The governmentality of funding: Cultures of audit and compliance in Australian refugee and asylum seeker support organisations

Abstract

In Australia, people seeking refuge receive differing material and financial support depending on their status as an asylum seeker or refugee. Aside from statutory support, other community-based support is delivered mostly by non-government organisations and is typically funded by government grants. Securing funding is critical for the ongoing sustainability and survival of many organisations. However, much funding in the refugee and asylum seeker support sector is only available for services adhering to donor-determined funding agreements and narrowly defined programs with measurable criteria and strict reporting requirements. This paper examines the effects of these workplace technologies of governmentality, audit, and compliance, on workers within government-funded community-based support organisations in South Australia, drawing on ethnographic research undertaken during 2019 and 2020. This paper argues that significant transactional and moral burdens arise from funding and workplace governmentality, impacting organisational legitimacy and mission. Support organisations must be attuned to this and factor this knowledge into choices about their funding mix and operations.