Social Policy Whisperer: The Vexed Issue of the Voluntary Sector

In today’s Social Policy Whisperer column Prof. Paul Smyth from the University of Melbourne revisits the debate on the marketisation of community services.

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Social Policy Whisperer: Reclaiming the economy

In the latest Social Policy Whisperer, Dr Ben Spies-Butcher discusses the implications of the perceived (and sometimes rhetorical) differences between “social” and “economic” policy. How do we bring these two debates together?

Social Policy Whisperer: ‘Contestability’ and the Voluntary Sector

Not long ago I had a conversation with a voluntary sector colleague who had been on a committee advising a state government on sector reform. The big mistake this person said was getting sucked in by the line about contestability. You know, the idea about how much government values the tax payers’ money and how it has to go to whoever can deliver the best results regardless of their sector of origin. It seemed fair enough at the time. Only later did it dawn just how this sleight of hand had opened the way for the invasion of the once not for profit, civil society, terrain by big profit focussed companies. This week PtP ran a summary of Gary Sturgess’ new paper, ‘Contestability in Public Services: An Alternative to Outsourcing’. It had a somewhat different take on the role of contestability.

Social Policy Whisperer: ‘Having a Go’ in the 21st Century

Last Monday I was lucky enough to get along to the John Freebairn Lecture in Public Policy at the University of Melbourne delivered this year by John Quiggin. On ‘Economic Policy for the 21^st Century’ it was a great primer on current thinking about economic growth and provided an excellent preparation for making sense of the budget speeches later in the week.

Quiggin highlighted the great transition which has occurred in the 21^st century through the emergence of the knowledge economy. The policy ‘burning deck’ today does not concern the shrinking portions of the economy – agriculture, manufacturing and mining – which were the preoccupation of the late 20^th century, but rather the need to master the risks and reap the rewards of the now dominant knowledge based sectors.

Social Policy Whisperer: Eroding Medicare by stealth? Indexation and the decline of public provision

Subtle policy changes, such as changes to indexation rules, competition, and payments to providers, can be similar to direct attacks on public provision. Dr Ben Spies-Butcher (@SensibleBSB) looks at the example of the ‘unwinding’ of Australia’s universal health system.

Social Policy Whisperer: Whitlam, Fraser and Ian ‘Competition’ Harper: From the Grand to the Grotesque.

Mine was not the only heart warmed by the recent public celebrations of the grand contributions of Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser to building a greater Australia. In tune with their era they understood the vital roles of democracy and social policy alongside the mixed economy in building a good society. And I will not be the only one frustrated by the grotesque banalities of the recommendations for ‘human services’ in Ian Harper’s – back to Hilmer!’ (1995) – report on competition policy. It is irretrievably locked in a market utopian policy time warp.

Social Policy Whisperer: A Scott Morrison Fantasy

I dreamt I had a phone call from Scott Morrison now Minister for Social Services. He explained that his newly repentant government had realised it was out of step with the Australian people on social policy matters. He wanted to establish better communication with the people and, hearing that I had studied Australian social policy for so many years, wondered if we might chat about the ‘Australian Way’.

Social Policy Whisperer: Harnessing the economy to the Good Society- a policy strategy for church and community activists 2015

This is an excerpt from a talk given last night to Social Policy Connections AGM by Dr Paul Smyth (full paper will shortly be available on the SPC website http://www.socialpolicyconnections.com.au/ ). It is a call to action for faith-based organisations and advocates, to come out unequivocally and assertively with the message that the Good Society is created in spaces and through narratives that the weakening PaleoLiberal rationale cannot reach or answer.