Equity and the new post‐compulsory education and training policies in Australia: a progressive or regressive agenda?

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Abstract
This paper explores the background and context of the Australian federal government's new post‐compulsory education and training policies. It examines the social, economic and political context within which the policies have been developed, and the way in which competing interests have been ‘stitched’ together in the new consensual policy‐making process. It is argued that the resulting policy directions (expressed in the Finn, Mayer and Carmichael reports), where goals of micro‐economic reform are linked to equity issues, represent an ambiguous policy mix and offer contradictory possibilities for young people. The implications of these ambiguities for reform strategies will be discussed, together with considerations relating to the politics of educational change.