Reforming the Australian Federal System in Rural Regions - Case Study Example

A Proposal for Reforming the Australian Federal System: The Case of Rural Regions Name: Grade Course: Tutor’s Name: 8th October, 2010 Introduction In the current globalised world, systems and organizations have to find ways in which they can be adaptive, effective and efficient. In order to be effective, adaptive or efficient, there are factors the systems have to consider. Factors such as what can lead to efficiency, what causes lack of efficiency and what can help the system achieve adaptability with the current rapid changing global world. Federalism is a system of governance and just like on local, regional or international organizational management; change in the federal system has to be well managed. This means that all the factors that lead to change in the organization monitored and controlled to avoid loss or lack of achieving of organizational objectives. The same applies to federalism. A system of governance has to respond to the changes of the world in a way that will make it effective in its roles. Australian federal system has been under criticism as one not responding in an appropriate manner that can enable the nation cope with globalization (Brown & Bellamy 2007, p. 3). In other words, Australians federal system’s relevance in the globalised world is under question. So many experts have analyzed the system and have come up with different ideas on what the federal system should be, citing areas of irresponsibility, inefficiency or insufficiency in the system of governance (Brown & Bellamy 2007, p. 3). Wiltshire for example relates the Australian federal system to that of a marble cake in which most of the powers have shifted to the common wealth government leaving the states with very few powers hence inefficient operation of government roles at state level (Brown & Bellamy 2007, p.186). He describes the disadvantages of this kind of federalism and proposes a suitable federal system that should be adopted, but this is not what this proposal is about. Because of such faults there is need for reform in the Australian federalism. When there is a proposal for a reform, the question that comes to one’s mind is; why is the reform needed? In what areas is the reform needed and for what reasons. If the reform is to take place, will it solve the problems mentioned? What negative effects can the proposed reform have and is it better than having the current system? The effects of the current federalism lead to the need for reform in specific areas. According to Brown & Bellamy (2007, pp. 57-94) the current Australian federal system does not provide good governance for the coastal areas that have increased tourist activities, increased population and increased economic activities among so many others, the current system does not effectively, adaptively and sufficiently cater for the growing urban areas, and does not support the rural development in relation to the current trends of the world. In order to be an effective and efficient government that cares for its people, it has to address the issues affecting the people. This is a proposal to reform Australia’s federal system in order to deal with the issues affecting the rural regions. There are issues on urban and coastal regions as well but in this proposal only the rural regional governance and its problems is covered. The proposal takes the opinion that has been previously proposed that restructuring and amalgamation of existing local and state governments into a new level of government. The system would now have common wealth government, regional government, state government and local government but governance changed to regionalism, amalgamating states and local governments. The Australian Federal System Australia’s federal system came into existence in 1901 after the enactment of the constitution. The founders of the federal system intended it to be layer cake federalism in which each level of government was separate, has its own revenue sources, self governing and has its own expenditure functions. This has changed over time and the current Australian federal system is more centralized with more powers to the common wealth (Twomey & Withers 2007, p. 4). It has three levels of government, the federal, the state and the local government. The Federal government enacts laws in areas telecommunications, patents and copyrights, customs, taxation, external affairs, industrial relations of more than one state, defence, money, immigration, territories and social security (Bruce 2005, P. 5-7). Each state government has its own parliament and its own constitution. The state governments are responsible for transport, water, education, industrial relations, urban planning, housing, wills, family services, local government, corporations law, and so many other responsibilities as listed in the Australian constitution (Bruce 2005, P. 5-7). Local governments in Australia are not recognized by the constitution and therefore are formed by the state governments. Each state government controls its formed local government but in some cases, the federal government funds local governments for specific federal functions. This is even the reason why the Australian federalism is no longer considered that of each level having its sovereignty. The federal government has taken so much power due to certain constitutional changes and court judgments making it cross boundaries to directly fund or delegate duties to the local government. These however have never been constitutionally recognized or assigned (Bruce 2005, P. 5-7). The local governments according to Bruce are responsible for cabbage collection, development applications in pathways and roads, reserves and local parks and issues to do with local amenities (2005, P. 5-7). This structure of government from just a brief description seems to be an effective one since the levels of government each has its responsibility and it seems states delegate their duties well to the local government if need be. The system of governance is however not effective, the structure of the government may be available but the work done with such a structure is not efficient, effective and satisfactory. This is evident in the literature produced about Australian federal system problems (Brown & Bellamy 2007, pp. 57-94). Reasons for Need for Reform Consider the rural problems. The reason why the rural region is suffering is because of the current system of governance that does not understand what is required in the rural regions for developments to take place. According to Peters in Brown & Bellamy’s “Federalism and Regionalism in Australia” (Brown & Bellamy 2007), very little is understood by the policy makers, decision makers and governors of the nation who consider the rural region to be of little importance (2007, p. 60). The decision makers, policy makers and governors as well as those involved in the governance of the nation in one way or the other do not understand how the human and social changes affect the rural regions and so have little knowledge enough for decision making regarding such regions. Rural infrastructure development is reducing and there are not enough government funds to ensure that there are efficient roads to serve the rural people of Australia as well as the Nation (Brown & Bellamy 2007, P. 