Posts in Advocacy
What public health has been doing about social inequalities in Austrlaia

Last year saw the establishment of the Australian Social Determinants of Health Alliance (SDOHA) (now with over sixty organisational members) and the release of the final report from the Senate Inquiry into the Social Determinants of Health. The ‘social determinants of health’ is simply another name for the type of social problems the community sector works to address every day, such as housing, income insecurity, poor access to education and disadvantage. Public health research has shown that these social issues are the primary cause of health problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. Socioeconomic position can predict who develops and eventually succumbs to heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and particular cancers. These findings have given us new allies in the fight to see policies that reduce, not expand, social inequalities. 

 Below, Melanie Walker, SDOHA Manager and Deputy CEO of the Public Health Association of Australia, reports on the recent activities of SDOHA (@sdohalliance), including their National Press Club Address and Research Forum progress Social Determinants of Health goals.

 

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Issues, AdvocacyPower to Persuadesocial inequalities, data and evidence for advocacy
What House is it? How case-by-case policy advocacy upholds all tenants' privacy

If renting is to be a legitimate, appropriate and long term housing option for those who choose it, then our laws and culture should reflect this. James Bennett, Policy & Liaison Worker at the Tenants Union of Victoria, unpacks what this means in practice, and shows how rights-based advocacy for individual tenants is able to achieve policy change through impacting on legal determinations.

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Issues, AdvocacyPower to Persuadehousing and homelessness, data and evidence for advocacy
Academic depth and complexity vs snappy story-telling: resolving the tension?

The Lowy Institute published an important and attention-grabbing analysis today: Violence against women in PNG: How men are getting away with murder. Written by award-winning freelance Australian journalist, author and editor Jo Chandler, it’s not your standard form of thinktank analysis. Instead it takes the form of an essay or long piece journalism.

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AdvocacyPower to Persuadecommunication
Reasserting the public interest from Australians' kitchen tables

The “business as usual” lobbies are co-ordinated, cashed up and have a highly sophisticated mechanism to spring into action whenever a whiff of reform is in the air, writes Emeritus Professor Robert Douglas from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at Australian National University in this piece from The Conversation.

Looking at "kitchen table" initiatives from the past and present, he asks whether Australia needs a new non-government structure to coordinate debate and act on a range of pressing issues in the public interest.

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AdvocacyPower to Persuadecommunication
THE BULK DEBT PROJECT - Achieving institutional policy change for Centerlink recipients

This innovative advocacy project, documented here by one of the project initiators Denis Nelthorpe of Footscray Community Legal Centre, demonstrates how strategic and collective organization of individual casework can bring about systemic change in the culture of corporate institutions and lay the groundwork for regulatory reforms.

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Policy and governance, AdvocacyPower to Persuadeservice and social protection reform, communication
Wither 'welfare'? Reflecting on the proposed changes to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

The Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW) provides a critical evidence base and statistical analysis of the Australian population, helping to develop policy and strategies for the state and federal governments. In the recent budget, AIHW was ear-marked for merger into a new super agency the 'Health Productivity and Performance Commission' (along with Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Independent Hospitals Pricing Authority, National Health Funding Body, National Health Funding Pool Administrator and National Health Performance Authority). While details are scant, the absence of 'welfare' from the title of this governing body and inclusion of 'productivity' is ominous.

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Finance and economics, Advocacy, IssuesDr. Gemma Careycommunication, government budget, social welfare
Twitter and blogs reflect underlying passion of academic research

The role of the academic humanist has always been a public one – however mediated through teaching and publication, argues Tim Hitchcock. As a central means to participate in public conversations, Twitter and blogging just make good academic sense. Hitchcock looks at how these new platforms are facilitating academic collaboration, teaching and public engagement. What starts as a blog, ends as an academic output, and an output with a ready-made audience, eager to cite it.

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Creating using evidence, AdvocacyPower to Persuaderesearch, communication
Science and the perils of the press release: who is to blame?

Researchers often bemoan the beatups in the media about their work, yet a recent UK study shows that many university press releases exaggerate or hype research findings or made them more determinist. UK scientist and blogger Alasdair Taylor looks at the risks of "churnalism" and asks in the wake of a recent conference: can scientists themselves offer the needed reflection on their research that an investigative journalist might do?

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Creating using evidence, AdvocacyPower to Persuaderesearch, media
Achieving social change: burning platform, compelling narrative, agitators, friends & solutions

Julia Unwin, CEO of the United Kingdom's Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) visited Australia in May 2014 as a guest of the Reichstein Foundation. For the trip, she released a discussion paper on Poverty inequality and a modern social contract relevant for a changing world. We thank her for permission to publish this excerpt from the paper, titled: Achieving social change.

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AdvocacyMarie McInerneycommunication
Moral arguments, twitter and the quest for policy change

Moral and ethical arguments sit at the core of public policy. Politics and policymaking is, after all,  a contest over ideas and world views.

The evidence-based policy paradigm has encouraged academics and, to a lesser extent, advocates to disengage from the moral dimensions of the arguments they make. But, by disengaging we sidestep the very ground upon which policy arguments are fought and won.

Below, Associate Professor Brent Sasley  and Associate Professor Mira Sucharov reflect on the opportunities presented when we combine evidence with a moral stance through social media:

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Creating using evidence, AdvocacyPower to Persuadeevidence-based policy, media
Placating the beast: the market-drive imperative to collaborate

In an increasingly competitive environment, collaboration in the community sector is seen as a way of overcoming some of the challenges involved in market-based approaches. It enables organisations to share risks, gain efficiencies and combine efforts to strengthen the organisations themselves, and improve outcomes for service users.

However, there is a risk of 'mission drift' - that is; in attempts to strengthen our organisations position and secure funding, we drift from the central reasons our organisations exist. This is a real tension that community sector organisations must hold if they are to exist in this new environment. In this post, I reflect on these challenges and pose questions about what these approaches can mean for mission and social justice.

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AdvocacyTanya Corriesocial justice
Social Policy Whisperer: Criticism isn't enough, where do we go from here? Reactions to the response to the budget

We've seen widespread criticism of the budget (some of it on this blog!), particularly around cuts to social policy and the (potential) removal of the safety net. While critique is important, Prof. Paul Smyth from the University of Melbourne draws our attention to the lack of feasible alternatives put forth in post-budget commentary. In particular, Paul urges us to think wider than individual social policies to begin to (re)image what the Australian welfare state should look like for this century.

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Creating using evidence, Policy and governance, Issues, Advocacy, Finance and economics, Social Policy WhispererProfessor Paul Smythoutcome and impacts, policy making, social inequalities, social justice, government budget, professor paul smyth
Doing the Heavy Lifting: Federal budget targets those who can least afford it

Previous blog posts have reflected on the severity of the Federal Budget cuts. One of the groups that will be disproportionately impacted is single mothers and their children, with cuts to payments as well as other supports.

In this post*, Tenar Dwyer from the Council for Single Mothers and their Children responds to the budget from her organisations perspective.

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Policy and governance, Issues, Advocacy, Finance and economicsPower to Persuadegovernment budget, social welfare, social justice, funding models
Men and mens' services working to end mens' violence against women

It is vital that men be involved and work with women's organisations to end violence against women. It is important, however, that in doing so they recognise the importance of not 'colonising' this space.

This blog post, by Rodney Vlais from No To Violence, discusses the importance of working in a truly collaborative way to end violence against women.

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Policy and governance, Issues, AdvocacyPower to Persuadesocial services, violence against women, social justice