Making the invisible visable : an analysis of the Home and Community Care Program : a socialist-feminist perspective
type: CreativeWork
description: As the population of Australia ages, social policy and human service practice in the field of aged care is increasingly important and relevant. The Home and community Care (H.A.C.C.) Program was established in 1985 by the Labor Government as a response to a demand for more community services for the frail aged and was designed to reduce the incidence of institutionalisation by increasing home care services. In this way the Home and Community Care Program is seen as linchpin in the Federal Government's initiative to create an efficient and cost-effective aged care policy to contend with the future growth of Australia's ageing population. This thesis argues that there are several assumptions intrinsic to the H.AC.C. Program that are potentially jeopardising and undermining its usefulness. These assumptions are based on familial ideology and nostalgic conceptualizations of 'the community’ and 'the family'. In addition, these assumptions also involve stereotypic attitudes to women as primary carers and nurturers that ignore, to a great degree, the needs of women themselves. These assumptions, combined with an increasingly neo-conservative view about a reduction in the role of the State and a corresponding increase in family responsibility in welfare, have major implications for Australian women. This socialist-feminist analysis argues that women who are providing care for aged spouses or relatives are doing essential, hard and stressful work, work which is unpaid and often unacknowledged, and that the Australian welfare system is now structured around the invisible labour of such women. Consequentially, the assumption that a social policy program such as H.A.C.C. makes, that is, that there will always be women who care, requires further analysis. This research has revealed that such assumptions have implications for the future development of social policy for the aged in Australia and on the future roles of women in this country. Particular questions which this thesis a…
abstract: As the population of Australia ages, social policy and human service practice in the field of aged care is increasingly important and relevant. The Home and community Care (H.A.C.C.) Program was established in 1985 by the Labor Government as a response to a demand for more community services for the frail aged and was designed to reduce the incidence of institutionalisation by increasing home care services. In this way the Home and Community Care Program is seen as linchpin in the Federal Government's initiative to create an efficient and cost-effective aged care policy to contend with the future growth of Australia's ageing population. This thesis argues that there are several assumptions intrinsic to the H.AC.C. Program that are potentially jeopardising and undermining its usefulness. These assumptions are based on familial ideology and nostalgic conceptualizations of 'the community’ and 'the family'. In addition, these assumptions also involve stereotypic attitudes to women as primary carers and nurturers that ignore, to a great degree, the needs of women themselves. These assumptions, combined with an increasingly neo-conservative view about a reduction in the role of the State and a corresponding increase in family responsibility in welfare, have major implications for Australian women. This socialist-feminist analysis argues that women who are providing care for aged spouses or relatives are doing essential, hard and stressful work, work which is unpaid and often unacknowledged, and that the Australian welfare system is now structured around the invisible labour of such women. Consequentially, the assumption that a social policy program such as H.A.C.C. makes, that is, that there will always be women who care, requires further analysis. This research has revealed that such assumptions have implications for the future development of social policy for the aged in Australia and on the future roles of women in this country. Particular questions which this thesis a…
author: Stehlik, Daniela Anna
keywords: Caregivers, Older people, Home care, Australia., Social Policy
date published: 1991-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-27T19:23:00Z
provider: Edith Cowan University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia