Reconciling policy and practice : Australian multicultural health policy in perspective
By: REID, Janice C
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Contributor(s): BOYCE, Rosalie A.
Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: UK : Policy Press, jan. 1995Subject(s): ChinaPolicy & Politics 23, 1, p. 03-16Abstract: It is clear that the recent emergence of pressures for system-wide reform and the increasing penetration of market-based economic principles into the health sector in Australia and internationally will have an impact on health policy and service delivery for immigrants of non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB). This paper, analyses the historical shifts in Australian immigration policy since World War II and the attendant development of, and approach to, health service provision. It is within the context of public and political debates about immigration, and the extent of support for multiculturalism, that decisions about health policies, programmes and services have been developed and implemented. The difficulty of reconciling multicultural health policy and practice is related to the interplay between the different concepts of multiculturalism which have emerged in public policies over the past two decades in particular, and the health programmes and services that have developed within that context. The paper argues that the architects and advocates of NESB health policy will need to respond creatively to the challenge of health system reform to protect targeted programmes and promote positive health outcomes for NESB communities
It is clear that the recent emergence of pressures for system-wide reform and the increasing penetration of market-based economic principles into the health sector in Australia and internationally will have an impact on health policy and service delivery for immigrants of non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB). This paper, analyses the historical shifts in Australian immigration policy since World War II and the attendant development of, and approach to, health service provision. It is within the context of public and political debates about immigration, and the extent of support for multiculturalism, that decisions about health policies, programmes and services have been developed and implemented. The difficulty of reconciling multicultural health policy and practice is related to the interplay between the different concepts of multiculturalism which have emerged in public policies over the past two decades in particular, and the health programmes and services that have developed within that context. The paper argues that the architects and advocates of NESB health policy will need to respond creatively to the challenge of health system reform to protect targeted programmes and promote positive health outcomes for NESB communities
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