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Summary
Because it draws on a broader pool of ideas and approaches, effective collaboration can produce outcomes that could not be achieved otherwise. Since 2013, the Government's commissioning and contestability agenda has shone a new spotlight on how collaboration can improve customer, delivery and community outcomes.
Collaboration
The Public Service Commission's Collaboration Blueprint, states that the broader meaning of collaboration can be understood as:
More than one party within the public sector or within and beyond the public sector working together in areas of policy development, service design or service delivery.
Collaboration is a critical element in any engagement or project that requires multiple skill sets and capabilities to deliver an outcome. It is required within organisations and teams; within the sector when working across agency boundaries; and between governments and the not-for-profit and private sectors.
Collaboration supports commercial partnerships as well as those that aim for a policy outcome or to deliver a service. Collaboration supports greater efficiency and effectiveness in the NSW public sector, by identifying and using critical strengths and capabilities rather than duplicating effort.
The service partnership model outlined in the NSW Government Commissioning and Contestability Policy proposes that agencies engage and collaborate with cross-sectoral delivery partners during the different stages of delivering services.
Collaborating throughout the service delivery cycle

Further information
- Public Service Commission
- NSW Treasury
Related topics
Senior executive insights
If they ever existed, the days when collaboration involved having a few meetings or managing a contract or grant are long gone.
True collaboration requires fundamental change from all parties; it is a sustained, intensive process.
It also takes time to fully implement, and requires organisational support to commit to the necessary initial investment of time and resources.
Effective collaborators require a range of relationship skills, including facilitation, listening, empathy, teamwork, stamina and resilience.