Levels Of Government In Australia Research Articles

From conceptualization to practice: enhancing economic resilience at the local government level in Australia

ABSTRACT Seven principles of resilience developed by Stockholm Resilience Centre were adopted as a central framework from which practical objectives were identified to support local government organizations, and small local businesses to enhance their level of resilience to natural disasters. Discussions and interviews with local government executives from four coastal, local governments in Australia were undertaken to refine each economic development objectives to ensure utility and relevance. The final suite of practical objectives aims to respond to socio-ecological system features such as slow and fast variables, feedbacks and thresholds that create climate risks for businesses, and consider the sector and individual businesses’ learning capacity, participation and self-organization. We consider that these important objectives provide a pathway that enable small businesses, central to the local economic sector to self-assess their risks, and develop longer term adaptive and transformative strategies beyond preparedness and recovery. The significance of this research is in its ability to translate and anchor conceptual understandings of socio-ecological systems and resilience theory into a set of practical and useful objectives for local governments and small businesses to combat their vulnerability to natural disasters.

Creating a framework for change: transitioning to value-based healthcare in Queensland.

Value-based healthcare has been described as the sustainable, equitable and transparent use of healthcare resources to achieve improved experiences and outcomes for people and communities. It is supported by all levels of government in Australia, with recent initiatives championing a shift away from traditional, clinician-centric care delivery to a more contemporary, value-based approach. To date, however, efforts in Queensland have focused on smaller scale siloed models of care and have not extended to the transformational change required to create equitable and sustainable healthcare delivery. The Queensland Health Allied Health Framework for Value-Based Health Care (the Framework) builds on contemporary frameworks with reference to the local context in Queensland and provides a structure and starting point for clinicians and managers to work together with consumers to transform services to focus on preventative health and wellbeing, shifting the focus of care to the community and sustainably improving the quality of care delivered. The Framework outlines key considerations for the design and implementation of new services, including understanding the care pathway, supporting an outcome driven workplace culture, measuring what matters and designing for outcomes. Several key lessons were learnt during the development of the Framework, including the importance of early and sustained consumer partnerships, of establishing a shared definition of value-based healthcare that enables integration across the care pathway and the need for leadership at all levels to actively support the change management process. While developed for Queensland public allied health services, the Framework is intended to be a system-wide tool relevant to all health professionals and services.

Waste Management in Australia Is an Environmental Crisis: What Needs to Change so Adaptive Governance Can Help?

Research suggests that strengthening cooperation between governments is required to support improved policy outcomes. Despite established cooperative agreements between the levels of government in Australia, a lack of urgency and consistency continues to drive unsustainable approaches toward waste management practices. Adaptive governance has emerged as a potential approach for addressing complexity, with multiple actors collaborating in the design and implementation of challenging environmental issues. The main findings of this research highlight key challenges in multilevel systems and reforms required to establish institutional arrangements that support key adaptive governance enablers in the context of cooperative approaches to waste management.

‘An ardent lover of cities’: Sonja Lyneham's contributions to urban planning practice

ABSTRACT Sonja Lyneham's planning career extended from the late-1960s to the mid-2010s, commencing as a junior member of the team formulating the 1971 City of Sydney Strategic Plan and evolving to direct major planning projects at state and national levels of government in Australia, the Asia-Pacific arena and Eastern Europe. The evolution of planning practice over the course of her career is reflected in diverse engagements, informed here by five main themes – gender, data, neo-liberalism, collaboration and infrastructure. Drawing on memoirs, interviews and extant documentation, the paper appraises Lyneham's life and career as a practitioner who brought a strong economic approach and personal commitment to progressive social change befitting the changing times.

Responsibility for evidence-based policy in cardiovascular disease in rural communities: implications for persistent rural health inequalities.

