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Services Management

Notes 14. The process capacity is determined by the slowest series task in the process; that is, having
the slowest throughput rate or ............................ .
15. Operations managers are interested in process aspects such as cost, quality, ............................,
and speed.

Case Study Case: Reform of Specific Purpose Payments

n December 2007, COAG agreed to reform Specific Purpose Payments (SPPs) (COAG
I2007). SPPs are financial agreements between the Australian Government and State and
Territory governments, involving a contribution by the Australian Government to the
funding of services which are considered a joint Australian and State and Territory
government responsibility. SPPs are relevant to many of the services covered in this
report, frequently defining the respective roles of the Australian and State and Territory
governments, determining financial arrangements and underpinning national data
collections.

At its 29 November 2008 meeting, COAG agreed to six new National Agreements (National
Healthcare Agreement, National Education Agreement, National Agreement for Skills
and Workforce Development, National Affordable Housing Agreement, National
Disability Agreement and the National Indigenous Reform Agreement) (COAG 2008b).
Five of these Agreements are associated with a National SPP that can provide funding to
the states and territories for the sector covered by the National Agreement. As part of the
COAG reforms, over 90 SPPs have been revised down to these five SPPs, covering schools,
vocation education and training, disability services, healthcare and affordable housing.
Under these reforms, each National Agreement contains the objectives, outcomes, outputs
and performance indicators for each sector, and clarifies the respective roles and
responsibilities that will guide the Commonwealth and the States and Territories in the
delivery of services. The performance of all governments in achieving mutually agreed
outcomes and benchmarks specified in each National Agreement will be monitored and
assessed by the COAG Reform Council (CRC).
The Steering Committee has been requested by COAG to provide the SPP performance
information to the CRC (COAG 2008a). The National Agreements/SPPs will be
supplemented by three types of National Partnerships (NPs): project, facilitation, and
reward agreements. Funding for NPs may be conditional on states and territories meeting
agreed performance benchmarks.
The Steering Committee will ensure that this Report reflects the COAG priorities identified
in the performance reporting frameworks for each National Agreement, associated SPP
and any relevant NPs.

‘Measures of Australia’s Progress’
In April 2006, the ABS published the third issue of Measures of Australia’s Progress (ABS
2006). The ABS publishes a summary of the headline indicators on its website annually.

The publication presents indicators across three domains of progress — economic, social
and environmental. Each indicator signals recent progress, typically denoting
developments over the past 10 years to help Australians address the question, ‘Has life in
our country got better, especially during the past decade?’ The framework includes both

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