Austerity, staff inadequacy, and contracting-out social services: How many government inquiries does it take to improve social policy outcomes in aged care?

Abstract

This study examines policy implementation as it unfolds from policy, to the contractors and then to its impact on employees delivering the social service. Multilevel statistical analysis is used to examine survey data from 36 contractors and 542 employees. The use of multilevel analysis provides a methodological tool and subsequent analysis new to the discipline of public administration. The results indicate a strong positive association between resource (in)adequacy decision-making at the contractor level and employee outcomes. The contribution of the paper is new evidence to support the widening of existing quality care indicators to include organisational support metrics for contractors.