Strengthening Australia’s reform 'muscle' via Social Licence to Operate: Evidence and practice

In Australia, progress on complex reform has been limited in recent years - hampered by, among other things, competing evidence claims and resourcing allocations.

This post highlights the findings of a new project on Social Licence to Operate (SLO) as a set of policy practices that can support major reform. The project was co-designed and funded with ANZSOG and the South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet, and conducted by Ruth O’Connor, Sara Bice, and Hayley Henderson at ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy.

The project draws on a series of commissioned case studies, which feature Power to Persuade moderators Sophie Yates and Sue Olney discussing current NDIS reforms.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade31 October 2025reform, policy making

Supporting Armed Forces Families: Policy making through international knowledge exchange

Lived experience, Policy and governance, Health and wellbeing, Gender, Education, children, Creating using evidencePower to Persuade23 October 2025Family support, Policy making

Gender Inequality and Satisfaction with Marriage

This week's posts are being sourced by the Life Course Centre (@lifecourseAust) to continue the conversation on social and economic disadvantage as part of Anti-Poverty Week 2025 (@AntiPovertyWeek). Gender inequality extends beyond income and employment into the structures of everyday life. Unequal relationships and domestic expectations can limit women’s autonomy, financial independence and heighten their vulnerability to poor wellbeing and mental health. PhD student Alysha Gray from The University of Queensland and the Life Course Centre explains.

GenderPower to Persuade17 October 2025Gender equality

Better Sleep Starts at Home

This year, Anti-Poverty Week 2025 (12-18 October) continues its campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty in Australia, and to encourage action to end it. Dr Shannon Edmed and Professor Simon Smith from The University of Queensland (@UQ_News) and the Life Course Centre (@lifecourseAust) have been examining how sleep can be an indicator and mechanism of disadvantage.

Creating using evidence, Health and wellbeingPower to Persuade14 October 2025health

Poverty. Place. Policy.

On the eve of Anti-Poverty Week for 2025, David Tennant explores the intersections between poverty, place and policy. David has worked in the not-for-profit community services sector for over thirty years, most recently as CEO of regional Victorian agency FamilyCare between May 2010 and July 2025. He is the Victorian Co-Chair, Anti-Poverty Week, and a Visiting Fellow at the ANU’s Children’s Policy Centre.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade12 October 2025Poverty, Place, Policy advocacy

The rights of migrant women in Australia: addressing gendered exploitation in temporary work

Temporary work should be a pathway to dignity and opportunity — not a source of risk. In this important piece, Ananya Doundiyal shows how visa settings, employer dependency, and weak enforcement create conditions where wage theft, coercion, and sexual harassment thrive — especially in feminised sectors like care, cleaning, hospitality, and horticulture.

Visa, Voice, and Vulnerability: How Immigration Status Shapes Access to Justice for Chinese Women Facing Domestic Violence

Australia’s immigration system should be a source of safety — not another barrier — for women seeking protection from domestic and family violence. In this powerful piece focused on how immigration status shapes access to support for Chinese women, Manjin Zhang shines a light on how visa status can be exploited as a tool of control and why many temporary migrants are locked out of the very supports meant to keep them safe.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade2 October 2025migration, family violence

Learning in the real world: what Children’s University teaches us about engagement

children, Community engagement, EducationPower to Persuade28 September 2025Children's University, engagement, learning, motivation, education

Too many Australian young people are being excluded from playing sport

children, Community engagement, EducationPower to Persuade28 September 2025sport, equity, wellbeing, participation

Extremists are targeting young Australians who crave belonging. What can we do?

Power to Persuade19 September 2025

‘You can’t be what you can’t see’-The need for positive male role models in boys' lives

Gender, Education, boys and menPower to Persuade16 September 2025

Taking circus seriously for health and wellbeing outcomes

Vulcana Circus is a not-for-profit arts and recreation organisation that works with the circus traditions of inclusiveness, strength, excitement and courage to transform and empower individuals and communities. In this week’s post, they argue for greater recognition of the role of artistic and creative practices in achieving health and wellbeing outcomes.

Lived experience, AdvocacyPower to Persuade12 September 2025mental health, wellbeing, circus

Nothing like the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

The Ngulluk Moort, Ngulluk Boodja, Ngulluk Wirin (Our Family, Our Country, Our Spirit) Study is working with the leadership and staff at foster care agencies and community members to provide information about cultural connection, and cultural activity and resources for Aboriginal children living in non-Aboriginal care arrangements. In today’s post, they report on the outcomes of ‘The Truth of Our Stories’ , a cultural training workshop with a focus on truth-telling.

Lived experience, AdvocacyPower to Persuade11 September 2025Children, child protection, out-of-home care

Decades in the Making: The Rise and Fall of Melbourne’s Public Housing Towers

In today’s post, Cordelia Attenborough and Elroy Dearn from RMIT University give insight into the history of public housing in Victoria. This blog is written in the context of the Inquiry into the redevelopment of Melbourne’s public housing towers

21stC Policy and Rights, Advocacy, Human Rights, Policy and governancePower to Persuade6 September 2025public policy, housing

The Untapped Potential of Neighbourhoods for Supporting Children with Disability and their Families

Professor Hannah Badland from RMIT University explores why neighbourhoods matter for the health of children with disability, an area largely overlooked in Australian disability policy. This blog draws on an article published this week by Hannah and colleagues from RMIT University, which shows that Australian disability policy does not capture the complexity of this issue.

Australia has ministers for seniors and youth. So why not a minister for children?

21stC Policy and Rights, Policy and governancePower to Persuade27 August 2025Children, Politics and de, Politics and democracy

Measuring Multidimensional Child Poverty in Australia

In their new article for a special issue of the Australian Economic Review, Sharon Bessell, Cadhla O’Sullivan, Trevor Rose, Megan Lang and Talia Avrahamzon, discuss the need for a child-centred measurement of poverty in Australia.

Human RightsPower to Persuade27 August 2025Poverty, human rights, Children, Measurement

Counter or Alternative Narratives: How do we best address the ideology of anti-feminist movements?

Gender, Human RightsPower to Persuade24 August 2025feminist theory, feminism, men's violence

Invisible Sentences: How Parental Incarceration Shapes Children’s Lives

Policy and governancePower to Persuade23 August 2025Children, crime, justice, feminism

Why sociology is needed in social policy

Gender, Policy and governancePower to Persuade23 August 2025social care, care work, aged care, Policy making, Gender equality

Blog

THIS WEEK’S MODERATOR