WOMEN IN NEW SOUTH WALES LOCAL GOVERMENT

following the 1977 triennial elections, a total of 158 women were elected to 196 local government councils in New South Wales. The distribution of women representatives through the State is extremely uneven, as the accompanying tables show.     

DEVELOPMENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION*

There are probably more changes taking place in public administration than at any previous time. In some sectors (like health) staff are now used to change; it has become a normal part of their everyday life. In other sectors (like road transport) it is a new experience. Some changes are the latest chapter in a long and continuing story. Clear objectives, downstream autonomy and performance monitoring have been issues for as long as most public servants can remember. The fresh ingredients added by New South Wales Incorporated are the management incentives that make a direct appeal to the self-interest of senior executives, and the ideology of competitive neutrality that mimics the price signals which motivate private enterprise. The intended results are less political patronage, smaller government, more accountability, better morale and higher productivity. Stated in these terms they are unlikely to cause controversy; the current political consensus is that they would constitute worthy goals for any government. However important differences of opinion will probably emerge over the order of priority for these goals. For example, how much should higher productivity be sought if it threatens accountability or morale? There is also likely to be debate between those who want everything in place immediately, even if it means industrial strife, and those who prefer a softly-softly approach.     

ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM IN NEW SOUTH WALES UNDER GOVERNOR DARLING

As a governor, Ralph Darling is remembered more for his authoritarian behaviour and harsh rule than for his administrative achievements. Only recently have historians shown much awareness of the important reforms which he made in the machinery of government. Yet, although attention has been drawn to this aspect of his work it has not been adequately examined. The tendency is still to concentrate on the colourful and controversial features of his regime, pushing to one side its more mundane developments. Admittedly, there are exceptions. J. W. Cell included an interesting section on Darling in British Colonial Administration in the Mid-Nineteenth Century , as did J. J. Eddy in Britain and the Australian Colonies. The first of these treatments is too brief, however, and the second concentrates on those aspects affected by the attempts of the British Treasury to exert more influence over colonial administration. Despite these books, the valuable thesis on the Colonial Secretary's Office by G. D. Richardson and the helpful prefaces that appear in the various guides to the records of government departments, prepared by the State Archives of New South Wales, much remains to be done. Most of the departments that existed under Darling still await detailed treatment both in themselves and in relation to the overall changes that were made between 1825 and 1831. As matters stand, there is a gap not only in what was a vital era in the administrative history of New South Wales, but also in Darling's own record. The present paper attempts to repair this omission.