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Measuring the Impact of Public Expenditure on Social Exclusion

By Lou Wilson.

Published by The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Social provision in Australia accounts for two thirds of government spending and a third of GDP. The allocation principle of social expenditure by the state is needs based and should take into account the extent and dimensions of disadvantage among groups and areas. Much of the current public expenditure on social provision is ostensibly targeted at reducing social exclusion on a needs basis. Analyses of the existing situation in Australia suggests genuine needs based allocations of scarce resources are limited. A small improvement in efficiency and effectiveness by matching the expenditure on these services by social outcomes would have a significant pay-off in terms of economic prosperity, community well-being and social justice. This paper discusses work in progress on an ARC Linkage Project at the University of Adelaide that seeks to assess the effectiveness of public expenditure in reducing social exclusion. The project seeks to benchmark and measure the impact of public expenditure on social exclusion in an industrial region in the north of Adelaide. Northern Adelaide has been designated under the Commonwealth Government Initiative in Regional Australia as a region characterised by persistently high unemployment rates, poverty and social exclusion. In collaboration with the SA Government the project team are seeking to use GIS spatial information systems to match public expenditure patterns with social outcomes, using an array of public expenditure data, ABS data, census data, social indicator data and other appropriate sources of information.

The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp.199-206. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 526.163KB).

Dr. Lou Wilson

Academic, Australian Institute for Social Research, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia