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This paper sets out the Collaborative Service Design Playbook, to guide planning, design, and implementation of co-created health services. Successful health service development and implementation is best guided by theoretically informed approaches; however, organisations often lack design and implementation know-how and have difficulty applying it. This study seeks to improve health service design and potential for scale-up by proposing a tool to guide an end-to-end process, drawing together service design, co-design, and implementation science; and exploring the tool's feasibility to establish a sustainable service solution developed with participants and experts that is scalable and sustainable. The Collaborative Service Design Playbook phases include, (1) Define the opportunity and initiatives, (2) Design the concept and prototype, (3) Deliver to scale and evaluate; and (4) Optimise to transform and sustain. This paper has implications for health marketing through providing an end-to-end approach with phased guidance for health service development, implementation, and scale up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of public infrastructure and services into vehicles of profit-making through privately financed and operated partnerships (PPPs) has successfully weathered high profile project failures, changes in government, scathing audits, public resistance, financial crises, fiscal austerity, and found a home around the world despite vastly different legal, cultural, and institutional contexts. Public procurement and traditional budgeting practices are now a distant memory in many jurisdictions – not by happenstance but through dogged efforts to transform public sectors from service provider into commodity purchaser. Understanding the political economy of global PPP markets requires knowing the connection to managerialism underpinning the story of public administration as contract management. This paper explores the emergence, sophistication, and normalization of PPP using primary and secondary sources including interviews with those involved in, or keenly aware of, the historical creation of pioneering PPP markets. It identifies three apposite categories of PPP management: models, methods, and mindsets. Models are homogenously portable yet malleable templates for partnering. Methods include accounting treatment and standards, and new budgeting and tendering practices. Mindsets are the ideas and ideals initially spread by enthusiasts like the Big Five consultancy firms and Macquarie Bank, later entrenched through specialized quasi-public agencies such as Partnerships UK and the World Bank's PPIAF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The translation of official personal documents is widely needed and practised. As people migrate physically or virtually for employment and other purposes, millions of personal documents are translated and submitted to public administrations and private companies. This is also one of the areas of translation that is most regulated around the world, with translators often required to sit a test, demonstrate relevant qualifications, and/or be sworn in by the relevant ministry or administration. However, the confidential nature of the source documents often implies that the quality of the corresponding translations can only be assessed by the clients themselves or the institutional staff who process the applications and cases. In this paper, we assess the quality and integrity features of a corpus of translated official personal documents collected in Australia. While the analysis shows a high standard overall, it also reveals areas for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although talent management is acknowledged for its role in building competitive advantage, very little research has examined the factors that influence the success of talent management programmes at an individual level. In this paper we explore participant experiences (n = 68) from two public sector 'fast track' graduate development programmes, one in the UK and one in Australia. Drawing on psychological contract theory we examine how talent management programmes shape individual expectations and how these expectations influence participant experiences and evaluations of the programme. Our findings highlight the role of both talent management strategy and talent management implementation as well as factors external to the organisation, (such as employer brand and the influence of family and friends), in shaping expectations. Our analysis highlights the impact of multiple agents, particularly line managers, in the ongoing development and fulfilment of the 'graduate psychological contract'. At a practical level, we argue that organisations need to manage expectations by more explicitly communicating what will, or will not, be offered in a graduate fast-track programme. We also suggest that organisations need to consider the importance of line managers in the implementation of talent management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of palliative care is to relieve suffering. Opioids are an essential part of the pharmacological options required to address suffering by helping to relieve the pain and chronic breathlessness that may be experienced by someone with a life-limiting illness. This paper considers the recent history and current issues of the 'opioid crisis' providing recommendations to which regulatory and peak bodies can work with the Australian government, ensuring consistent adherence to WHO guidelines maintaining access to evidence based opioid management for palliative care patients whilst actively avoiding unintended suffering restricted access can cause. The recommendations are as follows: Review of the Palliative Care schedule of the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme Support of prescribers with current evidence, clinical practice guidelines and regulatory frameworks National opioid prescribing policies promoting linkages between palliative care and pain and addiction specialists. National real time monitoring of all opioid prescriptions Palliative care involvement in all opioids stewardship programs in acute services. Reform Medical Benefits Schedule to improve