ATNS - Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements project

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National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery
Date:	27 January 2009
Date To:	30 June 2014
Sub Category:	COAG Agreement
Place:
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State/Country:	Australia
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Subject Matter:	Health and Community Services
URL:	http://www.curtin.edu.au/research/jcipp/local/docs/National_Partnership_Agreement_on_Remote_Service_Delivery.pdf
Summary Information:
The National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery ('the Agreement') was established to contribute to the Closing the Gap targets agreed in the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA 2008). It seeks to 'implement a new remote service delivery model that clearly identifies service standards, roles and responsibility and service delivery parameters to ensure that Indigenous Australians living in selected remote communities receive and actively participate in services to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage'.
Detailed Information:
The government services referred to in the agreement include early childhood, health, housing and welfare services in twenty-nine remote Indigenous communities across Australia. Objectives, outcomes and outputs Clause 13 sets out twenty-nine proposed locations for initial investment under the Agreement, including remote areas of the Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australian and New South Wales. The Agreement has the following objectives that include; the improvement of access of Indigenous families to a full range of suitable and culturally inclusive services;  to raise the standard and range of services delivered to Indigenous families; to improve the level of governance and leadership within Indigenous communities and Indigenous community organisations; to provide simpler access and better coordinated government services;  increase economic and social participation, promote personal responsibility, engagement and behaviour consistent with positive social norms (Clause 15).  The objectives and outcomes of the Agreement will be achieved by outputs set out in Clause 17, which include detailed Local Implementation Plans and Bilateral Plans for each jurisdiction party to the Agreement. Performance benchmarks and indicators The performance benchmarks and indicators for the objectives of the Agreement differ from location to location, and are developed as part of the process of developing Local Implementation Plans (Clause 23).
Outcomes:
The National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery Evaluation 2013 found strong evidence that the Agreement had led to an increase in identified communities of service provision such as new houses, Children and Family Centres, youth services and social services. Government stakeholders held a strong view that the reporting requirements under the Agreement had been excessive and overly burdensome. Objectives against which the least progress were made was in building community capacity to engage with governments and building community governance and leadership capacity generally