The Economic and Social Impacts of the CDEP Scheme in Remote Australia

The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme is an unusual labour market and social development program for Indigenous people. Currently the CDEP scheme employs around 36,000 Indigenous Australians and accounts for over one‐quarter of total Indigenous employment. Despite the significance of the CDEP scheme, in recent times, relatively little attention has been given to the potential for the scheme to be used as an instrument for economic and social development in remote areas of Australia. This article present new evidence on the impact of the CDEP scheme on economic and social outcomes for Indigenous people in remote areas of Australia. It is concluded that the scheme has been successful in generating positive economic and community development outcomes at minimal cost to the Australian taxpayer.     

The normalisation of income management in Australia: analysis of the parliamentary debates of 2007 and 2009–10

Initially introduced as part of Australia's Northern Territory Intervention in 2007, Income Management (IM) explicitly targeted inhabitants of remote NT Indigenous communities. IM is a form of welfare conditionality that involves compulsorily ‘quarantining’ at least half of individuals' social security income. It has been heavily criticised for being racist, discriminatory, and a violation of individual rights. The introduction of New Income Management (NIM) in 2010 extended IM beyond Indigenous communities and introduced a new set of eligibility criteria that shifted the focus of IM from Indigenous people to working age recipients of social security income. This in depth study of the early parliamentary debates on the compulsory IM programs traces the patterns of political discourse that led to IM coming to be seen by many policy makers as a normal and legitimate technique within Australian social policy. Situating the IM programs within neoliberal concerns about welfare dependency and active citizenship, this article argues that the introduction of NIM heralded a shift from a conception of IM as part of a focused social experiment targeted at remote Indigenous communities to a potentially mainstream social policy option.     

Health informatics for older people: a review of ICT facilitated integrated care for older people

Growing demands on welfare services, arising from expanding populations of older people in many countries, has led policy makers to consider the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) as a means to transform the cost-effective delivery of health and social care. The evidence for these claims is examined by reporting the main findings of a review of worldwide published literature documenting the adoption of health informatics applications to improve health and social care for older people. It focuses around two dimensions of the UK government's programme for 'modernising' public services, which emphasise the use of ICTs to facilitate the sharing of health and social services information and its potential to foster person-centred approaches to independent living. Findings suggest that there is little evidence that these dimensions have been realised in practice and the perceived incompatibility between them is more likely to produce expensive and ineffective health informatics outcomes.     

The complexities of cultural support planning for Indigenous children in and leaving out‐of‐home care: the views of service providers in Victoria,Australia

Indigenous children and young people are over‐represented at all stages of the Australian child protection system. Policy and legislative initiatives exist in the state of Victoria, Australia aiming to support the connection between Indigenous children and young people in state care and their culture and community. This exploratory research involved focus group consultations with seven child and family welfare agencies to investigate the impacts, barriers, benefits and limitations of cultural support planning for Indigenous young people in, and leaving care in, Victoria. Findings indicated that cultural planning was of value when it could be completed. However, various shortcomings of current systems were identified including limited resourcing of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to generate plans and provide direct and secondary consultation services to implement plans, difficulty gathering information for plans and some Indigenous young people expressing disinterest in connecting to their culture and community. Complexities in the relationships between the Indigenous and non‐Indigenous agencies that aimed to support Indigenous young people in care were also acknowledged. Participants identified a number of strategies to improve outcomes, such as facilitating better relationships between agencies, promoting opportunities for ongoing cultural training for staff in mainstream agencies and improving the resourcing of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to deliver planning and to support cultural connections.     

Undercounts in Offender Data and Closing the Gap Between Indigenous and Other Australians

Closing the gaps between Indigenous and other Australian outcomes is a central concern of contemporary policy. The Re‐Offending Database (ROD), which has been collated by the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), offers a unique opportunity to analyse data quality issues in an important source of administrative data for Indigenous people. This paper provides several independent estimates of the population of Indigenous offenders by estimating the number of people with unknown Indigenous status who are likely to be identified as Indigenous in other circumstances. The main finding is that the Indigenous population of offenders is substantially undercounted in administrative data collections. The failure to account for this will understate Indigenous disadvantage or the ‘gap’ between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous outcomes.     

Evidence for the use of an algorithm in resolving inconsistent and missing Indigenous status in administrative data collections

Measures of the gap in living standards, life expectancy, education, health and employment between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous Australians are primarily derived from administrative data sources. However, Indigenous identification in these data sources is affected by administrative practices, missing data, inconsistency, and error. As these factors have changed over time, assessing whether the gap between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous Australians has changed over time, based on data unadjusted for these sources of error can potentially lead to misguided conclusions. Combining administrative data on the same individuals collected from different sources provides a method by which a more consistent derived Indigenous status can be applied across all records for an individual within a linked data environment. We used the Western Australian Data Linkage system to produce derived Indigenous statuses for individuals using a range of algorithms. We found that these algorithms reduced the amount of missing data and improved within‐individual consistency. Based on these findings, we recommend our Multi‐Stage Median algorithm be used as the standard indicator of Indigenous status for any reporting based on administrative datasets when multiple datasets are available for linkage, and that algorithmic approaches also be considered for improving the quality of other demographic variables from administrative data sources.     

