Strategy and Engagement

Strategy and Engagement leads intergovernmental relations, strategic policy, integrated communications, protocol, events coordination, sponsorship and regional, national and international engagement for the Queensland Government.

Through the sharing of insights, research and engagement with the community, businesses and stakeholders, Strategy and Engagement informs the strategic direction of government.

Strategy and Engagement performs a leadership and coordination role across government to ensure Queensland remains future-focused in contributing to the delivery of the government's objectives for the community. The division also influences whole-of-government policy development through evidence-based research, best practice and evaluation. It also advocates for Queensland's best interests in intergovernmental forums, leads strategic communication, and maximises external engagement for the Queensland Government.

Key achievements for 2018–19

• Provided a leadership and coordination role across government to deliver future-focused strategic policy and ensure Queensland is well positioned to address government-wide issues through intergovernmental forums, in particular COAG, by leading:
• the Interdepartmental Committee for Intergovernmental Relations to drive whole-of- government engagement on national and state policy matters
• Queensland's engagement in the National Drought Summit in October 2018, and the General and National Security COAG meetings in December 2018
• national level discussions on the 'right to be forgotten' principles as part of the anti-cyberbullying agenda and securing Australian Government agreement to consider options for implementation in Australia.
• Supported the Queensland Plan Ambassadors' Council.
• Supported Screen Queensland to implement actions under the Advance Queensland Screen Industry 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan, including delivering the Screen Queensland Studios project, attracting renowned productions to film in the state, and helping deliver 32 productions in film, television and games, generating $262 million for our economy and creating 2600 jobs.
• Implemented the Regional Office Initiative by establishing offices in Mackay, Cairns, Toowoomba and Longreach, in addition to Townsville, to enable increased local stakeholder engagement and support the government's commitment to building strong regional economies and communities.
• Advised internal and external clients on best practice event delivery and sponsorship strategy by:
  • leading the Sponsorship and Events Advisory Group to provide a coordinated approach to assessment and attraction of outgoing sponsorships
  • managing strategic outcomes through 58 active sponsorships such as World Congress of Science and Factual Producers, World of Drones Congress, AusBiotech Conference and Energy Mines and Money
  • attracting key international events to Queensland supporting economic, social and cultural outcomes such as MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul) 2020, LandForces 2020, Screen Forever 2020 and Women of the World Festival 2020
  • launching the Year of Outback Tourism Events Program and implementing round one of the Program by supporting 26 events and experiences to drive tourism to Outback Queensland contributing to local economies.
  • delivering a range of core events programs and delivering additional events supporting emerging priorities in the community including Women on Boards, Queensland Parliament Drought Appeal and Flood Appeal receptions, Queensland Skills Summit and Harmony Day Reception
  • celebrating outstanding Queenslanders through delivery of significant award programs, including the 2018 Premier's Awards for Excellence (to recognise the Queensland public service); 2019 Queensland Australian of the Year Awards (on behalf of the National Australia Day Council); 2019 Queensland Reconciliation Awards (to recognise initiatives advancing reconciliation); and the 2019 Queensland Greats Awards (to recognise long- term achievement and dedication of service to Queensland).
• Provided protocol advice and coordination of international engagement activities including:
• the Premier's three official overseas visits to: China and South Korea; United Arab Emirates, Germany and the United Kingdom; and Japan
• official visits to Queensland, including two Royal visits and four Guest of Government visits
• 26 official functions for visiting dignitaries, community events and annual functions supporting Queensland's strong relationships with trading partners such as China, India and Japan
• 12 Head of Mission visits and 16 Courtesy meetings with international officials based in Australia
• delivering one state funeral for a prominent Queenslander.
• Led the planning and delivery of whole-of-government communication activities involving stakeholder and community engagement programs, advertising direction and crisis communication through:
• the Crisis Communication Network to provide essential information to Queenslanders during the various natural disasters and other major events that impacted the state
• priority communication campaigns, including domestic and family violence (increasing awareness and understanding around the behaviours that constitute domestic violence and support help-seeking behaviour) and the ice drug prevention campaign (raising awareness about ice use and promoting help-seeking behaviours and existing services including the Alcohol and Drug Information Service)
• the Heads of Communication Network to ensure coordinated and effective planning and delivery of whole-of-government communication and digital engagement
• the Government Advertising and Communication Committee process to ensure rigour around government advertising processes. This included overseeing and supporting 62 campaigns to proceed to market and 57 campaigns noted by the committee
• working with the Department of Housing and Public Works to complete an open-market tender process and contractual arrangements for a Queensland Government media monitoring and analysis supplier
• implementing the Advancing Queensland visual identity guidelines and phase one rollout across infrastructure signage, and the new whole-of- government master media advertising services Standing Offer Arrangements.

Our performance

The following service standards in DPC's Service Delivery Statements were used by the department and the government to assess overall performance of the Strategy and Engagement service area.

