Exploring institutions

Concurrent with the stakeholder consultation was a series of workshops and meetings involving policy makers and lobbyists experienced in rangelands and Western Division natural resource issues. The objective was to develop recommendations for change in the content and administration of natural resource management policy and legislation. It became apparent that simplification of these institutions was necessary, while at the same time enhancing land use sustainability and increasing the resilience of both the resource base and the community to environmental and economic shocks. 

Representation at these workshops and meetings was diverse and included local government, politicians, state resource management agencies and non-governmental organisations with interests in Aboriginal issues, heritage conservation, regional development, infrastructure planning, agricultural production, and biological conservation. Participants were asked to act as knowledgeable people and not necessarily represent the views of the organisation they worked for. For many it was their first chance to exchange ideas with such a wide representation of other policy makers. Representatives from the stakeholder consultation also participated to promote an exchange of ideas between stakeholders and policy makers.

A history of land use and institutions

Before we could recommend changes in institutional approaches it was necessary to understand the evolution of institutions in the region. A timeline of the Division since colonisation was developed from historical and personal sources. It included information on settlement, provision of water, land use, technology, transportation, laws, biodiversity,  weather, fire, markets, agricultural production and social change. The timeline helped participants explore the complex relationships between institutions and changes in the environment, society and economy. It also helped identify factors which contribute to change in the sustainability and resilience of land use in the Division.

>>> View draft paper (PDF 373Kb)

Analysis of constraints and opportunities

The project team prepared a review of current legislative controls in the Western Division to complement the historical timeline. (Abel, Farrier, Tatnell Mooney 1999) The review identified over forty Acts of Parliament that influence natural resource use. It advocated changes that would enhance resilience and reduce the cost and complexity of administration. In a parallel exploration of future possibilities, social and economic outcomes were modelled for five different scenarios: business as usual, agricultural enhancement, expansion of conservation, increase in tourism, and growth of the minerals industry. The consequences of each scenario for soil erosion, shrub encroachment, carbon storage and conservation of biodiversity were also estimated.

Visualising complex relationships

Emerging from these analyses and subsequent workshops was a model of the influence of laws, policy, economy, society and environment on land uses across the Division. The model includes hundreds of factors and interactions. To simplify its interpretation, diagrams called ‘causal trees ’were used to show the influences that either promote or hinder the land use interests of each stakeholder sector. Causal trees were refined during the workshops and participants began to propose institutional changes that would enhance the interests of each sector whilst minimising conflict and maintaining simplicity, sustainability and resilience. Results from the stakeholder consultation, for example the strong support for multiple land use, were used to seed ideas for institutional change.

>>> An example of a Causal Tree (PDF 56 KB)   >>> All Causal Trees (PDF 443 Kb (A3))

Portfolios for institutional change

Through the workshops and meetings five portfolios were developed by policy participants, one for each stakeholder sector. Additional proposals were developed by the research team to promote unconventional changes that might enhance outcomes for all sectors. Within these portfolios 174 proposals for institutional change were developed. Each proposal details the sector targeted, the intent of the changes proposed, the method of implementation, the impact on other sectors and the perceived importance of the changes taking place. Summaries of these proposals are available with links to the full set of recommendations. 

The sole involvement of policy makers in the analysis and design of policies and legislation introduces the risk of arriving at proposals that maintain the status quo, or minimise disruption to the organisations represented. To encourage participants to think beyond current arrangements research staff proposed an organisational restructure that would promote integration between sectors and significantly streamline planning and decision making.

Researchers' proposal for organisational restructure

State agency, local government and community committee arrangements are often internally complex, over-redundant and unconnected between organisations in the Western Division. Merging community resource management committees, local governments and existing catchment management boards to form two Regional Councils was proposed to overcome these inefficiencies. 

The Councils would coordinate strategic socio-economic and natural resource planning for the region. They would implement  development approvals, collect rates and provide traditional local government services. Local representatives would be included in many of the functions currently provided by resource management committees. Relevant state agencies would staff the technical and regulatory sections of the Councils, funded by  appropriate transfers from agency budgets to the new Councils.