Poor governmental communication is at fault for the breakdown of good policy, according to Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher.

 

In a speech delivered to the 2011 Public Affairs Conference in Canberra, Mr Asher said lack of accessibility, poor complaint-handling procedures, lack of community consultation, and language that is unduly complex or bureaucratic make significant contributions to breakdown in policy.

 

“Many agencies see the way they communicate as a side issue to the services they provide, whereas the two are inextricably linked or indeed the same thing,” Mr Asher said.

 

‘Poor communication creates a wall between agencies and the people to whom they provide services.’

 

Mr Asher highlighted initiatives such as the Home Insulation Program, the National School Chaplaincy Program and the Northern Territory Emergency Response as examples of where lines of accountability, review and complaint handling are not clearly defined.

 

“For any agency, improving service delivery means going back to first principles and asking: are we placing the needs and wellbeing of the Australian community first, and if so does our service delivery reflect this? Are we giving the way we communicate our policies the same attention as the policies themselves?” Mr Asher said.

 

Mr Asher concluded his speech with a five-point action plan for how government agencies can improve their service delivery. Among his recommendations was the introduction of a government-wide plain language program.

 

The full transcript of the speech is available on the Commonwealth Ombudsman website.