Public servants should form their own co-operatives and bid for the right to provide government health, education, welfare and even emergency services, according to a new report that has won the backing of the Abbott government.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The report, to be launched by Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews in Canberra on Thursday, also calls for "mutuals" such as motoring group NRMA or insurance outfit Australian Unity to be able to take over government functions.
Mr Andrews will tell the event's audience that his government will support "out-of-the-box" thinking on service delivery.
Australia's mutuals lobby group says this "third way" could be a route for public servants displaced by the selloff of their agencies to work their way back into the game.
The report from the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) says the government, private and community sectors can all fail in different ways and that entities owned by employees or members are now best placed to step in and take over government services.
The lobby group argues the approach is in keeping with the principles of the Abbott government's Commission of Audit and the general trend for governments to retreat, wherever possible, from the direct provision of services.
Do you know more? Send your confidential tips to ps@canberratimes.com.au
The BCCM wants to promote mutuals as an alternative to government-owned functions or full privatisation, and points to the experience of the UK.
One fire brigade in England's north now operates under a PSM model, after sweeping legislative changes in 2012 supporting the principle that every government service had the potential to be delivered outside of government.
The report's authors argue that government service delivery is hampered by small budgets, a lack of competition, and short-term decision-making driven by political imperatives, and that "mutuals" such as giants Australian Unity and NRMA could provide an alternative.
The BCCM also wants opportunities for groups of public servants to quit their jobs, form co-operatives and bid against their former employers for the right to provide services.
The green paper cites the example of the Cleveland Fire Brigade in England's north-east, which is now owned by firefighters formerly employed by the local authority. It has achieved a 64 per cent reduction in property fires.
Academic and author of BCCM's report, Les Hems, said obvious options for the mutuals model in Australia might include the disability sector.
"Co-operatives and mutuals are a fundamental part of civil society, many of which already provide public services," Mr Hems said.
"People with disabilities owning a public service mutual will allow them to design and specify their services and negotiate with service providers to purchase services in bulk.
"They will be able to get better services which offer real value for money – not only for them but also for government and the taxpayer."
Minister Andrews told Fairfax on Wednesday that he wanted to pursue more "out-of-the-box" thinking on the delivery of Australia's social services.
"Our experience with more traditional ways of funding and delivering services has revealed a level of performance that falls well short of perfection," the minister said.
"And it is our task as a government to assess past policy failures with unsparing honesty, diagnose their causes and prescribe new means of doing what has to be done – only better.
"We must convince the Australian people that the 'tried and true' will not be adequate to deal with the social and fiscal challenges posed by an ageing population," he said.
