Compulsory cashless welfare programs harm women and children

With the recent announcement by the Coalition Government to expand the use of the Cashless Debit Card (CDC) to more people on income support, it is continuing to be positioned as a positive intervention, providing people who need it most with a ‘financial literacy tool.’ With approximately 2.3 million people receiving some form of income support, there is currently great interest in how the Card, as well as other forms of cashless welfare, are experienced by those who have been subjected to these policies. Today’s important piece by researchers Zoe Staines (@Zoettes), Greg Marston, Philip Mendes, Shelley Bielefeld and Michelle Peterie (@MichPeterie) draw on their ground-breaking independent report into experiences and impacts of cashless welfare to explain how women and children are adversely affected.

Beyond the economy: Measuring social progress in Australia

Last month, Labor announced a proposal to create a ‘wellbeing budget,’ similar to that introduced in New Zealand. While Josh Frydenberg found this a ‘laughable’ idea, there is nevertheless a logic that one of the wealthiest countries on Earth could do more to focus on those struggling at the margins. In today’s post, Dr Megan Weier (@MeganWeier) and Isabella Saunders (@Isabellasaund) share the logic for the newly-introduced Social Progress Index, which identifies and tests indicators that could be measured alongside GDP. You can explore more on the Social Progress Index, including accessing the full report.

How to improve homeless youth resiliency using sports psychology - the SPRINT project

Creating using evidencePower to Persuade28 February 2020young people, housing and homelessness, exclusion, Lived/consumer experience, Policy Research

Pointless and punitive: why jobactive has to go

My experiences as a ‘job seeker’ reinforce the view that jobactive should be shut down. I chose the jobactive provider because I had heard its senior managers boasting about the skills of their staff. To keep things fair, I told the workers I met about my knowledge of employment services and that I was taking notes of every appointment. These notes were so I could check what they told me to do was technically correct in relation to the guidelines and Social Security Act. Here’s a short account of what happened in the 4 months I was job seeker.

Issues, AdvocacyPower to Persuade27 February 2020Lived/consumer experience, policy problem, Policy making

Designing policy strategies for urban wellbeing – why knowing what works is not enough

The accelerating pace of urbanisation globally has generated new anxieties about our relationship with and experience of cities. In this piece Jessica Pykett discusses how to start designing policy strategies for urban wellbeing.

Urban challenges such as traffic, air pollution, noise, stress, overcrowding, socio-economic inequalities, food insecurity, excessive waste, ill-health, exclusion, conflict, privatisation of space and impacts of extreme weather, biodiversity loss and the climate crisis are some of the many concerns which urban policy makers are asked to address. In 2018 at a summit of the World Health Organization’s European Healthy Cities Network in Copenhagen, Denmark, hundreds of Mayors committed to taking action on health, wellbeing and happiness in cities.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mortality Gap widening since 2009

The Closing the Gap Report 2020 was released the week before last by the Prime Minister. He frankly admitted ‘The final target — closing the gap in life expectancy within a generation — is not on track to be met by 2031’. Then he went on ‘We may not be on track to fully close the life expectancy gap in a generation – always an ambitious target – but mortality rates have improved by almost 10 per cent. This is mostly because we’ve made progress in tackling the leading cause of death: the big circulatory diseases like heart disease and stroke. This is progress.’ In this piece, Richard Madden and John Gilroy of the University of Sydney analyse the implications of this report and the statements made.

IssuesPower to Persuade25 February 2020Policy making, Indigenous research and policy, Indigenous issues, public health

Understanding the complexity of suicide and suicidal behaviour

Suicide is a major challenge for public health. Approximately 800,000 people die by suicide every year worldwide; that is one every 40 seconds. The impact on those left behind is profound and long-lasting. It is estimated that for every death by suicide approximately 135 people are affected. In this post, Dr Maria Michail reflects on the importance of understanding the complexity of suicide and suicidal behaviour.

Issues, Creating using evidencePower to Persuade24 February 2020mental health, Policy making

Poverty in Australia 2020: What does a gendered analysis reveal?

Today marks the release of the second ACOSS and UNSW Poverty in Australia report, an important document to keep civil society and government accountable to those who are being left behind in one of the most prosperous countries on Earth. In today’s analysis, Policy Whisperer Susan Maury (@SusanMaury) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodAdvocacy) provides a gendered analysis of the Poverty in Australia report.

Lived Experience: soundbite or values shift?

Gerry Hamill from UK NGO First Time Inside helps new prisoners prepare for incarceration through ‘rehabilitation’. In this blog, Gerry reflects on the uses and abuses of people with ‘lived experience’ in the social service sector.

Justice Capital: From the darkness into the light

Advocacy, Innovation, Service DeliveryPower to Persuade18 February 2020prisons, social services, social justice, Social Welfare

Imbalance of power: Female high court judges treated as ‘conversational inferiors’

While women are slowly making headway in achieving senior ranks in the workplace, does title override gendered unconscious bias? Today’s insightful analysis from Amelia Loughland (@AmeliaLoughland) reports on her empirical research which finds that female judges on the high court are more likely to be interrupted by male counsel than their male counterparts. This analysis draws from an article soon to be published in the Melbourne University Law Review; an advance copy is available here.

