Christopher Walker

Areas of expertise

• Policy theory and policy analysis
• Regulation theory, compliance and enforcement
• Public administration, management and leadership
• Public Value

Find out more about ANZSOG's Executive Master of Public Administration

Christopher Walker is the Associate Dean (University Relations) and Academic Director of the Executive Masters of Public Administration (EMPA) of the Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). Chris is a member of the ANZSOG executive leadership team and responsible for developing and maintaining relations with ANZSOG’s 15 partner universities across Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand. Chris also contributes to the development of strategic relations with other international centers of academic expertise in public sector management, leadership, regulation and public policy. As Academic Director, Chris leads the management and delivery of ANZSOG’s core program, the EMPA. This involves oversight of ongoing program development, review and input into quality learning and teaching. Chris is responsible for the oversight of student matters as well as liaison and negotiation with expert faculty engaged in subject delivery who are drawn from across Australia, Aotearoa-New Zealand, Singapore, Europe and the US. Chris is also Subject Lead for the EMPA subject Delivery Public Policies and Programs.

Chris is a highly skilled teacher active in knowledge translation and contributes extensively to ANZSOG executive education programs, he also maintains an active program of research in public policy and regulation. Prior to joining ANZSOG, Chris was the Head of the School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia (2012-2018). Chris’s work in academic leadership was preceded by a highly successful 20 year career in the New South Wales public service working in middle and senior executive positions in the departments of health, road transport, rail safety and the NSW Cabinet Office. Christopher has extensive research, teaching and leadership experience in the fields of strategic policy, public value, policy analysis, policy transfer, regulation and compliance.

Christopher’s PhD examined regulatory reform in the Australian trucking sector. Most recent research projects have examined policy transfer, the implications of digitisation in social welfare service provision, and digital regulation and compliance in the transport sector. Christopher’s academic and practitioner experience means he is able to effectively bridge both the theoretical and applied understandings of public policy analysis and regulation in both his teaching and research. He is regularly engaged by public sector agencies in executive education and knowledge translation in the areas of public sector leadership, public value, strategic policy, policy analysis and regulatory reform. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Public Policy and Administration, Policy Studies, Australian Journal of Public Administration and Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. His most recent book is a co-edited collection on policy circulation and transfer, Baker, T., & Walker, C. (Eds.). (2019), Public Policy Circulation: Arenas, Agents and Actions. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Career Highlights:

• Approximately $270,000 in research grants, knowledge translation and commissioned works
• Outstanding record of academic leadership including the positions of;

- Associate Dean University Relations and Academic Director, Executive Masters of Public Administration, Australia and New Zealand School of Government

- Head of School, Social Sciences, University of New South Wales

- Deputy Head of School, Learning and Teaching, Social Sciences, University of New South Wales.

- Program Director, Master of Public Policy, University of New South Wales

• Extensive research, policy and advisory work with government agencies, commissions and working groups at state, national and international level.
• Extensive domestic and international governance and advisory work including;

- Governance Steering Committee Member, UNSW Centre for Law Markets and Regulation (2015 – 2019)

- European Union AEROFLEX Project (Trucking innovation and regulatory reform working group) – Sounding Board Member, 2019 – current

- Steering Committee Member- National Regulators Community of Practice (NSW), 2020 – current

- Steering Committee Member- NSW Government, Customer Service, Better Regulation Division, Regulatory Practice Oversight Committee, 2020 - current

• Editorial board service with journals of public administration
• Visiting Research Fellow, University of Strasbourg Laboratory SAGE (Societies, Actors and Government in Europe). 2016/ 2017.
• Visiting Professor, Institut Barcelona Estudis Internacionals (IBEI), Barcelona, Spain. 2018.
• Erasmus Mundas MAPP Public Policy Visiting Scholar, Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, The Hague, The Netherlands. 2019

ANZSOG programs

Dr Christopher Walker teaches in the following ANZSOG courses:

• Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA)
  - Delivering Public Policies & Programs

Recent Publications

Books

1. Baker, T. and Walker, C. Eds. (2019) Public Policy Circulation: Arenas, Agents, and Actions. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar.
2. Hadjiisky, M., L. A. Pal and C. Walker, Eds. (2017) Public Policy Transfer: Micro Dynamics and Macro-Effects. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar.

Journal articles

1. O’Sullivan, S & Walker, C. (2018), ‘From the interpersonal to the internet: Social service digitisation and the implications for vulnerable individuals and communities’, Australian Journal of Political Science. Vol. 53, pp. 490-507. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2018.1519064
2. Walker, C. (2018) ‘Policy transfer in a corporatist context: Agents, adjustments and continued innovation’, Public Policy and Administration, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 308-328. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952076718754617
3. Walker, C. (2016), ‘Neoliberalism and the reform of regulation policy in the Australian trucking sector: policy innovation or a repeat of known pitfalls?’, Policy Studies, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 72-92. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01442872.2015.1108402

Book chapters

1. Walker, C. (2020) Digital Regulation: A New Frontier for Public Service Delivery, Surveillance and Compliance. In: Sullivan H., Dickinson H. (Eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the Public Servant. Palgrave Macmillan, pp.1-17.
2. Walker, C. (2019). Collaborative interactions: Understanding transfer success in transport regulation and compliance policies. Public Policy Circulation: Arenas, Agents, and Actions. Baker, T. and Walker, C. (Eds.), Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar: 123-143.