Public sector restructuring and community consultation in the Australian Capital Territory: can old and new public policy trends work together?

Abstract

The aim and the reality of community consultation in the public policy process are often at odds. Simple mechanical remedies of consultative models and practices will not in themselves include the citizen beyond the ballot box. This Discussion Paper discusses the findings of a study conducted as part of PhD work in progress that examines two current public institutional trends in the ACT, purchaser-provider public sector arrangements and community consultation. The Australian Capital Territory offers the academic and practicing public policy community a unique opportunity to observe the interaction of old and new trends in OECD public policy best practice. Internationally, ideas about purchaser-provider models have been in place for some time. Current OECD activity is now emphasising community consultation to "strengthen government-citizen connections" in OECD countries and notes that there is now a strong trend towards renewal and expansion of public consultation in regulatory development which is underway in OECD countries (PUMA 1999). The ACT has both purchaser provider arrangements and significant investment in community consultation and provides a practical insight into the interaction of past ideas and current preoccupations in public policy. The Discussion Paper's study has found indications in the ACT that public institutional and reported service delivery arrangements have conditionally resulted in greater government control over the policy process; elected representatives have greater determination of public services, expressed as outputs, and broad objectives, expressed as outcomes. There are, however, two issues of concern. Firstly, at a local level, Budget outputs, or expressed services provided to public sector recipients, do not readily reflect into practice. Purchaser provider arrangements and public service delivery in the ACT vary according to: the service provided; the mix of actors in the policy process; intergovernmental arrangements, national industry and local revenue considerations; and relative involvement of representative politicians enacting Assembly policy decisions. As a result, budget outcomes and outputs have low measures of veracity and lack credibility as an accountability and reporting tool. Secondly, community consultation does not necessarily translate directly into citizen input beyond the ballot box. International efforts may be informed by the ACT experience. A growing role for recipients of public services in the policy process requires a recognition that policy developed through government citizen connections is not necessarily compatible with current public institutional arrangements.