access for primary and other speciality practitioners to provide palliative care services. Compulsory palliative care education in undergraduate medical, nursing and allied health tertiary courses. Adequate, consistent stock of evidence based opioids for palliative care in community pharmacies and residential aged care facilities. These recommendations provide the regulatory guidance required to ensure persons with life limiting illness have continued access to safe and effective medication that can relieve suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst often being overshadowed by debate surrounding personal income and consumption taxes, the Howard government has also devoted significant resources to reviewing and reforming business and capital taxation. This paper provides an overview of the Ralph Review of Business Taxation and the Howard government's mixed record when it came to the implementation of the Ralph reforms. Having documented the subsequent changes in corporate income, capital gains and superannuation taxation, the paper analyses their economic impact. The paper concludes with an assessment of the longer term political significance of these changes and asks whether the concessional taxation of capital that has occurred under the Howard government represents a fundamental shift in the basis of Australian taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia, a significant shift has occurred in regional governance arrangements with the emergence of new forums for the practising of regional leadership. In this paper we provide a critical reading of a recent report on the representation of women in governance in rural and regional Australia as well as a textual analysis of the language in use around the entities reviewed in the report. We first consider women's representation in regional local government. While women have increased their representation in elected positions in this sphere of governance, we argue they continue to occupy a marginal position. We then consider a range of institutions identified as making up the new regional governance arrangements. Our analysis suggests that many of these new governance bodies are modestly staffed and modestly resourced and are expected to facilitate/ coordinate networking activities. We conclude with a caution against viewing women's involvement in new forms of nonmetropolitan governance as symptomatic of a shift in rural and regional gendered power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Funding of local government systems in Australia has been falling relative to other tiers of government for the past 30 years with various adverse consequences, especially the decline of local government infrastructure. This paper seeks to explain this phenomenon by drawing on two relatively new theoretical strands in the political economy literature; the Australian theory of local government failure and the Wittman model of democratic efficiency. Three explanations are assessed: a traditional public finance perspective, Australian local government failure, and the institutional efficiency of democratic preference revelation. A secondary aim of the paper is to evaluate the implications of the Wittman model for the local government failure paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Australian Journal of Political Science is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although the impact of affirmative action, equal opportunity and gender equity programs on the lives of Australian women have been explored in a number of areas, state interventions related to sport have received scant attention from public policy analysts. This paper examines how the Australian Sports Commission has framed its gender equity policy in the mutually reinforcing hegemonic discourses of masculinity and corporate managerialism. It is argued that the Commission's articulation of gender equity policy in terms of 'market-oriented individualism' is both constituted by, and constitutive of, the shift from a 'patriarchal-welfare state' to a 'patriarchal-managerial state' in Australia. The paper also provides an example of the tensions between bureaucratic and feminist discourses in the state sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian governments are facing some confusion about public sector accountability. This paper argues that the opaque nature of accountability which persists is the result of changes being wrought, separately and together, by a number of macro factors of which public sector reform and corruption inquiries are but two. This explanation is developed by an examination of some fifteen specific issues which are symptomatic of the lack of transparency in Australian public sector accountability, and simultaneously, contribute to it. The paper contends that clarity is likely to emerge only slowly as gaps and anomalies are recognised and gradually remedied. The paper seeks to contribute to the process by offering a definition of accountability and an outline of several different types of accountability frameworks now operating in Australian governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud computing is gaining increasing interest as an enabling technology for improved productivity, efficiency and cost reduction. It also has the potential to add value to reliability and scalability of organisation’s systems, which would allow organisations to better focus on their core business and strategies. This research paper aimed at exploring the perceived potential for value creation from cloud computing in Australian Regional Governments. Using the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory and Desires Framework (DF), a conceptual research model is devised. The key identified factors that are likely to influence adoption of cloud computing are identified along with the implications to current policies, anticipated benefits and challenges of adoption of cloud computing. The research employed a qualitative approach involving 21 in-depth interviews with Australian local councils’ IT managers. The findings of this research are mapped to the research model factors, thereby presenting and validating a number of value-adding concepts that are expected to contribute to investment decisions on cloud computing adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses data from interviews with representatives of national and state organisations that have a policy interest in student-working in Australia. The interviewees included representatives from employer bodies and trade unions as well as government organisations. The data are used to discuss these stakeholders’ perceptions of the main advantages and disadvantages of working by young full-time students and the ways in which organisations in the business and educational sectors have adapted their policies and practices for student-working. The analysis is then used to inform a discussion about whether this is a legitimate area for public policy formulation and if so, what principles might underpin such policy and what some policies might look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the construction of avian influenza in Australian media and federal government policy, with a focus placed on discourses of contagion, preparedness and risk. The threat of an infectious disease outbreak, such as avian influenza, on social life is surrounded by a range of collective narratives which attempt to make it explicable. These narratives socially define the disease and provide explanations for its existence. The paper demonstrates that central to these narratives are depictions of the source of the outbreak and suggestions of appropriate responses to the threat. Methodologically, a narrative analysis of print media and government documents was conducted. This showed that conceptually both government and media discourses could be understood in terms of risk, contagion and blame. Furthermore, it was found that narratives linking the risk of avian influenza with globalised interconnectedness and contagion by the developing world underpin discourses of causation and frame the reactions to and preparation for a potential outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2003, avian influenza has recently spread around the world sparking fears of a potential pandemic. As a result of this, a range of explanations and expectations surrounding the phenomenon were generated. Such social representations of disease depict the issue under discussion and frame reactions to the event. This paper explores the social representations surrounding avian influenza in Australia. Methodologically, a textual analysis of media and government documents was conducted in order to uncover the social representations implicit in these accounts. This demonstrated a symbolic framing of avian influenza with reference to the Spanish Influenza pandemic (1918). Analytically, the study draws upon the concepts of social representations from Durkheim and of risk and symbolic risk in the work of Beck. Overall, it is argued that the framing of avian influenza as a risk, mediated through the collective memory of Spanish Influenza, characterised the nature of the social representations surrounding the phenomenon. This resulted in the production of symbolic solutions to the threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of human capital and social capital have come to be widely used across government policy and academia in relation to their perceived roles in community engagement and social well-being. However, in understanding the nature of these two distinct forms of capital there seems to be a pervasive notion that by simply increasing the stocks of human capital held within individuals, we might automatically expect to see a growth in the levels of social capital in the communities in which those individuals operate. While this formula proposes a neat and linear form of social and community well-being which derives it roots directly from individual capacity building activities such as education and training, we suggest that the relationship between human and social capital cannot be so easily created and that if in fact there is to be a link made between the two, it requires an explicit and active commitment from individuals and groups to invest their individual capacity and skills in generating forms of social capital. This paper provides examples from the Australian extension sector of where in the course of building human capital, social capital has also been built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a moment when regionalisation and regionalism are being widely promoted across a range of policy sectors, this paper argues that much regional activity, including regional environmental management, is often the product of interactions, resources and opportunities at other scales. The paper shows how local and extra-regional interactions, resources and opportunities influence environmental management at the regional level in Australia by the development of a case analysis of Far North Queensland. It finds that much of the current thinking about regionalisation and regionalism ignores these multiscalar dimensions. This can impede and undermine efforts to manage the environment effectively at the regional level. The paper identifies some opportunities to improve regional environmental management activities in Australia and draws out the broader implications for other policy sectors and other countries embracing the movement towards regionalism/regionalisation. The relationship between governance by network at the regional level and the power and control of central government is highlighted. The paper also calls for further research into how governments and other actors successfully manage multiscalar relations of governance in order to promote (or impede) specific public policy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strategic approach to local sustainability assessment requires that sustainability implications of proposed policies, plans and programmes are evaluated. These evaluations need to critically consider organizational structures, processes and outcomes. The establishment of ‘communities of practice’, groups or networks of practitioners with shared interests, is a helpful mechanism for facilitating change in a wide range of organizations. This paper analyses the potential for communities of practice to contribute to the implementation of sustainability assessments by local government. Focusing on Sutherland Shire Council in Sydney, Australia, this paper presents