Holiday reading from Power to Persuade
2023 has been a busy year for those of us interested in social policy. Power to Persuade’s team of moderators have sourced a broad range of articles on issues that made headlines, and issues in need of more attention. Our authors included policy experts, research teams, advocates, early career researchers, and people enmeshed in or locked out of government service systems. Their articles offer invaluable insights into the design and delivery of policy and - importantly - its impact on people.
Our blog is taking a break now, but we’ll be back in February 2024. Until then, here’s a selection of posts from 2023 to revisit.
Thanks and best wishes to our readers, our authors, our social policy whisperers and our moderating team. We wish you all happy and safe holidays.
Throughout 2023, Power to Persuade has published a wide range of articles on issues that made headlines, and issues in need of more attention. Our posts have included research summaries, commentary, critiques, analyses and first-person accounts of policy in action, shedding light on what works and what could work better in the social policy arena from multiple perspectives. Our authors included policy experts, research teams, advocates, early career researchers, and people enmeshed in or locked out of government service systems. Their writing provided insights into the design and delivery of social policy and its impact on people that are rarely found in one place.
Our blog has had 48,000 visitors this year, who collectively read 60,000 pages. The majority of our readers were in Australia, but our international readership is growing. We’ve examined the findings of Royal Commissions, inquiries and reviews, and grappled with governance, policy and practice related to social security, public health, climate change, housing, inequality, community building, employment, gender issues, the question of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and the fallout and continued effects of COVID-19.
While our hard-working volunteer moderating team takes a break, we recommend you revisit – or discover - the following original posts published this year:
On issues affecting women, children and families
Raising children in the lucky country: Understanding the income penalty and poverty at childbirth - Ana Gamarra Rondinel and Anna Price
LinkedIn’s “career break” feature highlights how society devalues unpaid care work - Ashlea Coen
The 'right to recover': Healing from family, domestic and sexual violence requires community-wide action - Marisa Lo Bartolo
If it walks and talks like credit: behind the regulation of Buy Now Pay Later - Emma O’Neill
The society keeps the score: (Re)framing trauma as a political experience - Suralini Fernando
Single parents and post-separation families: Challenges and opportunities in times of crisis - Alice Campbell
Company directorships as economic abuse are flying under the radar - Vivien Chen
On poverty, income support and welfare-to-work
The state’s perfect partner - Tabitha Lean
Governments of Australia, consider this your debt notice – AUWU
The Partner Test: How Being in a Relationship Can Be a Welfare Recipient's Worst Nightmare - Robert
Just stay positive - Melissa Fisher
Crisis at Services Australia is no accident – to fix it politicians must abandon prejudice - Jay Coonan
Rethinking Income Limits for Disability Pension Recipients - Brandon Maki
On research, policy and practice
When policy lessons don’t speak for themselves – a “traveller’s guide” for practitioners of policy learning - Jenny van der Arend and Alastair Stark
Embracing a Measurement Culture in Australia's For-Purpose Sector - Rhiannon Parker
Rethinking scholarly assumptions about vulnerable workers: A call for reflection and action - Catherine Deen
Is Cultural Diversity in the Australian Philanthropic Sector a Problem? - Meera Varadharajan
Traps, Assumptions and other Policy Saboteurs – Jo Chaffer, Deborah Blackman, Girish Prayag, Hitomi Nakanishi and Ben Freyens
On disability
Workers, workers, workers – Raelene West
Are proprietors of supported residential services (SRS) the right people to support residents into better housing? – Elroy Dearn
Experiences of Australian adults living in NDIS supported accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic – Darryl Sellwood
Violence against disabled women: Findings from the Royal Commission - Phoebe Nagorcka-Smith
On First Nations
Indigenous-owned businesses: Creating strong Indigenous employment - Christian Eva, Kerry Bodle, Dennis Foley, Jessica Harris, and Boyd Hunter
After the apology: turning hollow words to actions in Indigenous child protection - Sharynne Hamilton
On mental health
Storytelling for stigma reduction: Researcher and peer reflections - Elise Carrotte and Jeanette Chan
Using a youth rights approach to improve LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health - Liz McDermott
Findings from the early evaluation of the UK Children and Young People's Mental Health Trailblazer programme - Sarah-Jane Fenton, Jo Ellins and the Health Services Management Centre
Victoria's new leadership offers a chance for renewed mental health reform - Simon Katterl
On health
Cashing in on health: the Commercial Determinants of Health explained - Alexandra Chung Florentine Martino and Jennifer Lacy-Nichols
How can power theories be applied to public health nutrition? An exploration using ChatGPT - Christina Zorbas
See you in 2024
We’ll be back in February 2024 with new content, new experts, some new moderators, and fresh ideas. Thank you and best wishes to our readers, our authors, our social policy whisperers and our moderating team. We wish you all happy and safe holidays.
The team at Power to Persuade