bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
1974—PUBLIC SERVICES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
Authors: Dickinson H. H. , Gleeson G.
Published: March 2008

My Chairman, Mr H. H. Dickinson, was honoured to be offered the role of keynote speaker for the 1974 Annual Conference of the Royal Institute of Public Administration. He had proceeded a considerable distance along the road of preparing his address when he was unexpectedly called on to visit Canada on government business. On his behalf I wish to apologize to the organizers for his absence today. He regrets it very much. The address I am about to give is in some sense therefore a joint effort, encapsulating the theme judged by Mr Dickinson to be most appropriate for this occasion, within a framework which enables me to develop and expound that theme.
THE PUBLIC SERVICES AND CO‐OPERATTVE FEDERALISM
Authors: Inns GrahamJ.
Published: March 2008

A paper of this type clearly calls for some definition of terms. Although “The Public Services” are usually seen to comprise the State Public Services and the Australian Public Service, in reality of course, government institutionalized services to the public go beyond these seven agencies. All the statutory authorities—Commissions, Corporations, Boards and Trusts—are part of public administration; so also are local government bodies. There are in the various public services some agencies which form part of the public service proper (i.e. a Department defined as such under one or other of the Public Service Acts) whereas in others they have the independence of a corporate entity. In South Australia for instance the whole state water supply and sewerage services are provided by one public service department, the Engineering and Water Supply Department. In the other states those services are provided by more than one agency and these range from government departments and local governing bodies to statutory authorities. A similar division of responsibility exists in the road construction area where some states perform their highway undertakings through the agency of a statutory authority, while others prefer the tighter Ministerial control of a government department.
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT VIEWED FROM SYDNEY
Authors: Cappie‐Wood T. N.
Published: March 2008

