bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ECONOMIC RATIONALISM: AN IDEOLOGY OF EXCLUSION
Authors: Rees Stuart
Published: December 2016

Policies to rely on market forces instead of government responsibility were effected by techniques of exclusion. Political leaders, senior Federal bureaucrats and the managers of State bureaucracies advocated one version of economics. Critics were ignored or removed. The welfare state was derided and a two tier society encouraged. Only a re‐vitalized politics and economics of social justice can challenge the economic rationalists' promotion of individualism, greed and intolerance.
DENIAL AS THE MEANS OF SUPPORTING VIOLENCE
Authors: Rees Stuart
Published: December 2016

Violence is embedded in Australian culture. Yet versions of Australian history and claims about what it is to be Australian deny such a record. Such denial guarantees that violence will continue: in the treatment of women, children, indigenous people and other vulnerable groups: and through policies which ignore or legitimate brutal or unfair treatment. The means of replacing violence with non‐violence depends on attaining social justice through empowerment. This goal focuses on men and emphasises that the debate about an Australian republic is an opportunity to repudiate violence and to set new standards for civil relations in all walks of life.
A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE SOCIAL WAGE: THE NET SOCIAL WAGE IN AUSTRALIA, 1964–65 TO 1991–92
Authors: Trethewey Mark
Published: December 2016

This article attempts to place the concept and measurement of the social wage into a context of political economy. Several variations on the conventional method of measuring the social wage are proposed and applied to Commonwealth outlays for the period 1964–65 to 1991–92. It is argued that the resulting concept is better suited to an analysis of the impact of government social expenditures on capital accumulation. While the alternative ‘Net Social Wage’ concept must be a qualifiable measure of the redistributive impact of such expenditures, it is argued also that it is a more meaningful one than the conventional measure presented in most studies on this subject.
‘MUSIC WHILE YOU WORK’: TEENAGE WOMEN IN THE AUSTRALIAN LABOUR MARKET, 1947 TO 1992
Authors: Watson Ian
Published: December 2016

Teenage women have been particularly disadvantaged by the collapse of the youth labour market over the last 20 years. This article outlines the dimension of that problem, comparing the position young women held in the teenage labour market in the late 1940s with their position today. While the 1950s and 1960s saw growth in some areas of paid work for teenage women, the 1970s marked a watershed. With the major exception of saleswork in the retail industry and clerical work in banking, teenage women saw their place in the labour market dramatically shrink during that decade. Nearly 30,000 full‐time jobs disappeared during the 1970s, to be replaced by nearly the same number of part‐time jobs. The 1980s has seen these developments reach crisis proportions. In the late 1980s, nearly 40,000 clerical jobs were lost to teenage women, and again the only significant employment growth was in casualised service sector jobs, such as cashiers and sales workers. This article concludes by exploring the structural reasons behind these dramatic long‐term changes.
SPINNING AGAINST THE TIDE: THE 1987 INQUIRY INTO NURSING IN VICTORIA
Authors: Keleher Helen
Published: December 2016

This article draws on research into the 1987 inquiry into nursing in Victoria, which was commissioned to appease nursing unrest over unresolved issues in the settlement of the historic 1986 nurses' strike. It explores questions surrounding the perceived dichotomy between professional and industrial issues in nursing. The report from the inquiry became an instrumental policy document that was operationalised by a formal implementation process. The process attempted to use strategies of professionalism rather than unionism, to appease nursing unrest and to advance nursing reforms. The involvement of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Nurses Federation (ANF) was central to the process. During this period, the distinction between the industrial and professional parameters of many nursing issues were shown to be blurred, despite attempts to separate them in the report. Future strategies for the development of nursing should acknowledge the limitations of professionalisation, found by this study to be divisive among nurses, reinforcing the power differential between administrative and clinical nurses.
DEHUMANISING DISCOURSES: CULTURAL COLONISATION AND LEAD CONTAMINATION IN BOOLAROO
Authors: McPhillips Kath
Published: December 2016

In 1992, the Public Health Unit in Newcastle, NSW, decided to investigate the impact on children of pollution from lead‐based sources in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie areas. The investigation centred around Boolaroo, a small suburb in Lake Macquarie that is dominated by Pasminco Metal Sulphides Pty Ltd – a lead smelter. This article explores the power relations that were activated between the Public Health Unit and the local population during the lead study. I argue that the medicalisation of lead contamination by health discourses masked the broader class and gender struggles that were at the heart of the ensuing conflict.
CHILD PROTECTION: PARADOXES OF PUBLICITY, POLICY AND PRACTICE
Authors: Scott Dorothy
Published: December 2016

