The devolution dilemma
The devolution dilemma Report
- Author(s): Cowley, Anthony, Tremblay, Pascal
- Published: 2023
- Publisher: Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University
Abstract: Governments and public servants need to enact the requirement to change the way public servants work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities under the Closing the Gap (National Agreement 2020), Clause 18. However, as with any significant change agenda, there are a number of real and perceived risks and barriers to ‘working differently’. In exploring solutions for all Australian governments and public services to overcome these challenges there are distinct roles for First Nations/ Indigenous public servants and roles for significant intermediaries involved in service delivery, and in particular First Nations corporations. Underpinning all actions is a clear imperative to incorporate First Nations voices into government policies and servicing. The literature review (Part 1 - p.8) establishes for all stakeholders, an acknowledgment that limited guidance exists for bureaucrats on how to handle broad reforms such as self-determination and devolution. This is in large part because so many topics, government perspectives, community views and public opinions intersect and confound solutions. There are a number of barriers that confront public servants when they seek to partner and share decision making with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their organisations. Some challenges highlight structural issues which require profound changes in the ways bureaucracies engage with community. Other barriers reflect the day-to-day experiences of public servants attempting to address the devolution agenda, and the efforts, initiatives and experiments they have engaged with – something that they are themselves in a better position to inform. Interviews conducted with current and former senior public servants and managers of First Nations service organisations identified six specific challenges (Part 2 - p.49) including: the accountability of systems, organisations and leaders; partnerships and the capacity of entities to partner; power and decision making; Identifying and engaging with the right partners; cultural change of organisations; and data availability and quality. Potential solutions are explored with examples of different approaches that have been put in place by various levels of government to increase participatory approaches to policy and service delivery promoting engagements based in localisation, co-design and co-production. Essentially while many of these challenges may not be easy to address, valuable changes can happen when good people commit to making a difference in an informed way.
- Urls: https://anzsog.edu.au/app/uploads/2022/10/ANZOG-paper-on-the-devolution-problem-Final-4-Tremblay-Cowley.pdf
- Publisher Location: Darwin