This conference on “Public Administration in Co‐operative Federalism”, fittingly convened by the Royal Institute of Public Administration, is a most timely one. It is tangible evidence that co‐operative federalism is not only possible but, in many areas, positively flourishes, and it provides an opportunity for those of us with state or federal responsibilities in public administration to state our problems fairly and frankly and seek ways of extending co‐operation to secure future prosperity for Australia.
THE ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LEGISLATION
Authors: Hawker Geoffrey
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Freedom of information legislation is now an item on the political agenda. In the debate about the scope of such legislation, however, some important administrative questions have been ignored. Relevant overseas experience, particularly that of North America, has not been given the attention it deserves. By 1972 the Labor Party had made “open government” an electoral issue, although four distinct notions were involved in this concept, namely administrative review; public comment by public servants; more helpful institutions; and autonomous access to information in institutions. However the efforts of the Labor government during 1972‐75 to implement freedom of information proposals foundered partly because issues of procedures, cost and personnel were not perceived as being salient; and the situation has not changed much since. Questions about the administration of freedom of information legislation are discussed in relation to the recommendations of the Coombs Report, and it is argued that the matter needs to be approached in new ways, one of which is through action research.
PUBLIC SERVANTS AND THE BRIEFING OF PARTY COMMITTEES
Authors: Weller Patrick
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Politicians need information. In recent years the practice of public servants briefing party committees has been expanded to help fill that need. In part this was due to the increased influence of caucus committees under the Labor government, but the practice has continued. Public servants provide information and explanations of policy to government and opposition members, although in the latter case public servants have to tread carefully. In December 1976 the Prime Minister tabled guidelines to govern these briefings. This innovation has implications for the doctrines of public service neutrality, for ministerial responsibility and for the capacity of the opposition to develop workable policy. Despite the potential problems that may arise, it is a practice that, if used effectively, can only assist in the improvement of political debate.
COUNTERVAILING POWER AND A GOVERNMENT PURCHASING COMMISSION: AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE INCREASED COMPETITION IN AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIES.
Authors: Round David K.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Recent moves by both Labor and Liberal Governments in Australia indicate increased awareness of the possibilities that a centralized government purchasing body may be able to secure economies in purchasing large quantities of a wide range of goods used by government departments, agencies and commissions, and also that such a purchasing authority can be used as an instrument with which to put into effect government policies concerned with supporting a particular industry or geographic area. The argument in this paper elaborates on this theme. It is suggested that a centralized purchasing authority should act, using its countervailing power, to secure cost savings which would not only provide benefits to government departments, but which could also be passed on to the general public. For these savings to be achieved, significant changes would have to occur in the relatively passive system of tendering which characterizes most government purchases. The government purchasing body would need actively to induce some real competition between rival tenderers, if need be playing one bid against the other. A government contract would be awarded only on the condition that the lower price offered the government was, in fact, also passed on to the general public. Thus both the public and the firm would benefit; the public by paying lower prices and the firm by the extra demand likely to be generated for its product, as well as the security of the government contract. Of course, such a purchasing policy could only be followed against firms with significant market power and excess profits. Even if such a policy were followed for a small number of products, the result could be greater efficiency and lower prices for all consumers of these products.
PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICAL CHOICE: A REVIEW ARTICLE
Authors: Smith R. F. I.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: In reviewing the literature on policy studies, as in studying policy making itself, what you see depends on where you look. Studies of public policy vary widely in forms, methods and rationale. This paper does not try to categorize and capture the spirit of all aspects of a diverse and burgeoning literature. Its focus is on a number of recent books that straddle broadly the categories of process and administrative studies. The questions addressed in the volumes discussed are about how institutions handle issues in public policy, their relevance to the actual content of policy, and the ways in which individuals and groups within them see and respond to opportunities for choice. Each book is concerned with questions of theory but the books do not, either singly or together, suggest a single compelling theory of institutions and policy processes. Indeed, considering their theoretical sophistication, one may doubt whether such a goal is practicable. The better the work done on policy studies the more open‐ended theoretically the field seems to be.
NEW TECHNOLOGY AND THE ADMINISTRATOR
Authors: Brett P. R.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: It is important to distinguish between the possible and the probable when speculating about developments in technology. It is difficult to foresee the uses which will be made of an invention, and often they are not the uses first proposed. With new technological developments almost anything is technically possible, although practical development of a possibility can be slower and more difficult than expected. Moreover, successful technical development does not guarantee acceptance by the public. Technology impinges on public administration in three ways. It is a tool, it creates new tasks, and new technology can change the expectations within society of the role and function of government and hence the role of public administration. Examples of the use of technology as a tool in public administration are evident in the areas of travel, telecommunications and data processing. Changes in technology create new administrative tasks related to increased public awareness of the dangers of many forms of technology, leading, for example, to consideration of problems of pollution, personal privacy and computer‐related crime. New expectations created by the increased information available through technological advances in communication will prompt increasing calls for open planning and public participation in decision making which will in turn lead to increased visibility of administrators and a greater measure of real accountability.
CAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION COPE?
Authors: Encel S.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Commonly held visions of the future may be grouped into many categories, but for the purposes of this paper three scenarios are used. The first involves a drastically worsened extension of the present situation of inflation and shortages with comprehensive government action necessary to avoid civil conflict and the breakdown of essential services and supplies. Here the experiences of the two World Wars and periods of reconstruction when public administration did, on the whole, cope are relevant to the question of whether it can do so in the future. The second scenario involves a genuine catastrophe resulting from nuclear war or terrorism leading to a breakdown of constitutional government. Our knowledge of “disaster” administration, however, is limited (fiction is perhaps as informative) and the subject should receive systematic study. The final scenario involves the problems of coping with economic growth and rising expectations in a “no‐growth” situation. As public administration is closely geared to the past rather than the future, what governments require in this climate is a continuing capacity for forecasting to revise and up‐date estimates. At the Commonwealth and State levels this could take the form of a Forecasting and Analysis Unit within government.
CAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION COPE?
Authors: Bailey P. H.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: This paper asks two questions: first, why is it so difficult for public administration to change and secondly, which sources of change present public administration with its greatest problems? The answers to the first include the influence of factors such as permanence, with its emphasis on continuity and fit; hierarchy and the doctrinal orthodoxies it engenders; power and the opposition to its re‐distribution; the system of checks and balances which characterizes Australian public administration; and the complexities of the process of change itself. To answer the second question it is helpful to distinguish between endogenous change, originating from sources within public administration and exogenous change, emanating from sources outside it There are a number of examples of successful endogenous change, but the record of exogenous change is not as good, particularly where change came from outside both the public service and the political system. For a number of reasons it has taken time for public administration to respond adequately to the problems associated with such change. On the other hand the public service has coped reasonably well with the political inputs of exogenous change, such as changes of government. Four objectives for action could, if met, significantly improve public administration's responsibility to its problems. These are recognition of the need for adequate time if any change is to be coped with effectively; the funding of research for political parties; the spotting, development and positioning of innovators; and the creation of appropriate “look‐out” arrangements.