Importance of Land,family and culture for a good life: Remote Aboriginal people with disability and carers

Worldwide health and social outcomes of Indigenous people are poorer than those of non-Indigenous. In Australia, the Indigenous population experience disability at more than twice the rate of the non-Indigenous population, and a quarter live in geographically remote areas. The challenges associated with accessing services and supports in remote communities can impact on a good life for Aboriginal people with disability. Interviews were conducted with Aboriginal people (An angu) with disability and family carers from remote Central Australian communities and service workers. Thematic data analysis determined factors An angu viewed as essential to living a good life: connection to their Lands, being with family and engaging in cultural activities. Workers' support for a good life involves “Proper Way” help and an understanding of An angu culture. Three culturally relevant strengths-based concepts are important in supporting An angu with disability to live a good life: being connected to the Lands and family, sharing together and working together.     

The "Employment-first" Welfare State: Lessons from the New Deal for Young People

New Labour is constructing an “employment‐first” welfare state. It plans through Jobcentre Plus to transform the passive culture of the benefit system by creating more explicit links between individual behaviour and engagement with labour market programmes. The New Deal for Young People (NDYP) has been at the forefront of these changes. This paper reports on the findings from four case studies that explored how the NDYP has changed young people's experience of the welfare state. It establishes that NDYP offers a mixture of employment assistance and “pressure” and has made progress in developing front‐line services and helping young long‐term unemployed people into work. NDYP does not, however, work for all. In areas of high unemployment and for some disadvantaged groups intermediate labour markets could enhance the New Deal and make real the offer of “employment opportunities for all”.     

Young Australians' labour market engagement and job aspiration in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

Young people tend to bear the brunt of adverse employment consequences of a crisis due mainly to the precarious nature of their job and their over-representation among jobseekers who are having to find employment when jobs are scarce. Using quarterly welfare payment data for the period 2019–2021 from the Department of Social Services, we noted a marked increase in the percentage of 16- to 21-year-olds who received youth allowance (other) payments. While a greater proportion of Indigenous youth than non-Indigenous youth received the payments from 2019 to 2021, the gap widened following the outbreak of the pandemic. Further, applying regression analysis to data from the 2019 and 2020 waves of the 2015 Cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Youth (LSAY), we find no statistically significant change in individual-level labour force status between 2019 and 2020. However, pandemic-induced labour market crises appear to have been associated with reduced work hours, heightened career concerns and sustained nonemployment, where potential impacts are larger among traditionally vulnerable youth groups such as female, Indigenous and overseas-born young persons. The study highlights the need for recognising the intersectionality of youth and other forms of identity (such as gender, Indigenous status and nativity) while designing labour market policies.     

Interrogating the hybrid economy approach to Indigenous development

In the contemporary debate about remote Indigenous economic development, Jon Altman's hybrid economy approach is the major alternative to the dominant neo‐liberal perspective. Altman's approach emphasises the continuing customary economic activity of remote‐living Indigenous Australians and their legitimate aspirations to live and work on their ancestral lands. Based on a close reading of Altman's writings, this paper analyses the hybrid economy model – which is grounded in Altman's observations of outstation life in Arnhem Land – and the approach to economic development Altman derives from it. It makes explicit the numerous assumptions underpinning the hybrid economy approach to Indigenous development. Some of these assumptions are more controversial than others. It is argued that while Altman's approach celebrates the unique skills and contributions of culturally‐connected Indigenous people, it is predicated on a pessimistic assessment of the likelihood of mainstream education and employment ‘closing the gap‘.     

Putting the ‘public’ into public service delivery for social welfare in South Africa

Mubangizi BC, Gray M. Putting the ‘public’ into public service delivery for social welfare in South Africa Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 212–219 © 2010 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of SocialWelfare. The privatisation of some essential services in South Africa has raised severe difficulties for those for whom the idea of fees for services is quite foreign and who, in any case, cannot afford to pay for services. The government has developed several initiatives to educate people about the need to pay for services provided by local government, the largest of which was the Masakhane fees‐for‐services campaign. This article describes two recent initiatives that seek to engage local citizen participation, namely, Integrated Development Plans and izimbizo (or traditional forums). These are examined along with the challenges faced by local government in promoting citizenship participation in service delivery within a decentralised system of governance. The article concludes with some recommendations on how citizen participation can be enhanced so as to make the ‘public’ visible in public service delivery and thus improve social welfare services.     

