Fiscal Federalism in Australia

The last election put questions about the relationship between State and Federal Government high on the Australian policy agenda. Who should do what? Who should run hospitals? Who should organise education? The Rudd Government came to power with a ten-point reform plan, which it describes as "the beginning of the long overdue reform process and the most important step so far taken in the reform of our Federation". This claim heralds significant changes in the way we live and work, but how do we judge the various proposals? Is there a framework that can be used to assess the design of these key institutions in our society?

In this course, our expert panel of presenters will tackle such questions. It will be of interest to those who work in areas which require economic and financial perspectives on the way roles and responsibilities are allocated in Australia's multi-tiered system of government. The material is approached primarily from the point of view of economics and will include political and legal perspectives. On completion of the course, participants will be able to understand and engage in discussions of policy surrounding fiscal federalism in Australia. The course is offered jointly by the University of Adelaide's School of Economics and the Centre for Professional and Continuing Education (PCE). It involves two intensive three-day classroom sessions in Adelaide.

• Course topics
• Learning outcomes
• Learning methodology
• Presenters
• How to enrol
• Further information

Course topics

Topics covered in the course include:

• The evolution of Australia's Federal arrangements;
• Comparison of Australia's contemporary Federal arrangements with those in other nations;
• Efficiency and competition aspects of federalism;
• Concepts of equity and distributive justice;
• Voting and public choice; and
• Synthesis of theoretical perspectives with reference to the current debate about how Australia's Federal arrangements may evolve in the future.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this course participants will:

• Have a knowledge of the structure of Australia's Federal arrangements;
• Have a knowledge of the historical origins of Australia's Federal arrangements;
• Have a knowledge of in-principle economic arguments surrounding the allocation of roles and responsibilities and associated financial arrangements in a federal system;
• Have a knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of Australia's federal structures and of the contemporary reform debate;
• Have a comparative perspective on Australian arrangements in contrast with federal arrangements in other advanced economies; and
• Have a capacity to apply the tools of economic analysis to evaluate alternative intergovernmental financial arrangements.

Learning methodology

To support the learning process, participants will be required to read assigned supporting material, participate in online discussions and submit assignments. The course will be supported by the University of Adelaide's online learning facilities. Participants should allow around 100 hours of out of classroom reading and study.

Participants who complete a required set of assessments will be able be to count the course towards a degree program such as the Master of Applied Economics (Public Policy) or the Professional Certificate in Public Policy.

Participants are also invited to attend the two-day conference Principles of a Modern Federal Community, which will be held in Adelaide on 26-27 May 2008, directly after the second intensive session. This is not part of the formal course content. For more information on the conference, please contact Merrilee Pillion.

Presenters

Professor Jonathan Pincus

Jonathan Pincus is Visiting Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Adelaide. Until recently he was Principal Adviser, Research at the Productivity Commission, where he worked on numerous studies including contributing to a study of productive reform in Australia's federal system. In 2005, he conducted a review of Commonwealth Grants Commission assessment methods for Australian Heads of Treasuries. Prior to joining the Productivity Commission, he held academic appointments at the University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the Australian National University and published mostly in the theory and history of public choice, trade protection and fiscal federalism. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

Professor Cliff Walsh

Cliff Walsh is Visiting Professor in the School of Economics, University of Adelaide. He is a Member of the Australian Competition Tribunal and he is currently serving as an Associate Commissioner on the Productivity Commission Research Study into Local Government Revenue Raising Capacity. Cliff has held numerous academic appointments, including as Professor of Economic Studies at the University of Adelaide and at Flinders University and as Director of the Federalism Research Centre at the Australian National University. His principal research and publications focus has been on public sector economics, public policy and intergovernmental relations. He has served as a full-time advisor to a Prime Minister, part-time advisor to several State Premiers and member of numerous Commissions and Committees of Inquiry into public finance issues. He has been an advisor to the World Bank, to the European Commission and to both developed and developing countries, on intergovernmental fiscal relations. He was Vice President of the International Association of Centres for Federal Studies from 1992 to 2000.

Professor John Williams

John Williams is Professor of Law at the University of Adelaide. He was previously at the Australian National University and has also held visiting appointments at the Universities of Cape Town and Melbourne and King's College, London. His primary research interests are in constitutional law and issues and Australian legal history. He is the author of a number of books and articles including Australian Constitution: A Documentary History (2005), (with Clement Macintyre) 'Commonwealth of Australia' in J. Kincaid (ed.), Distribution of Powers and Responsibilities in Federal Countries (2005), (with Clement Macintyre) 'Australia: A Quiet Revolution in the Balance of Power' in R. Blindenbacher and A. Ostien (eds), A Global Dialogue on Federalism (2005) and he was co-editor (with John Bannon) of The New Federalist. In 2005, he acted as coordinator of the Roundtable for Australia on the Distribution of Powers and Responsibilities in Federal Countries, which was conducted as part of the Forum of Federations' Global Dialogue on Federalism.

Dr Clement Macintyre

Mr Jim Hancock

Jim Hancock is Deputy Director, South Australian Centre for Economic Studies and Visiting Lecturer in the School of Economics at the University of Adelaide. Prior to this he was Manager, Economic and Financial Analysis in South Australian Treasury. He has a long interest and involvement in inter-governmental financial issues reaching back to his time as a Treasury Officer. His publications include (with Julie P. Smith) Financing the Federation (2001) and 'The Distributional Impact of Selected Commonwealth Outlays and Taxes and Alternative Commonwealth Grant Allocation Mechanisms: Comment', in Australian Economic Review (2002). He was a discussant at the Garnaut-Fitzgerald Forum on Commonwealth-State Funding in 2002 and a participant in Roundtables on Distribution of Powers and Responsibilities in Federal Countries (2004) and The Practice of Fiscal Federalism: Comparative Perspectives (2005) under the Forum of Federations' Global Dialogue on federalism. In 2007, he was lecturer-in-charge for Public Finance III.

How to enrol and further information

Email: pce@adelaide.edu.au
Telephone: 08 8303 4777
Fax: 08 8303 4411

A downloadable flyer for the course is available here (pdf 1MB).

Further information for University of Adelaide students or those interested in undertaking this intensive course as part of University of Adelaide postgraduate program should contact Vanessa Pollitt or view the relevant postgraduate degree information here.