Relevance of Australian Social Policy on Social Practices

Running Head: RELEVANCE OF AUSTRAIAN SOCIAL POLICY ON SOCIAL PRACTICES
RELEVANCE OF AUSTRAIAN SOCIAL POLICY ON SOCIAL PRACTICES
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RELEVANCE OF AUSTRAIAN SOCIAL POLICY ON SOCIAL PRACTICES
Social policies are generally those guidelines which are directed towards bringing
positive social changes in the society and altogether promise a better standard of living to the
people of the society (Best, 2013). Historically, Australia had developed several post-war
initiatives which were the basic platform for creating a welfare state. Australia is a federation of
states and territories with both central governmental regulations as well as state government
initiations (Aldecoa & Keating, 2013). The Federal (Central) Government is basically
responsible to monitor larger aspects of policy making which includes proper collection of funds
and resources concerning public housing services, schools, disability services, hospitals and
health services which are then handed over to the respective state governments to implement it
on an individualistic basis.
In a country like Australia, where the sky high cost of living is considered as a mass
concern, the Australian Social Council is the apex body which looks after varied social issues
pertaining to the prevailing socio-economic, political, cultural and lifestyles concerns of the mass
to ensure the overall welfare of the state (Gal & Weiss 2013). This easy will mainly focus on
theses social policies pertaining to fields like poverty, housing, immigration, health and ageing,
disability, gender and sexuality, violence against women and how the Australian Government
deals with these social concerns through its policy framework.
. In Australia the poverty rates have remained stagnant almost for a decade rather going
by the statics of Australian Council for Social Services (ACOSS), poverty in Australia is
increasing where over 2.9 millions of people or almost over 13% of the population is living
below the poverty line (Mendes, 2013). Even the presence of schemes like Family Allowances
(1970) or Payments for Single parent (1970) or arrangement for additional assistance for low-

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RELEVANCE OF AUSTRAIAN SOCIAL POLICY ON SOCIAL PRACTICES
income families have failed to address this social concern (Podger, Stanton & Whiteford, 2014).
High cost issues of child care remains a significant disturbing issue for the nation adding to its
financial constraints. Thus in the budget plan proposed for the year 2015 the Australian
Government made an announcement to replace varied existing childcare subsidies and spend
over AUD 3.5 billion for child care assistance (Cook, Corr & Breitkreuz, 2017). The social work
practices which has been observed in the case of addressing the issue of existing poverty in
Australia, involves incorporating varied community practices by the social workers in helping
the individuals discover their own resources as well as abilities to bring in the necessary change.
The main aim is to involve these socially deprived individuals in some fruitful actions that will
not only boost their self esteem but simultaneously address the issues of social and economic
exclusion which are very necessary for effective poverty eradication.
Particularly discussing about the indigenous community present in Australia, it basically
consists of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (Dudgeon, et al. 2014).
Council of Australian Government emphasized on ending social discrimination and protecting
the indigenous communities. Thus in response to evil practices likes child abuse which was a
common scenario especially among the indigenous communities The Racial Discrimination act
was established (Gelber & McNamara, 2013). Social policy framework incorporated promoting
education among the lives of these minor communities to bring in the required social awareness
and protect them from unjust practices. These policy frameworks have been incorporated in
terms of social work practices where the first generation rights and second generation rights of
these indigenous groups are recognized and acknowledged. An apt example of this social policy
practice is the “Close the Gap” campaign (Holland, 2014) that was undertaken by the Council of
Australian Government to addresses the issue of health equality among the Indigenous groups.