Public Management Reforms in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

The public management reforms in Australia and New Zealand have been proactive in engaging other organisations in developing partnerships and new governance structures, requiring heightened skills in the preparation stage of due diligence and effective regulatory processes to balance divergent interests. There are increasingly blurred boundaries across sectors with both private and charitable agencies providing services for the public good. The pattern of Commonwealth and state relations over the past decade has been centralist, but likely to change with the Labor's renewed sense of civic democracy. The regional contribution of both Australia and New Zealand is more focused and advances policy and implementation in areas as diverse as: security, governance, democratic engagement and climate change. Broader management skills are brought to policy formulation and implementation with lateral movement of employment across sectors, suggesting a new class of public administrator in the future.

Key words:

• Australia
• New Zealand
• public management
• partnerships
• governance
• government

Notes

¹ The author thanks: Ian Woodward, Elizabeth Orr, Mark Lyons, Owen Hughes, Neal Ryan, Peter Carroll, John Ballard, John Wanna, Myles McGregor-Lowndes, Kerry Brown, Jonathon Boston, James Guthrie, Keith Garner, Mark Turner, Yvon Dufour, Scott Mitchell and others who generously gave up time to be interviewed via telephone or email.