Challenges of interagency leadership in the Australian national security sector

Download files
Access & Terms of Use
open access
Copyright: Mulholland, LM (Lily)
Altmetric
Abstract
This study explores, from a practitioner’s perspective, strategic leadership challenges in establishing interagency public sector organisations. A review of public sector management literature reveals that Western governments around the world are increasingly creating interagency organisations to address complex policy issues where traditional bureaucratic structures have been unable to do so effectively. This trend has been particularly evident in the Australian national security sector, with the formation of Border Protection Command, the Australian Civilian Corps, the National Security College, and the Australian Civil-Military Centre. A survey of the relevant literature that new interagency organisations can struggle to achieve the authority, capacity and legitimacy they require. The focus of this dissertation is a case study that examines the establishment of the Australian Civil-Military Centre, an interagency organisation established by the former Rudd Government in 2008, in which issues related to organisational authority, capacity and legitimacy are examined. Semi-structured, indepth interviews were conducted with three leaders of the Australian Civil-Military Centre. Analysis of key documentation was undertaken in order to contrast the observations of respondents with documentary evidence and to enhance the validity of the case study. A further interview was undertaken with a former leader of a different interagency organisation in order to provide supplementary insights into the challenges of interagency leadership. Additionally, as a participant-observer, the author was able to bring a personal understanding of events into the frame in order to draw lessons from hers and her colleagues’ experiences. This study, in its analysis of the literature and the case study, finds that without significant political and senior bureaucratic patronage, interagency organisations can struggle to attain the authority, capacity and legitimacy they require to be effective. This dissertation concludes with a practical framework that will assist future interagency leaders to better position their organisation to secure the long-term patronage, legitimacy and resourcing required to achieve the desired policy outcomes.
Persistent link to this record
Link to Publisher Version
Link to Open Access Version
Additional Link
Author(s)
Mulholland, LM (Lily)
Supervisor(s)
Stewart, Jenny
Meacheam, David
Creator(s)
Editor(s)
Translator(s)
Curator(s)
Designer(s)
Arranger(s)
Composer(s)
Recordist(s)
Conference Proceedings Editor(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Corporate/Industry Contributor(s)
Publication Year
2016
Resource Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Masters Thesis
UNSW Faculty
Files
download public version.pdf 931.81 KB Adobe Portable Document Format
Related dataset(s)