The 'innovative finance' model of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) is being hailed as an answer to funding critical social problems. In this post, guest contributor Helen Dickinson (@DrHDickinson) looks at the hype and potential of SIBs and if they really are the best of all worlds.
Read MoreIf only government departments worked together we could solve even the most 'wicked' of problems, right? Well, not, quite. In this post, Gemma Carey (@gemcarey) shares her insights into 'joined up government' implementation and what we can learn about efforts to solve the wicked problem of social exclusion through the Social Inclusion Agenda. This article was originally posted in The Policy Space.
Read MoreWith growing talk of tax reform, advocacy to promote equity and ensure that those on low-incomes are not negatively impacted is essential. Interestingly, the advocacy landscape is changing, with new alliances being formed to advocate for a different type of tax reform. In this post, Ben Spies-Butcher (@SensibleBSB) takes us through how tax reform has been reframed and its implications for a more equitable taxation system.
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The 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.
Read MoreThe idea that public policy can nudge people in the direction of good decision making, was popularised in the book Nudge by Sunstein and Thaler. However, as today's post by Reuben Finighan from The Conversation shows, old fashioned regulation might be the most effective nudge of all.
Read MoreToday delivers Part Two of Paul Smyth's presentation to the Dunstan Foundation's Addressing Homelessness Conference (@DonDunston). In this post Paul explores the ideologies that got us here, and what it will take for a new social policy perspective to rise from the ashes the recent 'market led' approach.
Read MoreToday's post is the first instalment of a presentation by Paul Smyth at the Dunstan Foundation's Addressing Homelessness Conference (@DonDunston). With the conference subtitled Valuing the Homelessness Sector: Humanity, Productivity and Building Futures, Paul's lecture explored the value in the community sector. Tomorrow's post explores how to start re-valuing it.
Read MoreAs we look for new ways to collaborate and adopt 'disruptive' models of practice we need to be aware that just because it is disruptive, it does not mean that it is truly 'sharing' or revolutionary. The term 'sharing economy' is being co-opted as outlined in this post by Olivier Blanchard, which was originally published here.
Read MoreThe tireless work of feminist advocates, scholars and their supporters has culminated in the establishment of the Royal Commission into Family Violence. The Royal Commission’s report, due to be released in February 2016, holds the promise of delivering what the family violence service sector has been demanding for decades – a system that recognises the harm that domestic/family violence causes, acknowledgement that it is everyone’s responsibility to prevent it, and provides adequate resources for services that provide the critical and often life-saving support to victims. Although it has already been a long journey, this is just the start. Yvonne Lay, Safety & Resilience Development Lead with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, outlines the essential next steps as advocated in Good Shepherd’s submission to the Royal Commission.
Read MoreWomen in Australia, particularly single mothers, still face discrimination in the workforce after giving birth despite the Sex Discrimination Act prohibiting direct family responsibilities discrimination. The recent Australian Human Rights Commission Report highlights the need to review current protections and the complexity of current regulation that is in place. However, as Alexandra Heron, Research Associate Women and Work Research Group, University of Sydney Business School notes in this blog originally published http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/, it will also require the right political environment and cultural change.
Read MoreIf you're anything like us at Power to Persuade, you consider yourself a master of the dark arts of tweeting. Now it is time for you to level up and get some awesome Indigenous tweeting in your life.
Read MoreToday feels like a good day to highlight the range of amazing Indigenous people out there doing great things in our community.
Read MoreParticipation in evaluation, actually participation in everything to do with social policy, is frequently seen as time-consuming and expensive. But does it have to be? Leslie Groves and Irene Guijt identify the common perceived barriers for the use of participatory methods in evaluation, and suggest that our resistance to participation in evaluation runs deeper than we think.
Read MoreHappy Monday! Something a bit left-of-centre for your Monday morning read. An essay by the famous (and controversial!) political scientist Francis Fukuyama, which outline his views around the decay of the public administration (and public policy) in the United States.
(We hesitate to mention that we are not endorsing his views by publishing, only offering them up for reflection.)
This post is a reblog from the website Foreign Affairs.
Read MoreCo-design, co-production and other terms which emphasise that governments cannot solve social problems from a top down-perspective are becoming increasingly common place. However, given the power differences involved can we truly 'co-create'? Below, Mark Evens explores the emerging popularity of co-design. Professor Evans is the Director of the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra. His piece originally appeared on the Policy Space.
Read MoreYesterday we outlined the problem which PTP aims to address. Below, we explain how PTP is working to fill skill and knowledge gaps in policy networks. This is an extract from a forthcoming article on PTP's framework and the lessons it offers for other 'boundary spanning' initiatives.
Read MoreAustralia has experienced a number of high profile policy implementation failures in recent years, such as the 'Pink bats' scheme. Implementation, as a separate part of the policy process and as a scholarly endeavour, is creeping back onto the radar (thankfully). Today's post by Charlotte Sausman, Eivor Oborn and Michael Barrett discus orignally appared on the Politics and Policy Journal Blog as an overview of the paper - Policy translation through localisation: implementing national policy in the UK
Read MoreWith the next Power to Persuade Symposium coming up, we thought it would be useful to revisit why this initiative exists and what it is we do. This will be a two part post, the first (below) focuses on the problem PTP aims to address. The next post outlines our vision and mission of how we do this.
Read MoreIn the latest Social Policy Whisperer, Dr Ben Spies-Butcher discusses the implications of the perceived (and sometimes rhetorical) differences between "social" and "economic" policy. How do we bring these two debates together?
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