The Australian Policy Handbook

The seventh edition of this classic handbook on the policy process is fully updated, featuring new material on policy-making amid local and global disruption, the contestable nature of modern policy advice, commissioning and contracting, public engagement and policy success and failure.

The Australian Policy Handbook shows how public policy permeates every aspect of our lives. It is the stuff of government, justifying taxes, driving legislation and shaping our social services. Public policy gives us roads, railways and airports, emergency services, justice, education and health services, defence, industry development and natural resource management. While politicians make the decisions, public servants provide analysis and support for those choices. This updated edition includes new visuals and introduces a series of case studies for the first time. These cases—covering family violence, behavioural economics, justice reinvestment, child protection and more—illustrate the personal and professional challenges of policymaking practice. Drawing on their extensive practical and academic experience, the authors outline the processes used in making public policy. They systematically explain the relationships between political decision-makers, public service advisers, community participants and those charged with implementation.

The Australian Policy Handbook remains the essential guide for students and practitioners of policy-making in Australia.

About the Authors

Professor Catherine Althaus previously worked in Queensland Treasury. She is currently ANZSOG Professorial Chair of Public Service Leadership and Reform at UNSW Canberra, ANZSOG Deputy Dean (Teaching and Learning), an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria and Honorary Fellow of the South Asian Network of Public Administration.

Dr Sarah Ball is a lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne and a trainer/facilitator with the Australian Public Service Commission.

Peter Bridgman is a barrister and consultant specialising in public policy, governance and integrity, and has worked within and for governments in Australia and internationally.

Professor Glyn Davis AC is a former director general of the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Queensland. He is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University and at ANZSOG, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Paul Ramsay Foundation.

David Threlfall is a PhD researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science, studying political rhetoric. He worked previously as Chief of Staff at ANZSOG, in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Melbourne and in the Victorian Education Department.