The Productivity Commission is to begin an inquiry into whether government spending on social services is providing value for money.
The Government spends about $34 billion a year on social services, but the director of the inquiry, Geoff Lewis, said agencies are sometimes unclear about what the spending is achieving.
He said the inquiry will focus on how government agencies commission and contract social services and report back next June.
The commission has today released an issues paper and is welcoming submissions on it until 18 November.
