Bulletin

Issue: July 2004

News

Launch of public sector research centre

La Trobe University has established a new 'Public Sector Governance and Accountability Research Centre' on its main Melbourne campus at Bundoora - with recently appointed Professor of Accounting, Kerry Jacobs, as inaugural Director.

The centre will serve as a strong base for independent research, as well as training and support for members of Public Accounts and similar committees throughout Australia, the Commonwealth, and countries in neighbouring regions.

Hailed as a 'world first' and launched at a ceremony in the Victorian Parliament House in late June, organisers intend the new Public Sector Governance and Accountability Research Centre (PSGARC) to be replicated elsewhere, creating ultimately a global network of independent academic research bodies working on issues of public accountability.

Launching the centre, Mr Peter Loney MP said accountability was now one of the most common topics in any discussion about government and its relationship with its citizens.

Mr Loney is Deputy Speaker of the Victorian Parliament and Chairman of the Australasian Council of Public Accounts Committees Conference (ACPAC) held in Melbourne last year, which called for the establishment of such a centre.

'The public has become increasingly concerned about the consequences of bad governance,' Mr Loney said. 'At first this concern centred on the inadequacies of corporate governance following some spectacular collapses - Enron in the US and HIH in Australia are just two examples - but greater emphasis is now being placed on governance and accountability within the public sector.

'Public accountability is, and must be, of a higher standard than that applied to corporations.'

Professor Jacobs said the La Trobe University Public Sector Governance and Accountability Research Centre was significantly different from other such centres.

'It is not just an academic exercise, but a synthesis of academic and practical concerns. We have responded directly to the expressed needs of the Parliamentary members of Public Accounts Committees - a need which has been emphasised by both the World Bank and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

'By taking such a practical stance the research centre will contribute to our knowledge of public sector accountability and governance and will lead to real change in the quality of parliamentary governance in and beyond Australia.'

Professor Jacobs said one of the first research projects of the Centre will be to collect and analyse performance and practice data from every Australian Public Accounts Committee.

The Centre will liaise closely with international agencies, especially the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the World Bank Institute and the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions.

It will promote research, teaching and practice that contributes to accountability, openness and transparency of governments and conduct seminars and training workshops for the members and staff of PACs, and especially for those of Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Loney said the ACPAC conference - which called for the establishment of such a centre - drew delegations, including Auditors General from many Australian States and Territories, the Commonwealth, New Zealand, New Guinea, East Timor, Singapore, Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, South Africa, Ireland, Zambia, and Namibia.

Mr Loney, working with La Trobe Visiting Honorary Fellow in Law and Management, Dr Bill Stent, and Professor Jacobs, developed the proposal that has now led to the establishment of the La Trobe centre. The concept was supported by Professor Greg O'Brien, recently retired Dean of the Faculty of Law and Management, Head of Global Business Law, Professor Gordon Walker, and Professor Imad Moosa, Head of Economics and Finance.

The Directors of PSGARC are the Centre's Head, Professor Kerry Jacobs, above, who was previously employed by the University of Edinburgh and remains an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Public Sector Accounting Research based at Edinburgh. He is a Fellow of CPA Australia.

Deputy Director of the Centre is Dr Ewen Michael, co-ordinator of economic and policy studies in Tourism and Hospitality at La Trobe. He has worked as an economic policy analyst and project leader for the Australian Railway Research and Development Organisation Ltd.

The PSGARC Advisory Board comprises: Professor Max Aiken, Emeritus Professor of Accounting, La Trobe University; Mr Bruce Bennett, UNITEC Institute of Technology, Auckland New Zealand; Mr Clayton Cosgrove MP (NZ), Chairman Finance and Expenditure Select Committee; Mr Peter Loney MP, Deputy Speaker Victorian Legislative Assembly and Immediate Past-Chairman of the Australasian Council of Public Accounts Committees; Rt Hon. Mike Moore, former Prime Minister of NZ and Director General of the World Trade Organisation, now La Trobe University Adjunct Professor in Law and Management; Hon. Tony Sheehan, Member of La Trobe University Council and former Treasurer of the State of Victoria.

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