Conceptualising ‘code complexes’: A case study of harvesting-related codes applying to forest operations in Tasmania, Australia

Abstract

In the past 20years, a proliferation of governance instruments has been developed by both state and non-state actors. Today, many industrial sectors are governed by a variety of overlapping instruments that are usually analysed separately rather than as a collective. In this paper, we make the case for analysing such codes as a collective, given that is how they are experienced from the perspective of users and how, ultimately, they achieve their governance objectives. Drawing on an exhaustive database of all related governance instruments, we present an overview of the Tasmanian forestry code complex with regard to harvesting-related forest operations, highlighting how public and private instruments relate to each other and intersect. Three key findings from the study are (a) the critical importance of Tasmania's Forest Practices Code as a master code, which sits at the centre of the State's Forest Code Complex with regard to harvesting; (b) the role that company management plans play in mediating between Tasmanian and international codes such as those endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification and the Forest Stewardship Council; and (c) the utility of the code complex concept for comparative analyses of resource management.