ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to investigate two ways that corporate networks have put their stamp on Australian education policy. The first involves borrowing policies from other countries by transporting them directly to the Australian context; the second describes the increasing influence of non-educators from the corporate sector in educational debates and decision-making. Each will be dealt with in turn, with examples of how they interact. Many of the policies Klein espoused in the United States were picked up too easily by Australian policy-makers and transferred without consideration of their weaknesses and problems, and their suitability for the Australian context. Another privatising shadow has been cast over educational policy-making through the emergence of philanthrocapitalism. Australian education must ensure that philanthropic money is directed at assisting educators, particularly in educationally disadvantaged schools, to design strategies that address issues or problems that are identified by educators in their local contexts.
