Entitlement to Experiment (2016-2019)

This major research project investigates the important organisational dynamics that are generating major changes to contemporary welfare states.

The first of these changes is the shift towards governance driven by performance; a world of metadata matched by a new economy of incentives. The second is experimentation, new markets and the problematic way changes ‘from above’ seek to stimulate real service delivery change at street level. This increasingly involves international agencies and global knowledge transfer.

The research project aims to model and explain these dynamics using a multidimensional framework and a mix of surveys and field visits, to assist agencies wishing to innovate in order to help those most in need.

Publications associated with this project

Infographic on jobseeker streaming and assessment

Infographic on Can a public services market change: flexibility at the frontline?

Industry reports

• Lewis, J.M., Considine, M., O’Sullivan, S., Nguyen, P. and McGann, M. (2018), From Entitlement to Experiment: Industry report on case studies of high providing providers, The University of Melbourne. View Infographic on jobseeker streaming and assessment (140kb pdf)
• Lewis, J.M., Considine, M., O’Sullivan, S., Nguyen, P. and McGann, M. (2017), From Entitlement to Experiment: The new governance of welfare to work - UK Report back to Industry Partners, The University of Melbourne
• Lewis, J.M., Considine, M., O’Sullivan, S., Nguyen, P. and McGann, M. (2016), From Entitlement to Experiment: The new governance of welfare to work - Australian Report back to Industry Partners, The University of Melbourne

Publications

• Considine, M., O’Sullivan, S., McGann, M. and Nguyen, P. (2020), “Contracting personalization by results: comparing marketization reforms in Australia and the UK”, in Public Administration: An International Quarterly. Wiley, March 2020
• McGann, M., Danneris, S., and O’Sullivan, S. (2019), “Introduction: Rethinking welfare-to-work for the long-term unemployed,” accepted for publication in Social Policy & Society
• Considine, M., O’Sullivan, S., McGann, M. and Nguyen, P. (2019), “Locked-in or locked-out: Can a public services market really change?” (280kb pdf) in Journal of Social Policy, pp. 1-22
• McGann, M., Nguyen, P. and Considine, M. (2019), “Welfare Conditionality and Blaming the Unemployed,” (460kb pdf) in Administration and Society
• O’Sullivan, S., McGann, M. and Considine, M. (2019), “The Category Game and its Impact on Street Level Bureaucrats and Jobseekers: An Australian Case Study,” (360kb pdf) in Social Policy & Society. View Infographic on jobseeker streaming and assessment (140kb pdf)
• Considine, M., Nguyen, P. and O’Sullivan, S. (2018), “New Public Management and the Rule of Economic Incentives: Australian Welfare-to-Work from Job Market Signalling Perspective,” in Public Management Review, 20(8), pp. 1186-1204
• Considine, M., O’Sullivan, S. and Nguyen, P. (2018), “The Policy-maker’s Dilemma: The Risks and Benefits of a ‘Black Box’ Approach to Commissioning Active Labour Market Programs,” in Social Policy and Administration, 52(1), pp. 229-52