Governance, justice and accountability
As recognised in Sustainable Development Goal 16, how power, rights and decision-making operate are key to whether institutions are responsive to people’s needs and whose interests count.
The CHSSC’s work on governance, justice and accountability focuses on these critical elements of responsive and inclusive institutions and how the powerful are held to account.
The CHSSC’s work takes a broad focus – recognising the centrality of not just formal governance or justice processes but also the everyday, often customary and informal ways in which people access services, navigate disputes and solve problems. This involves recognising the diverse forms of governance, justice and accountability that may be appropriate in different contexts and the pursuit of best-fit, tailored approaches that are meaningful in context.
Featured projects
Other projects
The CHSSC is partnering with The Asia Foundation (TAF) to undertake impact assessments of two DFAT-funded governance programs – the Subnational Governance program in Nepal and the Nabilan program in Timor-Leste. The resulting case studies will support greater understanding within DFAT and the international development community of the factors that contribute to impactful governance programs across a variety of contexts.
The assessments are being led by CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Thushara Dibley and Adjunct Associate Professor Linda Kelly and local researchers, with support from CHSSC Director Lisa Denney.
The CHSSC is partnering with The Asia Foundation (TAF) to develop a case study on the local impacts of rising international competition in Timor-Leste, with particular attention given to how these play out in relation to local politics, conflict dynamics and development.
It does this through analysing the local impacts of foreign interests engaged in two key sectors in Timor-Leste: police reform and infrastructure development.
The research is being undertaken by CHSSC Director Lisa Denney in collaboration with TAF researcher Gobie Rajalingam and Timorese researcher Aderito Soares.
TAF is supporting similar case studies in Afghanistan and Bangladesh
The CHSSC is partnering with The Asia Foundation (TAF) to analyse TAF’s significant work in the law and justice sector in countries across Asia. This includes reviewing TAF’s past and existing law and justice work in eight countries, contributing to the design and facilitation of workshop to discuss country findings and developing a capstone paper that captures TAF’s approach to law and justice and identifies future opportunities. The work is being undertaken by CHSSC Director Lisa Denney.
The CHSSC partnered with Abt Associates in 2022-2024 to support adaptive management in DFAT-funded programs in Papua New Guinea. This included supporting a participatory political economy analysis for the Australia-PNG Subnational Program and the implementation of adaptive management approaches within the Partnerships for Improving Education Program and the Australia PNG Economic Partnership. This work was undertaken by then Principal Research Fellow Lisa Denney.
The CHSSC partnered with The Asia Foundation (TAF) in 2021-2023 to undertake a political economy analysis of three Pacific large ocean states - Nauru, Tuvalu and Kiribati. The project experimented with adapting political economy analysis frameworks to the Pacific context, resulting in an innovative method more attuned to local realities. The analysis provided a deeper understanding of the complex political, social and economic dynamics of three countries from different perspectives and how these effect their respective development trajectories. The work was led by then CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Lisa Denney with support from Research Fellow Aidan Craney and in collaboration with Pacific researcher Peni Tawake and local researchers.