bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PARTICIPATION AND APATHY IN TRADE UNIONS
Authors: Yerbury Dianne
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Trade union concern with participation in industry and in public decision‐making has stimulated further interest in unions' own internal decision‐making processes. This paper notes the low level of active membership involvement in the formal democratic procedures of most unions notwithstanding the very extensive legal framework and regulatory machinery on which these procedures rest. It also notes the higher degree of participation that sometimes exists on a more informal level, particularly in matters which directly affect terms and conditions of employment. Conditions conducive to membership participation or apathy are discussed and the implications of stability of incumbent leaders for participation by rank and file members are considered.
CHANGES IN AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICIES: FROM ENDS TO MEANS
Authors: Rubenstein C. L.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Growing awareness of the implications of science and technology for a diverse range of public policies has recently focused attention on Australian science policy and administration. In analyzing recent developments in this area, it is useful to distinguish between two main dimensions of science policy, one focusing on science as an end in itself, “policy for science”, the other denoting the use of science as a means throughout government, “science in policy”. After characterizing key features in Australian science and technology performance, and salient phases in the evolution of science policy machinery over the last twenty years, it is argued that concern has been aroused about the inadequate use of science and technology in pursuing policy objectives. Modification of the imbalanced attention so far devoted to science as an end in itself, and encouragement of its integration as a critical means potentially relevant to the growing demands of changing, complicated policy areas, have been major themes underlying recent reviews and institutional reforms.
THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE: A PERSPECTIVE*
Authors: Shann K. C. O.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The Australian diplomatic service receives a fair degree of criticism, some misconceived, but some directed constructively at improving its economy and efficiency. The traditional objectives of Australian overseas representation are not questioned; rather the debate centres on the vast range of choice in the ways in which these broad objectives can be met—on such matters as how elaborately the task of overseas representation should be performed, where, and how large, overseas missions should be, how the diplomatic service should be staffed, and whether the pattern of coordination between the diplomatic service and other parts of the public service is appropriate. The complex issues involved in these areas of debate form part of the background against which the everyday work of the diplomatic service is set. This work includes political and economic reporting, the usual consular business, and “one‐off” occasions ranging from the preparation of major bilateral treaties to war or revolution. Language and cultural differences make the carrying out of these tasks more difficult. Recruits to the diplomatic service are usually graduates in their mid‐twenties with strong university qualifications, which are supplemented by formal training and by experience in different posts abroad and in Australia. The trend to greater specialization of diplomatic staff suggests a need for closer contact between the foreign service and other parts of the Australian Public Service, universities and the private sector. The past few years have been a period of questioning and criticism in all parts of the public sector, including the diplomatic service. At the same time the role played by the diplomatic service has grown more difficult. It is time that discussion focused on the key question—the need for comprehensive representation of Australia overseas—rather than on those who service this representation.
ACCESS OF PUBLIC SERVANTS TO AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS: ATTITUDES OF GOVERNMENTS AND GOVERNMENT EMPLOYERS*
Authors: Beattie Sir Alexander
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Some recent cases in the arbitration tribunals involving strikes and work bans suggest that some governments and government employers are apprehensive about and resentful of the intrusion of the tribunals into their affairs. The Commonwealth government, for instance, recently amended the Public Service Act to remove what were seen as threats to the efficiency of the public service resulting from constraints imposed by the Arbitrator on the Public Service Board in relation to recruitment, selection and promotion. At the State level, the issues which arise in many public service strikes are not industrial in character, yet as the strike in almost all gaols in N.S.W. earlier this year illustrated, an industrial tribunal can help the conflicting parties reach an agreement. If, however, the tribunal fails in such efforts, it can do no more, where the issues are not industrial, than state its views about what is just and reasonable in the circumstances and perhaps recommend how the dispute should be resolved. Since 1974 the attitude of the N.S.W. Public Service Board toward this category of recommendations has hardened, as illustrated by the 1975 Teachers Case re Preference; the 1978 Prison Officers Case re Disciplinary Proceedings; and the 1978 Teachers Case re Disciplinary Proceedings. But while some governments and government employers fear that the discharge of their responsibilities is being impaired by industrial tribunals, they are nevertheless prompt in enlisting the aid of these bodies when in trouble and often find such aid indispensable. Governments and government employers will have to learn to live with the industrial tribunals, which, at the Commission level, are part of the judiciary and have an obligation to discharge their statutory responsibilities independent of the executive branch of government.
THE TASMANIAN PUBLIC SERVICE AND THE FUTURE
Authors: Chapman Ralph
Published: March 2008

