Wicked problems: do they exist and does it matter?

Recently, all kinds of problems and issues are being called wicked, not in the sense of evil, but complex, difficult to understand and resistant to solving.

This is in comparison to tame problems, which are simple, straightforward and lend themselves to traditional, linear approaches and solutions, usually related to technical disciplinary paradigms. This short paper provides a brief response to two critical questions for policy development related to this term. Do wicked problems exist and does it matter?

Topic Guides

Topic Guides are designed to be a starting point for those wishing to gain an overview of a particular issue, while also identifying sources for a more in-depth analysis and coverage of that topic.

Noticeboard

07 March 2012

In May 2011 the Federal Government announced that the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) would commence operations from 1 July 2012 and that it would initially be responsible for determining the legal status of groups seeking charitable, public benevolent institution, and other not-for-profit (NFP) benefits on behalf of all Commonwealth agencies. 

01 March 2012


The Productivity Commission has been asked to report within 9 months on Regulatory Impact Analysis: Benchmarking. The study requires a benchmarking of the efficiency and quality of regulatory impact analysis processes used by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments, as well as those of the Council of Australian Governments.
20 December 2011

On 18 November 2011, Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Senator the Hon Kate Lundy, announced the establishment of an independent panel of eminent community leaders to conduct an inquiry into Australian Government services to ensure they are responsive to the needs of Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.