Grand alibis: how declining public sector capability affects services for the disadvantaged, is a major report from the Centre For Policy Development’s Effective Government Program.
Grand alibis is built around one key question: has contracting out services improved the public sector’s capability to address persistent disadvantage and meet complex needs?
It finds that government’s role in designing and delivering integrated, flexible and holistic human services is more important than ever, but that the capabilities it needs to do so are under threat.
Grand alibis finds that outsourcing has eroded the experience, skills and policy toolkits that the public sector needs to develop the best policy responses – whether these are deployed publicly, privately or as part of mixed models.
Grand alibis argues that blurred responsibility for underperforming services means that no one organisation is held accountable when these problems become entrenched.
But while government can temporarily avoid blame, its fundamental long-term accountability for advancing wellbeing and addressing disadvantage means it cannot afford to lose the capabilities needed for these tasks.
Grand alibis examines Australia’s outsourced employment services system as a case study.
Despite continued efforts to improve outcomes for the most disadvantaged jobseekers, better results remain elusive.
As with other key services, designing and delivering more effective employment services is a formidable and complex task. There are no easy answers or off-the-shelf solutions.
Grand alibis reveals that some consequences of the current model, such as barriers to collaboration and flexibility, make delivering well-funded, integrated and responsive services even more difficult than it needs to be.
The disconnection between policymakers in government and the experience, expertise and capabilities needed to develop and deploy better alternatives, makes the challenge even greater.
Grand alibis makes three key recommendations for a strengthened, ongoing and transparent framework for making decisions about how to design and deliver effective government services – especially in cases of complex, entrenched disadvantage.
Following the Harper Review, reforms to increase choice and contestability in human services must acknowledge and protect the public sector capability needed for government to play a range of design, commissioning and delivery roles in an increasingly complex human services landscape.
The report recommends that governments:
