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The article discusses various reports published within the issue including one about income distribution and social inequalities and another about labour market participation and welfare reform.

This paper explores media reporting of the rising food costs in five Australian newspapers in the 12 month period from 1st September 2007 to 31st August 2008. This period encompassed a Federal election in which rising food costs were identified as an election issue and a national inquiry into grocery pricing established to honour pre-election promises. Content analysis of newspaper articles demonstrates an increasing interest in the print media in food prices at this time, with thematic analysis revealing the dominance of political concerns and the economic fears of the Australian public. This paper explores these issues. It compares the rhetoric and reality of rising food costs through reporting of the causes and impact of increased food prices and explores the apportioning of blame for rising food prices and the solutions which arise from this through media reporting of political and personal strategies for managing the risk of food insecurity. The paper will also identify the social processes that contributed to the newsworthiness of rising food costs at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines changes in the level of institutional confdence in Australia between 1983 and 2005. The principal aim of the paper is to disaggregate the general trend in social trust and overall institutional confdence. Using data drawn from three waves of the World Values Survey undertaken in 1983, 1995 and 2005 we examine whether social trust and confdence have declined and the differing patterns of confdence for different birth cohorts in Australia. The results show a signifcant decrease in social trust and a large decline in confdence between 1983 and 1995. There was little change in confdence between 1995 and 2005, but social trust returned to the 1983 level over that period. A cohort analysis shows that the oldest cohort, those born before WWII, reported the largest decline in confdence, while by 2005 the baby boomers (or middle cohort born between 1944 and 1955) were the most confdent, with the oldest group reporting the least confdence. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s confdence has been at a much lower level than in the early 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines some critical issues and opportunities for democracy and public policy posed by the growth of the global progress measurement movement. From the democratic perspective, these include: citizen progress measurement as a form of democratic re-engagement; the re-examination of democracy and the development of new indicators to define and measure a 'healthy' democracy; and the demonstration of clear linkages between healthy regimes, and broader individual and societal wellbeing. In public policy, the global movement challenges two long dominant assumptions: the primacy of continuous economic growth as the key driver of wellbeing; and the 'inevitability of progress'. In their place, it offers a more holistic, integrated and nuanced model that recognises the interdependence of economic, social, cultural, environmental and democratic dimensions for genuine wellbeing, progress and sustainability. The paper reviews work in Australia over the past decade at both local community and national levels as examples of these trends, including the development of citizen-engaged community planning and neighbourhood renewal schemes in which progress and wellbeing indicators play a central role; the development of state-wide local progress measurement frameworks as part of a commitment to devolved planning and stronger local democracy; and the evolution of national progress measurement systems. The paper concludes with a proposal for a broad community engaged National Development Index (NDI) for Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A driving force behind the establishment of a qualitative data archive in the United Kingdom has been the oral historian, Paul Thompson. He has complained that there is a `strange silence' among qualitative sociologists on re-analysis, and that many have been reluctant to deposit data. The first part of the paper suggests that the common ethical and practical objections can be overcome in establishing an archive in Australia. However, there is a more serious underlying ideological objection: that archiving promotes and institutionalises a narrow empiricist version of qualitative research. The rest of the paper makes this case by examining teaching materials on a British website, by reviewing Thompson's arguments, and by considering some examples of re-analysis by sociologists. It is argued that qualitative researchers should respond critically, but that it is possible to address and overcome these problems when developing an Australian archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to early childhood services is widely considered to be an important means of supporting vulnerable children and families. Yet the evidence that access to such services automatically makes a difference for vulnerable families is mixed at best. The growing presence of for-profit early childhood services may have an impact on the sector's capacity to provide the enhanced education and care to those most likely to benefit. What are the current and future possibilities for early childhood services to benefit vulnerable children and families? What resources are required to build the capacity of early childhood settings in supporting vulnerable families, and are these likely to differ between for-profit and not-for-profit settings? This paper will explore these questions using a Benevolent Society project, Partnerships in Early Childhood, funded through the Commonwealth's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy, Invest to