TOPIC 1.7: How does government work with non-government partners?

Government and Governance

Increasingly, the work of government is being undertaken by non-government organisations (NGOs), and consequently the system has had to adapt to accommodate this trend. These changes form part of a broader set of reforms known as New Public Management (NPM) which have occurred in many governments across the world since the 1980s. This topic introduces the adjustments each partner has had to make in order to do business.

Modern government has become more concerned with ‘governance’ than governing. As a consequence, in many cases the provision of government services has been organised to be conducted outside the public service by Non-Government Organisations (NGOs). These agencies can be both not-for-profit (when a community organisation such as a church is involved) or, for profit (when a business such as a large medical or prison franchise group is involved).

Whilst government can outsource the operations, it cannot outsource the responsibility. From the government’s perspective, it has to ensure the standards are maintained via the NGO. Supplier, procurement and contract management issues require governance rigour and sometimes government has difficulty understanding the constraints of operating small scale (e.g. the resources required to meet government compliance) and mindsets (e.g. compassion-based decision making) of this group/stakeholder.

From the NGO perspective, the government is seen as a complex system difficult to understand and difficult to manage with perhaps over-engineered requirements and expectations. This is especially the case for those who have had no experience with large bureaucracy.

As a public servant, you need to understand both perspectives.

As government services are differently delivered in coming years, collaboration and partnerships with NGOs will become more critical. This topic will be dealt with in more depth in Unit 3 of the PSMP.