Competition and cooperation: coordinating services to establish a lifelong learning hub

Earlier this year, in advance of the 2005-2006 budget, the Victorian State Government released its $788 million social policy statement: A Fairer Victoria. This document details a five to ten year plan, addressing disadvantage in Victoria through five targeted elements. The fifth of these elements is a commitment to: “making it easier to work with government”. Within this commitment are two strategies for implementing change: “Changing the way we work with communities”; and “Developing better ways of working together at a regional and local level” (State Government, Victoria, 2005)...[Introduction]