An independent report by the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), shows that there are a range of issues with privatisation using the shared services model. The same model is being pushed in some local government areas in Australia.
The report "Shared Services - setting unrealistic expectations" by Yuliya Yurchenko and Jane Lethbridge, based in the Business Faculty, University of Greenwich, London, covers the UK government market, the most mature shared services area in the world.
"The report highlights many of the concerns the ASU and its Branches across the country have had for some time. The report also confirms many of the issues that were raised in a report commissioned by the ASU in recent years," said the ASU head of local government and public services team Greg McLean.
The new report also highlights many of the short and long term issues with these schemes that are best noted in the mature UK market.
"The report is a must read for any councils thinking about the shared services model, services to the community and keeping money spent in the local community, not to mention skills development and the day to day management of council services by council staff and the highest delivery of quality public services," Greg McLean said.
The PSIRU report can be downloaded here: 
Shared Services – Setting unrealistic expectations, March 2014
The report commissioned by the ASU into shared services by Professor Dollery can be downloaded here: Sustaining Services for Future Generations: Summary Report - An Economic Analysis of Shared Services and Outsourcing in Australian Local Government (2008)
"The Dollery report should also be considered by any embarking on or examining privatisation by way of the shared services model," said Greg McLean.