Abstract: State governments in Australia have been regarded essentially as service deliverers, with the result that the specialist heads of public organizations, although technically competent, have rarely questioned the need for their activities. Nor does the argument that such questioning is the responsibility of the politician take account of the inertia of the existing system; an analysis of the activities which the Tasmanian government has undertaken over the past six years—including those of statutory authorities—shows a fair degree of stability. Thus we should consider building into the State's existing organizational arrangements some means of evaluating existing programs and new proposals. Such policy analysis should widen the narrow focus of the advice currently offered by public servants. Although there have been some moves in this direction in Tasmania (particularly in the Premier's Department), it has not been reflected in the structures of the public service generally. A survey of 22 government departments showed that only eight had officers concerned with evaluatory planning, and only three departments were engaged in innovative and initiatory planning. Other directions in which Tasmania's public organizations could move with benefit include an increase in lateral recruitment; breaking down the rigidity of the promotion appeals and classification systems; introducing flexible management and budgeting procedures throughout the service as a whole; and continually reviewing the structure and functions of public organizations. The questions that have been raised by recent inquiries into State and Federal government administration, namely coordination, efficiency, economy, effectiveness, decentralization and participation, have not stressed sufficiently the key issue for the public services of the 1980s, which is the nature of the relationship between the politician, the public service and the community.
THE DEPARTMENT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET IN PERSPECTIVE
Authors: Yeend G. J.
Published: March 2008

As much as any department, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet comes in for its share of public comment, both as to functions and purpose, on its alleged struggle for supremacy in the economic or welfare or foreign policy field or somewhere else. Inside the Department we tend to give this sort of allegation a tired smile; and because it is wide of the mark, a first reaction is to be critical of the commentators. The second reaction, probably the proper one, is realization that there needs to be greater understanding of the role of the Department and its objectives, which can only be achieved by wider discussion and public debate. The proper reticence of senior officers about entering public debate on policy issues tends sometimes to flow over to a reticence on questions of public service administration. That is a pity, because public administration is our business: better administration is our objective. It is not something to be achieved within the confines of the public service; or more precisely it is to be achieved in fuller measure by debate and analysis inside and outside the Service.
THE WILENSKI REVIEW
Authors: Parker R. S.
Published: March 2008

Since the early 1950s a spate of large‐scale inquests on government administration has swept the English‐speaking world, under governments of all political complexions. The phenomenon has received no general explanation, but its continuity has had certain practical advantages. It has added to the stock of techniques for conducting inquiries. It has suggested that linking investigation with implementation may reduce the risk of “pigeonholing”. It has revealed the importance of political support for essays in reform. The experience also invites, by now, some reflections upon the role of vested interests in the reform process, the impermanence and relativity of particular recipes for reform, and the constant emergence of new perspectives for appraisal of administration. Although Professor Wilenski's Interim Report* is well over a year old, his Review is still in full swing, and is worth discussing not only on its own merits but also for the way it illustrates some of these points.

*Directions for Change: An Interim Report, by Professor Peter Wilenski, Commissioner, Review of N.S.W. Government Administration, Sydney, D. West, N.S.W. Government Printer, November 1977. Pp. ix + 353. Illustrations by Patrick Cook.
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Authors: Nethercote J. R.
Published: March 2008

Little more than a decade ago the basic structure of the Canadian public service was radically reformed. In accordance with recommendations of the Glassco Royal Commission on Government Organisation the central agencies were restructured and their relations with departments reconstructed to shift as much as possible the location of responsibility for financial and personnel management to the departments. The Treasury Board, a statutory committee of Ministers, separated from the Department of Finance which handles economic and revenue policy, became the Government's management agency responsible for budgeting as well as financial and personnel administration. It was also cast in the role of “employer” for purposes of collective bargaining, which was introduced into the Service at the same time and thereby aligned labour relations in the Service with the system which had prevailed in the private sector since the Second World War. Responsibility for recruitment and promotion of staff according to “merit” was vested in the Public Service Commission, an independent agency reporting directly to Parliament, which also has some advisory functions in respect of training. These legislatively‐based changes were accompanied, especially after Mr. Trudeau became Prime Minister in 1968, by construction of an elaborate Cabinet committee system and more policy coordination at the administrative level by an expanded Privy Council Office. Structural change was reinforced by changes in methods of operation. Over the next few years new techniques in budgeting, which was placed on a program basis, policy evaluation and performance measurement were introduced. Under the guiding hand of the Planning Branch in the Treasury Board Secretariat, increasing emphasis was given to planning and research in central agencies and departments.
FREDERICK GOULBURN: THE MAN AND HIS OFFICE
Authors: King Hazel
Published: March 2008

