VICTORIA

The Victorian Liberal Premier, Richard Hamer, in adjourning the 1980 parliamentary session with the traditional “Christmas felicitations”, made special reference to the record number of sitting days and the longer daily average of sitting hours achieved. Labor Opposition Leader Frank Wilkes in turn drew attention to the total of 126 bills introduced during the spring session, of which 101 had been instigated by the government and 25 by private members. Such an arduous and concentrated parliamentary schedule has obvious policy implications, but also prompts a query about its administrative consequences. To what extent was the mass of legislation dealt with by the last Victorian State parliament directed towards administrative ends as well as to the Liberal government's more obvious political goals?     

VICTORIA

The first half of 1979 saw a continued effort by government to rationalize departmental responsibilities and policies. In the field of human services the government established the Health Commission and the Community Welfare Services Department (discussed in more detail in the two previous Chronicles) and has responded to one of the major contemporary social issues by establishing a Victorian Employment Committee.     

ADMINISTRATIVE CHRONICLE VICTORIA*

In its final months the outgoing Thompson Liberal Ministry was largely pre-occupied with the implementation of its New Directions strategy. It introduced a public service bill in December to bring about greater effectiveness in the public service and ensure that its policy priorities were understood, thus complementing the Effectiveness Review Committee already set up, and it began a review of the three central coordinating agencies, the Public Service Board, the Treasury and the Department of the Premier, with an independent American consultant. The thrust of these three measures was to advise the government on proposals to set up new departments, relocate personnel and manpower resources, to set up programs for effectiveness reviews, and to bring forward amendments to the Public Service Act of 1974 which had followed Sir Henry Bland's inquiry in the early 1970s. These were intended to give the Public Service Board extended powers to allow it to conduct effectiveness reviews into statutory authorities, to extend Board employment powers to such authorities and to bring them into the public service framework, ensuring a more cohesive and less fragmented State public service. Senior staff could now be employed on term appointments, with performance-oriented objectives, giving greater flexibility at the top. And finally, the Board was to have power to become involved in specific industrial issues at the departmental level, sharpening its current generalized industrial powers.     

THE GOVERNMENT AND HOSPITAL COMMITTEES OF MANAGEMENT IN VICTORIA

Abstract: A new method has recently been introduced for selecting members of Victorian hospital committees of management: they are to be appointed by the Minister of Health, instead of being nominally elected by "contributors" to the hospitals. The 1977 Health Commission Act, which contains these new appointment provisions, gives the state government additional powers over the hospitals, and the power to appoint committees of management could contribute to this augmented control. The new method of selection, however, is expected to make little difference in practice to the committees. Neither the former Liberal state government, in framing the Health Commission Act, nor recent official inquiries have considered seriously the capacity of these committees as they are now constituted to maintain a high degree of hospital autonomy, despite the hospitals' heavy reliance on public funds. By leaving undisturbed these inheritors of the voluntary hospital tradition, the former Liberal government, though it has left its Labor successor with some new powers, has left it also with a potential obstacle to implementing the kinds of reforming measures recommended for the state's health services.     

WHAT DO CHIEF ADMINISTRATORS DO? FINDINGS FROM VICTORIA

Abstract: This study explores the views of Victorian Chief Administrators (CAs) about their jobs. CAs report that the environment of administration has changed in three broad areas: greater public expectations, a breakdown of the politics-administration dichotomy and difficulties reconciling managerial accountability with limited managerial autonomy. In response, CAs describe a distinctive pattern of concerns — with the "what", "why" and "how" of agency operation. First, they attempt to shape the "what" or the ends and values their agency creates. Second, they act to enhance the "why" or their agency's legitimacy and the support it attracts from constituencies. Third, CAs are concerned with "how" to mobilise organisational resources, particularly by moulding culture towards the agency values they identify. These findings suggest that CAs have devised understandings of their responsibilities which conform more to theoretical conceptions of leadership than either administration or management. The research points to the emergence of a distinctive type of administrative leadership.