Several weeks ahead of the Abbott government’s May budget announcement, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s implementing partners are bracing for further cuts to Australia’s foreign aid — on top of the 11 billion Australian dollars ($8.6 billion) in slashes so far.
What is often overlooked, however, is that DFAT’s private contractors had been feeling the squeeze long before the Abbott government reversed course on the previous Labor government’s commitment to boost official development assistance to 0.5 percent of gross national income.
Between 2005-06 and 2012-13, the share of Australian ODA channeled through private sector partners fell sharply from 41 percent to 19 percent. Buoyed by a rising aid budget, the Australian Agency for International Development’s private sector contract spending did remain roughly flat over that period.