Food for Thought

In this post, a team from the University of Melbourne consider food insecurity among Australian university students in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, including ways forward. Post authors are Associate Professor Jane Dyson, Professor Craig Jeffrey, Associate Professor Gyorgy Scrinis, Charlene Edwards, Rafaela Anja, Louisa Ellis, Aasha Sriram, Mia Zentari and Eugenia Zoubtchenko.

This post was originally published at the University of Melbourne’s website, Pursuit, and the original version can be found here.

IssuesPower to Persuade25 March 2021

If we don’t count, they don’t count – Numbers and stories about COVID, vaccines, and developmental disabilities in Canada and the UK

This post, written by Dr Yona Lunsky (@yonalunsky), considers the role and intersection of “numbers” and “stories” in advocacy for people with disability in the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine in Canada and the UK. While centred on the experience of these two countries, the piece also has important implications for the use of evidence within disability advocacy in Australia as well.

This post first appeared on the Portico website (Health Care Access and Developmental Disabilities research program), held by Canada’s Mental Health and Addiction Network, with the original version available here.

Power to Persuade24 March 2021

It’s Time for a Cross-Disciplinary Conversation About the Effectiveness of Job Seeker Sanctions

This post by Simone Casey (@simonecasey) and David O’Halloran considers a cross-disciplinary perspective on the effectiveness of JobSeeker sanctions, applying power relations and psycho-social lenses. This post originally appeared on Austaxpolicy: Tax and Transfer Policy Blog, with original version available here.

Finance and economicsPower to Persuade23 March 2021

Time to reform Australia's unfair family support system

Power to Persuade17 March 2021

‘Dehumanising’ and ‘a nightmare’: why disability groups want NDIS independent assessments scrapped

In today’s post, originally published in The Conversation, Professor Helen Dickinson (@drhdickinson) outlines concerns about the introduction of independent assessments into Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme, and explains why an independent evaluation of the proposed changes, designed in consultation with people with disability and their families, is needed before they are introduced.

Issues, Policy and governance, Service DeliveryPower to Persuade16 March 2021NDIS

Women’s March4Justice through a feminist policy lens

Advocacy, Policy and governancePower to Persuade15 March 2021policy problem, gender, violence against women

Primary Care Networks in a time of pandemic

PRIMARY CARE NETWORKS (PCNs) were introduced across England in July 2019, bringing together groups of general practices, along with community providers, to develop new services for patients. These networks respond to a need for better integration of health and social care services and issues of sustainability in primary care.

He said, she said: Investigating the Christian Porter Case

On the eve of International Women’s Day, allegations of rape by a senior Cabinet Minister, and what many considered a poor response from the Morrison Government, left many feeling drained and depleted. Is this another case of ‘he said, she said’ - which have been portrayed as unresolvable? In today’s important analysis, Louise Richardson-Self (@LVRSelf) of University of Tasmania (@UTAS) provides important insights into testimony and credibility, and what they mean in the Christian Porter case. This article was first published by The Ethics Centre (@ethics_centre), and is republished here with permission. You can view it in its original format here.

12 lessons for children’s social work from practising under Covid in England

The Covid-19 pandemic is presenting governments, social work leaders, managers and frontline practitioners with unique challenges. In this blog, Harry Ferguson, Sarah Pink and Laura Kelly discuss their Economic and Social Research Council-funded research, which explores its impact on children, families and child protection social work.

Issues, Policy and governance, Service DeliveryPower to Persuade10 March 2021social services, social care, COVID-19

Women are (rightly) angry. Now they need a plan

This has been a fraught and exhausting week for women all over Australia, many of whom have watched with grief and anger as more stories and details of sexual assault and rape have emerged, to be met with inadequate and even insulting responses from senior government figures. In today’s piece, re-posted from the Conversation, Macquarie University Professor of History Michelle Arrow (@MichelleArrow1) describes how Australian women have harnessed their anger to make social change in the past, and urges us to channel our rage now towards political action.