Living in an age whose single constant is radical change, all men are in urgent need of whatever resources may be available as they seek to understand and manage their environment, to understand and solve the unprecedented problems confronting them1
ENERGY FLOW IN AUSTRALIA: MATCHING NEEDS AND SUPPLIES*
Authors: Gifford Roger M.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Energy flow and transformation, being a fundamental driving force behind organization, should be subject to long term government policy. A pre‐requisite for formulating energy policy is detailed knowledge of the dynamics and thermodynamics of energy supply and utilization. The lack of coherent policy in the past has led to the development of a society which is physically, institutionally and psychologically locked into an unsustainable liquid fuel consumption pattern requiring not only high but also growing consumption. An expression of this situation is the widespread assumption that coal and nuclear energy are the only significant realistic longer term options for the future, even though these would involve unproven technology and considerable environmental and social risks. The other long term option—the diffuse energy option based on widely distributed, renewable energy sources such as wind and the sun—is generally regarded as unrealistic. This is a social judgement determined more by the inertia of existing institutions and perceptions of our needs than by technical reality. It is possible however, that the measures which might be taken to deal with the crisis of oil depletion in the next couple of decades may swing community structure and attitude and bureaucratic organization into a conservation‐minded pattern in which the long term option based on low, stable consumption, diffuse energy sources and decentralized conversion systems seems as realistic to policy makers as the other extreme—the centralized, nuclear‐electric, growth society. This flexibility could only emerge, however, if energy research expenditure is diversified very soon.
SECURITY AT LAW OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: Arup Chris
Published: March 2008

Abstract: The mooting late in 1976 of changes in the powers of the Commonwealth to retire its employees on grounds of redundancy sharpened interest in the legal dimension of security in public employment in Australia. If it were to become law, the Commonwealth Employees (Redeployment and Retirement) Bill 1976 would modestly consolidate the legislative powers of the Commonwealth to rationalize and retrench employees in line with changes in its operational requirements, but it would by no means resolve all the problems of legal uncertainty and insecurity that the present position allows.
PRODUCTIVITY BARGAINING IN COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: McCarthy Neville J.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Despite several experiments with productivity bargaining in the Commonwealth employment sector, the rigidity of employment conditions was considered to be a limiting factor to the wider application of this technique to the public sector. Nor did it appear to be suitable for adoption within the compulsory arbitration system. However the frustrated expectations of blue collar employees in government employment during the Labor government's term of office stimulated the exploration of productivity bargaining as a way of achieving reduced working hours without contravening efforts to restrain wage inflation. The events within the Australian Post Office (later to become the Australian Postal Commission and the Australian Telecommunications Commission), the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories Commission, the Overseas Telecommunications Commission and the Reserve Bank of Australia are described and some differences in the processes involved noted. The nature and significance of productivity bargaining as a technique for the immediate future are also discussed, particularly in the light of continuing stagflation and the interest of the government in wage restraint and national productivity growth.
NATIONAL SETTINGS AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISE: AUSTRALIA AND ISRAEL
Authors: Sharkansky Ira
Published: March 2008

Abstract: There are sharp differences between the public enterprises of Australia and Israel. Australia relies on the structure of statutory authorities for enterprises of the Commonwealth and the States; managers express a narrow view of what is permitted to them; and tend to spend their careers within single firms. “Public” enterprise in Israel reflects a complex amalgam of three public sectors, with Arms owned wholly or in part by the State, the labour federation, and institutions of the international Jewish community. Israel emphasizes the more flexible structure of public sector holdings in limited liability companies. Entrepreneurialism is more apparent in the public enterprises of Israel than Australia, but problems of service delivery are also more apparent in Israel. This article relates national differences in enterprise traits of control by government, styles of management, career patterns and service delivery to the national settings of government structure, economics, and political culture.
THE FLUORIDATION CONTROVERSY IN VICTORIA: PUBLIC POLICY AND GROUP POLITICS
Authors: Head Brian W.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Fluoridation of public water supplies has been a political issue which generates a high level of public controversy. Opposition has been relatively effective, especially at the local level where the initiative for fluoridation usually originates. Authorities responsible for the decision have often been unwilling to adopt a firm policy in the belief that public opinion is seriously divided on the issue. The reasons for the success of the opposition, and for the indecision of the authorities, are examined in relation to the history of the fluoridation issue in Victoria, where the State government eventually decided in favour of compulsory fluoridation after considering the question for twenty years. The paper concludes by drawing some implications from this case for students of policy formation in areas of controversy.
THE MULTI‐DIMENSIONAL NATURE OF ATTITUDES TOWARDS PUBLIC SERVANTS
Authors: Smith Thomas B.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: There is relatively little published research which assesses the public's attitudes toward public servants and public servants' attitudes toward themselves. In this study a 36 item semantic differential scale was designed and administered to 182 graduate clerks in the Australian Public Service late in 1974. A factor analysis of the responses gave nine independent dimensions of attitudes toward public servants, namely Orientation Toward Change; Trust and Reliability; Intellectual Orientation; Cooperativeness; Power and Strength; Interpersonal Relations; Stability; Decisiveness; and Work Orientation. The graduate clerks, when evaluating Australian public servants in relation to these dimensions, saw them as resistant to change, rule‐bound, dull, indecisive, and lacking in the work ethic, although trustworthy, educated, helpful, friendly and secure. Are these perceptions accurate? Quite probably the images are a reasonable representation of what they have experienced in their first year's employment. In answer to the question are the attitudes of graduate clerks reflected in their behaviour, it could be pointed out that their attrition rate is quite high and over 40 per cent indicated dissatisfaction with their jobs. Perhaps, though, the graduate clerks expected too much of the public service at that time, and the portrait of the public service was not as negative as many critics would have expected.
DAYLIGHT SAVING IN NEW SOUTH WALES: A CASE OF EMOTIVE SYMBOLIC POLITICS?
Authors: Richmond Keith
Published: March 2008

