Juggling competing public values : resolving conflicting agendas in social procurement in Queensland

Organisations within the not-for-profit sector provide services to individuals and groups government and for-profit organisations cannot or will not consider. This response by the not-for-profit sector to market failure and government failure is a well understood contribution to society by the nonprofit sector. Over time, this response has resulted in the development of a vibrant and rich agglomeration of services and programs that operate under a myriad of philosophical stances, service orientations, client groupings and operational capacities. In Australia, these organisations and services provide social support and service assistance to many people in the community; often targeting their assistance to clients facing the most difficult of clients with complex problems. Initially, in undertaking this role, the not-for-profit sector received limited sponsorship from government, relying on primarily on public donations to fund the delivery of services. (Lyons 2001). Over time governments assumed greater responsibility in the form of service grants to particular groups: ‘the worthy poor’. More recently, government has engaged in widespread procurement of services from the not-for-profit sector, which specify the nature of the outcomes to be achieved and, to a degree, the way in which the services will be provided. A consequence of this growing shift to a more marketised model of service contracting, often offered-up under the label of enhanced collaborative practice, has been increased competitiveness between agencies that had previously worked well together (Keast and Brown, 2006). One of the challenges which emerge from the procurement of services by government from third sector organisations is that public values such as effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and professionalism can be neglected (Jørgensen and Bozeman 2002), although this is not always the case (Brown, Furneaux and Gudmundsson 2012). While some approaches to the examination of social procurement - the intentional purchasing of social outcomes (Furneaux and Barraket 2011) - assumes that public values are lost in social procurement arrangements (Bozeman 2002; Jørgensen and Bozeman 2002), alternative approach suggest such inevitability is not the case. Instead, social procurement is seen to involve a set of tensions (Brown, Potoski and Slyke 2006) or a set of trade offs (Charles et al. 2007), which must be managed, and through such management, public values can be potentially safeguarded (Bruin and Dicke 2006). The potential trade-offs of public values in social procurement is an area in need of further research, and one which carries both theoretical and practical significance. Additionally, the juxtaposition of policies – horizontal integration and vertical efficiency – results in a complex, crowded and contested policy and practice environment (Keast et al., 2007),, with the potential for set of unintentional consequences arising from these arrangements. Further the involvement of for-profit, non-profit, and hybrid organisations such as social enterprises, adds further complexity in the number of different organisational forms engaged in service delivery on behalf of government. To address this issue, this paper uses information gleaned from a state-wide survey of not-for-profit organisations in Queensland, Australia which included within its focus organisational size, operational scope, funding arrangements and governance/management approaches. Supplementing this information is qualitative data derived from 17 focus groups and 120 interviews conducted over ten years of study of this sector. The findings contribute to greater understanding of the practice and theory of the future provision of social services.

The implementation of performance based planning in Queensland under the integrated planning act 1997 : an evaluation of perceptions and planning schemes

Performance based planning is a form of planning regulation that is not well understood and the theoretical advantages of this type of planning are rarely achieved in practice. Normatively, this type of regulation relies on performance standards that are quantifiable and technically based which are designed to manage the effects of development, where performance standards provide certainty in respect of the level of performance and the means of achievement is flexible. Few empirical studies have attempted to examine how performance based planning has been conceptualised and implemented in practice. Existing literature is predominately anecdotal and consultant based (Baker et al. 2006) and has not sought to quantitatively examine how land use has been managed or determine how context influences implementation. The Integrated Planning Act 1997 (IPA) operated as Queensland’s principal planning legislation between March 1998 and December 2009. The IPA prevented Local Governments from prohibiting development or use and the term zone was absent from the legislation. While the IPA did not use the term performance based planning, the system is widely considered to be performance based in practice (e.g. Baker et al. 2006; Steele 2009a, 2009b). However, the degree to which the IPA and the planning system in Queensland is performance based is debated (e.g. Yearbury 1998; England 2004). Four research questions guided the research framework using Queensland as the case study. The questions sought to: determine if there is a common understanding of performance based planning; identify how performance based planning was expressed under the IPA; understand how performance based planning was implemented in plans; and explore the experiences of participants in the planning system. The research developed a performance adoption spectrum. The spectrum describes how performance based planning is implemented, ranging between pure and hybrid interpretations. An ex-post evaluation of seventeen IPA plans sought to determine plan performativity within the conceptual spectrum. Land use was examined from the procedural dimension of performance (Assessment Tables) and the substantive dimension of performance (Codes). A documentary analysis and forty one interviews supplemented the research. The analytical framework considered how context influenced performance based planning, including whether: the location of the local government affected land use management techniques; temporal variation in implementation exists; plan-making guidelines affected implementation; different perceptions of the concept exist; this type of planning applies to a range of spatial scales. Outcomes were viewed as the medium for determining the acceptability of development in Queensland, a significant departure from pure approaches found in the United States. Interviews highlighted the absence of plan-making direction in the IPA, which contributed to the confusion about the intended direction of the planning system and the myth that the IPA would guarantee a performance based system. A hybridised form of performance based planning evolved in Queensland which was dependent on prescriptive land use zones and specification of land use type, with some local governments going to extreme lengths to discourage certain activities in a predetermined manner. Context had varying degrees of influence on plan-making methods. Decision-making was found to be inconsistent and the system created a range of unforeseen consequences including difficulties associated with land valuation, increased development speculation, and the role of planners in court was found to be less critical than in the previous planning system.

