Dr Sarah-Jane Fenton, University of Birmingham
Dr Kate Neely and Stephanie Amir from the Melbourne School of Government at the University of Melbourne explore issues of gender representation in Timor-Leste, which has implemented gender quotas across parliament to strengthen the voice of women as equal partners. They reflect on the legitimacy of decision-making in this context the road ahead for Timor-Leste.
Read MoreDoing things with us not for us - Dr Ariella Meltzer reinforces the need for the voice of people with intellectual disability and the importance of expanding social enterprise employment options. She examines the case for supports social policies and programs is based on the lived experiences and views of beneficiaries.
Read MoreWomen provide the lion’s share of unpaid work. In Australia, it is estimated that women spend an average of 64% of their ‘work’ time in an unpaid capacity, while for men the average is much lower, at 36%. In today’s analysis, Amy Webster of Women’s Health Victoria (@WHVictoria) provides a summary of how unpaid care negatively impacts on women, and how multiple identities, including single parent status, having a disability, and women from CALD backgrounds, add complexity to care work. This analysis is a summary of the recently-released Spotlight on Women and unpaid care.
Read MoreAlison Brown explores the various dimensions that contribute to robust governance.
Read MorePolicy makers and service providers are looking to self-management, particularly of chronic illness, to maximise limited health resources. Despite increasing use of the term “self-management”, however, this terminology does not appear to resonate with consumers. Meg Polacsek, PhD candidate, considers whether policymakers should be using the same language as those who are affected most by their decisions.
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One in five girls globally is married before her 18th birthday, representing 650 million girls. While this number is high, it has dropped significantly in the past 10 years, when the ratio was one in four. This is a serious breach of human rights – one that extends to within the borders of Australia.
Recently the largest-ever gathering on child marriage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—The Global Meeting of Girls Not Brides: Global Partnership to End Child Marriage (The Global Meeting). 500 delegates from over 70 countries joined together over three days to connect, learn and strategise toward a common goal: allowing every girl, everywhere, to fulfil her potential. Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand’s Laura Vidal was the only delegate to participate from Australia and shares some of her insights.
Read MoreTwo very significant studies were published in May. On the face of it they had little relation to each other, but together they have shattered powerful myths that have brought our social policy to the point of crisis. In this post, Atif Shafique explores what all this might mean, and how we can use this moment to redesign social policy for the better. This post originally appeared on the RSA blog.
Lankelly Chase is a UK-based charity that works to support organisations that address ‘severe and multiple disadvantage’ though an approach that is deeply and explicitly systemic, reflecting the interlocking nature of social harms such as mental illness, offending, homelessness, abuse, drug misuse, and the poverty that generates them. Recently Lankelly Chase has released a set of 'core behaviours' that they argue help systems function better for people facing severe and multiple disadvantage. In this post, Toby Lowe reflects on the behaviors and their implications for the social sector, a reflection that is just as relevant to Australia as it is to the UK. This post originally appeared on Toby's blog.
Read MoreAs national and international governments struggle with political inertia, particularly when it comes to addressing climate change and implementing sustainable development policies, cities have emerged as places of action and innovation. In this post, Christina Schlegel and Julian Agyeman explore the emergence, power and possibility of this trend and how it might address many of global challenges we face. This post originally appeared on Julian's blog.
Read MoreThe Education Equity Coalition, under the auspices of VCOSS, has recently launched the Stronger Schools campaign. This coalition comprises a range of social service, youth, and education agencies, and has collaborated to create an action plan for inclusive education. The eight components that make up the platform are designed to address holistic, comprehensive support that will support all children and young people to stay engaged in education.
In today’s blog post, Jessie Mitchell from the Youth Affairs Council Victoria (@YACVic) explains why YACVic supports the Stronger Schools campaign, and how the community sector can support schools to keep children and young people engaged. This blog post originally appeared on the YACVic web site, and can be found here.
