Victorian Local Government Research Articles

The NPM: The Trojan Horse in Accountability

This empirical study is an attempt to understand the impact of the New Public Management (NPM) onaccountability within Victorian local government. The NPM has changed the parameters of publicdecision-making. It is appropriate therefore to consider the effect of the NPM on the concept of accountabilityheld by staff and councillors of Victorian municipalities.Data were collected from 79 Victorian municipalities. A survey instrument was distributed to councillors andmanagers, with survey statements eliciting participants’ understanding of the operation of accountability. Theresponses of a number of statements were cross-tabulated revealing some statistically significant associationsthat revealed the effect of the NPM on the understanding of accountability. Respondents’ views revealed anunderstanding of accountability in which stewardship was considered to be important but strongly influenced bythe NPM.

Temporary Staff, Contractors, and Volunteers: The Hidden Workforce in Victorian Local Government

Theories of strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) emphasise the need to understand and effectively manage the workforce, and to align HRM practices with organisational strategy. Local government in Victoria was radically revised in 1993–94 with forced amalgamations, and later the introduction of Best Value Principles. Alongside this have been changes to council workforces. This article explores the composition of these workforces, and seeks to understand if strategic HRM practices underpin their management. It reports that in addition to the ‘known’ and ‘managed’ internal workforce, many councils have an external workforce which includes temporary staff, independent contractors, those working for external contractors, volunteers, work placement students and trainees. There is little evidence that theories of strategic HRM have been used to produce workforce planning strategies and policies relating to these staff, or that their management has been strategically aligned and reviewed to align with council strategies and business plans.

Inclusion in political and public life: The experiences of people with intellectual disability on government disability advisory bodies in Australia

Background Civil and political participation lies at the core of citizenship. Increasingly, people with intellectual disability are members of disability advisory bodies. This study investigated the political orientations of advisory body members with intellectual disability, their participatory experiences, and the types of support they received.Method The 9 people with intellectual disability who in 2005 were members of disability advisory bodies at a state, national, and Victorian local government level were interviewed, together with 12 other members or secretariat staff of these bodies. Observations were also conducted of advisory body meetings.Results The political perspective of members with intellectual disability varied, but all had a background in self-advocacy. They found the work hard but rewarding and encountered both practical and intangible obstacles to participation. Members received varying types of practical support, but a supportive collegial milieu was characteristic among members who felt most confident about their participation.Conclusions The milieu, structures, and processes of advisory bodies must all be adjusted to accommodate people with intellectual disability if they are to participate meaningfully.

Parties, Participation and Outcomes: The 2008 Victorian Local Government Elections

In November 2008, voters in Victoria participated in local government elections under a system that has been subject to significant reform since the 1980s. This paper seeks to discern trends from the outcomes and identify significant structural features of the reformed system. With regards to outcomes, the paper highlights the high success rate amongst incumbent councillors and the strong sense of successful candidates being independent of political parties. The paper argues that these outcomes have been particularly influenced by the proliferation of electoral districts with relatively small voting populations or by the use of multimember electoral systems in larger districts. The variety of systems used underpins a localised and ‘clientelist’ politics that militates against the dominance of political parties over the contest. The paper also draws attention to the comparatively low rate of voter participation in an election in which compulsory voting applies. It argues that voter absenteeism was particularly noticeable in municipalities with large numbers of residents renting properties and might be explained as a form of ‘renters’ illusion’ impacting on voting behaviour.

Mechanisms of Accountability in Local Government: An Exploratory Study

This exploratory, empirical study is an attempt to understand the perception of accountability within Victorian local government. Important governance developments have emerged in recent years, changing the context of public decision-making. It is timely to study public sector accountability in this changing context. Data were collected from 78 Victorian municipalities. A survey instrument was distributed to councillors and managers, with survey statements eliciting participants’ understanding of the operation of accountability. Using factor analysis, four factors were generated that revealed the items councillors and managers perceive to be the important elements of accountability. Whilst respondents’ views of accountability were generally in accordance with the literature, new aspects were discovered. For example, an individual’s attitude towards accountability and managing the accountability relationship was shaped by their values. The literature has not previously explored this facet of individual values.