the findings of a project that engaged practitioners in the design of a sustainability assessment system. The establishment of communities of practice helped to break down the ‘silos’ created by institutional divides within local government, but this approach also raises challenges in maintaining momentum and overcoming political agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes accrual output based budgeting (AOBB) systems and examines their adoption in Australia. An analysis of claims made about AOBB systems by central agency reformers is set out, and the conclusion offered that these claims are fundamentally rhetorical in their characteristics. These rhetorical claims are contrasted against a critical analysis which suggests that despite the claims made by reformist elements in favour of the adoption of these systems, the structural and empirical elements of AOBB systems as implemented in Australia raise considerable doubts as to whether suggested benefits will be realised in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been little discussion or analysis regarding how integrity agencies work together. This paper looks at Western Australian watchdog collaboration activities in the context of concerns raised by senior judicial and political figures. Issues addressed include whether such collaborative activities impinge on the independence of watchdogs, impede their ability to oversight each other, and whether such activities take them beyond their legislative remit. Analysis of practice revealed a wide array of collaboration activities of varying intensity. It was found that such collaboration enhanced watchdog effectiveness while the concerns expressed appeared over-stated. The analysis identified precautions required to protect watchdog independence and ensure accountability for collaborative activities, including steps to recognize and remove barriers to greater collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the applicability of class-coalitional explanations to broad patterns of public policy in Australia at the turn of the century and during the Great Depression. It argues that this approach, with its strong comparative emphasis, does shed light on the 'historic compromise' between capital and labour established after Federation and provides some useful hypotheses about Australia's failure to 'break with orthodoxy' in the 1930s. In particular, it provides an important comparative framework for understanding the nature and role of the labour movement in Australian history, and a corrective to prevailing interpretations. The paper also argues, though, that evidence from the Australian case calls into question simple factor-endowment models of political change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper seeks to review the long-tum policy choices Australia faces if full employment is to be restored. Using cross-national data for the period 1972-88, it identifies the variety of mutes taken to mass unemployment and full employment. It then discusses the diverse policy strategies underlying mutes to full employment and examines the possibility and desirability of their adoption in Australia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and practice have observed a shift towards service-oriented approaches that depend on input from citizens as co-producers of services. Yet in the delivery of public infrastructure the focus is still on managing assets rather than services. Using a Policy Delphi approach, we found that although experts advocate service-centric approaches guidelines and policies lack a service-centric perspective. Findings revealed a range of impediments to effective stakeholder involvement. The paper contributes to co-production and new public governance literature and offers directions for public infrastructure decision-makers to support and reconnect disengaged government–citizen relations, and determine ways of understanding optimal service outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telecommunications forms a part of every aspect of our lives. This paper looks at mobile telecommunications infrastructure (TI) and how it impacts visually on the urban landscape from a planning perspective. First, the impact of low-impact and non low-impact TI on the build environment. This includes examples of differences types of TI. Also, current trends in Western Australia in terms of the planning approval process, and specifically, the accumulative effect of low-impact TI on the streetscape. Second, ways in which local and state governments can more proactively and effectively deal with TI by enabling site specific design outcomes that reduce the visual clutter of TI on the skyline. In addition, how do we deal with existing TI that may be considered urban blight? How do we encourage carriers to remove and/or redesign these existing TI? How can existing legislation be improved to enable best practice in the deployment of TI? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue including the accountability augmentation in public management, climate change research and the consideration of flooding in Australia as challenge to public administration.

Governments at all levels have assumed greater responsibility for, and involvement in, tourism destination planning and development. In the post-Brundtland era local governments in particular have been under closer scrutiny for their role in driving the sustainable development agenda in tourism destination contexts. Yet, a notable research gap still exists despite the increased focus on local government, particularly in terms of empirical research investigating the roles and responsibilities of local government in addressing sustainable tourism development. Given this context, this paper explores the role of local government in facilitating, or indeed inhibiting, sustainable development objectives in a tourism destination context. To assess this issue, it uses in-depth interviews with local government representatives and key destination stakeholders from five local government areas in Queensland, Australia. It shows that local government had assumed responsibility for facilitating the sustainable tourism agenda, due to the absence of strong industry leadership and due to top-down directives from