Accountability in outsourced public service delivery: an Australian study

ABSTRACT

We examine Australia’s aged care system to understand how the accountability architecture was shaped by outsourcing and explore the resulting implications for service outcomes. We conceptualize quality service provision as a boundary object – i.e. an idea, information, or other mechanism of governance – shared by stakeholders potentially with differing meanings across sites. We highlight NFPs’ emphasis on regular reporting with a compliance focus and muted outcome-based accountability. This accountability deficit was masked by the multi-layered principal–agent relationships. The study suggests the need for integrating outcome-based performance monitoring mechanisms of the state with those of outsourced service sites.

KEYWORDS:

• Public management
• accountability
• boundary objects
• Not-for-Profit organizations
• outsourcing
• Australia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. My Aged Care is an online system employed to screen applications for aged care services, and this service is also outsourced.