People with disability and the COVID-19 response

Leading health and disability researchers in Australia are calling for urgent action from State and Federal governments to develop a targeted response to COVID-19 for people with disability, their families and the disability service sector. In this post originally published by Croakey, Professor Anne Kavanagh from the University of Melbourne and Associate Professor Gemma Carey from UNSW flag risks facing people with disability in this rapidly shifting environment and set out recommendations for government to mitigate those risks.

Advocacy, Issues, Service DeliveryPower to Persuade16 March 2020disability, NDIS, health, COVID-19, pandemic

The sad ableism in Australia towards people with Down syndrome and the parents that choose to have them: from an online study

When 60 Minutes aired a segment called ‘Does Australia really want to see the end of Down syndrome?’ in August 2017, its Facebook platform was flooded with negative comments about people with Down syndrome and their parents. Belinda Johnson and Dr Raelene West from RMIT University examined the online responses to the program and uncovered confronting views of Down syndrome as an economic burden, a medical burden and a social burden. As they worked their way through comments questioning the right of children with Down syndrome to access publicly funded disability services in light of advances in prenatal testing, for example, the authors began to question the extent to which derogatory and ill-informed comments that push people with disabilities into an exhausting and endless process of justifying their existence should be tolerated in the name of free speech. Their findings were recently published in the Journal of Sociology.

Advocacy, IssuesPower to Persuade16 March 2020disability, NDIS, social media

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

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

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

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

Why racialized youth perceptions of police matter

Kanika Samuels-Wortley, scholar at the University of Waterloo, reveals stories of police violence and prejudice towards Indigenous and Black populations, and explains why understanding these experiences is critical for justice and equity.

Issues, AdvocacyPower to Persuade30 October 2019policing, policy problem, justice, Social Welfare, incarceration, Equity

Countering poisonous stories: an example of sorcery in Papua New Guinea

This blog is the first in a series examining narration and renarration as regulation from the School of Regulation and Global Governance (Regnet) at ANU. Here, Miranda Forsyth and Philip Gibbs tell us what we can learn from attempts to curb sorcery accusation related violence in PNG.

Modern Monetary Theory and the job guarantee: A new way of thinking for the social sector

As part of her popular Green New Deal platform, the US member of Congress Alexandria Orcasio-Cortez has been utilising Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) to explain how governments can fund environmental policy reforms. But could MMT also be used by the social sector as a message frame to promote social policy reform? In today’s blog post Dr Andrew Joyce from the Centre for Social Impact and Celia Green from UNSW discuss the how the social sector could leverage insights from MMT to promote paradigm shifting social policy reforms.

Changing the global approach to youth mental health

In the past, the greatest health challenge for young people was to survive childhood. Thankfully, in most of the world this is no longer the case. However, the big health issue now for young people is mental health. Consulting with experts and stakeholders around the world, the Global Youth Mental Health Framework project will provide guidance for funders about the costs of investing, and the costs of not investing, in youth mental health. It also aims to produce a youth mental health care framework that is responsive to local needs, and a toolkit to help communities all over the world advocate for youth mental health services. On International Youth Day, Eóin Killackey outlined a new undertaking to make youth mental health a global priority.

How can retailers improve access and outcomes for consumers with cognitive disabilities?

In the wake of reports of service providers' poor conduct towards consumers with cognitive disabilities emerging from the Royal Commission into Banking, the Energy and Water Ombudsman of Victoria and the Essential Services Commission, Dr Yvette Maker and Professor Jeannie Paterson from the University of Melbourne offer two sets of resources here to promote a ‘facilitative’ approach to contracting and consumer transactions for people who have difficulties (or perceived difficulties) with learning, concentrating on, processing, remembering, or communicating information, and/or with decision-making.This piece was originally published by the Consumer Policy Research Centre.

Is it time for a corporate 'death penalty'? Some strategies to counter moral bankruptcy in corporations

Meredith Edelman argues that ‘morally bankrupt’ corporations should face the possibility of a corporate ‘death penalty’ and having their shares redistributed among the victims of their crimes. Her post explains how this may help in corporate accountability.

Advocacy, Issues, InnovationPower to Persuade21 August 2019crime, justice, social justice, future, prisons

Cultural Change and individual impact: towards respectful relationships on Australian campuses

Sue Webeck, manager of The Australian National University’s (ANU) newly set-up Respectful Relationships Unit, describes the university’s approach in responding to the issues raised in the Human Right’s Commission’s ‘Change the Course Report: National Report on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at Australian Universities’ in 2017, and the challenges involved in creating systemic change while responding to the ongoing needs of survivors.

Issues, AdvocacyPower to Persuade18 August 2019gender, Sexual violence, education

What do Aboriginal Australians want from their aged care system? Community connection is number one

Older Aboriginal Australians are considered one of the most vulnerable populations in the country as they are at greater risks for multiple chronic diseases while being less able to access culturally appropriate care.

In this post from The Conversation, Neuroscience Research Australia’s Tony Broe believes that an effective Indigenous aged care model must facilitate greater family and community involvement to improve the health outcomes of older Aboriginal Australians.

Advocacy, Issues, Service DeliveryPower to Persuade19 July 2019Aboriginal issues, health, public health

Why Indigenous values matter for all public servants and all communities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples occupy a unique position as the first sovereign peoples of Australia. And while governments have been striving to improve their relationships with as well as their abilities to represent and provide services to Indigenous Australians, there is still a long way to go.

In this post, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government’s (ANZSOG) Aurora Milroy discusses why Indigenous values and culture should be embedded in the Australian Public Service (APS), and outlines practical solutions for helping the Commonwealth begin to reset its relationship with Indigenous peoples.

What Australians think about poverty - and how it can change (part 2)

Maiy Azize explains the important lessons of Anglicare Australia ‘s recent study of attitudes towards welfare and poverty for how anti-poverty advocates can use language effectively. Boldly stating our support for all people in poverty, as well as focussing on their strength and resilience are two key recommendations.

Listening in: using the election results to create a better Australia

In the wake of the election results, Millie Rooney (Australia reMADE) describes how a united and inspiring vision for what Australia could be can help us work together across and around difference to create ‘the best version of us’.

Too many Australians miss out on timely dental care

Grattan Institute’s Stephen Duckett and Matt Cowgill unpack a glaring gap in Australia’s public health system: universal access to dental care.

From the United Nations to the classroom: where is Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Australia?

The University of Queensland’s Romy Listo reports on the United Nations 63rd Commission on the Status of Women held 11-23 March in New York. She draws attention to the commitment on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) which is supported by Australian delegates. Despite support for these commitments by the Federal Government, in practice the actual implementation of CSE by Australian states and territories does not meet the inclusive and expansive ideals being championed. Investment and strategies are needed to bring the right to CSE into Australian classrooms.

AdvocacyPower to Persuade26 April 2019gender, Policy making, education, government

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