Abstract: This is a case study of the campaign over daylight saving in New South Wales from the mid‐1960s. The period leading to the legislation making daylight saving a permanent feature in 1972 was marked by the involvement of various groups, media campaigns and inter‐governmental negotiations. After the legislation was passed, the character of the campaign changed. Conflict was confined mainly to the rural sector, where large‐scale citizen involvement occurred. Many anti‐daylight saving bodies were created and a petition of over 40,000 names protesting about daylight saving was presented to the Premier. The Country Party was pressured sufficiently to promise during 1973, 1974 and 1975 that a referendum would be held, and this was achieved in May 1976. The results of the poll showed majority approval lay with continuing daylight saving. Until 1972 the policy area appeared to correspond to Theodore Lowi's “regulative” category, but from 1972 the policy arena altered to one which may be viewed in terms of T. Alexander Smith's “emotive symbolic” policy. The article assesses the Smith concept and its usefulness in explaining the issue of daylight saving as an example of intense community debate.
FISCAL EQUALITY BETWEEN THE STATES: THE NEW ROLE OF THE COMMONWEALTH GRANTS COMMISSION
Authors: Else‐Mitchell R.
Published: March 2008

In a federal system few subjects are of such fundamental importance as the financial relations between the Central Government and the States or Provincial Governments. Not only, as Professor Giblin observed in 1926,1 are those relations the chief determinant of the character of the Federation, but they also influence and perhaps determine both the political character of the union and the political colour from time to time of the governments of component members of the federation.
THE DELIMITATION OF GOVERNMENT REGIONS AND STATISTICAL AREAS IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: Wilde Peter D.
Published: March 2008

Over the past decade State and Commonwealth governments in Australia have become increasingly concerned with the regional scale of activity where region, defined at its broadest, refers to an area which is larger than the Local Government Area (LGA) and smaller than the State. This concern arose in part with belief that “some programs and services of government are most efficiently and effectively planned, coordinated and delivered at a level intermediate to those of State and Local Government”. This in turn reflected the growth in importance of the regional scale for the whole gamut of social and economic functioning. Rapid technological changes in transport and communication; the tremendous growth in personal mobility over the past 30 years; the rapid urban growth; the powerful organizing role of urban centres and the increasing interdependence of town and country have all made the regional unit a very significant spatial and functional entity which it is impossible to ignore when organizing activity of any sort. In particular this “shrinkage of space” has enabled both public and private sector activity to be organized effectively over much larger areas than previously, while technological changes have increased the scale at which many services, especially those involving physical plant, are most efficiently performed.
SIR ROBERT PEEL AND AUSTRALIA
Authors: Eddy J. J.
Published: March 2008

It seems to me that the occupation and colonization of New Holland and the other islands of Australia is one of those vast schemes of national policy into which Great Britain has been drawn by the current of events and with little human foresight to direct us, but which like the peopling of North America and the conquest of India must be regarded as amongst the most impressive movements of divine providence in the government of this world.