Objective The aim of this study was to understand, from the perspective of policy makers, who holds the responsibility for driving evidence-based policy to reduce the high burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in rural Australia. Methods Qualitative interviews were conducted with policy makers at the local, state and federal government levels in Australia (n=21). Analysis was conducted using the Conceptual Framework for Understanding Rural and Remote Health to understand perceptions of policy makers around who holds the key responsibility in driving evidence-based policy. Results At all levels of government, there were multiple examples of disconnect in the understanding of who is responsible for driving the generation of evidence-based policy to reduce CVD in rural areas. Policy makers suggested that the rural communities themselves, health services, health professionals, researchers and the health sector as a whole hold large responsibilities in driving evidence-based policy to address CVD in rural areas. Within government, there was also a noticeable disconnect, with local participants feeling it was the federal government that held this responsibility; however, federal government participants suggested this was largely a local government issue. Overall, there seemed to be a lack of responsibility for CVD policy, which is reflected in a lack of action in rural areas. Conclusion There was a lack of clarity about who is responsible for driving evidence-based policy generation to address the high burden of CVD in Australia, providing one possible explanation for the lack of policy action. Clarity among policy makers over shared roles and leadership for policy making must be addressed to overcome the current burden of CVD in rural communities. What is known about the topic? Rural health inequalities, such as the increased burden of CVD in rural Australia are persistent. Such health inequalities are unjust, with global theory suggesting political processes have facilitated, in part, the inequalities. With similar examples observed internationally in rural areas, little is known about the influence of the perspectives of policy makers regarding who is responsible for addressing health issues in rural areas, in the government context. What does this paper add? This paper provides empirical evidence, for all levels of government in Australia, that there is a lack of clarity in policy roles and responsibilities to address the unequal burden of CVD in rural Australia, at all levels of government. The paper provides evidence to support the urgent need for clarity within government around policy stakeholder roles. Without such clarity, it is unlikely that national-level progress in addressing rural health inequalities will be achieved in the near future. What are the implications for practitioners? Addressing ambiguity around who is responsible for the development of evidence-based policy to address the high burden of CVD in rural areas must be a high priority to ensure health disparities do not persist for future Australian generations. The results reported here are highly relevant to the Australian context, but also reflect similar findings internationally, namely that a lack of clarity among policy stakeholders appears to contribute to reduced action in addressing preventable health inequalities in disadvantaged populations. This paper provides evidence for policy makers and public health professionals to advocate for clear policy roles and direction in rural Australia.

Implementing Healthy Planning and Active Living Initiatives: A Virtuous Cycle

Factors including internal local government functioning, collaboration and the use of co-benefits have been noted to assist in the uptake of healthy planning policies and projects by local governments. However, less commonly noted is a possible reverse relationship: that implementation of healthy planning projects can contribute positively to organisational functioning and collaboration, and can result in a range of co-benefits that then can be used to support projects. Such a concept is explored in this paper, with a focus at the local government level in Australia. Findings from surveys with local government practitioners and in-depth interviews with healthy planning and community health advocates are presented. The findings indicate four key areas through which the implementation of healthy planning policies and projects and active living initiatives demonstrates a ‘virtuous cycle’. These areas include (1) project ‘wind-up’, or circumstances in which implementation and/or health outcomes exceed initial expectations; (2) improved partnerships that can create opportunities for future initiatives; (3) improved internal organisational functioning; and (4) greater project sustainability. The paper concludes by exploring some possible repercussions of these emerging findings, which indicate that beneficial settings to healthy planning considerations can be a result of as well as a contributor to healthy planning and active living initiative implementation. In turn, this presents another potential co-benefit of project uptake and implementation to those commonly identified.

Sustainability and planning law in Australia: achievements and challenges

Purpose Since 1992, all levels of government in Australia have pursued a policy of ecologically sustainable development (ESD). Crafted in response to the World Commission on Environment and Development 1987 report Our Common Future (the Brundtland Report), the principles contained in the Australian Government’s National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development have been progressively implemented at the national, state and local levels of government. The purpose of this paper is not only to track the implementation of these principles, through both policy and law in Australia, but also to highlight recent challenges to the concept of ESD using the state of New South Wales (NSW) as a case study. Design/methodology/approach Beginning with a description of the Australian concept of ESD, this paper first examines the implementation of ESD through both policy and legislation at the national level. The state of NSW is then selected for more detailed assessment, with examples of key State government legislation and court decisions considered. Equal emphasis is placed on both the achievements in ESD policy development and implementation through legislation, statutory planning procedures and litigation, as well as the challenges that have confronted the pursuit of ESD in NSW. Findings Since its introduction in 1992, the concept of ESD has matured into a key guiding principle for development and environmental decision-making in Australia. However, in recent years, ESD has been the target of significant challenge by some areas of government. Noteworthy among these challenges has been a failed attempt by the NSW Government to introduce new planning legislation which sought to replace ESD with the arguably weaker concept of “sustainable development”. Apparent from this episode is strong community and institutional support for robust sustainability provisions “manifested through ESD” within that State’s statutory planning system. Originality/value This paper provides an overview of the implementation of ESD in Australia within both a broader international context of sustainable development and specific instances of domestic interpretation and application. It extends this analysis by examining recent public policy attempts to reposition sustainability in the context of statutory planning system reform in NSW.

A snapshot of high-speed broadband responses at local government level in Australia: a marriage between federally funded initiatives and locally driven innovations?

