Third Sector in Partnership Arrangements: Navigating New Waters or Treading Water?

In recent years the notion of `partnership' is being used by both the Commonwealth and State Governments to describe a preferred relationship with the third sector. The literature proposes on-going debates about whether partnerships between governments and the third sector are rhetoric or reality. The debates are explored in this paper through insights gained to date via an ARC Linkage project. The project uses contemporary Australian employment policy as an example of partnership arrangements, given governments' increasing use of third sector organisations to deliver employment services.