Centre for Change Governance
ABOUT
The Centre for Change Governance (CCG) is a vibrant research centre located within the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis (IGPA) and the Faculty of Business, Government and Law (BGL).
The term ‘change governance’ is a shorthand for changes in the relationship between governance (how we are governed) and democracy (what it means to participate in the process through which we are governed). This is apposite given that conventional notions of governance are being challenged in the most substantive fashion since the end of World War II.
CCG has a critical mass of world class scholars, adjuncts and PhD students. We are a diverse group, spanning political science, public policy, public administration, environmental regulation and governance, natural resource management, democratic participation, political communication, online engagement and political participation, and big data analysis. This diversity is a strength as it reflects the multiplicity of challenges confronting contemporary governance, and enhances our ability to bridge theory and practice to deliver research outcomes with impact.
CCG engages in a variety of collaborative research projects including Democracy 2025 and the ‘Mercury Australia’ network of research scientists.
Drawing on our research expertise, CCG provides high quality and innovative public policy and public administration education and training programs for government officials and graduate recruits under our MPA, PhD and Graduate Certificate teaching programs.
If you would like further information about CCG then please direct your enquiries to: ccg@canberra.edu.au
 | Centre for Change Governance Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis Faculty of Business, Government and Law University of Canberra Building 24 Canberra ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA |
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MEMBERS
CCG is a diverse community of scholars encompassing academics, adjuncts and PhD students from Canberra and across the globe. We have five academics in the top 100 in the world for public administration research, including three in the top 50 (Google Scholar). The University of Canberra is ranked number one in Australia and number 22 in the world for research that focuses on the implementation of government policy and how civil servants are prepared for working in the public service (League of Scholars). UC is a national leader in public administration research.
| Director of the Center for Change Governance |
| Director of the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis (IGPA) and Associate Professor |
| Centenary Professor of Governance |
| Director Democracy 2025 |
| EMERITUS PROFESSOR JOHN HALLIGAN Professor of Public Administration and Governance |
| Senior Lecturer |
| ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MICHAEL JENSEN Co-convener - National Security Hub |
| Education Program Director and Senior Research Fellow |
| Centenary Professor of Governance |
| PROFESSOR DAVID MARSH Professor of Governance |
| Professorial Fellow |
RESEARCH
Key research priorities include:
1. Equity, diversity and inclusion.
2. Crisis in democracy and change governance.
3. Ecological/environmental crises – environmental politics and governance.
4. Political communication.
5. Bridging the trust divide between citizens and government.
6. Leadership in public administration and governance.
The Centre conducts a range of specific research projects across several broad, flexible and often inter-related strands.
Our common focus across all of these research strands is on the changing relationship between governance and democracy and its implications for how communities and governments can better equip themselves to deal with complex public policy challenges.
Our specific research projects are also underpinned by a commitment to produce rigorous, theoretically informed, policy relevant and publically salient research. In all cases, we are keen to provide opportunities for our external partners in the academic, policy and wider public spheres to visit the Centre and work with us.
Our research emphasises the theory, practice and empirical study of the relationship between governance and participation; and how processes and trends such as digitalisation, democratic participation, scientific and technological innovation, cultural instability, securitisation, anti-politics, urbanisation and cross-jurisdictional policy problems challenge the way in which governance and democracy has been conventionally practiced and understood. Many of these changes are generating unpredictable and uncertain dynamics that make us rethink old questions such as who governs, how political authority is exercised, what we can do to recouple those who exercise political authority with those who are governed by it, and how governance in translated into more effective policies and regulations on the ground.
Publications
Members in the Centre for Change Governance publish traditional academic research outputs (eg books, journal articles and book chapters), commissioned and non-commissioned reports, submissions, research notes or papers aimed mainly at a policymaking audience (eg the IGPA Insights Series) as well as other pieces that are primarily aimed at influencing public debate (eg in The Policy Space or The Conversation). Here, we list our traditional academic research outputs. Click on a tab below to find out more.
Over the last five years, staff in the CCG have produced 65 journal articles, 17 books and book chapters, as well as many other non-peer reviewed publications. Collective citations are well above 60,000 and many of our members are ranked in the top 100 (and sometimes much higher) of their fields internationally.
Partnerships
We work with organisations in the public, private and non-governmental sectors all over the world to develop practice-focused research, deliver courses and enhance our impact.
Our work with partners takes a wide range of forms. More information can be found by clicking on the tabs below, which divides our work in this area between our partners in industry and our partners in the higher education sector.
Please also feel free to contact us to find out how you could partner with us.
Policy Impact
Fellows in the Centre for Change Governance are committed to ensuring our research addresses real-world challenges and that our engagement activities provide pathways to smart policy solutions for governments and decision makers in business and civil society.
We achieve these outcomes through policy advice, knowledge sharing activities and providing a neutral and safe meeting point for academics, experts and policymakers.
Our Practitioner Fellows and Advisory Board of senior leaders from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors also helps to ensure that our activities remain connected with the ‘world of practice’.
We provide further detail about our activities in this area below. If they interest you then please feel free to contact us to explore how we could work with you on these and related areas.
Advising policymakers
Fellows from the Centre for Change Governance regularly get invited to advise governments and agencies on how to address critical governance challenges. This has involved Fellows working in partnership with various overseas governments and international organisations in countries such as Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Tunisia, the UK, Vietnam, and Yemen.
The United Nations Development Programme also recently commissioned Professor Mark Evans (with Professor Sultan Barakat) to undertake a study of public administration reform in Arab transition countries. The report, Defining the Challenge, Making the Change, was published in June 2015.
