Structural reform in Australian education, 1967-1987: an analysis of key documents

Master of EducationDuring the period 1967 to 1987, every government school system in Australia presented documents which sought to address the perceived needs of the future. These documents, on the whole, proposed structural re-organisation of the bureaucracies servicing the various education systems. This study will investigate the reasons given for changing the structures of Australian public education systems during this period. Structural reform refers to the bureaucratic re-organisation of departments of education operated by state and territorial governments. A bureaucratic structure is the machinery of government empowered to act by and on behalf of the government, to achieve the government's aims, and therefore, those of the populace which elected the government. Australian education refers specifically to the public education systems provided by the government. It is not a comprehensive term, for neither the Catholic nor the Independent school systems are considered in any detail. The two decades, 1967 to 1987, represent a period of significant change in bureaucratic structures, as has already been mentioned. It is not enough to give an outline of events in their context, but to understand the reason for their occurrence. An attempt is therefore made to state why these changes came about. Additionally, trends which are common to individual states and territories are traced, thereby forming a national picture. Apart from presenting an investigation into the reasons for changing structures in the governance of education, the thesis clarifies the directions in which the changes are heading. This is a valuable exercise, for it opens the ground for policy guidelines and forward planning. Structural reform is worthy of our attention, for it represents the attempts of various governments to come to terms with a variety of social, economic, and political problems which have arisen in a time of great uncertainty and turbulence. The fluid nature of their response is a reflection of that turbulence