Tale of two cities. We know there is a stark socio-economic divide in our cities. But new work has highlighted a further socio-economic divide within disadvantaged communities, which will have major implications to come, writes Professor Hal Pawson, Director of the AHURI Research Centre. This post was originally published on the City Futures blog hosted by the University of New South Wales.
Read MoreIn today's post, Paul Smyth explores how events like last week's national reform summit reveal the lack of government-driven policy development and asks how do we successfully engage the community to create the economic and social policy we need.
Read MoreThe burden of chronic disease is particularly borne by disadvantaged communities and individuals who experience higher rates of chronic disease and greater exposure to associated risk factors.VCOSS Policy Advisor, Brooke McKail, argues that a broad social determinants of health approach to prevention and management of chronic disease in Australia is required that guarantees universal access to affordable and timely heath care.Australia needs to increase its investment in chronic disease prevention to reduce the burden of chronic disease on disadvantaged communities, and address the barriers that prevent people accessing timely, affordable health care.
Read MoreLast week the National Reform Summit brought together leading figures from the community, politics, business and media to examine the big policy issues facing Australia today. Addressing the summit, Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, made the case for reaching out across traditional divides in our community to “reignite participatory democracy”.
Read MoreHow do you lead the type of large scale (or 'compound') collaborations needed to tackle truly wicked, large scale problems? In a recent post on the Policy and Politics Journal Blog Chris Ansell, from the University of California Berkley, discusses leadership for large scale collaborations. You can read his full article at the Journal, which he says is 'essentially about “collaborations of collaborations.”
Read MoreIn recent years, child care has returned as a hot topic in politics and policy. Both the current and former governments have tended to view child care as a means to a similar policy end – increasing productivity, yet neither have adequately considered the centrality of worker’s needs in developing policy solutions to ‘fix’ child care. In this post, Lara Corr (@corr_lara) explains why workers’ mental health and working conditions must be front and centre in child care policy and the ongoing risks associated with policy that promotes the worker exploitation through poor conditions.
Read MoreThe '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.
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