Recent media coverage of child abuse in Victoria is critically analysed. Parallels are drawn between the substance and style of newspaper coverage of child abuse cases in the late nineteenth century ‘first wave’ of the child rescue movement and that in the late twentieth century ‘second wave’ of the child rescue movement. The twin themes of vengeance and voyeurism are clearly evident in both periods. The classic late nineteenth century concepts of Freud and Durkheim are drawn upon to illuminate the psychological and sociological sources of these themes. The current Victorian child protection system is used as a case study to explore the paradoxes for policy and practice which arise in part from the publicisation and associated politicisation of child abuse. These paradoxes include the redirection of resources from prevention and treatment to investigation services.
COMMUNITY‐BASED SERVICES AND THE FRAGMENTATION OF PROVISION: A CASE STUDY OF HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE SERVICES IN A SUBURBAN COMMUNITY
Authors: Fine Michael
Published: December 2016

Although the use of non‐government organisations to provide assistance has long been part of Australian welfare history, the principles of community‐based provision have only recently been adopted as part of the mainstream philosphy of service provision. This article examines the association between the expansion of community‐based provision and the fragmentation of service provision using information drawn from a study of the provision of long‐term care for a group of primarily elderly people through the Home and Community Care Program (HACC) and related provisions in a suburban community. The account focuses on the structure of formal service provisions, identifying organisational features which directly affect the operation of the system of local services, fragmenting the assistance made available. First, the organisations providing care are all of relatively recent origin and their operation continues to reflect many of the characteristics associated with their initial establishment. Second, the organisations involved are essentially hybrid bodies, being the product of both national/State programs and local initiatives. A number of tensions and conflicts arising from this characteristic are discussed. Third, service providing agencies tend to be highly specialised, with the consequence that the main division of labour is between, rather than within, organisations. Finally, the system of funding and administration has tended to orient agencies vertically, towards the source of funding, limiting their flexibility and capacity to develop horizontal patterns of cooperation with other services in the local area. Overall, the emergent system of services appears to be characterised by a large number of small organisations organised under a range of different auspice bodies, struggling to preserve their own autonomy and to operate within an insecure and continually changing policy environment. Recognising that reforms are likely, a number of broad alternatives to privatisation arc canvassed in the final section of the article.
EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW: THE LIMITS OF LEGAL AID AND THE COST OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
Authors: Germov John
Published: December 2016

The High Court decision in the Dietrich case highlighted the perilous state of legal aid in Australia when it instructed judges to refuse to hear criminal trials when a person has no legal counsel due to inability to pay and has been denied legal aid. The decision of the High Court places pressure on the Federal Government to resolve the situation by legislating a guaranteed right of legal representation. This article discusses the inadequacies of the legal system by examining the implications of the Dietrich case. It is argued that recent government reports only provide a piecemeal approach to improving access to justice and what is needed is wider systemic change in the form of universal legal insurance. Only in this way can citizenship rights he reasserted to ensure social justice.
EUTHANASIA AND THE MEDICAL PROFESSION: AN AUSTRALIAN STUDY
Authors: Hassan Riaz
Published: December 2016

Advances in medical knowledge and technology are enabling more people to live longer in modern societies. This situation has also created dilemmas for medical practitioners in treating severely or chronically ill patients where the harm caused to them by treatment appears to outweigh the benefits. After reviewing some of the major legal and ethical issues confronting medical practitioners in Australia, this paper reports findings of a survey of Australian doctors' attitudes towards euthanasia. The findings show that a significant number of doctors receive requests from either the patients or their families to hasten death through active or passive euthanasia. A large majority of them also regard some form of passive euthanasia as an acceptable medical decision concerning the end of life. Twenty per cent of general practitioners and 17 per cent of specialists surveyed have taken active steps in the past to hasten the death of a patient. This paper explores the circumstances in which doctors are prepared to perform euthanasia and concludes with a discussion of the legal, ethical and professional issues raised by the survey's findings.
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN WORK SATISFACTION
Authors: Baxter Janeen , Lynch‐Blosse Mark , Western John
Published: December 2016

This paper explores differences between men and women in levels of work satisfaction, employing data from the Australian component of the International Project on Class Structure and Class Consciousness. While women tend to be concentrated in low‐status, low‐paid positions, that is the secondary labour market, the data suggest that, in general, they are more satisfied with paid employment than men. Employment constraints are found to be a key factor in the observed differences in levels of work satisfaction. For both groups, however, it is clear that work satisfaction derives primarily from work‐related factors.
PREDICTORS OF WOMEN'S RETURN TO VIOLENT PARTNERS
Authors: Worth Natalie , Tiggemann Marika
Published: December 2016

