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Public Sector Reform - Moving Mountains: Big Change for Better Futures

In May of this year, Deloitte released the 2022 State of the State Report - Public Sector Reform: Moving Mountains - Big Change for Better Futures. 

This event/panel discussion was designed to explore what motivates us to call for reform, what the public sector can do to deliver value from reform and whether there are better alternatives to reform. Below are some of the take-outs from the session.

The Issues and Challenges

  • Reform is timely, disruptive and costly and doesn’t always deliver the intended outcomes.
  • It is complex and the results aren’t often immediate – a long term view is necessary.
  • Reform is often a result of a crisis – it is reactive rather than proactive! 
  • The voices of those impacted by reform, businesses and communities, are often missing – reform is driven by Government and Politicians.
  • Political Hyper-Activism – reform is often prompted by Ministers who are wanting to look busy solving problems.
  • Needs strong leadership and different kinds of leadership at different stages of the process to succeed.
  • Reform is not linear process!
  • Reform is a process of contesting ideas and conflict – successfully managing this is critical to the outcome.
  • Principles and Articles of the Treaty of Waitangi missing in reform process and outcomes.

Recommendations for Successful Reform

  • INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS = Coherence + Learning + Sustainable
  • Systems for recording the lessons of reform, and structures for making them accessible for the future – possible reform office. Preferably at ‘Arms Length’ to Government.
  • Reform needs to be more strategic and deliberate – involving business and community.
  • Inclusion is critical – reform needs a diversity of views and experiences to meet diverse needs.
  • The values of Equity and Sustainability should be the anchor and outcome for all reform.
  • Reform needs to be people centred – an opportunity to change the interface between government and the public.
  • Develop reform Partnerships with affected parties – if possible create power-sharing and co-governance structures.



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