Chapter 10. Building Capacity for Policy Implementation
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Building Capacity for Policy Implementation

Anne Tiernan, Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University

Table of Contents

Introduction
Declining policy capacity
Concerns justified: delivery failures
References

Introduction

In Australia and internationally, the discourse of ‘declining policy capacity’ is pervasive. Politicians, practitioners and scholars have expressed concern about the ability of the public service to support policy processes through its analysis, advisory and service delivery functions. There is particular concern about policy implementation – about the ability and willingness of the public service to promptly deliver on government commitments and priorities, and about the extent to which policy and program design is informed by operational realities. Anxieties about the potential for ‘disconnect’ between policy and service delivery have been heightened by recent high-profile failures in sensitive areas of government policy. This chapter examines recent efforts by the Commonwealth and Queensland governments to build capacity for policy implementation, notably through the establishment of implementation units. It offers an assessment of their potential to address the dilemmas of implementation exposed by recent policy failures.