How governments innovate: Networks, normative frames and leadership styles. This project addresses the national research priority goal of promoting an innovation culture and economy. Understanding the development and uptake of innovative ideas is critical for maximising Australia's creative capability. Improving our understanding of how policy leaders frame innovation, who they source innovative policy ideas from and how, and what individual and collective resources they draw upon is key to unde ....How governments innovate: Networks, normative frames and leadership styles. This project addresses the national research priority goal of promoting an innovation culture and economy. Understanding the development and uptake of innovative ideas is critical for maximising Australia's creative capability. Improving our understanding of how policy leaders frame innovation, who they source innovative policy ideas from and how, and what individual and collective resources they draw upon is key to understanding the factors conducive to innovation and its acceptance. This project will provide vital information on structures and processes for encouraging and managing innovation, and will lead to more responsive pathways for innovation, better governance systems and better policy outcomes.Read moreRead less
Academic networks and performance frameworks: Comparing the impact of policy on knowledge generation across disciplines and countries. Australian universities are central to the infrastructure that develops and fosters human talent and encourages innovation, through producing research, providing training, and transferring the knowledge they generate to government and the Australian community. This proposal falls with National Research Priority 3 - promoting an innovation culture and economy. It ....Academic networks and performance frameworks: Comparing the impact of policy on knowledge generation across disciplines and countries. Australian universities are central to the infrastructure that develops and fosters human talent and encourages innovation, through producing research, providing training, and transferring the knowledge they generate to government and the Australian community. This proposal falls with National Research Priority 3 - promoting an innovation culture and economy. It will provide an essential framework for immediate use in examining the consequences of the new research performance and funding arrangements being introduced in 2007, and assessing the impacts of policies that encourage collaboration. The comparisons with three other countries with similar policy goals will generate insights on how policy can best support knowledge generation.Read moreRead less
Resourcing Public Law Enforcement Agencies in the 21st Century; Coercion, Sale and Gift. This project will analyse three basic means of enhancing the resources of public law enforcement agencies: circumstances wherein police command cooperation from private institutions; those where police buy and sell services; and those where police are the beneficiaries of private sponsorship. The potentials and limits of these three forms of exchange will be studied in each Australian State and Territory, in ....Resourcing Public Law Enforcement Agencies in the 21st Century; Coercion, Sale and Gift. This project will analyse three basic means of enhancing the resources of public law enforcement agencies: circumstances wherein police command cooperation from private institutions; those where police buy and sell services; and those where police are the beneficiaries of private sponsorship. The potentials and limits of these three forms of exchange will be studied in each Australian State and Territory, in light of global developments. The project will aim to assist governments in coping with the growing demand for police services in a climate of enduring fiscal restraint. Products will include books, articles, workshops and a major conference.Read moreRead less
Decision making in international organisations: who and what shapes decisions? This project explores the working of seven international organisations (IOs) to ask who or what shapes what IOs do. Using public policy concepts to analyse the contributions of state representatives, chief executives and staff within IOs, this project seeks to provide more realistic appreciation of what IOs can achieve.
