University of Tasmania, Australia

Dr Peter Georgelas

Graduate Research Candidate

Contact Details

Project title: Public sector grants: An analysis of complexity in modern public administration

Abstract
Rationale/Background
The Tasmanian Community Grants Program is currently divided into two major publicly funded schemes, the Community Support Levy and the Tasmanian Community Fund, with each scheme funded from different sources and each with its own client base. The Tasmanian State Government is seeking to replace the two current grant schemes using a single fund under an independent body.

Purpose
To examine, through complexity analysis, systems theory, and policy analysis, how public sector grants like the Tasmanian Community Grants Program, which are shaped and guided by central and local agencies, evolve into complex systems that produce not only social benefits but also unintended social consequences.

Problems
Specifically, the researcher is interested in the following questions:

1. What are the transaction costs of community organizations dealing with the State government in their requests for grants?
2. What levels of time and effort are organizations that are seeking grants able to allot to the application process?
3. Are some organizations that are better funded (i.e., have designated grant coordinators), more experienced (have a track record of successful grant awards), or more knowledgeable about the application process able to game the system for better results?
4. What are the effects on the clients the application seekers serve when time, energy, and monetary resources are diverted into (unsuccessful) grant applications?
5. Does the increasing level of complexity of the system (as evidenced in one respect by the number of available grants) lead to small or profound changes to the system as a whole?

Procedure/Research Design
The research effort has been divided into four main phases. The first phase will be a historical review of public sector grants like the Tasmanian Community Grants Program. The second phase will consist of sample identification and selection of key Grants Program stakeholders. The third phase will be comprised of a survey (semi-structured interviews in person and by phone) of these key agents. The final phase will incorporate a narrative policy analysis of the survey results that will highlight key problems and opportunities in the ongoing Grants Program redesign.

Keywords
Agency dynamics, community development, community grants, complexity analysis, governance theory, innovation in systems, loosely-coupled networks, narrative policy analysis, policy design, social inclusion, systems theory.