Grow, as an illustrative case study. Researchers from the Social Policy Research Centre evaluated the first three years of the project, which involves a number of not-for-profit early education and care providers. The paper describes the implementation of PIEC as an attempt to improve the quality of early education and care services to vulnerable children, and lessons that can be drawn for the future of similar interventions. We conclude that time, support for staff and partnerships between different organisations appear to be critical for the success of these interventions, and that the capacity of for-profit services to provide these resources deserves attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper begins with an investigation of two metaphors central to the 'social capital' framework - 'glue' and 'capital'. Both are found to be inappropriate descriptions of the kinds of human relationships supposedly being alluded to by the term 'social capital'. While the inappropriateness of the term 'glue' is not a major threat to the discourse, the case of 'capital' is more serious. The rest of the paper is devoted to unravelling the connotations of 'capital' and the implications of applying it to relationships where the kinds of calculations necessary for sound economic performance have no place. The competitiveness inherent in the functioning of capital belies the cooperation assumed to exist in 'social capital', while the requirement for 'productiveness' has disquieting implications for those who, for whatever reason, cannot be productive in the economic sense. The final section of the paper argues that those who are supposedly the main, if not the only, beneficiaries of 'social capital' - the `disadvantaged' or the 'socially excluded' - do not in fact benefit from whatever is being alluded to by the term `social capital'. The paper concludes by asking, but not answering, the question: Why, if 'social capital' cannot diminish poverty, is it being posited as a substitute for the welfare state, the only institution that does address poverty (if minimally)? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's poverty has long been a central concern for policy makers and policy researchers. The body of extant research conducted and the range of programmatic interventions undertaken by successive governments in this and other countries is extraordinary. Nevertheless, children remain in poverty. Clearly there are many reasons for this, not least of which is the maintenance and intensification of market capitalism with its attendant blatant inequalities. Even so, the moral, political, social and economic imperatives for developing workable responses to children's poverty remain. This paper argues that we, in Australia, should adopt an approach increasingly taken in the UK. Drawing on, among other things, the new sociology of childhood, this approach begins not with the expertise of adult researchers and policy makers, but with that of children. In doing so, the case is made for why children's perceptions and experiences of poverty are key concerns for policy. The paper outlines in theoretical terms why children's voices matter. Invoking the new sociology of childhood and the sociology of identity, a conceptual framework for understanding why policy scholars and makers should carefully attend to the voices of their subjects is sketched - in this case, the subjects are children. Finally, some methodological implications of this for undertaking policy research informed by this approach are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of funding contracts on the capacity of third-sector organizations to effectively advocate. The relationship is not simple or obvious, with some organizations reporting 'mature relationships' with particular (state) departments, and others reporting difficulty with state or federal government jurisdictions. The paper spells out the negative effects of conflating service funding and advocacy. The paper concludes by exploring alternative institutional arrangements for the resourcing of advocacy including the establishment of a Public Interest Fund administered independently of any government department, one not requiring specific service contracts but rather evidence that it is advocating for the broader public good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments have shown an interest in early intervention strategies to reduce youth homelessness, but critics say that early intervention programs lack clear outcomes. This paper investigates what happens when early intervention programs are not in place and young people progress to adult homelessness. The paper assesses the 'social adaptation' hypothesis that the longer young people are homeless the more they adapt to homelessness as a way of life. The paper uses information on 1,677 individuals who first became homeless when they were 18 or younger. Three-quarters of the sample had progressed to adult homelessness (defined as 25 or older) and one-quarter were now young adults aged 19 to 24. The findings confirm that the longer people are homeless, the more difficult it becomes to get out of homelessness. However, the social adaptation account overstates the extent to which people accept homelessness as a 'way of life'. People can return to conventional accommodation if they are given long-term support. The paper concludes with three policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the provision of distance education to young people studying from their isolated properties in remote areas of Australia. While Australia's innovative approach to remote education is well established, this paper challenges the gender and structural assumptions underpinning this approach. A sustained period of rural restructuring and a long period of drought have changed the social relations of agriculture in a number of significant ways that ultimately undermine distance education as it is currently