Nomination guidelines

ContentsIntroduction3About the Awards3Benefits in nominating for an Award4Briefing session4Recognition5Assessment process6Category assessment7Constructive development7Terms and conditions of entry8Confidentiality9Hints and tips in preparing a nomination9Step 1 : internal planning9Step 2 : stakeholder identification10Step 3 : writing the nomination11Nomination agreement12Nomination checklist12Awards news13Further information13Nominations template form (working copy)14Part 1 Project details15Part 2 Lead organisation contact details17Part 3 Partner organisation details (if applicable)20Part 4 Executive summary21Part 5 General criteria22Part 6 Category specific criteria Developing the economy24Part 6 Category specific criteria Improving government and reducing red tape25Part 6 Category specific criteria Improving Aboriginal outcomes27Part 6 Category specific criteria Managing the environment29Part 6 Category specific criteria Revitalising the regions30Part 6 Category specific criteria Strengthening families and communities31Part 6 Category specific criteria Western Australia in Asia32Part 7 Supporting online materials33Part 8 Nomination agreement34

Introduction

The Public Sector Commission invites organisations with outstanding initiatives to submit a nomination for the 2016 Premiers Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management.

Now in its twentieth year, the Awards are an opportunity to recognise the wealth of innovative and creative projects being undertaken by the public sector in the delivery of better services to the Western Australian community.

Nominations for the 2016 Premiers Awards open on Monday 14 March 2016 and close Friday 29 April 2016. All nominations must be received by close of business 5.00pm. Prior to this a working copy of the nominations form is contained in this guide.

Hardcopy or electronic forms will not be accepted, all nominations must be submitted online via the link contained on the nominations page and the InterSector. Once submitted, nominations cannot be edited or amended.

About the Awards

The Awards were launched in 1996 to stimulate and inspire organisations to strive for excellence in their delivery of services to the community. The Awards are about recognising and rewarding the most outstanding initiatives and extraordinary achievements for the Western Australian public sector.

The Awards focus on specific initiatives and are based on organisations demonstrating success against four general criteria and two or three category specific criteria.

The seven Award categories are:

Benefits in nominating for an Award

The benefits in nominating for an Award, include:

feedback throughout the judging processes can assist in the learning and improve the rigour of a future Awards nomination

preparing a nomination is an opportunity to review a major initiative/project

recognising an innovative and creative approach to address an emerging issue and/or challenge faced in the public sector

recognition and acknowledgement for undertaking and delivering a major initiative/project

increasing profile of the organisation in a major initiative/project field.

Briefing session

On Thursday 3 March 2016 at 10:00am a briefing session will be held at Dumas House, 2 Havelock Street, West Perth to provide additional information about the awards including:

overview of the Awards process

submitting an online nomination

a previous winners experience in preparing a nomination and the awards journey

a judges perspective, what the judges look for in the nominations

Anyone involved in developing a nomination can attend this free session. Further information will be posted on the Commissions upcoming events page. It is highly recommended by previous nominees and judges to attend this session.

Recognition

Finalists will be invited to attend the Awards Ceremony in November where the Premier announces the winners and awards them with their certificates. The Overall winner also receives the prestigious Premiers Awards trophy. A profile booklet of the winners and finalists projects is published on the Premiers Awards website shortly after the ceremony.

Winners and finalists act as ambassadors promoting their project and the Awards. Your achievements may also contribute to learning discussions in flagship programs such as the Graduate Future Leaders Program

The overall winner may also receive a visit from the Premier shortly after the Awards ceremony, subject to the Premiers availability. The overall winning organisation will be advised of specific details.

Assessment process

The nomination process is very competitive and organisations are assessed against the Awards criteria by multiple panels throughout the assessment process.

The assessors are independent volunteers drawn from across the public sector, academia, industry and the Western Australian community. The assessment process comprises three distinct stages and each stage is independently scored:

1. Short listing assessment panel delegates meet to discuss and agree on scores for each of the evaluation criteria. Recommendations are then made for up to five nominees to present to the judging panel for further assessment.

2. Category assessment up to five shortlist nominees deliver a 30 minute presentation to the judging panel in July at Dumas House. From this, the judging panel choose up to three finalists per category and are formally announced in a media statement from the Premier.

3. Peak assessment the chair of each category panel present the winning nomination for their category to the peak panel, which are responsible for selecting the overall winner.

The complete schedule for the Awards is available on the Awards news page.

Category assessment

Each judging panel evaluates nominations against the four general and two (or three) category specific criteria. Nominations are scored on the following one - five scale:

Score

Description

1

nomination does not address the criterion

2

nomination partially addresses the criterion

3

nomination addresses the criterion to a reasonable standard

4

nomination addresses the criterion to a high standard

5

nomination addresses the criterion to a very high standard.

It is most important to provide evidence (quantitative or qualitative) to substantiate claims of success or outcomes. Examples of evidence include statistics, quotes and case studies. Broad positive statements will not be considered as evidence.

Constructive development

Knowing what part of your nomination or presentation has resonated with judging panels can be worthwhile. Organisations can obtain feedback throughout the process with full details provided in letters addressed to the nominations primary contact.

Performance feedback will be provided to organisations in a number of ways. A letter will be sent to all Organisation heads and primary organisation contacts to indicate that an assessment has been conducted. Following shortlisting and presentations nominees will:

be provided the judges assessment scores according to the rating scale detailed above. This will assist in future development of nominations and assist in directing your efforts as your nomination proceeds through the judging process.

be invited to contact a member of the Premiers Awards team for feedback on their nomination.

Eligibility to apply

All Western Australian public sector organisations, statutory authorities, universities, local government authorities and government trading enterprises (GTEs) are eligible to apply for any Award category.

Nominations must reflect work led by a public sector organisation other than the Department of the Premier and Cabinet or the Public Sector Commission. Nominations will not be accepted if they reflect a lead by a non-government entity, the Department of the Premier and Cabinet or the Public Sector Commission.

Nominations may reflect the efforts of multiple organisations, organisation work teams or partnerships with Commonwealth departments, local government and non-government organisations. Nominations can be made on behalf of an organisation, a division or branch within an organisation. Every effort should be made to ensure agreement has been sought from all partnering organisations so that they are recognised for the nominated project. Information provided for a nomination may be used in public announcements and the end of year winners and finalists booklet.

Terms and conditions of entry

Organisations are not to engage consultants to assist in the preparation or completion of nominations (including professional printing and visual material).

Although organisations may submit multiple nominations if they have a variety of projects, the Awards limit organisations to one application per project. Where a project may satisfy the criteria of multiple categories, organisations must use their discretion to apply for the most appropriate category that will ensure their project is competitive. Nominations submitted for the same project - or parts thereof - across multiple categories will not be accepted (please consult with any partner organisations to jointly submit one nomination).

All information provided in the online nomination, presentation and nominees website (or that of partner organisations) relating to the project may be used in whole (or in part) by the Commission for any public announcements. Organisations may not be advised of the information to be used.

The Commi