The Engaged Government Project

Oliver PE¹, Leibrecht T²*

1. Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
2. Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Several practitioners and researchers have identified a change in the mode of governing in Australia and elsewhere from government to governance. Features of this change include a shift towards ‘whole of government’ activity; devolution of government business to the region, and a blurring of the demarcation between state and civil society, potentially providing citizens with greater opportunity to influence government policy.

The Queensland Departments of Main Roads; Natural Resources and Mines; and Transport and the Local Government Association of Queensland have recognised the need to learn how they can improve their understanding of this change and how it affects policy and practice in these areas. In 2004, researchers from Central Queensland University; Griffith University; and University of Queensland, with the support of the Australian Research Council, commenced a three-year action research study of government-community engagement for regional outcomes, working in collaboration with the agency partners, focusing on five case studies in Central Queensland.

This Engaged Government Project involves researchers from three disciplines – economics, public policy and sociology and aims to examine the conditions (strategic, structural and procedural) under which multi-sectoral collaboration can deliver policy coherence and positive regional outcomes, as well as identifying the costs, benefits, trade-offs and capacities associated with multi-sectoral collaborations.

This paper provides a window into this work in progress. It highlights significant learnings from phase one and indicates directions and themes that will be pursued in the second and final phase of the project. The collaborative nature of the research itself is also highlighted, as are key learnings gained from this process.