Christian mission or an unholy alliance?

317 Pages·2016·1.99 MB·English

by  Wilma Gallet

Christian mission or an unholy alliance?: The changing role of
church-related organisations in welfare-to-work service
delivery

Wilma Gallet
ORCID ID 0000-0002-6841-0810

Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
February 2016

School of Social and Political Sciences
Faculty of Arts
University of Melbourne
Australia
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Abstract
This thesis investigates the challenges confronting religious organisations contracted
to deliver employment services as part of Australia’s privatised employment services
system. Service privatisation, which commenced in Australia in 1998, was expected to
generate value for money, efficiency, and innovation and in turn improve outcomes for
the unemployed. What began as a radical experiment has become institutionalised
and work practices in employment services agencies are standardised across the range
of contracted organisations. Critics argue that service delivery agencies are becoming
increasingly homogenised, meaning that distinctive differences between for-profit,
not-for-profit and church-related organisations are increasingly difficult to identify.

This homogenisation is consistent with the phenomenon of isomorphism resulting
from coercive, mimetic and normative influences. These influences have particular
consequences for church-related organisations. Neo-secularisation theorists posit that
isomorphic pressures have the potential to erode links between church-related
organisations and the parent denomination and exacerbate the decline of religious
authority, described as internal secularisation (Chaves, 1993a).

The study of religious organisations is often seen as peripheral in social science, yet in
this thesis I present original findings from a case study comprising four church-related
organisations contracted to deliver federally funded employment services. This
includes an examination of the extent to which the contracting environment impacts
the behaviour, mission and identity of these church-related organisations. Central to
this is the way in which the relationship between the purchaser and the contracted
organisations has evolved since these services were first privatised. Principal-agent
theory provides key insights into the behaviour of the purchaser and the impact that
the principal-agent model of contracting has on the behaviour of the key actors.

I find that with almost no exceptions, on almost every measure of religiosity, from
‘going the extra mile’ to the use of religious symbols, church-related welfare
organisations are indistinguishable from their secular counterparts. I conclude that this

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is due to the types of pressures inherent in quasi-markets and in particular the
purchaser’s use of the principal-agent model of contracting. I conclude that the
church-related organisations in this study have been captured by the new public
management agenda and this has compromised their ability to deliver their unique
mission and resulted in identity drift. While one church-related organisation has been
able to counter the effect of mission drift to some extent by focusing on delivering
specific services for their unique client group, being disadvantaged young people;
there is nonetheless pressure on all organisations operating in this field to conform to
the rules, norms and agenda set by the purchaser. Church-related organisations in this
environment are compelled to achieve the agenda of government rather than the
agenda of the church. Therein lies the potential conflict.

Finally, I surmise that this phenomenon may suit governments as the purchaser of
social welfare in the short term; but it may have the long-term effect of diminishing
the very values that make church-related agencies church-like. This may eventually
accelerate secularisation and also undermine the amount of charitable good being
exercised in society.

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Declaration

I declare that:

• this thesis comprises only my original work towards the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy;
• due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used and
a full list of references is given;
• this thesis is fewer than the maximum word limit of 100,000 in length as
approved by the Research Higher Degrees Committee.

Wilma Gallet

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Preface

My personal interest in this specific topic stems from an engagement with the
employment services for over 25 years. This has given me an extensive network of
contacts in the field and practical expertise in the detailed processes and practices,
which underpin the system. Moreover, I have gained first hand insights into the way in
which welfare policy and the contracting environment has evolved in Australia and
internationally over the past three decades.

My work in this field began in 1977, in the Commonwealth Employment Services (CES).
At that time unemployment in Australia was just beginning to increase from its
relatively stable post war level of under two per cent. Rising unemployment during the
late 1970s resulted in a change of focus for the CES. This involved moving from its
primarily role as a labour exchange to one which focused on the administration of
various labour market programs designed to re-skill those who had been displaced in
the labour market.

Over the ensuing 10-15 years, unemployment persisted in Australia and increased
following each economic downturn, resulting in long-term unemployment becoming
entrenched. In 1994, the Keating Government launched a white paper on
employment, titled Working Nation. The Working Nation strategy introduced a Job
Compact and a range of new labour market programs in an effort to address skill
shortages and enhance the employability of the long-term unemployed. I was actively
involved in the implementation of many of these programs including the
establishment of Employment Assistance Australia in 1994, this being a specialist
agency created within the CES to deliver case management support to the very long-
term unemployed.

