The past decade has seen profound cultural and policy change in relations between the government and non-government sectors. Influences such as new managerialism have reshaped traditional relations between these sectors as well as ushering in a mixed market in welfare services. Within Australia and internationally there has been considerable interest and some anxiety about what...

This report contains the methods and baseline results of a process evaluation of the Communities for Children (CfC) program, which is part of the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy (SFCS). Under the CfC initiative, non-government organisations are funded to develop and implement a strategic and sustainable whole of community approach to early childhood development

This paper reviews nine analyses, all published since 1998, and all of them involving in-depth interviews or groupwork with children aged between 5 and 17. The case studies cover issues including exclusion from activities and peer groups at school and in the community; perceptions of 'poor' and 'affluent' children; and aspirations for future careers and...

The aims of the study were to review trends in out-of-home care, both in the numbers of children being placed in different types of care in Australia and in the ways of organising and supporting such care that are emerging in different national and State contexts. The study also involved identifying emerging models of care...

Numerous social policy analysts have suggested that globalisation and the emergence of more knowledge based economies have encouraged high income nations to shift away from a model of protective welfare focused on social rights and towards a model of productive welfare focused on social investment. However, much of the work in this area remains purely...