Social And Economic Concerns In Australia †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Social And Economic Concerns In Australia? Answer: Introduction The Australian economy over the past decades has experienced rapid growth with a continued rise in the standards of living, resource distribution as well as improved social welfare. However with the rise or growth of the economy to the sustainability of the growth has been a major challenge as the nation has continued to experience some major social and economic concerns. The social concerns, in this case, have been the issues or problems that influence a considerable number of individuals within the society or are seen as having a conflicting opinion to what is regarded as right in the society and include the issues relating to gay marriages, LGBT adoption rights, and disability rights among others (Bussire et al. 2014, p.152). The economic concerns, on the other hand, were the fundamental problems or issues facing the Australian human society and their business environments which have been found to have an impact on allocation and distribution of economic resources as well as the p rovision of goods and services in the Australian Economy. This paper, therefore, seeks to provide a literature review of the social and economic concerns in Australia as well as what can be done to ensure that the economy remains in its global economic position. Social concerns in Australia The major social concerns in Australia as outlined above have brought some conflicting opinions with a great percentage of populations acting in support of them while an equally significant percentage going against the issues (Gerstmann, 2017, p. 2). These social issues include the concerns raised about the gay marriages in Australia; the continued debates on the LGBT adoption rights, the debates on the neglect of disability rights for the people with disabilities as well as the societal concerns on abortion laws with have supported the rights to have abortions in the country. For the nation to remain in its global position then it needs to address some of these social concerns and therefore understanding the issues is equally important. Understanding Gay Marriage social concerns-The issues of gay marriages have been subject of debate for many years and major developments have been made through the activities of human rights societies as well as the state and federal laws of the Australian government (Webb and Chonody, 2014, pg. 420). However, the right to marry has been having been found to have a much significant difference between the legal treatment of the same sex couples and the heterosexual relationships in Australia. The issues of same sex marriage have remained controversial and have brought about conflicting community and political opinions and therefore making it a subject of discussion and debate in the Parliament by both the state and the federal governments (Gates, G.J., 2015, pg. 70). Major reforms have however been made to provide equal entitlements and responsibilities for same sex couples especially in areas of concern such as social security, employment and taxation laws. However, concerns have bee n made with respect to the treatment of the same sex couples which differ from that of heterosexual relationships. There are fewer rights and obligations attached to married couples which are not accorded to same sex couples and therefore the human rights society have been advocating for equality for same sex couples and that they should be allowed to marry and enjoy the rights accorded by the Constitution under the marriage act for the married couples (Cuthbert and Fronek, 2014, p. 2). Such ideas and debates have raised a lot of concerns and have been seen in some communities as controversial and have brought about some social, religious, moral and political questions. The issues are has been left to the high court despite the federal governments in Australia having powers over marriage to make a decision and appropriate laws governing the same as the court has to decide whether the gay marriage is consistent with the common wealth law of marriage act. Social concerns over LGBT adoption rights-With the federal and state governments passing the laws in support of same sex unions, debates have also raised over the rights of gay unions and lesbians as well as the bisexual rights to adopt children. The debates cuts across whether these groups of people of their unions are allowed by law to adopt children do the children rights support the idea or who have a decision over the children decisions to be adopted (Webb and Chonody, 2014, pg. 415). With the society interested in protecting the children rights and some being of the view that these groups of people have no right to adopt children while others supporting that they have a right to adopt and raise children (Riggs and Due, 2014, pg. 190). But most importantly is to understand the laws governing the adoption of children as well as the children rights which protect and put the interest of the children first. Protecting the interest of the children is the most important thing according to the convention on rights of children (CRC). The Australian family law operates on the assumption that a child should one or two legal parents and also provides an opportunity for other people significant to their care. However, it stipulates that a child born to the same sex couple will often have only one legal parent as the child is conceived through ART (Eggert Engeli, 2015, p. 323). The convention also requires that the best interest of a child should be the most paramount consideration when determining adoption cases. Same sex couples in Western Australia and Australia Capital Territory can only adopt an unrelated child and also a lesbian co-mother or a gay co-father is unlikely to achieve a step parent adoption while there is also a likelihood of lack of recognition for overseas adoption according to the legal framework in Australia governing LGBT adoption rights. Disability rights-There has been an increasing concern raised in Australia relating to the increased neglect and discrimination of the rights of people living with a disability. The Australian discriminatory act protects all individuals from unfair treatment in many parts of public life (Thill, C., 2015, p. 18). The people with disability in the modern world have been discriminated through lack of freedom of expression and opinion access to information due to lack of awareness of their rights or the places they can express their concerns in case of violation of their rights. They also suffer from unequal recognition before the law as many has expressed their concerns over the ability to access to justice as the Australian law and other mechanisms dealing with their complaints have not sufficiently protected or promoted