Welcome to the first edition of the new look Partnerships News. Partnerships News will now be published every three months and will endeavour to reflect the changes and developments in partnerships as the program enters its second ten years. Contributions from readers and any insights into the process that you wish to share are most welcome.  Also if there are any additions or improvements to the new format for Partnerships news that you would like to see, please let us know; email Neil Gardner.

The Premier has released the findings of the evaluation of the partnerships program and endorsed all its recommendations. This means that there will be immediate changes to the way that we do business. Those changes are aimed at simplifying the partnerships process by streamlining the administrative workload and reducing the amount of reporting.

You will notice a number of significant changes immediately.

• Database reporting on each agreement will now only be required every 6 months, unless some particular provision in that agreement specifies otherwise.
• There will no longer be an evaluation after the first twelve months of an agreement.
• New agreements will be "shorter and sharper" and more outcome-focused.
• They will generally contain fewer actions. Those actions will be of high priority and achievable, with measurable outcomes.
• Agreements will no longer all be of three years duration. They will only run for as long as it takes to implement the actions they contain.
• As the partnerships process becomes more flexible, there could be special agreements among small clusters of councils with a common interest or concern.
• The Premier's Local Government Council will be used to develop a new generation of agreements to meet statewide and regional strategic priorities.

As new developments occur, Partnership News will keep you informed.