INCOME-DISTRIBUTION AND SOCIAL-POLICY UNDER A REFORMIST GOVERNMENT - THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE

For most of the past decade, the Australian Government has developed i ts social policies within the framework of a consensual incomes policy . While this has led to a fall in the real average earnings of Austral ian workers, until 1990, the employed workforce grew at nearly the fas test rate of all OECD countries, and female labour force participation increased markedly. At the same time, there were constraints on publi c expenditure, under which eligibility for social security payments wa s restricted. This was accompanied by targeted increases in benefit le vels for low income families with children, as part of an explicit pro gramme to reduce child poverty. These and other policies have been cha racterised as indicating that the Australian Labor Party has followed economic rationalist policies, similar to those of Conservative govern ments in the UK and other English-speaking countries. Using a micro-an alytic simulation model, this article provides estimates of trends in living standards, poverty and income inequality in Australia between 1 983 and 1990, and assesses the extent to which Australia has had a 'Ne w Right' government.