Sir James Stephen, Minute of January, 1842, in Colonial Office, New South Wales Series, 201/329.
URBAN GOVERNMENT, URBAN POLITICS AND THE FABRICATION OF URBAN ISSUES: THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF URBAN POLICY
Authors: Painter Martin
Published: March 2008

An “urban” definition of public policy problems raises great difficulties for the policy maker. If we emphasize implementation as a primary factor in evaluating public policy, we have good grounds for questioning the wisdom of an urban perspective. But urban questions have been and still are major areas of concern in public policy formulation. The ALP federal platform contains a long section on urban policies, reiterating what the Department of Urban and Regional Development (DURD) was striving to achieve under the Whitlam Government. At state level, urban problems have been tackled with varying degrees of success and seriousness, although at this level overall urban perspectives tend to be ignored, for reasons we shall indicate. However urban planning authorities have been tried in most capital cities, and metropolitan plans have been drawn up for all of them. They have concentrated mainly on land use and urban form. By the 1970s a common criticism of such planning was that it left aside many social and economic aspects of urban growth. For example, one (admittedly partisan) government source—the N.S.W. Department of Decentralization and Development—noted “a massive and increasing trend towards socio‐economic segregation”:

…the remoteness of central city facilities …the cost of commuter transport and the inadequacy of community facilities in low‐income outer suburbs are operating to perpetuate economic under‐privilege.
THE MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Gannicott K.
Published: March 2008

One of the minor curiosities of public sector analysis in Australia is that rather little attention has been paid to the tools and instruments that could provide a more effective management of government research and development. Once government R & D is mentioned, we immediately think of the large statutory bodies such as CSIRO or the Atomic Energy Commission, but the subject extends widely beyond these two bodies. The Australian Government, federal and states, provides 70% of all the funds for Australian R & D, and the government itself performs, in its own laboratories and statutory authorities, 54% of the total R & D carried out in Australia Of OECD countries, these percentages of government activity are exceeded only by Iceland, New Zealand, Portugal and Turkey. Virtually every federal department and every department of each state government performs R&D. Apart from the “big two” of CSIRO and Atomic Energy, the Post Office, Defence, Health, Housing, and Minerals and Energy all have research laboratories, and the last major survey of Australian R & D in 1973 listed 22 federal departments and 130 organizations in the State Governments performing R & D. A recent article in this journal correctly noted a shift from “ends to means” in Australian science policy. The present article proposes a specific means of managing this almost unique public involvement in R & D in Australia.
URWICK ON THE PIONEERS OF MANAGEMENT
Authors: Hunt John W. , Collins Roger
Published: March 2008

Colonel Lyndall Fownes Urwick is one of the major theoreticians and historians of the management movement of the twentieth century. For this he has been recognized internationally, holding most of the major awards for excellence in contributions to management. He is now 87 years old and lives in Australia. In this paper the authors report an edited version of Urwick's verbal responses to questions about Taylor, the Gilbreths, Gant, Fayol, Mayo, Mooney, Reiley, Mary Parker Follett, Barnard, Drucker and Koontz. Questions were designed to elicit Urwick's experiences with the individuals rather than just their ideas. Anecdotal recollections have been included where they give insights into the pioneer's personality and writings.
SUSPENDING COMMONWEALTH EMPLOYEES WHO ENGAGE IN INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Authors: Arup Christopher
Published: March 2008

In this note the various powers of the Commonwealth employer to suspend employees engaging in industrial action are examined and the need for the Commonwealth Employees (Employment Provisions) Act 1977′ is considered. The legal rights and obligations of the Commonwealth employer and employee regarding suspension rest fundamentally with the contract of employment, but they are commonly modified and supplemented by legislation and industrial awards.
FOREWORD
Authors: ELSE‐MITCHELL R.
Published: March 2008

For more than a generation Robert Parker and Dick Spann have had a considerable influence on the academic study and practical exercise of the administration of government in Australia. To one who has known these distinguished figures for an aggregate period of more than eighty years, it comes almost as a shock to be reminded that Parker first began lecturing in public administration at the Canberra University College in 1938 and that Spann came from abroad to head the Department of Government and Public Administration in the University of Sydney in 1954.
INTRODUCTION
Authors: Curnow G. R. , Wettenhall R. L.
Published: March 2008

This collection of essays is intended to be both less than and more than a Festschrift.
VICTORIA
Authors: Holmes Jean
Published: March 2008

The first half of 1979 saw a continued effort by government to rationalize departmental responsibilities and policies. In the field of human services the government established the Health Commission and the Community Welfare Services Department (discussed in more detail in the two previous Chronicles) and has responded to one of the major contemporary social issues by establishing a Victorian Employment Committee.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Authors: Johnson Jerry , Boxhall Graham
Published: March 2008

