Packaging the human services

Public sector human service organisations are being restructured to produce new service delivery systems to fit new concepts of needs. Other major goals are the pursuit of greater ministerial control over policy and increased cost efficiency. This paper examines recent reshuffles, particularly in South Australia, in terms of the classic principles for grouping functions: purpose, process, people and place. There is no one prescription for restructuring, but the trend to bigger departments and block funding favours pu?ose and process groupings. A key factor in these restructures is the competition among occupational groups. It is much more difficult to evaluate the impact upon the supposed main beneficiaries, the service users.