Womens Policy Action TankWomen's Policy Action Tank17 February 2020Gender Inequity, justice, Law

Challenges and opportunities for addressing homelessness in Gippsland

While managing the archives for Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodShepANZ), Fraser Faithfull keeps a close eye on the impact of government policies for disadvantaged women, children and families. Today he shares a review of the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Homelessness, the challenges for the sector in Gippsland, and innovative responses that could support larger policy reforms.

IssuesPower to Persuade13 February 2020housing and homelessness

Meeting the technology needs of older Australians with MND: A cost-effective approach

People over the age of 65 who develop a motor neurone disease (MND) can have difficulty accessing technology that can provide them with greater quality of life and independence, because they are not eligible for the NDIS. In today’s piece, Carol Birks (@CEBirks), Ben O’Mara (@BenOMara), and Morag Millington, all of MND Australia (@MNDAustralia) outline the need and propose cost-effective solutions for providing assistive technology to older Australians in need. This piece originally ran in The Mandarin.

AdvocacyPower to Persuade12 February 2020ageing, aged policy, technology, disability, NDIS

Fast facts: Who drove the Coalition to their election win?

In what is fast becoming a global trend, the conservative Coalition was not expected to win the election held in 2019. Understanding how they did is critical to ensuring robust democratic systems in Australia. In today’s blog, Kate Griffiths (@_KGriffiths), Tony Chen and Danielle Wood (@DanielleIWood), all of The Grattan Institute (@GrattanInst), provide an analysis of how the record $90 million spent by Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party swayed the outcome of the election and provide insight into much-needed donation reforms. This post first appeared on The Grattan Institute web site; you can read it in its original format here, or read more about the author’s analysis in their related piece in The Conversation.

Finance and economicsPower to Persuade11 February 2020Election, politics and democracy

The Cashless Debit Card is not a 'financial literacy tool,' and Big 4 involvement won't change that

With the government’s recent announcement that they plan to start rolling out the Cashless Debit Card beyond its trial phase, thousands of people currently struggling to get by on low rates of the Newstart Allowance are poised to have their lives made even harder. The Accountable Income Management Network (@AIMNau) today outlines some of the key concerns why expanded the CDC is a bad idea - for low-income Australians and for the Big 4 banks, Coles and Woolworths.

Finance and economicsPower to Persuade10 February 2020welfare reform, financial vulnerability, Indigenous issues

What can we learn from the rise of 'Medicare for All'?

Dr Adam Hannah (@adamjhannah; University of Western Australia) draws on his recent article in Policy & Politics to consider the growing prominence of Medicare for All in US politics and what lessons can be drawn for those advocating for systemic change.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade7 February 2020health, politics and democracy

What happens when design meets power?

Here Professor Jenny Lewis (@JennyMLewis1; University of Melbourne) reports on her study of public sector innovation laboratories in two nations, outlining the challenges and opportunities for design thinking in policymaking. Jenny’s article with Dr Michael McGann and Dr Emma Blomkamp is free to read in Policy & Politics until 29 February 2020.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade6 February 2020Policy making, innovation

How do interest groups engage with policymakers? Involvement, Access and Prominence

What’s the difference between involvement, access and prominence for interest groups participating in the policy process? Professor Darren Halpin (@darren_halpin; ANU) and Dr Bert Fraussen (@BertFraussen; Leiden University) think about why some groups seem to make more headway than others when it comes to influencing policy.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade5 February 2020Policy making, Policy Research, community sector

Women in data: Time for a Manifest-NO

In Australia, women’s presence in data is often cause for concern - for example, the way that women are monitored and controlled by the government when receiving welfare or attempting to collect child support; experiences magnified for Indigenous women. Their data invisibility can also be worrying; for example, when the time use survey dropped off in 2006 or when CALD women (and men) are excluded from mental health research. Data collection and use can create trauma, disadvantage and marginalisation; alternately divergent experiences are rendered invisible when data is not collected to tell silenced stories. In today’s analysis, the use and abuse of data gets the gender treatment from Marika Cifor (@marika_louise) and Patricia Garcia (@thebigfiveone). Together they led a workshop that created a “Manifest-No” which details both the harms and potential of data collection from a feminist and intersectional perspective. In today’s analysis they provide a rationale as well as a summary of main points; read the entire Manifest-No here, and find more information on the Manifest-No here.

Womens Policy Action TankWomen's Policy Action Tank4 February 2020technology, data, feminist theory, gender, Diversity

Counting the costs: We need to address the health of people leaving prison

We need to provide much better health services to people leaving prison. Epidemiologist Dr Kathryn Snow (University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute) explains why the “good luck system” for prison leavers doesn’t make sense from either a financial or a human rights perspective.

Advocacy, IssuesPower to Persuade3 February 2020prisons, health, mental health

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