In many ways 1979 will be seen as a watershed in South Australian political and public administrative affairs, rivalling the end of the Playford era in 1965. The Dunstan years were to be exchanged for a hard‐headed, sound economic management approach to government, according to his Labor successor, Mr Des Corcoran. However, as a result of an election called some eighteen months prematurely, a new Liberal government took office within six months of Mr Dunstan's resignation, emphasizing “small government” and a return to the “free enterprise system”.
MANAGING WITH LESS: DIMENSIONS AND ISSUES
Authors: Macphee I. M.
Published: March 2008

Thank you for inviting me to open the Institute's National Conference this year. Your program looks most interesting and relevant to modern public sector administration. I accepted your invitation on the basis that I would make personal observations – comments of a manager turned Minister. Nothing that I say should necessarily be identified with my Department or fellow Ministers. Rather, I speak as a person in government who is interested in and concerned with change, increased efficiency and improved national productivity.
MANAGING WITH LESS: A STAFF PERSPECTIVE1
Authors: Munro Paul
Published: March 2008

There is a certain irony about a public service staff perspective on the topic of “Managing with Less”. In recent times ACOA has perforce managed with less. This was necessitated by the government decision to withdraw the facility of payroll deduction of members' dues. That action and the consequent massive reduction in income is intended to threaten, and does impair the effectiveness and general viability of ACOA. It is a kind of expenditure cut used with devious purpose, a ploy characteristic of Mr Fraser's government. In our case, unlike those whom we serve, Mr Fraser's assault on our budget will not destroy our capacity to perform our function. At least our main function of directly advancing and preserving membership interests should not be much impaired, albeit with perhaps a somewhat reduced membership. The main result of having to “manage with less” is that particular programs and policies at the margin have and will continue to come under threat. In ACOA's case I suspect that our capacity to allocate any worthwhile priority to extracurricular exploration such as this conference must diminish in the future.
FASHIONS AND FANTASIES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION*
Authors: Spann R. N.
Published: March 2008

The title of this address results in part from discontent with much of the literature of Public Administration and Public Policy. It is mild discontent, and I do not want unduly to depreciate our writings. But I stop reading many books and articles disappointed, at finding old or obvious ideas restated in new words; at seeing a useful idea refined by scholasticism into complex and empirically untestable propositions; feeling that I am being “got at”; worst of all, with a sense that the work casts only a fitful or elusive light on the important problems it claims to deal with. Schuyler Wallace said years ago when I was starting my academic career that administrative study had been mainly built on the basis of half‐truths and fictions,1 and I believe this is still true. If I had remembered this phrase earlier, I might have called the paper “Half‐Truths and Fictions in Public Administration”. If it reflects some real discontents, it is also intended to be a bit jokey. Should the jokes fall flat or degenerate into vulgar abuse, blame the author.
VICTORIA
Authors: Holmes Jean
Published: March 2008

The Victorian Liberal Premier, Richard Hamer, in adjourning the 1980 parliamentary session with the traditional “Christmas felicitations”, made special reference to the record number of sitting days and the longer daily average of sitting hours achieved. Labor Opposition Leader Frank Wilkes in turn drew attention to the total of 126 bills introduced during the spring session, of which 101 had been instigated by the government and 25 by private members. Such an arduous and concentrated parliamentary schedule has obvious policy implications, but also prompts a query about its administrative consequences. To what extent was the mass of legislation dealt with by the last Victorian State parliament directed towards administrative ends as well as to the Liberal government's more obvious political goals?
THE IMAGE OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR IN AUSTRALIA*
Authors: Ayers Tony
Published: March 2008

After the recent Federal elections, I am more confident in saying that I do not always believe the polls. In this instance, I have the feeling that the image of public administrators in Australia is probably worse than the surveys indicated. The latest bumper bar sticker in Canberra reads: “Fight inflation, run over a public servant today”. The Australian is running a series of articles critical of the size, efficiency and effectiveness of public services. The cup‐of‐tea image is a popular one and kick‐a‐public‐servant‐today has every possibility of developing into a national sport; the “fat cat” image has caught on.
THE IMAGE OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR: AN MP's PERSPECTIVE*
Authors: Jull David
Published: March 2008

