'People Power': Voices of the AAP. ARC Discovery Project 'A bold experiment': A historical analysis of the Australian Assistance Plan

The Australian Assistance Plan was an innovative, if short-lived, program of social welfare reform that sought to reframe citizens’ participation in their communities. Introduced by the Whitlam Labor Government on a pilot basis in 1973/74, it was promoted as a national experiment in “People Power”, a way of getting “people together to improve their community in the way they want”. It had barely been established, however, when Gough Whitlam was sacked in November 1975. The scheme was subsequently abolished by the incoming conservative Fraser Government in 1977.