Among many landmarks was the 1995 establishment of the National Competition Council (NCC) by the Commonwealth and states and territories. At this time there was broad consensus between these governments that more competitive markets would benefit Australia and its citizens.

However, over the last three decades initiatives to deliver competition and contestability to public services, namely through privatisation, outsourcing and deregulation, have repeatedly failed both economically and socially.

This submission, using a framework built on neoclassical economic principles, demonstrates how each failed attempt to add ‘competition’ and ‘contestability’ to a traditionally public service could have been predicted and avoided.