Director's Desk

Tuesday March 13, 2007

Barely three months in and 2007 has already been a whirlwind of activity—for the University of Melbourne more broadly as it implements its Growing Esteem agenda, but also for the Centre for Public Policy. The major structural change that has taken place is that CPP’s ‘home’, the Department of Political Science, has recently merged with the Department of Criminology and the Sociology program to form the new School of Political Science, Criminology and Sociology. Professor Mark Considine, who served energetically as the Centre’s Director for the past five years, has been appointed to Head the new School. In introducing myself as the new Director, it is also with sadness that I farewell Mark from his post as Centre Director. We wish him every success in his new appointment. Fortunately, the CPP’s long-time Manager, Dr Lauren Rosewarne, who will be known to many of you, will continue to provide outstanding support for the public outreach and research activities of the Centre.

Under Mark’s leadership, the CPP developed strong research and knowledge transfer expertise in the areas of:

• Community strengthening and partnerships
• Network governance and social capital
• New frameworks for national policy integration and transitional labour markets
• Economic governance
• Social policy

As the incoming Director, I am committed to maintaining our research programs and public activities in these areas while also building new research and outreach programs in my own particular areas of expertise.

2006 was a big and busy year for the Centre, capped by our most successful event to date: the Governments and Communities in Partnership conference held in September, where we had 200 speakers and 525 delegates from Australia and overseas. It’s only March but 2007 looks to be equally eventful: just last month we held the From Welfare to Social Investment conference in association with our friends and partners including the Department for Victorian Communities, the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Latrobe University, the Melbourne Institute, Melbourne Citymission, the Brotherhood of St Laurence, the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales and the Ronald Henderson Research Foundation. Over 200 delegates attended this cutting-edge event which received extensive media coverage.

Stay tuned for more information about future events including the resumption of our Tuesday night forums and our upcoming symposia on water policy and higher education.

I look forward to meeting you in the Centre for Public Policy and wish you well for 2007!

Best wishes,

Professor Ann Capling
Director