The blog was born out of a desire to broaden and deepen the conversations on aid and development in the region – both the voices represented and the topics covered.
Devpolicy Blog’s first blog post, ‘Why Australia needs an aid plan’, written by then Centre Deputy Director Matthew Morris, was posted on 1 September 2010. Matthew Morris not only published this first blog, but came up with the idea of having a Blog, got it off the ground, and edited it until he left the Centre in 2011.
From just four blogs in that first month, Devpolicy moved to publishing a daily blog in October 2011 and hasn’t looked back. The blog continues to publish a daily post, as well as features on recent/unfolding events and information on events, launches and recent publications.
Over the years, the blog has been edited by a small, dedicated team. Stephen Howes has overseen the Devpolicy Blog as co-editor since 2011, in collaboration with a number of co-editors. Jonathan Pryke edited the blog between 2011 and 2015, Camilla Burkot from 2015 to 2017, Sachini Muller from 2018 to May 2019, Rohan Fox from May to mid-June 2019, Holly Lawton to November 2019 and Karen Downing from 2020 to July 2023.
Ashlee Betteridge was involved in editing the blog in various periods since 2011, and oversaw its design and functionality between 2013-2021.
The blog has undergone extensive redesigns in 2013 and 2017 to better suit readers’ needs, and continual adjustments are made to keep improving the site.
All posts published on the Devpolicy Blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This means that posts on this blog may be reposted provided that a) it is for non-commercial purposes; b) the original author of the work is credited; and c) the Devpolicy Blog is credited and a link back to the original post is included, and if any changes to the original post were made, these are indicated.
The Creative Commons licence only applies to original material published by the Devpolicy Blog and does not necessarily apply to material cross-posted from another source with their permission. Where this is the case, this is noted in the byline at the end of the post. To request permission to republish these posts, please contact the original source.
Please contact us if you have any questions regarding cross-posting and re-use.
The centre’s work is supported through funding from various organisations.
Harold Mitchell AC announced a donation from the Harold Mitchell Foundation to the Development Policy Centre of $2.5 million over five years in November 2012, which has supported the centre’s core functions, enabled it to develop its research programs and outreach work, and to run initiatives such as the annual Mitchell Oration and Mitchell Humanitarian Award. The support of the Harold Mitchell Foundation has been crucial to the centre’s growth.
Funding from the Harold Mitchell Foundation has been matched by a mix of cash and in-kind funding from The Australian National University and Crawford School of Public Policy.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided support since 2014 for us to continue our research into Australian and New Zealand aid.
We receive funding from the Australian aid program in support of our work on PNG in partnership with the University of Papua New Guinea, and for research on state and societal responses to corruption in PNG in collaboration with the University of Birmingham’s Developmental Leadership Program.
We also receive funding from the Australian aid program through the Pacific Research Program for research relating to economic development in the Pacific, including work on labour mobility.
The ANU College of Asia and the Pacific contributed to the costs of running the blog in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
We acknowledge funding and support from The Asia Foundation, The Asian Development Bank, the University of Papua New Guinea and the University of the South Pacific direct to the various conferences we co-organise.
An anonymous donor provides funding to support our PNG and Pacific Greg Taylor Scholars.
We also gratefully accept donations from the public.
“Let me say thanks to the whole team who pulls together the Devpolicy blogs – they are a big resource for our sector and get regular reading/sharing in my circles.” Matthew Maury, CEO Tearfund Australia, Chair Emergency Action Alliance, Deputy President of the ACFID Board, 2022
“The invaluable Devpolicy Blog (from the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University) has gathered the figures…” Graeme Dobell, The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 2022
“The Development Policy Centre does an outstanding job bringing together researchers – and a wide range of stakeholders – from across Australia, the Pacific, Asia and beyond.” Frances Adamson, former Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australasian AID Conference, 2019
