Abstract:

In Australia, social service case management approaches were introduced in the areas of intellectual disability & vocational rehabilitation in the 1970s-1980s, much influenced by international trends. The system spread in the later 1980s & 1990s, as federal & state governments began to incorporate case management approaches into key policy documents, particularly in the fields of aging, mental health, & employment. The case management models have not been particularly sophisticated in terms of financial control nor have many been carefully evaluated. They are, however, underpinned by a basic safety net of universal health coverage & a noncontributory pension system funded out of general revenue. Practice of case management has now spread across a broad range of client populations, & there is interest in more sophisticated implementation models.