Separate spheres and public policy : the role of women in the development of children\u27s services in Victorian local government, 1840-1992

Abstract

The thesis is an explanation of the development of pre-school children\u27s services (infant welfare, kindergartens and child care) at local government level in Victoria. The critical framework of analysis focuses on three dimensions of public policy: 1) the socio-historical environment; 2) the political processes involved in the development of the specific children\u27s service; and 3) the major individuals and groups that exerted pressure for children\u27s service, The argument is threefold. Firstly it is argued that the political environment of children\u27s services has been dominated by the practice of separate spheres of public and private, in which the care of children is primarily the role of women. Secondly, it is argued that the political processes surrounding the development of local children\u27s services have involved all levels of government in what is termed a local state. Thirdly, it is argued that the development of these children\u27s services in local government has resulted mainly from the work of women both individually and collectively. Since the three services of infant welfare, kindergartens and child care all became a normal function of children\u27s services at different times, the circumstances that surrounded each development exhibited different aspects of the three major arguments. The periodisation is broken into four phases: 1) the establishment of local government with no children\u27s services in the nineteenth century; 2) the establishment of infant welfare services in local government in the early part of the twentieth century; 3) the incorporation of kindergartens into local government after the second world war; and 4) the incorporation of child care into local government in the 1970s and 1980s. The thesis concludes by arguing that the existence of children\u27s services in local government in Victoria is testimony to the remarkable work of those women who have pursued the issue both individually and collectively. It has been the identification of children\u27s services as a women\u27s issue in Australian politics that has enabled women\u27s groups at different times to influence the policy makers in diverse ways. However, while the establishment of children\u27s services as a legitimate political concern brings the matter onto the public agenda, the separate spheres still remains a contested issue in the public policies of children\u27s services