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In this paper, we argue that the biggest challenge facing an Ageing Australia is care, specifically, the labour shortages in the care industry and the high demand for care, which exceeds the supply. We propose that this situation has arisen out of the extremely divergent discourses about the need for care, from feminist to neoliberal, managerialist responses. The aged care context in Australia is predominantly female, because women live longer than men, and 90% of formal and informal carers are women. We therefore see the continuing relevance of a gendered view of care and believe that the feminist ethics of care is a theory which offers much to our understanding of ageing in Australia. To illustrate key issues for older people and their families within the aged care system in Australia, a case study is presented and referred to throughout the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on qualitative Australian research that was conducted with 32 workers from Job Services Australia and Emergency Relief agencies. Researchers investigated the operationalisation of assistance for unemployed people to illuminate the language, discourse and processes through which workers and unemployed people were constructed within the quasi-market culture. Findings included individualistic and behaviourist frames, paradoxical positions in relation to client choice and blame, and a metaphorical frame which reinforced position, status and difference. This study provides important evidence from the frontline of Australia’s deregulated employment services, adding to the growing body of international social work literature pertaining to neoliberal welfare reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]