Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations. The protection of whistleblowers and other internal witnesses to corruption, misconduct and maladministration is a great unsolved problem in public sector governance. Involving 11 integrity institutions, this first national study of internal witness management will describe and compare organisational experience under varying public interest disclosure regimes across the Au ....Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations. The protection of whistleblowers and other internal witnesses to corruption, misconduct and maladministration is a great unsolved problem in public sector governance. Involving 11 integrity institutions, this first national study of internal witness management will describe and compare organisational experience under varying public interest disclosure regimes across the Australian public sector. By identifying and promoting current best practice in workplace responses to public interest whistleblowing, the project will use the experience and perceptions of internal witnesses and first- and second-level managers to identify more routine strategies for preventing, reducing and addressing reprisals and other whistleblowing-related conflicts.Read moreRead less
Whole of Government: Evaluating frameworks for integrating policy development, implementation and delivery of public services. The Australian Government is committed to whole of government approaches to policy, implementation and service delivery. This research will help make whole of government work better, by analysing its fundamentals and providing guidance on best practice. It links five key government agencies, coordinating departments and those at the front line of service delivery. Case s ....Whole of Government: Evaluating frameworks for integrating policy development, implementation and delivery of public services. The Australian Government is committed to whole of government approaches to policy, implementation and service delivery. This research will help make whole of government work better, by analysing its fundamentals and providing guidance on best practice. It links five key government agencies, coordinating departments and those at the front line of service delivery. Case studies include national security, avian flu and indigenous policy coordination. The project will build ongoing collaboration between academic researchers and public servants. It will develop practical guidelines to assist government organisations better serve clients and solve complex policy challenges.Read moreRead less
The Contractualisation of Government: Public Accountability and Performance. Contracting has changed the delivery of government services and infrastructure in Australia. This project examines how such 'contractualisation' has affected accountability at the federal level and how current practices may be improved. Four key research questions are addressed. First, what changes, if any, in public accountability were expected from contractualisation? Second, through an analysis of case studies, ho ....The Contractualisation of Government: Public Accountability and Performance. Contracting has changed the delivery of government services and infrastructure in Australia. This project examines how such 'contractualisation' has affected accountability at the federal level and how current practices may be improved. Four key research questions are addressed. First, what changes, if any, in public accountability were expected from contractualisation? Second, through an analysis of case studies, how have public accountability practices altered in reality? Third, how might public accountability be strengthened whilst maintaining the benefits of contractualism? Fourth, what kind of performance information would assist Auditors General to strengthen their role in supporting public accountability and good governance?Read moreRead less
The accountability priorities of federal parliamentarians and whether they are reflected in the Commonwealth budgetary and reporting framework. Senate committees provide the main forum in which elected representatives can directly scrutinise the actions of public officials. The project, by providing new detailed evidence about the accountability priorities of Senators, will contribute to ongoing debate about how to improve the quality of information provided by government agencies to Parliament ....The accountability priorities of federal parliamentarians and whether they are reflected in the Commonwealth budgetary and reporting framework. Senate committees provide the main forum in which elected representatives can directly scrutinise the actions of public officials. The project, by providing new detailed evidence about the accountability priorities of Senators, will contribute to ongoing debate about how to improve the quality of information provided by government agencies to Parliament. It will provide a valuable counterbalance to the dominant views of the Department of Finance and Administration which do not necessarily reflect the interests of the wider public. The quality of public information and of democratic governance will therefore be significantly enhanced.Read moreRead less
Corporate Governance in the Public Sector: An Evaluation of its Tensions, Gaps and Potential. This project aims to enhance corporate governance in Commonwealth public sector bodies (assets worth $125 billion), leading to better management of public resources and more effective public administration. It is a major theoretical and empirical analysis of corporate governance's impact on public administration from governance, management, and legal perspectives, drawing on private sector and internati ....Corporate Governance in the Public Sector: An Evaluation of its Tensions, Gaps and Potential. This project aims to enhance corporate governance in Commonwealth public sector bodies (assets worth $125 billion), leading to better management of public resources and more effective public administration. It is a major theoretical and empirical analysis of corporate governance's impact on public administration from governance, management, and legal perspectives, drawing on private sector and international comparisons. It will develop an integrated cross-government framework for corporate governance and customized guidance according to organisational type. The major outcome will be to advance knowledge of the multi-disciplinary basis of corporate governance in its applications within government, communicated through scholarly, governmental, and web-based resources.Read moreRead less
