Australian Social Policy and the Human Services contends that human service practitioners benefit from understanding the relationship between social policy, the human services and their own practices. In this comprehensive introduction to the subject, readers are encouraged to develop their policy literacy, or critical understanding of the development, implementation and evaluation of social policies. Part I explores the debates and organising principles of social policy and the human services. Part II focuses on the development and delivery of social policy, including its history, and a discussion of the Third Sector in Australia. Part III covers specific areas of social policy: income maintenance, employment, housing, health care, family and child care, and indigenous social policy. Emerging issues, such as globalisation and sustainability, are examined in Part IV. Each chapter features discussion points, exercises, case studies, further reading lists and links with the Australian Association of Social Workers Practice Standards (2013).

The provision of social services in Australia has changed dramatically in recent decades, raising a range of important questions about financial and democratic accountability: 'who benefits', 'who suffers' and 'who decides'. This book explores these developments through rich case studies of a diverse set of social policy domains. The case studies demonstrate a range of effects of marketisation, including the impact on the experience of consumer engagement with social service systems, on the distribution of social advantage and disadvantage, and on the democratic steering of social policy.

Vol. for 1963 includes section Current Australian serials; a subject list.

Assesses the justification for welfare politics in the light of the neo-conservative challenge. Culpitt examines the philosophical foundations of welfare systems and whether welfare states have promoted the welfare rights of those in need at the expense of the obligations of those with resources.

As Australian society becomes increasingly complex and diverse, it is more difficult than ever for the lay person to understand how the variety of institutional structures within society function. Institutions in Australian Society examines the basic characteristics of thirteen fundamental institutions in Australian society, giving an overview of the development and contemporary significance of each of them. Written by specialists in each area, but assuming no prior study of the institutions, the book gives insights into the workings of federal, state and local government, the law, the economy, industrial relations, agriculture, education, mass media, social welfare, medicine, religion and sport. Each chapter is self-contained and includes a guide to further reading, while an introduction provides an overview of the importance of these institutions in contemporary Australia.