In today's post Dr Lesley Russell unpacks the Burden of Disease study recently released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Flagging gaps in the reported data, and a need for more investment in skills to translate research evidence into policy and practice, she argues that “at a time when there are major concerns about the ongoing impact and costs of chronic illness, Australia is missing out on significant opportunities in prevention.”
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Continuing our theme of gender equality, childcare and relevant policy levers, this post reports on research that looks at the decisions Australian couples make about work and childcare after having their first child. George Argyrous (ANZSOG), Lyn Craig (UNSW) and Sara Rahman (ANZSOG) studied time-use data to see what impact earnings, gender role attitudes and other factors had on who went back to work, how much each partner worked, and who looked after the child. Unsurprisingly, they found a fairly traditional picture of work and home life!
Read MoreChildren with disability may make up the majority of those in out of home care, yet they are barely visible in public debate and policy development, writes Dr Jess Cadwallader from People with Disability Australia. In fact, she says the recent National Standards for Out of Home Care contain zero guidance in relation to disability. She argues that a critical starting point to providing proper care for them is to at least collect basic and crucial data.
Read MoreWhat kinds of research evidence will policymakers pay attention to, and when? How can researchers plan better for policy impact? This post by Paul Cairney and Kathryn Oliver (originally appearing on Paul's blog) builds on a discussion of ‘evidence based best practice’ in the Evidence and Policy journal.
Read MoreIn this post, Asit Biswas and Julian Kirchherr outline how and why academic entrepreneurship is a key part of impact in the modern university. The ‘social policy entrepreneur’ fits squarely in that picture. However, Asit and Julian argue, we need a shift in incentives to unleash the creative potential of scholars for the overall benefit of society.
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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.
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Our next instalment of the Social Service Futures Dialogue
Read MoreToday’s post is from Lanie Stockman, Outcomes and Evaluation Specialist at Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, asking us to consider the power dynamics behind the ‘results mantra’ in social service provision.
Read MoreThis post by Ruth Levine, director of the Hewlett Foundation’s Global Development and Population Program, challenges the assumption that the slow pace of research diminishes its value for policymaking. The post originally appeared on the Hewlett Foundation’s Work in Progress Blog.
Read MoreLet’s start at the end
Let’s tell the story of health. And let us start at the end, because that – for reasons that will become apparent in the remainder of my argument – is how we do things in academia. ‘How we do things in academia’ is unspoken and intrinsic to curriculum design and implementation (and the tools we maintain to keep things as they are – rather than shake them up) and funding our research.
This post by Professor Evelyne de Leeuw was originally posted at the Global Health Consultants blog.
Read MoreRosie Williams (@Info_Aus), who runs the OpenAus project in financial and political transparency, has developed a short (free) introductory course for people who are unfamiliar with open data as a concept and with the open data eco-system. She explains below.
Read MoreEvidence-based policy only works if the evidence base itself is robust enough to inform decisions. Joseph Borlagdan (@borlagdanj), Iris Levin and Shelley Mallett of the Brotherhood of St Laurence started their review for ANZSOG's Evidence Base journal aiming to evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of the youth foyer model. But after their literature search revealed an overall lack of rigour in evaluation studies, they realised they needed to take a different tack.
Read MoreIn many ways, 'evidence-based policymaking' is the bureaucrat's new black. But what, really, does it mean? Where does it fit in the broader policymaking process? And how 'realistic' do we need to be to use it in practice? Below, Paul Cairney explores these issues in the UK context. This post originally appeared on his personal blog and is accompanied by a longer lecture on the subject (listen) Paul is a Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Stirling, you can follow him on twitter at @Cairneypaul.
Read MoreLuke Craven (@Luke Craven) from the University of Sydney, and a new moderator with Power to Persuade, considers what political theory can offer to our understanding of social policy. In particular, he argues that political theorists are uniquely placed to understand the ideas and values that underpin evidence-based policy.
Read MoreDr Shelley Bielefeld from the Australian National University's RegNet considers the controversial cashless welfare cards introduced as part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response, and their potential introduction in the UK.
Read MoreWe’ve posted a number of times recently on violence against women and the way it affects women’s health and wellbeing. The statistic that violence against women is the leading preventable contributor to death, disability and illness in Victorian women aged 15–44 (VicHealth 2004) is now well known. This piece from the US Health Affairs Blog is by Laudan Aron, Lisa Dubay, Elaine Waxman, and Steven Martin. It shows more broadly that recent increased mortality among white people in the US is disproportionately due to more deaths among women of reproductive and childrearing age. Could the two be linked?
Read More“Despite a push in Canada, Australia and New Zealand to recruit more Indigenous people into the mainstream public service, no academic study has analysed their contributions or the precise purpose behind the recruitment until now,” according to an international research team examining the experiences of Indigenous public servants.
Catherine Althaus (@AlthausCat) reports on the early findings of this important research.
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 MoreThe newly published Policy Analysis in Australia is Australia's contribution to the International Library of Policy Analysis series.
It is edited by by Brian Head, right, Professor of Policy Analysis at the University of Queensland and Kate Crowley, Associate Professor of Public Policy at the University of Tasmania, and recently launched by ANU public policy professor Andrew Podger. See his speech here, via The Mandarin, and the editors' blog post: Policy analysis in Australia: complexities, arenas, and challenges.
Read MoreNew research shows people who become homeless as children and adolescents are much more likely to be unemployed as adults. Anna Zhu from the University of Melbourne looks at the data and implications. This post originally appeared on The Conversation.
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