In today’s post, Professor Catherine Needham argues that low tolerance for public servants to test new ways of working is hampering meaningful change in the way government works with citizens. This post was originally published on the 21st Century Public Servant blog.
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As the portion of Australia’s older population continues to grow, there is increasing focus in policy on issues pertaining to ageing, demonstrated most recently in the Liberal Budget papers. However, much of these policies appear to be designed with little input from those who are struggling most to age well – older women. In today’s election series piece, co-authors Susan Feldman and Harriet Radermacher provide a summary of their recently-published research in which they heard from older women in the greater Melbourne area on issues of importance to them.
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In this post, Zoe Callis, Ami Seivwright, and Paul Flatau of the Centre for Social Impact, University of Western Australia write about the practice of outcome measurement in Western Australia, including its facilitators and barriers. This media release provides a snapshot of the major findings, but readers are encouraged to peruse the entire series. Their research suggests that while efforts to measure social outcomes has increased in the last year, the actual practice has decreased. The main barrier? Funding. But, there are others…
Read MoreWith the Coalition’s ‘woman problem’, representation of women in Australia’s Parliament has been at the forefront. While Labor has a self-imposed gender quota (see page 6) that means women are at near-parity in Parliamentary representation at 46.3 per cent, the Liberals are at 22.9 per cent (percentages calculated in January 2019). With an overall female representation in Parliament of 33.2 per cent, here’s the question: does representation matter? One way to answer this is to look to countries which have a quota system, to identify any changes to policymaking. In today's analysis, Quentin Lippmann of the Paris School of Economics provides evidence from France. This summary draws on Quentin’s presentation at the Australian Gender Economics Workshop in February of this year; his full presentation notes can be found here.
Read MoreIn today’s post, Dr Simone Casey takes a close look at the underpinnings of ParentsNext, a widely-criticised program that aims to encourage eligible parents to plan and prepare for employment by the time their children start school. Dr Casey is an Associate of the RMIT Future Social Services Institute and this post draws on her research into resistance in employment services and the construct of the welfare subject
Read MoreKrystian Seibert is an Industry Fellow at the Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University of Technology. In this cross-post from The Conversation, Krystian argues that we will soon witness the largest inter-generational transfer of wealth we’ve ever seen. However, evidence suggests that charities may miss out. In this article, we learn how much we give to charity each year, how philanthropic activity can be structured in different ways for different purposes, and what needs to happen in order to drive the growth of giving.
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Hidden away amongst supplemental papers to the recently-released Coalition budget papers is a line item for $10 million earmarked to support counselling for families experiencing domestic violence. In today’s election platform analysis, Hayley Foster (@HayleyFoster82) of Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service NSW (@wdvcasnsw) explains why this funding goes against both the evidence base and the recommendations from the domestic and family violence service sector. This piece is adapted from a media statement that WDVCAS NSW recently released, which can be viewed here.
Read MoreOur budget coverage continues! Ahead of the ‘National Integrity Forum’ on 8 April at Parliament House, Dia J Andrews (@DiaJAndrews1) of the Public Service Research Group, UNSW Canberra takes a look at the state of play in the federal anti-corruption space in the lead-up to the 2019 Federal Election. What have each of the major parties promised, and what do the experts recommend?
Read MoreWhat does attending playgroup have in common with getting off drugs? The government thinks threatening to take away your welfare payments will help you do both. Internationally the payment of welfare benefits is increasingly being made contingent on a diverse array of behavioural conditions, from attending parenting classes to sending children to school and getting them immunised. Drawing on her recent article in the Journal of Social Policy, Dr Katherine Curchin (@katiecurchin) argues we need more debate about the threat this growing regime of surveillance and punishment poses to citizens’ autonomy.
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Tonight the Coalition Government will be releasing its budget just weeks prior to the federal election. The Women’s Policy Action Tank will be running a special series which focuses on the election. In today’s analysis, Tanja Kovac (@TanjaKovac) of Per Capita (@PerCapita) explains how the elimination of the Women’s Budget Statement has led to a long decline in women’s security that cannot be offset by short-term election promises. This piece was originally published in Women’s Agenda and can be viewed in its original format here.
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Ahead of the launch of her new book The Colonial Fantasy: Why white Australia can't solve black problems, Professor Sarah Maddison (@madd_sarah, co-Director of the Indigenous Settler Relations Collaboration at the University of Melbourne) explains that white Australia can’t solve black problems because white Australia is the problem. There needs to be a radical restructuring of the relationship between First Nations and the settler state.
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With recent inquiries into many aspects of the Coalition government’s welfare reforms, including jobactive and ParentsNext, a more foundational question is raised: What is the point of aggressive and austere policies? In today’s piece, Policy Whisperer Susan Maury (@SusanMaury) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodAdvocacy) employs a psychological frame to examine why putting people into crisis is counterproductive.
Read MoreLaura Davy (@LauraKDavy) from the Public Service Research Group, UNSW Canberra, summarises the findings of a review into the implementation of the National Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and urges readers to contribute to the consultation process for a new national disability policy framework which will begin next month.
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If we believe in a society that is just and equitable, and where the rule of law is both respected and effective in maintaining such a society, then our criminal justice system is failing us in achieving these aims. In today’s post, Helen Forster of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand proposes basic principles for addressing shortcomings in how the criminal justice system interacts with women, and proposes that innovative health justice partnerships offer a promising corrective.
Read MoreOur second post today is by Professor Helen Dickinson (@drhdickinson), who explains the Medicare rebate freeze and how it could impact you. Reposted from The Conversation.
Read MoreToday’s post is by Chloe Duncan from the Public Service Research Group, UNSW Canberra, and it explores how the personal identity and experiences of policy practitioners and service providers can inform their practice in profound ways. Based on PhD research into the implementation of breastfeeding policy in Victoria, it suggests that the ability to draw on multiple perspectives, both professional and personal, can allow policy implementers to overcome significant challenges in their work by devising creative and innovative solutions to problems.
Read MoreIn today’s post, Laura Davy (@LauraKDavy) from the Public Service Group, UNSW Canberra and Ariella Meltzer (@ariella_meltzer) from the Centre for Social Impact, UNSW Sydney argue that under current policy settings, the answer to this question is yes. Summarising the findings of research just published in the Australian Journal of Public Administration, they outline three ways in which the scheme’s approach to supporting relationships is insufficient and explore how these limitations can be rectified.
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The National Inquiry into Workplace Sexual Harassment has provided a much-needed opportunity to discuss the prevalence and impacts of sexual harassment in the workplace. The Equality Rights Alliance (ERA) and Harmony Alliance: Migrant and Refugee Women for Change Young Women’s Advisory Groups (YWAGs) contributed to this national conversation through a joint submission. In today’s analysis, Lavanya Kala (@lav_k) of Harmony YWAG (and Hannah Gissane (@HannahGissane) of ERA explain why it’s critical to centre the experiences of young women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds when formulating effective responses to workplace sexual harassment.
Read MoreKicking off an exciting week of posts from the Public Service Research Group at UNSW Canberra, today’s post from Professor Deborah Blackman (@debbiebl2), Dr Fiona Buick (@fibuick) and Professor Michael O’Donnell explores the ‘seven deadly sins’ of performance management that emerged in their recent research.
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