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Posts in Policy and governance

Co-design: finding ways to walk alongside our communities

"We've all got knowledge, it's just different knowledge." Wales Chief Medical Officer Dr Ruth Hussey focused on the value of 'co-production' in her address this week to the Population Health Congress in Hobart.

In this article below, Michela Clarkson examines the theory and practice of co-design, which she says 'starts with an open question of need and recognises the limits of professional assumptions'.

It was originally published in the latest edition of Insight, the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) member magazine and is based on the Walk Alongside report by the same author, also recently published by VCOSS.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade11 September 2015networked governance

Indigenous funding, policies, programs: it's the process that stuffs it up

The Federal Government's Indigenous Advancement Scheme (IAS) tender process caused much chaos and stress, particularly for Indigenous organisations and communities (see this previous Power to Persuade post on the opportunities lost).

Policy and governance, IssuesPower to Persuade10 September 2015accountability, indigenous issues

Opportunities lost: lessons from the recent federal DSS & IAS tenders

"…the government’s express goals of innovative service delivery and improved outcomes for service users have actually been hindered as a result of the way the tendering process was designed and executed."

Recent federal funding cuts and tendering processes have created much concern for the community sector and the communities they work with. That's been particularly so for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities under this years Indigenous Advancement Strategy (which Indigenous leader Noel Pearson this week rated at less than 2 out of 10 for reform).

In the post below, Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) Policy Advisor Brooke McKail looks at some of the lessons to be learnt. Her article is published in the latest edition of Insight, the VCOSS member magazine.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade9 September 2015accountability

The Top 10 Reasons You Should Be at PTP Symosium

Policy and governancePower to Persuade8 September 2015cross-sector relationships

The view from the community

Last week the National Reform Summit brought together leading figures from the community, politics, business and media to examine the big policy issues facing Australia today. Addressing the summit, Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, made the case for reaching out across traditional divides in our community to “reignite participatory democracy”.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade2 September 2015community sector

Compound Collaboration? How we lead and manage large scale collaborations

How do you lead the type of large scale (or 'compound') collaborations needed to tackle truly wicked, large scale problems? In a recent post on the Policy and Politics Journal Blog Chris Ansell, from the University of California Berkley, discusses leadership for large scale collaborations. You can read his full article at the Journal, which he says is 'essentially about “collaborations of collaborations.”

Policy and governancePower to Persuade31 August 2015cross-sector relationships

Social Impact Bonds: The best of all worlds?

The 'innovative finance' model of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) is being hailed as an answer to funding critical social problems. In this post, guest contributor Helen Dickinson (@DrHDickinson) looks at the hype and potential of SIBs and if they really are the best of all worlds.

Policy and governanceDr Lara Corr27 August 2015

Solving 'wicked' problems: Policy narratives and 'joined up government'

If only government departments worked together we could solve even the most 'wicked' of problems, right? Well, not, quite. In this post, Gemma Carey (@gemcarey) shares her insights into 'joined up government' implementation and what we can learn about efforts to solve the wicked problem of social exclusion through the Social Inclusion Agenda. This article was originally posted in The Policy Space.

Policy and governanceDr. Gemma Carey25 August 2015networked governance

Social Policy Whisperer: Renewing the Voluntary Sector in Australia - Part Two

Today delivers Part Two of Paul Smyth's presentation to the Dunstan Foundation's Addressing Homelessness Conference (@DonDunston). In this post Paul explores the ideologies that got us here, and what it will take for a new social policy perspective to rise from the ashes the recent 'market led' approach.

Policy and governanceProfessor Paul Smyth12 August 2015community sector

America in decay: the sources of political dysfunction

Happy Monday! Something a bit left-of-centre for your Monday morning read. An essay by the famous (and controversial!) political scientist Francis Fukuyama, which outline his views around the decay of the public administration (and public policy) in the United States.

(We hesitate to mention that we are not endorsing his views by publishing, only offering them up for reflection.)

This post is a reblog from the website Foreign Affairs.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade26 July 2015politics and democracy

Seeing like a citizen: is co-design the best way to support vulnerable people

Co-design, co-production and other terms which emphasise that governments cannot solve social problems from a top down-perspective are becoming increasingly common place. However, given the power differences involved can we truly 'co-create'? Below, Mark Evens explores the emerging popularity of co-design. Professor Evans is the Director of the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra. His piece originally appeared on the Policy Space.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade24 July 2015networked governance

Addressing skill and knowledge gaps in policy networks:the Power to Persuade initative

Yesterday we outlined the problem which PTP aims to address. Below, we explain how PTP is working to fill skill and knowledge gaps in policy networks. This is an extract from a forthcoming article on PTP's framework and the lessons it offers for other 'boundary spanning' initiatives.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade21 July 2015cross-sector relationships

Beyond top-down and bottom-up:hw do we currently understand policy implementation

Australia has experienced a number of high profile policy implementation failures in recent years, such as the 'Pink bats' scheme. Implementation, as a separate part of the policy process and as a scholarly endeavour, is creeping back onto the radar (thankfully). Today's post by Charlotte Sausman, Eivor Oborn and Michael Barrett discus orignally appared on the Politics and Policy Journal Blog as an overview of the paper - Policy translation through localisation: implementing national policy in the UK

Policy and governance, IssuesPower to Persuade21 July 2015policy research, networked governance

Why Power to Persuade? Skill and knowledge gaps in policy networks

With the next Power to Persuade Symposium coming up, we thought it would be useful to revisit why this initiative exists and what it is we do. This will be a two part post, the first (below) focuses on the problem PTP aims to address. The next post outlines our vision and mission of how we do this.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade20 July 2015cross-sector relationships