state and federal governments. However, power struggles, tokenistic public participation and the strong influence of the local government authority in local governance structures were found to be inhibitors to sustainable tourism development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social and political changes occurring in Western democracies have required the development of approaches referred to by scholars such as Nikolas Rose as 'new technologies of governance'. These experiments in governance are paradigmatically different from previous approaches and, as a consequence, there is much to learn about how to ensure their equity and effectiveness. In this paper, we examine the contribution of the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) to the management of Indigenous lands in Australia. We present data which show, conclusively, that the land management needs of Indigenous communities have been poorly accommodated by the NHT. We suggest that the architects of NHT III and similar programs need to remember that: (i) rescaling governance does not ensure equitable outcomes across diverse regional populations; (ii) strategies for Indigenous community engagement need rethinking; and (iii) Indigenous community and civil society capacity building remains an ongoing challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regional arrangements emerging for environmental governance in Australia mark a substantial change in the relationship between the state and civil society. Central to these arrangements is a transfer of responsibilities for natural resource management to regional communities. Although partnerships and other collaborative approaches have been embraced as a more democratic and effective means of addressing Australia's environmental problems, the legitimacy of these arrangements has been given insufficient attention. In particular, as central governments have retained significant influence in the setting of regional priorities and the accreditation of regional plans, there is a need to examine the relationships between 'old' and 'new' forms of governing. This paper critically examines the sources of legitimacy that underpin these relationships by drawing on interviews with regional actors in Central Queensland. This analysis demonstrates the hybrid nature of legitimacy, justified via traditional sources of legitimate authority alongside participatory and deliberative norms. This hybridity underlines the importance of attending to all dimensions of legitimacy in the design of governance arrangements. Residual issues of exclusion, and the discounting of community members' substantive concerns, mean that harnessing the mutuality gains derived from local knowledge and experience remains a core challenge for the legitimacy of environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense financial pressure and threats of dissolution through amalgamation in local government structural reform programs have forced regional and rural councils across Australia to consider new organizational arrangements for service delivery. As a consequence, an ingenious array of institutional models has been developed and implemented over the recent past. However, the very spontaneity that has engendered this remarkable process has meant that it has occurred across non-metropolitan Australia often with councils or groups of councils arriving at similar solutions to common problems in ignorance of the efforts of other local authorities. This paper seeks to place selected new models of municipal service delivery in New South Wales in the analytical context of the taxonomy of alternative generic models and then assess their main characteristics as well as their ability to meet the needs of rural constituents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity and diversity of populations in contemporary Western societies is becoming a significant public policy issue. The concept of ‘diversity’ has come to represent cultural, ethnic, racial and religious differences between the ‘dominant group’ and immigrant and indigenous populations. ‘Diversity training’ is amongst many strategies being implemented to address social and economic objectives in complex societies. This paper discusses and critically evaluates a professional education programme, ‘Diverse Bodies, Diverse Identities’, that is offered to human service practitioners and social work students in Victoria, Australia. It is concluded that a range of approaches is needed to address ‘diversity’ in contemporary societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines a recent book about the University of Melbourne. It uses this as a case study to explore traditional conceptions of the university in the Western tradition, and aspects of the Australian debate about government policies and institutional strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the author's views on the application of public policy, including social marketing, to programs designed to control an environmentally harmful introduced species in Australia. Managers involved in dealing with the issue identify a range of factors that contribute to the lack of success of existing control programs. The results suggest that there needs to be a broad-based integrated program that incorporates changes in stakeholders' attitudes as well as governmental resources and support for implementation of relevant initiatives.

