ABSTRACT
Australia’s open, democratic political system imposed no barriers and the early success of some groups encouraged others. Australia’s participation in the First World War powerfully affected the country. The industry protection provided by the war’s interruption of trade encouraged Australian business, as did the experience of leadership the armed services provided to thousands of young men. Private health insurance was increasingly criticised and in 1975, except for private hospital costs, a Labor government replaced it with a single government insurer, Medibank. The conservative government also began the practice of funding Catholic and other private schools. In the 1970s, the Commonwealth government came to be influenced by a combination of ideas from the second wave of feminism, the community development movement and various rights movements. The globalisation of financial markets has also led most of the remaining mutual finance institutions, such as building societies and insurance companies, to de-mutualise or convert to for-profit status.
