Mental health trusts in England are now to play a vital role in processing the huge number of citizens referred under the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, known as Prevent. A new policy announced in November by the Home Office means urgent psychiatric care will now be provided by mental health trusts to those people with psychological problems who are referred to Prevent. But this will remove them from a pipeline of support under a programme called Channel, aimed at those suspected of radicalising. In this blog re-posted from The Conversation, Charlotte Heath-Kelly and Erzsebet Strausz debate GPs bizarre incentives to refer mental health patients as radicalisation threat.
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There are complex policy and practice issues as well as tensions in where responsibility lies in relation to mental health needs of children in the care of the state in the UK. Collaboration across many organisations and leadership from key individuals in the system are essential for the needs of these most vulnerable children to be better met. There is a moral imperative and a financial incentive to getting this right. Alison O’Sullivan explores the role of corporate parenting at a time of increased focus on meeting the mental health needs of children in the UK, making the case for improved mental health support for children in the care of the state as an important part of the solution.
Read MoreGovernments will only be able to deliver better outcomes for Indigenous people in Australia and New Zealand if they embrace Indigenous knowledge and culture, collaborate better with communities and ensure that Indigenous people are appropriately represented at all levels of the public service. A new report from ANZSOG explores what can be done to improve the position of indigenous persons in the public sector. We present a summary below. This post originally appeared on the ANZSOG website.
Read MoreWhen the debate about public funding for PrEP started up, I was concerned that it would go down the same path as PEP — with a set pool of funding, left to state/territory governments to administer, with de facto rationing based on sexual risk, and only available from a set number of locations. So my own position on PrEP was that it needed to be funded via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and not rationed.
Read MoreMarkets are all well and good, but with the NDIS, we have to be careful that we don’t sacrifice equity in the name of efficiency, writes Associate Professor Gemma Carey.
Read MoreHousing First is an approach to address homelessness that prioritises providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness. Here Professor Sarah Johnsen from Heriot Watt University in the UK reflects on what it is about Housing First that fosters such positive housing (and other) outcomes.
Read MoreThe Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) is an innovative collaboration that sees organisations across industry, government, not-for-profits and education coming together to improve financial inclusion and resilience across Australia. Here Vinita Godinho and Abigail Powell explain the importance of a program such as this and reveal findings from the evaluation of phase one of the FIAP program.
Read MoreAustralia has a housing affordability problem. There’s no doubt about that. Unfortunately, one of the reasons the problem has become so entrenched is that the policy conversation appears increasingly confused. It’s time to debunk some policy clichés that keep re-emerging.
Read MoreThis week the national broadcaster's current affairs programs have focused on Australia's rapid population growth, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. Discussion has highlighted the policy and planning challenges posed for governments and communities when population growth outstrips infrastructure planning. Few regions are grappling with these challenges in the quite the same way as Melbourne's west.
In this piece, Rodney Maddock presents a three-pronged approach that considers changes to planning laws, transport improvements, and creation of decentralised employment hubs to meet Melbourne's growth challenges across the West.
Read MoreIn honour of International Women’s Day on March 8th, the Wiley Network spoke with Associate Professor Helen Dickinson (UNSW Canberra's Public Service Research Group) and Professor Janine O'Flynn (University of Melbourne's School of Government) about their experiences as a successful women in academia and how societies and associations can help to improve gender parity in research fields. This podcast was originally published on the Wiley Network.
Read MoreLaptops, mobile phones and other technological advances have created a workplace culture where employers and employees work around the clock. But more and more workplaces, and a few governments, have stepped in to ensure that work-life balance is protected to maintain productivity and employee wellbeing. UNSW Canberra's Dr Sue Williamson and Dr Meraiah Foley explain why 'leav[ing] early' should be modeled by public sector leaders to encourage healthier work behaviours. This piece was originally published in The Mandarin.
