Rationale

Productive relationships between state, territory and Commonwealth governments are key to promoting policy reforms that are of national significance, and to ensuring that government policies, programs and decisions are successfully aligned and implemented.

Methodology

Satisfaction with and effectiveness of communication and engagement are measured through a survey of key stakeholders. The survey is conducted by an independent provider and assesses overall satisfaction, effectiveness of support, and communication and engagement. Refer to note 1 in appendix B for additional information on the survey approach.

Data source

Data is collected from a survey of ministerial and non-ministerial external stakeholders.

Measure type

Quantitative and qualitative measuring effectiveness and timeliness.

Caveats

• The measure reflects satisfaction with and effectiveness of support for Commonwealth‑state relations.
• It reflects the views of the Prime Minister, relevant portfolio ministers, and non‑ministerial stakeholders.
• Results are weighted equally between ministerial and non-ministerial stakeholders.
• The Prime Minister’s response makes up 25% of the overall result.

Changes from previous year

In the Corporate Plan 2025–26, this measure was identified as measure 2.4, under key activity 2: Provide coordination and support for government priorities and initiatives.

From 2026–27, it has been renumbered as measure 3.1, under key activity 3: Deliver. This reflects changes to PM&C’s key activities.

Rationale

PM&C’s support to the Cabinet and its committees is key to achieving our purpose and is an important way to measure our success.

Metrics 1, 2 and 3 demonstrate the department’s support to the executive branch of government, the Cabinet and its committees in their role as decision‑makers. We are the custodian of critical and sensitive records for government. Maintaining these records is imperative in order to maintain the trust and confidence of the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the broader APS.

Metric 4 demonstrates the availability of the CabNet+ system, which enables storage and circulation of cabinet material across the Australian Government.

Methodology

This is a composite measure that consists of 4 equally weighted metrics. Overall performance is based on a 3-point scale:

• Achieved – all 4 metrics meet their targets
• Partially achieved – 3 metrics meet their targets
• Not achieved – 2 or fewer metrics meet their targets.

Metric 1: Physical Cabinet documents are cross-checked against a CabNet+ report of files to be transferred to the National Archives of Australia. The target of 100% compliance with the Archives Act 1983 and related authorities reflects the need to comply with legislative requirements.

Metric 2: Once note-takers clear and quality assure the minutes, these minutes are marked as ‘Ready for Cabinet Secretary’ in the CabNet+ system. Using time stamps, a minute’s timeline report is extracted from the CabNet+ system and undergoes a quality assurance process. The target of 90% of minutes provided within 48 hours demonstrates the balance between the need for clear and accurate decisions and timely distribution of decisions.

Metric 3: Relevant data is extracted from the CabNet+ system to determine the time from creation of a CabNet+ entry for each appointment to the time when the box is checked indicating that the PM&C Secretary has cleared the appointments brief and immediately provided it to the Prime Minister’s Office. The target of 85% of briefs being provided within 10 working days reflects the importance of timely support to the Prime Minister regarding Cabinet appointments.

Metric 4: A report outlining incidents that impact user access, external network and internal network, and the length of time of the incidents is extracted from the CabNet+ system. Information in the report is used to perform calculations to determine ‘application availability’ and ‘application downtime’.

• Application downtime is calculated by adding planned and unplanned outage figures for external network and internal network.
• Application availability/uptime is calculated by: (365*24) – (planned outages + unplanned outages) ÷ (365*24). The target of 95% reflects the minimum acceptable availability for users.

Data source

All metrics use data from departmental records and the CabNet+ system. The CabNet+ system is a whole-of-government system used to support the end-to-end Cabinet process. It provides electronic access at the PROTECTED and SECRET security classifications from approved government networks. It is available to ministers, ministerial staff and officials.

Measure type

Quantitative measuring outputs, effectiveness and timeliness.

Caveats

• Metrics 2 and 3 could be impacted by unexpected surges in requests or items, number of meetings and complexity of decisions to be recorded. This especially applies to minutes of the Expenditure Review Committee, where decisions can be quite detailed and final details often need to be confirmed after the meeting.
• The process for clearing and marking minutes as ‘Ready for Cabinet Secretary’ will continue to evolve over the next 12 months and therefore metric 2 will be reviewed during 2026–27.

Changes from previous year

The assessment scale for this measure has been simplified from a percentage scale to a numerical scale. Timeframes in metric 3 has reduced from 15 working days to 10 working days to support consideration by the Prime Minister as set out in the updated Cabinet Handbook.

Rationale

The Office for Women (OFW) has responsibility for leading action on the Australian Government’s commitment to advancing gender equality as a national priority.

Working for Women outlines the Australian Government’s vision to make progress towards gender equality over the next 10 years. It focuses on 5 priority areas: gender-based violence; unpaid and paid care; economic equality and security; health; and leadership, representation and decision-making.