Process evaluation of Community Kitchens: Results from two Victorian local government areas

this paper describes a process evaluation of the participants and organisations involved in Community Kitchens in the Local Government Areas of Frankston City and Mornington Peninsula Shire in Victoria, Australia. participants, facilitators and project partners from 17 Community Kitchens were invited to participate in the evaluation via a written survey and focus group discussion (participants) or structured telephone interview (facilitators and project partners). Qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. ninety-three individuals (63 participants, 20 facilitators, and 10 project partners) participated in the evaluation. Data showed that Community Kitchens reached population sub-groups that face the greatest health inequalities. Project partners were generally satisfied with the project and were able to identify enablers (e.g. support from the project team and running of other concurrent programs) and barriers (e.g. size of the kitchen and transportation) to setting up and sustaining a Community Kitchen. The themes that emerged from participants' and facilitators' experience of participating in the project concerned food and cooking skills, social skills and community participation. the project enabled the development of food knowledge and cooking skills, as well as social skills and support networks among participants and facilitators. There is a need to determine what impact Community Kitchens may have on participants' nutritional status, as well as the effect of Community Kitchens on food security at an individual, household and community level. Further longitudinal studies are needed to affirm the findings of this study.

Community Consultation in Victorian Local Government: A Case of Mixing Metaphors?

This article draws on a three‐year collaborative research project investigating how community consultation is practised by Victorian councils, especially in relation to multiple publics and groups that councils can find ‘hard to reach’. Based on an analysis of consultation documents, this article looks at councils’ understanding of community consultation and underlying assumptions, the expected outcomes and how this is translated into guidance for practice. The research demonstrates that councils aim to consult to provide a range of outcomes, but there is a lack of clarity about how to choose and use the appropriate combination of consultation tool(s) and public(s) to facilitate these. Councils are also unclear about how the outcomes of consultation feed into existing decision‐making processes and the implications of this for democratic legitimacy. This is in part due to the fact that the conceptual tensions around consultation and the democratic process are apparent not so much by virtue of what is said about them, but of what is not said. The article begins by outlining the conceptual and definitional problems associated with consultation using typologies of public participation. We investigate how typologies inform the consultation documents developed by councils and in how far they support practice. We then address the need to involve multiple publics and the vexed issue of who is hard to reach and why they should be consulted.

Participation in the Budgetary Process in Local Government

Direct democracy is seen as a means of reengaging citizens in the political process. However, it is a contested concept that requires further development by being grounded in a specific context. This article reports on research undertaken in Victorian local government where the New Public Management (NPM) has been in evidence for a number of decades which according to the literature has impacted on accountability to the broader community. The possibility of consultation and citizen participation in the local government budgetary process was examined. The results reported suggest that participation in the budgetary decisions in local government is possible.

A pilot program of physical activity promotion among clients receiving home and community care

Three Victorian local governments cooperated in a pilot study of physical activity promotion as part of home and community care (HACC) service delivery. Thirty-one people receiving HACC volunteered to participate, including completing the Transtheoretical Stages of Change Exercise Questionnaire and the short-form Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) just before and at 3 months and 6 months after starting regular self-selected physical activity. Twenty-one participants returned questionnaires at 3 months, and 17 participants returned questionnaires at 6 months. Data were analysed using paired t tests and effect sizes were calculated as mean differences. At 3 months, mean improvements were identified on 6 of the 8 HAQ-DI (disability index) subscales, and in the overall HAQ-DI score. Improvement in dressing and grooming was preserved at 6 months. At either 3 or 6 months, improvements in dressing and grooming, reach, hygiene, and daily activities, and overall HAQ-DI score exceeded the minimum clinically important difference. No improvements were statistically significant, as is likely in a pilot study with a small sample, however, these results suggest that even very small increases in physical activity may afford clinically meaningful improvements in some areas of physical function required for independent living. Australian Clinical Trials Registry registration number: ACTRN012606000242527.

