Internal control and accountability in non-profit human service organisations

The welfare state regime operative in Australia is highly dependent on the non-profit human services sector The sector; as an organisational field, has had a series of characteristics applied to it, which assume its superiority over government in many aspects of service delivery Nevertheless, knowledge about the internal functioning of non-profits is poor This article presents an initial exploration into one aspect of internal functioning, internal monitoring and control, suggesting that internal mechanisms for control are weak. As welfare stare regimes in Europe and North America are restructured different models of service financing and delivery are being imported into Australia. This article begins to sketch the organisational conditions onto which developing models are being applied, providing an initial base for informed commentary and evaluation.