Agencies across the APS, including PM&C, are responsible for:

• delivering on Working for Women’s outcomes, ambitions and vision
• embedding gender equality as part of their core business and in the policies, programs and services they provide
• demonstrating leadership on gender equality as employers
• investing in the uplift required to ensure staff have the skills, information and resources to deliver high-quality gender analysis.

Methodology

This is a composite measure that consists of 4 equally weighted metrics. Overall performance is based on a 3-point scale:

• Achieved – all 4 metrics meet their targets
• Partially achieved – 3 metrics meet their targets
• Not achieved – 2 or fewer metrics meet their targets.

Metric 1: The date of publication of the annual Status of Women Report Card by International Women’s Day is verifiable. The Report Card is an important mechanism for taking stock of where Australia is making progress towards gender equality, and where challenges remain. It presents updated and new data points for social and economic equality issues facing women and girls in Australia.

Metric 2: The effectiveness of support provided to prepare the Women’s Budget Statement (WBS) is measured by PM&C’s contribution through seconding a dedicated OFW staff member to the Treasury, and the engagement of OFW as a division in the development of the WBS. The target of effective support for the WBS is important as the WBS updates the Australian community on the government’s gender-responsive policies and highlights significant investments in improving equality for women across the priorities of Working for Women.

Metric 3: Departmental records such as agendas and meeting minutes are used to confirm that OFW convened core governance forums as outlined under this metric. The target of at least 2 meetings each held yearly reflects that these forums provide a mechanism to coordinate action to progress gender equality and offer an opportunity for intelligence gathering on risks and issues that may impact the advancement of Working for Women. It underpins the coordinated, whole-of-government approach to achieving long-term progress in gender equality set out in Working for Women.

Metric 4: Satisfaction with and effectiveness of communication and engagement are measured through a survey of key stakeholders. The survey is conducted by an independent provider. Refer to note 1 in appendix B for additional information on the survey approach.

Data source

Metrics 1, 2 and 3 use data from the PDMS and departmental records. Metric 4 uses data from a survey of ministerial and non-ministerial external stakeholders.

Measure type

Quantitative measuring outputs, effectiveness and timeliness.

Caveats

Metric 4 (Satisfaction with and effectiveness of coordination and implementation of Working for Women) reflects the views of the Prime Minister, relevant portfolio ministers, and non-ministerial stakeholders. Results are weighted equally between ministerial and non-ministerial stakeholders. The Prime Minister’s response makes up 25% of the overall result.

Changes from previous year

In the Corporate Plan 2025–26, this measure was identified as measure 2.3, under key activity 2: Provide coordination and support for government priorities and initiatives.

From 2026–27, it has been renumbered as measure 3.3, under key activity 3: Deliver. The assessment scale for metrics has been simplified from percentages to a numerical scale.

Rationale

Australian Government Consulting (AGC) is an in‑house consultancy for the APS within PM&C. AGC helps APS agencies to address strategy, policy and organisational performance opportunities. AGC is an APS capability that helps agencies deliver high‑quality projects and advice that contribute to the government’s agenda to reduce reliance on external consultants. Maintaining a high level of client satisfaction with the quality of consultancy services is critical to the viability of AGC and an important way to measure success.

Methodology

Performance will be measured by level of client satisfaction with AGC’s services in delivering consulting projects for the APS. A census approach will be used with clients who are in a position to provide an informed assessment of AGC’s performance. Clients will be invited to participate in a post‑project feedback survey. Overall satisfaction scores will be reported as an average of the scores in response to the question ‘Overall, how satisfied are you with AGC’s services?’ using a 5‑point scale rating. The sum of the response scores is divided by the total maximum possible score.

Data source

Responses to post-project feedback client survey, conducted by AGC in‑house.

Measure type

Quantitative measuring effectiveness and timeliness.

Caveats

Response rate to the post‑project feedback client survey will be maximised. However, there is a risk that the response rate will be limited because AGC is still in its early stages of growth and the overall satisfaction score may be reported on a relatively small sample size. This is expected to stabilise in the out years as AGC grows its client base and service offering.

Changes from previous year

In the Corporate Plan 2025–26, this measure was identified as measure 2.6, under key activity 2: Provide coordination and support for government priorities and initiatives.

In 2025–26, AGC was only funded for one year and therefore the measure was a composite measure with 2 metrics: metric 1, revenue received (interim target); and metric 2, client satisfaction (baselining target). During the 2025–26 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the government established AGC as an enduring APS capability and committed to expanding it to 150 staff over the next 4 years. The significant change in the operating context required the performance measure to be updated.

From 2026–27, the measure has been renumbered as measure 3.4, under key activity 3: Deliver. Targets have now been included for client satisfaction.