Inquiry into the effects of the ongoing efficiency dividend on smaller public sector agencies

Hill, D.T. (2008) Inquiry into the effects of the ongoing efficiency dividend on smaller public sector agencies. Submitted to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit .

Abstract

Negative impact of the National Library of Australia's foreshadowed funding cuts to the Indonesian Acquisitions Project.

I understand that, as a consequence of the ‘efficiency dividend’ that the Rudd government has placed on all government agencies, the National Library of Australia is intending to make major cutbacks in its Indonesian Acquisitions Project. This has grave implications for the future of Indonesian Studies in Australia, and places our capacity to maintain world-class research in this nationally-strategic area in jeopardy. I urge your committee to ensure Indonesian Studies is not undermined as an unintended consequence of the ‘efficiency dividend’.

By way of background, the Indonesian Acquisitions Project (IAP) has enabled Australian and other universities to acquire the broadest range of current publications in Indonesia, for use in teaching and research. There are nine participant institutions besides the National Library of Australia (NLA), namely Murdoch, Monash, Flinders, and Melbourne universities, the British Library, the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), the National Library of Singapore, the ANU and ADFA. Participants pay an annual fee for the service according to a budget, which covers the costs of monographs and serials, freight/diplomatic bag and management of the service. An Australian acquisitions librarian is based in Jakarta to run the Project. If the efficiency dividend cutbacks are implemented, the NLA's representative in Jakarta would be replaced by local staff and collecting on behalf of other Australian libraries will cease.

Item Type:	Others
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Arts
Series Name:	Submission to Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit
Publisher:	Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit
Copyright:	The Author
Publisher's Website:	http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Commi...
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/16923

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