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Home, Australian Government Productivity Commission
Performance Reporting Dashboard
Developed in
partnership with
Data61, part of CSIRO
About This Dashboard

About the Performance Reporting Dashboard

The Performance Dashboard provides a single, streamlined source of information on progress towards the [then] Council of Australian Government’s key commitments1. The Dashboard reflects the joint performance of all Australian governments. It contains assessments of progress at the national level, and for each State and Territory. For each indicator, policy responsibility may lie with the states and territories, or with the Commonwealth, or be shared. Assessments for a State or Territory are for residents of that State or Territory, and do not necessarily reflect the performance of the State or Territory government, as the Commonwealth may share policy responsibility. Similarly, results at the national level do not necessarily reflect the performance of the Commonwealth government. The allocation of policy responsibility for each service area is detailed in the Report on Government Services.

The full scope of collaboration between the Commonwealth, states and territories is extensive, with agreements covering areas from healthcare, education and disability to transport, infrastructure and housing. The Dashboard provides a high-level overview of performance in achieving key commitments of all Australian governments in priority areas. This includes performance benchmarks and indicators from National Agreements that cover health, school education, housing and homelessness, skills and workforce development, disability and Indigenous reform.2 It also includes an assessment of progress under a small number of the most significant National Partnership Agreements.

Further information on National Agreements and National Partnership Agreements is available here.

Treatment of data

Data used in the Dashboard come from a variety of surveys, administrative collections and censuses. Much of the data are also published in the Report on Government Services with more detailed data quality information. We have noted where data quality information has been particularly relevant to the interpretation of assessment.

Most of the available data cover the 2008 to 2021-22 timeframe. The baseline year for assessment is typically 2008, as this was the year prior to the current Federal Financial Relations Framework coming into effect. All data are current as of April 2023. The year of ‘Last update’ is noted and refers to the year that the data was updated on the Dashboard.

Where there are multiple data sources that may be appropriate measures for a benchmark or indicator, analysis and figures concentrate on the main measure (as agreed by jurisdictions). In some cases, supplementary data sources are included in the supporting commentary, particularly where they are more up to date.

For survey data, statistical significance of differences is tested. Changes are only noted when differences are statistically significant. For Census data, there are no estimates of error from sampling. There may be error from other sources such as processing or collection issues which are not quantified. For some administrative collections such as mortality and NAPLAN, variability bands are used to measure the significance of differences taking into account the volatility in small numbers.

Assessment of progress

The Dashboard contains assessments of progress at the national level, and for each State and Territory. Assessments vary based on whether Australian governments agreed to reach a particular benchmark by a particular point in time, or whether they agreed that performance should be monitored, but have not set a particular benchmark for achievement. The table below outlines the range of assessments based on type of indicator.

Measures on which Australian governments agreed to reach a particular benchmark by a particular point in time.
AchievedThe final assessment date for the benchmark assessment has passed. The benchmark was met.
On trackThe final assessment date for this benchmark is in the future. On the basis of results so far, the benchmark is on track to be met.
Likely to have been metThe due date for the benchmark assessment has passed, but data are not yet available to assess results at that date. On the basis of the available data, the benchmark is likely to have been met.
Not on trackThe final assessment date for this benchmark is in the future. On the basis of results so far, the benchmark is not on track to be met.
Unlikely to have been metThe final assessment date for the benchmark assessment has passed, but data are not yet available to assess results at that date. On the basis of the available data, the benchmark is unlikely to have been met.
Not metThe final assessment date for the benchmark assessment has passed. The benchmark was not met.
Mixed resultsThe final assessment date for the benchmark assessment has passed. There are multiple measures with varying results and it is not possible to form an overall assessment.
New benchmarkThere are no time series data available for this benchmark yet, so it is not possible to assess progress at this point.
Revised benchmarkAn agreement has been reached to replace a previous benchmark.
No trajectoryThere are no individual State and Territory trajectories to assess progress.
Measures on which Australian governments agreed that performance should be monitored, but have not set particular benchmarks for achievement.
Assessment reflects change from the baseline.
ImprovingThere has been a noticeable change on this measure.
No improvementThere has been no noticeable change on this measure.
Negative changeThere has been a noticeable worsening on this measure.
Mixed resultsThis indicator includes a suite of results, which have shown a variety of positive, negative and/or no change. It is not possible to form an overall assessment.
New indicatorThis is the first cycle of reporting for this indicator.
No longer participatingJurisdiction exited the agreement.

It should be noted that since benchmarks are typically set at the national level, assessments of most State and Territory progress will be limited to whether outcomes have improved, worsened or remain unchanged.

1 On 29 May 2020, the National Cabinet agreed to the cessation of the Council of Australian Governments and the formation of the National Federation Reform Council.

2 The National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA) ceased following the introduction of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap in July 2020. There will be no further data updates for the NIRA on the Dashboard. Data on targets and indicators in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap will be available through the Closing the Gap Information Repository – see www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data.

Attribution

The correct citation is: Productivity Commission 2023, Performance Reporting Dashboard, Canberra https://performancedashboard.d61.io/aus (accessed [include date you accessed the online material]).