Introduction

This chapter presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is about social policy in Australia This chapter outlines what readers have set out to do here and why a book about Australian social policy matters. The chapter outlines what people have set out to do and why a book about Australian social policy matters. It addresses three questions: What is ‘social policy’? Why have we written this book? How is the book structured? The chapter explores the value of important attempts to theorise welfare states and look at models like Castles' 'wage-earners welfare state model', Kelly's idea of an 'Australian settlement' and Pusey's account of 'economic rationalism'. It argues, via a comparative account, that Australia is certainly an odd case amongst all of the other countries in the world who have adopted a certain kind of welfare state model in designing social policy.