The study aimed to prospectively assess the variables which predict women's intention to return and actual return to violent partners. A questionnaire was developed and administered to 78 women who were taking refuge in a women's shelter after leaving a violent partner. After a two month period it was determined whether or not the women had returned to their partner. Intention to return was significantly predicted by the frequency and severity of violence, the age of the woman's youngest child, her belief the partner had changed, subjective norms and external locus of control. Actual return was predicted by the intention to return to partner, number of times a women had previously left her partner, commitment to relationship, subjective norms and allocation of responsibility for violence. It was argued that therapeutic interventions that address the attitudinal predictors of intention to return or actual return could aid some women and their children to remain away from a violent living situation.
EFFECTS ON THE PRIMARY CAREGIVER WHEN A FAMILY MEMBER EXPERIENCES ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY
Authors: Rees Roger J. , Hannaford Meredith
Published: December 2016

This pilot study examines a random sample of 20 families with adults who have experienced acquired brain injury. Information about family structure pre and post accident is obtained by structured and open ended interview along with identification of the role of the primary caregiver. Analysis of the role of primary caregiver demonstrates the importance of the role of mothers and wives and the extent to which greatly increased responsibilities are acquired post accident. These increased responsibilities are a burden and alter the women's lifestyle such that their quality of life, like that of the person with brain injury, is severely impaired. This is a distinct but often unheralded outcome of acquired brain injury.
LIMITS ON THE UTILIZATION OF ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES BY DOCTORS IN NEW ZEALAND: A PROBLEM OF BOUNDARY MAINTENANCE
Authors: Dew Kevin
Published: December 2016

This paper uses two case studies to examine the scope for medical practitioners to utilize alternative forms of diagnosis and treatment. The first is a specific study of a medical practitioner who was deemed to have transgressed the boundaries of orthodox medicine. The second is a general case study which examines the possible effects of a new medical practitioners bill and the New Zealand health reforms. It is suggested that when the medical profession is faced with external threats it attempts to strengthen itself at the cost of limiting the autonomy of its membership.
POVERTY, IDEOLOGY AND EMPLOYABILITY: CANADIAN AND AUSTRALIAN POLICIES FOR LOW‐INCOME MOTHERS
Authors: Baker Maureen
Published: December 2016

A similar trend is apparent in Australian and Canadian programs to enhance work incentives and program effectiveness, but the Canadian provinces are increasingly insisting that low‐income mothers with school‐age children enter the workforce rather than accept social benefits to care for their children at home. There is no Canadian counterpart to the Sole Parent Pension or Parenting Allowance, although the provinces pay higher rates of social assistance to needy families than to individuals. Furthermore, there is little public support for the idea that low‐income mothers should care for school‐aged children at home at the taxpayer's expense. This paper discusses the similarities and differences in rhetoric and policies for low‐income mothers, and seeks reasons for the stronger social support for mothering at home in Australia.

Although the current discourse of economic rationalism suggests that enhancing work incentives and ‘employability’ will bring prosperity, this paper illustrates that neither paying mothers to care for their children at home nor pushing them into the workforce has reduced family poverty. To make employability programs more effective, governments need to deal with low female wages, the shortage and high cost of child care, and the lack of full‐time permanent jobs.
FACTORS INFLUENCING DECISIONS TO TERMINATE LIFE: CONDITIONS OF SUFFERING AND THE IDENTITY OF THE TERMINALLY ILL
Authors: Ho Robert
Published: December 2016

This study investigated (1) the level of support for euthanasia under three conditions of suffering (physical pain; the debilitated nature of the body; impact on the family) experienced by oneself, a significant other, and people in general, and (2) the level of support for four types of euthanasia (voluntary active, voluntary passive, involuntary active, involuntary passive). Respondents were 357 Australian adults (136 males, 221 females). Initial analysis indicated no sex differences in attitudes toward the study's criterion variables. Descriptive statistics indicated general support for all four types of euthanasia, with the highest support shown when euthanasia was presented as both voluntary and passive; the least support was recorded when euthanasia was presented as involuntary and active. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that endorsement of euthanasia varied as a function of both the conditions of suffering and the identity of the person for whom euthanasia was being considered. The implications of these findings are discussed.
PUTTING SOLE MOTHERS IN THEIR PLACE: THE NORMALISING DISCOURSE OF SOCIAL POLICY
Authors: Gardiner Jan
Published: December 2016