Aligning sustainability and the Torrens register : challenges and recommendations for reform

‘Sustainability’ is a policy mantra of modern governments particularly in relation to natural resources. The traditional connection between land ownership and access to natural resources, such as forestry, flora, fauna, minerals, water and energy, has given rise to an unprecedented number of restrictions and obligations on land owners in their use of the land and resources. The growing numbers of statutory exceptions and restrictions on rights of ownership and use of a fee simple holder presents serious challenges for the utility of the Torrens register, which was originally designed to record private interests in land or affecting title to land. Advocates proposing uniform Torrens legislation should give consideration to an alignment of government policies emphasising sustainability as a core requirement of effective land use and management, and the core Torrens concepts of indefeasibility and security of title. This article examines the challenges for a uniform Torrens system created by increases statutory regulation of land ownership and makes recommendations about how an effective alignment of sustainability objectives and Torrens principles may be achieved.

Managing an ageing third sector workforce: international and local perspectives

Australia, like all developed and most developing countries, is facing major contextual changes, one of which is an ageing population, largely through declining fertility and increasing longevity (WHO 2002). This will impact on most aspects of global, national, local, community, family and individual interactions and decision-making, including for the nonprofit sector. The sector should be aware that population ageing is increasingly being addressed in public finance and policy agendas within Australia (see, for example, Intergenerational Report 2002-3), as well as by governments in countries such as the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Economic Policy Committee (EEPC).

An exploratory study of the factors enhancing and inhibiting export growth in the Chilean wine industry

The objective of this exploratory study is to investigate the main drivers that enhance and inhibit the export performance of Chilean wineries. Based on survey data collected from Chilean wineries, the findings of this study suggest that the main constraints within the Chilean wineries in developing exports is the lack of financial resources, limited quantities of stocks for market expansion, management’s lack of knowledge and experience, and the high cost of travelling and participating in trade shows. The main drivers of wine export performance according to the respondents are high quality of the wines, well established network of international distributors, and marketing skills. The major inhibitors of developing wine exports are exchange rate variability, problems in selecting a reliable international distributor, and limited government support to promote wine exports. This study also shows that export managers of Chilean wineries have high educational levels and have international experience. The findings have important implications for export development efforts of both governments and managers.

Free our cultural archives.

Australians are the creators and custodians of a broad range of cultural materials. This material includes literary, photographic, video and audio archives. These archives should be made available to all Australians for access and reuse, as part of a pre-competitive platform which promotes the interests of the Australian public in gaining access to a diverse range of content that contributes to the development of national and cultural identity. This does not mean that all material must be made available for access and reuse for free and in an unrestricted fashion. But for publicly funded content, free and unrestricted access should be the default. The Venturous Australia report on the National Innovation System recommended that “[t]o the maximum extent possible, information, research and content funded by Australian governments – including national collections – should be made freely available over the internet as part of the global public commons.”1 The report further stated that “both for its direct and indirect benefits to Australia and for the greater global good, Australia should energetically and proudly maximise the extent to which it makes government funded content available as part of the global digital commons...

Strengthening the Foundations: Mutuality and the Performing Arts

Following the positive response by governments to the report of Helen Nugent's major performing arts inquiry, urgent attention needs to be given to the seedbed companies where so often audiences are introduced to the performing arts and practitioners are launched on their professional careers. Doing so calls for lateral thinking such as will enable the widest possible range of stakeholders to become involved. One solution may be to develop multi-stakeholder arts mutuals from the simpler arts mutuals such as co-operatives which are already widespread in many spheres of arts activity. Relevant models include the multi-stakeholder mutuals of the Mondragon Co-operative Corporation and the employee mutuals which are being trialled currently in Britain. Possible stakeholders in an arts mutual could include employed, unemployed and trainee practitioners, professional, quasi-professional and amateur theatre bodies, community groups, municipal councils and statutory bodies such as the ABC. Mutualist models may also be helpful to major performing arts companies facing erosion of their subscription incomes or incurring higher support services costs.

