Public Policy Implementation and the NSW Public Health System

This book critically examines the commensurability of the Health Services Act(1997)of New South Wales (NSW)and the Performance Agreements. This book traces the New England Area Health Service''s Performance Agreements from 1997-2001 and focuses on the public policy implementation process related to their achievement. Through a range of sources like interviews, archival material and related literature the book identifies some of the key factors that influenced the Health Service Act''s implementation process. It also identifies some of the ways in which the NSW Department of Health influenced this process and the specific anifestations of commensurability between the Health Services Act and the Performance Agreements. It concludes that whilst ommensurability between the Health Services Act and the Performance Agreements was evident, its achievement was somewhat tempered through the employment of traditional public administration practices outside of the statute, in managing the implementation process and prior to the introduction of New Public Management.