Editorial

Why governance? Northern Australia is by no means exempt from the constant buzz around governance which has been a feature of Australian public life for the last decade. In one way or another – as researchers, analysts, educators and facilitators – we are all involved in projects which are related to governance and Northern Australia. At the same time we also seem to be caught up within current shifts around the nature and position of governments in northern Australia. And so we, in our small northern universities, find ourselves forming partnerships with all levels of government, industry, civil society organisations, Aboriginal organisations, and natural resource managers. As a result, we have become deeply implicated in the current government project of devolving responsibilities for service provision to individuals and communities.