Performance Monitoring in the Australian Public Service: a Government-Wide Analysis

This article considers the applicability of performance monitoring in the public sector. It analyses performance information across Australian government in order to identify, if possible, the basic attributes of effective performance monitoring, and finds significant variations. The authors conclude that varying levels of complexity in defining ends, and in attributing the achievement of objectives to particular means, may account for most of the differences. However, a number of exceptions suggest there is also room for adaptation.