NOT JUST BRICKS AND MORTAR: EEO IN HOMESWEST

Abstract: Moves by both state and federal governments to implement private sector management practices in government administration have received attention from a number of writers. Feminist critics of corporate management argue that, in very devolved situations, public sector management concentrates on the achievement of program outcomes to the detriment of other management objectives and Equal Employment Opportunity is ignored. The contention that efficiency and effectiveness are promoted at the expense of equity under a regime of public sector corporate management will be addressed through a case study of the West Australian Housing Commission, Homeswest. This paper examines the results of Equal Employment Opportunity programs in a highly corporatised state government agency.     

PUBLIC MANAGEMENT OR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION?

Abstract: The debate over managerialism has been the most controversial issue in Australian public administration journals in recent years. Although most articles have been critical, there have been responses in favour of the changes by senior public servants. One unfortunate consequence of this debate has been the appearance of a gap between academic public administration and public service practice.
This paper argues that, from several angles, the work now carried out by public services is management rather than administration. It argues that managerialism is a long-overdue reform to a model which has outlived its usefulness. The traditional model of public administration was an irrelevance for many years; it was never efficient or effective and deserved to be replaced. However, public management does not necessarily mean the widespread and uncritical adoption of practices from the private sector. What it should mean is that a distinctive public management needs to be developed. This should take account of the differences between the sectors, but still recognise that the work being done by public servants is now managerial rather than administrative.     

Public Sector Labour Relations in Western Australia – An Overview

The election of a LiberalNational Coalition government in 1993 heralded a period of significant and sustained change in Western Australian public sector labour relations. As legislator, the Coalition government embarked upon a program to decentralise and deregulate the Western Australian industrial relations system; as an employer, the government has had to respond to the economic imperatives which have faced most employers in recent years. The result has been a period of major change in the public sector – employment levels have declined as services have been privatised or contracted out; the proportion of non-permanent and part-time employees has risen significantly. Individual workplace agreements have been introduced; individualised performance-related management and reward systems have increased; and the scope for union involvement has diminished, as has the level and density of union membership. The experience of the public sector therefore reflects many of the workplace changes that are also found in the private sector. It also brings the government's industrial relations policies into sharper focus.     

Impact of compulsory competitive tendering on the structure and performance of local government systems in the State of Victoria*

Around the world, the public sector is introducing private sector management practices. Abandoning the binary model of public and private sectors the State Government of Victoria introduced the compulsory competitive tendering system under which local government bodies are required to tender out their services to private sector service providers. The aim was to encourage local government bodies to operate in contestable situations so that they can increase efficiency, decrease operating costs, develop clear programme goals and objectives, become responsive to client goals, and improve the quality of goods and services. The article describes how the practice of the compulsory competitive tendering system has introduced major changes to organizational cultures, attitudes of employees, power and authority structures, sytems of decision making, delegation of financial and managerial authority, and the nature of control and accountability. In addition, the article explains the degree of competitiveness and efficiency that local government bodies have achieved and describes how the corporatized structure has helped to achieve the financial objectives. The article also discusses how the role of the elected councils is diminishing under this new management structure and argues that in the absence of a genuine monitoring system and accountability mechanism the local government bodies find it difficult to assert their role as quality service deliverers. This has forced the councils to comply with the requirements of the competition laws which have reduced direct accountability of government to the public. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some Thoughts about the Roles, Responsibilities and Future Scope of Auditors-General

This article treats Auditors-General in a generic sense, but focuses on those institutions developed out of the Westminster system of government which undertake financial statement or regularity audits as well as performance or value for money or efficiency-type audits. The audit offices included are those at both federal and state levels in Australia, the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada and New Zealand.
The article is in two parts. The first selectively addresses perceived roles and responsibilities arising out of parliamentary legislation, debates and reviews or inquiries, Auditor-General reports, papers or similar contributions by academic and other interested commentators. The second deals with the future scope for influence, focusing mainly on possible contributions to the improved performance of the public sector including that of audit offices themselves. The latter recognises that auditors-general are very much part of the governance framework within which they operate. While they might be able to influence its development, the framework largely dictates their role, responsibilities and possible scope for action. Reflecting on that framework beyond the next few years might be an inviting conceptual exercise but is unlikely to add much value.     

