A powerful statement of how to fix Australia's failing social services. The lives of all Australians are profoundly affected by the quality of social services available, but a long list of royal commissions and public inquiries have revealed them to be failing. In The Careless State Mark Considine shows that the preferred model of reform has failed to adapt and improve. Considine points to alternative ways that reforms could be configured to get the best from both private and public agencies, and find a new approach to save these failing services.