constructed. The assumption that mothers are available to provide home tutoring is no longer valid given the pressures on them to work on properties due to staff cutbacks and off properties to earn additional income. Further, the trend for farm family properties to be amalgamated into larger holdings and for these holdings to be run by farm workers also undermines the assumption that parents are willing, able and resourced to home tutor their children for long periods. This paper raises significant questions about the adequacy of current distance education provisions in remote areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key thrust of labour market policy in Australia and many other western countries is that long-term unemployed people lack the personal motivation to engage proactively and successfully in the search for paid employment. In this paper we argue that the implementation of what are experienced as paternal workfare programs are counter-productive to achieving the official policy goal of improving self-efficacy and gaining paid employment. The empirical discussion presented in the paper is based on a semi-longitudinal study that tracked 75 long-term unemployed people in three different labour markets in Australia between 2005-2007. The study was funded by the Australian Research Council and Jobs Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper responds to a 2004 paper by Warburton et al. The paper acknowledges their exploration of the corporate responsibilities of Australian business, and the importance of such research given the social impact business has in contemporary Australian society. However while their paper was concerned with the situation at one specific Australian business and its view of corporate responsibility, this paper attempts to utilise their findings to make a normative argument as to the possibilities for overall corporate responsibility in Australian business. In particular it considers their omission of two primary stakeholder groups, the owners and the workers, in conducting their stakeholder analysis. This paper queries whether if it is not possible to include all stakeholders, it makes sense to omit the other stakeholders too; and rather to agitate for more judicious ownership rights in pursuing the concept of corporate responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is in two parts. An introductory section discusses the housing market in Australia in order to emphasise the fact that homelessness is not simply an individual experience. It is also a structural phenomenon driven by economic imperatives beyond the control of those most affected. The bulk of the paper is devoted to a discussion of the published figures on the level of homelessness in Australia, gathered by the national Census and by the data collection agency for the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP), the nation's main program for combating homelessness. Some problems with those figures as they are reported by the SAAP data collection agency are discussed, in particular, the under-estimation of the level of unmet demand for accommodation. The paper concludes with a comparison between the Census and the SAAP figures, which indicates that policies for alleviating homelessness are far from achieving their aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the paid care workforce in community services in Australia. Focusing on people employed in direct service delivery roles, I use unpublished data from the Censuses of 1996 and 2001 to document some important characteristics of the care workforce in community services, in which a large minority of care workers are employed in this country. International research has established that paid care workers suffer considerable labour market disadvantage. The paper presents evidence of deinstitutionalisation, deprofessionalisation, functional underemployment, and relatively poor pay for care workers in community service industries, which suggests that problems identified in other English-speaking countries are also evident in Australia. I conclude by discussing the policy implications of these trends, and by raising some questions for workforce planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia, as in most developed economies, care has now ‘gone public’. It is no longer solely a private, familial concern that can be automatically assigned to women to be undertaken without pay. Nor is it contained in residential institutions or bureaucratic hierarchies. In this paper I consider what is emerging in its place – the ‘care deficit’ and the new social divisions of care, in which paid care is assuming an ever more important place as a result of significant developments in both social policy and in market-based provisions, especially the expansion of corporate care. Linking recent care theory with the need for a program of empirical research, the paper first considers the lack of consensus on the character and meaning of care, as seen from a number of different theoretical standpoints. Despite important differences in the perspectives on care, common features suggest that there are sound reasons to develop research concepts and tools that would help create the dialogue and sharing of ideas that a more mature field of research and practice requires. A starting point for this is the attempt to demark a clear definition of care. Building on this, I propose the development and use of a broad perspective, which I have termed the social division of care, to provide a joint framework for data collection and for monitoring the changing balances of responsibility for providing care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Care provider organisations are under pressure from funding bodies and regulatory procedures to narrowly construct care in ways that preclude its relational, emotional and social characteristics. This process of subjecting care to a managerialist-market logic, however, creates