Who's steering the ship? National curriculum reform and the re-shaping of Australian federalism

This paper explores the repositioning of state curriculum agencies in response to the establishment of the Australian Curriculum and the key national policy organisation responsible for its development: the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). I begin with an analysis o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of education policy Vol. 31; no. 6; pp. 833 - 850
Main Author Savage, Glenn C.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 01.11.2016
Subjects
Agency Cooperation
Australia
curriculum
Education policy
Educational Change
Educational Policy
Educational Trends
Elementary Secondary Education
Federal Government
federalism
Foreign Countries
Government Role
intergovernmental relations
Interviews
National Curriculum
Policy Formation
Political Attitudes
Power Structure
Trend Analysis
Australia
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Summary:This paper explores the repositioning of state curriculum agencies in response to the establishment of the Australian Curriculum and the key national policy organisation responsible for its development: the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). I begin with an analysis of the federal Labor government's role in the early years of the Australian Curriculum reform, arguing that Labor was afforded a rare window of political opportunity that enabled the fundamental restructuring of curriculum policy at the national level, and which has significantly altered intergovernmental and inter-agency relationships. Following this, I engage with research literature that has sought to theorise the changing nature of Australian federalism in relation to schooling reform. I then present an empirical analysis based on interviews with policy-makers in ACARA and curriculum agencies in four Australian states (Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria). My analysis draws attention to three dominant trends: powerful new roles for ACARA in driving national reform and inter-agency collaboration; increased policy overlap and blurred lines of responsibility; and an uneven playing field of intergovernmental and inter-agency relationships and powers. I conclude by considering the implications of emerging reform trends for conceptualising the shifting dynamics of federalism in Australia and beyond.
ISSN:0268-0939
1464-5106
DOI:10.1080/02680939.2016.1202452