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THIS WEEK’S MODERATOR

Sue Olney

A moment of silence ... then get in formation

A moment of silence ... then get in formation

It seems appropriate to interrupt our normal programming in light of todays events. I, like most people I know, am shocked beyond words. But a few have begun to find words. A friend posted this powerful message on Facebook:

This is a time for anger, not despair. Such abject self destruction can only be countered with committed creation. I don't know where America goes from here - a fetid bandage has been ripped off to reveal huge gaping wounds and about the best I can say is, well, at least now we can see them. But in this country or my own, tomorrow is when my activism starts, not ends.

AdvocacyPower to Persuade9 November 2016

Women, Ageism and Elder Abuse

Women, Ageism and Elder Abuse

Ageism, or the devaluing of older people, differently impacts on women due to the overlay of sexist attitudes on women’s worth. Additionally, lower-status employment and financial insecurity can create an environment whereby older women are particularly vulnerable to instances of elder abuse. Today’s Scorecard identifies key areas for an improved policy response.

Womens Policy Action Tank, Women's Scorecard, Policy and governanceWomen's Policy Action Tank8 November 2016violence against women, ageing

Targets and Political Trust

This post originally appeared on Professor Christina Boswell personal website, where she reports on her ESRC Project.

Targets and performance indicators have become ubiquitous as techniques of governance. Governments and public service agencies have employed an array of such tools to steer, monitor and evaluate performance. Political leaders have also developed targets to signal their commitment to policy goals. Yet after more than three decades of performance measurement in public policy, mostcommentators agree that such tools have produced numerous adverse effects. Performance measurement techniques imply focusing on a limited range of quantitative features or goals, thereby narrowing down the focus of policy-making and political debate. They can create perverse incentives and encourage gaming. Not least, the use of such tools can erode trust within organizations, and even undermine confidence in political leaders and politics.

Power to Persuade8 November 2016

Checking in on the NDIS

Checking in on the NDIS

The NDIS was initially framed around the rights of people with disability – the right to be part of the community and to have the supports necessary to do that.

It also envisioned a new system that would mean people with disability would have ‘choice and control‘ (as the rhetoric went) over what kinds of supports they wanted and used.

Power to Persuade7 November 2016

Why Blue Box Thinking is Not Good for Collaboration

In today's video post, Professor Robyn Keast discusses what sets collaboration apart in the '5 Cs' of inter-organisational relationships - competition, cooperation, coordination, collaboration and consolidation. Her presentation builds on her post published on this blog in September: Think outside the 'Blue Box': Three reasons it matters for authentic collaboration.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade1 November 2016networked governance

Wisdom in Public Administration – The elephant in the room

In an environment of "post-truth politics" and hybrid governance, how can we ensure that those working in the public sector are trusted, equipped and encouraged to weigh up evidence, to negotiate consensus among different stakeholders and to design public policy and public services that promote the public good? Thu-Trang Tran, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, explains why we should be looking for - and cultivating - wisdom in public administration.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade31 October 2016government

Has the NDIS changed how you collaborate?

Has the NDIS changed how you collaborate?

As well as changing the way we deliver services to our clients, the NDIS is affecting how disability organisations work with each other.

That’s why UNSW, National Disability Services and the Brotherhood of St Laurence are calling on CEOs, senior managers and sole providers to help us paint a complete picture of the ways organisations collaborate under the NDIS.

Power to Persuade31 October 2016

Migrant voices must be heard: Ending the exploitation of newly arrived and refugee workers

Migrant voices must be heard: Ending the exploitation of newly arrived and refugee workers

The exploitation of migrant workers in Australia is widespread, with current systems failing to stop the abuse. The WEstjustice Community Legal Centre Employment Law Project seeks to address this by consulting with newly arrived and refugee community members, leaders and organisations, and collaborating with community partners to improve employment outcomes. Project Lead Catherine Hemingway (@cathemingway) shares this summary of the Project's key findings and recommendations, to be released in an upcoming report: Not just work: ending the exploitation of refugee and migrant workers.

Issues, AdvocacyPower to Persuade27 October 2016employment, refugees and asylum seekers

Law Officers, Lies and Video Tape

The Attorney-General and Solicitor-General's office have been locked in a high stakes political battle over the provision of advice to the Federal Government. In this post, Jennifer Duxbury (@duxburyjen) at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra, asks, what is the relationship between law and politics in our democracy? This post originally appeared on The Policy Space.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade26 October 2016accountability

Evidence-based policymaking in health systems is a myth

Evidence-based policymaking in health systems is a myth

Is evidence-based policymaking "naïve and dystopian"? In this post, Devaki Nambiar (Research Scientist at the Public Health Foundation of India and a Member of the Social Science Approaches for Research and Engagement in Health Policy & Systems (SHAPES) and Translating Evidence into Action Thematic Working Groups of Health Systems Global) argues that for research knowledge to inform policy, it must be 'translated' by a range of other players who can make it 'culturally salient and institutionally viable'. This post originally appeared on the Health Systems Global website.

Creating using evidencePower to Persuade24 October 2016evidence-based policy

Learning to love complaints: the Victorian Ombudsman and good complaints practice

'Learn to love complaints' is the message from Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass to the public sector bodies she investigates. Her office has produced a good practice guide as part of its work to drive improvements in public administration.

It's a useful guide also for other sectors, not least its case studies which also point to the Ombudsman's role in handling complaints from vulnerable and disadvantaged people

Power to Persuade21 October 2016

Video: US Professor Judith Innes on planning in complexity & wicked problems

Judith Innes, Professor Emerita of City and Regional Planning, at the University of California Berkley speaks in this video lecture on: Planning in complexity: applying collaborative rationality to wicked problems. It was delivered as part of the 2016 Dean's Lecture Series at the University of Melbourne, and is posted here with thanks.

Power to Persuade21 October 2016

From clinicians to cleaners: leading trauma informed practice to trial whole-of-agency training in the Inner Gippsland

Cayte Hoppner, Director of Mental Health for Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH) in south-eastern Victoria and a member of the Inner Gippsland Child and Youth Area Partnership steering group, has led a trial on how a whole agency can change practice to be trauma informed.

The training was rolled to nearly 300 staff members of the LRH's mental health services, across 13 sites and multiple disciplines and roles – from clinicians to cleaners – and is seen to have had a profound impact on the way that teams and individuals think and wor

IssuesPower to Persuade20 October 2016

Challenges to the sector: Do you have a majority of people with disabilities on your board, staff, membership?

The Strengthening Disability Advocacy Conference hosted recently in Melbourne by the Disability Advocacy Resource Unit (DARU) included a session on applying a human rights based approach to person-centred service delivery. It asked:

What role can or should disability advocacy play in a landscape of person-centred service delivery?
How do we make sure that mainstream services are accessible to people with disability?
What will best practice look like?

Advocacy for Inclusion CEO Christina Ryan was a panelist at the session and delivered this address to open her contribution, which included a big challenge to all community service organisations in the room.

AdvocacyPower to Persuade19 October 2016disability

Are women and care professions leading a new type of union politics?

Recent effective election campaigns by nurses and teachers may point the way to new industrial campaigning on issues that is led by women and will shift beyond the traditional union-Labor party dynamic, writes Ben Spies-Butcher in the post below.

It was originally published at the POP Politics Blog and is republished here with permission.

Womens Policy Action TankPower to Persuade17 October 2016data and evidence for advocacy