In Australia the only professional group less understood or more subject to abuse than the public service is politicians. Rightly or wrongly public servants as a group are pictured as being lazy, “never having worked a hard day in their lives”, totally inflexible, out of touch with the public, not really concerned about people's needs or wants, incompassionate, and concerned only about their seniority status and their superannuation fund.
NEW DIRECTIONS IN AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING: SOME POINTERS FROM THE UK STRUCTURE PLANNING EXPERIENCE
Authors: Day R. A.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: Environmental planning legislation in Australia has been primarily concerned with the formulation of detailed land‐use allocation plans. Changing circumstances are leading to a more broadly‐based view of the planning process centred around the delineation of development principles and the broad structure of land uses. The United Kingdom's experience with structure plans during the past decade is of value in reshaping environmental planning in Australia. Within the United Kingdom both the slow speed of structure plan preparation and its very broad scope have posed problems. By merging land‐use issues with the development plans of other government instrumentalities structure plans have exceeded the responsibility of the central planning agency. Simultaneously they have been seized upon by the public as the only formal means of dissent against governmental decisions in such areas as social service and housing. Reactions have been twofold. In Scotland regional reports have imposed an additional corporate plan which provides guidelines for subsequent control of land use. In England and Wales structure plans have become increasingly general, long‐term and land‐use orientated, thereby side‐stepping the problems their introduction created. To be effective in Australia, structure plans must achieve corporate liaison with other government departments and statutory undertakings. This will be achieved not by copying the English structure planning model, but by working towards regional reports prepared by a combination of State government agencies and reconciled through decisions at parliamentary level. Local, detailed land‐use plans, based upon written reports as in the United Kingdom, can fit readily into such a framework, supplemented where necessary by State‐wide guidelines pertaining to critical land‐use considerations. The coordination of development will be facilitated by the liberalization and increased availability of professionally recognized qualifications.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Authors: Heatley Alistair
Published: March 2008

The period under review in this chronicle—December 1980 to mid‐August 1981—was, like 1980, characterized by relative political and administrative stability and consolidation. Such a climate of stability was, of course, to be expected as the system instituted with self‐government was newly established and refined. Moreover, most of the election pledges which involved significant administrative implications had been implemented in the first months of the Third Assembly. If any major alteration to administrative structure or process is to occur (and there is no present indication of such intention by the government), it is likely to take place after the budget session in August.
WOMEN IN NEW SOUTH WALES LOCAL GOVERMENT
Authors: Burdess Neil
Published: March 2008

following the 1977 triennial elections, a total of 158 women were elected to 196 local government councils in New South Wales. The distribution of women representatives through the State is extremely uneven, as the accompanying tables show.
THE PUBLIC SERVANT
Authors: Renouf Alan
Published: March 2008

To the ignorance of most Australians, the nature of the Commonwealth public Service has changed a lot over recent years. Whether the change is for the better or worse is a matter of opinion. The first essential is that the public should be aware of what has happened.
THE NORTHERN TERRITORY GOVERNMENTS CANBERRA REPRESENTATIVE
Authors: Warhurst John
Published: March 2008

On 14 July 1980 an experiment began in Australian Federal‐State relations which has been accorded little recognition. On that day the Northern Territory government opened an office in Canberra for its new “Canberra Representative”. It was a step no State government had ever taken, although several had discussed such a move over the previous decade during general reconsiderations of the machinery of Federal‐State relations. In particular, Sir Henry Bland's Board of Inquiry into the Victorian Public Service saw some benefits in the location in Canberra of one or more members of a proposed Commonwealth/State Relations Unit (now the Federal Affairs Division of the Premier's Department) in the State public service, although it chose finally not to recommend it
CASH TRANSFERS BY THE QUEENSLAND STATE GOVERNMENT TO NON‐GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: Halladay Allan
Published: March 2008

Abstract: This is the first in a series of studies into cash transfers from the State government to non‐government organizations in Queensland. It focuses particularly on transfers from the Departments of Welfare Services and Children's Services. Information has been obtained from public government documents, departmental files and records, and from interviews with representatives of eight non‐government organizations in receipt of cash transfers. The study documents the pattern and process of transfers and explores existing means of achieving accountability, accessibility, effectiveness, efficiency and equity. While transfers to the non‐government sector in Queensland are a well established practice, the proportion of government funds going to the non‐government sector is small. The larger, well‐established organizations receive the most and are best satisfied with their relationship to government. It would appear that much could be done to improve accessibility to government transfers in Queensland, where program accountability has not been emphasized. The final section of the paper questions the advisability of jumping on the program evaluation bandwagon. The need for more research into the impact of government funding on program development, efficient use of resources, social cohesion, political position and meeting the most pressing needs in the community is emphasized. Glennerster's “pluralist planning model” is suggested as a possible guide for improving the process of allocation of transfers in Queensland.
URBAN PLANNING, POLICY AND MANAGEMENT*
Authors: Neutze Max
Published: March 2008

