Decent Provision

In this title, professor Murphy provides a narrative history of how and why Australia built a distinctive welfare regime, in the period from the late-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. It places the development of a welfare state in the 1940s in the context of what had gone before, particularly by showing that choices made in earlier decades constrained and still constrain what could then, and can now be imagined. It is about the prehistory of a welfare system, exploring how Australia went from being a social laboratory at the start of the twentieth century to a 'welfare laggard' by mid-century. As such the study not only provides the historical context, but also shows how contemporary debates can often be illuminated and informed by the past. In particular it underlines how many of the moral values and policy choices of the past are still with us, for example in public debates about 'dependency' and in a continuing commitment to residual, targeted welfare. Vividly written, the book includes biographical vignettes of key figures. Based on extensive new research from a variety of primary sources it makes a significant contribution to general historical debate, as well as to the field of comparative social policy. The latter is of significant international interest, given that the Australasian model is still seen as having some unique features (in particular wage arbitration). By sketching a narrative up to and including the welfare state of the 1940s, the book highlights the halting way in which Australia's distinctive welfare regime was built, how key individuals and events were influential in its successes and failures and how its dilemmas are with us today.