Inquiries and Submissions
The Institute's engagement with inquiries and making submissions reflects its aims to bridge the world of theory and practice and support ‘rigorous’ evidence-based practice, international lesson-drawing and sound policy-making by ‘enlightened’ prescription to help public organisations solve public policy problems. This complements the Institute's efforts to make its social scientific enquiry relevant to practice.
Reform of Australian Government Administration
In September 2009 the Prime Minister, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP, announced an Advisory Group tasked with delivering a blueprint for reform of Australian Government Administration by early 2010. The blueprint will outline steps needed to rejuvenate the Australian public service and enable it to serve the government of the day in addressing the challenges facing Australia in the 21st century.
The Institute's submission addresses a number of general matters of broad principle and provides specific comment on issues raised by the Advisory Group’s discussion paper and the recently published KPMG Benchmarking Australian Government Administration Performance report. It also provides some practical recommendations organised into six sections to underpin the reform process in its areas of expertise.
(Submission team: Meredith Edwards, Mark Evans, Dugald Monro and Howard Whitton)
A Strategic Framework for Access to Justice in the Federal Civil Justice System
In September 2009 the Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, released the report of the Access to Justice Taskforce for public discussion and input. The response to the Framework of the Faculty of Law and the ANZSOG Institute for Governance draws on the expertise of a number of Faculty and Institute staff. It presents comments and suggestions intended to make a positive contribution to this new and commendable national initiative.
Inquiry into whether the provisions of the Electoral Act 2002 should be amended to make better provision for misleading or deceptive electoral content
In April 2009 the Victorian Electoral Matters Committee conducted an inquiry on the deliberate misleading of the electors and whether the Electoral Act 2002 should be amended to improve the operation of the misleading provisions of the Act so that such abuses are more likely to be successfully prosecuted.
The Committee invited the Institute to give evidence in public hearings. Institute Adjunct Howard Whitton made a case and answered the Committee's questions on behalf of the Institute.
Review of the Members of Parliament (Register of Interests) Act 1978
In December 2008 the Victorian Law Reform Committee began a review of Australia's first Act to set out a parliamentary code of conduct and require disclosure of certain financial and other interests that have the potential to conflict with their public duties in a register.
As a consequence of the Institute's submission on the evolution of such regulation of parliamentarians in the intervening 30 years, Mr Howard Whitton and Dr James Swansson where invited to give evidence in public hearings to the Committee on compliance versus integrity schemes and a recommendation of a hybrid model.
Noting the support of participants for a combined approach, this is the prefered approach of the Committee's final report that sets out its recommendations for both building integrity and policing compliance with Victoria’s Act.
Governance of NSW universities
In October 2008 the General Purpose Standing Committee No. 2 of the NSW Legislative Council responded to a number of controversies with a resolution to inquire into and report on the governance of NSW universities. The Committee invited Dr James Swansson to give evidence in support of the Institute's submission that the governance culture, the actual behaviour and actions of governing bodies and governors, cannot be legislated.
Review of Australian Higher Education
In early 2008 the Australian Minister for Education initiated a review on the future direction of the higher education sector, its fitness for purpose in meeting the needs of the Australian community and economy and the options for ongoing reform.
The Institute in its submission argued for the strengthening of governance of university to enable their flexibility as very large institutions to respond to the dynamic global environment in which they operate.
Review of University Legislation
In January 2008, the Victorian Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation commissioned a full Review of the founding Acts of Victoria's public universities. The purpose of the reviews of enabling Acts was to: ensure the continuing relevance of legislation (some of which is nearly a century old) to the contemporary education and training environment; ensure that legislation supports universities’ objectives; harmonise and align the common provisions of each University Act; and minimise legislative obstacles to innovative service delivery.
The Institute's submission highlighted aspects of Victorian legislative regulation that undermine effective governance of these institutions.
Review of the National Governance Protocols
In May 2007 the Joint Committee on Higher Education released a paper for discussion on the impact of the Protocols and the scope for their enhancement for the Review by the then Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs three years after the implementation of the Protocols in 2003-2004.
As National Coordinator of the University Governance Professional Development Program the Institute made a submission highlighting a) the importance of effective governance of the now very large institutions (averaging $300million p.a.) and ($15billion) sector following exponential post-war growth; and b) the inadequacy of boilerplate compliance based prescriptive rules like the Protocols in encouraging and enabling an engaged governance culture.