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Caught in the Same Frame? The Language of Evidence‐based Policy in Debates about the Australian Government ‘ I ntervention’ into N orthern T erritory A boriginal Communities
Author(s) -
Partridge Emma
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
social policy and administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9515
pISSN - 0144-5596
DOI - 10.1111/spol.12026
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , politics , sociology , evidence based policy , focus (optics) , intervention (counseling) , ideal (ethics) , public policy , frame (networking) , economic interventionism , political science , political economy , public administration , law , psychology , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , medicine , telecommunications , physics , alternative medicine , optics , pathology , psychiatry
This article examines ongoing contestation surrounding the policies of the F ederal government's ‘Intervention’ in I ndigenous communities in A ustralia's N orthern T erritory. It highlights how the paradigm of ‘evidence‐based policy’ has been used by both the government and its critics, suggesting this commonality of language is worthy of reflection. Cautioning against an over‐reliance on the rationalist framework of ‘evidence‐based policy’, it draws on literature that problematizes this idea and insists on the inherently contested and political nature of the relationship between knowledge, evidence and policy‐making. It concludes by pointing to alternative strategies for improving I ndigenous policy that risk being overlooked by a focus on ‘evidence‐based policy’ as a prescriptive ideal.