In his latest Social Policy Whisperer column below, Prof. Paul Smyth from the University of Melbourne says we should not be looking for advice on the future of our social services from a quasi market perspective.
Read MoreThe 21st Century Public Servant project is examining the major changes occurring for public servants and the concomitant skill and knowledge base required to adjust to them. These include cuts to budgets, increased localisation, greater demands for service user voice and control, increased public expectations and a mixed economy of welfare provision. The project builds on the findings of the 2011 University of Birmingham Policy Commission into the ‘Future of Local Public Services’ which identified the need to pay attention to the changing roles undertaken by public servants and the associated support and development needs.It is a Knowledge Exchange project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council in partnership with Birmingham City Council.
This year, Associate Professor Helen Dickinson (@drhdickinson) and Professor Helen Sullivan (@helenCsullivan) from the Melbourne School of Government have been conducting a number of interviews in Australia exploring similar issues to the English project. Below, Helen provides some early reflections from this analysis (first published on the 21C blog). Their findings suggest that soft skills (communication, brokering and so on) are increasingly critical for an effective public sector.
Read MoreIn many fields, from healthcare to social policy, we are experiencing a renaissance when it comes to embracing the ‘messy’. ‘Systems thinking’ – where we learn to look beyond objects to embrace the relationships between them and the messy ‘whole’ they create – has seen significant advances in recent years, particularly in relation to how we can extend these concepts from the natural sciences to explore social problems, such as obesity, crime and tobacco control. Below, a real life story of what systems thinking can bring to public policy provided by Joseph A. Curtatone and Mark Esposito (and first shared on the LSE Impact Blog). For more on systems thinking check out 'Systems Change' and 'Thinking in Systems'.
Read MoreWhere is the voice of the consumer when it comes to opening up markets and enabling greater 'choice'? Following on from Paul Smyth's critique of the Harper Review, @gerardbrody from @consumer_action considers the limitations of competition and market theories as they apply to consumer behaviour, and the distinct lack of voice of consumers in the review.
Read MoreReviewing the health of the social sectors requires an appreciation of social work, political science and sociology theories. Why then , is it left in the hands of economists? Social Policy Whisperer, Prof Paul Smyth, shares his reflections on the Competition Policy Review.
Read MoreThe third annual Power to Persuade symposium was held in Melbourne this week. Thanks to Susan Maury, Social Policy Researcher at Good Shepherd Youth and Family Service for putting together this comprehensive Twitter account of the day. Click the Storify link below if you missed or would like to refresh your memory of the conversations the event generated, in the room and beyond.
Read MoreThe third annual Power to Persuade symposium was hosted in Melbourne this week, featuring Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) CEO Cassandra Goldie, education and marketing commentator Jane Caro, and author James Button, plus panels of experts from across the academic, community and public sectors.
Read MoreMoshe Maor is Professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This article is drawn from a paper published in the Governance Journal. You can also check out his ECPR workshop on policy bubbles here.
Read MoreFew issues could be of more importance to Power to Persuade readers than the current crisis in Australia’s voluntary welfare sector. Its epicentre is Victoria in the wake of the early implementations of the Shergold report but its reach is bound to be national as other state and federal governments look to the social service marketization template being proffered in the Competition Policy Review. I offered my academic take on this development in ‘The Lady Vanishes Australia’s Disappearing Voluntary Sector’ and wont revisit that here. However the paper led to a range of engagements and discussions with people from the sector and it is that experience which I would like to share.
Read MoreSeveral weeks ago we posted a piece from former Deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe, who was reflecting on his vision for the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Below, Richard Madden the former director of AIHW reflects on Brian's concerns, and what's at risk if AIHW were to lose its welfare functions.
Richard is a late addition to Power to Persuade 2014 Symposium, joining us for the afternoon session to discuss lessons on working across sectors to advance data collection and monitoring.
Read MoreThe influx of academics and researchers into social media platforms, sharing their work, their opinions and interacting with others, challenges us to reconsider the relationships between research and activism. For some, the two cannot be separated. Others are less comfortable with taking normative positions.
ResearchersJulia Olmos, Paul Benneworth and Elena Castro studied researchers’ willingness to include influences from users in the overall research process. Researchers who are more open to external (non-academic) influences in their research are able to more easily share their research with users, stakeholders and partner. You can access the full working paper here. This post was originally published on the LSE Impact Blog.
Read MoreWelfare services are being reshaped again as governments pursue commissioning policies that blur the boundaries between the government, for-profit, secular nonprofit and faith-based sectors. In this article social policy consultant Wilma Gallet captures this historical movement and the inherent threat to faith-based organisations of being seduced away from their mission by government agendas.
Read MoreAnna Coote, Head of Social Policy at the UK's New Economics Foundation (NEF) argues that ideology has been declared toxic but needs to be brought back into public discourse, to rehabilitate the notion that that policies can be – and usually are – grounded in systems of ideas and ideals. Thanks to the NEF for permission to republish her original post.
Read MoreProf Paul Smyth examines the similarities between the Australian Government's approach to social policy and the UK's Big Society agenda and warns that rather than emulate this unsuccessful approach to social investment we should be adopting alternatives such as Inclusive Growth.
Read MoreThis innovative advocacy project, documented here by one of the project initiators Denis Nelthorpe of Footscray Community Legal Centre, demonstrates how strategic and collective organization of individual casework can bring about systemic change in the culture of corporate institutions and lay the groundwork for regulatory reforms.
Read MoreIn response to a recent speech by Tony Nicholson, several weeks ago Associate Professor Helen Dickinson (@drhdickinson) argued that 'we need to be clear about the specific strengths and skills of the sector' in any discussion about its future and funding. In a followup post, Dr James Rees (@JamesRees_tsrc) from the Third Sector Research Centre examines why and in what ways third sector organisations offer something distinctive. This is the first of three blog posts from James which tackle this issue
Read MoreIs it more effective to target interventions at those most in need? Or should we 'act universally', addressing the basic welfare of all? When it comes to addressing the causes of inequality, there is growing evidence to suggest that universal approaches are more effective. Despite this, policymakers find a continuing appeal in targeted social programs, reserving social services for the most disadvantaged groups in society. In taking this road, are policymakers failing to address the root causes of disadvantage? In light of Homeless Persons' Week, Dr Pauline McLoughlin (@PJ_McLoughlin), from RMIT University, and Dr Gemma Carey (@gemcarey) from ANU explore how homelessness research in Australia must grapple with a strong current of highly targeted policy.
Read MoreYears of research neglect have left the Abbott government ill prepared for the challenge of welfare reform. Its first budget disaster arose precisely because it did not understand the post financial crisis policy context. Its calls for economic heavy lifting have not been matched by distributional fairness. Having experienced a period of economic reform when the benefits went disproportionately to the rich, people now simply wont buy an economic reform program which is not also socially inclusive. The question is can the government learn quickly enough on the job to get its social policy agenda on track before the next election?
Read MorePart Two of Professor Christina Boswell's (from the University of Edinburgh) thoughts on the use of targets in public policy. A no win situation?
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