Introduction

4.1 In conducting its inquiry, the Committee has been asked to refer to the adequacy of the ALRC’s staffing and resources to meet its objectives.

4.2 The ALRC operates in a dynamic public policy and administrative environment. This section maps current challenges to the performance of the ALRC’s functions. In particular, several organisational challenges for public administration identified in the Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration are pertinent to the ALRC. These include:

• managing increasing fiscal pressures;
• responding flexibly and contributing to broader government policy priorities—including increasing pressure to deliver in restricted timeframes and contributing to national and whole-of-government policy projects; and
• meeting rising citizen expectations for engagement with government and participation in policy design and development.

4.3 In this section of the background submission, the ALRC considers what is meant by ‘adequacy’ and provides an analysis of the scope and resourcing of past inquiries to provide a backdrop for the questions asked in this Inquiry.