A new political system model: Semi‐parliamentary government

Semi‐parliamentary government is a distinct executive‐legislative system that mirrors semi‐presidentialism. It exists when the legislature is divided into two equally legitimate parts, only one of which can dismiss the prime minister in a no‐confidence vote. This system has distinct advantages over pure parliamentary and presidential systems: it establishes a branch‐based separation of powers and can balance the ‘majoritarian’ and ‘proportional’ visions of democracy without concentrating executive power in a single individual. This article analyses bicameral versions of semi‐parliamentary government in Australia and Japan, and compares empirical patterns of democracy in the Australian Commonwealth as well as New South Wales to 20 advanced parliamentary and semi‐presidential systems. It discusses new semi‐parliamentary designs, some of which do not require formal bicameralism, and pays special attention to semi‐parliamentary options for democratising the European Union.     

Investing in Not‐for‐Profit Sector Capacity: The Australian Capital Territory's Community Sector Development Program (CSDP)

In 2013 the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government's Community Services Directorate (CSD) initiated a suite of projects designed to address the not‐for‐profit (NFP) community services sector's capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing policy and operational environment. In common with other Australian governments, the ACT relies upon NFP organisations to deliver a wide range of community‐based human/social services. The procurement of services rendered to, or on behalf of, government by a third party provider under contract accounts for about 94% of the CSD's investment in the NFP community services sector. The ACT government, therefore, has a vested interest in ensuring that NFP providers are operationally capable, financially viable, and economically sustainable. Accordingly, the government launched a Community Sector Reform Program (CSRP) focussing on red tape reduction, sector development, and the establishment of a community sector outcomes framework. What lessons might the CSRP offer for other jurisdictions?     

Balancing Acts — Wielding the Balance of Power

After discussing the nature of the balance of power following the March 1996 federal election, this article looks at potential methods of influence for parties (particularly the Australian Democrats) in a balance of power situation. Included are three case studies of major legislation. The results show levels of influence to be mixed depending on the nature of the legislation, and the Howard government to be a 'mixed bag' in its approach to parliamentary process and dealing with the Senate. The final stage of this article looks briefly across those case studies to make conclusions as to the motivation, intent and consequences of public sector changes which are occurring under the Howard government.     

Whole‐of‐Government Approaches to Outsourcing and Market Testing by the Commonwealth Government

This article traces the development of approaches to outsourcing by successive Australian governments from 1995. The analysis focuses on strategies initially adopted for the outsourcing of government information technology (IT) services and, subsequently, includes the market testing approach adopted for the outsourcing of both IT and corporate services. The framework for analysis has been based on theories of privatisation developed by Feigenbaum, Henig and Hamnett (1999). This framework offers insights into the goals and strategies employed by commonwealth government that underpin their approaches to sourcing of services for their public sector. The article concludes by discussing some of the unresolved issues associated with the failure of government to formally evaluate the impact of their outsourcing policies.     

Gender targets and trickle-down effects: Avoiding the ‘decoupling dynamics’ that limit female representation in senior roles

Women constitute the majority of the Australian public sector workforce, but their representation in senior roles is not proportional. Australian public services have gender targets to improve the representation of women in senior roles. Based on previous research, targets are expected to first increase female representation at the target's focal level, such as executive level. Then they should initiate a trickle-down effect (TDE), increasing female representation at the level immediately below the target's focal level, such as the executive feeder level. However, the TDE observed in a state public service decelerated after a gender target was imposed. We identified whether individual departments had a consistent or inconsistent TDE and conducted 13 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Too many service-wide targets with low prioritisation of a gender target, as well as missing and ineffective practices, generated decoupling dynamics. Only departments with gender champions who had visible backing from the Chief Executive were able to keep the gender target coupled with practice to achieve its intended outcomes.

Points for practitioners

• Gender targets in Australian public services may not be achieving intended outcomes due to decoupling—a response to policies in which the policies are ignored and/or ineffective practices are implemented.
• Too many competing targets and limited accountability for achieving a gender target create a potential for decoupling by allowing individuals and groups to ignore or weakly adopt the policy.
• Integrated bundles of top-down (e.g. requiring at least two women on shortlists) and bottom-up practices (e.g. mentoring) can help avoid decoupling by ensuring women are appointed to senior roles and supported to progress through an organisation.
• Chief Executives are key to ensuring a gender target remains coupled with its implementation; Chief Executives must provide visible support to internal champions to make gender targets effective.

