THE MAP CONSULTATION
In light of growing national and international interest in progress measurement, and a decade on from MAP’s first release, the ABS has reviewed MAP to ensure it continues to measure those aspects of life that matter most to Australians. In 2011-12, the ABS, with the support of the MAP ERG, undertook a broad-ranging consultation that asked Australians ‘What is important to you for national progress?’
The first phase of the redevelopment of MAP involved a public consultation in order to capture the aspirations of Australians about what matters most to them. The ABS took this approach to ensure that the role of proposing aspirations for national progress belonged to the Australian public, rather to the ABS or other government agencies. The role of the ABS was to use these aspirations as a basis for a refreshed conceptual framework for MAP and then develop measures to express these aspirations.
The feedback received from Australians was provided in the form of aspirations for national progress, such as ‘good health for all’. These aspirations covered a broad range of issues that people considered important. Some of these issues were already included in MAP such as health and education while others were new or reframed aspirations such as ‘a healthy built environment’, ‘a fair go for all Australians’ and the ‘opportunity to have a say in decision-making’. Participants also identified more detailed aspects of these aspirations that they felt were important for progress; for example, within the broad area of Health, ‘Mental health and wellbeing’ was highlighted.
The viewpoints of Australians were gained through multiple channels such as workshops, social media platforms and expert panels. Participants were drawn from many sectors including the general public, community, government, business and academia. The consultation results that emerged from this process formed the basis of the aspirational framework presented in ‘Aspirations for our Nation’. This document also provides a more detailed discussion of the consultation process. The refreshed MAP conceptual framework and MAP 2013 progress indicators presented in this Information Paper are underpinned by the results of the MAP consultation.
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