The coherence and commitments of public institutions require greater clarity and conviction if they are to regain public confidence. There is a need for a more convincing sense of purpose and direction, built upon values that are inclusive and inspiring. Often politicians aspire to such worthy ideals, but in the heat of battle, or through sheer exhaustion, they settle for less.
This paper examines how vibrant policies to achieve compelling purposes can enliven the public sector itself, and more importantly the economies and societies public policy is there to serve.
The lack of a clear and convincing definition of public purpose in recent decades has undermined the process of government policy formulation and implementation. This lack of clarity and conviction has proved part of the motor of the creeping privatisation of public sector, as revealed in Australia in the fiasco over PWC advice on international taxation. As potentially the most impactful of institutions it is especially important the purpose of the public sector is understood and engaged in by the public it is intended to serve.
The boldness of vision and purposive action of the pioneers of public policy are not lost forever. The regeneration of public policy is occurring around the world with vision, imagination and energy. There is wide resonance to this call for rethinking the direction of public sector policy:
- Rethinking value – co-creating public value, collective intelligence and common goods;
- Shaping innovation – not only the rate of innovation but the direction towards public purpose;
- Directing finance – directing quality capital development towards challenge-oriented innovation;
- Transforming institutions – to open, purposive institutions capable of responding to complexity and uncertainty and able to promote dynamic collaboration across the economy.
In the continuing search for relevance and results in the public sector rather than bowing to disillusion with the capacity of the public sector to deliver, and succumbing to the polarization of political discourse, there is internationally a renewed sense of reviving and redirecting public policy towards enhancing people’s lives and communities.
Dr Thomas Clarke
Occasional Policy Paper 1 - Published May 2024
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Dr Thomas Clarke is a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at UTS. Dr Clarke is an international corporate governance and sustainability expert and Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He contributed to the development of international corporate governance standards at the OECD during the original formulation of the OECD Corporate Governance Principles (1999) and for the UN delivered a research paper on Sustainable Finance (2016) for the UNEP Finance Initiative.
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