A series of Special Premiers' Conferences begun in 1990, and the estab
lishment of the Council of Australian Governments in 1992, signaled a
phase of ''cooperative federalism'' in Australia. Joint schemes of pol
icy and legislation and new national intergovernmental bodies were mad
e by a series of formal agreements. The conditions and circumstances a
re appraised in a discussion of the nature of intergovernmental coordi
nation and cooperation, and from the critical perspective of a model o
f competitive federalism. It is concluded that the initiatives, largel
y, did not represent a centralizing process, nor did they override str
ongly articulated claims for diversity. This is made clear following a
n analysis of the processes occurring in the newly established federal
institutions and from a series of brief case studies. They expressed
the continuing interdependency and underlying autonomy of state and Co
mmonwealth governments through schemes that promised to bring agreed,
joint benefits through federal solutions.