61-62). For the agricultural sector and regional Australia to grow, it has to compete with other regions and match the level of growth and development in the world. The rural areas therefore need good infrastructure to be able to connect roads to ports, or railways to ports, roads to railways and good telecommunication systems, energy and water (Brown & Bellamy 2007, P. 61-62). In Australia, rural areas still have transport problems with accessibility being a major one (Shahbakhti, 2005) yet the approach taken by the government to handle infrastructure development in the nation is city centric (Brown & Bellamy 2007, P. 60). Infrastructure development in metropolitan areas in Australia is carried out through public-private relationships which are not feasible in the rural areas. This is because in the rural areas, there is lack of regulatory impediments, political will and the areas are faced with tax collecting difficulties (Brown & Bellamy 2007, P. 61). Another major problem in the rural areas is inaccessibility to education of it can as well be termed inequality in education (Doolan & Zimmer 2002 & Argy 2007). According to Doolan and Zimmer, Australian rural students suffer the greatest education disadvantage and this is worse in families that cannot afford enough income to take their children to certain schools (2002). Families of those unemployed, miners, farm laborers, shearers and rural workers are unable to pay for the education cost even though the costs are cut by the government while the well off families are able to deal with the disadvantage due to distance by sending their children to boarding schools. Peters indicated that very few students finish school in the rural areas and a good number of them (1.7 times that of those living in metropolitan areas) are likely to die from alcohol abuse. This shows high level of neglect of the people living in rural areas (Brown & Bellamy 2007, p. 62). These are just two problems that eventually lead to the other. There are others like the mental health of people living in rural areas is higher than that living in metropolitan regions and one of the contributing factors is lack of access to mental health care. The lack of access is also contributed to by lack of affordable transport. There is high inequality in provision of health care services, job opportunities and the quality of life (Brown & Bellamy 2007, p. 62). The other reason for need for reform considering the rural sector is the inability to respond to the changes that take place in the rural settings that in turn lead to factors such as decline in development, decline in infrastructure, and decline in provision of public services and so on, all due to changes such as population decline. Some parts of rural Australia are characterized by low educational attainment, low income and high unemployment rates, especially in areas where the indigenous Australians live (Chenhall & Senior 2009, p. 35). The current government system ignores the long term costs of making decisions not knowing decisions made without understanding the rural regions’ social, economic and political issues will impact the whole nation’s economy and overall development. A nation’s unemployment rate is of concern since it means with more people unemployed, more have no income hence affecting the economy of the country. Decisions made should therefore consider what impacts such decisions will have on the nation’s economic contributors. Australia’s decision making on development and government is city centric, like the rural regions mean nothing, but considering what contributions these rural regions make to the economy of the nation, such trend should change (Brown & Bellamy 2007, P. 60). High unemployment rates are also another major problem in the rural areas. Drought may have caused some problems in the agricultural sector but the change in structure of the economy also contributes a lot to the employment problem in rural regions. In rural South Australia for example, the rate of unemployment as at December 2001 was 10.4% while the national unemployment rate was 8.1% at the time, a higher rate than even the national rate (Sidoti 1998). According to Peters in Brown & Bellamy (2007), there are not enough skills or appropriate skills to be employed in different sectors. Most people in the rural regions do not have the skills needed to perform jobs and this is because the training has not kept pace with the changes in the agricultural sector (p. 63). Only 6% of the workers in the sector have bachelors degree qualifications or higher while most workers in the sector (23%) have less than 10 years education. What factors contribute to this lack of adaptation to change in areas of employment? As indicated before, it is the regional governance system that fails to make the changes (Brown & Bellamy 2007, p, 63). Training/education needs to be affordable to the people it is being offered to and it needs to be accessible as well. This does not happen in the rural regions and as explained earlier, several reasons make it not possible, one of them being the inefficient and insufficient infrastructural systems. So many problems have been discussed and their cause also shown. The reason why there are such problems in the rural regions is because of the decline in population which has led to decline in a lot of things like provision of public services, decline in investment by private businesses and banks and even decline in funding (Brown & Bellamy 2007, p. 60). If such trends continue, it would seem as if the current government does not want the rural regions to exist, since they will lag behind in most of the things and will continue being disadvantaged. It will also contribute to the nation’s inability to produce skilled manpower with low education attainment rates. It is of importance that regional governance for such regions be changed for better life of the people and better economy, growth and development for the Australian nation. Proposed Reform The system of governance of a nation is more than just formulation of a structure of governance. Australia has a well structured federal system but cannot deliver to its people like in the rural, coastal and urban regions. From the facts described above, it is clear that regions should be given the capacity to solve their own problems since different regions have different problems that cannot be solved nationally or through states. The definition of regions also differs and different states can be considered as different regions, but in this case, regions are urban, coastal or rural. The proposed reform is that of regional governance which in this case is considered as the processes, structures and relationships that help in decision making about rural, urban or coastal development, in which power is shared and exercised in Australia. Regional governance as proposed here should be connected to the three levels of Australian government in achieving its aim of meeting the needs of specific people in specific regions (rural, urban and coastal) especially to ensure sustainability and liveability (Bellamy & Brown, n.d). Within one state for example Queensland, there may be so many rural, coastal and urban regions all with different issues and needs. At the state level, it is not easy to identify the problems and solve them. Just like Peters