Prescriptions for reform of Australia's superannuation tax concessions

The highly controversial and often politicised issue of Australia’s retirement savings regime featured prominently throughout the two day Federal Government’s October 2011 Tax Forum. Calls for reform of this regime are by no means new. Reform debate over the years has focused on each of the three separate pillars: the age pension, compulsory superannuation, and voluntary saving, as well as the interaction of those three elements. However, recently there has been a significant shift away from reliance on the age pension, with its associated risks falling to the government, to a defined contributions scheme where the associated risks fall to the individual taxpayer. Consequently, Australia’s superannuation regime is predominantly subject to current debate, and, as such, the subject of this article. This article considers the history of Australia’s retirement savings regime, along with a framework for evaluating the superannuation tax concessions. It then discusses the recommendations of the Australian Future Tax System (AFTS) Review Panel and ensuing debate at the Tax Forum. Finally, it suggests two proposals to achieve the objectives of the AFTS Review in relation to retirement, those objectives being a system which is broad and adequate, acceptable to individuals, robust, simple and approachable, and finally sustainable. The first, whilst potentially requiring some tinkering’, is relatively simple and a blue print has already been provided to the Federal Government – the adoption of Recommendations 18 and 19 of the AFTS Review. The second is one of management. Superannuation concessions are fundamentally categorised as tax expenditures and the management of these tax expenditures, not just the reporting, should be undertaken.

Rational avoidance of accountability

Anthony Downs public choice theory proposes that every rational person would try to meet their own desires in preference to those of others, and that such rational persons would attempt to obtain these desires in the most efficient manner possible. This paper will demonstrate that the application of this theory would mean that public servants and politicians would perform acts of corruption and maladministration in order to efficiently meet their desires. As such action is unavoidable, political parties must appear to meet the public demand for accountability systems, but must not make these systems viable lest they expose the corruption and maladministration that would threaten the government’s chance or re-election. It is therefore logical for governments to display a commitment for accountability whilst simultaneously ensuring the systems would not be able to interfere with government control or expose its flaws.

Creating successful cultural Brokers : the pros and cons of a community of practice approach in arts management education

Arts managers play a critical role in creating a strong, sustainable arts and cultural sector. They operate as brokers, creating programs, and, more critically, coordinating the relationships between artists, audiences, communities, governments and sponsors required to make these programs a success. Based on study of model developed for a subject in the Master of Creative Industries (Creative Production & Arts Management) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), this paper examines the pros and cons of a “community of practice” approach in training arts management students to act as cultural brokers. It provides data on the effectiveness of a range of activities – including Position Papers, Case Studies, Masterclasses, and offline and online conversations – that can be used facilitate the peer-to-peer engagement by which students work together to build their cultural brokering skills in a community of practice. The data demonstrates that, whilst students appreciate this approach, educators must provide enough access to voices of authority – that is, to arts professionals – to establish a well-functioning community of practice, and ensure that more expert students do not become frustrated when they are unwittingly and unwillingly thrust into this role by less expert classmates. This is especially important in arts management, where classes are always diverse, due to the fact that most dedicated programs in Australia, as in the US, UK and Europe, are taught via small-scale programs at graduate level which accept applicants from a wide variety of arts and non-arts backgrounds.

Social network media and political activism: a growing challenge for law enforcement

The use of the internet for political purposes is not new; however, the introduction of social media tools has opened new avenues for political activists. In an era where social media has been credited as playing a critical role in the success of revolutions (Earl & Kimport, 2011; Papic & Noonan, 2011; Wooley, Limperos & 10 Beth, 2010), governments, law enforcement and intelligence agencies need to develop a deeper understanding of the broader capabilities of this emerging social and political environment. This can be achieved by increasing their online presence and through the application of proactive social media strategies to identify and manage potential threats. Analysis of current literature shows a gap 15 in the research regarding the connection between the theoretical understanding and practical implications of social media when exploited by political activists,and the efficacy of existing strategies designed to manage this growing challenge. This paper explores these issues by looking specifically at the use of three popular social media tools: Facebook; Twitter; and YouTube. Through the examination of 20 recent political protests in Iran, the UK and Egypt from 2009�2011, these case studies and research in the use of the three social media tools by political groups, the authors discuss inherent weaknesses in online political movements and discuss strategies for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to monitor these activities.