Budget Reporting in Local Government: Problem or Solution?

Budgeting practice in Victorian local government has been criticised by the ICAA, which has developed a standardised budgeting model. The Victorian government has prescribed standardised financial and budget reporting following a decade of reform in the public sector. This paper examines whether the criticism of local government budgeting is valid, and whether standardised models are appropriate, particularly in the context of ambiguous outcomes and lack of input-output relationships, criticism of the adoption of accrual accounting in the public sector, and a focus on the implementation of a flexible best-value regime designed to suit local conditions.

Managing trust and relationships in PPPs: some Australian experiences

Governments in Australia increasingly rely on private sector service providers to improve efficiency in public service delivery and have entered into a range of business partnerships with those providers. This article considers the effectiveness of public-private partnership models used in delivering public services and suggests that some partnership initiatives have increased efficiency at the micro management level but have not been able to establish trust. The concept of public value, too, has not been used as a useful way of setting out public service goals. Other models have focused more on community participation in policy formulation and in building trust among the clients and the providers and these may point the way to the future of such initiatives. These tentative conclusions rest on an examination of two cases where partnerships have affected operating and management practices, Job Network and Best Value in Victorian Local Government.

How a Rural Model Contributed to the Development of Victorian Local Government Human Services: An Unfinished Story

There is very little written on the history of local government human services in Australia, despite a record of providing an effective mechanism for decentralising and localising many personal services. Human services is a term which embodies the areas of health, housing, culture, recreation and social welfare. An embryonic municipal human services structure emerged in Victoria in the early part of the 20th century, but support for localising human services, and the development of a municipal human services framework and practice, was most pronounced after the 1960s. However, the establishment of a stable and evenly-distributed State-wide human services system, based on local government, has so far eluded implementation in Victoria. This article charts the historical introduction and progression of local government human services in Victoria. It uses the experiences of one pioneering rural organisation, the West Gippsland Social Worker Group, to demonstrate some of the issues and outcomes associated with the localisation of human services.

An evaluation of Internet use policies of Victorian local government

The Internet has provided employees and organisations with many benefits. However, employee misuse of Internet services has also become increasingly common. A solution to combating this problem is the implementation of an Internet Use Policy (IUP) within an organisation. This study developed IUP guidelines that were used to evaluate existing Victorian local government authority (LGA) IUPs. The number of LGAs without policies was then determined in February 2001. The findings revealed 36 per cent of Victorian LGAs did not have an IUP implemented. Fifty‐one per cent of rural LGAs were found not to have IUPs. Furthermore, policies when compared with the IUP guidelines revealed deficiencies in many areas. A follow‐up review was then conducted in 2004. It revealed that only 6 per cent of LGAs now lacked policies.

Performance Contract Management in Regional Local Government - Victoria

The Victorian Local Government Act, 1989 introduced fixed-term performance contracts for all senior management staff. As a result, issues such as promotion, training, remuneration and contract renewal can now be directly influenced by performance evaluation. This paper examines the performance evaluation process in practice in order to determine its outcomes. We found considerable commitment by CEOs and senior officers to the system but quantitative outcomes were more difficult to identify. The study is set in six local government units in Gippsland, Victoria.

Accountability for Performance in Local Government

The nature of accountability for performance in the public sector is explored in this paper by attempting to answer three questions: (1) How important is accountability for performance? (2) Which of the stakeholders consider themselves accountable for organisational performance, including contracts? (3) Does information asymmetry between stakeholders in regard to performance information affect accountability? This paper reports on research undertaken in Victorian local government based on the responses to a questionnaire by councillors and tier one and two managers. The results of the survey indicate that there is an understanding of accountability for performance, that both managers and councillors are considered to be accountable for performance but that information asymmetry and accountability relationships are problematic.

