Reforms at its centre.

The focus on reform is based on the belief that meaningful and sustainable improvements in outcomes for Aboriginal people cannot be achieved without transformational changes in the way governments work with Aboriginal people and their communities.

The four Priority Reforms that are guiding the National Agreement are:

• Priority Reform 1: Shared Decision Making and Partnership – Developing and strengthening structures so that Aboriginal people share decision-making with governments on Closing the Gap.
• Priority Reform 2: Building the Aboriginal Community-Controlled sector – Building formal Aboriginal community-controlled service sectors to deliver Closing the Gap services.
• Priority Reform 3: Transforming mainstream institutions – Ensuring mainstream government agencies and institutions that deliver services and programs to Aboriginal people undertake systemic and structured transformation to contribute to Closing the Gap
• Priority Reform 4: Increasing access to data – Ensuring Aboriginal people have access to, and the capability to use, locally relevant data and info to monitor the implementation of the Priority Reforms, socio-economic targets, and drive local priorities.

In addition to the Priority Reform targets, the National Agreement establishes 17 targets under the 17 socio-economic outcome areas to bring focus to new areas and monitor progress in improvements in the lives of Aboriginal people.

The socio-economic outcomes are focused on areas including education, employment, health, and well-being, justice, safety, housing, land and waters, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.