Foundations of Social Policy (SOCI90011)

The subject introduces students to social policy and provides a foundation for future inquiry. The first half of the course introduces students to historical and contemporary welfare frameworks, concepts of social equity and theories of care. It also identifies different welfare approaches from the global north and south, and considers processes of policy making and reform. The second half of the course introduces innovative responses to complex disadvantage and exclusion that are more inclusive, deliberative and devolved. These models include social impact bonds, place-based approaches and co-design/co-production. The assessment tasks for this subject prepare students to contribute to social policy development and implementation by focusing on a chosen social policy topic and using critique, theoretical frameworks and persuasive advocacy techniques to develop social policy proposals.