Dr Elroy Dearn
Marina is one of nearly 900 000 Australians who are either unemployed or underemployed and who receive either Jobseeker Payment or Youth Allowance. This open letter is to Amanda Rishworth, Minister for Social Services in preparation for an upcoming “raise the rate” protest hosted by the Anti-Poverty Centre and the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Read MoreMarcella Brassett from Democracy in Colour argues the national anti-racism strategy cannot be just another tick-a-box, saying “Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) have done our bit for diversity and inclusion ‘way out’ for white people with power. We need to act on every level to make Australia a safe place to live, work, build families and futures for everyone, not just Anglos.”
Read MoreToday’s blog post from Myfan Jordan (@myfan_jordan) of Grassroots Research Studio follows last week’s article describing workplace experiences for women over 40 during the pandemic: Pandemic or endemic: older women and the toxic workplace. Today, we hear the experiences of a disability educator and a healthcare worker during the pandemic. In their own words, they tell us of the psychological health and safety risks they experienced working at the frontline.
Read MoreChildren and young people continue to be sidelined in policy making, even as calls grow for their views and experience to be included. Sharon Bessel, director of the Children’s Policy Centre, and of the Poverty and Inequality Research Centre at the ANU, takes us through how children should be central to the move to a wellbeing budget and addressing poverty.
Read MoreGlobally 5% of people live with severe mental illness which includes schizophrenia, other psychotic disorders and bipolar disorder. Antipsychotic medication is the main treatment option and whilst helpful in controlling psychotic symptoms, they can cause debilitating side-effects. This may lead individuals to abruptly stop medication, without the knowledge of clinicians, which for many increases the likelihood of relapsing.
Read MoreIt’s Refugee Week; Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness of the issues affecting refugees and to celebrate positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society, coinciding with World Refugee Day on June 20.
Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor of Law and Director of UNSW’s Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, reflects on the opportunity before the new federal government to reset Australia’s refugee policies. This opinion piece was originally published in The Age on 30 May 2022.
Read MoreToday’s post is from Giselle Newton (@newtonatron) from the Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Sydney, about her research into donor-conceived people’s experiences, views and support needs in a digital era. She reflects on strengthening policy and legislation in this fraught and quickly-evolving policy area.
Read MoreCommunities of colour have campaigned and organised our way out of becoming an election wedge. Marcella Brassett from Democracy in Colour explains how community organising has built the power and network of people of colour in Australia to self determine their own issues and solutions, to ensure racist vilification is not at the centre of election campaigning as it has been in the past.
Read MoreAfter being punished by hostile welfare and housing systems, a trans welfare recipient reveals how she was able to rebuild her life through the power of queer solidarity and mutual aid. The author, Natalie Feliks, is a writer and activist currently living in Naarm. This post is part of series of articles curated for Power to Persuade by the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, shining a light on people’s experiences of the welfare system.
Read MoreToday’s post is the first of a series of articles curated by the Australian Unemployed Workers Union shining a spotlight on people’s experiences of the welfare system. In the wake of yet another Federal Budget that punishes and starves welfare recipients, a woman living on the Disability Support Pension details the “tightrope of poverty” that she fears will result in her death. This brave and important piece is by Emma Morris, a passionate advocate for disability, LGBTQIA+, and neurodiverse rights as a proud member of each of these communities.
Read MoreIn the wake of anti-poverty week Joey King, a community services professional and student living with mental illness, details the systemic pressures that keep her ‘dirt poor’ and homeless.
Read MoreToday’s article expands on a recent post by the same author published on Power to Persuade that exposed flaws in processes for government to capture the experiences of people with disability experiencing homeless in recent federal and state government inquiries (link to other post). How can governments better factor the needs and circumstances of people with disability into consultation processes and policies, and how might this improve policy outcomes? The post’s author, who has lived experience of disability and homelessness, looks at the intersection of disability and housing insecurity and proposes some wide-ranging reforms. The author is still in search of stable housing herself and has asked to remain anonymous.
Read MoreResearch shows that people who experience chronic homelessness are likely to have complex needs linked to a developmental or psychiatric disability, a traumatic brain injury, physical health problems and/or mental health issues. Today’s post examines the complex intersection of disability and homelessness in the context of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into homelessness in Australia initiated in February 2020 and the Victorian Government inquiry into homelessness initiated in June 2019. The post raises important questions about whose voices are being heard and included in these inquiries, given that the call for submissions and public hearings overlapped with bushfires, bushfire recovery and the COVID-19 pandemic - a time when the resources and energy of many people with disability, Disabled People’s Organisations, and people in insecure housing were stretched to breaking point and their capacity to focus on and influence the business of government was severely limited. These are not the only examples of government failing to factor the needs and circumstances of people with disability into consultation processes, and it smacks of systemic bias. This post’s author, who has lived experience of disability and homelessness and started a support group for homeless women, is still in search of stable housing herself. She has asked to remain anonymous.
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