This paper1 argues that the JET Scheme, a jobs, education and training scheme for sole parent pensioners, is limited and insufficient to its tasks of preparing sole parents for entry into the workforce and minimising the state's financial burden. It argues that JET training programmes ascribe and regulate female identity and maintain the gendered subjugation of sole mothers, confirming rather than decreasing their dependence on welfare. The representation and language used to promote JET position sole mothers within a functionalist discourse of motherhood and the nuclear family. The paper explores the ramifications of such positioning for the women's prospects for entry into full time employment. It concludes that JET does not meet its goal of lessening the long term welfare burden of the state. Equally, policy which promotes low paid part time work, combined with partial pension, may serve to entrench the very cycle of dependence it seeks to dismantle.
POLITICAL DECENTRALISATION AND THE RESURGENCE OF REGIONAL IDENTITIES IN THAILAND
Authors: Jory Patrick
Published: December 2016

This article looks at the cultural resurgence that is taking place in Thailand's regions and amongst its ethnic minorities after a century of assimilationist policies carried out by the central Thai government in the interests of national integration. The article argues that the cultural resurgence is a result of three decades of economic development and a parallel process of democratisation of the political system. This has not only given different cultural groups new political rights to express their culture openly, but has also resulted in the government no longer regarding such expressions of cultural identity as posing a threat to Thai national unity.
TWO WAVES OF CROATIAN MIGRANTS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA: CLASS AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
Authors: Peisker Vol Colic
Published: December 2016

This paper examines the ways in which two waves of Croatian migrants in Western Australia have constructed their ethnic/national identity following migration. These two waves – the first took place during the 1960s and the early 1970s and the second in the late 1980s/early 1990s – are considerably different in terms of their socio‐economic background. The earlier wave came from rural areas of Croatia and can be described as typically working class, while the recent wave came from the cities and predominantly consists of professional people. Migrants from the 1960s wave express a strong identification with their place (village, town, island) of origin and form a rather close‐knit ethnic ‘community of place’. There is a strong link between territory, ethnicity and identity in this group of migrants. Recent developments in Croatia (the war for independence) have helped to ‘enlarge’ this local‐ethnic focus into an ‘imagined’ national identity. Ethno‐national belonging and identification is not emphasised in the recent group of Croatian migrants. Their ‘Croatianness’ is secondary in the re‐construction of their identity following migration. It is their professional identification that seems to be central in this process. They consider the Croatian ‘ethnic community’ to be irrelevant to their life in Australia and seek to integrate into the broader Australian community primarily through their professional work.
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN AUSTRALIAN GAMBLING: A CRITICAL SUMMARY OF SOCIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Authors: Delfabbro Paul
Published: December 2016

Despite frequent reports on the significant increase in the number of women gambling in Australia, there has been relatively little detailed research undertaken to address the issue. This paper provides a critical summary of recent Australian findings and their implications for future research and clinical interventions. Its conclusion is that while gender is a strong predictor of preferences for gambling activities, more carefully designed studies must be conducted to determine whether gender influences other facets of gambling behaviour. This is principally because of the difficulty associated with accounting for the confounding effects of gender and activity preferences and the omission of male comparison groups in some gender studies.
ELDERLY HUSBANDS CARING AT HOME FOR WIVES DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: ARE MALE CAREGIVERS REALLY DIFFERENT?
Authors: Cahill Suzanne
Published: December 2016

In Australia, there is a dearth of literature available on men as principal carers despite reports which show that in the 60 + age group, looking after a sick spouse becomes the major form of caregiving and men as carers predominate (ABS, 1993). The paper reports findings from a study of 26 aged husbands who cared at home for their cognitively impaired wives. In‐depth interviews collected quantitative and qualitative data about men's caregiving experiences. Findings challenge the literature about the role gender plays in evoking care and service responses. Results show how men demonstrated a strong injunction to care, performed intimate personal care tasks competently, received limited government support and derived some satisfaction from the caregiving role. Despite similarities between male and female caregivers being noted, some gender differences in the way in which men approached the care role are described. The need for community care policies to be more sensitive to the gendered context of elderly care provision is discussed.
AUSTRALIAN ATTITUDES TO UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE
Authors: Eardley Tony , Matheson George
Published: December 2016

Social security policy towards unemployed people in Australia has become increasingly conditional on their demonstrating ever greater job search effort. The evidence from attitudinal survey data on whether this policy shift accords with public opinion is ambiguous. Although, by international standards, Australians take a relatively hard line on the responsibilities of unemployed people lo actively seek work, there is little information about views on the detail of activity testing. While a majority oppose greater public expenditure on unemployment, they still see an important role, for government in addressing unemployment and supporting unemployed people.
JOB SECURITY IN AUSTRALIA: BROADENING THE ANALYSIS
Authors: de Ruyter Alex , Burgess John
Published: December 2016

An examination of the discussion surrounding aspects of job security in Australia in light of the apparently conflicting evidence and interpretations of the prevailing trends. Notions of job security need to move beyond the narrow perception of a link to actual or expected job duration. After a discussion of why job security is of policy interest, the various definitions and interpretations of the concept are reviewed. This leads to a consideration of whether the available evidence indicates job security is increasing or decreasing in Australia.
PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS IN AUSTRALIA AND SWEDEN: WELFARE POLICY AND THE COST OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
Authors: Löfgren Hans
Published: December 2016

