Changing Outlooks: Collaborating for change 2018-204.1

Graham Bradshaw, Transport for NSW, and Rod Chenhall, Corrective Services New South Wales were two people from two very different organisations. But a fortuitous meeting between the two at ANZSOG led to a literally life-changing partnership. Over dinner one night, Chenhall described the problems he was having finding enough placements for low-risk offenders serving community-based orders. If placements couldn’t be found, jail was the only alternative. Attendance was another issue. Some offenders had weekday work commitments; some faced transport difficulties; others struggled with motivation. As he listened, Bradshaw hit upon an idea: what if offenders served their orders at train stations? There was no shortage of grounds needing maintenance and beautification. Before long, they had the beginnings of a program: Changing Outlooks. But would their respective agencies be as keen to get on board? And how would participants respond?

This case looks at a collaborative pilot program to align strategic directions of two agencies with distinct organisational cultures and policy areas: Corrections and Transport. It can be used to discuss public value projects and inter-agency collaboration, and also looks at communications and stakeholder engagement strategies to build support for the project.