Assessment 2A policy analysis practice activity
Before you proceed you must see the policy topics for assessment 2A on the Moodle page under the assessment box above the upload point for the assessment.
There you will find links to literature that will help your analysis.
You need to select a specific policy to analyse, not simply a policy problem.
For example if you select Family Violence you need to analyse a state level policy such as Ending family violence – Victoria’s 10-year plan for change or The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010 – 2022. If you are not sure if you have selected a policy or are not sure what the problem is, post a question in the Assessment 2 forum. A tutor/facilitator will let you know if you are on track.
The assessment task is as follows.
Select a policy from the list below:
1. NDIS
2. Homelessness policy (for your state e.g. NSW if you live in Sydney, WA if you live in Perth, Victoria if you live in Melbourne or surrounding suburbs, QLD if you live in this state)
3. Family Violence policy (for your state)
4. Refugees Policy
In 1000 words, using the concepts and literature provided in this unit and through your own independent research, undertake an analysis of the selected policy. Your analysis will:
• Provide a brief history of this policy in Australia, key moments of change in either the problem and/or the policy and some social and political drivers of that change.
• Describe and discuss the ideological influences apparent in the policy as it stands today.
• Provide an example of another welfare regime’s response to a similar problem.
• Evaluate the extent to which this policy contributes to a more socially just Australia
The paper will demonstrate that you understand:
• That welfare and social policy is contested. (There are many points of view).
• How history influences current policy and a history of your policy topic
• The meaning and influence of ideology in social policy and you can identify ideologies in policy documents
• Key features of another welfare regime
• The meaning of social justice, one or two theories of social justice and an ability to recognise approaches to social justice in current policy
The essay will follow formal essay structure including an introduction, a body with your main points, and a conclusion which summarises your points and reiterates your position on the question of social justice for community service workers. Assume 4 body paragraphs of 200 words and 1 each of introduction and conclusion at 100 words.
The activity below is not in formal essay format. Use it as a tool to help you gather the material needed for your essay. Do not hand in this filled out template as your essay
Complete the following activity by filling in the blanks and gaps with your own words about your assessment 2. If you can do this, then you can write the analysis. You do not need to hand this in so it can be in note form.
If you are struggling or find some parts difficult:
• Go back to the key weeks and re-do the activities. All of the weeks concepts and activities have been practice to write this assessment.
• Use the Question-and-Answer Assessment Forum to ask questions.
• Attend the live webinar to ask questions directly to your tutor. Find the dates on the Moodle page
This is an overview of the SAP203 policy analysis task.
The name of the policy I have selected is …………………………………. (from policy docs found on the Moodle page)
The main government documents (may be one or two) I am using to describe the policy are:
1)
2)
Journal articles or newspaper articles that I will use in addition to the required readings in weeks 1,2,3,4,5,6 (APA format ) are;
1)
2)
3)
These journal articles will be used in the sections on……. and ………
The policy problem that this policy addresses is………………………… The problem is described by author …………. as being about …………………………….. and having the following nature and extent…………………. This many people or groups experience the problem, and this is how they experience it. The problem is described in the policy document in this way…… According to the policy document the problem is about ……………………………. The problem is important to address (according to either the policy document or to other authors or both) because………….
History is an important part of understanding social policy because……. In this policy area there is a long history with many changes of both understanding the problem and names and purposes of the policy. The dates and events I will discuss in the history section are….
The key authors from the required readings for this section are……………
1. On date…. this social change or political response happened and this policy was first introduced or written.
2. A new date, new policy, because of new change or new government……….
The definition of ideology I am going to use in this paper is from author ………………… and is as follows. “……………………..” (Author, year, p. x) I am going to say that ideology is important in social policy because………………
The ideological influences in the policy as it stands today are…
1.……………………,
and 2.…………………….
Ideology 1 is described by author ………………. as …………………………………….
Important features of this ideology are …………………….
Evidence of this ideology in the policy are the following statements
a…………………………………….
b…………………………………….
c……………………………………
Ideology 2 is
described by author ………………. as …………………………………….. Evidence of this ideology in the policy are the following statements
a…………………………………….
b…………………………………….
c……………………………………
The key authors from the required readings for this section on ideologies are …
The welfare regime I am going to discuss is…………… definitions from unit readings
The main features of this welfare regime are
……………………
……………………
………………………….
In this welfare regime this policy problem is addressed in the following way. This is different to the Australian way by ……………………
Key authors for this section on welfare regimes are
Social Justice in social policy is about………. (Definition from unit readings)
In this policy I can see that the following theories of social justice are evident.
……theory of just holdings or theories of just distribution etc ……………………. ( Rawls and /or Nozick and/or Sen and /or Frazer /Honneth)
The main features of these theories are (from unit readings)
1.
2
3
I argue that this social policy does have some aspects of these theories of social justice embedded in it. The evidence I have of this from the policy is;
1 quotes or language
2 the intent of the policy
3 the effect on people
Key authors for this section on Social Justice are ….
Summary and conclusion.
In this paper I have analysed (policy name) ……………………. The policy addresses the policy problem…………….and the policy is important because……… Historically I have shown that……………. Different welfare regimes have been discussed to show that different countries have different approaches to similar problems. I have argued that the ideological influence in the policy are……….
I have argued that the theories of social justice evidenced are…….
In conclusion this is my community services worker-based judgement of this policy and its contribution to social justice in Australia.
What is social policy
McClelland, A .(2020). What is Social Policy? In McClelland, A., Smyth, P., & Marston, G., (2020).
Social Policy in Australia Understanding for Action. OUP Ebook
Or the 2014 edition
Welfare Concepts
Daly, M., (2013). Welfare. Wiley. Ebook. Chapter 1 Founding Ideas and Approaches
McClelland Values and Concepts in Design Chapter 2
Ideologies
Fenna, A., (2014) Ideologies, in Fenna, Robbins, Summers, Government and Politics in Australia.
10th ed. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Australia, 2014. Print. E-reading list Chapter 6 Political Ideologies
McClelland, A., Smyth, P, & Marston, G. (2020). Social Policy in Australia 4e eBook:
Understanding for Action. Chapter 2 pp 20-24 Values, Concepts and Design
International welfare regimes
Smyth, P., (2020). Australian social policy in an international context in McClelland, A. et al.
Social Policy in Australia: Understanding for Action, Oxford University Press Australia and New Zealand, Ebook
OECD (2019). Society at a Glance 2019: OECD Social Indicators, OECD Publishing, chapter 6 equity indicators.Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/soc_glance-2019-en
History
Smyth, P. (2020) Historical Context: Themes and Perspectives in Mc Clelland et al Social Policy in Australia,
OUP.
Theories of Justice
Phillips, S., Seivwright, A., Young, S., Fisher, C., Harries, M.,Callis, Z., and Flatau, P. (2021).
Insights into hardship and disadvantage in Perth, Western Australia: The 100 Families WA.
Taylor Gooby, P. (2012). Equality, Rights and Social Justice in Alcock, P., May, M., & Wright, S. (Eds.). (2012).
The student’s companion to social policy. Chapter on Reading list
McClelland et al., (2014). Values, Concepts and Social Policy Design: pages 30-33
Piachaud,D. (2008). Social justice and public policy: a social policy perspective.
