Contractualism and social inclusion: strands of policy emulation in UK and Australian local employment services

Abstract

Over the past decade, the dominance of ‘new localism’, ‘partnerships’ and ‘social inclusion’ in policy discourse in countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has influenced Australian stated policy directions in employment services. In contrast to other OECD countries, however, Australian federal legislators have excluded local government in contractual service delivery and governance arrangements. In response, some Australian local governments draw on UK practice to guide social inclusion agendas and inclusive partnership models. There is irony in such use of policy transfer strategies given that the UK is currently reforming public employment services to emphasise the contractualism that typifies the Australian Job Network.