Abstract
The concept of the 'social investment state' refocuses attention on the productive function of social policy eclipsed for some time by the emphasis on its social protection or compensation roles. Here we distinguish between different social investment strategies, the Nordic 'heavy' and the Liberal 'light', with particular reference to the inclusive growth approach adopted in Australia. In 2007, social democrats in Australia returned to government with a clear mandate to reject the labour market deregulation and other neoliberal policies of its predecessor, and to tackle entrenched social and economic disadvantage in Australian society. For the last five years, social investment and inclusive growth has been at the centre of the Australian social policy agenda. Against this background, the article examines and critically assesses the (re)turn to 'social investment' thinking in Australia during Labor's term in office (2007-13). Analysis focuses not just on what was actually achieved, but also on the constraining role of prevailing economic and political circumstances and on the processes that were used to drive social investment reform. In many ways, the article goes some way to exposing ongoing tensions surrounding the distinctiveness of 'social investment' strategies pursued by leftist parties within the (neo)liberal state.
Highlights
In this article, we critically examine the concept of ‘social investment’ and the political strategies pursued by social democratic parties in power
The concept of a ‘social investment state’ has a deep resonance with an Australian social policy history strongly characterised by productivist values and giving each other a ‘Fair Go’. We illustrate this briefly from the classic moments in the evolution of the ‘Australian Way’ before reflecting on theturn to ‘social investment’ policies in the early part of the twenty-first century. We show how this productivist revival helped break the austerity constraints on Australian social policy created in the neoliberal period
Because of its rather unique history and policy pathway of achieving redistributive efforts using the instruments of wage regulation, Australia has a particular challenge of reviving the productive dimension of social policy in a way that is not detrimental to its protective or compensatory functions
Summary
We critically examine the concept of ‘social investment’ and the political strategies pursued by social democratic parties in power. Compared to European countries, the level of state investment in human capital policies and active labour market programmes (ALMPs) in Australia remained relatively low by comparison, and their effectiveness to generate successful employment outcomes in the Australian context is questionable (Belchamber, 2013).
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