This book seeks to critically examine the impacts of 'grand designs' in public policy through a detailed historical analysis of Australian schooling reforms since the 'education revolution' agenda was introduced by the federal government in the late 2000s. Combining policy analyses and interviews with senior policy makers and ministerial advisors centrally involved in the reforms, it offers a detailed interpretive analysis of the complexities of policy evolution and assemblage. The book argues that the education revolution sought to impose a new order on Australian schooling by aligning state and territory systems to common policies and processes in areas including curriculum, assessment, funding, reporting and teaching. Using a theory and critique of 'alignment thinking' in public policy, Savage shows how the education revolution and subsequent reforms have been underpinned by uncritical faith in the power of nationally aligned data, evidence and standards to improve policies and unite systems around practices 'proven to work'. The result is a new national policy assemblage that has deeply reshaped the making and doing of schooling policy in the nation, generating complex questions about who is steering the ship of education into the future. The Quest for Revolution in Australian Schooling Policy is a must read for education policy researchers, policy makers, education ministers and school leaders, and will appeal to anyone with an interest in the complex power dynamics that underpin schooling reforms.

This book summarises and analyses the major issues in Australian education policy today.

The public policy arena is a complex framework of actors, politics and instruments. An Introduction to Australian Public Policy, Second Edition examines the broad range of models, influences and players that shape the development of public policy in Australia, and equips students with a working knowledge of both the theoretical underpinnings and real-world challenges of the field. Fully revised and updated, the new edition addresses the diverse approaches to policy formulation required by different practitioners and institutions. Accessible and engaging, this edition includes: a new chapter on policy evaluation; practical exercises on how to write policy briefs and media releases and eleven new, concise case studies from Australia's top public policy practitioners. The book is accompanied by a companion website which contains chapter summaries and a glossary. Widely regarded as the best introduction to Australian public policy available, the book is an essential resource for undergraduate students of politics and policy workers.

In Australia and New Zealand, many public projects, programs and services perform well. But these cases are consistently underexposed and understudied. We cannot properly ‘see’—let alone recognise and explain—variations in government performance when media, political and academic discourses are saturated with accounts of their shortcomings and failures, but are next to silent on their achievements. Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand helps to turn that tide. It aims to reset the agenda for teaching, research and dialogue on public policy performance. This is done through a series of close-up, in-depth and carefully chosen case study accounts of the genesis and evolution of stand-out public policy achievements, across a range of sectors within Australia and New Zealand. Through these accounts, written by experts from both countries, we engage with the conceptual, methodological and theoretical challenges that have plagued extant research seeking to evaluate, explain and design successful public policy. Studies of public policy successes are rare—not just in Australia and New Zealand, but the world over. This book is embedded in a broader project exploring policy successes globally; its companion volume, Great Policy Successes (edited by Paul ‘t Hart and Mallory Compton), is published by Oxford University Press (2019).

This book explains the causal pathways, the mechanisms and the politics that define the quantity and quality of policy learning. A rich collection of case studies structured around a strong conceptual architecture, the volume comprises fresh, original, empirical evidence for a large number of countries, sectors and multi-level governance settings including the European Commission, the European Union, and individual countries across Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. The theoretically diverse chapters address both the presence of learning and its pathologies, deploying state-of-the-art methods, including process tracing, diffusion models, and fuzzy-set techniques.

This book presents insights into the current state of higher education, emerging pedagogies and innovative technology-driven learning techniques in research and teaching. Focussing specifically on the higher education models in India and Australia, the volume explores concerns and policy interventions that will help promote research capability and culture. Globalisation, rise of information technology and the massification of education has shifted the foundations of higher education and universities in the world. This volume examines the best support structures that will allow educators to face the challenge of the increasingly diverse community of learners and teachers entering higher education; their varied levels of aspirations and expectations; the influence of technology in pedagogical practices; and the shrinking funds for teaching and research. By using case studies from India and Australia the book also looks at the benefits of cross-cultural collaborations in research and education. Comprehensive and resourceful, this volume will be useful for academics and scholars of education, higher education and research, sociology, public policy, development studies and for NGOs and think tanks working in these areas.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book describes the history, structure and institutions of open and distance education in six countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, the UK and the US. It discusses how open and distance education is evolving in a digital age to reflect the needs and circumstances of national higher education systems in these countries, and explores the similarities and differences between the ways in which they are organized and structured. It is the first book to make such comparisons and draw conclusions about the nature of open and distance education in the context of various national higher education systems. In a digital era with growing use of online education as well as open and distance education, this book is particularly useful for policy-makers and senior administrators who want to learn about organizing and expanding open and distance education provision. It is also a valuable reference for researchers, academics and students interested in understanding the different approaches to open and distance education.

At a time when neoliberal and conservative politics are again in the ascendency and social democracy is waning, Australian public policy re-engages with the values and goals of progressive public policy in Australia and the difficulties faced in re-affirming them. It brings together leading authors to explore economic, environmental, social, cultural, political and indigenous issues. It examines trends and current policy directions and outlines progressive alternatives that challenge and extend current thinking. While focused on Australia, the contributors offer valuable insights for people in other countries committed to social justice and those engaged in the ongoing contest between neo-liberalism and social democracy. This is essential reading for policy practitioners, researchers and students as well those with an interest in the future of public policy.

Public Policy in Australia: Theory and Practice provides clear, systematic and detailed coverage of the policy process using contemporary examples from Australia linked into theory and practice. This provides students with a good basis from which to grasp the conceptual base of the policy process and ensures that they are also provided with enough detail to develop their own analytical questions and hypotheses.

Collaboration has emerged as a central concept in public policy circles in Australia and a panacea to the complex challenges facing Australia. But is this really the cure-all it seems to be? In this edited collection we present scholarly and practitioner perspectives on the drivers, challenges, prospects and promise of collaboration. The papers, first presented at the 2007 ANZSOG Conference, draw on the extensive experience of the contributors in either trying to enact collaboration, or studying the processes of this phenomenon. Together the collection provides important insights into the potential of collaboration, but also the fiercely stubborn barriers to adopting more collaborative approaches to policy and implementation. The collection includes chapter from public servants, third sector managers, and both Australian and international academics which together make it a stimulating read for those working with or within government. It adds considerably to the debate about how to address current challenges of public policy and provides a significant resource for those interested in the realities of collaborative governance.