COAG Performance Under the Spotlight

17–18 December 2007: A selection of comments made by BCA representatives regarding the need for an improvement in the operation and performance of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

“It [COAG] often puts out a really fantastic communiqué which we always say nice things about and that’s the last you hear of it. We would want to see something specific. That last previous government set up the COAG reform council. I am not sure whether the new government is going to stick with that, but there needs to be something that keeps COAG on the straight and narrow.”

BCA CEO Katie Lahey quoted in article titled ‘Performance Indicators the Key’, The Australian Financial Review, 17 December 2007.

COAG’s ministerial councils should be also strengthened. As the Business Council of Australia suggests, they should prepare annual work programs with clear timelines for action and key performance indicators, reporting on a regular basis on progress against those benchmarks.  

From articles published on 18 December 2007 titled ‘A Chance to Rebuild the Federation’, The Sydney Morning Herald, and ‘Rudd’s Federalism Needs Structures to Make It Work’, The Age.

Former prime minister John Howard held 14 COAG meetings over his 11 years in power, drawing criticism from groups including the Business Council of Australia for making slow progress on the actions he promised.

From ‘PM Wants Meetings to Be More Frequent’ by David Crowe, The Australian Financial Review, 18 December 2007.

• Actions will be the real test of COAG’s performance (news release)