Networks and policy making: from theory to practice in Australian social policy

Abstract

Traditional approaches to policy-making, in Australia and elsewhere, have assumed that policy-making processes are, and ought to be, centralised and hierarchical. However, policy networks have emerged as an alternative model of policy-making, particularly in Europe. Policy networks have been a regular feature of Australian policy-making, though usually under government sponsorship and on the government’s terms. Recent developments suggest that governments may be encouraging a more independent and less ‘top-down’ approach to the use of policy networks. The Coalition Government’s engagement of a ‘social coalition’ in welfare reform, particularly through the Reference Group on Welfare Reform, provides an interesting case study of this trend.