The social and community services labour market is growing rapidly, but profound changes in attitude to the roles of government, market and civil society are resulting in radical administrative reforms which are affecting the delivery of human services. These institutional shifts are reshaping the nature of the social and community services, as well as workplaces, career structures and professional identities of social workers and human service workers.

This book contributes to the development of a new intellectual agenda and brings together in one volume much of the best opinion available in Australia. It describes and analyses the national and international trends affecting human service delivery, social policy formation and the future of the welfare state.