The Nordic Connection: The impact of the Finnish basic income pilot on the Australian basic income debate
| Author | Troy Henderson,Ben Spies-Butcher |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/13882627221115207 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The Nordic Connection: The
impact of the Finnish basic
income pilot on the Australian
basic income debate
Troy Henderson
University of Sydney
Ben Spies-Butcher
Macquarie University
Abstract
This article examines the impact of recent European basic income experiments on the re-emer-
gence of basic income in Australian public policy and political debate. We argue that while basic
income experiments in general have garnered some attention in Australia, the Finnish basic
income pilot has been particularly significant. We trace this influence back to the historical ten-
dency of sections of the Australian Left to view Nordic industrial and social policy as an aspir-
ational model, and to the stronger institutional and interpersonal connections between Nordic
and Australian policy communities. Finally, we emphasise how the recent history of imposing wel-
fare policy experiments on Indigenous communities complicates the perception and prospects of
basic income pilots in Australia and the potential for successful policy transfer.
Keywords
Basic income, social assistance, income support, social security, basic income pilots
Introduction
Basic income (BI) experiments have played a central role in informing BI research and animating
BI debate in recent years. In Australia, discussion of BI is growing, but remains relatively marginal
in mainstream policy circles. This article considers how BI experiments have informed this
Corresponding author:
Dr Troy Henderson, University of Sydney, Australia.
E-mail: troy.henderson@sydney.edu.au
Article
European Journal of Social Security
2022, Vol. 24(3) 276–291
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/13882627221115207
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emerging Australian discussion, highlighting the role played by the Finnish BI pilot (2017–2018) in
catalysing policy interest. Australian policy communities have traditionally had relatively weak
connections to continental Europe, with policymakers looking to the Anglophone countries, espe-
cially the United Kingdom and the United States, for policy models. While the trade union move-
ment and the Australian Labor Party (ALP) did look to Scandinavia in the 1970s and 1980s, these
engagements primarily focused on Sweden and had minimal concrete policy impact.
We identity a shift in Australian policy links to the Nordic countries, which increasingly run
through academic and social policy communities, rather than unions and political parties, and
look more broadly than the left’s traditional focus on Sweden. This shift informed interpersonal
connections between those interested in the Finnish experiment and those interested in BI, which
both centred Finland and framed the experiment more positively. Similar connections were not
as strong with other countries engaging in experimentation, placing the Finnish experiment at
the centre of Australian social policy concern, despite it having less impact elsewhere. As BI
debates have broadened in Australia, and as BI experiments in US cities and potential experiments
within the UK and Ireland develop, we anticipate Australian debates are likely to refocus on the
Anglosphere. However, the initial influence of Finland’s experiment points to shifting dynamics
within Australia’s progressive policy networks that may have longer term implications.
The article begins by situating the history and structures of Australia’s welfare state and employ-
ment policies within OECD norms. It provides a brief account of the limited engagement with BI
prior to the last decade before charting the rise of interest amongst academics, the media and policy
actors in recent years. There is relatively little evidence of significant connections between these
Australian actors and the budding experimentation in Europe. The exception we identify is
Finland, where academic communities, led by leading Australian social policy scholar Peter
Saunders, engaged substantively with those running the trial, informing both social policy
debates and emerging BI institutions in Australia. We go on to place these connections in the
context of a longer history of policy engagements with Nordic countries, arguing that the BI
example indicates a shift in the organisation of these connections that is mirrored in divisions
amongst progressives over the merits of BI itself. We end by reflecting on the implications of
our analysis for the prospects of BI in Australia, acknowledging the complex history of social
policy experimentation.
The Australian polity
Australia is typically categorised as a liberal welfare state (Esping-Andersen, 1990). Taxation
and social spending are well below the OECD average. Social policy commonly employs
means-testing, as opposed to universal or contributory social insurance schemes. However,
Australia has also been identified as atypical of other liberal models. A strong history of working-
class political organisation and centralised wage setting provided relatively inclusive forms of
social protection through employment, rather than social spending. More recently, labour market
reforms and growing workfare have challenged that assessment, moving Australia closer to other
liberalised economies. Alternatively, in other areas social spending has expanded, including
more inclusive forms of flat-rate benefit schemes that potentially echo elements of a BI. These
recent trends appear consistent with developments in other liberal welfare states (see Clasen and
Clegg, 2012).
Australian social spending, 16.7% of GDP in 2019, remains well below the OECD average
(OECD, 2020: 2). This reflects unusually targeted and marketised social provision, but also
Henderson and Spies-Butcher 277
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