Submission to the Productivity Commission: Inquiry Into Introducing Competition And Informed User Choice Into Human Services - Response to the Draft Report 2017

This Community Council for Australia (CCA) submission briefly outlines some of the key issues for Australia’s not-for-profit sector in response to the Productivity Commission Inquiry Into Introducing Competition And Informed User Choice Into Human Services and the Draft Report May 2017. 

This submission has been prepared with CCA members (see listing of CCA members, Attachment 1) as well as other key organisations working in the broader not-for-profit sector.  It is important to note that this submission does not over-ride any policy positions that may be outlined in individual submissions from CCA members. 

As noted in our previous submission to this Inquiry, CCA is concerned to ensure any move towards a more competitive and market based approach to Human Services acknowledges three key principles; the need to clarify the goals of human services delivery and desired outcomes by which performance will be monitored; the importance of fully understanding the complexity of the human services ‘market’; and the need to reform the contracting / tendering / funding processes of governments across Australia.   

Making human services more responsive to individual and community need is clearly desirable.  CCA supports the general direction of proposed recommendations outlined in the May Report, but remains concerned that an inappropriate application of market based ideology to human service delivery has the potential to create harm to many organisations and the communities they serve across Australia.

CCA welcomes this opportunity, provided by the Productivity Commission, to actively engage in consultation on this very important issue.

Read CCA's full submission here.