Queensland's Cost Indexation for Government Purchasing of Human Services

This report provided information and findings related to the indexation arrangements established in funding
social services in Queensland. Our aim was to examine the extent to which current arrangements are
appropriate. To do this, we:
1) Described why the current arrangements for indexation in Queensland are inappropriate
2) Examined the indexation methodology used by the Queensland government in its procurement of
social services
3) Collected data from social services organisations that allowed us to assess the extent to which the
economic sustainability of the sector is improving or weakening over time
4) Compared our assessment of the change in sustainability over time with the indexation methodology
used
5) Examined indexation methods used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in order to identify
alternative existing indexation methods that can be efficiently implanted immediately
6) Compared those indexation calculations made by the ABS and used them to develop a proxy for
indexation by combining and/or adjusting their components in order to align with the cost increases
identified in the analysis of industry data.