     

THE MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

One of the minor curiosities of public sector analysis in Australia is that rather little attention has been paid to the tools and instruments that could provide a more effective management of government research and development. Once government R & D is mentioned, we immediately think of the large statutory bodies such as CSIRO or the Atomic Energy Commission, but the subject extends widely beyond these two bodies. The Australian Government, federal and states, provides 70% of all the funds for Australian R & D, and the government itself performs, in its own laboratories and statutory authorities, 54% of the total R & D carried out in Australia Of OECD countries, these percentages of government activity are exceeded only by Iceland, New Zealand, Portugal and Turkey. Virtually every federal department and every department of each state government performs R&D. Apart from the "big two" of CSIRO and Atomic Energy, the Post Office, Defence, Health, Housing, and Minerals and Energy all have research laboratories, and the last major survey of Australian R & D in 1973 listed 22 federal departments and 130 organizations in the State Governments performing R & D. A recent article in this journal correctly noted a shift from "ends to means" in Australian science policy. The present article proposes a specific means of managing this almost unique public involvement in R & D in Australia.     

US state government privatization: Implications for social equity and inequality?

Privatization of state government services is commonplace, but our understanding of its effects is limited by data availability. We study the relationship between American state government contracting and public sector wages. Governments have used public sector employment to support a variety of goals, including social equity and economic development, but privatization, as a new public management (NPM) reform, may shift the focus. Our empirical analysis shows that state privatization of service delivery is associated with decreases in the public sector wage premium, but that these effects are not driven by gender, race, or low-levels of educational attainment. The fidelity of the implementation to NPM values conditions these effects. We also find that contracting service delivery is associated with a lower public sector wage premium for middle-class workers.     

THE IMPLICATIONS OF HIGH LEVELS OF PUBLIC SECTOR DEBT FOR ECONOMIC POLICY-MAKING: THE CASE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Abstract: The relatively small and open South Australian economy has been facing the difficulties associated with the structural adjustment of its industry for over 15 years. In addition, the South Australian public sector has been contending with financial difficulties largely as a result of a reduction in grants from the commonwealth before the failure of the State Bank of South Australia. This paper reviews the growth and current level of government indebtedness in South Australia and discusses which group(s) is likely to bear the main burden of such debt. The main consequences of high levels of state public sector debt, including budgetary inflexibility, are also examined. The paper suggests that it will be necessary for relative wages and prices to adjust more freely if the negative impacts of an inevitable state government budgetary consolidation are to be minimised. If wages and prices are not free to adjust then unemployment will continue to take the brunt of the adjustment process. In addition, out-migration of businesses and people from South Australia will accelerate, leading to a further erosion of the taxation base. The State Bank indemnity arrangements and consequent levels of public sector debt incurred will require the state government to reduce the level and quality of services provided by the state public sector, sell state public sector assets and further improve efficiency and effectiveness. However, there are a number of important arguments why taxation should be an important means by which the South Australian government moves to retire public sector debt as soon as practicable. Not the least important of these arguments is the need to ensure accountability by elected representatives of government for their expenditure decisions.     

Symposium: Exporting Government Services

To explore the prospects for exporting government services, guest symposium editor RFI Smith invites three agencies to comment on their experience. This overview stresses the need to specify carefully costs and benefits in taking operations offshore — both in strict financial terms and in dealing with perception and accountability issues.
The prospects for exporting public sector skills and services are at the same time tantalising and frustrating. After initial enthusiasm in the 1970s and 1980s, the management of export programs has turned out to be complex, demanding and not without controversy. Such programs have challenged their proponents to be at once sophisticated in business management, rigorous and transparent in public accountability, and sensitive to the capabilities and ambitions of private sector providers of similar services. Further, after approximately 10 to 20 years of experience in different Australian jurisdictions, aims, methods and estimates of results remain diverse.     

The Dynamics of Political Attention: Public Opinion and the Queen's Speech in the United Kingdom

This article represents the effect of public opinion on government attention in the form of an error-correction model where public opinion and policymaking attention coexist in a long-run equilibrium state that is subject to short-run corrections. The coexistence of policy-opinion responsiveness and punctuations in political attention is attributed to differences in theoretical conceptions of negative and positive feedback, differences in the use of time series and distributional methods, and differences in empirical responsiveness of government to public attention relative to responsiveness to public preferences. This analysis considers time-series data for the United Kingdom over the period between 1960 and 2001 on the content of the executive and legislative agenda presented at the start of each parliamentary session in the Queen's Speech coded according to the policy content framework of the U.S. Policy Agendas Project and a reconstituted public opinion dataset on Gallup's "most important problem" question. The results show short-run responsiveness of government attention to public opinion for macroeconomics, health, and labor and employment topics and long-run responsiveness for macroeconomics, health, labor and employment, education, law and order, housing, and defense .     

