Evaluation of the Australian Wage Subsidy Special Youth ...

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2.2 SYETP implementation
As SYETP does not now operate, this review is essentially a historical essay gathering
together information about the programme and its process. Due to the fact that much of
the information is contained in government publications and conference papers, some
sources are difficult to locate, and as such the review provides a valuable resource.
Considerable effort has been made to associate the context of other aspects of the
Australian economy that may have influenced the working of SYETP. The policy does
not operate within a vacuum, and although the theoretical model may outline a set of
assumptions it is of interest when assessing the policy outcome whether in fact these
assumptions were realistic. In particular, this is necessary as many models have the same
outcome, but use different sets of assumptions to set up how the outcome is achieved; or
various models can achieve different outcomes by altering the assumption set. So this
context might help define which model best approximated the circumstances under which
the outcome was achieved. The description of the economic context of labour market
programme operation is often not clear, or is overlooked in a review, for example – the
benefit system payments, the wage system, whether it operated in a recession or boom?
Due to the wide field of influences to the labour market, it is not possible to fully convey
the economic influences at work in a brief review. However, I have selected what I
believe to be the most relevant aspects. The information is then reconciled in the
discussion.
2.2.1 Historical development of SYETP
The SYETP was active policy in Australia from late 1976 to December 1985. The history
and functioning of SYETP have been documented in various sources, and are
summarised here. The terms of the scheme and operating environment are factors that are
important to understanding the conditions under which the programme performed. They
provide the background for the findings of possible impacts of the scheme. The