indicated, the policy makers, decision makers and governors at the national level do not understand the problems at the community level (Brown & Bellamy 2007, p. 61-62). In order to ensure efficiency, adaptability and sufficiency, the Australian Federal system should provide communities with regions and strengthen regional governance at the regional levels so that each region develops and solves its problems. This system would influence the kind of policies developed, the kind of programs and projects funded and the kind of development going on in the regions. Regional governance means engaging the government into the community so that each region forwards its problems to the relevant government level of governance and this influences decision making (Hellmuth & Russell, n.d,). In a state level of governance for example, if a rural region has unemployment problems due to lack of skills, the citizens would put forward the need for educational institutions. State funding goes to all regions of the state and determination of what is required in a specific rural area without community engagement does not understand what the people need. An easier and appropriate way to ensure the rural area gets what they need is through analysis of what the region requires and how it can be achieved (Innes & Booher, 2003). Prioritizing is also important which makes regional planning important. It would be appropriate to assign regions their own capability to develop and solve their problems which also improves public sector capability (Hellmuth & Russell, n.d,). Morrison and Lane (2006) indicate that those who believe in regional governance promote it because it improves the democracy and functionality of governance and also facilitates sustainable regional development. In the current world, globalization applies pressure on various activities from business to government activities (Bagghi 2008, p. 41). Something sustainable is something that satisfies the needs of the people it serves without affecting the future needs or the capability to satisfy future needs (Clayton & Radcliffe 1996, p. 1). Because of globalization pressures, activities, businesses and even governance should be done in such a manner that ensures sustainability. Ability to cope with change without affecting future capability of survival, income generation (for a nation), quality of life, the economy and other important factors that affect human life in a negative way. If regional governance can promote sustainability, it is necessary to adopt it in Australian governance. Expected Negative Effects of the Proposed Reform The current growth and development state of Australian rural regions is far behind compared to metropolitan areas (urban and coastal regions) as evidenced by facts described above. Educational attainment is very low contributing to high unemployment rates, there are very few people living in the rural areas contributing to the decline in development activities, the people lack some basic public services like health care, education and transport, while in the metropolitan areas they have got enough facilities for such services (Brown & Bellamy 2007, Pp.61-63). Advocating for regional governance means the urban regions will even be far much ahead than the rural regions unless priority is given to the rural regions. It is however better than national level or state level interventions that has not succeeded in eliminating the problems of rural regions. Urban regions and coastal regions also have their problems that will be solved regionally and so this system would promote sustainability nationally if adopted. Conclusion What are the problems identified in the rural regions? There are high rates of unemployment, low educational attainment, decline in public funding, decline in infrastructural development, reduced services such as in health, business and so on, and low income. One problem with the current federal system is the inability to govern the changes in the rural sectors. It is like the rural sectors are being ignored and their contributions to the economy not considered of much importance to the country. This is because of the manner in which decisions are made in the current government that lead to certain costs that are not visible to the decision makers and the human and social impacts of change that affect the rural areas that are not effectively addressed by the government. By adopting a regional governance approach, decision making at the top level of governance will be influenced by information brought forward from different regions if the regions are given the capacity to identify their problems and solve them. The regional approach promotes sustainability which is very important in the current globalised world. It may be difficult to implement and there may be resistance to its implementation, but it is the most efficient way to deal with Australian problems and help the Australian federal system cope with the changes brought about by globalization. References Argy, F, 2007, Education Inequalities In Australia, Institute of Advanced Studies, Issue 5. The University of Western Australia. Viewed on 6th October, 2010: Bagghi, A, 2008, Globalization and Federalism: Uneasy Partners? Economic and Political Weekly. Bellamy, J, and Brown, A, J, n.d, Regional Governance in Rural Australia: An Emergent Phenomenon of the Quest for Liveability and Sustainability? A Research Study on the Trends and Nature of Regional Governance. Viewed on 6th October, 2010: Brown, J. A and Bellamy, J. A., 2007, Federalism and Regionalism in Australia: New Approaches, New Institutions? ANU E Press, Bruce, L, 2005, Understanding Australian Government: Local, Sydney: Macmillan Education Aus. Chenhall, R and Senior, K, 2009, Those Young People All Crankybella” Indigenous Youth Mental Health and Globalization, International Journal of Mental Health, 38, (3), Pp. 28–43. Clayton, M, H, A and Radcliffe, N, J, 1996, Sustainability: A Systems Approach, London: Earthscan. Doolan, W, and Zimmer, E, 2002, Australian Rural Students Face Severe Disadvantage, World Socialist Website, The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). Viewed on 5th October, 2010: Hellmuth, M,and Russell, A, n.d, A Case Report - Regional Governance : Central Queensland, Australia, Queensland Department of Main Roads. Viewed on 5th October, 2010: Innes, J.E. and Booher, D.E. (2003). The impact of collaborative planning on governance Capacity. Working Paper 2003-03. Institute of Urban and Regional Development, University of California, Berkeley. Morrison, T, and Lane, M, 2006, The Convergence of Regional Governance Discourses in Rural Australia: Enduring Challenges And Constructive Suggestions, Journal of Rural Society, 16(3), Pp. 341-357. Shahbakhti, R, 2005, Application of the Transport Needs Concept To Rural New South Wales : A GIS-based Analysis, A Thesis. Viewed on 7th October 2010: < http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/unsworks:772> Sidoti, C, 1998, Human Rights In Regional, Rural And Remote Australia, An address to the South Australian State Conference of the Country Women’s Association, Peterborough on 24th September 1998, Australian Human Rights Commission. Viewed on 6th October, 2010: Twomey, A, and Withers, G, 2007, Australia’s Federal l Future, A Report for the Council for the Australian Federation. Read More

