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Crisis Management, Policy Reform, and Institutions: The Social Policy Response to COVID-19 in Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2021

Gaby Ramia Open the ORCID record for Gaby Ramia [Opens in a new window]  and
Lisa Perrone
Gaby Ramia
Affiliation:
Department of Government and International Relations, School of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Socal Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia E-mail: gaby.ramia@sydney.edu.au
Lisa Perrone
Affiliation:
NSW Public Policy Institute, The University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney and Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia E-mail: lisa.perrone@sydney.edu.au
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Abstract

Social policy represents a critical dimension of the governmental response to COVID-19. This article analyses the Australian response, which was radical in that it signalled an unprecedented policy turnaround towards welfare generosity and the almost total relaxation of conditionality. It was also surprising because it was introduced by a conservative, anti-welfarist government. The principal argument is that, though the generosity was temporary, it should be understood simultaneously by reference to institutional change and institutional tradition. The ‘change’ element was shaped by the urgency and scale of the crisis, which indicated an institutional ‘critical juncture’. This provided a ‘window of opportunity’ for reform, which would otherwise be closed. ‘Tradition’ was reflected in the nation’s federalist conventions, which partially steered the response. The central implication for other countries is that, amid the uncertainty of a crisis, governments need to consider change within the bounds of their traditional institutions when introducing welfare reform.

Keywords

Policy crisescrisis managementpolicy responses to COVID-19COVID-19 and social policiescrises and the welfare state
Type
Themed Section on Social Policy Responses and Institutional Reforms in the Pandemic
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 22 , Issue 3: THEMED SECTION: Social Policy Responses and Institutional Reforms in the Pandemic , July 2023 , pp. 562 - 576
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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