The Development Policy Centre is a think tank for aid and development policy We are based at the Crawford School of Public Policy in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University (ANU).  We research and promote discussion of aid effectiveness, the Pacific and PNG, and development policy. Our discussion papers, policy briefs and reports make our research available for extension and use. Our events are a forum for the dissemination of findings and the exchange of new ideas. We provide a unique Australian and regional meeting place for researchers and those in government and the non-government sector working on aid and development policy.

 

We are based at the Crawford School of Public Policy in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, and were established in September 2010.

 

We are currently a team of nine researchers, two research officers and a program officer. Also attached to the Centre are a number of PhD students and Visiting Fellows. The Centre is also the hub of a large network of Research Associates.

 

What we've done

In the past two years the Centre has become one of Australia’s leading sources of analysis on aid and development issues relevant to Asia and the Pacific, and also increasingly on global development issues. You can read about the content of our contributions on our Themes page, which is divided into our three pillars of core research and ten sub-themes. Our blog is now established as Australia’s most active on-line forum for discussion on aid and development policy. We have published over 30 discussion papers, five policy briefs, and made submissions to multiple government reviews. We have also hosted over 50 public lectures and seminars.

 

Individual staff at the Centre, or the Centre as a whole, have collaborated with a range of organisations in 2012, including ANU Edge, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank Institute, AusAID, CARE, the Government of PNG, the Lowy Institute, Oxfam, PNG’s National Research Institute, the Pacific Institute of Public Policy, Save the Children, the World Bank and World Vision.

 

Funding for Devpolicy

On Thursday 22 November 2012, Harold Mitchell AC announced a generous donation from the Harold Mitchell Foundation to the Development Policy Centre for $2.5 million over 5 years. The funding will support the Centre in its core functions of research and encouraging public discussion of aid effectiveness, the Pacific and PNG, and development policy. This will provide the Centre with a stable funding source, and we are very grateful to the Harold Mitchell Foundation. See press release for more details.

 

Themes

» Australian Aid

The Australian aid budget doubled from 2005 to 2011. The outlook for future growth is uncertain, but the $A5 billion that Australia is already spending on aid deserves a lot more attention than it has historically received. Australian NGOs are also an important and growing part of the aid scene and an increasing number of Australians are seeking careers in international development. To date, there has been a lack of analytical work and informed discussion to support Australia’s and Australians’ extensive and growing engagement in international development. We aim to fill that gap by research on the official Australian aid program and on non-government aid. We also undertake work on other Australian development policies, apart from aid. For example, we emphasize migration policy from a development perspective, but cover that under our theme of Pacific migration. Our work on Australian aid is divided into two themes.

 

» PNG and the Pacific

The Pacific region is one where Australia can make a decisive difference. PNG is a Pacific country of particular importance, as Australia’s closest neighbour, and in the midst of rapid change. The Crawford School of Public Policy, of which we are part, has a long tradition of economic analysis of PNG and the Pacific and we are proud to build on that. Our focus is on the economic and development challenges and opportunities facing PNG and the Pacific Island Countries, as well as Timor-Leste, with a special focus on the region’s links with Australia. We pursue this through research under four themes.

 

» Global Development Policy

Looking beyond Australian aid and development issues of special relevance for PNG and the Pacific, we are also increasing our attention to selected global development policy issues, grouped under the following four themes.