Participation and opportunity: Redefining social security in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Against a political background of shifting societal expectations about the role of social security in terms of mutual obligation and social responsibility, both Australia and New Zealand have conducted major social policy reviews within the past two years. Two of the central themes of the McLure Report (Australia) and the Pathways to Opportunity Report (New Zealand) are social participation and opportunity creation. This paper focuses on these issues from several perspectives. An outline of the motivations for reform and the concepts guiding it is followed by a summary of the reform strategies identified in each report. After a discussion of the similarities and differences in the changes implemented since the two reviews, the conclusion points to some of the potential problems raised by the critics of the reform proposals.