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Australia's Indicator‐Based Sustainability Assessments and Public Policy
Author(s) -
Hezri Adnan A.,
Dovers Stephen R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
australian journal of public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-8500
pISSN - 0313-6647
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8500.2009.00641.x
Subject(s) - sustainability , relevance (law) , agency (philosophy) , social sustainability , environmental resource management , sustainability organizations , portfolio , sustainable development , public policy , function (biology) , scale (ratio) , business , environmental planning , environmental economics , political science , economics , geography , economic growth , ecology , sociology , social science , cartography , finance , evolutionary biology , law , biology
Operationalising sustainability has proven difficult because the concept is ambiguous and fraught with contradictions. In response, sustainability indicator systems to characterise and measure sustainable development have been developed globally. The focus of this article is on how indicators function as an instrument of policy to enhance achievement of environmental and sustainability policy in Australia at national scale. In theory, by integrating information from the environmental, social and economic domains and then feeding knowledge to a wide range of policy sectors, sustainability indicator systems may facilitate cross‐agency and ‐portfolio connectivity. Key characteristics of the various sustainability indicator systems developed to inform policy at the national level are described, noting the diverse approaches to indicator development in Australia. The structural relevance of indicator systems to the mechanisms of policy and institutions in Australia is discussed, and corresponding issues of institutional fit are analysed .