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Enable citizens to collaborate with government in policy and service design

Co-design puts people first to improve the quality of interactions between the community and Government.

Taking a co-design approach to service delivery means Government working in direct partnership with key stakeholders, including communities, individuals and others in the design process. Instead of the more traditional ‘inside-out’ consultation approach, an ‘outside-in’ approach is adopted. This means incorporating stakeholders’ input at all stages of the design process, starting with gathering information that gives us rich user insights to support stronger problem identification, through to early conception, prototyping, planning and finally implementation.

Co-design is identified as a fundamental basis for shaping Service Delivery Reform initiatives. The Human Services portfolio is currently developing its co-design capability. This involves:

Developing a methodology for co-design suitable to the service delivery environment;
Building a team of co-design specialists, a community of practice across the portfolio and Government;
Producing a toolkit of resources for staff;
Developing governance arrangements;
Designing a training program for staff on leading and applying a co-design process;
Producing detailed ‘user pathways’ showing the customer experience; and
Extending and integrating existing market research and consultation activities previously adopted by the portfolio, such as surveys, focus groups and usability testing.

In 2010, the Human Services portfolio took a number of critical first steps towards developing its co-design capability, including:

conducting more than 40 forums with customers and staff to explore their views of current service delivery arrangements and gather their suggestions for improvement;
reviewing existing market research and intelligence to better understand the customer experience; and
developing a series of Customer Service Case Studies to show how current Service Delivery Reform initiatives will improve service delivery for our customers.

For further information on co-design practices in the Human Services portfolio please contact Ms. Nicole Pietrucha, Assistant Secretary, Community Engagement, phone (02) 6124 6834 nicole.pietrucha@medicareaustralia.gov.au