All the Best Intentions: A Review of a Sub-National Attempt at Re-Shaping the Not-for-profit/Public Sector Nexus

In 2008 the newly elected Western Australian government undertook an economic audit of the Western Australian public sector. The focus of the audit was to identify prospective efficiencies, cost savings and better ways of conducting government business in this sub-national jurisdiction. The audit considered all aspects of government business, including the relationship between the Not-for-profit organisations contracted to provide government-funded services and the government agencies procuring those services. A number of recommendations relating to the Not-for-profit/government nexus were adopted out of the audit and these included that a Partnership Forum should be established including senior people from the Not-for-profit and government sectors and which would act as a policy and practice driver, seek to recognise the value of the Not-for-profit sector, and establish a number of sub-groups—including a contracting sub-group—focused on practical improvements. The initiative was also to be evaluated on an annual basis and the subsequent report to parliament. Now, almost a decade later, this paper looks at this structure and analyses the impact it has had at a policy level and whether or not it has achieved its intended outcomes. Using a document analysis process, this paper considers the impact of the Partnership Forum and whether relationship between government and the Not-for-profit sector has improved as a result of its establishment.