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Paternalism in Australian welfare policy

Bibliographic Data

ID11228087
AuthorsKemran Mestan (0000-0002-1321-6594, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume49
Issue1
Pages3-22
Publication date2014-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Social Issues (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0157-6321 • E-ISSN: 1839-4655
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/j.1839-4655.2014.tb00297.x
OpenAlexW1593079221
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited17

Since at least the 1990s, policies comprising welfare reform in Australia have focused on securing employment for jobless people. This article demonstrates that these policies are highly paternalistic, and argues that despite the absence of the term ‘paternalism’ from relevant government discourse, paternalism is indeed a substantial characteristic of the policies. Such policies have been substantially justified through appealing to the objective of advancing the interests of those people subject to the policies while simultaneously involving compulsion. The research is based on evidence from 1996 to 2011. Through the analysis of government documents and interviews with policy makers, the presence of a benevolent justification is identified and analysed, focusing on two subordinate justifications: reducing welfare dependency, and promoting social inclusion. Policies aimed at getting people into work are then examined, where it is found that compulsion is the primary policy instrument. It is shown that the compulsive elements in workfare, when linked to the objective of helping workfare subjects, renders the policies implicitly paternalistic

Economics · Government (linguistics · Inclusion (mineral · Paternalism · Political science · Project commissioning · Public economics · Publishing · Social science · Sociology · Welfare · Welfare reform · Workfare · Employment and Welfare Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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Unique citing works9
Citations per year0,9
Citation span2016 - 2023 (8)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 9
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