The Development Policy Centre (Devpol) 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. Devpol undertakes independent research and promotes practical initiatives to improve the effectiveness of Australian aid, to support the development of Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands region, and to contribute to better global development policy.
Established in September 2010, the centre plays an active role in providing a research base for, and facilitating dialogue among, the Australian aid and development sector and policymakers throughout the region.[1]
Devpol's director is Professor Stephen Howes, who co-founded the centre with its first deputy director, Matthew Morris. Robin Davies was the centre's associate director until 2017. Matthew Dornan was deputy director from 2016 to 2019. The current deputy director is Ryan Edwards.[2] Devpol comprises a team of researchers and program staff, in addition to visiting fellows, centre associates, PhD students and interns with staff based in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and NSW South Coast, Australia, as well as in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
Devpolicy Blog
The Devpolicy Blog, managed by the Development Policy Centre (Devpol) features aid and development analysis, with a distinct focus on Australia, the Pacific and Papua New Guinea.[3] 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 summarizes research by Devpol 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
Devpol regularly publishes discussion papers, policy briefs and reports.[4]
Devpol's discussion paper series disseminates high-quality preliminary research relevant to the Development Policy Centre’s focus areas through the Social Science Research Network, with the aim of stimulating discussion and comment.
Devpol's policy briefs are shorter documents, tied to specific issues that are often current or timely, and provide informed and targeted recommendations.
Devpol's reports are larger research efforts, sometimes representing the culmination of a particular research project, and are not intended for subsequent journal publication.
Individual researchers at Devpol also write academic publications for journals and contribute to books, papers and reports in partnership with researchers from other institutions.
Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies
The editorial office Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies (APPS) journal is based in the Development Policy Centre in Canberra. Devpol director Professor Stephen Howes is the Editor-in-Chief, and is supported by an Editorial Board.
APPS is the flagship journal of the Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University. It is a peer-reviewed journal that targets policy-relevant research in Australia, Asia and the Pacific. Its disciplinary focus includes economics, political science, governance and development studies, and environmental management. The goal of the journal is to break down barriers across disciplines, and generate policy impact.
The journal is published online three times a year by Wiley. All APPS articles are open access and freely available to read and download from Wiley Online Library.
Devpol 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 Devpol's website.
Panel events hosted by Devpol have included: Making Pacific Migration Work (2010), Measuring Poverty and Gender Disparity (2011), Tuberculosis Control in the Torres Strait Region forum (2012), Disability Inclusive Development Forum (2013), Gender Parity Forum (2014), Can the SDGs be Achieved by 2030? (2015), New Research on Pacific Labour Mobility (2016), Women, Peace and Security: A New Global Index (2017), PNG Aid Evaluation Forum: Drought, Roads and Health (2018), State Fragility and How to Escape It (2019), Measuring Development Impact: An Introduction (2020), Afghanistan’s Crisis: The Dangers of Genocide and Politicide (2021), and regular Australian Aid Evaluation forums in conjunction with DFAT's ODE.[15]
Conferences
Since 2014, Devpol has hosted the annual Australasian Aid Conference 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 2020 event attracted more than 700 attendees, and keynotes and plenaries were livestreamed for an online audience.[16] The conference was unable to be held in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PNG and Pacific Updates
The PNG and Pacific Updates are annual events organised by Devpol in collaboration with the University of Papua New Guinea and the University of the South Pacific. These conferences provide a forum for the discussion of the latest economic, social and political developments in the region. The 2019 PNG Update was held in Port Moresby in August at the University of Papua New Guinea, while the 2019 Pacific Update was held in Suva in July at the University of the South Pacific.[17] During the COVID-19 pandemic the PNG Update was replaced by a series ANU-UPNG seminars delivered on campus and online or exclusively online.[18] The Pacific Update was held online in 2021.[19]
Mitchell Oration
In 2012, the Mitchell Oration lecture series was created with support from the Harold Mitchell Foundation to provide a new forum at which the most pressing development issues can be addressed by the best minds and most influential practitioners of our time. (Please note that a lecture series that goes by the same name is presented by the South Australian Equal Opportunity Commission and recognises Dame Roma Mitchell’s lifelong advocacy of human rights. The Angus Mitchell Oration is an annual and long-running Rotary Club Melbourne address.) Notable speakers have included Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Donald Kaberuka, former President of the African Development Bank.[20]
In addition to its core research agenda, Devpol 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, Devpol completed the Promoting Effective Public Expenditure (PEPE) 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.[22] In 2012, 360 primary and health care clinics across eight provinces were surveyed. In 2014, the final report of the project was published.
Partnership with the University of Papua New Guinea
Devpol 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.[23] In 2022, Papua New Guinea: Government, economy and society was published by ANU Press. It is the result of the longstanding ANU-UPNG partnership. The book is edited by Devpol director Stephen Howes and dean of UPNG School of Business and Public Policy Lekshmi N. Pillai, with most contributors from the ANU and UPNG.
PNG Databases
Devpol has established comprehensive open access databases for the PNG budget, for elections, members of parliament, and economic data. Databases are maintained by Devpol researchers who use them for analysis and policy recommendations. The databases are freely available to researchers.[24]
Femili PNG
Devpol provides pro-bono institutional support to Femili PNG, a local NGO in Papua New Guinea, which runs case management centres in Lae, Port Moresby and Goroka. Femili PNG works with clients, partners and communities to improve responses to family and sexual violence through case-management, partner support, training, monitoring, research and advocacy.[25]
Pacific Research Program
The Pacific Research Program (PRP) consortium is led by the ANU Department of Pacific Affairs, in partnership with the Development Policy Centre and the Lowy Institute, and is co-funded by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the consortium partners’ parent bodies.[26] Devpol leads the PRP’s research into economic development and Pacific labour mobility, is co-host of the annual Pacific Update conference with the University of the South Pacific, and edits the Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies journal.
The Pacific labour mobility team undertakes research, and provides evidence-based policy advice, on the social and economic impacts of temporary labour migration programs between Pacific Island countries, and Australia and New Zealand. Work focuses on Australia’s Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) and Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) now known as the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM), and New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, and considers these temporary migration programs alongside other migration pathways open to Pacific Islanders within the region and other temporary migration programs globally.[27]
Australian and New Zealand Aid Stakeholder Surveys
In 2013, Devpol launched the Australian aid stakeholder survey, and repeated the survey in 2015 and 2018, expanding it to cover New Zealand. The survey was 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 2013 survey, the 2015 survey, and the 2018 survey results was published, and it identified several areas where the Australian aid program could make improvements.[28]
Greg Taylor Scholars
Devpol offers fellowships named after Greg Taylor AO (former Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund for both Australia and Papua New Guinea, and secretary of various Australian Government Departments) for research on economic development related to PNG or the Pacific for a period of two to three months. Devpol 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.[29]
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 2012, Devpol attracted a philanthropic donation from the Harold Mitchell Foundation,[30] which was matched by the Australian National University.[31] Additional funding was received in 2014 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to scale up Devpol's research program on Australian and New Zealand aid.[32] Devpol 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 centre’s website.[33]