Major Frederick Goulburn's appointment in 1820 as Colonial Secretary and Registrar of the Records of New South Wales was something more than the appointment of just another colonial official. It was also a recognition by the home government, as had been the appointment of a Commissioner of Inquiry the previous year, of the changing character of the colony. Though still predominantly a penal colony, it was no longer that alone but was developing also into a colony of free British settlement with economic potential. “Considering the Importance which the Colony has attained from its rapid Increase in Wealth and Population”, wrote Lord Bathurst, Secretary of State for War and Colonies, “His Majesty has thought it adviseable to take this opportunity of placing these officers [Colonial Secretary and Provost Marshall] on the Footing on which they stand in other Foreign Possessions of the Crown”; their Commissions were to be prepared for the King's signature in the usual form.
“BORN BUREAUCRAT”: THOMAS CUDBERT HARINGTON1
Authors: McMartin Arthur
Published: March 2008

So much has been written and said about the evil effects of patronage on the efficiency of the public service before the introduction of open competitive examinations, that it has become almost a truism that those appointed before the Northcote‐Trevelyan recommendations came mainly from the ranks of the unambitious, the indolent and the incapable. Certainly the older method of recruitment produced more than a fair share of Tadpoles and Tite Barnacles. But it would be flying in the face of evidence to describe officials of this kind as making up the bulk of those recruited by this method. Politicians did not invariably use their patronage to gratify some supporter or to provide a safe haven for those unfit to face the competition of their contemporaries. Long before competitive examinations were instituted, Samuel Pepys, William Lowndes, James West, Edward Weston and James Stephen had demonstrated that even political jobbery could produce men who were not only conscientious and gifted administrators, but who also conducted themselves as if “the government of England was becoming a job to be done rather than an opportunity to be exploited”.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF EARLY MEDIEVAL ENGLAND, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NORTHUMBERLAND
Authors: Hogan Mary Jane
Published: March 2008

The administrative system of England after the Norman Conquest has been described as “the adaptation of the ancient customary institutions of a decentralized system to the uses of [the Norman and Angevin kings‘] highly centralized administration”.1 It was complex, adaptable, efficient to a high degree, and constantly changing. It had only a few of the features of a modern bureaucracy, as “government” to the medieval man did not imply anything resembling the modern state and its workings. It meant the practical expression of the rights owed to the king by his subjects and the duties of the king to his people. Its chief functions were the raising of finance and the administration of justice.
A NEW FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION AND AUDIT ACT FOR QUEENSLAND
Authors: Sewell Sir Allan
Published: March 2008

Queensland's new Financial Administration and Audit Act received Royal Assent on 14th April, 1977 and replaces a law passed by Parliament some 103 years ago. Before the Act could be brought into force by Proclamation, a number of preliminary measures had to be taken. Hence, the target date for commencement of the Bill was 1st July, 1978.
THE CAREER SERVICE IN THE 1980s: WHAT ARE THE FACTS?
Authors: McCallum B. G.
Published: March 2008

This paper seeks to provide statistics on how the career service has developed within Commonwealth Government administration over the past decade or so. On the basis of trends in these data some speculations are offered on how the career service might look in the 1980s. The views expressed are speculations, not forecasts. In Commonwealth administration, the career service concept has by and large been held to embrace staff employed in the Commonwealth Public Service (CPS) under the Public Service Act, particularly permanent staff. While it is possible to debate the extent of the career service, this paper will confine itself to full‐time permanent, temporary and exempt staff of the CPS, employed under the Public Service Act. It thus excludes staff employed under other Acts, although the opportunities for movement of CPS staff to statutory authorities and back again should not be overlooked.
COMMUNITY COUNCILS IN SCOTLAND: SOME LESSONS FOR NEW SOUTH WALES LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Authors: Burdess Neil , Cooper Malcolm
Published: March 2008

The concept of “community councils” is one which has gained increasing prominence in Scottish local government during the last few years. Their main function is simply to advise local councillors on the views of the local community. Our basic contention is that the local government system in New South Wales (and, probably, other states) could benefit from studying the Scottish experience.
A PRACTITIONER'S VIEWPOINT
Authors: Gardner A. J. A.
Published: March 2008

