Public administrators are neither masters nor mercenaries. They are professional individuals who serve the functions of analysts, managers, facilitators, moral leaders, and stewards of public values and are called upon to be the responsible actors in a complex system of governance. It is a demanding, challenging and sometimes heroic endeavour involving accountability, adherence to the law, judgement and responsibility... Public administration theory should help public servants fully exercise their multi-faceted role.

Jocelyn Bourgon, 2007

The 2008 IPAA National Conference will be held in Sydney on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 June 2008 in the Crystal Palace Convention Centre at Sydney’s iconic Luna Park.

The pre-conference Academic Day will be held on Wednesday 18 June 2008. Academic and practitioner researchers are invited to submit proposals for papers or panels which focus key themes of the conference and the future direction and challenges for public administration theory and research. The Conference organisers particularly encourage proposals that adopt a comparative perspective and address the implications of research findings for public administrators.

The IPAA National Conference will focus on four key themes:

• Organisational Capability Building: the business of work, eg, workforce planning, performance management, governance and ethics
• Partnerships: partnering with the private sector, other departments, other levels of government, NGOs and universities, and partnering models such as Governing by Network
• Service Delivery: innovative models of service delivery, and interaction between departments and levels of government
• Communities: working with engaged communities, and unpacking ’community’.

Public sector managers face the key challenge for how to respond to these changes while strengthening the basics of public administration. Effective public administration continues to rely on four basic themes: innovation in the way the organisation is managed, effective partnerships, innovative service delivery and effective community engagement. These four core activities of public sector agencies form the basis of the National IPAA Conference 2008.

The pre-conference Academic Day will examine these four themes by asking what is shaping and influencing the activities of public sector agencies across these core functions. How might these functions change in the future and what challenges are likely to emerge? Can public administration theory explain the continued effort to ’modernise’ the structures, relationships and processes of public administration?

Academic Day papers will be published on the IPAA NSW website www.nsw.ipaa.org.au (with permission). Some papers may also be accepted for publication in the Australian Journal of Public Administration (AJPA) or Public Administration Today (PAT).

To find out more, please contact:

Conference

Craig Boaden
Manager, Membership & Sector Development
IPAA NSW
T + 61 2 9228 4023
craig@nsw.ipaa.org.au

Event logistics

Cristiana Palmieri
Event Coordinator
IPAA NSW
T + 61 2 9228 4693
cristiana@nsw.ipaa.org.au