What contributed to the Kennett Government not renewing core funding to the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria in 1999? A critical historical examination of youth affairs policy in the State of Victoria during the period of the Kennett Government 1992–1999

The 1992 Victorian state election of the Jeff Kennett–led Liberal–National Party (LNP) coalition government saw the introduction of neoliberal economic policies that changed the provision of government services and significantly impacted youth affairs policy, service provision and outcomes for young people at that time. Between 1992 and 1999, the neoliberal policy changes created structural reform and introduced free-market philosophies of individualisation, privatisation and competition into the public sector. Costar and Economou (1999) described the Kennett Government as the most ideologically driven neoliberal government Victoria has seen. At the time, there were attempts to silence those voices that were publicly critical of the government. The removal by the Kennett Government of core funding to the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria and the tendering out of its services are one example of the Kennett administration's neoliberal activism. The Youth Affairs Council of Victoria is a publicly funded institution set up to provide advice to the government of the day on the concerns of young people, and the removal of government funding and subsequent tendering out of its services in 1999 are emblematic of the nature of change during this period and have come to symbolise a low point in the application of neoliberal economics and its impact on the Victorian state’s youth affairs policy of the time. This research has used critical historical research methods, alongside qualitative interviews of key “eyewitnesses” (Given, 2008; Lune & Berg, 2017; Marwick, 2001), to document and critically examine the official and unofficial records from the period. The research draws on Foucault’s governmentality (Foucault, 1991) as a theoretical frame within which to understand and critically evaluate the events and policy decisions that led to the Kennett Government not renewing its funding to the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria in 1999.