Australian education has experienced three reform cycles: the 1970s federal intervention weakening states' centralized dominance; mid-1980s state-government "corporate managerial" reforms; and the 1990s "Tripartite Alliance" (of government, business, and unions). Current issues include national curriculum, ministerial controls, federal-state relations, school choice, racism, teachers' work, and aboriginal education. (Contains 37 references.) (MLH)