Discussion around immigration and asylum seekers in Australia has become increasingly populist and emotive and too often devalues evidence-based decision making. This piece by Professor Christina Boswell, originally published on her blog, explores how the immigration debate in the UK has evolved over time and how to develop a more nuanced and realistic conversation based on evidence and experience.
Read MoreInternational Women’s Day is celebrated every year on or around 8th March. In 2015 Kathy Landvogt, head ofGood Shepherd’s WRAP (Women’s Research, Advocacy and Policy) Centre, attended an event reflecting on two questions: “What took you into a career in politics?” and “What do we need to do next to further women’s equality?” Organised by the Member for Bentleigh Nick Staikos, three eminent former politicians – Kay Setches, Janice Munt and the late Joan Kirner – took us back to darker days when many of the gains for women’s equality were yet to be won, and urged us to keep working for equality.
Read MorePolicy-makers, we presume, want to solve social problems. Therefore, they select policy measures. In practice, these measures tend to trigger different reactions in society. How might a government avoid bad reactions, such as the tuition fees protests and ‘bedroom tax’ campaigns? Peter van Wijck and Bert Niemeijer present a conceptual framework to which looks to align the perspectives of policymakers and citizens. This post originally appeared on the LSE Politics and Policy Blog.
Read MoreAt the Jesuit Social Services annual fundraising dinner on Saturday 19 March, CEO Julie Edwards talked about the organisation staying true to its purpose in a changing service environment. This edited version of Julie’s speech continues our dialogue on the future of social services and the community sector, and will interest anyone contemplating the role and resilience of not-for-profit organisations in civil society.
Read MoreAs we head towards the next Federal Budget and Federal Election, this post below from the London School of Economics and Political Science blog (@LSEpoliticsblog) provides a timely challenge to the term 'welfare dependency'. Paul Michael Garrett's post is focused on the United Kingdom but has much to offer the Australian context amid comments like 'the poor don't drive cars' from the former Treasurer Joe Hockey.
Read MorePower to Persuade aims to improve understanding and communication between the main groups involved in the policy process: government, academics and the community sector. Often that is done, or fails to happen, through the media.
Read MoreHelen Dickinson (@DrHDickinson) of the University of Melbourne argues that investments in disability services are long overdue. The creation of the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is an important step, but on its own will not necessarily secure human rights for people with disabilities. If we are to secure human rights for people with disabilities, a broader set of reform processes will need to be considered that go beyond the funding of care services.
Read MoreThe Power to Persuade blog tackles policy change from many angles. In today’s post, Ina Mullin, Communications Specialist with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, tracks the change in public perception on the government’s asylum seeker policies which has culminated in the high-profile #LetThemStay campaign.
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Australia is grappling with the real world consequences of successive governments' harsh asylum seeker policies. Some journalists and media organisations have been singled out for government criticism over their reporting of the plight of people caught in the system. In an environment of near total government secrecy, how can media fulfil the public interest responsibility of ensuring people are accurately informed? This piece, by Thomas Schillemans from Utrecht University and Sandra Jacobs from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands (originally published on the Policy and Politics blog) examines the public accountability role of media in reporting on asylum seekers in Europe.
Read MoreIn our first post of 2016, Dr Kay Cook (@KayCookPhD) of RMIT and Dr Kristin Natalier (@KrisNatalier) of Flinders University argue strongly for recognition of domestic violence in its socioeconomic context rather than in isolation. In particular, federal policies associated with a 'zero tolerance' approach to domestic violence are at odds with policies that disadvantage single mothers.
Read MoreLarge sections of the media focus too narrowly on the 'evils' of asylum-seeking. Gabriella Barnes from World Vision Australia's Field Partnerships team weighs in with a more sensible approach to the national policy debate. A better understanding of Australia's obligations to comply with the Refugee Convention--from a human rights rather than a security perspective--would be a good start. This is the last post in this week's series on asylum seekers.
Read MoreAustralia’s welfare system does a lot with a little. But the plight of growing numbers of precarious workers has led to calls for a new basic income.
The cost of such a scheme seems prohibitively expensive. So, might the lessons of Australia’s super-efficient welfare system offer a potential way forward?
Read MoreThe recent White Ribbon Day, and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gendered Violence, has brought the issue of Domestic and Family Violence to the fore. Gender inequality is the primary driver of Violence Against Women, and understanding this needs to be central when the Victorian Commission into Family Violence hands down its findings, as outlined in this article by Yvonne Lay at Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand.
Read MoreIn 2005, the federal government announced Welfare to Work measures that fundamentally changed the expectations placed on those who received Parenting Payment, among others. After July 1 2005, many parents with children over the age of six were required to undertake 30 hours of paid work per fortnight. Many single parents were moved from this payment to the less generous Newstart Allowance once their youngest child turned eight. Single parents already claiming Parenting Payment were exempted from this requirement to move to Newstart, but in 2013 these changes were extended to all single parents. The government’s consistent claim has been that these reforms would improve the ‘wellbeing’ of those involved. In light of this claim, Michelle Brady (@MichelleBradyUQ) and Kay Cook (@KayCookPhD) ask: “how has Welfare to Work impacted on the wellbeing of single parents and their children?”
Read MoreANROWS has released a new report detailing the extent of violence against women in Australia. Below, Dr Peta Cox provides an overview. We urge you to read the full report at www.anrows.org.au/PSS
For a summary of the report and infographics for download, go to: http://anrows.org.au/publications/compass/PSS
Read MoreIn this article below, republished from IndigenousX with permission, Luke Pearson writes that we cannot examine issues of education, employment, housing, health, incarceration, suicide, or any other issue that affects Indigenous peoples, without acknowledging and examining the historic and ongoing impacts of racism.
Read MoreVeteran tobacco control researcher Professor David Hill paid homage at the recent 2015 Oceanic Tobacco Control conference in Perth to his former colleague Dr Nigel Gray, regarded by many as the 'father of tobacco control globally as well as in Australia".
Here are excerpts from his tribute speech - it's a #Longread but provides so many great insights into research and advocacy.
Dr Nigel Gray with former Labor Health Minister Nicola Roxon
Read MoreLeave entitlements for fathers can increase paternal involvement in housework and childcare but their longer-term impact on the gender division of labour in the home is contested. In this post, Pia Schober from the German Institute for Economic Research discusses policy movements concerning paternity leave in Europe and their outcomes in improving paternal involvement in household and care labour.
This item was originally posted on Policy Network.
Read MoreThe following is a summary of internal structural changes within government and key policy directions, part of a regular update series developed by The Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). This update was developed in December 2014 and updated in early 2015. Thanks to Nicole Barling-Luke at ANZSOG for this contribution.
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