Unpaid work, part-time and interrupted work, and the gender pay gap are only some of the reasons women are poor in retirement. A lot of the time the reasons are far more complex.
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The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) began a full national rollout in July, 2016 based on a fundamental principle to give those with a disability choice and control over their daily lives. Participants can use funds to purchase services that reflect their lifestyle and aspirations. Two years on, how is the scheme faring?
Read MoreAs long as the richest and most powerful have the greatest influence over national policy, the interests of our communities will be poorly reflected in many areas of national policy making, writes Community Council for Australia CEO David Crosbie.
Read MoreAustralia’s Fair Work Act 2009 provides employees in the national workplace relations system with a legal right to request flexible working arrangements. And while this practice is welcomed by employers, it may be more difficult to implement in practice. UNSW Canberra’s Public Service Research Group academics Dr Sue Williamson and Dr Meraiah Foley, as well as Central Queensland University’s Dr Linda Colley, explain some of the policy’s innovations and challenges experienced by employers when they assist employees in achieving balance between work and their personal lives.
This article was originally published on The Mandarin.
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Public service workforce reform has been on the minds of public administrators, especially in light of high profile reviews such as the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service. UNSW Canberra’s Public Service Research Group academics Professor Deborah Blackman, Dr Samantha Johnson, Associate Professor Helen Dickinson and Dr Linda Dewey delve into this issue in greater detail from a development and recruitment perspective. They suggest that there are four distinct elements in social learning that can serve as a framework for building workforce capability and supporting change within the public service.
A full version of their thoughts can be found in Reimagining the Future Public Service Workforce.
Read MoreWhat might we expect from former Prime Minister Tony Abbott as Indigenous envoy? Dr Prue Brown of the University of Queensland analyses the discourse in his Closing the Gap speeches to Parliament, compared with those of Rudd and Turnbull.
Read MoreFinding the right levers to influence policies in a complex environment can be very difficult. The Mandarin’s David Donaldson sought and consolidated the views of three academics, including that of UNSW Canberra’s Public Service Research Group professor Deborah Blackman, on policymaking in complex systems.
This article was originally published on The Mandarin.
Read MoreProfessor Deborah Blackman, Associate Professor Helen Dickinson, Dr Karen Gardner, Dr Fiona Buick, Dr Samantha Johnson and Dr Sue Olney from UNSW Canberra’s Public Service Research Group believe that machinery of government changes are often poorly planned, disruptive and costly. Their APS review submission outlines five priority areas for reform.
This article was originally published on The Mandarin.
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Does our Prime Ministry *really* think coal is “clean?” In today’s post, RMIT Master of Social Science student Lanie Stockman (@The_Real_Lanie) analyses government policy using the framework of strategic ignorance. This concept may explain some of the odd stances that are taken in Canberra.
Read MoreCalls for collaborative solutions to difficult policy problems have recently become louder and more insistent. In 2016 the Australia and New Zealand School of Government and the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy at Curtin University co-invested in a comparative case study of five collaborative initiatives in Australia and New Zealand.
The team’s purpose was to identify important factors influencing the success of collaborative approaches. Here, Dr John Butcher shares a few “take homes” from this research.
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We spend a lot of time as a local, national and global community considering the wellbeing of children and what is in ‘the best interest of the child’ when they are at risk of abuse and neglect. We spend much less time considering the rights and responsibilities of parents and other family members who have children in the care of child protection services. It is time for a Charter of Rights for Parents and Families, argues Sharynne Hamilton from the Telethon Kids Institute at the University of Western Australia.
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The Bruny Island Battery Project is trailing new technology in Tasmania, with the aim of creating a grid that is flexible, reliable, cheaper and based on renewable energy. The researchers involved tell us more in this repost from The Conversation
Read MoreIn this post, Gemma Carey, Helen Dickinson, Michael Fletcher and Daniel Reeders examine the role of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) actuaries, describing their purpose in the scheme, the limitations in the ways they are used and the implications.
Read MoreThe theme for this year's NAIDOC Week, held from 8-15 July 2018, was "Because of her, we can". In the following article, republished from IndigenousX with permission, Antoniette Braybrook calls for the ongoing celebration and acknowledgment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, who work tirelessly for the community, and whose views and experiences are often invisible to policy-makers. Antoinette Braybrook is the CEO of Djirra (formerly the Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service Victoria) and the National Convenor of the National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum. She also tweets @BraybrookA
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The University of Birmingham (UK) has launched a Policy Commission report calling for increased investment in the prevention of poor mental health. The report comes at a time when half of life-long mental health problems show their first signs by the age of 15, and three quarters by the age of 25, and evidence that the rates of mental health problems amongst young people are increasing. The Commission Report, therefore, identifies childhood and adolescence as a critical opportunity to prevent and promote better mental health. In this post, Karen Newbigging discusses the report and implications from this work.
Read MoreMental health problems in young people are increasing. Suicide remains a leading cause of death in those aged 15-24 worldwide. The majority of mental health problems develop before the age of 25 but have their roots usually in childhood and teenage years. If left untreated, mental health problems can persist into adulthood with poorer prognosis and greater disability over the life course. In this blog post, Maria Michail, Jo Robinson, Tina Yutong Li, Sadhbh Byrne explore how primary care services can become more accessible and acceptable to vulnerable young people. This post has been co-produced with young people with lived experience of mental-ill health and highlights the importance of making primary care health services more accessible, acceptable and equitable for vulnerable young people.
Read MoreTwo very significant studies were published in May. On the face of it they had little relation to each other, but together they have shattered powerful myths that have brought our social policy to the point of crisis. In this post, Atif Shafique explores what all this might mean, and how we can use this moment to redesign social policy for the better. This post originally appeared on the RSA blog.
This week has seen a significant milestone in the fight against modern slavery as the Modern Slavery Bill was introduced into the Australian parliament. When passed, the law will require companies with an annual turnover of more than $100 million to report annually on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains, and on the actions to address these. Fiona McGaughey (University of Western Australia) and Justine Nolan (UNSW) explain more.
Read MoreWhile there is little consensus about the “future of work”, one thing is certain – young people are at the coalface. Young workers experience insufficient opportunities for work experience, a mismatch between work and education, a lack of career management skills and scant entry-level jobs, according to a report from the Foundation for Young Australians. In this post, Shirley Jackson from the University of Melbourne, says we need to stop fixating on increasing the supply of talented young people, and start addressing the lack of demand.
Read MoreIn this post, first published in the Conversation, Professor Peter Whiteford explains the effects of government benefits and taxes on household income, including the impact on income inequality.
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