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Vice Chancellor's welcome to the Public Policy Institute
Public policy is a very significant area of shaping and reforming cultural, social, economic and political structures that have wide ranging effects on people, their attitudes and manners of thinking. Good public policy not only requires a proper understanding of the complex causative factors in issues affecting society but also of where and how the common good and justice can be best promoted. In order to respond to this mandate, Catholic universities need to be actively involved in the processes of forming public policy.
With this in mind, the Australian Catholic University established the ACU Public Policy Institute in 2009. The Institute’s major objectives are to:
Critique, inform and influence public policy from within a Catholic intellectual tradition, drawing on the collective knowledge of the University and its multidisciplinary research programs and projects, policy centres, and community engagement initiatives.
Concentrate its endeavours on the inter-relationships between economic, social, cultural, and human rights aspects of public policy.
Focus initially on public policy within Australia and internationally in the priority areas of the health, education, and social sectors, the dignity of human life and social inclusion.
Bring a distinctive, politically objective perspective to the public policy discourse, and engage in ethical advocacy based on the social and other teachings of the Church and the Catholic identity and mission of the University, by promoting the common good, which is the very reason for the existence of political authority (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1910).
We hope you will visit the site often for information relevant to the policy challenges facing Australia and the world, particularly as they relate to the work of the Catholic Church and its agencies. As always, we welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions.
Greg Craven
Vice-Chancellor
