Analysis of public policy has formed the core of my working life. I feel fortunate to have been involved in many of the key changes in policy development processes that have taken place over more than 40 years. I’ve watched, participated – even occasionally influenced – from vantage points in academia, public administration, corporate boardrooms and the not-for-profit sector. I’ve practised and preached. From that variety of perspectives I warmly welcome this well-edited book which, through its varied contributors, reflects thoughtfully on many of the important dimensions of policy change and innovation.

A generation ago, in 1987, I moved from academia to the public service. I was Head of the Department of Economic History at the University of New South Wales: I became Head of the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C). I relocated the short distance from Sydney to Canberra, but I quickly began to understand that I had travelled between two different worlds. Over time, learning by doing, I came to look at public policy with different eyes. I found few books to guide me on my journey.

Even as an Associate Professor I had sought to influence government decisions, particularly on migration issues. In truth, my approach to political persuasion was pretty ineffectual. As an academic I wrote scholarly papers on the economic consequences of immigration to Australia and tested hypotheses on the influence of racial and ethnic discrimination on labour market outcomes. As a consultant I provided advice to governments through papers on settlement and multicultural issues that were commissioned by the Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales, the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs and the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs. As a community advocate I worked on a voluntary basis for the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils, writing and lobbying – and even, on occasion, publicly protesting – in support of a more liberal migration regime.

In 1984, at the height of fierce public debate on Asian migration, I co-edited a volume on The Great Immigration Debate. It was quite successful, going through a number of editions and being recorded as an audio book.