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The Development Policy Centre
The Development Policy Centre (Devpolicy) is a think tank for aid and development policy based at the Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University. The Centre focuses on research and promotes discussion of aid effectiveness, the Pacific and PNG, and development policy. The Development Policy blog is a platform for the best analysis of these issues. Its discussion papers, policy briefs and reports make its research available for extension and use, and its events are a forum for the dissemination of findings and the exchange of new ideas. The Development Policy Centre was established in September 2010. In April 2012, the Development Policy Centre released its first annual report summarising the progress of the Centre over its first full year of operation, 2011.

Research focus

Aid effectiveness

The Australian aid budget doubled from 2005 to 2011 and is set to double again by 2016. Yet there is a lack of analysis of Australian aid. It is a sleeper as a public and academic issue. A lack of adequate scrutiny and debate increases the risks that this massive expansion in development assistance will not be used effectively. The centre aims to promote research and public discussion of the Australian aid program (and global aid debates) to help ensure that the aid program has the largest possible impact on development.

The Pacific and PNG

The Development Policy Centre provides a forum for research and discussion on the challenges and opportunities for the Pacific island region, including PNG, with a special focus on its links – or lack of – with Australia.

Development policy

Aid is Australia’s most obvious tool for development, but it is not the only vehicle for change. Migration policy can have a significant influence on the development process, especially in Pacific island countries. So too can policies in such areas as trade and climate change. Devpolicy research into development policy has a special focus on these areas of policy interaction between developed and developing countries.

Events

In 2011, the centre hosted more than 20 events on Development Policy, the Pacific and PNG and Aid Effectiveness, including a major conference in February 2011 on the doubling of Australian aid. As of August the Centre had already hosted more than 25 events, public lectures and forums in 2012, firmly establishing its role as a meeting place and learning hub for development in the region.

Publications

The Development Policy Centre’s discussion papers, policy briefs and reports cover a broad range of topics. They are available online on their website and through the Social Science Research Network.

Blog

The Development Policy Blog, which began with the Centre in September 2010, has established itself as the region’s main blog for aid and development issues, with a rapidly growing readership and increased frequency of articles and comments.

Staff

The director of the Development Policy Centre is Professor Stephen Howes .The deputy director is Matt Morris. The Centre hosts two two post-doctoral fellows, Dinuk Jayasuria and Matt Dornan, and two visiting fellows, Margaret Callan and Robin Davies. Jonathan Pryke is a researcher full-time researcher at the Centre and Macarena Rojas the program officer. The Centre also has a number of part-time graduate researchers and PhD students, as well as a network of research associates.