The introduction of the Australian National Broadband Network (NBN) in 2009 posed a range of new questions about the potential of the telecommunication infrastructure for planning at different levels of government. This paper focuses on the local implications of the new infrastructure whether socio-economic, e-governance or otherwise. It reaches out to the NBN early rollout local government authorities (LGAs) and collects empirical data about their responses to the new infrastructure, so far. The findings explore the significant role of the federally funded initiatives aiming at the local level, while shedding light on some of the locally driven, mostly innovative approaches taken by the LGAs. The paper concludes by raising concerns about the current state of uncertainty around the future phases of broadband infrastructure rollout across the nation and its negative impact on strategic approaches in planning for and with telecommunication to capitalise on the digitally driven opportunities.

Planning for Climate Change: Is Greater Public Participation the Key to Success?

Within most democracies there is an assumption that greater public participation and engagement in policy processes results in more effective policy measures. These assumed benefits include better framed and more robust policies and a more informed, articulate and engaged citizenry. Similar assumptions exist also in planning for climate adaptation where more public participation and engagement are seen as vital components of any adaptation strategy and policy development process. This article explores these assumptions and considers whether there is any evidence that the success of planning for unavoidable climate change is related to the extent of public participation. Using an evaluation framework based on three aspects of participation we critically review a set of climate adaptation policy instruments developed within each of the three levels of government in Australia but with a specific focus on the region of South East Queensland.

An analysis of potential barriers and enablers to regulating the television marketing of unhealthy foods to children at the state government level in Australia

BackgroundIn Australia there have been many calls for government action to halt the effects of unhealthy food marketing on children's health, yet implementation has not occurred. The attitudes of those involved in the policy-making process towards regulatory intervention governing unhealthy food marketing are not well understood. The objective of this research was to understand the perceptions of senior representatives from Australian state and territory governments, statutory authorities and non-government organisations regarding the feasibility of state-level government regulation of television marketing of unhealthy food to children in Australia.MethodData from in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior representatives from state and territory government departments, statutory authorities and non-government organisations (n=22) were analysed to determine participants' views about regulation of television marketing of unhealthy food to children at the state government level. Data were analysed using content and thematic analyses.ResultsRegulation of television marketing of unhealthy food to children was supported as a strategy for obesity prevention. Barriers to implementing regulation at the state level were: the perception that regulation of television advertising is a Commonwealth, not state/territory, responsibility; the power of the food industry and; the need for clear evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of regulation. Evidence of community support for regulation was also cited as an important factor in determining feasibility.ConclusionsThe regulation of unhealthy food marketing to children is perceived to be a feasible strategy for obesity prevention however barriers to implementation at the state level exist. Those involved in state-level policy making generally indicated a preference for Commonwealth-led regulation. This research suggests that implementation of regulation of the television marketing of unhealthy food to children should ideally occur under the direction of the Commonwealth government. However, given that regulation is technically feasible at the state level, in the absence of Commonwealth action, states/territories could act independently. The relevance of our findings is likely to extend beyond Australia as unhealthy food marketing to children is a global issue.

The Australian Clinical Dosimetry Service: a commentary on the first 18 months

The Australian Clinical Dosimetry Service, ACDS, is a voluntary national auditing service for radiotherapy centers. Provided free of charge the ACDS is now little over one and a half years old. While an independent audit service has been desired by the radiotherapy professions, (Radiation Oncology, Medical Physics and Radiotherapy) for a few decades, the dosimetry incidents at Adelaide and Coffs Harbor stimulated all levels of government in Australia. While not very significant in comparison to international incidents, they were important in convincing the Government to act. One outcome was a formal agreement for the Australian Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA), to fund a 3 year trial program of an Australia-wide radiotherapy dosimetry audit program. In 2010, the Australian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DoHA to establish the auditing service (ACDS). This article is intended to be the first of an annual communication from the ACDS to the radiotherapy professions informing them about the methods and rationale behind the ACDS’ actions. This article focuses on the initial setup of the ACDS, the design of the audit structure, discussion points arising from the audits performed so far and our immediate goals. It is also an invitation for comment and discussion about the ACDS procedures and function, and its future. In February 2011, the Australian government formally launched the Australian Clinical Dosimetry Service, a radiotherapy auditing service unique in its scope, oversight and assessment: Scope Over an initial three year trial period dosimetric audits will be provided free of charge to all public and private radiotherapy providers in Australia. Participation is voluntary. Over the 3 years, the ACDS must develop a three level audit program and capture 80 % of the existing Linacs in Australia and at least 50 % of all new Linac installations.

