Australian Aboriginal Welfare Policy: The Perspectives of Milton Friedman, J.S. Mill and Amartya Sen

By Laura Davidoff and L. A. Duhs.

Published by The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Format	Price
Article: Print	$US10.00
Article: Electronic	$US5.00

Since European settlement of Australia in 1788, the Aboriginal population has struggled to prosper. The Aboriginal community remains a conspicuously disadvantaged minority group, and decades of Federal and State government welfare policies have not prevented alcoholism, domestic violence and unemployment from undermining life in Aboriginal communities. In fact, 60 years of government welfare policy, resulting from the initial, paternalistic policies from the Colonial era, appears to have been one major force that Aboriginal social structure has been quite unable to withstand, despite its viability for the previous 60,000 years. Radically different policies are now being trialled, in recognition of the continuing large gap between indigenous and non-indigenous living standards. Some Aboriginal leaders themselves have called for a rejection of the passive welfare policies of the past, in acceptance of a Friedman-style critique of ‘money for nothing’ welfare handouts, while simultaneously calling for a Sen-style capabilities approach to the policy needs of the future.

Keywords:	Australian Aboriginal Well-Being, Welfare Policy, Welfare Reforms, Market and Government Failures, Discrimination

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Volume 3, Issue 10, pp.163-170. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 556.590KB).

Laura Davidoff

University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia

Laura Davidoff is currently a tutor at the University of Queensland, Australia. She is interested in post colonial economic development, with particular focus on the relationship between social tension, emotional status, policy implementation, and their impacts on economic and personal well being. She has worked as an economic consultant in both the educational and professional environment.

L. A. Duhs

Senior Lecturer in Politics and Sociology, Business, Economics and Law Faculty, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Alan Duhs teaches development economics, microeconomics for managers and economic philosophy. He researches in areas of development economics, social economics and reforms to the tertiary education sector. He has published in the Journal of Economic Issues, Economic Record, Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, Indian Development Review, Review of Social Economics, International Journal of Social Economics, Australian Psychologist, and Australian Journal of Education. He has acted as a consultant to various government departments and is co-editor of the Australasian Journal of Economics Education.

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