Writing Assignment help on : How is public policy made in Australia
How is public policy made in Australia
How is a public policy made in Australia? What does a policy actually mean in the public opinion? Is it meant only for the Leaders or does it have to do anything with the public opinion? Policies are all about setting and determining guidelines. Public Policy making is more about setting and devising directions for those rules or policies which have been laid. Policy making in political terms goes beyond the actual sense where it has become seemingly evident that policy making is displaying one’s own leadership in his own way and then react to the circumstances which may arise (E Press 2012). Cabinets of the Countries have been changing but the way they are shaping the Countries are still the same where the outcomes of situations in the Countries do not change. The Australian Cabinet in comparison to the Cabinets of the other Countries works in a distinctive style where it is commendable that the Leaders meet regularly to discuss the issues which should have been decided beforehand. The Australian Cabinet works with a distinctive set of dynamics which happens only in Australia. Various Leaders have versatile styles of operating their Cabinets be it Howard or any of the prime Ministers who would come to power in the coming years (freet vaust 2012). With changing years and changing leaders there is one thing which still remains in common which is al these leaders operate in Australia with the same constraints to get over with which have been long standing over a period of 100 years. Let’s take a deeper look at the way the cabinet works and what are those special norms which allows Australia to stand apart in the World today in managing their Cabinet. Australia maintains the traditions of the Cabinet Government, believes in collective decision making. Australian Government has collective traditions laid by which the Government is ruled. They are not a rule book however they are an institution rules by ethics. It is an entire process which codes to the way the People work (Epress 2012). The Government policies need political support and a set of policies consistent with their strategies laid. It’s politics on one hand and policies on the other. These are the two critical components of any Political Parties success over the years. It’s an interesting intersection of people and politics. The world does not understand that when Cabinet meetings are being held its about the present issues and the people that the discussions are happening about. There are no set of rules by which one can determine the Operational rules of the Cabinets however the emphasis all about the outcomes which come out as a result of those discussions (Curtain Consulting 2012). Let’s have a detailed look at some of the public policies which have been made and which are to be made to understand the policy making of the Australian Government. The long standing discussion on the evitable subject of insurance surcharge called as alco-pops was so prominent among the public. Some of the other public policies which were in discussions were Grocery watch, Fuel watch and Green car innovation fund. All these policies have faced and have been facing public criticism with a lot of focus around not being able to run and follow an evidence based approach to policy making for which the Government is actually known for (Curtain Consulting 2012). Evidence based policy approach as we mentioned above has been evident in the history of Australia so far but it still continues to face challenges especially with the kind of economic situation in the Country. When the prevailing challenges are solved there will still be challenges pertaining to green house and other competitive resources or any other international competitive pressures. The brighter side of looking at this kind of policy making is that there is always a scope for improvement in not just completing or meeting the goals however revisiting and reaffirming on the standards which have been met to ensure that their Country’s future will get better with its own performance. Evidence based policy making forms the centre of the reformist government to actually focus on what is needed as a government if the Country and its people are to be known successful (E Press 2012). Australia proves to be successful in adapting the way of evidence based approach in policy making by not devising policies because they are to exist but enquires after results to see the effectiveness of their own policies. Evidence based policy making I suppose was formulated to re emphasize on the point that “what means is what works”. Exchange rates and financial market liberalisation are the other reforms which based on evidence based policy making. There are lot of advantages associated with evidence based policy making as its main critical factor on which it is based is dependent on its context and the objectives of it is directed. Evidence which is purely crucial for supporting or reaffirming on any of the smallest decisions which are to be made have been prominent in the economic reforms of the Country when compared to any other sector. This is one government which has proved that evidence based policy making should have its prominence in deciding about policy outcomes (freet vaust 2012). Evidence teamed with analytical approach can play a crucial role in influencing policy maker’s decisions. We have discussed about the detailed view on evidence based policy making. However what actually happens even before the evidence is brought out. The decision makers or the policy makers should make decisions on policies by following their ideologies and theories. Let’s assume that this is the approach which has been in implementation over the years. Do we find any of the decisions which were taken without any evidence going astray? There are a few policies which we can look into (Curtain Consulting 2012). It was demonstrated that increasing immigration or increasing the birth rate in the country would not have such an impact on the fiscal consequences in the country however the increased birth rate would raise fiscal pressures. Policies about waste management policy that maintaining zero solid waste would prove profitable in fact proved that the other way is true. The belief that the general tax concession in research and development would prove profitable proved that the other way round is actually true as the policy proved to be a reward for the research departments not prompting any additional research and development. On the other hand, the policies that were based on good evidence have to bear a lot of consequences. Though evidence has proved to be critical in policy making it has also been clear with other governments in the world that evidence is not the only factor for policy making. This is in cases when decisions are to be taken within a limited period of time. There is one more critical factor which complements decision making or policy making which is known as experimentation however such policies which are formulated on the basis of experimentation cannot be ruled out due to lack of evidence. As these policies are definitely based on some theories which might have invited some discussions about their possible results (E Press 2012).