Delivery of Public Services by Non‐Government Organisations (非营利组织的公共服务提供)1

All levels of government in Australia (national, state and territory, municipal) are increasingly contracting with charitable and other not‐for‐profit organisations (and, at times, for‐profit businesses) for the delivery of public services. While estimates vary about the extent of such arrangements, recent statistics suggest they are a large and growing phenomena. The shift to ‘purchase of service’ contracting and other forms of ‘managed markets’ has been partly motivated by a desire to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. However, there are some criticisms of the approach, arguing that it leads to a range of problems for not‐for‐profit organisations, including being burdened by excessive regulation, movement away from their core purpose (so‐called ‘mission drift’), and a weakening of the connections with the community they serve. This article examines the prevalence of the contracting arrangements and some of the main reasons why they have come about. It also considers the main gains and challenges resulting from such arrangements, in particular for public sector management. The article draws on recent work by the Productivity Commission (‘the Commission’) including the 2010 study of the contribution of the not‐for‐profit sector (PC 2010); the 2011 inquiry on disability care and support (PC 2011a); and the 2011 inquiry on caring for older Australians (PC 2011b). It also draws more broadly on a range of other Commission work, including recent reports on government services produced for the Council of Australian Governments (SCRGSP 2011a, 2011b).澳大利亚各级政府（国家级，州和领地级，市级）正越来越多地将公共服务的提供承包予慈善机构和其他非营利组织（有时也包括以营利为目的的企业）。虽然对此种安排所达到的规模估计各不相同，最近有统计数字表明，这是一个庞大且不断增长的现象。政府转向“购买服务”和其他形式的“管理市场”，其部分动因是希望改善服务提供的效率和效益。然而，有一些批评意见认为它会给非营利组织导致一系列问题，其中包括监管过度带来的负担，偏离组织本身的核心目的（所谓的“使命漂移”），与所服务的公民的联系被削弱。本文探讨服务承包这一现象所达到的规模，以及导致其存在的主要原因。本文还讨论了这种安排的主要优点和挑战，尤其是针对公共部门管理。本文基于生产力委员会（“委员会”）近期的研究，它包括2010年对非营利组织贡献的研究（PC 2010）；2011年对残障护理和支持工作的调查（PC 2011a）；和2011年对老年澳大利亚人护理的工作的调查（PC 2011b）。本文还广泛吸收生产力委员会的其他研究，包括近期为澳大利亚政府理事会制作的关于政府服务的报告。

Principles for the monitoring and evaluation of wetland extent, condition and function in Australia

The monitoring of resource condition is receiving renewed attention across several levels of government in Australia. This interest is linked to substantial investment in environmental remediation and aquatic ecosystem restoration in particular. In this context, it is timely to consider principles which ought to guide the development and implementation of monitoring programmes for wetland ecosystems. A framework is established which places monitoring in the context of the strategic adaptive management of wetlands. This framework requires there has to be clear goals for the extent and condition of the resource, with these goals being defined within thresholds of acceptable variability. Qualitative and, where possible, quantitative conceptual models linking management interventions to management goals should be the basis of indicator selection and assessment. The intensity of sampling ought to be informed by pilot surveys of statistical power in relation to the thresholds of acceptable variability identified within the management plan.

Opportunities and constraints for developing a sustainable E-waste management system at local government level in Australia

E-waste refers to both electronic and electrical waste materials; namely any items which rely on an electric current or electromagnetic fields in order to operate, and contain a hard-drive or significant electronic components and/or a printed circuit board. E-waste is outstripping the general growth of the municipal waste stream. Increasingly, smaller and cheaper electronic items are being disposed of in municipal waste systems and this, coupled with an increase in the number of, and turnover of manufacturers and suppliers, may see local councils assuming a key role in future e-waste management. A survey of local councils across Australia was undertaken to determine the current level of understanding and action on e-waste, and to solicit key responses regarding the identification of areas where improvements could be made. The survey achieved an overall response rate of 35%. Survey results identified key barriers experienced by councils regarding the collection and treatment of e-wastes, such as access to reprocessing facilities and the limited or complete unawareness by the public of the issues. With regards to who should pay for e-waste disposal at end-of-life, consumers and producers were most commonly cited, depending on the state with the preferred funding mechanisms being 'advanced recycling fee' and Expanded Producer Responsibility. Overwhelmingly, 88% of respondents believed that federal legislation was required to manage e-waste. Overall, the results did not indicate differences in views between states for most questions.