the human rights (Soldatic et al. 2014).for people with disability. Evidence also provides that people with disability are over represented as victims of all forms of abuse and neglect including physical, sexual, psychological, financial as well as financial abuse and neglect. The government and the federal, as well as the local states, should be on the forefront of protecting and promoting the rights of people with disability. Abortion social concerns-This is also another widely debated social issue in Australia and has also brought conflicting opinions in the society whereby some people advocate for the safe and legal abortion rights for women while other institutions such as the religious groups advocating for respect for human life. The right to access to safe and legal abortion has therefore been one of the most debated sexual and reproductive health rights. And as much as the law provides regulation and right for safe and legal as well as protection of women dignity this issue has continued to attract concerns especially over the right to life (Costa et al. 2015, pg. 108). The government need therefore despite the laws provided create awareness to the public of the abortion policies and exceptions to the laws as well as try to balance the societal values and the health or women reproductive rights. Economic concerns in Australia With the rapid growth of the Australian economy over the last decades, it is also important to that economic growth and development is characterized by major challenges as economic growth is unlikely to be experienced in all sectors of the economy. As the economy grows in one sector the other sector may be experiencing a recession. Therefore some of the economic problems facing the Australian government include unemployment, increased cost of living, increased budget deficits, Australian foreign relations as well as the global position of Australia economy. However to address the economic concerns affecting the economy, then the government needs to develop the right policy framework which will span the growth of job opportunities for the Australians. Unemployment rates in Australia have rapidly increased over the past years and many economists argue and advocate that the government needs to take the appropriate measures to remedy this situation. Accounting to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the official unemployment rate has been found to be 5.7 percent (Mavromaras et al. 2015, p. 2418). However as at February 2017 the rate increased to 5.9 percent with over 6400 jobs lost. The youths were the most affected group. The youth unemployment rate has also been reported to increase from 12.3 percent to 13.3 percent. There have been few jobs available as well as limited job opportunities available to the unemployed population (Bonoli, 2017, pg.3). The government, therefore, is supposed to create the right policy framework that will facilitate the growth of job opportunities in the economy. There is also reported the increased cost of living in Australia. An increase in economic growth of a country will equally translate to an improvement or increase in standards of living otherwise the economy may only be widening the gap between the rich and the poor (Phillips, 2015, p. 2). The price of imports in Australia has rapidly increased making the production of goods overseas very expensive for the common Australian citizen to afford. For over four years, the Deutsche Bank has named Australia as the most expensive country to live in terms of the country purchasing parity. A small population enjoys high incomes and that has increased the standards of living, however, it has brought high cost of living consequences to the percentage of the population with low incomes (Smith et al. 2016, p. 2). The wages are also growing slowly for the people earning low income and therefore the government has to adopt policy mechanisms which will help to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor in the economy and ensure equitable distribution of resources to all. The country budget deficit and the growing huge debts have also raised a lot of concerns. The country has been for many years experiencing budget deficits with the budget deficit been reported to be $ 1 billion while the foreign debt been reported to be over $ 421 billion and the recent statistics provide that the foreign debt already exceeds $ 1 trillion (Carr, 2014, p.77). The trade deficit is usually due to the fact that the country imports always exceed the country exports and therefore the deficit has to be paid by either borrowing from foreigners or allowing them to have equity ownership in the country through foreign direct investments in Australian businesses another problem that has created unemployment. The government, therefore, needs to take policy measures that are both fiscal and monetary policy measure to control these debts from increasing further through increasing the countrys GDP which means the debts will also reduce. Another economic issue affecting the Australian government is its relation with other foreign nations. The government has been depending on China for most of the manufacturing functions however the economists are of the view that the Australian government will need to stop relying on China economy as it may be used to as a dumping site for cheap products which will kill the Australian local industries (Bussire et al. 2014, p.152). It should engage most the countries it has a competitive advantage in production and adopts policy frameworks which will promote the growth of local industries. The economy needs to grow back to its steady or stable state which will eventually bring the country back its global position but this will entirely depend on the policies adopted and implemented by the government. Conclusion Taking the Australian economy back to its global position will require great efforts on the side of the government through developing the right policies which will lead to economic growth, equity in resource distribution, affordable cost of living as well as reducing unemployment rates. It will also have to equally provide solutions to the increasing social concerns by advocating for the establishment of state and federal laws governing the social issues and considering the impact the laws will have to the entire society at large. A society that flourishes in its social aspects will eventually prosper in terms of its economic aspects. List of References Bonoli, G., 2017. Labour market and social protection reforms in international perspective: parallel or converging tracks?.Taylor Francis. Bussire, M., DelleChiaie, S. and Peltonen, T.A., 2014. Exchange rate pass-through in the global economy: the role of emerging market economies. IMF Economic Review, 62(1), pp.146-178. 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