Power to Persuade4 March 2021

Women’s financial security will be further eroded by weakening consumer credit protections

The Federal government has proposed changes to the National Consumer Credit Protection Act which will, it says, make credit more accessible to individuals and small businesses during the recovery period from COVID-19. However, these changes have been critiqued as a way to circumvent some of the recommendations from the Banking Royal Commission. In today’s analysis, Lily Gardener and Madeleine Ulbrick (@MaddyUlbrick), both of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodAdvocacy) summarise their submission commenting on the Amendment, detailing how such changes are likely to further disadvantage women who are still struggling from the pink recession.

What can ABC’s 'Bluey' tell us about Australian family dynamics and work life balance?

Kids’ TV shows can play a number of roles – to entertain, to educate, to challenge and to reassure. Today’s post, written by Dr Briony Lipton (@briony_lipton), examines how the beloved ABC Kids series Bluey, about irrepressible Blue Heeler puppy Bluey and her family, portrays gender and work. Using a scene from the show as its springboard, this piece sheds light on the complex negotiations around work and family roles that are central to contemporary Australian family life.

The best policy decisions need the best data, which means we need to work together

Power to Persuade25 February 2021

The gender-based data gap in Australian medical research is a problem for everybody

There is a long-standing assumption that medicine, and the research underpinning medical interventions, is gender neutral. However, a growing body of evidence is demonstrating that this is not the case, with harmful consequences. Today’s analysis, from Dr Amy Vassallo (@amyjvassallo), Dr Cheryl Carcel (@cheryl_carcel), Prof Louise Chappell (@chappell_louise), Prof Robyn Norton (@RobynNorton8), Dr Janani Shanthosh (@janshanthosh), Prof Mark Woodward and Dr Zoe Wainer (@dr_zoe_wainer) of The George Institute for Global health (@GeorgeInstitute) provide an overview of current research, policy and practice gaps in Australian medical research. This analysis is drawn from their article, recently published in The Medical Journal of Australia.

IR reform and flexi-carity for single mothers

COVID accelerated debate about workplace flexibilities and employment policy. Gendered analysis of the government’s use of flexibility clauses in the current IR legislation highlight that they are measures that reinforce and sustain gendered discrimination in labour market policy, particularly for single mothers.

Power to Persuade16 February 2021

COVID forced Australian fathers to do more at home, but at the same cost mothers have long endured

Power to Persuade12 February 2021Gender Inequity

Things you need to know before using a debt management company

The important message for the community in these challenging times is that people seeking to repair their credit reports or negotiate with their creditors do not need to pay expensive fees.

Finance and economicsPower to Persuade10 February 2021Social Welfare, financial vulnerability

Welcome to the age of epidemiological liberalism

Despite being at increased risk from the negative health impacts associated with COVID-19 infection, and despite potentially serious consequences to changes in service provision in 2020, for unstated reasons people who rely on the Disability Support Pension did not qualify for the Coronavirus Supplement. Today’s important piece by Holly Barrow, of the UK-based Immigration Advice Service, outlines the dire situation for people with a disability in the UK and warns that the neoliberal response to the pandemic reflects a calculated valuation of lives.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade3 February 2021Disability, public health, Population health, civil society

Changing cultural norms is important – but it’s not a panacea for eliminating violence against women

It has been a massive step for Australian policy to recognise that domestic and family violence is underpinned by social norms, and there is an attendant increase in government programs aiming to change the narrative. In today’s analysis, Ella Kuskoff (@EllaKuskoff) and Cameron Parsell (@CameronParsell), both of University of Queensland (@HASSUQ), explain how such initiatives, while important, will ultimately come up short if they do not also address embedded structural inequalities. This analysis draws on their recently-published article, Preventing Domestic Violence by Changing Australian Gender Relations: Issues and Considerations.

Basic Income, Gender and Human Rights: reinforcing inequalities or transformative action?

The concept of a basic income, paid indiscriminately to all by the government, has had increasing support from people on all sides of politics, and this interest has only increased with the onset of COVID-19. Such a proposal has important implications for women, who are more likely to live in poverty and precarity due to their unpaid social roles. In today’s analysis, Beth Goldblatt of UTS (@UTSLaw) and the Australian Work + Family Roundtable provides a gender-sensitive human rights analysis of how a basic income could be designed to support economic justice for women. This analysis is drawn from her article Basic Income, Gender and Human Rights, recently published in the University of Oxford Human Rights Hub Journal.

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