Abstract:This paper considers the problems involved in coordinating policy in a federal system. It examines the programs developed to control petrol‐sniffing in South Australian Aboriginal communities and analyses the processes which determined policy outcomes. Both intergovernmental and intragovern‐mental factors are identified as contributing to the failure to achieve coordination. The particular characteristics of Aboriginal Affairs as a concurrent constitutional responsibility combined with its position as a client‐specific portfolio impede efficiency in matters of funding, definition of administrative jurisdiction and political commitment to cooperative a