ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to the main features of the historical and some context of social policy making in Australia. The British colonial heritage has also led to Australian government policy makers operating in the context of a clear division of responsibilities and powers between elected members of parliament, the public service and the judiciary. The influence of economic-rationalist philosophies was increased by the need to respond to the severe balance of payments problems which have faced Australia since the mid-1980s. The inevitability and desirability of economic expansion, particularly through the exploitation of natural resources, have always been taken for granted as central features of the Australian social and economic context. The question of environmental sustainability has also become a crucial influence on industrial production and the urban environment. Labor governed in a number of states during the 1980s and had substantial electoral success in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