For over a quarter of a century the work and thought of Robert Parker and Dick Spann have profoundly influenced the study of public administration in Australia. Their contributions to the discipline have been so wide‐ranging and so much part of an integrated whole that when dealing with matters of general principle their work is equally relevant to the Commonwealth, State and local levels of administration. However, as this appreciation of what their work meant for a practising administrator is written from the perspective of a former State public servant, I shall concentrate below on the field with which I am most familiar.
THE DISCIPLINE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND THE STUDY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Authors: Power J. M.
Published: March 2008

No doubt my colleagues in this venture will attest to the wide range of contributions which Robert Parker and Dick Spann have made to the field of public administration. I have benefited greatly from these contributions, as well as from discussions with both, in particular from those with Dick Spann during my period in the Department of Government and Public Administration at the University of Sydney. However, the breadth of their coverage has not been without some cost to the field, and in this paper I want to examine their influence on the area which I know best, that of local government.
PART SIX: RETROSPECT
Authors: Wettenhall R. L. , Curnow G. R.
Published: March 2008

In these concluding remarks we want to draw together some of the themes which emerge from the previous papers and to offer some general conclusions about where our field has been travelling over the period in which it has been so largely guided by Parker and Spann. We also offer a few predictions about where it may go in the future. First, however, the question whether or not we have omitted any significant areas in the field needs to be answered.
THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN RELATION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION*
Authors: King L. J.
Published: March 2008

The relationship between the judiciary and public administration is founded in the constitutional principles which lie at the basis of our system of government. The three branches or arms of government, as they are known to constitutional law, are the legislative, the executive and the judicial. They are said to be equal and coordinate. There is a complex constitutional relationship between the three arms of government which does not always follow a consistent pattern. It is marked somewhat paradoxically both by mutual independence and interdependence. Public administration is carried on by the executive branch.
WORK MEASUREMENT IN PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGEMENT – A REVIEW OF AUSTRALIAN AND OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENTS
Authors: Jacobs Michael , McClelland Robyn
Published: March 2008

The theme of the 1979 Annual Conference, “Managing with Less”, reflects prevailing opinion that the rate of growth of public sector resources will continue to be restrained for the foreseeable future, and that tough times are still ahead for public sector managers. This paper explores the developments in one management tool for coping with less – work measurement (WM). The paper is one outcome of a 3‐months study, undertaken within the Auditor‐General's Office in early 1979, of the state of the art of WM in public service environments.
THE ANOP SURVEY: A COMMENT*
Authors: Fowler Greg
Published: March 2008

