Australian federal and state public policies display the full range of outcomes, from innovative and world-leading policies that we can be proud of, to policy failures that have not delivered the intended value, public benefit or range of outcomes that citizens, businesses and communities would have expected.
At the same time, the challenge of making public policy is arguably more difficult than it has been in the past. Falling trust in governments, increased partisanship in society, the changing role of data and the complexity of evermore “wicked” policy challenges put our approach to developing good public policy under more strain.
The Susan McKinnon Foundation is supporting the improvement of policy quality by:
- Developing simple, modern policymaking guides to support good policymaking processes in a range of domains and contexts, with a focus on the role of evidence, genuine engagement with stakeholders and planning for effective delivery
- Conducting assessments of recent policymaking processes to identify and celebrate great examples of policymaking and ascertain trends in policymaking processes that require support
- Working with organisations across the policymaking ecosystem, including public sector policy units; Ministers and their staff; advocacy bodies and industry organisations; universities, evidence and research organisations and media to refine and implement our guides and support improved practices
- Engaging with capability building organisations to help spread good practices throughout the policymaking ecosystem
- Advocating for systemic changes to policymaking processes that will improve outcomes citizens, businesses and communities.
Our agenda builds on the previous work of the Evidence Based Policy Research Project (EBPRP), an independent not-for-profit that advocated for evidence-based public policymaking. Between 2018 and 2022, EBPRP produced 100 case studies on the quality of public policymaking in Australia at both federal and state levels.
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