Background: There are many opportunities for third sector organisations (including community organisations, peak bodies, advocates, and researchers), to influence drug policy. In the Australian context, these non-government organisations largely operate independently, avoiding potential conflicts in agendas and goals. At times though, some forms of coordination may be required, especially when a policy window of opportunity arises. Third sector collaboration and coordination in response to a policy window of opportunity has been rarely studied.
Objectives: This research examined the ways in which third sector organisations coordinated and collaborated in relation to an up-coming state Drug Summit, seeking to analyse the enabling factors and constraints to effective coordination.
Methods: The project used qualitative research methods including semi-structured key informant interviews; auto-ethnography; and documentary analysis.
Results: Historical evidence of strong coordination by the sector around a previous Summit occurred in the context of a shared external threat to established evidence-based measures. In the current period, however, there was no shared threat, compromising the impetus and ability to coordinate in this context. While the advantages of coordination were seen as “speaking with one voice” amplifying the messages, and providing the opportunity to share resources, the perceived disadvantages included the constraints it could place on individuals or organisations from acting independently and the requirement to manage diverse differences in agendas and goals. In the early stages, reaching agreement on a coordinating mechanism or body was stymied by the lack of perceived mandate by any one group.
Implications: Globally, there are many opportunities for third sector coordination; identifying and managing differences in agendas and goals and establishing a mandate are crucial for “speaking with one voice”.