In commenting on the ANOP survey, I have not attempted to investigate its validity. The results are taken at face value as representative of the populace as a whole.
CENTRAL AGENCIES AND THE COORDINATION PRINCIPLE*
Authors: Painter Martin
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Resource scarcity and social and economic complexity have prompted a growing focus by governments on coordination. New roles for central agencies in Australian State and Federal governments have emerged. An evaluation of these functions is undertaken, starting from the distinction drawn by Leon Peres between “principle” and “interest” as forces in the machinery of government. It is argued that this distinction has deficiencies for the purpose of determining central agency functions, and that the focus should be on procedural values or “rules of the game” that these agencies promote and defend. Added to the procedural values of efficiency, economy and propriety there is now a growing focus on the “coordination principle”. That principle, which central agencies should promote, concerns processes of conflict management in the policy process within the context of general purpose rather than sectorally fragmented policy‐making. Policy coordination as an objective, associated with central planning and hierarchical control, is rejected in favour of this view of central agency involvement in a multi‐organizational governmental setting. The role of cabinet is stressed, with the caveat that cabinet processes do not always entail coordination processes. In conclusion, there is a warning about the growing power of central agencies and concomitant temptations for them to interfere constantly in sectoral or departmental detail, possibly to the detriment of the coordination principle.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM IN THE USA: PROMISE VERSUS REALITY*
Authors: Coaldrake Peter
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The 1978 Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) mobilized changes to the basis and structure of the federal service which are the most far‐reaching since those installed by the Pendleton Act in 1883. Several of the 1978 provisions were directed toward encouraging a more incentive‐oriented approach to personnel matters. Other measures involved the dismantling of the Civil Service Commission, the installation of new mechanisms to handle labour‐management relations, the codification of merit principles, and the delegation to individual agency managements of wider personnel responsibilities. This paper raises the question of whether, four years after the passage of CSRA, there are indications that the legislation is living up to its earlier promise. Attention focuses upon the character of the 1978 measures and how well the federal service is coping, or is being allowed to cope, with the private sector‐style, rewards‐sanctions approach to personnel matters which was embraced by the Carter proposals. To a very significant degree the 1978 Act's provisions in that respect concentrated upon the more senior managerial and supervisory levels. It is less surprising, therefore, that many of the difficulties now associated with CSRA's implementation also are concentrated among those same groups (Senior Executive Service and merit pay). The salary and other incentives available to career executives for outstanding job performance have been eroded by Congress; the sanctions for poor performance remain, however, while worries persist about the possibilities of manipulating the new performance appraisal procedures in order to harass or remove career government officials. Meanwhile, the bulk of the federal service is, in practice, largely unaffected by the new performance appraisal arrangements. Many of the concerns about CSRA have been reinforced by the actions of the Reagan Administration and the 97th Congress. The bonus system for career executives remains under siege, the pay cap remains intact, while there are more general doubts about the Reagan Administration's commitment to civil service reform. The locus of responsibility for overseeing CSRA's implementation remains unclear, while there is evidence in some agencies that Reagan political appointees have attempted deliberately to exclude career executives from the policy process. Thus, despite the probably well‐intentioned initiatives enshrined by CSRA, the US federal service still finds itself beset by problems of identity and support. It still feels vulnerable, too, to the types of political abuse from which the 1978 measures were supposed to afford protection.
PROFILE OF A PUBLIC SERVICE UNION: THE ACT BRANCH OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND CLERICAL OFFICERS‘ ASSOCIATION
Authors: Dickenson Mary
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The ACOA is now the largest union in Australia whose members are exclusively engaged in public employment; and the ACT branch, with some 12,000 members, is the largest in the union. Over the past twenty years the association has been in the process of transforming itself into an organization more like an orthodox trade union. This process has accelerated during the past decade, with the adoption of certain types of sanctions to support endeavours for the attainment of its goals. While this change has been occurring throughout the ACOA its progress has not been uniform within its eight branches. When it comes to engaging in direct industrial action the ACT branch is usually at variance with other branches, preferring to adhere to established principles of conciliation and arbitration. The predominantly higher‐paid, career conscious members in the ACT see less need to use aggressive bargaining tactics than their colleagues elsewhere. Nevertheless, the branch has not escaped the effects of changing attitudes among public servants to the role of their unions. Since the latter 1960s the internal political life of the branch has been marked by factional divisions. The principal division has been between an ALP‐supporting faction which favours a more orthodox role for the union and a Catholic, conservative faction identified with the Democratic Labor Party before its demise and the National Civic Council. This latter faction favours a continuation of the traditionally conservative stance of the union. For the future there is no sign of a decrease in the controversy which has surrounded branch politics in recent years although the bulk of the members will probably opt for a continuation of the established ways of doing things.
THE “NEW ADMINISTRATIVE LAW”: SOME ASSUMPTIONS AND QUESTIONS
Authors: Jinks Brian
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Sweeping changes in administrative review legislation and procedures have occurred in Australian Federal government very quickly and with little debate. There have been several assumptions underlying the proposals for administrative law reform, including the notions that government has expanded greatly, that it has intruded into citizens' lives, that it is scarcely restrained by parliament, and that the specialist administrative tribunals established at various times are only partly effective. While these assumptions are all correct in certain respects, they do not necessarily support the demands for administrative law reform in the manner and to the extent that has generally been proposed. Closer examination of these assumptions suggests that comprehensive administrative review might itself lead to further expansion of government; that political decisions will have to be made about degrees of intrusion by government; that political avenues for redress of grievances should not be ignored, and could possibly be developed further; and that the need to prevent administrative errors is at least as great as the need to correct them after they have occurred. There is a good case for comprehensive administration review, but it needs to be examined more closely so that future problems can be anticipated and avoided.
THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN THE COMMONWEALTH PUBLIC SERVICE: THE CREATION AND REPRODUCTION OF A DUAL LABOUR MARKET*
Authors: Deacon Desley
Published: March 2008

Abstract: This paper examines the history of the employment of women in the Commonwealth Public Service (CPS) and attempts to explain the discrepancy between the meritocratic principles on which the personnel practices of the Service have been based and the lack of attainment of women in the Service. It demonstrates how the perception of men's and women's merits was structured by the division of labour current at the turn of the century when the CPS was established, and how, with the routinization and feminization of clerical work, these perceptions have helped create and ensure the continued reproduction of a dual labour market within the Service which is proving difficult to eradicate despite the removal of formal impediments.
ACCOUNTABILITY AND PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC ENTERPRISE: THE BRITISH DEBATE*
Authors: Mitchell Douglas
Published: March 2008