The Urban Geography of Welfare Reform: Spatial Patterns of Caseload Dynamics in Detroit

Objective . To assess how the characteristics of welfare recipients have varied geographically in the Detroit metropolitan area since the passage of welfare reform in 1996 and how spatial proximity to job opportunities is related to work rates among welfare recipients. Methods . Using administrative data on welfare receipt in the Detroit metropolitan area and data from two employer surveys in Detroit, I examine changes in the welfare caseload between 1992 and 2000 and estimate logit models of the probability that welfare recipients report work earnings in 1998. Results . Although the number of adult welfare recipients in the Detroit metropolitan area declined by over 75 percent between 1992 and 2000, nearly 25,000 households—most residing in the central city—continue to receive welfare. Rates of work among welfare recipients are positively related to the accessibility of employment opportunities. Conclusions . My results indicate that support services and programs in the coming years will have to fit a caseload that is changing both qualitatively and geographically. Further, consistent with the most current spatial mismatch research, my findings show that greater access to job opportunities leads to greater rates of reported work earnings among welfare recipients.     

Interaction between Voluntary and Statutory Social Service Provision in Sweden: A Matter of Welfare Pluralism,Substitution or Complementarity?

Many welfare states have met with criticism and it has been argued that they are in crisis. Simultaneously, there has been a greater openness to voluntary work as an alternative to statutory services, for example in Sweden. Sometimes the activities of voluntary organizations have been seen as complementary to those of local authorities; at other times this issue has been addressed in terms of welfare pluralism. However, countries with strong welfare states have often been assumed to have insignificant voluntary work—as claimed in substitution theory. The purpose of this article is to examine variation in welfare service provision in the light of welfare pluralism, substitution theory and complementarity theory. The study was carried out in the area of support for relatives of older people in Sweden. It was conducted by means of national questionnaire surveys of voluntary organizations and local authorities in 1999 and 2002. In this period, there was an increase in statutory service provision and more voluntary organizations were involved in service provision. However, it is yet too early to describe this in terms of welfare pluralism. Neither was any evidence found for substitution theory. Furthermore, overlaps in service provision from voluntary organizations and local authorities question complementarity theory, which assumes that different actors specialize in different tasks. Nevertheless, the actors tended to be complementary at a local level. It is suggested that this complementarity might be explained by ideological support for a norm of complementarity.     

Networks for Welfare Provision: Getting a Grip on Processes of Social Exclusion by Evaluating Network Effectiveness

It has been repeatedly stated that the topic of network effectiveness has often been neglected. This has led to a situation of ‘network euphoria’ amongst practitioners and policymakers with regard to the creation of networks as a means to (re‐)organize welfare provision. Starting from a case study of networks for welfare provision in two Belgian cities, this article focuses on the effectiveness of service delivering networks at the client level, which is understood as the contribution of the network in improving the conditions of life of those being served or targeted by the network. Therefore, we focused on the collective efforts via these networks (e.g. by creating a night shelter or by conducting case consultations) to look after a population of homeless people who face multiple problems and are not able yet to benefit from welfare provision. Our findings revealed that these networks were able to realize a ‘collaborative advantage’ by filling in service gaps and by overcoming fragmentation of care. Nevertheless, these networks equally maintained criteria that restricted the accessibility or usefulness of welfare services provided to homeless people. In the concluding section, we highlight some of the factors that could help us to explain our findings and highlight the tension between the effectiveness of networks at the client level and the effectiveness at the organizational level.     

Conceptualising disability: A critical comparison between Indigenous people in Australia and New South Wales disability service agencies

The lack of culturally appropriate services contributes to the low participation rate of Indigenous people in disability services. Understanding how disability is conceptualised is essential to developing culturally appropriate disability services. This study aimed to critically compare the conceptualisation of disability between Indigenous people and NSW government and non‐government disability service agencies. Indigenous and policy sources were obtained from purposive and snowball sampling. The Indigenous conceptualisation of disability was understood through representations by Indigenous spokespeople in journal and newspaper articles and audiovisual materials. The disability service agency conceptualisation of disability was represented through the annual reports and programme guidelines of the NSW government agency and seven non‐government disability agencies. The occupational justice framework guided critical analysis at the cultural interface. Four themes were identified: power and self‐determination, eligibility, otherness, and identity and labels. Data showed disability agencies promote self‐determination for Indigenous people and conceptualise disability as impairments affecting functioning, when assessing service access eligibility. Most Indigenous people do not self‐identify as disabled and are categorised as culturally different within policies. Indigenous people experience marginalisation due to their cultural identity. Indigenous people are required to conform to the conceptualisation of disability proffered by agencies to access services. To develop culturally appropriate services, agencies must collaborate with Indigenous communities.     

