(Re)visioning the centre : education reform and the “ideal” citizen of the future

Discourses of public education reform, like that exemplified within the Queensland Government’s future vision document, Queensland State Education-2010 (QSE-2010), position schooling as a panacea to pervasive social instability and a means to achieve a new consensus. However, in unravelling the many conflicting statements that conjoin to form education policy and inform related literature (Ball, 1993), it becomes clear that education reform discourse is polyvalent (Foucault, 1977). Alongside visionary statements that speak of public education as a vehicle for social justice are the (re)visionary or those reflecting neoliberal individualism and a conservative politics. In this paper, it is argued that the latter coagulate to form strategic discursive practices which work to (re)secure dominant relations of power. Further, discussion of the characteristics needed by the “ideal” future citizen of Queensland reflect efforts to ‘tame change through the making of the child’ (Popkewitz, 2004, p.201). The casualties of this (re)vision and the refusal to investigate the pathologies of “traditional” schooling are the children who, for whatever reason, do not conform to the norm of the desired school child as an “ideal” citizen-in-the-making and who become relegated to alternative educational settings.

Feature article coverage of Australian out-of-home care : portrayals and policy reform

Mandatory reporting is a key aspect of Australia’s approach to protecting children and is incorporated into all jurisdictions’ legislation, albeit in a variety of forms. In this article we examine all major newspaper’s coverage of mandatory reporting during an 18-month period in 2008-2009, when high-profile tragedies and inquiries occurred and significant policy and reform agendas were being debated. Mass media utilise a variety of lenses to inform and shape public responses and attitudes to reported events. We use frame analysis to identify the ways in which stories were composed and presented, and how language portrayed this contested area of policy. The results indicate that within an overall portrayal of system failure and the need for reform, the coverage placed major responsibility on child protection agencies for the over-reporting, under-reporting, and overburdened system identified, along with the failure of mandatory reporting to reduce risk. The implications for ongoing reform are explored along with the need for robust research to inform debate about the merits of mandatory reporting.

‘What Adult Worker Model? A Critical Look at Recent Social Policy Reform in Europe from a Gender and Family Perspective

Analyses regularly feature claims that European welfare states are in the process of creating an adult worker model. The theoretical and empirical basis of this argument is examined here by looking first at the conceptual foundations of the adult worker model formulation and then at the extent to which social policy reform in western Europe fits with the argument. It is suggested that the adult worker formulation is under-specified. A framework incorporating four dimensions—the treatment of individuals vis-à-vis their family role and status for the purposes of social rights, the treatment of care, the treatment of the family as a social institution, and the extent to which gender inequality is problematized—is developed and then applied. The empirical analysis reveals a strong move towards individualization as social policy promotes and valorizes individual agency and self-sufficiency and shifts some childcare from the family. Yet evidence is also found of continued (albeit changed) familism. Rather than an unequivocal move to an individualized worker model then, a dual earner, gender-specialized, family arrangement is being promoted. The latter is the middle way between the old dependencies and the new “independence.” This makes for complexity and even ambiguity in policy, a manifestation of which is that reform within countries involves concurrent moves in several directions.

The place(s) of student voice in 14-19 education policy reform: reflections on consultation and participation

Certain policy areas with considerable impact on young people's educational experiences and achievements, notably assessment and qualifications, do not involve consultation with young people to any meaningful extent. Findings from a national study, which included focus groups with 243 students in the 14-19 phase, are presented with respect to student consultation and participation in such policy areas. A lack of meaningful consultation regarding what students see as ‘higher level’ policy agendas was found (such as qualifications provision, choice or structure). Students are therefore ‘voiceless’ in relation to major qualifications reforms

Predicting the impact of the EU common agricultural policy reform in England: micro and macroeconomic aspects

In this article we investigate the effects of the European CAP reform on a selection of arable crops in England, both at a regional and national level. The results show that the CAP reform will push farmers to adjust to the new market conditions, which will cause a further restructuring of the English agricultural business sector. Our results show that, under the new market conditions, economically-small farms will increase their output by allocating more land to cereals, whereas economically-large farms will need to decrease land allocated to cereals to reduce production costs and achieve better returns.

Generic medicines in Australia : business dynamics and recent policy reform

This article describes the role of generics in the Australian prescription drug market and patterns of business activity in this dynamic market segment. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is the central mechanism for the supply of prescription medicines. PBS prices are arrived at through cost-effectiveness analyses comparing new products against already available products and therapies. In this system, prices do not operate effectively as incentives for consumers or prescribers to choose generics, and their market share was historically marginal. In recent years, generics suppliers achieved a growing market share through discounts (trading terms) to pharmacists. It is estimated that around 30% of PBS scripts, representing around 15% of PBS sales by value, are now filled with generics. Complex changes to the PBS were introduced in 2007, to be phased in over the period to 2012, aimed at increasing the scope for cost benefits to the government, and to lesser extent consumers, from the expanding availability of generic medicines.

Stimulating vertical integration in coastal management in a federated nation: The case of Australian coastal policy reform.

Four decades ago Australia was credited as being an early leader in  implementing integrated coastal management (ICM). Nevertheless, as a  federation of states and territories Australia has since struggled to fully  implement vertical integration of its coastal governance arrangements. In particular the federal government has historically possessed only a minor role in coastal management despite the recommendations of several major inquires suggesting that this role needed to be enhanced. This article examines a series of circumstances and events over the past two years in Australia that has created the opportunity for the federal government to adopt a more significant and prominent role in coastal management and hence to substantially complete the vertical integration of ICM in Australia. These stimuli for coastal policy reform could also play a role in enhancing ICM in other federated nations.