Corporate, risk, mining camps and knowledge/power

Australia is currently in the midst of a major resources boom. However the benefits from the boom are unevenly distributed, with state governments collecting billions in royalties, and mining companies billions in profits. The costs are borne mostly at a local level by regional communities on the frontier of the mining boom, surrounded by thousands of men housed in work camps. The escalating reliance on non–resident workers housed in camps carries significant risks for individual workers, host communities and the provision of human services and infrastructure. These include rising rates of fatigue–related death and injuries, rising levels of alcohol–fuelled violence, illegally erected and unregulated work camps, soaring housing costs and other costs of living, and stretched basic infrastructure undermining the sustainability of these towns. But these costs have generally escaped industry, government and academic scrutiny. This chapter directs a critical gaze at the hopelessly compromised industry–funded research vital to legitimating the resource sector’s self–serving knowledge claims that it is committed to social sustainability and corporate responsibility. The chapter divides into two parts. The first argues that post–industrial mining regimes mask and privatise these harms and risks, shifting them on to workers, families and communities. The second part links the privatisation of these risks with the political economy of privatised knowledge embedded in the approvals process for major resource sector projects.

Public participation in infrastructure and construction projects in China: From an EIA-based to a whole-cycle process

Many governments world-wide are increasingly encouraging the involvement of interested individuals, groups and organisations in their publicinfrastructure and construction (PIC) projects as a means of improving the openness, transparency and accountability of the decision-making process and help improve the projects’ long-term viability and benefits to the community. In China, however, the current participatory mechanism at the project level exists only as part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. With an increasing demand for PIC projects and social equality in China, this suggests a need to bring the participatory process into line with international practice. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to identify the weaknesses of EIA-basedpublicparticipation in China and the means by which it may be improved for the whole lifecycle of PIC schemes. To do this, the results of a series of interviews with a diverse group of experts is reported which analyse the nature and extent of existing problems of publicparticipation in EIA and suggestions for improvement. These indicate that the current level of participation in PIC projects is quite limited, particularly in the crucial earlier stages, primarily due to traditional culture and values, uneven progress in the adoption of participatory mechanisms, the risk of not meeting targets and lack of confidence in public competence. Finally, aprocess flowchart is proposed to guide construction practitioners and the community in general.

Environmental law and the economic impact on Australian firms

In response to international awareness of environmental issues and the inadequacies of common law actions, legislation has been enacted by Australian governments to facilitate environmental protection. The Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) and accompanying Environmental Protection (Interim) Regulation 1995 (Qld) is one example of government response to mounting public pressure to legislate for the environment. Investigation into the operation of the legislation exposes the costs faced by Australian firms in its application. The legislation identifies a number of environmentally relevant activities and imposes licensing and reporting requirements on firms undertaking such activities. In view of these legislative requirements and the increasing public awareness of environmental issues over the last decade in Australia, it could be expected that firms undertaking environmentally sensitive activities will place greater importance on the management of environmental issues. If so, the greater prominence placed on environmental management may be reflected in disclosures made by the firm to its shareholders and other interested parties. This article investigates the type and extent of costs currently imposed by the body of environmental laws in Australia with the discussion primarily focusing upon costs imposed due to the operation of environmental legislation in Queensland. Further, the article reports empirical analysis of management response to environmental issues where firms are undertaking environmentally sensitive activities.

Queensland Government Agency Libraries Review: Options Paper

The Queensland Government Agency Libraries Review was undertaken during the period January-June 2010. The research project was sponsored jointly by the Director-General, Department of the Premier and Cabinet, and the Director-General, Department of Public Works. The objective of the project was to examine future options for the Queensland Government library and research services that provide clients with efficient and cost-effective access to the information they need to conduct government business, to develop a picture of the services provided, the information resources managed, the client base and staffing. The review also considered the environmental factors impacting on contemporary government libraries to determine possible strategies that would ensure a strong and sustainable future for the services. The review process culminated in identifying potential options for future service delivery. The preferred option involves a proposal for the centralizing responsibility for the coordination of a network of Queensland Government Libraries and Research Centres (QGLR). The establishment of a network of research centres, with a central point for coordination of common strategies, systems and processes will enable library and research services to flow around individual agencies, and provide clearer avenues for multi-disciplinary work that characterises contemporary government policy and government services. The key elements of the proposal include the development of a single library and research portal for all government officers, which can be tailored to meet their particular research needs; increasing the visibility and accessibility of information and knowledge resources to those officers regardless of their agency affiliation; introducing better, more cost effective purchasing and licensing arrangements; and the potential to have a voice of influence in the strategic agenda for the government’s use of information and research.