New approaches to structuring government to close the implementation gap

01 December 2009

The Hon Fred Chaney AO

The 85 per cent of Australia that is remote from the main centres of population is a place of recurrent crises leading to ad hoc special interventions. Broken up by state and territory boundaries it is the backyard for the governments of Australia. While it produces the bulk of our tradable wealth it suffers from inability to provide basic services, poverty is common, civil order is precarious, and government lacks legitimacy in the eyes of those who live there. Much of it meets the internationally accepted definition of a failed state and requires the sort of special intervention we associate with failed states.

remoteFOCUS is an initiative based on the view that without reform of the structures of government, finance, policy and administration, Remote Australia will remain a place of recurring crises. Too often poor policy outcomes in Remote Australia are perceived only in the context of the dysfunction of remote Indigenous communities and seen therefore as ‘Indigenous' issues rather than issues of government capability. This is a mistake. Poor outcomes need to be evaluated in the context of systemic failure of public policy to be implemented appropriately in Remote Australia. There are structural issues and broader institutional factors that need to be brought into the policy equation. The remoteFOCUS Group is currently working to develop a reform package to address structural problems within the existing fiscal and legal framework, current service delivery models, community and regional structures and in the context of how governments engage with Remote Australia.

Broad Topics: Arts and Social Sciences

Sub-topics: Humanities, Policy & Political Science

Areas: ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences

The Hon Fred Chaney AO is Chair of Desert Knowledge Australia a statutory corporation of the Northern Territory. Formerly a lawyer, Chaney served in the Senate until 1990 and was Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1983 to 1990. He was Member for Pearce in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1993 and his Ministerial appointments included Aboriginal Affairs and Social Security.

After leaving Parliament in 1993, Chaney undertook research into Aboriginal Affairs policy and administration as a Research Fellow at the University of WA. He was Chancellor of Murdoch University for eight years until early 2003. In 1994, Chaney was appointed as a part-time Member of the National Native Title Tribunal, a full-time Member in April 1995 and was Deputy President from 2000 to 2007. In 1997 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia. Chaney served as Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia Ltd from 2000 to 2005 and continues as a Director on the Board. In 2005 he was appointed chairman of Desert Knowledge Australia. In 2007 he chaired the Consultation Committee on a Human Rights Act for Western Australia.