Parliamentarians?Professional Development ― The Need for Reform

This book addresses the education and training of Members of Parliament (MP) across several countries. It examines existing training programs offered around the world, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, and makes recommendations for a new approach which inclines professional development of MPs to requirements of the 21st century. Contributions in this book deal with the role of parliamentarians, and how to prepare them for their multi-faceted functions. The topics also include the importance of ethics in any curriculum; the need for a more sophisticated adult learning approach; human resource implications, and the need to reform existing training models. This book will appeal to researchers and scholars in the fields of political science and education, as well as parliamentarians interested in performing efficiently and effectively.

Adjunct Professor Colleen Lewis Dr Colleen Lewis is sole author of a monograph on the politicisation of complaints against police and co-editor and contributor to six edited book ranging across several disciplines. Dr Lewis publishes in refereed and non-refereed journals, makes submissions to parliamentary committees and commissions of inquiry and writes Opinion articles for Australian media. She has been a Chief Investigator on two Australian Research Council grants related to parliamentary studies and governance matters and is co-director of the Parliamentary Studies Unit. Hon Associate Professor, Ken Coghill PhD Dr Ken Coghill is an Associate Professor, Department of Management, Monash University. He is a former Member of Parliament (Legislative Assembly, Australian State of Victoria), and in that role served as Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Dr Coghill has been a Chief Investigator on two Australian Research Council grants related to parliamentary studies. He is the author of many submissions to parliamentary and government inquiries on parliamentary and governance matters and is co-director of the Parliamentary Studies Unit.