Governance and Competition

The Role of Non-profit Organisations in the Delivery of Public Services

Bibliographic Data

ID6234512
AuthorsMark Considine (The University of Melbourne, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume38
Issue1
Pages63-77
Publication date2003-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1036-1146 • E-ISSN: 1363-030X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1036114032000056251
OpenAlexW2009825253
LanguageEN
Citations received30
References cited15

The movement away from a unified public service towards the development of quasi-markets based on the involvement of private firms and non-profit organisations can be viewed as the most radical change to state-society relations since the advent of the modern welfare state. While there is a growing literature on the value this contracting regime has for governments, we know almost nothing about its impact upon the service delivery styles and mission of non-profit agencies. This study used focus groups and survey data from agencies involved in the Australian Job Network and its predecessor Working Nation . The results show that this contracting regime produced a convergence of service delivery strategies among different types of agency, higher caseloads, reduced attention to the needs of individual job-seekers and greater 'creaming' of the easiest clients at the expense of those more disadvantaged

Agency (philosophy · Business · Consolidation (business · Corporate governance · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economics · Market economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Seekers · Service (business · Service delivery framework · Sociology · Welfare state · Labor Movements and Unions · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Finance · Marketing