General News
13 February, 2026
Can Nordic policies benefit Australia?
Andrew Scott’s upcoming talk ‘Smorgasbord of Solutions’ is one of the first in many of Words in Winter’s sample tray of events throughout this year.
Mr Scott is known for his work on how English speaking countries can learn from the policy achievements in Nordic European nations. Currently working as a professor at Deakin University, he will be bringing his expertise in politics and economic policy to Maryborough, to showcase how Nordic models of governance and social systems can work in Australia.
“The session is about Nordic policies for Australia, Smorgasbord is actually a Swedish word. The five nordic countries are Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland,” Mr Scott said.
“It is reasonably well known that they are much more successful in terms of levels of happiness or gender equality and they also do very well economically, they provide universal welfare systems to make sure people aren’t left behind.”
The university professor and researcher became interested in the nordic world around 15 years ago, and has since delved into how the northern european nations achieve some of the world’s highest quality of life, life expectancy, education levels and income.
Attendees can expect to hear detailed examples of specific areas in Australia that could be improved under Nordic models.
“Finland is best known for its very strong education system. It performs very well in terms of comparison of quality. It does this not through the competition of schools that we are familiar with in Australia like NAPLAN and high stakes ranking, in Finland, they encourage kids to follow what they are best at doing,” he said.
“I think one of the most topical ones at the moment is early childhood education and care. We know there is a safety in childhood education crisis in Australia, there is a lot of controversy. One of the problems with childcare in Australia is it has become dominated by companies trying to make profits.
“Nordic countries don’t do it that way, they see the early years of life being essential to public and community not for profit education and care, to make it affordable for parents and to make it as safe and productive as possible for young people’s minds. They also give parents extensive paid parental leave.
Mr Scott is also the author and editor of multiple books on the topic, including co-edited volumes of The Nordic Edge: Policy Possibilities for Australia.
“This is the first time I’ve had a dedicated event on this topic, so I’m looking forward to presenting this topic to locals,” he said.
“We have the winter Olympics on at the moment, Australia loves its sporting competitions, and it doesn’t aim to be 21st in the world, or 35th, or 11th, but they do aim for medals. So, why not win medals for happiness and gender equality, which is what the nordic countries do?”
Those who are keen to hear more about the topic can do so on Wednesday, February 18 at the Bull and Mouth Hotel at 5.30 pm.