A/Prof Alison Reid of Curtin University knows more than most about predictive models for the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma. In today's Women's Policy Action Tank she draws on her ANZSOG-funded research in the latest issue of Evidence Base journal to explain why these models are important to get right - and why we need to pay attention to women as well as men!
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Today’s blog post by Policy Whisperer Susan Maury (@SusanMaury) examines the intersection between social isolation and flourishing, particularly for young people. Australians report feeling increasingly lonely, which has alarming cognitive, social and health consequences across the lifespan. It is time to incorporate a proactive, universal approach to ensuring young people know how to create and sustain positive social relationships.
Read MoreLast week Good Shepherd’s (@GoodAdvocacy) Financial Security Specialist, Tanya Corrie (@TanyaCorrie), attended a major gathering of anti-poverty advocates and services in Boston. Run by Empath (@DisruptPoverty), an organisation that has developed a unique approach to services, research, and advocacy, the conference explored new frontiers in disrupting inter-generational disadvantage, and of which Good Shepherd is a member. Here, Tanya highlights how services can use the latest brain science on stress and trauma in both delivering services and influencing systemic change.
Read MoreAt this year’s Prevalent and Preventable Conference organised by the Australian Women Against Violence Alliance (AWAVA) and Our Watch, there was a dedicated stream to exploring intersectionality within the Australian context, in relation to responding to, and preventing violence against women, specifically those who have been ‘minoritised’ by the dominant social groups. Intersectional theory is by no means new, however its more centralised inclusion in the violence against women discourse is. Many feminist and critical race theorists have long suggested and warned that ‘culture talk’ in relation to violence against women is a double-edged sword – whilst it may obscure gender-based domination within communities, it also highlights the importance of cultural considerations for contextualising oppressed groups claim for justice, for improving their access to services, and for requiring dominant groups to examine the invisible cultural advantages they enjoy.
This blog piece provides a reflection of the intersectionality stream and is posted as a Storify by the Women's Policy Action Tank.
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As an egregious abuse of human rights and an often hidden form of violence against women and children, forced marriage needs very specific policy responses. Currently, the major response is a legal one, requiring police intervention. Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand has been a key driver in increasing awareness of its prevalence in Australia, through conducting research (The Right to Refuse) and helping to establish the Victorian Forced Marriage Network. Good Shepherd’s Kathy Landvogt explains why a criminal response, while important, is not adequate.
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The Productivity Commission’s inquiry into Human Services has released its interim report, and Policy Whisperer Paul Smyth identifies the social services sector as leading the match – but is there scope to carry this important conversation to completion? Together with Eleanor Malbon and Gemma Carey, Paul led a coordinated response to the Inquiry in the form of the report Social Service Futures and the Productivity Commission.
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Today’s policy analysis examines how the government response to disasters puts women at greater risk due to a lack of gender analysis. Stereotyped role assumptions underpin women’s increased vulnerability; they are more likely to experience violence and financial hardship immediately following a disaster, and are are less likely to have received disaster preparedness training. What is known about gendered differences to disasters needs to be incorporated into an effective strategy to keep women and children safer.
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One year into the election win by Justin Trudeau and the Liberals in Canada, Prof Dennis Raphael of York University Canada (@DennisRaphael01) assesses progress on the social issues that underpin health. With promises to act on climate change, income inequality, and the inequities experienced by indigenous Canadians, is this government a harbinger of change or a party that "campaigns from the left yet governs from the right"?
Read MoreSocial Services Minister Christian Porter hails his new welfare investment approach as “close to revolutionary”. But how much is it a shift from the hardline approach? This piece, by David Donaldson, was originally published on The Mandarin.
Read MoreToday's post from Dr Helen Dickenson is on how the existence of high-quality commissioning is a bit like a unicorn, elusive and prone to unintended stabbiness. It first appeared on her website.
Read MoreAustralian reform discussions have of late focused around some seemingly new language and ideas concerned with stewardship and commissioning. This is being touted as a fundamental change in what government does, but what does this actually mean and will it really lead to significant reform? Helen Dickinson asks these questions and more in our latest post.
Read MoreNSW Council for Intellectual Disability has been having lots of conversations and engaging with many people about the NDIS Information Linkages & Capacity Building Framework which is currently in consultation. Submissions on the framework can be made until 22 April. This post, originally published on the CID website, explores some of their initial thoughts on the framework and shares some of the ideas and themes that they are developing.
Read MoreIn May this year, Power to Persuade Moderator Luke Craven participated in the Little Heresies in Public Policy seminar series at Newcastle University. Drawing on his experience researching 'wicked' policy problems, his talk explored how systems mapping can be combined with focus group techniques to analyse the strengths of different patterns of relationships within complex systems. Doing so can help us more effectively understand the relationships between complexity and evidence-based policymaking.
Read MoreStructural changes to government have become a common occurrence in Australia. But, in what circumstances are these so-called 'Machinery of Government' changes worth their while? Dr Gemma Carey reports on a comparison between Canadian and Australian contexts.
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r Raymond Young UNSW Canberra
‘Lifting the bonnet on Australia’s schools” is the provocative title of a recent Productivity Commission draft report1. It seems that spending per student has increased by 14% over the past 10 years but performance has not improved. However, it would have been far better if the report “lifted the bonnet on policy in general” because there is evidence that suggests little to none of our spending delivers the desired outcomes.
Read MoreBy Gerard Brody and David Tennant
Gerard Brody is the CEO of the Consumer Action Law Centre and David Tennant CEO of Shepparton–based FamilyCare. Both participated in the Advisory Committee for the CSI/NAB Financial Resilience in Australia 2015 Research.
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By Professor Catherine Althaus (@AlthausCat), at the Australian and New Zealand School of Government
Thought-provoking discussions are taking place in Canada and Australia about the future of the public service. Having worked and researched in both jurisdictions, I know there is great value in comparative intelligence that probes the policy transfer between these countries.
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A social policy whisper piece by Robyn Keast on collaboration.
Read MoreThe Director of Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science says the ‘big data revolution’ in the social sciences isn’t about data itself – it’s about advances in how we analyse increasing quantities of diverse data to generate ‘usable information’. Professor Gary King contends the emergence of “larger scale, collaborative, interdisciplinary, lab-style research teams” could herald the end of the qualitative-quantitative divide in social science research. This post by Michael Todd originally appeared on the LSE Impact Blog.
Read MoreIn this post, Julie Thompson Klein draws together and guides us through the “abundance of resources” that exist to help teams working on inter- and transdisciplinary projects find common ground and advance common goals. The post includes links to five searchable repositories to assist researchers in this sphere. This post originally appeared on the Integration and Implementation Insights blog and is reposted with permission.
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