DO INVESTMENT ATTRACTION INCENTIVES CREATE DECENT JOBS? A STUDY OF LABOUR CONDITIONS IN INDUSTRY ASSISTANCE CONTRACTS

All levels of government in Australia offer financial assistance in one form or another to private corporations in order to encourage, facilitate or retain business investment in their respective jurisdictions. This disbursement of public funds is often justified on the basis of the number of jobs that will be created by the assisted firm, with relatively little attention paid to the quality of these jobs. This article presents findings on the extent to which three State Governments in Australia (NSW, Queensland and Victoria) use industry assistance to influence job quality and the character of employment relations in assisted corporations. It also examines how any such conditions attached to the disbursement of financial assistance are monitored and enforced. State Governments remain less than forthcoming as to the details of these grants. Nonetheless, it is possible to draw a number of observations as to the extent to which industry assistance is and could be used in the three Australian States as a means through which to regulate job quality. We conclude by discussing the potential use of industry assistance to promote job quality in subsidised corporations, drawing on existing regulatory approaches in the United States.

Factors Inhibiting Local Government Engagement in Environmental Sustainability: case studies from rural Australia

The literature on local government management of the environment in Australia has been limited in that it has typically focused on the urban sphere. In contrast, this paper places rurality at the centre of its inquiry. It uses data from 15 case studies of rural local governments in Australia to identify the main factors that inhibit natural resource management by rural councils. These barriers mobilise around four key themes: capacity, commitment, co-ordination and community. While many of the issues raised in this study of non-urban shires have been described in previous research, the paper argues that the geographic location of the areas under investigation aggravates barriers to engaging sustainability initiatives. It is contended that rural local governments need to be resourced accordingly to ensure that natural resource management at the local government level in Australia is not compromised.

Organising land information for sustainable land administration

Property ownership rights are well managed and understood in developed countries. They are backed by long-standing theoretical, legal and institutional frameworks. In contrast, many new property interests created by governments in response to concerns for sustainability are often poorly managed and understood. If we are to achieve sustainability objectives, the design and administration of these interests must improve. To do this effectively, a shared understanding of property interests and their role must first be developed. This paper introduces the property object, a tool for describing, comparing and classifying all interests in land and natural resources using five key attributes: the objective, actions regulated, spatial extent, duration and the people impacted. The tool provides a system for structuring and ordering information about land in the virtual environment to better deliver sustainable land management. The concept of the property object was developed by analysing all the legislated land interests within the three levels of government in Australia, but it is universally applicable. It builds on existing theories and approaches to understanding and managing land rights and recognizes the substantial changes in property theory since WWII.

Ecosystem-based fisheries management: An Australian perspective

The terms ‘ecosystem-based fisheries management’, ‘ecosystem-based management’ and ‘ecosystem approach to fisheries’ have recently entered the vernacular of fisheries management. Examination of contemporary guidelines and proposals for such an approach illustrates that ecosystem-based fisheries management is, for all intents and purposes, a re-expression of the objectives and processes associated with ecologically sustainable development (and associated international instruments). Since the early 1990's, all levels of government in Australia have committed themselves to the concept of ecologically sustainable development, and a complex network of policies and laws exist to support this, particularly in natural resource management. One significant outcome of these instruments is the application of environmental impact assessment to the management of fisheries. This has forced extensive deliberation of the ecological impact of fisheries and stimulated the development and application of new research tools. Application of environmental impact assessment to the management of fisheries has been a crucial step for the implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management in Australia. These assessments are embedded within a range of legal and policy instruments that capture the ecological, economic and social dimensions of fisheries. The scientific challenges associated with many aspects of ecosystem-based fisheries management are very significant, but it is likely that the value-based nature of the underlying environmental issues will continue to dominate the managerial agenda.

E‐government: a new route to public sector quality

In the past government organisations have paid little attention to service quality or responsiveness to clients. This changed with the movement termed “new public management”, which occurred in most developed nations around 1990. This paper briefly examines the concept of quality and its application to the public sector and discusses e‐government, the latest manifestation of attempts to improve quality in government. The paper also reports on a survey of senior personnel across the three levels of government in Australia. The results of the survey and other published research materials suggest, that the impact of e‐government on service delivery is modest and not well distributed. While there has been widespread adoption of e‐government measures, these have generally been lacking in sophistication and have been disproportionately beneficial to city dwellers without addressing problems of equity and access.

Distributing Natural Disaster Costs in Australia - Policy and Effects

This paper presents an outline of government policy on natural disaster relief in Australia. Two effects of that policy on the distribution of the costs of a particular natural disaster (the 1974 Queensland floods) are then quantified. First, the relative shares of public sector relief borne by the three levels of government in Australia following that disaster are determined. Second, the distribution of the costs of that disaster between various groups (insurance, government, private philanthropy and the disaster victims themselves) is estimated. The success of the government's policy in achieving its objectives is then evaluated.