In this post, Dr Kathryn Daley, Associate Director, Social Equity Research Centre, RMIT University & Deputy Chairperson, Youth Workers Australia argues for a supportive approach to drug use associated with emotional pain.
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Ahead of the International Day of Families on 15th May, Dr Karen Villanueva and colleagues from the Social Equity Research Centre at RMIT University, along with researchers from the University of South Australia, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and the University of Montreal, explore why neighbourhoods matter for young children.
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Our blog today also considers a crisis - perhaps the biggest social and administrative crisis in recent times- Covid-19. Nicholas Bromfield writes about his latest paper on NDIS’s response, highlighting the important role of people with disabilities co-producing policy successes.
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Recent government crisis, such as Robodebt, have highlighted that empathy might improve policy making processes. This blog explores research from Assel Mussagulova and I (Colette Einfeld) on how empathy is used, and might be useful, in the public service.
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This week's posts are being sourced and moderated by the Antipoverty Centre (@antipovertycent) to spark thinking and discussion about welfare conditionality ahead of the federal election. In today’s article, a young person describes the cruel bureaucracy people on JobSeeker and some other Centrelink payments must navigate under the regime of compulsory activities called “mutual” obligations. This byzantine compliance system is delivered by privatised job agencies at a cost of $4 billion per year and was recently revealed to be operating unlawfully. The author has asked to remain anonymous.
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As Australia grapples with a deepening housing crisis, much of the public conversation has centred on first-home buyers, skyrocketing rents, and the shrinking supply of affordable housing. But an equally urgent – and often overlooked – issue is the growing number of older Australians renting privately into later life. In this piece, Joelle Moore, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland, explores the increasing precarity faced by older renters.
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In this article, Dr Raelene West discusses community housing for people with disability exploring housing options, noting that a home is made of more than bricks and mortar.
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As the federal election campaign begins ahead of Saturday, 3 May 2025, one question stands out: how can we meaningfully engage young Australians—now the largest voting bloc, led by Gen Z and Millennials? In today’s post, Planning Saw (@PlanningSaw) and Cham Kim, both final-year medical students at the University of Melbourne and members of the Future Healthy Countdown 2030 Working Group, explore how best to involve young people in shaping Australia’s democratic future.
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There has been increasing interest in revamping our economic systems to better support individual and collective health and wellbeing and distribute wealth more evenly, while doing more to protect the planet. In today’s post, recently-appointed VicHealth (@VicHealth) postdoctoral research fellow Melissa Kennedy of Deakin University (@DeakinSeed) explains what Community Wealth Building (CWB) is and how a recent Masterclass in the Victorian Goldfields region explored its transformative potential.
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Online Food Delivery Services are a popular format for acquiring quick and easy out-of-home meals. This platform offers the perfect mix of convenience and indulgence delivered at your doorstep, but at what cost? This week, VicHealth (@VicHealth) Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr. Adyya Gupta (@AdyyaGupta) from Deakin University (@IHT_Deakin @GLOBE_obesity) discusses the ripple effects of Online Food Delivery Services on human and planetary health, and offers policy actions for a healthy and sustainable future.
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2024 has been confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as the warmest year on record. This new data supports that climate change is making extreme heat increasingly intense and frequent. Exposure to heat has been linked with reduced labour productivity and many adverse health impacts, such as mental illness, hospitalisation, preterm birth and even death. In today’s post, VicHealth (@VicHealth) postdoctoral fellow Rongbin Xu (@RongbinXu) and Shuai Li (@Dr_Shuai_Li), both of Monash University (@MonashMSDI), provide commentary on new research which found that heat can accelerate the pace of biological aging. This story provides new evidence that supports the necessity of well communicated heat action plans as well as progressive climate mitigation strategies to limit global warming, particularly in a world experiencing rapid population aging. This article first appeared in The Conversation; you can read it in its original version here.
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As the NDIS faces significant ongoing reforms, it can be useful to look back at where we’ve come from – from disability rights to fights for entitlements, and from investment to cost containment, Eloise Hummell summarises her recent co-authored article on policy drift and evolution in the NDIS.
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Today Maria Katsonis, a mental health advocate with lived experience of mental health issues, discusses the complexity of including lived experience in mental health reform, warning that organisations and policymakers must be willing to share power if the promise of lived experience is to be realised.
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This year Power to Persuade will continue to bring you articles on a variety of topics related to social policy, written by experts involved in designing, implementing, studying and/or navigating social policy . However, in addition to our regular call for submissions, we invite you to be part of a new conversation in 2025 on the relevance of rights for 21st century policy. We are at a point in history where well-trodden paths in politics, policy and practice are being reworked. What are the implications for equality, diversity, inclusion and equity? We hope you will join us in that conversation this year, as readers and authors. Find out more about submitting an article for publication with us here.
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