Busy times as we found out a few days ago that we had been short-listed – alongside 200 other organizations – to help develop innovative approaches to tackling unemployment amongst some of the hardest to help communities in Australia. The Innovation Fund has some interesting similarities to ‘Right to Bid’ in the UK. Over coming days, our team in Australia and the extensive group of people in the UK who have spent time in Australia over the last two years sharing ideas and building our understanding of the market, will be waiting with baited breath for the outcome of further contracting awards on Australian welfare services.

Like all our global business, we started out two years ago seeking to understand the needs of customer groups in Australia – from indigenous communities to newly unemployed – to see if we had any value to bring to social policy. I was talking to someone yesterday about the importance of ‘feet on the street’ – putting ourselves alongside people in the communities we work in to help design services. This sits at the centre of our approach in every country and for every service stream we deliver.

At the same time we have hosted visits to the UK from Australian operators and stakeholders, met all sorts of organizations and people who currently work in Australia and sought to share the learning we come across in different markets and countries. Working internationally is always interesting as we found areas where Australian services were well ahead of other countries in which we work but equally areas where our learning from different markets was relevant and useful.

Comparing and contrasting the UK welfare reform with the Rudd government’s work on social inclusion/welfare markets has also been interesting. Some similar drivers and some clear differences in focus and imperative. Adding value to the development and policy, as well as seeking to get involved in implementation and delivery, are key parts of the work. Interestingly both models will see new entrants from international suppliers as markets become more global. Both also see a strong focus on the importance of supply chain investment, development and collaboration.

There is lots to do in supporting governments across the globe wrestling with limiting recessionary impact on their economies and continuing to support the hardest to help.