What happens when digital information systems are brought into health and social care? Comparing approaches to social policy in England and Australia

This review article offers a brief comparative overview of approaches to the application of public sector information systems in England and Australia, with particular reference to health and social care. Since the 1990s, reforms to the public sector in both countries have looked to information and communication technologies (ICTs) from the private sector as the key to modern, citizen-centred services. These efforts have been conducted in the wider context of New Public Management, with the emphasis on the marketisation of government services, reducing the size of the state, and improvements in efficiency. Both countries are typically seen as being at, or near, the forefront of the digital transformation of public services (United Nations, 2012; McLoughlin and Wilson, 2013). Moreover, there is a shared history of experimentation, most recently in the shaping of the information agendas around records and personalisation.