tensions between the organisation and its key stakeholders: care recipients, care-workers and unpaid carers. These tensions are significant and are likely to place organisations under pressure to develop a more holistic approach to care. In addressing this issue, this paper draws upon the concept of bounded emotionality to argue that it is feasible for organisations to be both instrumental and caring, and thereby be responsive to the needs of all of their stakeholders. The paper concludes by discussing some of the practical implications of organisations adopting a framework of bounded emotionality, and suggesting some directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research on paid care work focuses on this work as care. An equally important issue is its characteristic as paid work. This paper focuses on the characteristics of jobs in Australian aged care facilities, using data from a comprehensive 2003 national survey of direct care workers in Australian aged care facilities. It shows that, on a range of characteristics including pay, aged care jobs compare quite well with other jobs held by Australians who have similar characteristics to aged care workers. Aged care jobs are certainly not unequivocally ‘bad’ jobs. Yet turnover rates amongst these workers are quite high. The paper shows that workers’ expectations about remaining in the aged care sector depend largely on their experience of work, particularly their job satisfaction. Job satisfaction, in turn, is affected most by their experience of the work of caring. As in most workplaces, the ability to use their skills without hindrance is important. But care work offers distinctive rewards not captured by notions of professional identity and commitment. The paper concludes by suggesting that a focus on these distinctive rewards will be important in fully understanding paid care work as paid work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the cultural, attitudinal and structural factors that impact upon the social experiences and educational achievements of Arabic-speaking background (ASB) students in three Melbourne secondary schools with high levels of cultural and linguistic diversity. The paper makes the case for and then outlines a multidimensional approach to multicultural education to better integrate ASB students and their families into the schooling environment. Key strategies developed and tested include a model of school-community partnership, online and interactive teacher support material (TSM) as well as on-going teacher professional development workshops on reflexive approaches to cultural diversity and intercultural tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of fundraising to the nonprofit sector there has been surprisingly little research on fundraising as a revenue source in Australia. Research that has been conducted both here and internationally has focused on the cost of fundraising — the proportion of fundraising expenses to total fundraising revenue, and fundraising performance — the absolute or relative amount of money raised by organisations via fundraising. This paper examines why some nonprofit organisations are more dependent on fundraising as a source of revenue than others. The paper applies multivariate techniques to examine the influence that three broad sets of factors: organisational; revenue generation model; and fundraising approach, have on what we term ‘fundraising dependency’ — the percentage of a nonprofit organisations total revenue that is derived from fundraising activities. It finds that fundraising dependency is associated with a range of organisational characteristics (e.g. size, geographical scope of the organisation and tax status); alternative forms of revenue generation (e.g. reliance on government funding and commercial venturing) and fundraising approach (e.g. whether professional fundraising staff are employed, the use of volunteer fundraisers and the number of fundraising practices used). The results support taking a multidimensional approach to understanding fundraising dependency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs) are a key instrument of the Federal Government's new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs. SRAs, described by the Government as a form of ‘mutual obligation’, require Indigenous communities to commit to behavioural changes or other actions in order to access ‘discretionary’ government funding for infrastructure or services. There are significant political, moral and practical issues raised by SRAs. In this paper we contend that despite the language of mutuality, flexibility and choice that accompanies SRAs, the approach appears more aptly associated with ‘divide and conquer’ tactics and a subtle shifting of responsibility for problems from governments to Indigenous communities themselves. In this paper we explore the concepts of mutual obligation and reciprocity, the structural biases that favour the state and its agencies over Indigenous communities in the SRA negotiation process, and issues of citizenship entitlements and accountability that are raised. Finally, acknowledging that SRAs can be a means for Indigenous communities to access greatly needed funding, we suggest various strategies and measures that could be taken up to make the SRA framework more equitable and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates that Federal spending is not inherently financiallyconstrained and does not have to be facilitated via prior taxation or debt-issuance. It also refutes the claim that budget deficits result in higher interest rates in the future, with lower levels of capital formation and economic growth as a consequence. These misconceptions together lead to the nonsensical claim that by running surpluses now the Government will be better able (because it has 'more funds stored away') to cope with future spending demands. The paper thus challenges the conventional view, such as that espoused