Driving Child Protection Reform: Evidence or Ideology?

The reform of child protection services in Australia has been, and continues to be, a priority for State and Territory governments. Therefore it is timely to consider the influences on reform; in particular, to understand how and why decision-makers might take some courses of action over others. In this article the particular influence of different forms of ideology are identified and described with reference to the case example of the reform of child protection services in Queensland after the inquiry by the Crime and Misconduct Commission in 2004. It is argued that ideology is both a useful conceptual tool and an influence on reform, from the point of identifying problems through to implementing solutions to address them, which can lead to taking a "wrong turn". It is further proposed that critical awareness of the effects of ideology on the process of reform is required, lest it displace research-based evidence of "what works" as the basis for decision-making.