Weighing Up Australian Values

Weighing Up Australian Values
Author: Brian Howe
Publisher: UNSW Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2007
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780868408859

Explains why so many Australians feel a greater sense of risk, and discusses new directions in social policy to anticipate and help people address risk.

Public Policy Values

Public Policy Values
Author: J. Stewart
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2009-06-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0230240755

More and more policy issues involve issues that are explicitly values-based, yet public policy analysis tends to skirt around the question of values. Public Policy Values overcomes this reluctance by showing how public policies enable values-choices to be made, often without seeming to do so.

From Migrant to Citizen: Testing Language, Testing Culture

From Migrant to Citizen: Testing Language, Testing Culture
Author: C. Slade
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2010-05-28
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0230281400

In this impressive volume a combination of theorists - linguists, historians and lawyers - address the subject of citizenship testing for language proficiency and 'cultural' knowledge. Discussing themes of identity and cultural belonging, they draw out the implications for Australia and the wider international community.

Inclusive Growth in Australia

Inclusive Growth in Australia
Author: John Buchanan
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2020-07-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000257533

Inclusive Growth in Australia overturns two decades of assumptions that social policy is wasteful and a source of dependency. It reflects a global resurgence of the understanding that an active and effective social policy regime is vital not only for a flourishing society, but also for a strong economy. It explains this new paradigm of inclusive growth and shows how it can be implemented in Australia. Inclusive growth dismantles the idea that social development will automatically trickle down from untrammelled market based growth. Rather, growth must be managed so that it is employment centred, broad based across sectors and with a social security system promoting sustainability and equality of opportunity. The editors argue that productivity is 'nearly everything' when it comes to raising living standards. So while social policies will be about goals other than the economy, they must demonstrate their compatibility with an economic growth strategy. With contributions from leading national and international experts in the field including Marian Baird, Grant Belchamber, Gerald Burke, Saul Eslake, Roy Green and Peter Whiteford, Inclusive Growth in Australia shows that 'welfare state' spending is as much an economic investment as a measure of social protection. Written for policy makers, industry and NGOs as well as students, Inclusive Growth in Australia locates Australian economic and social policy within the most important emergent themes shaping international debate.

Half a Citizen

Half a Citizen
Author: Sonia Martin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 191
Release: 2020-07-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000257312

'This important and illuminating book provides a powerful and harrowing depiction of the inadequacies of the Australian welfare system. Its findings challenge the foundations and direction of the welfare reform agenda.' - Professor Peter Saunders, University of New South Wales 'This major new study challenges many myths about life on welfare and in low paid work. It should be read by anyone concerned with welfare reform.' - Jane Millar, Professor of Social Policy, University of Bath What is it really like to be unemployed and on welfare? How do you make ends meet? Does the welfare system actually help people get back into jobs? Half a Citizen draws on in-depth interviews with 150 welfare recipients to reveal people struggling to get by on a low income, the anxieties of balancing paid work with income support, and how unstable housing makes it difficult to get ahead. By investigating the lives beyond the statistics, Half a Citizen also explodes powerful myths and assumptions on which welfare policy is based. The majority of welfare recipients interviewed are very active, in paid work, caring for children or for other family members, and they see themselves as contributing and participating citizens, even if they sometimes feel they are being treated as 'half a citizen'. These stories of resilience and passion bear no resemblance to the clich d images of dependence, laziness, and social isolation which underpin social policy and media debate.

The Hawke Legacy

The Hawke Legacy
Author: Gerry Bloustien
Publisher: Wakefield Press
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2009
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1862548641

Bob Hawke was a popular and effective Prime Minister whose economic and social reforms are acknowledged to have shaped modern Australia. The book offers a timely look at the legacy of the Hawke era (1983-1991) by considering both the achievements of his ministry, and what remains as unfinished business. The Hawke Legacy includes interviews with Bob Hawke, with his former speechwriter Graeme Freudenberg and with former Senator Rosemary Crowley, contributions from two former members of the Hawke Government, and scholarly accounts from historical, poitical, economic, educational and Indigenous perspectives.

Promoting Workplace Well-being

Promoting Workplace Well-being
Author: N. Thompson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2009-10-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0230274099

Bringing together contributors from a wide range of disciplines, countries and perspectives this book provides a thought-provoking overview of the human dimension of the workplace. It covers workplace problems as well as potential solutions. Essential reading for anyone committed to making the workplace a humane and effective place.

Transforming European Employment Policy

Transforming European Employment Policy
Author: Ralf Rogowski
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2011
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1781001170

Since the mid 1990s, the focus of European employment and social policy has shifted from protection to promotion. This book provides a timely analysis of this new form of governance, and the new forms of policy delivery and audit which accompany it. The limitations of the current approach became particularly apparent during the financial crisis of 2008, and it has now reached a turning point. The book offers a new coherent European reform agenda that views easing transitions in employment and promoting the development of individual and collective capabilities as cornerstones. The contributing authors focus on vocational training, life course policies, reflexive labour law and social insurance, from theoretical, empirical and practical perspectives. Transforming European Employment Policy will be of great benefit to policymakers as well as those researching or studying European law, labour law, industrial relations, political science, social policy or international business.

Refugee Women, Representation and Education

Refugee Women, Representation and Education
Author: Melinda McPherson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2014-10-07
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1134099754

Even with increased attention to refugee women’s issues in the late 20th century, post-colonial discourses have nurtured limiting representations of refugee women, predominantly as subjects of charity and as victims. Adding to a growing body of work in the field, the author challenges this preconception by offering an opportunity for women’s voices to shape and influence policy, especially as it pertains to the role of education in the authoring of their own lives. In this volume, Melinda McPherson centres refugee women’s voices in the educational policy debate. Drawing on interviews with a group of refugee women in Melbourne, she explores purposes of education, and asks what kind of society these women imagine for themselves and for others. Their critical reflections, personal experiences and diverse backgrounds offer a contrasting picture to that privileged in ordinary policy debate. The women require support, resources, and guidance; but they are agents in their own lives who bring strength, thought, and imagination to crafting their own destinies in a new country. Education is a pivotal tool in exercising that agency. Throughout the book, discussions centre on why education matters to refugee women, focusing upon the integral links between education, civil society, and successful settlement, and conversely on the negative impacts of exclusionary practices. Representation and participation in education is a topic of critical social justice concern, and as such, the book will form important reading for academics, students, policy makers, and community development researchers.

Globalization, Flexibilization and Working Conditions in Asia and the Pacific

Globalization, Flexibilization and Working Conditions in Asia and the Pacific
Author: Sangheon Lee
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 483
Release: 2008-09-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1780632479

This book represents a unique study which reviews employment conditions in Asia and the Pacific in the context of globalization and increasing pressure towards flexibilization. It places a strong focus on the diverging experiences of individual workers in their employment conditions such as employment status, wages/incomes, working time, work organizations and health and safety. Along with thematic studies concerning the roles of workers voice and labour regulation in determining employment conditions, this book includes nine country studies which have been undertaken based on a common research framework for a more rigorous comparison in the region. - A systematic review of employment conditions in the countries which are carefully selected in the region - National-level analysis based on a common research framework - A highly analytical and timely analysis of workers voice and labour regulation with respect to employment conditions