COAG Reform Council

About us

The COAG Reform Council (the council) has been established by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) as part of the arrangements for federal financial relations to assist COAG to drive its reform agenda. Independent of individual governments, we report directly to COAG on reforms of national significance that require cooperative action by Australian governments.

Our mission is to:

assist COAG to drive its reform agenda by strengthening public accountability of governments through independent and evidence-based assessment and performance reporting.

The council’s objectives are:

  • assessing performance of governments: provide independent, evidence-based assessments of the performance of Australian governments
  • enhancing public accountability: enhance the public’s ability to evaluate and drive performance across the COAG reform agenda
  • supporting COAG’s capacity to drive reform: assist COAG to develop and deliver its reform agenda
  • excellence and creativity: become a centre of excellence on cross-jurisdictional performance reporting
  • governance and organisational capability: develop and maintain efficient and effective processes that underpin a supportive and challenging workplace

The council’s role includes:

  • reporting on the performance of governments under National Agreements, which comprises:
    • highlighting contextual factors
    • providing a comparative analysis of the performance of governments
    • reporting on progress under National Partnerships that support the National Agreements
  • reporting on the performance of governments under various National Partnerships with reward payments
    • providing an independent assessment of whether predetermined performance benchmarks have been achieved prior to reward payments being made
  • reporting on the performance of the Commonwealth and the Basin States under Water Management Partnerships (pursuant to the Agreement on Murray-Darling Basin Reform)
  • reporting on the consistency of capital city strategic planning systems with national criteria (pursuant to the COAG communiqué of 7 December 2009)
  • advising COAG on options to improve performance reporting frameworks
  • highlighting examples of good practice and performance
  • reporting to COAG on the aggregate pace of activity across the COAG reform agenda
  • implementing an effective public accountability regime.

For information about council members, including biographies, visit the Members page.

Key council documents

Charter

The Charter sets out the basis of the COAG Reform Council’s constitution and role, including its mission, strategies, objectives, values and operating principles.

Business Plan 2011–12

This document is the COAG Reform Council's Business Plan for 2011-12 and is the principal planning document for the council and its secretariat. For a complete list of the latest timeframes, visit the Reporting Timeframes page.

Annual Progress Report

The Annual Progress Report forms part of the council’s governance framework. It includes a summary review of the council’s work over the past 12 months. This report does not constitute a formal annual report in accordance with the Commonwealth Public Service Act 1999. The secretariat’s statutory annual reporting obligations will be fulfilled through the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Annual Report.

Archived documents

The secretariat

A secretariat, located in Sydney and jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the States and Territories, has been established to support the COAG Reform Council in its work. The secretariat assists the council in its assessment and monitoring role, including supporting the Chairman and members of the council through advice and analysis, the preparation of papers and ensuring the effective conduct of the council's business. In doing its work, the secretariat is required to liaise with government agencies, ministerial councils and other bodies as appropriate.

The secretariat has been established as an administrative unit within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet for carriage of legal, employment and administrative matters only.

COAG Reform Council secretariat structure

COAG Reform Council Secretariat Structure

Employment opportunities

The COAG Reform Council advertises positions through the Australian Public Service Commission’s APSjobs website and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet website.