Pharmaceutical benefits provide a stable framework within which consumers, prescribers, suppliers, pharmacists and other actors undertake transactions. The state in effect delivers a good that enhances individual autonomy. A major reason for the legitimacy enjoyed by pharmaceutical benefits in both Australia and Sweden is that these programs have strong attributes of universalism (rather than targeting). Sweden's predominantly public health system allows greater scope for pharmaceutical policy innovation. Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), while historically resilient and effective, is now wedged precariously between traditional considerations of equity and public health on the one hand, and constant pressure for increased marketisation on the other.
CREATING ‘CHILD‐FRIENDLY’ COMMUNITIES: A STRATEGY TO RECLAIM CHILDREN FROM RISK
Authors: Wise Sarah
Published: December 2016

A review of the scope and characteristics of the problems facing Australian children and adolescents. Such issues as poor mental health, substance use and abuse, delinquency, violence, school drop‐out rates, youth unemployment and suicide are explained in terms of shortfalls in community endeavour to protect families from risk factors associated with structural and social change. A strategy to reduce vulnerability is proposed, which would involve mobilising government, independent and informal local community sectors to support parents and encourage healthy, pro‐social development. Sustaining the quality of social environments close to children and families requires a process of community capacity‐building, including a renewed emphasis on participation and democracy and better coordination between local service agencies.
LEADERSHIP AND ABORIGINAL RECONCILIATION
Authors: Leigh Andrew
Published: December 2016

Calls for greater leadership on the issue of Aboriginal reconciliation are often vague about what they actually mean by ‘leadership’. The most appropriate lens through which to regard leadership on the issue of reconciliation is not the usual notion of leadership‐as‐influence, but instead the theory of ‘adaptive leadership ’, developed by Harvard professor Ronald Heifetz. Applying these ideas to the problems of Aboriginal reconciliation, 1 propose four principles that might promote progress on this difficult and complex issue.
IS MATESHIP A VIRTUE?
Authors: Page Jim
Published: December 2016

This essay seeks to examine the concept of mateship from the perspectives of consequentialist and virtue ethics. It is suggested that mateship is a prominent concept in the way Australians think of themselves. However it is also suggested that mateship is linked to solidarity and commitment in time of war. It is suggested that what we should recognize mateship is one of the factors that facilitates and perpetuates war. It is suggested that mateship is also questionable as a character virtue, given what mateship entails. It is suggested that ultimately we need to examine more closely the consequences of the solidarity that we define as mateship, and we need to query more closely what we regard as virtues.
MUTUAL OBLIGATION AND THE WELFARE RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNMENT
Authors: McClelland Alison
Published: December 2016

Significant forces mean that governments are reassessing their responsibilities for welfare. The welfare changes introduced by the Howard Government have a strong role for mutual obligation. After reviewing the meaning of welfare, the historic welfare responsibilities of government and the impact of social and economic change, three key objectives for a current Australian Government are proposed. These are to protect the vulnerable, to develop capacity to function effectively in a more difficult environment and to promote social cohesion. The paper examines whether the current application of mutual obligation assists their achievement, concluding that all are compromised. Protection is compromised by the reduction in levels of income support payments, often to very marginalised and vulnerable individuals. Capacity building is undermined by the limited activities and choices available and social cohesion is affected by the divisions created by mutual obligation and the lack of attention to institution building.
MUTUALITY, MEAD & MCCLURE: MORE ‘BIG M'S’ FOR THE UNEMPLOYED?
Authors: Carney Terry , Ramia Gaby
Published: December 2016

Mutual obligation recognises the interdependence of individuals, communities and broader social groupings. All members of society — government, business, community organisations, families and individuals — have obligations to each other (McClure Report, 2000a: 51).
AN ANALYSIS OF THE DEBATE ON INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY AND FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: Coombs Gregory , Dollery Brian
Published: December 2016

The authorities in a number of advanced countries have produced intergenerational reports that seek to determine the fiscal sustainability of current policy parameters. The Australian government will publish its Intergenerational Report in May 2002. This paper attempts to place these reports in analytical perspective. We examine the notion of intergenerational equity, the conceptual basis for generational accounting, Australian efforts at constructing generational accounts, and then review the intergenerational reports of several other countries. The paper concludes with a brief synoptic discussion of various policies that can help Australian governments achieve intergenerational balance in future.
SHORT‐ AND LONG‐TERM HOMELESSNESS AND ADOLESCENTS' SELF‐ESTEEM, DEPRESSION, LOCUS OF CONTROL AND SOCIAL SUPPORTS
Authors: Saade Rachael , Winkelman Cecelia
Published: December 2016