Despite the use of the same vocabulary and seemingly similar agendas, the experience of these three countries cannot be comprehended without attention to the different contexts in which the countries operate. This paper focuses on the experience in these three English speaking countries dealing with the structure or context of the institutional arrangements, the process of defining outcomes, issues related to timing, availability and investment in data systems, predominant values that are at play, experience with gaming, and accountability arrangements. It provides thumbnail sketches of the framework and experience of these three countries and compares their experience in performance management. While there are significant differences that emerge from contextual variety, there are some shared dynamics in the three systems. I call these “normal tensions” in the system. Yet these tensions have been largely ignored in the performance management movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A widely held view is that immigrants contribute to public debt through their over representation in the unemployment benefit programme. An empirical investigation, based on the 1990 Income Distribution Survey, finds support for this view. In contrast to the US and Canadian studies, this paper observes that the probability of receiving unemployment benefits is higher for immigrants than the native-born population and immigrants, who participate in the unemployment benefit programme, also receive a greater amount of unemployment benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study of regimes has become an increasingly important feature of empirical studies of the bases of world order. Much research has focused on the dynamics and internal working of regimes in a number of different policy areas. The determinants of the approaches of states to regimes, however, have been relatively neglected. Using findings from Australian and Canadian approaches to the international environmental regime, this paper explores seven sets of factors that are argued to be crucial to understanding responses: the ecological-economic milieu of states, the developmental attributes of a regime, bureaucratic politics within national governments, the influence of governmental structures such as federalism, interest group activity, the foreign policy orientations of states, and the regime capabilities of states. Regimes are an enduring feature of international society, but neglect of the complexity and variety of national approaches can lead to ineffectual policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, the adoption of new public management (NPM) as a management philosophy has translated into multiple waves of reform in the employment services sector in Australia, namely Working Nation (1994–96), Job Network (JN: 1996–2009) and Job Services Australia (JSA: 2009–present). Each wave has sought to improve the preceding policy. In this article, we examine changes implemented during the Rudd/Gillard Labor governments. Using government policy documents and survey data from frontline employment services staff, we compare JSA to JN against five benchmarks. Our data indicate that JSA has generated modest improvement. JSA is also a system with less emphasis on strong forms of sanctioning. Our combined data suggest that policy actors operating under NPM conditions are indeed able to influence specific aspects of frontline practice, but they must spend great effort to do so and must accept new imperfections as a consequence. 1990年代以来，新型公共管理被作为一种管理哲学而被接受。这导致了就业服务部门的数次改革浪潮，即工作国（1994—96）、工作网（1996—2009）、澳大利亚工作服务（2009至今）。每波浪潮都力图改良此前的政策。本文考察了陆克文/吉拉德工党执政时期的变革。作者根据政府的政策文件、一线就业服务机构员工的调查数据等等，在五个基准点上将澳大利亚工作服务与工作网做了对比。根据我们的资料，澳大利亚工作服务这个系统带来的改进最小，也不大注重强有力的制裁。我们认为，实施新型公共管理的政策制定方的确能影响一线实践的某些方面，但他们还要花大力气，还要接受往后新的不圆满。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian local governments have for some time now been encouraged to develop Disability Action Plans (DAPs) to assist in eliminating barriers and constraints faced by people with disabilities. While these documented plans may be viewed as value-neutral, they also have the potential to propagate particular views and ideologies. Using a critical discourse analysis method, this study analysed 29 local government DaPs to assist in identifying and highlighting any imbedded values. Overwhelmingly the findings suggested that local government authorities' focus in regard to eliminating barriers and constraints was on ensuring that the built environment was suitable for people with disabilities. Conversely, references within the analysed documents that focused upon other constraints faced by people with disabilities, such as the social or organisational aspects, were either briefly addressed or found to be non-existent. the researcher concluded that the information provided in Australian local government DaPs was mainly a reflection of a broader neo-liberal, socio-political environment that supports non-interventionist practices over and above providing direct services to particular groups in society. these findings are also being used to inform consequent interview stages of a larger PhD study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the course of a decade in office since 1996, the Howard government has pursued a policy and a politics of fiscal responsibility. Moving the budget out of deficit, retiring the Commonwealth government's accumulated debt and running continued surpluses to hedge against future demands have been the main expressions of this policy. The virtuousness of this has been contrasted with the record of previous governments, in particular with the record of the Keating government, which left office after 4 years of economic sunshine with an undisclosed deficit of $10 billion on top of a greatly swollen public debt. In addition, the Howard government has staked a claim to being a government of tax reform - having reformed the indirect tax system by introducing the GST in 2000, and having reformed the direct tax system by making a number of accompanying and following adjustments to the personal income tax. The economic and financial data suggest, however, that the Coalition's budgetary achievements must be credited much more to good fortune than to good government. The challenge - unprecedented in a generation - has been of governing in good times, indeed of governing in extraordinarily good times. At the same time, tax reform has been much more modest than many of the Howard government's market-oriented supporters would have liked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article interrogates the recent impulse to secure civilization as requiring a particular construction of abstract space in Australia. The projection of an abstract space of civilization and city establishes a continuity between current spatial techniques instituted through law and previous forms of imperial and colonial territorial control. The paper also discusses spatial controls on terrorism as historical strategies. Other topics include the construction of terrorism in Australian law and counter-terrorism as bodily coercion and surveillance.