Public-Private-Partnership Governance and Performance: An Empirical Assessment. While Australia's rural and regional communities require improved infrastructure services at reduced costs and higher quality; infrastructure costs are significant and governments' funds are insufficient to meet demand. Public-private-partnerships (PPPs), if they work successfully, can be the key to meet this demand. As PPPs reduce the financial investment that governments need to make, the greater the opportunity fo ....Public-Private-Partnership Governance and Performance: An Empirical Assessment. While Australia's rural and regional communities require improved infrastructure services at reduced costs and higher quality; infrastructure costs are significant and governments' funds are insufficient to meet demand. Public-private-partnerships (PPPs), if they work successfully, can be the key to meet this demand. As PPPs reduce the financial investment that governments need to make, the greater the opportunity for considered infrastructure development, if the PPPs are successful and meet their intended financial and social objectives. Thus, a better understanding of the performance outcomes of different governance mechanisms in PPPs can result in less expensive and better infrastructure services for Australia's communities.Read moreRead less
Mapping the policy advisory capacity of the Australian federal government: assessing transformations in the policy advising role of the Australian Public Service. Governmental effectiveness depends to a significant extent on the availability of high quality information, analysis and advice. This project therefore addresses a matter of crucial national importance, namely the ability of the Australian Public Service to support decision-making through its policy advising functions. The project is s ....Mapping the policy advisory capacity of the Australian federal government: assessing transformations in the policy advising role of the Australian Public Service. Governmental effectiveness depends to a significant extent on the availability of high quality information, analysis and advice. This project therefore addresses a matter of crucial national importance, namely the ability of the Australian Public Service to support decision-making through its policy advising functions. The project is significant for both its theoretical and practical contributions. Its findings will inform better understandings of the policy advising role of the public service and its relationship to decision-makers in an increasingly pluralised governance context. The project will be the Australian contribution to a larger comparative project examining policy advisory capacities in four Westminster-style governments.Read moreRead less
International Civil Servants and the World Bank: their Role and Impact. The World Bank is the principal international organisation responsible for alleviating poverty and advocating good governance.Understanding the World Bank and its impact in the South Asian and East Asia regions should enable an improved capability for Australia to appreciate the attempts to alleviate the poverty in the region that is so much a source of instability there. We further need to understand the potential of int ....International Civil Servants and the World Bank: their Role and Impact. The World Bank is the principal international organisation responsible for alleviating poverty and advocating good governance.Understanding the World Bank and its impact in the South Asian and East Asia regions should enable an improved capability for Australia to appreciate the attempts to alleviate the poverty in the region that is so much a source of instability there. We further need to understand the potential of internatonal civil servants to contribute to international cooperation and the process of globalization. Read moreRead less
Creating Collaborative Advantage through Better Network Governance: A Comparative Study of New Institutions and Instruments. By harnessing the embedded resources of different government and service delivery organisations operating at community level, and by removing costly boundary problems between them, governments can address the needs of citizens in a more wholistic and flexible manner. But to do this in a coherent way it is necessary to develop new institutional rules and organisational proc ....Creating Collaborative Advantage through Better Network Governance: A Comparative Study of New Institutions and Instruments. By harnessing the embedded resources of different government and service delivery organisations operating at community level, and by removing costly boundary problems between them, governments can address the needs of citizens in a more wholistic and flexible manner. But to do this in a coherent way it is necessary to develop new institutional rules and organisational processes to allow agencies to collaborate without fear of reduced accountability or syphoning of public funds. The project will examine the structures and processes used in a selection of leading international cases in order to improve Australia's performance in gaining a collaborative advantage for citizens and agencies.Read moreRead less
Sparking a National Conversation. This project aims to understand why some promises of a ‘national conversation’ on a policy issue seem to be mere hyperbole, while others seem more authentic. Using an evaluative framework based on the latest democratic theory, and the aims and understandings of key actors in each case, the project plans to compare three cases that claimed to spark a national conversation: the Scottish National Conversation 2007–14; debates around the Affordable Care Act in the U ....Sparking a National Conversation. This project aims to understand why some promises of a ‘national conversation’ on a policy issue seem to be mere hyperbole, while others seem more authentic. Using an evaluative framework based on the latest democratic theory, and the aims and understandings of key actors in each case, the project plans to compare three cases that claimed to spark a national conversation: the Scottish National Conversation 2007–14; debates around the Affordable Care Act in the United States, 2009; and the ongoing issue of Indigenous constitutional recognition in Australia. The project aims to identify why some real-world efforts work better than others, and draw lessons for replicating best practice in Australia. Project outcomes may provide advice to policy-makers on how to engage citizens better in the major issues of the day.Read moreRead less
Assessing the Nation's Infrastructure: The Role of Financial and Non-Financial Information. Presently governments do not disclose information about the condition of legacy infrastructure, and the extent of projected (often, non-discretionary) expenditure to repair or upgrade the functionality of those assets. This project builds on an analytical framework developed by Walker Clark & Dean (2000). It examines the viability of alternative proposals for providing information to external stakeholders ....Assessing the Nation's Infrastructure: The Role of Financial and Non-Financial Information. Presently governments do not disclose information about the condition of legacy infrastructure, and the extent of projected (often, non-discretionary) expenditure to repair or upgrade the functionality of those assets. This project builds on an analytical framework developed by Walker Clark & Dean (2000). It examines the viability of alternative proposals for providing information to external stakeholders, on either an agency or ?whole of government? basis. Using a combination of case studies and stated preference data, the study seeks to derive an optimal reporting framework which can assist governments better measure and more effectively manage the nation's infrastructure.Read moreRead less