The study investigated the effect of length of homelessness, (less than three months as against six months or longer), on four variables: self‐esteem, depression, locus of control and social supports. Respondents, (50 homeless adolescents, 25 male and 25 female, aged between 16–21), completed four questionnaires. Multivariate Analysis of Variance indicated that a combination of the four variables was dependent on the length of homelessness. The short‐term homeless group reported significantly higher levels of self‐esteem and significantly lower levels of depression compared with the long‐term homeless. Furthermore, the long‐term homeless group scored towards a more external locus of control, as compared with the short‐term homeless. While no significant difference was found between the two groups in the number of social supports, the short‐term homeless group reported significantly greater levels of satisfaction with their supports. We discuss the implications of these findings.
CALCULATING THE TRUE COST OF PRIVATE SCHOOL EDUCATION: BASED ON A SURVEY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL FEES
Authors: Laws T.A. , Fiedler Brenton
Published: December 2016

The cost of a child's education should not be a mystery to consumers, yet little has been published about the true costs, and it is no simple task for parents to calculate. This paper seeks to fill a gap in the research literature that exists in relation to informing parents and educationalists alike as to the true cost of private school education. The term cost is used in the economic sense as encompassing not only the price paid for the product (school fees) but also the opportunity cost to the family in terms of what they forego in order to finance private schooling. Identifying opportunity cost is a useful means of assessing the impact of factors, other than financial, that are influential in determining whether or not private education is purchased.

From a survey of South Australian private schools, we have been able to provide a detailed account of the price variations between the fees charged, as well as identifying a variety of additional ancillary charges. Based on the survey figures, we have projected the amount of money that needs to be taken out of the family budget in order to pay for a child's private schooling. At the time the survey was conducted the cost of private school education across three strata, on average, ranged from $13,400 to $42,246. We calculated that incremental family pretax incomes of between $20,303 and $64,009 would be required to fund this education. The amounts represent an opportunity cost to a family whereby money could be put to alternative uses such as home renovation, an overseas holiday, or a buffer against unexpected life events. We conclude that the outlay is substantial for many families and that greater transparency of all costs is needed for families to make informed financial plans to accommodate the overall cost of education for their children.
CONTESTING FAIRNESS AND FRAGMENTING GROUPS: CULTURAL NARRATIVES OF TAXATION AND CITIZENSHIP IN GLOBALISING AUSTRALIA
Authors: Rawlings Gregory
Published: December 2016

This paper explores the relationship between culturally mediated narratives of fairness, conceptions of the state, group and individual identities, citizenship and debates about globalisation in Australian perspectives on tax administration. It is based on a qualitative analysis of 2374 responses to a survey of attitudes to the Australian tax system. This paper emphasises that taxpayer's statements can be read as cultural acts that enrich our understanding of how people give meaning and significance to their lives. The majority of respondents reported that taxation should be levied fairly across social groups. However, this sense of fairness is being eroded by the widespread perception that the wealthy are avoiding their “fair share” of taxes. However, although citizens view tax administration as increasingly unfair, there is no evidence of wholesale disengagement from the system. The majority of people believe that the tax system has legitimacy and that it can be reformed. There is still scope for policy innovation that reinstates a sense of fairness, equity and balance to the tax system.
PUBLIC WEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND PRIVATE STEALTH: EXAMINING THE BLACK MARKET IN CIGARETTES IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: Geis Gilbert , Cartwright Sophie , Houston Jodie
Published: December 2016

Taxes on tobacco provide a significant income for the Australian government — $5.1 billion in 2001. At the same time, health officials are making strenuous efforts to reduce smoking, particularly among teenagers. Some economists suggest that raising taxes on tobacco will produce more revenue while at the same time lowering smoking rates, particularly among youths who have less discretionary spending power than adults. But a by‐product of excise tax in Australia has been the emerging market in “chop‐chop,” tobacco diverted from legal channels by growers who receive considerably higher prices for a part of their yield than they can obtain from legal manufacturers. The article details this situation and suggests that only bold solutions may be able to reduce tensions in tax policies, smoking rates and the “chop‐chop” black market.
TOWARD EVIDENCE‐BASED TAX ADMINISTRATION
Authors: Wenzel Michael , Taylor Natalie
Published: December 2016

