Leading schools down under: Where are the real decisions made?

The past three decades have seen a world‐wide movement towards various policies and practices related to school autonomy. Much of this has been a response to globalization.Many of the policies related to it are couched in terms that suggest that the movement towards forms of school autonomy (variously called school‐based management or SBM, site‐based decision making, site‐based budgeting, self‐managing/self‐governing schools, charter schools and local management of schools) is an important approach to improving school practices to meet the changing expectations of various stakeholders and the high global demands for education in the twenty‐first century. Alongside this expectation that self‐management will lead to greater levels of performance, there is also the suggestion that having self‐managing schools will somehow empower local communities.