Abstract: This paper examines recent developments in the debate in Britain about the role of public enterprises which are wholly owned by the State, that is, the nationalized industries. The changing political and economic context surrounding public enterprise is briefly outlined and the successive attempts to give operational significance to concepts of accountability and performance are noted. In the light of this review recent developments in the framework of control are discussed. It is argued that the parliamentary system has failed to develop adequate criteria of accountability and performance for the nationalized industries, in part because of inherent difficulties common to systems of representative government, which in Britain have been exacerbated by a declining rate of economic growth and attendant attempts to reduce public expenditure.
ASSURING HOSPITAL STANDARDS: THE INTRODUCTION OF HOSPITAL ACCREDITATION IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: Duckett S. J.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The system of hospital accreditation that has developed in Australia involves a quasi non‐government organization, the Australian Council on Hospital Standards (ACHS), “surveying” hospitals and issuing certificates to those which meet published standards. The surveying process has the potential to influence the internal hospital balance of power between doctors and the hospital administration, and to place additional demands on statutory health authorities. The ACHS was set up formally in 1977 following a protracted process of discussion, research and inter‐organizational conflict that had its origins in proposals framed in the 1920s. The roles played by the sponsors of accreditation (the Australian Medical Association and the Australian Hospital Association) and by its detractors, especially the Health Commission of New South Wales, are explained using concepts developed in theories of inter‐organizational relations.
POLITICS, POLICY MAKING AND PRESSURE GROUPS: SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR REFORM OF THE AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM
Authors: Marsh Ian
Published: March 2008

Abstract: In Australia, current policy making is characterized by immobilism, drift and “pluralistic stagnation”. The problem is not lack of technical expertise, but the mobilization of political consent in a polity in which pressure groups have proliferated. In the post‐war period, the welfare state/managed economy has transformed the role of government and the potential power of pressure groups. New networks of interdependency have developed. Some of the principal groups are beneficiaries of redistributive programs, producer groups, state and local government agencies and professionals in government. Their potential power has been made actual by a new participative ethic. The post‐materialist values of which this is part also result in the growth of groups focusing on quality of life and moral issues. In this context the political parties are losing their central place in the polity and the centralized organs of executive government appear over‐secretive and aloof. Reforms are needed to realign institutions with the new cultural and structural realities. Broader interest group involvement is needed. Parliament, through a committee system, could play a major role and its historical function as custodian of the public interest should be revived. Departments must find new ways to involve more groups in policy formulation and implementation. Information must be shared more widely and policy analysts and advisors should work more closely with groups in defining issues, negotiating alternatives and encouraging the development of supportive coalitions. New “intelligence” and “outreach” functions within the public service are required, and the existing approaches of policy units and research bureaux should be remodelled.
“A TERRIBLE HIDING.” WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S ABORIGINAL HERITAGE POLICY*
Authors: Dillon M. C.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The Western Australian Museum was given responsibility for the administration of the Western Australia Aboriginal Heritage Act when it was enacted in the early 1970s. This essay examines the Museum's record in protecting the State's Aboriginal heritage particularly in relation to sites of current and continuing significance to Aboriginal people. It is argued that the Museum has been unwilling or unable to take the forceful action required if the wider society is to become cognizant of its responsibilities. The Noonkanbah and Argyle developments are examined in some detail; it is argued that the Museum, following retrograde amendments to the Act in 1980, has become a political arm of the government rather than an independent body able to provide professional advice on the protection of the State's Aboriginal heritage. Future prospects are discussed and recommendations made to improve the administration of the Act and the implementation of stated Government policy.
REINTERPRETING THE DEBATE ON AUTONOMY IN PUBLIC SERVICE SCIENCE*
Authors: Lumbers James
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The report of the Science Task Force of the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration rekindled an old debate on autonomy versus accountability for government scientists. The rationale given there for allowing the natural science community great discretion in managing its own affairs while in receipt of very considerable public funds did not get much support in the debate. Unfortunately, the debate did little to illuminate the problems facing those charged with producing creative, but relevant research in public institutions. A more productive way of tackling the question of autonomy and accountability is to see whose interests are promoted by different stances on the issue. Some critics represent the quest for autonomy as simple power‐seeking by professional elites. Yet the institutional setting for many supposedly autonomous scientists involved in successful innovation in industry often involves extensive interaction with non‐scientists. User groups — such as the agricultural commodities research committees — influence scientists through a loosely coordinated network. In this situation a form of accountability exists, although it is not exerted through formal parliamentary mechanisms. The arrangements have some elements of corporatism. Autonomy is not prominent within this setting except elusively as a rationale used to blunt temporarily the impact of particular interest group demands that threaten the continuity required to realize investments in long‐term research projects. In this case, autonomy is essentially a myth. However, to the extent that it allows scientific institutions to combine interaction in the practical world that their research must serve with some insulation from short‐term political or interest group pressures, it may be valuable for successful research management. Science administrators sometimes regulate the research of their juniors quite closely, indicating that even individual “scientific autonomy” can be a very limited form of freedom. None the less, it can be managed in such a way as to allow creative talent to flourish within an accountable structure albeit one that departs from the conventional norms of responsible government.
A NEW PARLIAMENT HOUSE — A NEW PARLIAMENTARY ORDER*
Authors: Fewtrell Terry
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The physical design and location of the existing Parliament House has influenced the evolution of Australia's parliamentary system. The new Parliament House will exert a new set of influences. The Executive will assume an entrenched position within its own enclave and Ministers will be physically more remote from backbenchers. The physical arrangements of the Executive entrance and the Prime Minister's suite will encourage a presidential‐style status in the office. But the architecture also emphasises the public's access to Parliament in the spirit of Burley Griffin's original conception. There is likely to be a strong “congressional” impetus arising from the prominence given to committee room space and backbencher facilities. Tensions between the Executive and Parliament will be exacerbated. Changes to procedures and to parliamentary administration are also likely to flow from the new layout and facilities. The new building will provide an impetus for widespread parliamentary reform.
New South Wales
Authors: Moore Barry
Published: March 2008