in the 2002 Australian Treasury Intergenerational Report,that the ageing population will place unsustainable demands on the Federal budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores issues arising from the welfare reform process in the United States and Australia. The involvement of faith-based organisations in both countries has evolved in different historical, social, political and cultural contexts. The paper will explore three main themes. First, it examines the relevance of the term 'faith-based' to describe the nature of the relationship between charities and churches in the mixed economy of welfare in the Australian context. Second, it provides a critical analysis of the reform processes, suggesting implications for the future of church-based organisations. Third, it maps directions for cross-comparative research of church-based social services provision in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a social policy experiment that explores current and potential links between trends in Australian public policy. The central example is provided by the implementation of a wired community set up in a low-income public housing estate by an entrepreneurial not-for-profit internet service provider, InfoXchange. 'Reach for the Clouds', the wired community being established at Atherton Gardens in Fitzroy, Melbourne, is attractive to policy-makers and funding bodies, combining community-building, public-private partnerships, self-help and place-based management. However, although the project is promoted as an exercise in community-building through technology, many of the key assumptions are untested. It seems self-evident that low-income people who are socially and economically excluded would benefit from greater 'connectedness' with one another. However, it is not clear that such exchanges, online or off-line, will build 'community'. The paper attempts to establish some distinctions between online communities of interest and place based communities, untangling the relationship between social connectedness and models of social capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalisation and changes in agriculture have resulted in major social changes in inland Australia. Depopulation of the inland has led many to speculate on the future of rural towns and rural people. This paper will examine population drifts from country towns to cities and from the inland to the coastal regions and, in particular, the outmigration of young people. In doing this, the paper focuses on several small towns in central New South Wales that have been the subject of intensive study during 2000 and 2001. Drawing on analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, in-depth interviews and focus groups with key informants and surveys with young people and their parents in small rural communities the paper will report on the loss of young people and the greater loss of young women from these areas. It is argued that this outmigration of young people is linked to the need to seek higher education and also to the loss of full-time jobs for young people. The loss of these jobs is the result of changes in agricultural production, labour market restructuring and a withdrawal of public and private sector services. It is further argued that current reliance by governments on market based and community self-help solutions is not enough to provide a future for rural communities. Even if economic growth occurs this will not solve the problem of loss of young people, and the greater loss of young women, nor will it address the issue of access to education and training. Rather far greater attention to human capital (access to education, training and employment), institutional capital (government and non-government services and infrastructure) and social capita! (strong networks) is needed if Australia's small rural towns are to survive and flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deinstitutionalisation is represented as a major step toward social inclusion through the resettlement of disabled people residing in segregated large-scale institutions into community-based homes. By promoting the right to live in ordinary community residential settings, deinstitutionalisation fundamentally changes both the support services and housing arrangements of former institutional residents. In Australia, as in many western countries, debates on community care have tended to focus on the location and nature of non-housing supports for people leaving dependent care. This focus, however, overlooks the fact that deinstitutionalisation involves a radical rehousing of people in care. This paper explores the character and implications of deinstitutionalisation in Australia as a rehousing process. It is based on a recent national research project that has examined the housing futures of people with intellectual disabilities who have been, or will be, deinstitutionalised. The paper considers the increasingly divergent socio-political perspectives that have emerged in recent discussions about social inclusion, institutional reform and independent living and their implications for housing and community care policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hopeful of bringing citizens closer to government decision-making Gary Humphries recently presented the Community Referendum Bill 2002 to the AGT Legislative Assembly. The Citizen Initiated Referendum has many staunch advocates however this paper considers whether CIR is an appropriate solution to perceived democratic deficits in the ACT or anywhere else in Australia. The paper canvasses a number of pitfalls of CIR. These include: their potential to aggravate rather than ameliorate the democratic deficit; the problems associated with under-deliberation; and potentially detrimental consequences for existing electoral arrangements. Specifically, CIR could engender voter fatigue, reduce the salience of elections and exacerbate levels of ungovernability and accountability, all of which are known to turn people off politics and voting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores public policy in relation lo war widows. The effects of public policy are rarely analysed from an individual's perspective. 