The Symposium on which this volume is based, held on 8 May 2006, was supported by Griffith University, the NSW Farmers’ Association, and CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems as part of three research initiatives coordinated by the Griffith University Federalism Project – see www.griffith.edu.au/federalism.

Particular thanks go to the NSW Farmers’ Association, including Mal Peters, Shaugn Morgan, Anand Sugrim and Margaret McCullough, for their ongoing support for research to quantify the economic and financial benefits of regional devolution within Australia’s federal system, and for development of an overall framework for evaluating new spatial approaches to governance, to help contextualise and guide this research. The Symposium marked the release of this framework in the form of the Appendix to this volume: the NSW Farmers’ Association discussion paper ‘Reform of Australia’s Federal System – Identifying the Benefits’, launched by Professor Kenneth Wiltshire AO at the end of proceedings. This paper provides a roadmap to the objectives of new spatial approaches to governance in Australia, and identifies evaluation methods that can establish whether their intended benefits are being achieved or alternatively, which alternative approaches might better deliver on outcomes.

Special thanks also to CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, particularly Associate Professor Tim Smith (now with University of the Sunshine Coast), for chairing and other support through the joint Regional Governance Futures project between Griffith University and CSIRO; to Professor Frank Stilwell, University of Sydney, for chairing and ongoing support and involvement; and to the Institute of Public Administration Australia, NSW Division (especially Liz Thomas) for symposium organisation. The symposium was also an important contribution to the Australian Research Council-funded Discovery Project, Towards Sustainable Regional Institutions (DP0666833). Final acknowledgements to Professor John Wanna and John Butcher, Australia and New Zealand School of Government, for respectively chairing the final session, including these proceedings in the ANZSOG publication series, and associated editorial support.