School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemVictoria's regional management forums: a comparative review( 2008)Victoria’s Regional Management Forums were established in 2005 to facilitate collaboration between Victorian Government departments and local government in each of Victoria’s eight administrative regions. The Forums are chaired by departmental Secretaries, and comprise the Chief Executive Officers of local government as well as senior representatives from state government departments. The role of the Forums is to: • Identify and address critical issues facing the region; • Encourage cooperation between departments and with councils; and • Work with statutory authorities, businesses and local communities to deliver key priorities. This paper considers Victoria’s Regional Management Forums alongside other similar collaborative governance structures, such as Queensland’s Regional Managers’ Coordination Networks, Tasmania’s Partnership Agreements, Western Australia’s Regional Development Commissions and the United Kingdom’s Local Strategic Partnerships. The paper concludes that the Forums have successfully established a collaborative relationship between state government and local governments, providing a mechanism for constructive, regular dialogue. Nevertheless, if Regional Management Forums are to be successful in the longer term, they will need to move beyond their existing functions of information sharing, networking and the implementation of selected regional initiatives. A key component of this broadened approach should be the development of integrated approaches to regional development.
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ItemExperts don't know everything: Governance issues associated with transport and disadvantage( 2007)Public transport planning in an urban context has a relatively straightforward objective: maximise public transport patronage, in order to minimise the economic costs of road traffic congestion and the environmental damage associated with particulate and greenhouse gas emissions. To a large extent, this can be addressed by ‘experts’ using a range of technical skills such as demand forecasting, service planning and contracting.However, rather than patronage growth or modal shift, the objective of public transport provision in rural and regional areas is usually to address social disadvantage.This objective is not effectively achieved using a rationalist ‘expert’ model of decision-making, as the relevant information and resources required to develop solutions are diffuse. Without reference to other sources of knowledge, traditional transport data will provide only limited capacity to determine where transport services are ‘needed’. The full suite of knowledge required to adequately address social disadvantage resides with local communities, networks, institutions and actors. It is the way this knowledge is harnessed that will ultimately determine the success of any strategy in addressing social disadvantage – governance is at the heart of any attempt to respond to social disadvantage.In rural transport, it is not just the knowledge that is diffuse. Rather the assets and other resources needed to implement the solutions are often beyond the control of government, and in the hands of autonomous actors driven by a range of motives. The local school bus might be under contract with the government, but the taxi service operates independently as a small business, the community buses are operated by local agencies, and volunteer transport depends on local goodwill. In Victoria, in an attempt to address transport disadvantage, radical new governance approaches have been trialled through the Transport Connections program. In this program, local partnerships w
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ItemCommunity strength, innovation and learning: new evidence from Victoria( 2007)This paper investigates the role played by networks in learning regions. In particular, it explores the relationship between community strength and innovation in regional Victoria, Australia. The literature on innovation is increasingly pointing to the important role played by local and regional governance mechanisms in driving innovation. The effectiveness of formal structures governing learning regions is underpinned by informal networks. Networks are important as collective learning depends on a continuous flow of information and exchange, and this is built on relationships of stability and trust. Recent Victorian government research presents a unique opportunity to explore the role played by community strength, which can broadly be characterised as the strength of networks. The Victorian Indicators of Community Strength are 14 indicators that provide detailed data at the local government level. To test the theory of a connection between community strength and innovation across regional Victoria, patent data is used as a proxy measure for innovation. This data is then cross-referenced with various social and economic data sets, including the indicators of community strength. The analysis shows that among regional Local Government Areas in Victoria 56% of the variation in the patent rate can be explained by the combination of population density, tertiary education rates and various indicators of community strength, whereas just 23% of the variation in the patent rate can be explained by population density and tertiary education rates alone. Independent of population density and tertiary education levels, there is a statistically significant correlation between the number of patents registered per capita and several of the indicators of community strength. In particular, there is a significant positive correlation between the patent rate and the percentage of the population who are members of an organised group.
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ItemImproving Local Transport Outcomes Through Partnerships and Joined Up Government( 2006)Local transport services in Victoria are funded, planned and delivered by multiple agencies representing the transport, education, health and community services portfolios. This fragmentation in service delivery has led to sub-optimal asset utilisation, under-utilisation of existing capacity and services that are not necessarily aligned with community need.The Victorian Government has funded a number of small-scale partnership-based projects that are designed to facilitate cooperation and collaboration amongst community organisations, transport providers and local government. These projects are starting to achieve some impressive results though better utilisation of existing transport resources and the development of innovative new approaches and transport services.However, the potential of the projects has been constrained by the rigidities in existing government policy frameworks, as well as governance structures which restrict joined-up action across government departments.In light of this experience with local transport, this paper will explore the challenges and opportunities associated with local partnerships and joined-up government.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableEconomic rationalism fails test of time, and politics( 2007-11)The key economic challenges facing Australia are about human capital, innovation, liveability and sustainability. Economic rationalism has nothing to contribute to any of these issues.
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ItemPlace-based partnerships in Victoria( 2007-07)In recent years, an emergent model of public administration has emphasised ‘joined up’ government and partnerships between government and community as a means of better responding to the complex issues faced by local and regional communities. Building on tentative early steps, the Victorian Government has moved to an enthusiastic embrace of this approach. With a focus on those activities being led by the Department for Victorian Communities, this paper explores the government’s ambitious ‘place’ agenda. Paying particular attention to initiatives such as the Community Building Initiative, Community Renewal, Transport Connections and Regional Management Forums, it explores the common themes, challenges and opportunities arising from the work completed so far. The paper concludes that the move towards a government administration that is able to respond flexibly to the complex demands of local and regional concerns is still in its infancy, and policy is evolving as we learn from the experience of the work that has taken place. While relevant structures may now be in place, it will take some time to develop the potential of this type of approach, as the skills and behaviours required are markedly different to those required in a hierarchical, rules-based system. A significant cultural change—in State Government, local government, and even in the community—will be necessary before we can see the true potential of a flexible, collaborative, partnership-based approach.