The purpose of this inquiry is to review recurring issues that have arisen in recent years across several government agencies relating to the effectiveness of government policy and program design implementation. The areas the report focuses on are:

• policy and program design
• policy planning and implementation
• governance and risk management, and
• performance and impact measurement.

The report concentrates on six of the Australian National Audit Office's (ANAO) performance audits across several government policy and program initiatives published in 2022–23. Government agencies referred to in these audits are:

• Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
• Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)
• Department of Education (Education)
• Department of Health and Aged Care (Health)
• Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs)
• Department of the Treasury (Treasury)
• Australian Border Force 

The Committee has made 11 recommendations which include requests for progress updates from audited entities on a variety of issues including stakeholder engagement planning, legislative changes, and information management processes. The Committee also recommended that the Australian Government prioritises legislation that aligns the Health Insurance Act with the modern technological requirements of telehealth and that reforms the existing partner and child family visa programs to make them truly demand driven.

Key messages

• People affected by policy and program proposals should have the opportunity to contribute to policy design, and decision-makers should be informed of the outcomes of this consultation.
• When co-designing policy, entities should assess whether the parties invited to co-design collectively represent all relevant interests, and, if they do not, consider whether additional targeted consultation is required to inform the co-design.