New South Wales easily retained its reputation as the State of commotion. Politicians and administrators during the past twelve months have lived through interesting times. Things are out in the open, at least. A rich and varied range of inquiries has been tackling problems which have remained hidden for decades. Hard items on the agenda of administrative reform are at last receiving attention. Courts and parliamentary procedures are being revitalized. The next great uproar will occur when the long‐awaited Freedom of Information Act arrives and provides ordinary members of the public with their own tickets of admission to the political and administrative arena.
THE ASSETS TEST: A CASE STUDY IN THE POLITICS OF EXPENDITURE CONTROL*
Authors: Marsh Ian
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The assets test episode provides a case study in the difficulties modern governments face when confronted by numerous and powerful interest groups. The assets test decision was made somewhat hastily and without extensive consultation, resulting in a major outcry from interest groups. The government reacted by setting in train a process of “consultation” and subsequently announced a series of concessions. Opposition continued and further modifications were made to the scheme, reducing considerably its impact and the proposed savings. Several lessons can be drawn. Governments must attempt to consult affected interests seriously in the process of formulating proposals and, if necessary, mobilise countervailing interests against a dominant coalition. Joint discussions can help to moderate sharp differences. The private, bureaucratic worlds of policy making, particularly in the budget cycle, must be opened up. Fundamental changes to the “culture” of policy making may be necessary, in particular greater efforts to encourage bipartisanship and to use Parliament constructively, if expenditure control and program reconstruction are to be achieved.
UNEMPLOYMENT POLICY: A CASE STUDY IN AGENDA MANAGEMENT
Authors: Harding Ann
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Agenda management is a process in which governments attempt to prevent policy issues from emerging, to influence the public perception of issues and to shape or delete issues on the current agenda of policy making. Numerous techniques are available and governments may often resort to them for political purposes. Unemployment policy from 1976–82 provides a case study for assessing the significance of agenda management in the policy process. The many initiatives and announcements of the government and their presentation in the media are described. It is concluded that the government often appeared to employ agenda management techniques such as tokenism, symbolic reassurance, postponement and the selective presentation of social indicators. It is noted that the government's handling of the issue followed an annual cycle, superimposed on which was an electoral cycle. Its attempts to influence public perceptions of the issue had direct links with the nature of policy outputs.
COORDINATION IN GOVERNMENT: DECOMPOSITION AND BOUNDED RATIONALITY AS A FRAMEWORK FOR “USER FRIENDLY” STATUTE LAW*
Authors: Paterson John
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Many interactions between adjacent elements of public administration are “resolved” by a weak form of bi‐lateral and non‐hierarchical coordination. There are quite intractable obstacles to achieving a good fit between bi‐lateral resolution and higher order aims of government. Formal limits to the results that can be achieved by coordination may be derived from the requirements for optimality in the “Decomposition Model” of decentralised administration. Limits to human capabilities are widely recognised in contemporary computer software that is designed to be “user friendly”, yet in the design of systems of statute and administration the limits of human rationality are commonly ignored. Proper statutory definition of functional boundaries can harness innate strengths in the “bounded rationality” of which mere mortals and their institutions are capable, and partially guard against the unwanted effects of its weaknesses. Three main classes of interactions may be defined, and can be dealt with respectively by (a) an external and superior source of statutory power, (b) the use of temporary concurrence powers, and (c) statutory plans. The trick is to be clear about which applies in the circumstances.
BUREAUCRATISATION OF PUBLIC HOSPITALS: A MODEL*
Authors: Jackway Paul
Published: March 2008