'The paper draws on interview data lo analyse the case study of a 51 year old Vietnam War widow and compares this lo the experiences of six other war widows. Findings are part of a larger study on widowhood. Life histories were gained through unstructured interviews and then constructed as case studies that enabled an analysis of the relationship between the individual lived experience of the women and broader social forces that influence this. The findings suggest that women may feel differently about being categorised as 'war widows' in public policy and the reasons for this are varied. The paper suggests that an extension of this study be conducted to more fully explore the reasons for the differences in war widows to inform future policy review/revision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 2,326 responses to a survey of attitudes to the Australian tax system. This paper emphasises that taxpayers' 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. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses data from the Australian Election Studies (1987-2001) to investigate the preference for lower taxes or higher social spending among Australian voters. We offer some explanations for the increased support for higher social spending, especially after the election of the Howard Government in 1996. Regression models allow us to distinguish various factors that predict support for higher social spending. The main conclusions of the paper are that support for social spending is higher among voters with 'social-democratic' attitudes and voting preferences but significantly, is also higher among voters who think health and Medicare services have declined since 1998. These findings are discussed in the context of various possible explanations for declining support for tax cuts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restructuring the public sector along market principles has been a major policy development of the late twentieth century in most western countries. This paper examines the impact of recent political and administrative change on a Victorian universal primary health program, the Maternal and Child Health Service (MCHS). The first section establishes the development of the service in the years when an interventionist state provided bureaucratic support for the expansion of public health activities. In the next significant period of organisational change, the 1980s- early 1990s, key interest groups articulated their positions in view of the administrative imperatives of corporate managerialism. Dramatic 'marketisation'of the service then occurred with the impact of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) in the mid-1990s. The paper argues that attention to the complex processes of change shows the interplay of interest groups, discursive positions and administrative regimes, with new strategies emerging to counter the contracting state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the changes in the terms of citizen-state relations that are coded in Australia's current program of welfare reform. It argues that welfare reform entails a shift from welfare as a limited social right of citizenship to welfare as a form of support conditional upon completing specified obligations, and from the provision of support as a cash payment to support coupling cash with personal services. Together, these shifts have the scope transform the relation between citizen and state fundamentally. This is no less than a shift from social policy citizenship in which claimants are presumed to act on their own behalf to paternalistic support and care directed to reforming character and values as well as to meeting need. The paper argues that this shift violates the fundamental equality essential to social policy citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time availability is a key concept in relation to volunteering, leading to organisations and governments targeting those outside paid work as a potential source of volunteers. It may be that factors such as a growth in female participation in the labour market and an increase in work hours will lead to more people saying they are simply too busy to volunteer. This paper discusses how social and economic change, such as changing work patterns, are impacting on time availability. Using the 1997 ABS Time Use data, it identifies a predictive model of spare time by looking at demographic, life stage and employment related variables. Results confirm that those outside paid work, particularly the young, males and those without partners or children, are the groups most likely to have time to spare. These groups do not currently report high rates of volunteering. The paper concludes by questioning the premise that people will volunteer simply because they have time to spare. This is just one component of a range of motivations and factors that influence the decision to volunteer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the social parameters surrounding the management of informed consent procedures for the parents of young deaf children for the surgical fitting of a cochlear implant ('bionic ear') to their child. Although most observers of this remarkable and well publicised medical development only see benefits in its use, the authors examine the nature of the conflict which has emerged between medical and media portrayals of the 'miracle' device and the contrasting social, cultural and linguistic views of many Deaf people. The paper analyses the components of parental consent procedures for surgical implantation of their child, covering the risk-benefit analysis and, in particular, the information base that is provided for