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How has the Australian Public Service (APS) been progressing and embedding gender equality, and are its efforts working? In the report Embedding Gender Equality in the Australian Public Service: Changing practices, changing cultures, UNSW Canberra's Dr Sue Williamson explains how the Australian Public Service Gender Equality Strategy has started an important conversation about the nature of equality, and where the APS may improve to achieve its goals. This piece was originally published in The Mandarin.
Read MoreIn the new age of big data, firms are gathering comprehensive information about consumers - transaction and consumption data, browsing history, social network, or location data - that is increasingly tipping the scales in the firms' favour. In this post, Lauren Solomon, Chief Executive Officer of the Consumer Policy Research Centre, reflects on the need to broaden our understanding of consumer data issues in Australia, beyond establishing a Consumer Data Right and the Review into Open Banking. This piece was originally published in The Mandarin.
Read MoreIn our last policy analysis of 2017, Renata Anderson of Women’s Health Victoria provides us with an overview of how gendered disadvantage negatively impacts on women’s relationship to food. Policy which fails to address these issues are negatively impacting on women’s health.
Read MoreOver the past twelve months we have featured a number of blogs from Good Shepherd researcher Juanita McLaren (@defrostedlady) regarding the poor design and outcomes of the Federal Welfare to Work policy. With an aging population, much of Australia’s welfare policy is aimed at replacing this demographic in the workforce. This is addressed largely by targeting groups with lower employment numbers, particularly single parents, 85% of whom are female. In this blog, Juanita provides a snapshot of what JobActive employment opportunities are currently available in Shepparton and its surrounds, and assesses their suitability for single mothers.
Read MoreOn 2 September, the Women’s Policy Action Tank presented Putting Women at the Centre: A Policy Forum. We were delighted to have Celeste Liddle (@Utopiana), public commentator, blogger (Rantings of an Aboriginal Feminist), Arrernte woman, Unionist, and recent inductee onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women as one of our keynote speakers. Here we present part 2 of her talk, in which she traces low numbers of Aboriginal students at the tertiary level with systemic injustices that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities experience. Specifically, Celeste discusses how lack of facilities and sanitary supplies keep young women from attending school, and the historic and current practice of non-payment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for their work – which continues today in the guise of the government’s mis-named Community Development Program. Part 1 can be found here.
Read MoreMany of the same forces delivering insecurity and growing economic inequality within labour markets have also been brought to bear on Australian housing markets. In this article, Ben Spies-Butcher examines the relationship between the growth of the gig economy, it's relationship to social security and growing instability in housing.
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The Australian "postal survey" said YES to marriage equality, and in doing so rejected a number of false or misleading claims by opponents. As the Senate returns this week to resume debate on the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017, Jamie Gardiner examines the implications of the survey outcome for future reforms in addition to equal marriage.
Read MoreChildren and young people in their middle years (defined here as between the ages of 8 – 12) are being overlooked in policy and program design. Not yet adolescents, but no longer children, these young people are increasingly experiencing complex challenges. Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand is launching their new report, Bridging the divide: Supporting children and young people in their middle years this week. Authors Magdalena McGuire ( @MagdalenaMcGuire ) and Susan Maury ( @SusanMaury) undertook this research to highlight some of these challenges and to identify how to better support this age group. This research included a scoping exercise, a review of recent research literature and the current policy context relating to the middle years cohort, and consulting with a key informant advisory forum – a process that sought insight from a curated group of 43 expert participants representing over 20 cross-sector organisations with experience working with the middle years. This post provides a shortened version of the executive summary. The report will be launched on Thursday afternoon; you can register here for this free event.
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The Australian Government announced in its 2017 budget that it would trial random drug-testing of recipients of the Newstart Allowance and Youth Allowance in three locations from January 2018. Evidence suggests this approach will neither help people overcome addiction or find a job. Drawing on her recent article in the Australian Journal of Public Administration, Dr Sue Olney from the Public Service Research Group at UNSW Canberra explains why this is bad policy.
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