Sharing knowledge
Long-term, sustainable partnerships also offer an opportunity for Fellows from the Centre to share their knowledge and develop policy impact.
One prominent example is the partnership that IGPA has entered into with the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, SBS and Ipsos Mackay. This partnership has already delivered a national survey, How Do Australians Imagine their Democracy, and a curated exhibition, the Power of One! The next stage in the partnership involves members of the Centre working with these partners on another survey on trust in politics called, The Power of Us.
Many Fellows in the Centre of Change Governance also teach into the Institute’s Graduate Certificate and MPA programs. Our students take what they have learnt from these courses far beyond IGPA as they seek to bring about positive change in their respective fields of interest.
Fellows in the Centre also aim to share their latest research, opinions and insights with wider audiences through the Institute’s Blog, The Policy Space, regularly contributing features and commentaries in the press, our social media streams and the Talking Heads series, which are purpose built videos with thought leaders in public administration and public policy.
These activities are complemented by a wide range of other events that allow Fellows in the Centre to share and exchange their knowledge with specialist audiences and the wider public. These events are typically hosted by the Institute but often draw on the Centre and its expertise.
NEWS & EVENTS
The Centre for Change Governance runs and hosts a wide range of events, including workshops, conferences and seminars, that allow us to share and exchange knowledge with specialist audiences and the wider public.
The Centre for Change Governance Research Forum runs about once a month to bring together members in the Centre so that they can share and develop each other’s research. The Forum is diverse in its curation and encourages a range of different modes of presentation.
Fellows affiliated with the Centre are also actively involved in helping to facilitate other research seminars, such as the IGPA Research Seminar Series, as well as other public forums and engagement events that are hosted by the Institute. These include the Canberra Conversations Lecture Series, Democratic Conversations Uncensored and the Parliamentary Triangle Seminar Series. More information about these and other IGPA events can be found here.
Eden-Monaro byelection will be ‘very close’, according to participants in focus group research (The Conversation, 23 June 2020)
Ban on toxic mercury looms in sugar cane farming, but Australia still has a way to go (The Conversation, 22 June 2020)
APPLY FOR A PHD
CCG has a range very experienced academics available for supervising PhDs. If you are interested in doing a PhD, please click here to apply for admissions.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Scholarships are available for domestic and international applicants.
Why do a PhD with CCG? Some of our PhD students tell their stories.
TESTIMONIALS
Jenny Duxbury | For more than ten years I harbored a dream to write a PhD about the paradoxical and largely unknown world of lawyers advising federal government. As a former public sector lawyer it was a topic about which I was passionate and thought I "knew" inside out. Now eighteen months into my PhD at IGPA I am immersed in my research on the role of lawyers in policy and every day I learn something new. On my research journey I have been exposed to a wealth of new theories and research methods through the Institute's structured PhD educational program and visiting seminar series. With the guidance of my supervisors and the encouragement and the IGPA research community I am slowly shedding my habitual legalistic way of thinking and beginning to see my topic with fresh eyes. One of the best things about being here is the supportive and fun research culture: researchers and students are generous in sharing their knowledge, skills and experiences but we also get to regularly kick back together. Special mention goes to the weekly catch up over sizzling tofu at our friendly café. Contact: jenny.duxbury@canberra.edu.au |
Thaneshwar Bhusal | I am a career public servant of the government of Nepal for over a decade. The focus of my professional life is on public policymaking, service delivery and managing reforms. I have gained some substantial knowledge on these issues throughout my academic life, most notably during my first Master’s degree in Public Administration (2008) at the Tribhuvan University, Nepal and subsequently another degree on Master of Public Management (2011) at the University of Potsdam, Germany. Equipped with a decade-long professional experience and academic achievements in the field of public administration, I commenced this doctorate degree in 2014 at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis in the University of Canberra, Australia. It is a privilege to be a PhD student at the IGPA which offers a very friendly academic environment in terms of quality supervision, resources, training and capacity development programs, and several formal and informal academic events such as the weekly Graduate Research Forum. I have been greatly benefited of the Institute’s individualised support system facilitated by its professional and academic staffs. The research support services of the Graduate Research Office and other technical services provided by the Library and ITM Service Desk at the University are very timely, targeted and practical. Although a doctorate degree could be a lonely journey, I have never felt alone. In addition to friendly support from the supervisory panel members, companionship of fellow students and post-doctoral researchers, various social events such as monthly birthday celebrations and Chirstmas party are a few but to remember forever. Update: Thaneshwar has successfuly completed his PhD! |
Mick Chisnall | I am currently in the process of finalising a PhD in socio-technology at IGPA and provide external consulting services through my business, Information Ergonomics. My research interests include the application of Poststructuralist Discourse Theory (PDT) and New Materialism to the analysis of government's engagement with technology, particularly of the digital variety. This comes after a 14 year role as a senior executive with the ACT Government, most recently as founder and Executive Director of the ACT Government Information Office (GIO). Before this, I worked in both public and private enterprise starting as an analyst-programmer and moving onto operational and eventually executive management roles in the ICT industry. Prior to that, I had completed a degree in mathematical physics, preparing me for work as a teacher, actor/director, youth worker, fast-food cook and dishwasher. Perhaps my most unusual job was a three month engagement as the canine mascot for the Multiple Sclerosis Society! Good days! IGPA is just quietly a brilliant place to study. It hosts a truly world-class academic staff in a friendly, informal and supportive environment. This, within the context of the University of Canberra, named as one of the world’s top 100 young universities. Update: Mick has successfully completed his PhD. He graduated on 19 March 2019 and won the Parker Medal for most outstanding doctoral thesis for 2018 Contact: Mick.Chisnall@canberra.edu.au |