Managerialism in local government – Victoria, Australia

There has been a global phenomenon in public sector management which advocates a paradigm shift from administrative to managerial values. Governments have been able to put an ideological gloss on managerial strategies to suit local political agendas. The spread of this policy, where public servants have their roles transformed to managers and the public to customers, serves to strengthen demonstration of the diminishing role of government and the increasing reliance on the market. Through our research on managerialism in local government in Victoria, we show that there has been a repackaging of the senior council manager into an idealised private sector version. However, we identify a paradox between the rhetoric of the empowered, entrepreneurial “new public manager” and the reality of intensified government control and scrutiny over municipal activities and conclude that “new public management” in Victorian local government is illusory or, at best, incomplete.

Managerialism in Local Government

The manifestations of managerialism in State and Federal public services have been discussed by Considine (1990), Guthrie (1993), and Zifcak (1997). While this literature is often critical of managerialism the reasons for its apparent failure are examined in a limited way. This paper looks at managerialism in Victorian local government by examining the introduction and impact of program budgeting and performance indicators. Two issues are focused on in this paper: 1) the limited success of Planning Programming Budgeting (PPB) and performance indicators; 2) the reasons for their ineffectiveness. The data used in this paper were gathered and analysed for a larger project. All 210 councils in Victoria were sent a questionnaire, of which, 60% were completed and returned. The findings suggest that the introduction and development of PPB and performance indicators is dominated by management. The findings also indicate that these technologies have little impact on resource allocation or decision making, however, there does appear to be a greater emphasis placed on planning. It is argued that the limited success of the managerialist technologies can be attributed to the domination of management over the development and implementation process.

Performance measurement and accountability in Victorian local government

There is a a great deal of literature on performance measurement and accountability in government. Governments around the world have invested large amounts to develop performance measurement systems, the results of which are mediocre at best. There is also a growing recognition that financial performance measures alone measure only limited aspects of an organisation’s performance. To improve performance measurement systems and accountability to different stakeholders, non‐financial indicators have been developed for the for‐profit sector. Prior research in the local government sector in the state of Victoria, Australia, showed low levels of accountability and very little performance measurement taking place. However, significant changes have been imposed on the sector, enhancing local and central accountability, making it more business‐like, and focussing on the need to measure performance. This research studied the extent to which performance measurement systems are currently being used in practice in Victorian local government, the factors which lead to the use of performance measurement and the extent of non‐financial indicators. The results revealed a substantial increase in the level of use of performance measurement in the sector, related to increased emphasis on accountability and organisational changes imposed on the sector by the state government. The performance of both people and programs is now being measured. Although there is an emphasis on financial and budgetary measures for financial accountability, the use of non‐financial measures in determining outcome accountability is increasing. Customer service and quality are two of the areas in which non‐financial performance measures are being developed.

To PPB or Not PPB - Budgeting in Victorian Local Government

Budgeting is an important element in a public sector organisation’s accounting control system. There are a number of budgetary methods that could be used, each with an explicitly different focus. This article investigates possible reasons for Victorian local government selecting line item budgeting, planning programming budgeting (PPB) or a combination of the two. While program budgeting arguably failed in the USA, research shows it was adopted by local government. Australian researchers report similar findings, yet the introduction of program budgeting into local government has not been explored. Four reasons are postulated: (1) PPB will be adopted because of the complexity of the organisation; (2) PPB will be adopted because it is perceived as an aid to planning; (3) line item budgeting will continue to be used because users are familiar with this type of budgeting; and (4) management’s support for the adoption of PPB will be a significant factor in its introduction. A questionnaire was distributed to all the local governments in Victoria and 60 percent were returned. The findings reported in this article confirm the reasons postulated.

Local Government Redefines Its Role In Housing

From the late 1970s Local Government in Victoria had an increasing role in the ownership and management of public or social housing. By the early 1990s more than one quarter of all Victorian Local Government Authorities (LGAs) had secured Government grants to undertake housing projects of various kinds (Jose, 1991).