Social and Economic Concerns in Australia: An Economics Essay

This essay provides a comprehensive literature review of the social and economic concerns in Australia. It explores significant social issues, including debates surrounding gay marriage, LGBT adoption rights, disability rights, and abortion laws, highlighting conflicting opinions and legal frameworks. The essay also examines economic challenges such as unemployment, the rising cost of living, budget deficits, and Australia's foreign relations. It emphasizes the need for policy frameworks to address these issues, including job creation, equitable resource distribution, and fiscal measures to manage debt and maintain Australia's global economic position. The analysis underscores the interconnectedness of social and economic factors and the importance of addressing these concerns for sustained growth and societal well-being.

Economics 1
ECONOMICS: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONCERNS IN AUSTRALIA
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Economics 2
Introduction
The Australian economy over the past decades has experienced rapid growth with a continued
rise in the standards of living, resource distribution as well as improved social welfare. However
with the rise or growth of the economy to the sustainability of the growth has been a major
challenge as the nation has continued to experience some major social and economic concerns.
The social concerns, in this case, have been the issues or problems that influence a considerable
number of individuals within the society or are seen as having a conflicting opinion to what is
regarded as right in the society and include the issues relating to gay marriages, LGBT adoption
rights, and disability rights among others (Bussière et al. 2014, p.152). The economic concerns,
on the other hand, were the fundamental problems or issues facing the Australian human society
and their business environments which have been found to have an impact on allocation and
distribution of economic resources as well as the provision of goods and services in the
Australian Economy. This paper, therefore, seeks to provide a literature review of the social and
economic concerns in Australia as well as what can be done to ensure that the economy remains
in its global economic position.
Social concerns in Australia
The major social concerns in Australia as outlined above have brought some conflicting opinions
with a great percentage of populations acting in support of them while an equally significant
percentage going against the issues (Gerstmann, 2017, p. 2). These social issues include the
concerns raised about the gay marriages in Australia; the continued debates on the LGBT
adoption rights, the debates on the neglect of disability rights for the people with disabilities as
well as the societal concerns on abortion laws with have supported the rights to have abortions in

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the country. For the nation to remain in its global position then it needs to address some of these
social concerns and therefore understanding the issues is equally important.
Understanding Gay Marriage social concerns-The issues of gay marriages have been subject of
debate for many years and major developments have been made through the activities of human
rights societies as well as the state and federal laws of the Australian government (Webb and
Chonody, 2014, pg. 420). However, the right to marry has been having been found to have a
much significant difference between the legal treatment of the same sex couples and the
heterosexual relationships in Australia. The issues of same sex marriage have remained
controversial and have brought about conflicting community and political opinions and therefore
making it a subject of discussion and debate in the Parliament by both the state and the federal
governments (Gates, G.J., 2015, pg. 70). Major reforms have however been made to provide
equal entitlements and responsibilities for same sex couples especially in areas of concern such
as social security, employment and taxation laws. However, concerns have been made with
respect to the treatment of the same sex couples which differ from that of heterosexual
relationships.
There are fewer rights and obligations attached to married couples which are not accorded to
same sex couples and therefore the human rights society have been advocating for equality for
same sex couples and that they should be allowed to marry and enjoy the rights accorded by the
Constitution under the marriage act for the married couples (Cuthbert and Fronek, 2014, p. 2).
Such ideas and debates have raised a lot of concerns and have been seen in some communities as
controversial and have brought about some social, religious, moral and political questions. The
issues are has been left to the high court despite the federal governments in Australia having

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powers over marriage to make a decision and appropriate laws governing the same as the court
has to decide whether the gay marriage is consistent with the common wealth law of marriage
act.
Social concerns over LGBT adoption rights-With the federal and state governments passing the
laws in support of same sex unions, debates have also raised over the rights of gay unions and
lesbians as well as the bisexual rights to adopt children. The debates cuts across whether these
groups of people of their unions are allowed by law to adopt children do the children rights
support the idea or who have a decision over the children decisions to be adopted (Webb and
Chonody, 2014, pg. 415). With the society interested in protecting the children rights and some
being of the view that these groups of people have no right to adopt children while others
supporting that they have a right to adopt and raise children (Riggs and Due, 2014, pg. 190). But
most importantly is to understand the laws governing the adoption of children as well as the
children rights which protect and put the interest of the children first.
Protecting the interest of the children is the most important thing according to the
convention on rights of children (CRC). The Australian family law operates on the assumption
that a child should one or two legal parents and also provides an opportunity for other people
significant to their care. However, it stipulates that a child born to the same sex couple will often
have only one legal parent as the child is conceived through ART (Eggert & Engeli, 2015, p.
323). The convention also requires that the best interest of a child should be the most paramount
consideration when determining adoption cases. Same sex couples in Western Australia and
Australia Capital Territory can only adopt an unrelated child and also a lesbian co-mother or a
gay co-father is unlikely to achieve a step parent adoption while there is also a likelihood of lack

