Social policy affects everyone and is everyone’s business. Even if you do not receive welfare payments, directly or indirectly you benefit from government servides and funding. Yet how are policies and programs actually developed? Can social policy help us create a more just society?

This book offers an introduction to the theory and practice of social policy making in Australia. Using detailed case studies, it covers:

* the ideas and values which inform the social policy process

* how different groups can influence policy making

* how social policy making takes place in social and political organisations

* the political nature of policy making

Making Social Policy in Australia is the most up to date introduction to Australian social policy currently available, and is essential reading for students and practitioners in human and community service work and government.

Tony Dalton, Mary Draper and John Wiseman lecture in Social Work and Social Sciences at Rmit, Melbourne; Wendy Weeks lectures in Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Melbourne and is author (in collaboration) of Women Working Together: Lessons from feminist women’s services. Each of the authors has been involved in policy debate and development for many years.