Abstract: This paper deals with some important sources of confusion in discussions of urban issues. The first part distinguishes urban planning as a “future oriented” activity, from urban management which is primarily concerned with resource allocation. (The nature of urban development — interdependence and long life — makes a long‐term perspective important.) When urban management aims to implement a plan the two are complementary. Urban policy covers a broader range of issues. The second part distinguishes four levels of debate about urban issues: ideological, political, operational and technical. Frequently debates in urban studies are not coherent because the participants are arguing at different levels and therefore make different assumptions about what is given and what can be varied. It is argued that the various levels form a hierarchy so that debates at any level need to assume particular positions with respect to higher level questions. Ideological issues include individual versus collective perspective, capitalist versus socialist, the appropriate role of markets and governments and the relative weight given to equity and efficiency criteria. The examples of political issues discussed are rationality versus group pressure as explanations of government behaviour, and whether planning is mainly a political or a professional activity. Operational issues include the appropriate level of government for carrying out urban functions and the role of statutory planning and other policy measures. Technical issues focus on predicting the effects of policy measures and external changes on cities. The different levels are illustrated by a discussion of policy towards inner city areas.
COORDINATION IN STATE ADMINISTRATION: A CASE STUDY
Authors: Parkin Andrew , Healy Judith
Published: March 2008

Abstract: “Coordination is one of the perennial concerns of public administration, and has been a particular problem of State‐level policy‐making in Australia. This paper describes a policy initiative under the Dunstan government in South Australia which was necessarily an exercise in State administrative coordination. The story illustrates the complexity of a multi‐Departmental program aimed at producing an innovative, flexible and decentralized policy. While it shows the awkwardness of conventional administrative and policy‐making procedures in such a situation, it also provides examples of constructive cooperation among and readjustment within departments. The general policy “parameters” inspired by the Dunstan government are regarded as a significant influence on the outcome of the program.
MANAGING TRANSPORT INTEGRATION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Authors: Scrafton Derek
Published: March 2008

Abstract: By 1970 the transport portfolio in South Australia consisted of over a dozen government departments and statutory authorities of differing sizes and varying degrees of independence from the State Government. Each organization, by inclination or statutory requirement, tended to carry out its modal responsibilities without reference to the others, with the result that matters which did not fall clearly into the jurisdiction of one or another remained undone and transport problems remained unresolved. The development of area‐wide land use planning in the 1960s and integrated economic planning in recent years were hindered by the inability of the transport portfolio to respond to such plans, or to enunciate a single transport policy for a given planning or developmental scenario. Since 1970 successive South Australian governments have pursued a policy of gradual integration of the transport portfolio. This paper reports on the progress achieved after ten years, problems confronted during this period, and prospects for further integration. Comparisons are made with other Australian States and the Commonwealth Government's transport administration.
THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY POLICIES:1973–1979*
Authors: MacIntosh M.L.
Published: March 2008

Abstract: This paper discusses the reaction of the South Australian Public Service Board to government industrial democracy policies between 1973 and 1979. As the administrative agency most directly responsible for management policy and practice in government departments, the Board's commitment to government policies was necessary for their implementation in departments. Between 1973 and 1975 the Board's support was obtained in two ways. First the government policy of the time was developed by a Committee of Inquiry into Worker Participation which was chaired by a Public Service Commissioner, who became Chairman of the Board in 1973. Secondly the policy itself was consistent with a broader program of “managerial modernization” then beginning. In 1975 the Labor Party adopted a more radical Industrial Democracy policy, which the Board was initially reluctant to adopt. The government sought the Board's support by strengthening the Unit for Industrial Democracy as a policy group, and inviting the Board to participate in a Committee to adapt the policy to the public service. The public service policy issued by the Board in 1976 was less prescriptive and more pragmatic than the ALP policy. New administrative arrangements which accompanied the policy statement implied that the Board was no longer as independent in this area as it had been. By the latter part of 1976 the Unit had emerged as the most influential group in the implementation of the policy. To assist implementation it sought influence over many Board management programs, and also proposed amendments to the Public Service Act. A new Board appointed in 1977 gave qualified cooperation to the Unit, but displayed an increasingly independent attitude to industrial democracy. The policy was given lower priority in the more conservative political environment of 1979. The study throws light on the relationship between policy and administration in the personnel field in the public sector.