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of recognition for overseas adoption according to the legal framework in Australia governing
LGBT adoption rights.
Disability rights-There has been an increasing concern raised in Australia relating to the
increased neglect and discrimination of the rights of people living with a disability. The
Australian discriminatory act protects all individuals from unfair treatment in many parts of
public life (Thill, C., 2015, p. 18). The people with disability in the modern world have been
discriminated through lack of freedom of expression and opinion access to information due to
lack of awareness of their rights or the places they can express their concerns in case of violation
of their rights. They also suffer from unequal recognition before the law as many has expressed
their concerns over the ability to access to justice as the Australian law and other mechanisms
dealing with their complaints have not sufficiently protected or promoted the human rights
(Soldatic et al. 2014).for people with disability. Evidence also provides that people with
disability are over represented as victims of all forms of abuse and neglect including physical,
sexual, psychological, financial as well as financial abuse and neglect. The government and the
federal, as well as the local states, should be on the forefront of protecting and promoting the
rights of people with disability.
Abortion social concerns-This is also another widely debated social issue in Australia and has
also brought conflicting opinions in the society whereby some people advocate for the safe and
legal abortion rights for women while other institutions such as the religious groups advocating
for respect for human life. The right to access to safe and legal abortion has therefore been one of
the most debated sexual and reproductive health rights. And as much as the law provides
regulation and right for safe and legal as well as protection of women dignity this issue has

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continued to attract concerns especially over the right to life (Costa et al. 2015, pg. 108). The
government need therefore despite the laws provided create awareness to the public of the
abortion policies and exceptions to the laws as well as try to balance the societal values and the
health or women reproductive rights.
Economic concerns in Australia
With the rapid growth of the Australian economy over the last decades, it is also important to
that economic growth and development is characterized by major challenges as economic growth
is unlikely to be experienced in all sectors of the economy. As the economy grows in one sector
the other sector may be experiencing a recession. Therefore some of the economic problems
facing the Australian government include unemployment, increased cost of living, increased
budget deficits, Australian foreign relations as well as the global position of Australia economy.
However to address the economic concerns affecting the economy, then the government needs to
develop the right policy framework which will span the growth of job opportunities for the
Australians.
Unemployment rates in Australia have rapidly increased over the past years and many
economists argue and advocate that the government needs to take the appropriate measures to
remedy this situation. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the official unemployment
rate has been found to be 5.7 percent (Mavromaras et al. 2015, p. 2418). However as at February
2017 the rate increased to 5.9 percent with over 6400 jobs lost. The youths were the most
affected group. The youth unemployment rate has also been reported to increase from 12.3
percent to 13.3 percent. There have been few jobs available as well as limited job opportunities
available to the unemployed population (Bonoli, 2017, pg.3). The government, therefore, is

Economics 7
supposed to create the right policy framework that will facilitate the growth of job opportunities
in the economy.
There is also reported the increased cost of living in Australia. An increase in economic growth
of a country will equally translate to an improvement or increase in standards of living otherwise
the economy may only be widening the gap between the rich and the poor (Phillips, 2015, p. 2).
The price of imports in Australia has rapidly increased making the production of goods overseas
very expensive for the common Australian citizen to afford. For over four years, the Deutsche
Bank has named Australia as the most expensive country to live in terms of the country
purchasing parity. A small population enjoys high incomes and that has increased the standards
of living, however, it has brought high cost of living consequences to the percentage of the
population with low incomes (Smith et al. 2016, p. 2). The wages are also growing slowly for the
people earning low income and therefore the government has to adopt policy mechanisms which
will help to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor in the economy and ensure equitable
distribution of resources to all.
The country budget deficit and the growing huge debts have also raised a lot of concerns. The
country has been for many years experiencing budget deficits with the budget deficit been
reported to be $ 1 billion while the foreign debt been reported to be over $ 421 billion and the
recent statistics provide that the foreign debt already exceeds $ 1 trillion (Carr, 2014, p.77). The
trade deficit is usually due to the fact that the country imports always exceed the country exports
and therefore the deficit has to be paid by either borrowing from foreigners or allowing them to
have equity ownership in the country through foreign direct investments in Australian businesses
another problem that has created unemployment. The government, therefore, needs to take policy

Economics 8
measures that are both fiscal and monetary policy measure to control these debts from increasing
further through increasing the country’s GDP which means the debts will also reduce.
Another economic issue affecting the Australian government is its relation with other foreign
nations. The government has been depending on China for most of the manufacturing functions
however the economists are of the view that the Australian government will need to stop relying
on China economy as it may be used to as a dumping site for cheap products which will kill the
Australian local industries (Bussière et al. 2014, p.152). It should engage most the countries it
has a competitive advantage in production and adopts policy frameworks which will promote the
growth of local industries. The economy needs to grow back to its steady or stable state which
will eventually bring the country back its global position but this will entirely depend on the
policies adopted and implemented by the government.
Conclusion
Taking the Australian economy back to its global position will require great efforts on the side of
the government through developing the right policies which will lead to economic growth, equity
in resource distribution, affordable cost of living as well as reducing unemployment rates. It will
also have to equally provide solutions to the increasing social concerns by advocating for the
establishment of state and federal laws governing the social issues and considering the impact the
laws will have to the entire society at large. A society that flourishes in its social aspects will
eventually prosper in terms of its economic aspects.
List of References

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Bonoli, G., 2017. Labour market and social protection reforms in international perspective:
parallel or converging tracks?.Taylor & Francis.
Bussière, M., DelleChiaie, S. and Peltonen, T.A., 2014. Exchange rate pass-through in the global
economy: the role of emerging market economies. IMF Economic Review, 62(1), pp.146-178.
Carr, A., 2014. Is Australia a middle power? A systemic impact approach.Australian Journal of
International Affairs, 68(1), pp.70-84.
Costa, C., Douglas, H., Hamblin, J., Ramsay, P. and Shircore, M., 2015.Abortion law across
Australia–a review of nine jurisdictions. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology, 55(2), pp.105-111.
Cuthbert, D. and Fronek, P., 2014. Perfecting adoption? Reflections on the rise of commercial
off-shore surrogacy and family formation in Australia.
Eggert, N. and Engeli, I., 2015. Rainbow families and the state: How policies shape reproductive
choices. The Ashgate research companion to lesbian and gay activism, p.323.
Gates, G.J., 2015. Marriage and family: LGBT individuals and same-sex couples. The Future of
Children, 25(2), pp.67-87.
Gerstmann, E., 2017. Same-sex Marriage and the Constitution. Cambridge University Press.
Makin, A.J. and Pearce, J., 2014. How sustainable is sub-national public debt in
Australia?.Economic Analysis and Policy, 44(4), pp.364-375.
Mavromaras, K., Sloane, P. and Wei, Z., 2015. The scarring effects of unemployment, low pay
and skills under-utilization in Australia compared. Applied economics, 47(23), pp.2413-2429.

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Phillips, B., 2015. Living standard trends in Australia: Report for Anglicare Australia. Anglicare
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Riggs, D.W. and Due, C., 2014. Gay fathers’ reproductive journeys and parenting experiences: A
review of research. J FamPlannReprod Health Care, 40(4), pp.289-293.
Smith, S., Hadfield, A. and Dunne, T. eds., 2016. Foreign policy: theories, actors, cases. Oxford
University Press.
Soldatic, K. and Grech, S., 2014. Transnationalising disability studies: Rights, justice and
impairment. Disability Studies Quarterly, 34(2).
Thill, C., 2015.Listening for policy change: how the voices of disabled people shaped Australia’s
National Disability Insurance Scheme. Disability & Society, 30(1), pp.15-28.
Webb, S.N. and Chonody, J., 2014. Heterosexual attitudes toward same-sex marriage: The
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