Notes:

1. This service standard informs on overall satisfaction of intergovernmental activities and is derived from an annual client survey.
2. This service standard informs on overall satisfaction of strategic engagement activities (delivered by Communication Services, Protocol Queensland and Events Coordination business units) and is derived from an annual client survey.
3. Clients are ministers, chiefs of staff, directors-general and their departments' cabinet legislation and liaison officers and senior policy officers. DPC is committed to strong customer satisfaction and has set targets to reflect this commitment. Results may fluctuate due to the contestable nature of much of DPC's work. DPC is committed to continuously improving service delivery and continues to implement strategies to achieve these targets.
4. This service standard informs on the overall cost of strategic engagement activities (delivered by Communication Services, Protocol Queensland and Events Coordination business units) as a percentage of the total departmental budget. The 2018–19 Actual is lower than the 2018–19 Target/Estimate due to the significant deferral of funding as at 30 June 2018, post formation of the 2018–19 Budget.

Future directions for 2019–20

• Lead innovative policy solutions that align with the government's objectives and respond to emerging trends for the Queensland Government.
• Perform a leadership and coordination role across government to ensure Queensland is well positioned to address government-wide issues through intergovernmental forums, in particular COAG, including hosting a COAG meeting in Cairns.
• Negotiate best policy position for Queensland through the national engagement forums.
• Develop a number of shared policy priorities with relevant agencies, other jurisdictions and the Australian Government across a range of issues including regional development, removing barriers for business investment and growth, population growth and impacts on service delivery and infrastructure.
• Support delivery of federal funding arrangements for a range of key sectors, including the early childhood, school, vocational education and training, health, housing and energy sectors.
• Enhance regional stakeholder engagement and deliver on the government's commitment to build strong regional economies and communities, including increasing the government's regional presence.
• Support the delivery of the Regional Office Initiative and identify opportunities for the Queensland Government to continue to be responsive to rural and regional Queensland.
• Collaborate with key partners to attract globally significant and strategically aligned events to Queensland and lead best practice in event delivery and sponsorship strategy across government.
• Leverage the Year of Outback Tourism Events Program to drive economic and community benefit through the attraction and delivery of high value events.
• Enhance the government's international engagement program by leveraging existing relationships and developing new engagements and opportunities, through strategically focused trade missions and protocol events, working in partnership with other agencies.
• Continue to support best-practice communication approaches and capability development through ongoing leadership of the Heads of Communication Committee and associated specialist sub-committees including Heads of Media Group, Advertising sub-committee, Social Media sub-committee, Internal Communications sub-committee and Crisis Communication Network.
• Drive greater connectivity and leadership across government by guiding the planning and delivery of whole-of-government communications strategy, including stakeholder and community engagement programs, advertising direction and crisis communication.
• Maintain whole-of-government strategic arrangements including master media advertising services and media monitoring to deliver strategic advice and value for money services.
• Continue managing the Government Advertising and Communication Committee process to ensure continued rigour around whole-of-government advertising.
  

Case study

Enhancing regional stakeholder engagement

The Queensland Government is supporting regional growth and sustainability by strengthening engagement with regional Queensland through delivering the Governing from the Regions program and DPC's Regional Office Initiative.

These programs are integral to ensure we remain a responsive government, providing the opportunity for Queenslanders to inform what programs are needed and inform continuous improvement of services.

Governing from the Regions

DPC delivered two Governing from the Regions events in 2018–19. Governing from the Regions is an opportunity for the Premier and Cabinet Ministers to meet local business owners, families and workers to share ideas on how to make the local area an even better place to live and work.

The four-day program was held from Monday to Thursday in the visited region. The highlight of the visit included a Cabinet meeting and a community function. The community function was attended by the Premier, Cabinet Ministers, community leaders and small business owners.

During 2018–19, Governing from the Regions was held in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs region in September 2018 and the Sunshine Coast in March 2019.

Regional Office Initiative

Four new regional offices (Mackay, Cairns, Longreach and Toowoomba) were announced as part of the 2018–19 State Budget to complement the existing Townsville office (established in 2015) with a government investment of $2.614 million over three years (2018–19 to 2020–21).

The Regional Office Initiative expands the government's regional presence, facilitates increased on-the-ground stakeholder engagement, and supports the government's commitment to building strong regional economies and communities.

It also provides the opportunity to maximise the intelligence from local communities and augment meaningful local cooperative partnership opportunities.

Led by Strategy and Engagement, the five regional offices have been actively engaging with communities in their regions to hear first-hand how government programs and services are benefiting the local community and what more could be done.

They have also actively engaged with local businesses, communities and other key regional stakeholders through events and forums, to understand local issues and coordinate appropriate responses. These include supporting the Townsville Stronger Communities Initiative and flood recovery efforts, the Port Douglas community preparation for Queensland Day, and engaging with small business to discuss growing tourism opportunities across Toowoomba, North Queensland and Outback Queensland.

Strategy and Engagement has also led key stakeholder engagement roundtables in all locations to identify further collaborative opportunities.

 

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