An evidence‐based approach is being promoted and adopted in many public service areas, but tax authorities have so far only sporadically subscribed to it. We, first, present arguments for an evidence‐based approach to tax administration and outline its main features. Second, studies on the effects of tax‐reporting schedules are considered to illustrate the logic, potential challenges and outcomes of such an approach. Third, we discuss the main principles of an evidence‐based approach, as well as its practical and political obstacles in the context of taxation. An evidence‐based approach means basing administrative practices and strategies on an understanding of relevant processes that is obtained from systematic, theory‐driven and cumulative research, using various appropriate methodologies including experimental and quasi‐experimental evaluation designs. However, an evidence‐based approach needs to consider the challenges posed by short‐term orientation and risk‐averse defensive postures that result from political agendas, public media scrutiny and intraorganisational dynamics.
GAUGING NEW ZEALAND'S SUCCESS AT POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE NEW MILLENIUM
Authors: Waldegrave Charles , Stephens Robert , King Peter
Published: December 2016

This paper presents the results of the New Zealand Poverty Measurement Project's analysis of the effects of the 1990s social reforms in New Zealand on the incidence and severity of poverty, and assesses the impact of five social and economic policies introduced by the Labour‐led coalition governments since 1999: New Zealand superannuation, income‐related rents on state houses, active labour market policies for an employment‐rich economy, the Primary Health Care Strategy and the planned income support policy to reduce child poverty. Superannuation is assessed as both adequate and sustainable, rents for state houses are found to be affordable, and GDP growth and employment have increased incrementally as unemployment and benefit numbers have decreased. The Primary Health Care Strategy is an innovative initiative that will increase affordable access to general practitioners, but it and the proposed child assistance initiatives are too new to be adequately assessed. Of the challenges that remain, policy priorities should centre on housing alternatives, including home ownership for low‐income households not in state houses; income support for poor households, particularly those with children; and multi‐sector development of education and training aimed at lifting economic and social capacity.
An analysis of current Australian program initiatives for children exposed to domestic violence
Authors: Kovacs Katie , Tomison Adam M.
Published: December 2016

While services have been assisting women who have been victims of domestic violence for many years, it has only been in recent times, that children exposed to domestic violence have begun to receive attention by service providers as clients in their own right. A number of specialised programs have now been designed to meet the needs of these children by domestic violence services and agencies that have a child protection or child welfare/family support focus. This paper aims to describe the types of programs currently in operation across Australia which cater specifically for the needs of children who have been exposed to domestic violence by analysing programs listed on the Child Abuse Prevention Programs Database developed by the National Child Protection Clearinghouse. A number of suggestions are made with regard to the means by which therapeutic responses and research in this area could be enhanced.
Housing and the Social Exclusion Agenda in England
Authors: Marsh Alex
Published: December 2016

In the period immediately following its election in 1997 the current Labour government in the UK declared a commitment to ‘combating social exclusion’ to be at the core of the domestic policy agenda. The interpretation of the term ‘social exclusion’ has been the source of extensive debate. This paper focuses on one aspect of the current debate, exploring the relationship between housing and social exclusion, both in theory and in contemporary central government policy in England. I argue that theoretical imprecision is a very real issue, not least because it allows policy makers to refer to rather vague causal mechanisms or social processes to justify actions and interventions. I identify some of the areas that require further exploration and theoretical development if we are to have a rigorous understanding of the concept of social exclusion and its link to housing. Most fundamentally, I suggest that the question of whether the concept of ‘social exclusion’ contributes anything valuable to our ability to understand social disadvantage needs to be addressed directly.
Social Inclusion and Place‐Focused Initiatives in Western Sydney: A Review of Current Practice
Authors: Randolph Bill
Published: December 2016

This paper presents a review of the range of policies and programs that currently direct resources to disadvantaged communities in New South Wales, with a specific focus on the western Sydney region. These ‘place‐focused initiatives’ are the main sources of funding for community renewal from a range of government agencies at federal, state and local government levels. The research on which this paper is based identified thirty‐six programs administered or managed through thirteen government agencies or departments with a combined budget in excess of $163m in 2000/2001. It is argued that this diverse range of programs, while important, is highly fragmented, lacks a coherent spatial targeting framework, is poorly related to either local social or physical planning processes, and is poorly integrated in terms of its local outcomes. Moreover, beyond the public housing estates, existing policies lack the capacity to address the poor housing market conditions that generate local concentrations of disadvantage. A number of alternative policy ideas are presented that, if developed, might offer a better framework for the delivery of integrated policies to address the problems of social disadvantage and exclusion at the local level.
Reconceptualising Social Exclusion: A Critical Response to the Neoliberal Welfare Reform Agenda and the Underclass Thesis
Authors: Martin Sonia
Published: December 2016

