Australian commonwealth statutory authorities : their contribution to an accountable public administration
Creators: name: Stone, Bruce
Publisher: name: The Australian National University
Year: 1990
Subjects: subject: Corporations, Government Australia
subject: Government business enterprises Australia
subject: Government liability Australia
subject: Administrative responsibility Australia

description: The widespread use of the statutory authority has long been seen as a major characteristic of Australian public administration. A major theme in the literature on statutory authorities in countries such as Australia whose core institutions of government are based on the Westminster model is the problem of accountability which these bodies are alleged to cause. This thesis addresses that problem in the context of Australian Commonwealth government. The general aim of the thesis is to challenge the traditional view that the statutory authority is not a suitable administrative form upon which to build an accountable public administration. It begins by showing how the dominant conception of accountability associated with the Westminster 'syndrome' of ministerial control of administration and ministerial responsibility to parliament has shaped, and prejudiced, the understanding of accountability in Commonwealth statutory authorities. Next, it is argued that there is less difference between the accountability of Australian Commonwealth statutory authorities and that of ministerial departments than is often supposed. The thesis then questions the continuing application to statutory authorities of assumptions about accountability which have for some time been under serious challenge in Australian public administration. It is argued that, considered in the light of an understanding of accountability informed by contemporary developments in Australia and elsewhere, Commonwealth statutory authorities demonstrate a reasonably healthy degree of accountability and, perhaps more importantly, reveal the potential to play an important role in the development of a more accountable public administration. Central to the thesis is an attempt to develop an appropriate conceptual framework for understanding the public accountability of statutory authorities. To this end, the root idea of accountability is identified as the satisfaction of diverse expectations and concerns about the exercise of administrative discretion. It is then argued that three conceptions of, or perspectives on, accountability may be usefully distinguished. Alongside the traditional notion of 'parliamentary control', 'managerialist' and 'constituency relations' conceptions are introduced. The differences between the three may be summarized as follows: parliamentary control relies heavily on essentially bureaucratic relationships of close supervision or control of the administrative agency; the managerialist conception employs quasi-contractual relations, emphasizing strategic control and periodic evaluation; and the constituency relations conception rests on an essentially political set of relationships, emphasizing the responsiveness through various mechanisms of the agency to a range of interested constituencies. The three conceptions are presented as complementary rather than mutually exclusive ways of viewing accountability. All have a role to play in contemporary public administration, and indeed all three may be utilized in different mixes to engineer a desired level and form of public accountability for particular statutory authorities. Accountability regimes, it is suggested, ought to be tailored to the nature and mission of the individual administrative organization. It is also suggested, finally, that debate over the accountability of statutory authorities may be viewed as an aspect of a wider debate over the relative merits of competing models of democracy. Statutory authorities have a role to play in a system of government based on dispersal of power and widespread responsiveness. They allow administrative tasks to be located in a wide range of purpose-built administrative agencies with a wide range of purpose-related means of responding to the concerns and expectations of many relevant constituencies regarding the use of administrative discretion.