parents about the social construction of a 'Deaf life' by many Deaf people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the dynamics which have characterised the Australian Muslim (a term which is examined more critically throughout this paper) struggle for identity and self-identification from the late nineteenth century to the present. It will consider the two primary mechanisms through which this struggle has been articulated. The first of these relates to the ways in which many Australian Muslims have used the nationalist, linguistic and cultural affiliations, which played a critical role in their process of migration and settlement, as a way of forging personal and communal 'cells' of identification. The second explores the attempts made by Australian Muslims to draw this body of cells into a coherent whole structured around a religious framework, to create the ideal to which all Muslims aspire -- a unified Muslim community or ummah. One of the critical questions which the various discourses relating to Australian Muslim identity and culture raise, and which will be considered in this paper, is: on what levels does this struggle for identification operate, and to what extent has it been successful in reconciling a sense of an Australian Muslim past with the present and future? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that although migrants in general fare worse in the labour market, some migrant groups perform better than others (McAllister 1986; Evans and Kelley 1986; Kelly and McAllister 1984). Studies from the US have also shown that migrant workers working in the ethnic enclaves attain higher socioeconomic rewards compared to the immigrants employed in the secondary sector (Wilson and Portes 1980; Portes and Jensen 1989). Using data collected from the Survey of Issues in Multicultural Australia (1988), this paper reports that ethnic enclaves as a separate economy do not exist in the Australian labour market where migrants can obtain higher status or higher earnings. The paper concludes that the formation of ethnic enclaves as a separate economy needs much more than the establishment of ethnic owned enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork undertaken with a group of young men known collectively as the Bad Blue Boys (BBB)[1]. These young men use the supporting of a soccer team (Sydney United in the national league) as a means of parading nationalistic allegiance to their parent's homeland, Croatia. Given the history1 of crowd conflict at Australian soccer matches and the current trends within soccer officialdom to move the sport away from its traditional affiliation with ethnic communities, it is inevitable that the BBB have come into confrontation with agents of social authority, such as the police, during an afternoon at the football The participant observation aspect of the research is used to discuss the interaction between the police and the BBB at soccer matches, while interviews with members of the BBB are recounted to reveal group attitudes held about the police. The paper is written to articulate with other academic contributions which have investigated the relationship between youth from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) and the police in contemporary Australian urban contexts. A leading contributor to such studies, Janet Chan, has commented, 'Australian research specifically on police-ethnic youth relations [paints] a negative portrait' (Chan 1994, p. 176). The portrait painted by the present study is intended for comparison with such research. At the outset it must be stressed that the findings are peculiar to the study and that no great claim is made for extrapolation. However, this is not to say that the study does not reflect trends in relations between NESB youth and police in Australian cities. On the contrary, a conclusion will be drawn which argues that ethnographic studies of particular ethnic youth groupings and subcultures facilitate a social mapping of police youth relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study on which this paper was based explored parent/professional relationships where disabled children were involved, and the underlying cultures which influence them. The paper seeks in pan to relocate debate about parent/professional relations away from a mere instrumental view to the wider context of advancing understanding of social capital. Interestingly the study highlights some examples of relations consistent with a poststructuralist framework of power which unfolded within broadly patriarchal and capitalist structures more relevant to feminist critiques of human caring and 'caring' systems. Overall it shows the unequal structure of power arrangements in parent/professional relations, and indicates the possible benefits for caring and support systems of an approach which is less technically driven and hierarchical and more 'horizontal', personal and reciprocally based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper[1] 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From an economists perspective, this paper explores some of the issues associated with the design of an effective labour market program, and evaluation processes which are required to determine the merits of a scheme. This analysis comes at the time when pilot projects under the federal Government's 'Work for the Dole' scheme are being implemented. The paper concludes that if the 'Work for the Dole' scheme is to be viewed as a labour market program, then an evaluation mechanism should have been determined prior to the implementation of such a scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the practices of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal ('SSAT') as the first tier external review mechanism in respect of primary decision-making by the Department of Social Security. In particular the characteristics of the SSAT which set it apart as essentially inquisitorial and