The utilisation of social science research in policy development and program review. This project will enhance the use of evidence in social policy and improve the relevance of applied social research. It will produce new insights into factors affecting the success of evidence-based decision-making by examining social research utilisation within various agencies at federal and state levels. National and community benefits centre on how to improve the policy uptake of social research. This will c ....The utilisation of social science research in policy development and program review. This project will enhance the use of evidence in social policy and improve the relevance of applied social research. It will produce new insights into factors affecting the success of evidence-based decision-making by examining social research utilisation within various agencies at federal and state levels. National and community benefits centre on how to improve the policy uptake of social research. This will contribute to the development of improved support systems to enhance the consideration of evidence-based policy. Outcomes will be applicable to governments, policy-makers and academics in Australia and abroad. Ways to improve research partnerships between academic social scientists and public sector agencies will be identified. Read moreRead less
Police Leadership in the 21st Century: Redesigning Roles and Practices. Leaders are seen as exemplifying and guiding the climate of police organisations. This project will deliver comprehensive, comparative, and internationally relevant empirical data on the relationship between leaders' approach and behaviours and the achievement of outcomes in these significant, high profile public sector organisations. On this foundation the project will make recommendations on innovative institutional desi ....Police Leadership in the 21st Century: Redesigning Roles and Practices. Leaders are seen as exemplifying and guiding the climate of police organisations. This project will deliver comprehensive, comparative, and internationally relevant empirical data on the relationship between leaders' approach and behaviours and the achievement of outcomes in these significant, high profile public sector organisations. On this foundation the project will make recommendations on innovative institutional design to achieve ethical, effective and efficient policing capable of withstanding the challenges of the future. This will increase public confidence in policing, resulting in safer communities and improved crime control. This proposal contributes to the ARC research priority of Safeguarding Australia.Read moreRead less
National and Regional Patent Administration in Small to Medium-Sized States in the Global Economy. Patents and patent administration are key to the rules of the game in the knowledge economy. The study will analyse how a group of smaller national patent offices including Australia?s, are responding to the agenda of patent harmonization that is being led by the US, European and Japanese patent offices. What is the impact of this agenda on Australia's interests? Should Australia take the lead in ....National and Regional Patent Administration in Small to Medium-Sized States in the Global Economy. Patents and patent administration are key to the rules of the game in the knowledge economy. The study will analyse how a group of smaller national patent offices including Australia?s, are responding to the agenda of patent harmonization that is being led by the US, European and Japanese patent offices. What is the impact of this agenda on Australia's interests? Should Australia take the lead in pushing for a regional patent organization? Using sociolegal techniques, the study will answer these and other key questions facing Australian policy makers. The work of patent offices within APEC, ASEAN and the Pacific Island Forum (for example, NZ, Fiji, and China)will be the subject of in-depth fieldwork and analysis.Read moreRead less
Enrolling the People: The Development of Modern Electoral Administration. In Australia, electoral administration became centralised, professionalised and relatively free of partisan interference during the colonial period. That considerable achievement has been little studied.
The aims of this project are to produce a history of the development of colonial electoral administration; and to isolate the factors that enabled the development of modern electoral administration.
To answer these q ....Enrolling the People: The Development of Modern Electoral Administration. In Australia, electoral administration became centralised, professionalised and relatively free of partisan interference during the colonial period. That considerable achievement has been little studied.
The aims of this project are to produce a history of the development of colonial electoral administration; and to isolate the factors that enabled the development of modern electoral administration.
To answer these questions will illuminate a neglected aspect of Australia's record of institutional innovation. It will also feed directly into the concerns of multilateral bodies over how good electoral practice can be institutionalised.
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Improving decision making in government service delivery using third party providers. This project focuses on analysing and improving decision making in government service delivery through two complementary parts: examining the range of models/potential models used by government agencies through 3rd party providers; and investigating how specific relations are managed/improved in selected industries (childcare, ageing, disability services). Our approaches encompass policy process theories, contr ....Improving decision making in government service delivery using third party providers. This project focuses on analysing and improving decision making in government service delivery through two complementary parts: examining the range of models/potential models used by government agencies through 3rd party providers; and investigating how specific relations are managed/improved in selected industries (childcare, ageing, disability services). Our approaches encompass policy process theories, contractual management, alternative service delivery, citizen empowerment theories, new institutional economics, industry impact analysis, and new modes of accountability. Analytical methods include survey and statistical investigations, comparative historical methods, case studies, comparative research with Canadian and NZ experts.Read moreRead less