Racial Disparities in Welfare Dependence and Financial Independence: Links to Human Capital,Local Economy,and State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Policies

This secondary data analysis examined racial disparities in associations betwen welfare dependence/financial independence and human capital, local economy, and state TANF policies. A sample of 6,737 parents was extracted from the public-use data set titled “National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.” Results showed that restrictive TANF policies reduced African Americans’ likelihood of welfare use and increased likelihood of their financial independence. Multinomial logistic results also showed that, among Hispanics, employment growth in neighboring counties promoted welfare use; whereas among Caucasians such growth promoted financial independence. County poverty increased (a) Caucasians’ likelihood of welfare use and (b) Hispanics’ likelihood of being working poor; it decreased Caucasians’ and African Americans’ likelihood of financial independence. Across ethnic groups, education reduced likelihood of welfare use and working poor status; across minority groups, education increased likelihood of financial independence, but among Caucasians it decreased such likelihood. Across ethnic groups, occupational skills hindered dependence and improved odds of employment (regardless of welfare or poverty status). This study concluded the studied TANF policies and job markets were not color-blind. Interventions this study implies include less-restrictive TANF policies, generous support services, TANF staff cultural-competence training, and antidiscrimination rules. Research investigating particular TANF policies’ and services’ effects by ethnicity might prove useful.     

Indigenous Elder Insights About Conventional Care Services in Alaska: Culturally Charged Spaces

Indigenous peoples around the world endure health and social disparities. In the United States, such disparities are typically ameliorated through conventional care services and organizations. Purpose: To examine points of tension that characterize culturally pluralistic care services in the United States, specifically Alaska, within context of Indigenous colonial histories. Design and Methods: The research design is ethnographic and multisited, comprising 12 months of fieldwork across urban, rural and remote village sites in Alaska. A conceptual lens that accounts for culturally diverse social spaces where relations of power are at stake frames research presented here. This work incorporates relational and participatory action research principles with Alaska Native Elders. Ethnographic evidence was collected through multiple methods, including field notes, documents, and interviews, with ethnographic analysis involving atlas.ti. Findings: Alaska Native Elders describe salient points of tension characterizing Alaska’s conventional care services through the following insights: generational curses-—a pain, prejudice on both sides—wounded, and value-systems clash—fighting. Conclusion: This article concludes with discussion about collective anxieties and implications for care services.     

广州公益性文化设施面向社区开放的现状研究

广州公益性文化设施已基本实现城乡公共文化基础设施全覆盖布局．并实现免费开放目标,公共服务运行机制不断创新,公共文化产品能力不断加强,较好地保障和市民的文化权益,激发了市民的文化参与热情。本文根据调查统计数据分析了公益性文化设施存在的问题,提出要继续加强公益性文化场馆建设和管理的政策配套、以创新服务方式提升品牌化水平增强吸引力,加大投入提升开放的经费保障水平,以及建立基层文化人才保障机制等方面的政策建议。     

A Bourdieusian analysis of employment services workers in an era of Workfirst

This article draws on qualitative research which focused on worker experiences of Workfirst activation during the Job Services Australia (JSA) contract of employment services. The Workfirst orientation of Australian labour market programmes created imperatives for activation workers to monitor job seeker compliance with activity tests. As part of the broader cohort interviewed in the study, activation workers were interviewed about the way sanctions were used to discipline job seekers in street‐level exchanges. These workers had experienced the transition from the Job Network to JSA and had observed how a shift to Workfirst became institutionalised in organisational practices and culture. Concepts from Bourdieu's field theory are used to situate activation workers in the employment services field that became more managerial during the transition to Workfirst and where sanction‐based practice was mainstreamed. Drawing also on Peillon's sociology of welfare, employment services are described as part of the welfare field in which the activation workers experienced the misrecognition associated with Workfirst, which is described as a structure of domination. The analysis employs the concept of intersubjective recognition to draw attention to the subjective and objective co‐construction of street‐level interactions. This study has implications for understanding how welfare reforms affect activation workers, the contributors to the erosion of employment services capability, and the need for investment in workforce development in the employment services sector.     

Monitoring the Monitors: Medicaid Integration of Passive Remote Monitoring Technology

Implementation of passive remote monitoring is advancing faster than our knowledge base about appropriate and ethical use. For all the media and research attention these technologies are getting, there has been very little discussion about how they are positioned to be integrated into health plans, yet their integration is key to how they will be incorporated into social work practice. As coverage of passive remote monitoring technologies expands in Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS), new policies that support informed decision-making, consenting processes, and regulations for ethical, appropriate use are urgently needed. Research translation often trails policy, but the rapid development and implementation of technologies that passively collect and transmit new information about older adults call for a more responsive approach. In this commentary, I describe passive remote monitoring technologies, their implementation in Medicaid HCBS, and ethical issues. I conclude with specific suggestions for policy and practice to start addressing these issues.