Community consultation is widely employed in contemporary Australia as a means of improving the formulation and implementation of public policy. However, little is known about the optimal expenditure of effort required for any given consultation. This article develops a rational choice model of community consultation that seeks to encapsulate the major elements involved in optimising consultation effort. The framework is particularly useful for understanding and explaining why actual community consultation processes may be sub-optimal. The rational choice model is then applied to the Living Murray debate over water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an investigation into the Australian public education sector and focuses on the management of research and doctoral education in an increasingly corporatized climate. It is argued that diversity in knowledge creation and production is central to the successful Knowledge Economy. Diversity in doctoral education encompasses: diversity of student; diversity of research approach and type; and diversity of discipline and institution. Government has a key role in maintaining diversity against the background of an increasing tendency in public sector policy towards corporatization and outcomes-based funding. Four key areas of concern are identified: funding allocation for research and doctoral places; resource allocation and competition; selectivity and concentration; and relevance. It is argued that, taken together, these four policy directions could significantly impact the nature of Australian doctoral research and, in many instances, diminish diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempts to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of local government have lagged behind the higher tiers of governance in Australia, and it is only in the comparatively recent past that systematic efforts have been made to measure the performance of Australian local government. This paper seeks to review municipal efficiency measurement in Australia and to advance the argument that the present reliance on partial measures of performance is inadequate and should be heavily augmented by data envelopment analysis (DEA). We summarize progress made in efficiency measurement on a state-by-state basis and then examine performance measurement in water and wastewater as a more detailed case study. On the basis of this evidence, we argue that DEA provides the best means of providing public policymakers with the necessary information on municipal performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Public Money & Management is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

9/11 produced significant changes to the US intelligence community, while in contrast the attacks resulted in incremental changes in the Australian intelligence community (AIC). Fast forward to 2017 however, this article examines how the 2017 Independent Intelligence Review has created the momentum for significant change in the AIC; and what challenges may arise from reform initiatives flowing from the review. While assessing the full impact of the current reform agenda will take years, this article assesses key changes made so far (2017 to October 2020) and if they are resulting in a more effective, coordinated and integrated intelligence community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments are increasingly establishing innovation labs to enhance public problem solving. Despite the speed at which these new units are being established, they have only recently begun to receive attention from public management scholars. This study assesses the extent to which labs are enhancing strategic policy capacity through pursuing more collaborative and citizen-centred approaches to policy design. Drawing on original case study research of five labs in Australia and New Zealand, it examines the structure of lab's relationships to government partners, and the extent and nature of their activities in promoting citizen-participation in public problem solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Australian Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Following a history of the Australian health system and funding models, we outline workforce issues, in particular, the lack of health professionals in regional locations. The role of the Australian government health departments in workforce planning is discussed. We describe research funded by the Commonwealth government focussing on the development of interprofessional education (IPE) for collaborative practice. New models of interprofessional care have been introduced to help tackle the population needs: in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT); HealthOne in New South Wales; health-care homes nationally; and partnerships between pharmacists and general practitioners in Victoria. Changes in care delivery necessitate innovations in health education, however how IPE is embedded in Australian health professional education still varies. There is a growing sense of an IPE community complemented by an interest in IPE from peak policy and workforce bodies. There are changes underway in health professional registration and accreditation that are likely to regulate shared and common learning to enable the continuous development of a flexible, responsive and sustainable health workforce. We conclude that there are significant opportunities for further development of IPE and collaborative practice as key strategies for adding to the ability of health systems to address individual needs in conjunction with aiming for optimal and universal health coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia, e-government is continuously re-defining service boundaries. While this may be good in the case of transactional interactions, for example the online submission of tax returns, it is less clear that interpersonal services, such as working closely with the long-term unemployed, are best delivered digitally. We consider the impact of social services digitisation on vulnerable communities drawing on an analysis of remote Aboriginal communities. Digital uptake affords great opportunities, but it also carries risks. Some communities have no digital infrastructure and in certain cases traditional face-to-face services have been curtailed, leaving those not online with reduced assistance. We find that concerns about the ‘digital divide’ are well founded. Problems generated by e-government flow across boundaries and appear left to the third sector to resolve with the state playing an even more diminished role in the lives of disadvantaged citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Student failure creates additional economic costs. Knowing the cost of failure helps to frame its economic burden relative to other educational issues, providing an evidence-base to guide priority setting and allocation of resources. The Ingredients Method is a cost-analysis approach which has been previously applied to health professions education research. In this study, the Ingredients Method is introduced, and applied to a case study, investigating the cost of pre-clinical student failure. Methods: The four step Ingredients Method was introduced and applied: (1) identify and specify resource items, (2) measure volume of resources in natural units, (3) assign monetary prices to resource items, and (4) analyze and report costs. Calculations were based on a physiotherapy program at an Australian university. Results: The cost of failure was £5991 per failing student, distributed across students (70%), the government (21%), and the university (8%). If the cost of failure and attrition is distributed among the remaining continuing cohort, the cost per continuing student educated increases from £9923 to £11,391 per semester. Conclusions: The economics of health professions education is complex. Researchers should consider both accuracy and feasibility in their costing approach, toward the goal of better informing cost-conscious decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]