Social Protection and Vulnerability

Abstract

This chapter surveys the interlocking ensemble of public policy choices made in Australia around the beginning of the twentieth century, tracing the impact they have had over time. Policies of tariff protectionism, wage arbitration, racial exclusion, and social welfare were embedded in institutions. Using the framework of historical institutionalism, the chapter charts the gradual demolition of these policies, and of the distinctive pattern of social protection they attempted to develop. Shifting from a highly protected economy to one more exposed to global forces undermined the old system of ‘domestic defence’, placing significant pressure on a male breadwinner wages system and on the social welfare institutions built on the presumption of fair wages. In this scenario, it is remarkable that the welfare system has remained largely intact.