Another case of uncertainty can also be seen in the case of global warming. No policy can be said to form a basis for such a case as Global Warming which comes into effect with a lot of uncertainties in Science. In confidence plays a major role in determining such cases as they should only be tried, experimented, tested and proven. In the same case the results are proven by consistent testing and learning from the outcomes. This type of a strategy is called an adaptive approach. The Government’s strategy in terms of policy making seems more or less as the adaptive approach. However the success rate of implementing a strategy is dependent on the proper timing and the type of action or implementation of the policy by the Government (freet vaust 2012).There are certain factors which can make policy making tougher like making it more complex and uncertainty in the strategy. Policies are to be formed by taking the interests of the public into account. When this type of policy making comes into effect real analysis and proofs form the basis for the public to know about the reforms which are coming into effect. Let us consider the statement which we used earlier as the one referred by the Leader of Australia that a reformist government is the one which uses evidence based approach in policy making. Let us consider about those facts which result in better policy making by the government. Policy making starts with a set of guidelines which show the path of objectives especially in the interest of the public. These issues are somewhat similar to the ones we have pointed out earlier like Global warming, no solid waste, and increased birth rate. These policies or objectives while getting designed have to be laid out in such a way that they are achievable, have a point solution, are focussed for determined results and especially with a long term objective to get the problem resolved permanently. Effective policy making also gives a lot of opportunity for the people who get involved in various ways to in handling the effective way of policy making. This means that the policy makers have to have to ability to look beyond the present scenario in the country and to focus on achieving a broader outlook. This in a way also is a method of getting the policy makers prepared to devise and hold continuity planning in terms of any natural disasters. Effective policies should be the ones which are result oriented by constantly testing and implementing the devised set of procedures to deliver proper results in the Country. One other factor which has to be taken into account while devising policies is the kind of public which could be affected as a result of one of those norms or policies getting introduced. The public could be individuals, Business people, communities or groups involved in the process. Policy making on the basis of consultation could be very effective in the eyes of the public especially to consider someone from a non government body might prove more effective as their suggestions or ideas would be based on experiences or results which could happen in the long run (freet vaust 2012). The other factor which most of the governments seem to leave behind is the recurring cost of implementing the laid down policies especially in the interest of the public. If such expenditures get more expensive and unrealistic than expected then it becomes futile for the government to prove the effective run of the policy which was devised. If the government maintains a clear way of communicating the risk factors involved in implementing a policy then they can be communicated to the public which would get a fair and a true idea of its own governments approach in devising policies for the improvement of its own country. There are a lot of essential and critical factors which are important for policy making like appropriate timing and effective usage of proofs from any of the occurrences in the past which again are appreciated by the public in their opinion. Australia has been the only country in implementing some rules and methods. Equilibrium modelling of policy making is one of the greatest achievements of Australia. Reverse effects and Impacts of projects which have been devised are the greatest achievements of the Australian government (E Press 2012). One of the senior members of the Australian Cabinet has recently commented saying the inter link between the goals and the problems which are to be solved is ineffective. It is more predominantly weaker in the maintaining the cost effective way of running and testing the policies. However it proves to be ineffective to lower the costs involved in implementing certain policies of the government. The solution is to assess the costs involved in the process of implementing certain policies or monitoring certain tests which might prove to be an efficient practice in the long run. To be able to assess and decide on the probable results as one factor has been critical to be able to decide on the proper running of the policy which is effective data. More than the impacts of the policies, proper run of the methods the process is in deficit of one critical factor which is appropriate data to be analysed. One of the reasons why most of the governments especially the Australian had a setback was due to non accountability of data to evaluate several processes as a part of their own government. It has also been noticed that the funding for data collection has also been cut (Curtain Consulting 2012). In ability is not the answer but lack of interest shown in this process to develop any data which forms as a basis for many calculations and comparisons is out of range in the Government. Along with this the guidelines or the objectives themselves are not clear or are not laid out effectively for a person viewing it for the first time. One way in which this could be solved is by holding regular reviews on the policies which might help get some clarity on the objectives which were laid out initially. Certain policies can be named which are results of unclear objectives. Child Bonuses and assistance in cases of drought are two of them. Noticing all the above views it can be simplified by saying that evidence based policy making is critical and even that fails to prove the effectiveness of any policy if it is ignored. This could be improvised by introducing several schemes for the first time as a set of schemes to be experimented on. This can lead to providing results to check if the imposed schemes work effectively or not. The other processes used can also be considered and in the end the results of all the processes devised or implemented should be discussed to see the effectiveness of the programs or policies which were successful (freet vaust 2012). There are other ways in which the effectiveness of policy making could be tested. Introducing a method called as Best Practice approach could be more effective where any errors in the process could be discussed and brought out though not is implemented as a policy however a practice which proves to be effective could be introduced and implemented through the entire process. These points discussed above amount to effective implementation of the act of policy making. Can public help for the cause of evidence based policy making? The Prime Minister of Australia emphasized last year that one should be frank and fearless in letting the government know the evidence based advice and not just emphasizing on the fact the evidence based policy making is good (E Press 2012).
Thus it can be concluded that systems and policies which are more open to evidence based research are to be identified and implemented for a better prospective government ruling to be exposed. The present struggle and consequences are due to lack of effective implementation of good proposals which could benefit the country a lot by their merits and advantages which could be proven more easily.
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