SWB108 Week 1 – Orientation to Australian Society, Social Justice & Policy

Vocabulary flashcards cover core concepts, theories, debates and key thinkers introduced in SWB108 Week 1, equipping students with essential terminology for critical analysis of Australian social policy and social justice.

Social Policy

The network of governmental principles, rules and programs designed to promote citizen wellbeing through the distribution of resources, services and payments.

Social Justice

A value stance that seeks fair, equitable and inclusive social arrangements by recognising and addressing systemic advantage and disadvantage.

Bacchi’s WPR Approach

Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’ model that interrogates how policies construct problems, exposing assumptions and silences.

WPR Question 1

Asks, “What’s the ‘problem’ represented to be?”; identifies how a policy text frames the issue it claims to solve.

WPR Question 2

Asks, “What presuppositions and assumptions underlie this representation of the problem?”; uncovers ideologies, binaries and metaphors shaping the discourse.

WPR Question 4

Asks, “What is left unproblematic in this representation?”; highlights silences and neglected alternatives to guide counter-hegemonic solutions.

Dole Bludger Trope

Stigmatising narrative that portrays income-support recipients as lazy or fraudulent, used to justify punitive welfare reforms.

Robodebt

Australian policy that automatically raised welfare debt claims, problematising recipients as fraudsters and reinforcing stigma.

Critical Policy Analysis

Evaluation of policy through theories that expose power, inequality and ideological assumptions to advocate for social justice.

Policy Literacy

The ability to understand, critique and influence policy by grasping societal structures, ideologies and distributional effects.

Welfare State

A system in which the government assumes primary responsibility for citizen wellbeing through income support, services and regulation.

Institutional Redistributive Model

Perspective that treats welfare as a normal social function with the state actively redistributing resources to promote equity.

Residual (Targeted) Welfare

Approach providing minimal, means-tested assistance only to the most disadvantaged, emphasising self-reliance and low taxation.

Selective/Targeted Welfare

Policy design that restricts benefits to specific groups based on income or need, often via means testing.

Universal Welfare

Provision of benefits or services to all citizens as a right of citizenship, funded by progressive taxation and largely non-stigmatising.

Social Welfare (Titmuss)

Direct cash payments such as JobSeeker or Disability Support Pension delivered by the state to individuals.

Fiscal Welfare

Government support delivered through the tax system, e.g., negative gearing or superannuation concessions, often aiding higher earners.

Occupational Welfare

Employer-provided benefits like paid parental leave or private health insurance, usually enjoyed by stable full-time workers.

Distributive Justice

Principle concerning fair allocation of resources, goods and services within society.

Equality

Treating everyone the same regardless of need or circumstance.

Equity

Providing differential support so that all people can attain comparable outcomes despite varying starting points.

Horizontal Equity

Taxation principle that people with the same income should pay the same taxes and receive similar benefits.

Vertical Equity

Principle that tax and benefit systems should treat individuals differently according to their ability to pay or level of need.

Risk (in social policy)

Potential for adverse life-course events (e.g., unemployment) shaped by personal and structural factors.

Moral Hazard

Concern that generous welfare may reduce personal responsibility, potentially fostering dependency.

Entitlement

Beliefs about which human needs warrant government support and what citizens can reasonably expect from the state.

Eligibility

Criteria determining who can access welfare benefits, shaped by targeting, universality or conditionality.

Redistribution

Transfer of resources via taxation, services or benefits to reduce inequality.

Liberal Welfare Regime

Esping-Andersen category typified by limited, means-tested benefits and market primacy, e.g., Australia and the USA.

Corporatist Welfare Regime

System where the state assumes broad welfare roles but with limited redistribution, common in Germany, Italy, France.

Social Democratic Welfare Regime

Model offering universal, generous provisions aimed at equality of outcomes, exemplified by Nordic countries.

Keynesianism

Economic doctrine (1950s-70s Australia) advocating active state intervention to manage demand and prevent recession.

Neoliberalism

Ideology favouring market solutions, reduced state intervention and privatisation, dominant since the mid-1970s.

Zombie Neoliberalism

Schram’s term for neoliberal policies that persist unchallenged despite evidence of social harm.

TINA Ideology

Acronym for “There Is No Alternative,” used to justify continuation of neoliberal reforms.

Neoliberal Cultural Apparatus

Giroux’s idea that neoliberalism functions pedagogically, normalising market logic through media, education and institutions.

Social Democracy

Political philosophy supporting universalism, equity, participation and collective wellbeing within a capitalist framework.

Beveridge’s Five Giants

Post-war British welfare goals to tackle Want, Idleness, Squalor, Ignorance and Disease.

TH Marshall’s Social Citizenship

Concept linking civil, political and social rights to egalitarian welfare provision.

Titmuss’s Three Categories of Welfare

Framework distinguishing social, fiscal and occupational welfare as simultaneous forms of state support.

Means Testing

Assessing income and assets to determine eligibility for targeted benefits.

Progressive Taxation

Tax structure where higher earners pay a larger proportion of income, financing redistributive welfare.

AASW & ACWA Social Justice Mandate

Professional obligations for social workers and human service workers to address inequality through advocacy and critical practice.

Childcare Privatisation Debate

Policy dispute highlighting cost, quality and accountability issues when early childhood services are delivered by for-profit providers.

Critical Practice in Human Services

Professional approach combining reflection, activism and policy critique to promote equitable resource distribution and client empowerment.