Abstract: This paper advances the conjecture that external budgetary pressure on a bureaucratic hierarchical organisation, such as a hospital, can cause an imbalance in that organisation, whereby administrative practices may proliferate, an “inert” segment of the organisation may successfully resist change, and the clinical work, the raison d‘être of the organisation, may decrease markedly. First, a mathematical model for the behaviour of a single level in the organisational hierarchy is developed; secondly, the aggregate model formed by applying the single‐level model simultaneously to all levels in an organisation is examined. The approach presented may enable administrators to view and understand the behaviour of their organisations from a new and potentially useful angle.
THE CONCEPT OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND THE AUSTRALIAN STATE IN THE 1980s
Authors: Yeatman Anna
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The adoption of the discourse of management by Australian public services in the 1980s can be seen as a cultural revolution. Results‐oriented management, subordinated to economic considerations, is the dominant approach. The upper levels of the public services have been remodelled in the form of a technically‐oriented elite recruited on merit, defined in terms of higher education credentials, drawing a technical intelligentsia, or “new class”, into public employment. Although “people and process” approaches, espoused in particular by women, find a place in the new culture, they are subordinated to the demands of scientific management. While the technical intelligentsia is resistant to traditional forms of bureaucratic authority and open to rational debate and new ideas, its members are not well equipped to take account of the substantive concerns of public policy and service provision. The distinctiveness of public management is submerged by inappropriate private sector models, and issues tend to be reduced to economic ones. The paradox that this culture has risen to prominence under Labor governments is explored and the developments are placed in the context of contemporary demands placed on the Australian state by private capital.
TEACHING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: EDUCATION OR TRAINING?*
Authors: Chapman Ralph J K
Published: March 2008

Abstract: There is an ambivalence in attitudes to public administration as a field of study among both academics and practitioners in Australia. Teachers, researchers, students, public servants seeking training and managers have differing interests and expectations. Disagreements about the field have contributed to the lack of a unified framework of concepts, while the field has fragmented into public administration, public policy and public management, aside from other divisions such as “old” versus “new” public administration. “Education” and “training” have taken diverging paths and academics and practitioners have drifted apart. There needs to be a closer dialogue that can only be based on a generally agreed paradigm for Australian Public Administration as a field of study.
THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY'S TREATMENT OF ABORIGINAL POLYGYNY AND TRIBAL MARRIAGE: A SAGA OF ADMINISTRATIVE DEBATE
Authors: Sanders Will
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Since the inclusion of Aborigines in the Australian social security system, the treatment of Aboriginal polygyny and tribal marriage by the Department of Social Security (DSS) has been a recurring minor issue of departmental, and at times extra‐departmental, debate. This article traces the history of that debate from the early 1960s to the present day. Although the article is primarily historical, there is also some attempt made to analyse both the nature of the administrative processes involved and the types of administrative argument deployed in the debate.
THE CORPORATE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK AS ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE: A CRITIQUE
Authors: Considine Mark
Published: March 2008

Abstract: A corporate management framework has been the basis for a transformation of Australian public administration in recent years. Program budgeting, corporate planning, performance contracts, program evaluation and new forms of efficiency scrutiny are among the techniques introduced. They stem from a dominant paradigm of technical and instrumental rationality, within which a framework of practical remedies and technologies of power carries the corporate management label. Four concepts underly this framework and its techniques: the product format, instrumentalism, integration and purposive action. The framework has fundamental problems. The product format is inappropriate for many public services and overvalues quantifiable, single‐purpose outputs while denigrating claims of worth and effectiveness made on non‐economic grounds; instrumentalism ignores the political dimensions of public organisations; integration denies the value of decentralised forms of service development and delivery and, paradoxically, contradicts current private management precepts; and purposive action displays an unwarranted optimism about the potency of technical rationality under central direction. The four principles must be reviewed as offering few prospects for genuine and lasting reform.