Abstract:
The policy of Australian governments, both Commonwealth, state and territory, toward those
organisations that comprise a third sector of the organised economy is patchy and piecemeal.
Absent is any recognition that they constitute a distinct sector; absent too is any recognition of
their contribution to economy, society and politics. Such a situation is not inevitable. After
identifying some of the gaps and contradictions in Australian policy toward the third sector, this
article outlines the many policy initiatives to encourage the third sector or social economy (in
European Union terms) taken by the Blair government in the United Kingdom. Given that there
is a good deal of policy borrowing between Australia and the United Kingdom, the stark contrast
between the two countries in this policy field is puzzling. This article concludes by identifying
four developments that led to this policy explosion in the United Kingdom and finds them
largely missing in Australia. This leads to a conclusion that a similar range of policies are
unlikely to develop here.