The application of free‐market principles to welfare reform in western industrialised nations is underpinned by contentious assumptions about human behaviour. In the postwar era, welfare policies largely considered disadvantage and exclusion as structural problems of the economy and society generally; disadvantaged individuals were considered ‘victims’ of their environment. More recently, conservative contributors have re‐emphasised disadvantage and exclusion as largely due to behavioural problems of the ‘undeserving poor’, manifest in what is believed to be an ‘underclass’. Critics of the current welfare reform agenda have voiced their concerns about the individualist assumptions that underpin it but their response to date is insufficient because they have generally neglected human agency and have failed to acknowledge individuals as capable actors. While there has been a revival of interest in human agency, greater recognition of agency in debates about welfare is required to mount a credible critique of the conservative assumptions about human behaviour in order to develop a more sensitive theory of the activities of the poor. One of the ways in which this may be achieved is by reconceptualising the concept of social exclusion and highlighting a ‘strong’ rather than a ‘weak’ version.
After the tax revolt: Why Medicare matters more to middle Australia than lower taxes
Authors: Wilson Shaun , Breusch Trevor
Published: December 2016

The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes 2003 gives new insights into the public's increasing preference for more social spending and their willingness to pay more taxes to fund services. This paper profiles the new electorate and discusses factors driving this trend in public opinion. Multivariate analysis allows us to identify the key demographic, political and policy variables that predict support for spending. All the usual factors matter: being older and more educated, and identifying as Labor, Green or Democrat all predict support for higher spending. But we find that policy perceptions matter as well: believing that health and Medicare and/or public education have declined in the past two years brings major support for increased spending. We also find that the Australian public supports modest tax increases to fund spending on health and education and that the Australian electorate is more open minded about tax rises than conventional wisdom holds. Our main conclusions are that support for social spending over reduced taxes has increased over the past two decades, and especially after the election of the Howard Government, and that dissatisfaction with health and Medicare, and public education, are reshaping the fiscal preferences of the Australian electorate.
Third Way Social Governance: Where is the State?
Authors: Reddel Tim
Published: December 2016

The ‘Third Way’ politics of Blair's New Labour government of the United Kingdom has popularised a number of policy reforms centred on a supposedly new discourse of ‘devolution’, ‘inclusion’, ‘partnerships’ and ‘community’. These notions reflect a re‐emergence of the ideas and values of civil society, participation and localism. Key drivers of this discourse are: new conceptions of citizenship; a retreat from the social state to a politics of community; and a questioning of both ‘big‐state’ interventionist and competitive market approaches to public policy. These trends have resonance in the Australian context. The welfare reform agenda of the Australian Commonwealth government together with community building and engagement initiatives of State governments have been sites for these policy directions. Much of the debate surrounding these policies excludes or minimises the fundamental role of an active state by focusing on an uncritical conception of community. Drawing on the notion of network governance, an alternative framework for re‐conceptualising state‐community relations and delivering improved community outcomes is posited. The paper concludes by suggesting possible social governance methodologies for actioning this framework.
Privacy, sexual identity and aged care
Authors: Hughes Mark
Published: December 2016

Privacy is a key quality indicator in aged care and is acknowledged in the Australian Government's Quality of Care Principles 1997. The promotion of individuals' rights to privacy is also used to advocate freedom of sexual expression and was used as a rationale for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. This paper examines issues facing older gays and lesbians in the public expression of their sexual identities in aged care settings. It focuses on privacy practices that facilitate or limit identity expression. It is argued that aged care providers and workers need to construct relatively safe environments that enable older gays and lesbians to disclose and express their sexual identity. Failure to do so may mean that some gays and lesbians are forced back into the closet in their older age: a form of institutionalised homophobia.
Living conditions of women who experience violence from their partners: Norway and Australia comparisons
Authors: Hutchinson Gunn Strand
Published: December 2016

This article briefly explores the comparative ways in which the Australian and Norwegian welfare system supports women and children escaping violence, when they are seeking to become established independently. The two welfare systems are compared with regard to family structure, women and the labour market, women and income, support for crisis accommodation and housing, and child care. It demonstrates that Norway provides a more woman‐friendly welfare state.
An Evaluation of a Parenting Payment Intervention Program
Authors: Dockery A. M. , Stromback Thorsten
Published: December 2016

This paper analyses the effect of a pilot program to assist single parent claimants to lessen their dependence on social security benefits. A sample of about 5000 persons was randomly assigned to one control and two treatment groups. Those in the treatment groups were asked to attend an initial interview to help them plan for the future and were then referred to other forms of assistance that might help them to realise their plans. Using different estimators and several indicators of outcomes, the evidence for the program having a positive effect on outcomes is very weak.

The reason for this result is explored by an analysis of the relationships between the plans participants formulated, the barriers they faced and whether they left benefits. It is found that while the program encouraged claimants to plan for moving into paid work, the assistance offered did not reduce the barriers they faced.