Abstract
Over the last two decades a feature of local government reforms globally has been the introduction of New Public Management (NPM). Under this broad approach to public administration there is an expectation that councillors play a greater strategic role and move away from involvement in day-to-day management. This research, carried out in the state of Victoria, Australia, examines councillors’ understandings of their roles. Based on 17 in-depth interviews and two focus groups, we found that despite the evolving legislative requirements framing councillors as policymakers not managers, most councillors continued to seek involvement in the day-to-day management of councils. We argue that this gap may be linked to the diversity of views concerning the role of the councillor and the idea of representation and how both play out at the local level. It may also signal a lack of awareness as to how the legislatively inscribed role for councillors has changed over time.
Highlights
Across Australia local councils are de jure and de facto the level of government closest to communities (Grant and Dollery 2012)
In this article we examine the way councillors understand their roles and whether their understandings coincide with the role prescribed under the auspices of reform, in particular those informed by New Public Management (NPM) approaches
Concluding remarks Local government reform in Victoria and in Australia generally is being driven by a NPM perspective and the quest for a more financially sustainable sector
Summary
Across Australia local councils are de jure and de facto the level of government closest to communities (Grant and Dollery 2012). The council manager form, which most accurately describes the overwhelming majority of local governments in Australia In this case all executive functions are in the hands of a professional administrator, the CEO, who is appointed by the council. It draws on a paper presented at the 2014 International Research Society for Public Management conference (see Tan 2014).
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