The Role of Non-profit Organizations in the Mixed Economy of Welfare-to-Work in the UK and Australia

This article charts the development of welfare-to-work policies and compares and contrasts the traditions of delivery in the UK and Australia. We find that in the UK, employment services and social security benefit administration have been dominated by the central state, traditionally affording a key role to civil servants as direct delivery agents. However, in federal Australia, mixed economies of welfare-to-work operate in the different states, there is a far greater role for social services and non-profit organizations are firmly established as key providers of frontline employment services. Since the late 1990s, UK welfare reforms have been gradually following the Australian lead in contracting non-state actors as delivery agents. As this trend seems set to continue and intensify, we examine the Australian experience in order to reflect on the role of non-profits in policy reform.