PRODUCTIVITY BARGAINING IN COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract: Despite several experiments with productivity bargaining in the Commonwealth employment sector, the rigidity of employment conditions was considered to be a limiting factor to the wider application of this technique to the public sector. Nor did it appear to be suitable for adoption within the compulsory arbitration system. However the frustrated expectations of blue collar employees in government employment during the Labor government's term of office stimulated the exploration of productivity bargaining as a way of achieving reduced working hours without contravening efforts to restrain wage inflation. The events within the Australian Post Office (later to become the Australian Postal Commission and the Australian Telecommunications Commission), the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories Commission, the Overseas Telecommunications Commission and the Reserve Bank of Australia are described and some differences in the processes involved noted. The nature and significance of productivity bargaining as a technique for the immediate future are also discussed, particularly in the light of continuing stagflation and the interest of the government in wage restraint and national productivity growth.     

The influence of management on the cost of fire protection

An important and unresolved issue central to the study of government performance is how the actions of managers and the nature of organizations affect the cost of public services. This paper presents an empirical analysis of fire departments that estimates the influence of managerial choices on per capita spending within a simultaneous public production system. It does so by refining a theoretical cost model from the field of public management to include fundamental dimensions of government organizations and administration. Two‐stage least squares regression analysis is then employed to examine the fire protection case. The results of the analysis substantiate the intuition that managerial practices and decisions influence the cost of a public service. They show that the cost of fire protection depends significantly on the outcomes of a department's fire prevention and suppression activities, some key aspects of a department's management practices, the configuration of its workforce and equipment, its legal structure, and factors in its external environment. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Is There a Future for Contracting in the Australian Public Sector?

Contracting has moved from the margins to the centre of public management. Significant sections of the public workforce, from benefits delivery to corporate services, now find their functions open to tender. Governments prefer to concentrate on policy analysis and development, leaving service delivery to the market. As purchasers rather than providers, governments are redefining the role and scope of the state. But are Australian governments ready for this shift to contracting? Do they possess the full array of control and reporting mechanisms necessary if contracting is to deliver its promised benefits? There are significant difficulties finding evidence that answers such questions. Yet on the basis of concerns discussed across Australian jurisdictions, it appears contracting has developed so quickly it outstrips the capacity of government to monitor what is happening, and so learn from mistakes. In time governments will become better at maintaining accountability for contracted functions, because experience reduces the risks of moral hazard.     

Fukuyama Is Right about Measuring State Quality: Now What?

Much has recently been written about how to best measure governance or “state quality.” Should we evaluate government performance by looking at what government achieves (outputs) as Robert Rotberg and Craig Boardman recently suggested? Or should we focus on measuring state capacity and bureaucratic autonomy, as Francis Fukuyama concludes? This commentary argues in support of Fukuyama's approach by using a public administration lens to disaggregate the public sector into two domains: upstream bodies at the center of government and downstream delivery bodies that deliver, commission, or fund services under the policy direction of government. It goes further by recommending a measurement framework that focuses on identifying indicators that are behavioral and action worthy in relation to five public management systems ultimately owned and operated by the central, upstream agencies.     

Autonomy and Control in Australian Agencies: Data and Preliminary Findings from a Cross‐National Empirical Study

This article is developed from data gathered through the analysis of a survey of ‘agencies’ at Commonwealth and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) levels of government, undertaken as the Australian component of a cross‐national empirical study of autonomy and control in non‐departmental public sector organisations. It presents preliminary findings from one part of what is potentially a very important enterprise in comparative research, along with discussion of methodological issues which need to be confronted in many such comparative exercises. The data reveal that Australia agencies have been granted more autonomy than agencies in other countries contributing to this survey, though that autonomy varies markedly across functions such as personnel management and financial management. While the article represents just a snapshot in time in agency autonomy, we believe it provides a robust baseline for future changes in the way agencies are managed in the Australian public sector.