Read MoreToday the government’s new Child Care Package is being rolled out. While it may be a positive for middle-class families who earn their incomes in a ‘traditional’ manner, the implications for families in more precarious employment is not so clear. In today’s post, Kay Cook (@KayCookPhD) of Swinburne University walks us through the new package and what it means for workers who are increasingly reliant on precious employment.
Read MoreThis week has seen a significant milestone in the fight against modern slavery as the Modern Slavery Bill was introduced into the Australian parliament. When passed, the law will require companies with an annual turnover of more than $100 million to report annually on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains, and on the actions to address these. Fiona McGaughey (University of Western Australia) and Justine Nolan (UNSW) explain more.
Read MoreA fall-out from the Federal budget that is not on every Australian’s radar is the staggering cuts to the international aid program. In today’s piece, Stacey Batterham (@s_batt) of the Oaktree Foundation (@OaktreeAU) argues that a commitment to promoting gender equality via the Australian aid program is undermined by the dearth of funding available to programs that make a critical difference to women and their families.
Read MoreWhile there is little consensus about the “future of work”, one thing is certain – young people are at the coalface. Young workers experience insufficient opportunities for work experience, a mismatch between work and education, a lack of career management skills and scant entry-level jobs, according to a report from the Foundation for Young Australians. In this post, Shirley Jackson from the University of Melbourne, says we need to stop fixating on increasing the supply of talented young people, and start addressing the lack of demand.
Read MoreIn this post, first published in the Conversation, Professor Peter Whiteford explains the effects of government benefits and taxes on household income, including the impact on income inequality.
Read MoreAs any mother or father will tell you, being a parent is hard. Being successful at it is highly dependent on the personal and material resources of parents, and the emotional, mental and physical needs of children. There is a culture of expectation around parents, especially mothers, to be “good” parents, regardless of their children’s needs or challenges. Some people find parenting very stressful, which can cause a form of psychological strain known as parenting stress. In this post, Brendan Churchill and Lyn Craig from the University of Melbourne, discuss parenting stress and what reduces it.
Read MoreThe Education Equity Coalition, under the auspices of VCOSS, has recently launched the Stronger Schools campaign. This coalition comprises a range of social service, youth, and education agencies, and has collaborated to create an action plan for inclusive education. The eight components that make up the platform are designed to address holistic, comprehensive support that will support all children and young people to stay engaged in education.
For girls and young women, there are often unique challenges to school engagement. While they tend to overall be more engaged and receive better grades than boys and young men, research indicates that their wellbeing is plummeting – including reductions in physical, emotional and mental health outcomes. Recent research into supporting the ‘middle years’ finds that key components to supporting girls and young women in this age group is to increase their agency, and to treat them with respect. This includes providing accessible and reliable information on a range of tricky topics, some of which (such as sexting) were not issues for previous generations.
Today’s blog, written by Maddy Crehan (@Maddy_Crehan) at the Victorian Women’s Trust (@VicWomensTrust), highlights an innovative program that seeks to address this challenging terrain by providing teachers with lesson plans for tackling such issues as healthy relationships, creating and sustaining positive friendships, looking after mental health, and ethical consumerism. Known as Rosie in the Classroom (@RosieRespect), this educational resource kit supports best practice in the classroom, stemming from a foundation of equality and empowerment.
Read MoreThe increasingly punitive welfare policies of the Coalition government have been explored from a range of angles here, but today’s post provides a framework for understanding them. Policy Whisperer Susan Maury (@SusanMaury) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand suggests that government welfare policies fit the definition for economic abuse.
Read MoreWith a majority of Australians supporting an increase to the Newstart allowance (current below the poverty line), the #RaisetheRate campaign has been taken up by many in the lead-up to Federal elections. In today’s blog, Sarah Squire (@SquireSarah) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand argues that, while raising the rate is the right thing to do, it’s also important to strengthen the other policies that govern differing aspects of financial security. This is particularly so for single mothers, who are often victims of both punitive government policies and post-separation economic abuse from former partners.
Read MoreTo round out your week, in this post from the CEO blog at the Centre for Social Impact, Professor Kristy Muir reflects on power, leadership, stepping outside of ourselves and knowing when one more marshmellow is one too many.
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