Policy innovation

​Publication details

​Authors: Susan Whitbread, Katie Linnane, Alistair Davidson

Overview

Rapidly changing operating environments of government and their stakeholders threaten to outdate existing policy practices. Policymakers will need to adopt fresh ways of thinking, develop new skills and access innovative ideas.

This will affect government policy making on issues affecting agriculture, fishing, forestry, water and rural communities more broadly.

This report brings together a set of innovative ideas that collectively offer new thinking, new skills and new tools for policymakers both in the department and elsewhere. Innovation in policy and regulatory practice will help us continue to deliver outcomes for Australian agriculture and the community. The report reinforces the department’s commitment to innovation as a core capability for the future.

Key issues

The report comprises a wide range of findings resulting from a global scan of online and expert sources. The analysis reflects on issues - such as governance, risk and capability - that might affect the adoption of innovations within a government setting.

Report findings are classified into three emergent themes that are interdependent in nature:

• Thinking in new ways is critical to improving policy practice. Innovative thinking considers knowledge to be socially created, rather than a set of hard, incontestable facts.
• New skills in contemporary and innovative practices can increase the range and depth of existing public sector capabilities
• New tools for policymakers can improve the overall policy process and provide innovative policy instruments for specific policy problems.

Innovation in government differs from private sector innovation, because these sectors vary considerably in their approach to risk, public accountability and managing success.