non-adversarial, and the appropriateness of the use of features more usually associated with the formal court process, will be considered. The paper concludes with a discussion of the legislative objectives of the SSAT and the extent of their achievement to date, and suggest that the features which set the SSAT apart from its more formal judicial counterparts need to be maintained as the SSAT becomes more institutionalized within administrative review processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present a part of the findings of a study of 82 homosexual couples (40 gay and 42 lesbian couples) living in three states and in city and country areas. The respondents were chosen by means of snowball sampling and the methods of data collection were semi-standardised questionnaires and interviews. The paper explores the gender identity of homosexual partners, and the power structure of the homosexual units, and examines the types of sexual relationships maintained by homosexual partners. The paper concludes that homosexual couples are diverse in their sex identity, sexual relationships and power structure, and that although in terms of power they are similar to heterosexual couples they are definitely different from them in their sexual attitudes and behaviour and in the perception of their sexual identity. The paper finally, underlines some implications for social theory and social policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in the environment surrounding the nonprofit human services sector in Australia have been viewed with some concern, especially given the role of the sector within the Australian welfare state. This paper reviews these developments, noting that some are less visible than others, and that the process of change is more widespread than often perceived. By explicitly employing a theoretical framework derived from organisational theory the paper argues that the contemporary experience of the sector, characterised as the existing institutional order of the field, is set to undergo substantial revision as it is incorporated within an emerging new institutional order of the market and the state as market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, child welfare bureaucracies have been required to redefine their relationship with indigenous communities, particularly in view of the impacts associated with their past interventions within these communities. This process of readjustment has been grounded in the apparent endorsement by child welfare bureaucracies of the principle of indigenous self determination and their declared acknowledgement of the desirability of devolving greater responsibility for decision making about child welfare matters to indigenous communities. This paper suggests that, despite statements to the contrary, the processes and mechanisms employed by child welfare agencies to promote indigenous autonomy have not adequately acknowledged the saliency of indigenous social domains nor have they seriously challenged the precepts of the existing administrative domains that govern child protection interventions. Consequently the processes employed by child protection agencies to develop culturally appropriate services have seldom matched the rhetoric associated with them. It is still the case that indigenous Australians are expected to fit within the current structure of child welfare agencies, and that their expectations should conform with the accepted orthodoxies that govern child protection interventions. This paper seeks to examine the processes by which child welfare bureaucracies have, on the one hand, attempted to re-cast their relationship with indigenous communities, while, on the other hand, maintaining the primacy of their administrative domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings intergenerational family literacy programs to the attention of both an education and a social welfare readership. It describes how they benefit both children of parents with unmet literacy needs and the parents themselves. The paper presents results from a Department at Employment, Education and Training national study which show an important overlap between adult literacy teachers and family support workers in their interests in their clients, and argues for the need for cross-sectoral cooperation Australian examples of such cooperation are provided and a scheme is proposed linking a number of government agencies to provide intergenerational family literary programs offering a suite of needed services [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of the economic status of indigenous families relative to other Australian families. An innovative combination of economic analysis of current census data and ethnographic research is used in the paper, and reveals that indigenous families are experiencing substantial and multiple forms of economic burden in comparison to other Australian families, and display significantly different characteristics. They are more likely to be sole parent families and have on average, a larger number of children and larger households. The adults are younger, have lower levels of education and are less likely to be in employment than other Australians. The poor economic position of indigenous sole parents is highlighted, and the economic role of the aged, matrifocal families, young adults and children are consisdered. The paper concludes by examining the important policy and program implications raised by the research, and argues the need for an increased focus on the particular socio-economic and locational circumstances of indigenous families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in medical knowledge and technology are enabling snore people to live longer hi 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 hi 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 front 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 hi 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]