There are issues on urban and coastal regions as well but in this proposal only the rural regional governance and its problems is covered. The proposal takes the opinion that has been previously proposed that restructuring and amalgamation of existing local and state governments into a new level of government. The system would now have common wealth government, regional government, state government and local government but governance changed to regionalism, amalgamating states and local governments.

The Australian Federal System Australia’s federal system came into existence in 1901 after the enactment of the constitution. The founders of the federal system intended it to be layer cake federalism in which each level of government was separate, has its own revenue sources, self governing and has its own expenditure functions. This has changed over time and the current Australian federal system is more centralized with more powers to the common wealth (Twomey & Withers 2007, p. 4). It has three levels of government, the federal, the state and the local government.

The Federal government enacts laws in areas telecommunications, patents and copyrights, customs, taxation, external affairs, industrial relations of more than one state, defence, money, immigration, territories and social security (Bruce 2005, P. 5-7). Each state government has its own parliament and its own constitution. The state governments are responsible for transport, water, education, industrial relations, urban planning, housing, wills, family services, local government, corporations law, and so many other responsibilities as listed in the Australian constitution (Bruce 2005, P. 5-7). Local governments in Australia are not recognized by the constitution and therefore are formed by the state governments.

Each state government controls its formed local government but in some cases, the federal government funds local governments for specific federal functions. This is even the reason why the Australian federalism is no longer considered that of each level having its sovereignty. The federal government has taken so much power due to certain constitutional changes and court judgments making it cross boundaries to directly fund or delegate duties to the local government. These however have never been constitutionally recognized or assigned (Bruce 2005, P. 5-7). The local governments according to Bruce are responsible for cabbage collection, development applications in pathways and roads, reserves and local parks and issues to do with local amenities (2005, P. 5-7). This structure of government from just a brief description seems to be an effective one since the levels of government each has its responsibility and it seems states delegate their duties well to the local government if need be.

The system of governance is however not effective, the structure of the government may be available but the work done with such a structure is not efficient, effective and satisfactory. This is evident in the literature produced about Australian federal system problems (Brown & Bellamy 2007, pp. 57-94). Reasons for Need for Reform Consider the rural problems. The reason why the rural region is suffering is because of the current system of governance that does not understand what is required in the rural regions for developments to take place.

According to Peters in Brown & Bellamy’s “Federalism and Regionalism in Australia” (Brown & Bellamy 2007), very little is understood by the policy makers, decision makers and governors of the nation who consider the rural region to be of little importance (2007, p. 60). The decision makers, policy makers and governors as well as those involved in the governance of the nation in one way or the other do not understand how the human and social changes affect the rural regions and so have little knowledge enough for decision making regarding such regions.

Rural infrastructure development is reducing and there are not enough government funds to ensure that there are efficient roads to serve the rural people of Australia as well as the Nation (Brown & Bellamy 2007, P. 61-62).

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