A Local-State Government Spatial Data Sharing Partnership

A Local-State Spatial Data Sharing Partnership Model to Facilitate SDI Development
• Tasmanian Government Department of the Premier State and Local Government
Partnership Agreements; and
• A Protocol establishing roles and responsibilities of the State Government and
Local Government in the Queensland System of Local Government.
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(DLGRP 2006)
Dollery (2005, p. 8) examined the effectiveness of the different state partnership strategies
between Australian state and local governments and found that “the State of Tasmania
undoubtedly leads the field in terms of its whole of government approach to engaging
municipalities”. In 1999, the Tasmanian Government partnership strategy was initiated to
improve the delivery of government and have a positive influence on the government’s
social, economic and environmental strategies. Part of the Tasmanian partnership
strategy’s effectiveness was the “whole of government” approach, high level support and
well developed protocols (Dollery 2005).
3.3.5 Hierarchical Organisations and Partnerships
Partnerships operate differently from conventional organisational structures as they tend to
operate horizontally across organisations rather than vertically in the typical hierarchical
structures of government. Bergquist et al. (1995) examined the dimension of partnerships
and hierarchical organisations and identified a number of differences in their operation.
Table 3.6 highlights the differences across seven dimensions namely shared direction,
structure, systems, culture, operations, competency and leadership.
Table 3.6 Comparison of hierarchical organisations and partnerships (Bergquist et al. 1995, p. 20)
Dimension Hierarchical
Organisations
Partnerships
Shared Vision Company focus Industry or market focus
Structure Pyramidal Flat or networked
Systems Top down or bottom up Interactive
Culture Paternalistic Collaborative
Operations Productive Adaptive
Competency Function-driven Process-driven
Leadership and
management
Position-based Initiative or team based
As can be seen in Table 3.6, partnerships are not organisationally focussed but are more
process or product focussed. In terms of operation, partnerships are dynamic, and often
will be in conflict with the conventional hierarchical operations and leadership.