The dominant ideologies of familism in Australia present a very sanguine view of the ‘family’ as a private haven of suburban domesticity. There have been dissenting elements in popular culture that recognised some of the contradictory passions in the family, its potential for both happiness and conflict and misery. ‘Family’ and kinship are equally significant in reproducing inequality between Australian men and women. In Australian ideology, women’s situation as housewives and in the family are collapsed into each other. Wider kin ties do not figure strongly in the dominant ideology of the ‘nuclear family’. But state welfare services often implicitly assume that relatives will care for the aged, orphaned and handicapped. Australia has a reputation for being the most middle class and suburban of nations.