Development Policy Centre


The Development Policy Centre is an aid and development policy think tank based at the Crawford School of Public Policy in the College of Asia and the Pacific at The Australian National University. Devpolicy undertakes independent research and promotes practical initiatives to improve the effectiveness of Australian aid, and to support the development of Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands.
Established in September 2010 the Centre has grown in size throughout its first five years and plays an active role in facilitating dialogue and providing a research base for the Australian aid and development sector and policymakers throughout the region.
The Centre’s Director is Professor , who co-founded the Centre with its first Deputy Director, Matthew Morris. Robin Davies is the Centre’s Associate Director. was appointed Deputy Director in 2016. The Centre comprises a team of researchers and program staff, in addition to visiting fellows, centre associates, PhD students and interns. The Centre also has staff based in Papua New Guinea and Europe.

Devpolicy Blog

The Devpolicy Blog, managed by the Development Policy Centre features aid and development analysis, with a distinct focus on Australia, the Pacific and Papua New Guinea. The blog provides up-to-date coverage of developments in the aid sector, and acts as a platform for debate, analysis and discussion of varied topics such as development practice, economic and policy challenges in the region, and global development issues. The blog also summarises research by Devpolicy and the broader development community. The blog is updated each weekday, and has over 30,000 page views per month, with a broad readership that includes policymakers, politicians, academics, development practitioners and the general public. Devpolicy Blog posts are often republished by other websites and in the media.

Publications

The Development Policy Centre regularly publishes discussion papers, policy briefs and reports.
Devpolicy also makes frequent submissions to relevant and other consultations, which can also be found on the Centre’s website.
Individual researchers at Devpolicy also write academic publications for journals and contribute to books, papers and reports in partnership with researchers from other institutions.

Events

The Centre regularly hosts public lectures, seminars and roundtables that feature prominent leaders and thinkers on development issues. Podcasts of most public events are made available on the web.
Some of the distinguished past speakers to address the Centre include:
Panel events hosted by the Centre have included: the Making Pacific Migration Work forum, the Education Effectiveness and Collaboration forum, the Tuberculosis control in the Torres Strait region forum, the Engaging Business in Development Forum, the Aid from Emerging Asia forum, the Disability Inclusive Development Forum, the Gender Parity forum, and regular Australian Aid Evaluation forums in conjunction with DFAT’s ODE.

Conferences

Since 2014, the Centre has hosted the in early February at The Australian National University, in conjunction with The Asia Foundation. This conference brings together a host of key researchers, policymakers and figures in the sector to foster discussion and debate. It also provides a forum for up-and-coming academics to present their research. Interest in the conference has grown each year. The 2015 event attracted more than 300 registrants, with many more watching keynotes and plenaries via internet livestream.

PNG and Pacific Updates

The PNG and Pacific Updates are the annual flagship events organised by Devpolicy in collaboration with the University of Papua New Guinea, Asian Development Bank, University of the South Pacific, and the Asian Development Bank Institution. The update conferences provide a forum for the discussion of the latest economic, social and political developments in the region. The 2015 PNG Update was held in Port Moresby in June at the University of Papua New Guinea, while the 2015 Pacific Update was held in Suva in July at the University of the South Pacific.

Projects and partnerships

The Development Policy Centre works in partnership with a number of other organisations to produce research and foster discussion. It has provided advice and analysis to, or worked in conjunction with, the Asian Development Bank, The Asia Foundation, AusAID, CARE, the Center for Global Development, the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Oxfam, the Pacific Institute of Public Policy, the Government of Papua New Guinea, the World Bank, World Vision, OECD Development Assistance Committee, Overseas Development Institute, , the University of Papua New Guinea and DFAT’s Office of Development Effectiveness.
In addition to its core research agenda, the Centre runs several key projects and has a number of formalised partnerships with academic and research institutions in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea Budget Project

Together with PNG's National Research Institute, the Development Policy Centre completed the Promoting Effective Public Expenditure Project to better understand how PNG allocates its public funds, and how funds are provided to and used by those responsible for delivering basic services. In 2012, 360 primary and health care clinics across eight provinces were surveyed. Many of these facilities has also been prior surveyed in 2002. In 2014, the final report of the project was . It found that PNG’s primary schools have rapidly expanded over the last decade, however there were fewer services provided by health clinics.

Partnership with PNG’s National Research Institute

Following the success of the , the Centre has renewed its partnership with the . Together, they are continuing collaborative research on public resource management, fiscal and macroeconomic policies, and effective service delivery in Papua New Guinea.

Partnership with the University of Papua New Guinea

Devpolicy has had a strong and deepening relationship with the University of Papua New Guinea, in particular the School of Business and Public Policy. This partnership includes the co-hosting of the annual PNG Update conference, and initiatives to strengthen research and teaching of economics and public policy at UPNG, such as academic placements and exchanges.

Femili PNG – The Lae Case Management Centre

The Development Policy Centre provides pro-bono institutional support to , a local NGO based in Lae, Papua New Guinea, that runs a . Femili PNG’s Case Management Centre works to assist survivors of family and sexual violence to access the services they need. It began operations in mid-2014.

Australian and New Zealand Aid Stakeholder Surveys

In 2013, the Centre launched the Australian aid stakeholder survey, and repeated the survey in 2015, expanding it to cover New Zealand. The survey is designed to obtain feedback on the effectiveness of the Australian and New Zealand aid programs, and provide suggestions for their improvement. A full report of the and the results was published, and it identified several areas where the Australian aid program could make improvements.

Greg Taylor scholars

The Centre offers fellowships named after Greg Taylor AO for research on economic development related to PNG or the Pacific a period of two to three months. The Development Policy Centre invites applications from students already studying at The Australian National University or elsewhere in Australia, and from emerging economics scholars in the Pacific and PNG.

Other research

Other key areas of work for the centre include infrastructure maintenance and funding in PNG and the Pacific, Australian aid and public opinion, analysis of the Papua New Guinean economy, corruption perceptions in Papua New Guinea, and work on global issues such as a climate change and development financing.

Funding

In November 2012, the Centre attracted a philanthropic donation from the Harold Mitchell Foundation, which was matched by the Australian National University. The five-year funding has allowed the Centre to grow and take on more staff, and to particularly expand its work on Australian aid.
Additional funding was received in October 2014 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to scale up the Centre’s research program on Australian and New Zealand aid.
The Centre also receives funding from the Australian aid program for several of its projects. More details of current funding arrangements and project funding details are available on the .