New development: Risk management—how to regain trust and confidence in government

Abstract

There is a growing loss of public confidence in governments worldwide, reinforced by the global financial crisis, but also reflecting some disturbing concerns about democracy. This article examines Australia's recent reforms aimed at improving performance and accountability which focus on managing the risks involved in achieving the required outcomes. One risk might be that the electorate is simply not interested—because citizens are not convinced that the government is committed and/or capable of delivering the stated outcomes. The challenge for governments is to involve all interested parties to achieve and maintain credibility in any reforms. The issue is not only what needs to be done, but how to do it. The search for the ‘Holy Grail’ of improved public sector performance and accountability continues.

Keywords:

• Accountability
• governance
• public confidence
• reform
• risk management
• trust