AbstractOver the past 15 years or more, all the member countries of the OECD, including Australia, have liberalised their economic systems: there has been a general adoption of market‐oriented economic reforms. This article surveys the process of reform during this period for all the OECD economies, but with special reference to developments in Australia. It looks at five main areas of policy: financial markets (national and international), public finance, privatisation and deregulation, labour markets, and international trade. It considers in turn the nature of the process, the course and content of reforms, the main causal influences at work, and the impact and significance of liberalisation. In doing so, it draws extensively on work carried out in the OECD Secretaria