A framework to measure the wellbeing of NSW citizens will be implemented in the state’s budget, the government announced today.
The Performance and Wellbeing Framework is the Minns government’s latest bid to improve social outcomes for the state and to improve transparency and accountability.
It will replace the former Coalition government’s Outcomes Statement to improve “line of sight” monitoring and to align government objectives with results and impact of the framework.
The NSW Minister for Finance Courtney Houssos said a key challenge with the government’s new approach is “how to show and measure progress on our long-term reform plans”.
“Matching indicators which reflect the values at the core of the government’s ethos with the spend it makes increases clarity in the state’s economic discourse,” Minister Houssos said.
“The NSW Performance and Wellbeing Framework will help drive transparency and efficiency across government.”
The Performance and Wellbeing Framework will work in conjunction with the federal government’s Measuring What Matters statement, the first iteration of a national wellbeing framework for the federal budget.
The NSW government’s version will reflect the priorities of the Minns government, emphasising the responsibility they hold to deliver positive social outcomes from state health, education, transport and housing services.
Excellent to see NSW govt will adopt a wellbeing framework in its budget this year – to complement Federal govt and other states. @CentrePolicyDev been working hard with all jurisdictions to help them adopt wellbeing frameworks. It's just a first step.https://t.co/dgoSy6Thmi
— Andrew Hudson (@andrewhudsonau) March 17, 2024
The Performance and Wellbeing Framework will go before an inquiry at the Parliament’s Public Accountability Committee, before the indicators guiding the framework are published in the 2024 state budget, released in June.
As the framework replaces the Outcomes Statement, which was established by the former Coalition government in 2022, Minister Houssos said Labor’s “upfront and honest” approach will mean better wellbeing outcomes for citizens of NSW.
“The former Liberal-National Government’s Outcomes Statement was a polite fiction – a gesture towards accountability on government spend without actually achieving it,” Minister Houssos said.
“Being up front and honest about the challenges means providing genuine data that’s transparent, reliable and accessible to the people of NSW.”
Wellbeing in Australia is a key concern of government policy, as research shows a general decline across the board.
According to 2021 data from HeathStats NSW, 16.9 per cent of adults in NSW experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress. It impacted more females (19.5 per cent) than males (14.2 per cent).
More than 28.3 per cent of First Nations adults in NSW reported high or very high psychological distress, the research found.
Last month, the HILDA Survey (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) found 42.3 per cent of young Australians aged 15-24 were psychologically distressed in 2021. Overall, women reported higher levels of psychological distress than men; in 2021, almost one in three women said they were psychologically distressed, compared to 22.7 per cent of men.