Welcome to the Social Policy Unit website!

What's New...

• Child Protection Revolution in WA
• A Regional Analysis of Indigenous Australians in the Western Australian labour market
• Education and Health Standing Committee: An examination of Indigenous employment by the State. Report No. 10 in the 37th Parliament. (Premier’s response)
• Latest Edition of the Social Agenda Newsletter
• Participate Newsletter (new quarterly newsletter focused on Indigenous economic participation)

About Us

The State Government is developing and leading social policy changes to improve everyday life for all Western Australians: building better services, creating more jobs, and shaping an uniquely WA lifestyle, by

• building the foundations of future success by investing early in children to make sure they are ready to learn by school age
• capitalising on this investment by retaining students in education for longer
• increasing apprenticeships and traineeships for a skilled future workforce
• striving for prosperity for all by enabling high workforce participation rates and including Indigenous people in the economic boom, fighting homelessness, keeping household charges low and improving government concessions
• driving down crime in the community, targeting burglars, tackling hoons and protecting children
• doubling the rail network and investing in crucial infrastructure like roads, power and water, as well as schools and hospitals
• doubling health spending and remodelling health infrastructure fast to make it work in local communities

Achieving these outcomes requires a collaborative, connected approach to policy and service delivery.

The Social Policy Unit is a part of the Policy Division, Department of the Premier and Cabinet. We’re a small unit, consisting of staff that come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Our goal is to ensure the best possible outcomes for the community through the activity of relevant Government agencies. This is facilitated through:

• the development, implementation, and evaluation of social policy in the State
• monitoring and analysis of social policy initiatives and their impact
• co-ordination of Government initiatives
• provision of policy advice to the Premier and his Cabinet

On this website you will information about our Unit’s current priority areas, as well as links to our past work, previous and current publications and our monthly newsletter The Social Agenda.

I hope you find the information on this website useful.

Shawn Boyle
Director, Social Policy Unit
Department of the Premier and Cabinet