Australian Journal of Public Administration

Items from 1 to 13 out of 13 results

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Engaging Public Sector Clients: From Service‐Delivery to Co‐production by John Alford

Janet R. McColl‐Kennedy

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 94 - 96

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The Home Insulation Program: An Example of Australian Government Failure

Michael A. Kortt, Brian Dollery

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 65 - 75

The public concern surrounding the Australian Government Home Insulation Program (HIP) continues despite the abrupt termination of the program in the light of its deleterious safety consequences and fiscally wasteful management. This enduring unease has been reflected in a variety of official inquiries and reports including the Hawke Review (2010), an inquiry by the Senate Environment, Communications and the Arts References Committee (2010), a performance audit by the Commonwealth Auditor‐General (2010) and two Departmental annual reports (DCCEE 2010; DEWHA 2010). Taking into account this body of evidence, we argue that the HIP represents an example of government failure, which, in turn, led to a range of unintended ‘human costs’ including the tragic deaths of four young installation workers. Moreover it is also argued that, in future, programs like the HIP are best administered by state/territory and local governments which are often best placed to deliver ‘on the ground’ services.

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Beyond the ‘At Risk’ Individual: Housing and the Eradication of Poverty to Prevent Homelessness

Cameron Parsell, Greg Marston

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 33 - 44

A prevention framework represents one of the fundamental means of the Australian Government's contemporary drive to achieve permanent reductions in homelessness. Consistent with prevailing policies in the UK and US, Australia has approached homelessness prevention through identification and early intervention of individuals ‘at risk’ of homelessness. In this article we suggest that prevention strategies focused on the risk factors that individual pose obscures efforts to address the underlying structural factors that contribute to homelessness, or to reduce the prevalence of homelessness at the overall population level. The article examines the efficacy of increasing the supply of affordable housing to prevent homelessness, but suggests that the provision of housing alone may be insufficient to realising related well‐being objectives. In turn, it is proposed that policy which focuses on poverty reduction has the capacity to achieve the sustainable prevention of homelessness ambitions.

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Performance Management in Australia's Public Mental Health Service: A State Based Perspective

Donell Holloway, Manzurul Alam, Arthur Griffiths, David Holloway

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 20 - 32

This article investigates the implementation of key performance indicators (KPIs) in Western Australia's public mental health system. A nationally agreed performance measurement framework forms part of the much needed reform now taking place within Australia. However, progress in the effective monitoring and reporting of KPIs is slow in most states, including Western Australia. The authors report on the results of a selective case study involving semi‐structured interviews with mental health administrators and offer a more nuanced insight into the intricacies and difficulties involved in performance measurement reform. The principal finding is that effective performance measurement and reporting can be internally problematic, particularly within a fragmented and networked system. This tends to give rise to a conformance‐only approach to performance measurement.

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The Role, Scope and Scale of Local Government in New Zealand: Its Prospective Future

Andy Asquith

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 76 - 84

This article contributes to the current debate as to the role, scope and scale of local government in New Zealand. In 2008, the Nationals Local Government Minister announced his intention to undertake a fundamental review of local government in NZ. This review finally took shape in mid 2011 with the publication of the consultation document ‘Smarter Government, Stronger Communities: towards better local governance and public services’ (...

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Network Governance and Public Participation in Policy‐Making: Federal Community Cabinets in Australia

Chris Lewis, David Marsh

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 6 - 19

The Australian Labor Party's (ALP) 2007 Policy Platform asserted ‘Labor will pursue new and innovative measures designed to foster greater participation and engagement of the Australian population in the political process’ (Manwaring 2010). As such they seemed to have a clear commitment to a more participatory form of democracy. This commitment appeared to be reflected in two initiatives they introduced in power: the 2020 Summit (on this see ...

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Dancing with Warriors: A Diplomatic Memoir by Philip Flood

James Cotton

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 96 - 98

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Civil Service Systems and Civil Service Reforms in ASEAN Member Countries and Korea by Pan Suk Kim

James Low

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 91 - 92

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Strategic Thinking, Shared Meaning‐Making and the Interpretive Turn in Policy ‐ A Case Study

Germana Nicklin

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 45 - 54

Governments' demands for results in a complex and rapidly changing policy environment call for more strategic and nuanced ways of approaching policy. Drawing on the work of the British interpretive ‘turn’, evidenced in the network governance literature and the differentiated polity critique of Westminster narratives, and of Liedkta on strategy as design, this paper suggests that shared strategic narratives, more consciously applied to policy development and implementation, could deliver better results; that consensus from shared meaning‐making may have depth, and that it could emphasise the transformative over the conservative forces of individuals' traditions and beliefs....

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Putting Citizens First: A Priority That Needs to be Addressed with Care

Andrew Podger

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 85 - 90

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The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Public Broadcasting? The Case of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Narelle Miragliotta, Wayne Errington

Australian Journal of Public Administration > 71 > 1 > 55 - 64

The purported capacity of the digital age to solve the problem of market failure in the broadcasting sector was widely expected to further compromise the already fragile status of public service broadcasting in advanced democracies. The proliferation of niche media content made possible by convergence led to speculation that publicly funded broadcasters would be rendered redundant. However while public service broadcasting in Australia and in comparable states remains under financial pressure, many signs point to a renewed government commitment to the sector. Using the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as our case study we argue that the digital era has contributed to the renaissance of the sector in unexpected ways.