In 1995, I was seconded to The Salvation Army, one of Australia’s largest church-
related welfare organisations, to assist in the development of job creation projects
under the New Work Opportunities (NWO) labour market program. NWO projects

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were seen as an integral part of the Keating Government’s Job Compact and were
designed to secure work experience for those unable to compete in the open labour
market.

Following the change of government in March 1996, I left the public sector and
became an employee of The Salvation Army, continuing to work in the area of
employment services policy and program development. I subsequently wrote the
tender that saw this organisation become the third largest Job Network (JN) provider
organisation behind the rebranded and corporatised public agency, Employment
National and the for-profit firm, Drake International. For the next five years, I was
employed as the CEO of The Salvation Army Employment Plus, which, following the
second tendering round in 2000, became the largest contracted employment services
organisation in Australia.

My experience has given me an insider’s view of the historical events that led to the
privatisation of public employment services in Australia and the evolution of
contracted employment services. My understanding of welfare reform in Australia and
contracted employment services has been informed through a number of different
lenses. As a member of the Welfare Reform Consultative Committee from 2001 until
2003, convened by the Minister for Employment Services and the Minister for Families
and Community Services, I gained close up insights into the deliberations of policy
makers within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of
Families and Community Services, and the Department of Employment. This
Committee was tasked with providing advice on the development and implementation
of programs designed to increase the active participation in the workforce of different
client groups such as the long-term unemployed, single parents, older workers and
people with disability.

Further, my active involvement as a board member of the peak employment services
bodies, the National Employment Services Association (NESA) and Jobs Australia (JA),
afforded the opportunity to meet regularly with senior officials from the Department
of Employment, ministers and ministerial advisors to provide advice on the
implementation and ongoing development of Job Network.

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My extensive experience in the employment services system coupled with my interest
in church involvement in welfare service delivery has motivated me to undertake this
research. After leaving The Salvation Army Employment Plus in 2003, I have continued
to follow developments within the contracted employment services field in Australia
as a distant but, nonetheless, interested observer.

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Acknowledgments

At the end of my PhD journey I want to sincerely thank and acknowledge those who
have guided and supported me throughout this period. I want to acknowledge Dr.
Siobhan O’Sullivan, whose constant advice and support from the start of this project
was vital in helping me to focus on the area of research that particularly drew my
passion. Siobhan provided invaluable advice through the various stages of my PhD and
helped guide this work to completion.

Professor John Murphy made a very useful contribution as a supervisor following
Siobhan’s move to another university. John’s cogent advice convinced me to re-orient
two of the chapters in the thesis and as a consequence I believe I have made the thesis
argument much stronger.

I also want to express my appreciation for the assistance provided by my supervisor
Dr. Scott Brenton. Scott was particularly helpful in guiding me in the final few months
of my PhD and provided sound advice that enabled me to pull together some key ideas
in the thesis.

I am particularly indebted to Professor Mark Considine, my principal supervisor whose
continual encouragement and support has been the main driving force in my
completing this thesis. Mark’s exceptional acumen and expansive knowledge in this
area of work is unparalleled and I doubt that I would have embarked on this PhD
without his support and inspiration. My meetings with Mark were intellectually
stimulating and always provided me with new insights into the issues I was examining
in this research project.

I also want to acknowledge two key people from the School of Government at the
University of Melbourne, Professor Janine O’Flynn and Dr. Helen Dickinson. I want to
convey my appreciation to them for their willingness to read the thesis and offer me
very helpful advice. In particular I express my sincere gratitude to Professor Janine

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O’Flynn whose constant encouragement and salient advice helped to sustain me
throughout the PhD and particularly in the last few months. I have the deepest
admiration for Janine and her work and am truly grateful for her confidence in me. I
also very much appreciated the feedback that Helen provided on later drafts of the
thesis, her profound insight into the issues that I was investigating proved very helpful
in pulling together the final draft of this thesis.

I particularly want to acknowledge the church leaders, senior managers and frontline
staff who agreed to be interviewed for this project. I greatly appreciated their candour
in expressing the challenges they confront as they endeavour to assist long-term
unemployed and disadvantaged people.

Finally I want to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my family. My
husband Ren has been a constant encourager and supporter. His supreme confidence
in my abilities has sustained me throughout this sometimes, difficult journey. I also
want to thank my son, Nick. I am enormously proud of his achievements and passion
to succeed; he has been an inspiration and a great support to me throughout this PhD.

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