According to Marc Jarh, of Community Development Futures LLC and former president of the New York City Housing Development Corporation "the math of affordable housing finance is cruel". So how, in the midst of a housing affordability crisis, can we make the numbers stack up? In this edited extract of Marc's presentation to the Transforming Housing Affordable Housing Summit he explores the institutions and policies that makes the US affordable housing finance system work.
Read MoreA coalition of 17 peak and non-government organisations from the health and community sectors is calling on the Australian Government to scrap plans to cut nearly $800 million in funding to key health initiatives over the next four financial years. The foreshadowed cuts would drastically reduce the capacity of non-government organisations and peak bodies to deliver services across the country and to provide advice and support for reform in health.
Read MoreIn today's post, Amanda Walsh, PhD candidate, University of Wollongong, explores the stark contrast between the public service's pronouncements of supporting family-friendly work environments and what happens whena prospective employee asks the one question that should never be spoken out loud: ‘Could I work for you part-time?’
Read MoreIn this article, Andrew Ryder outlines the thinking behind his new venture The Roma Research Exchange. This venture seeks to work with civil society and other community organisations to better identify priorities for research. Andrew outlines his thinking about emancipatory practice, knowledge construction, and the limitations of the traditional academic framework, all of which inform the development of this Exchange.
This article is a repost from the Policy and Politics Journal Blog.
Read MoreA new video series is helping to educate the public about human rights without putting them to sleep. Marius Smith from the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University explains how and why
Read MoreThe so-called Kable principle has imposed constitutional restrictions on the way States can use their courts and judges when designing law and order policies. In the article below, Dr Anna Olijnyk and Dr Gabrielle Appleby say the principle has been able to achieve important protections for individual rights, in a roundabout way. But they ask whether a lack of certainty and understanding about how it works is also making States too cautious in the justice arena.
Read MoreHow will the latest Victorian government budget support the daily lives of its more vulnerable constituents? Denis Fitzgerald (@FitzgeraldDenis) from Catholic Social Services Victoria highlights promising funding changes in the new Labor budget and calls for community input to enhance the equity of future budgets.
Read MoreFor many women, part-time work offers a chance to combine child rearing with employment. Unfortunately, part-time work 'has become a ghetto of low-paid, low-skill, low-productivity employment'. In this post, Professor Silvia Walby argues that poor quality part-time work is not inevitable and shares solutions to the 'problem of women becoming trapped in low-paid, low-skill work after childbirth'.
This article originally appeared in Australian Policy Online @apooline @policynetwork
Read MoreWhat would it look like if policies were designed with gender equity and women's rights in mind? On a micro and macro level, would it help or hinder progress? A new report from UN Women calls for alternative policy and a human rights framework to support better outcomes for the whole of society, including the economy. @UN_Women @apoonline
Read MoreSubtle policy changes, such as changes to indexation rules, competition, and payments to providers, can be similar to direct attacks on public provision. Dr Ben Spies-Butcher (@SensibleBSB) looks at the example of the 'unwinding' of Australia's universal health system.
Read MoreIn the latest Evidence Base journal of the The Australian and New Zealand School of Government Professor Jeff Boreland investigates the effectiveness of active labour market programs, like Work for the Dole.
Read MoreLast week, the Australian Financial Review reported that the Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas will head up a new national taskforce on housing affordability. There’s little detail on the taskforce, other than that it will focus on housing supply as the cure to Australia’s housing affordability problems. So it’s timely to revisit this post by Associate Professor Nicole Gurran and Peter Phibbs, Chair of Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Sydney from The Conversation on why houses are not like bananas (although this post from Matt Cowgill suggests they’re a bit like potatoes)
Read MoreA new approach is needed to delivering justice in the growing outer urban areas. This article by Shorna Moore, Senior Policy Lawyer at Wyndham Legal Service Inc, challenges narrow definitions of justice and argues for a 'precinct model'. The Outer Sight, Out of Justice Project uses critical stakeholder engagement, innovative public-private funding models and thought-leadership to challenge current policy thinking and processes.
Read MoreFollowing on from our latest Social Policy Whisperer piece, below Colin Crouch asks why social investment ideas haven't gain greater traction in political debates regarding social policy. While Colin writes about the UK context, his musing are just as relevant here in Australia and pick up on many of the themes Paul Symth raises on our blog. Colin Crouch is an emeritus professor of the University of Warwick. His latest book, Governing Social Risks in Post-Crisis Europe, has just been published by Edward Elgar. This piece originally appeared on the Politics and Policy Journal Blog.
Read MoreFollowing on from our post last week, below Jon Altman offers his thoughts on Indigenous Work for the Dole policies. Jon Altman is an emeritus professor of the Australian National University based at the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet), College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU. From 1990–2010 he was foundation director of the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research.
Read MoreWe've had a sniff of debate in recent weeks about negative gearing and what its abolition could mean to government revenue and housing affordability. Yet at election times, writes Terry Burke, housing problems get no political traction.
Read MoreIn this blog, Dr Monica Thielking, Research Fellow at Swinburne University, takes us through the recently released report, The Costs of Youth Homelessness in Australia: Snapshot Report 1: The Australian Youth Homelessness Experience. This ground-breaking study offers profound insights into the experience of young people in Australia who are homeless and presents clear challenges for policy makers.
Read MoreThe McClure Review provides us with the opportunity to 'upgrade' the welfare policy debate and start to genuinely frame welfare as social investment. Prof. Paul Smyth explores that there needs to be a real understanding of what welfare as investment actually means, with the right social policy nous and frameworks to ensure it is not another punitive measure to individualise social policy problems.
Read MoreFamily violence is headline news in Victoria these days. The Victorian Labor Government has established a much-needed Royal Commission into the support system, including a review of the justice system, government, service organisations, police, corrections, and child protection, with the aim of decreasing instances, improving victim support, and ensuring perpetrators are held to account. Susan Maury, Policy and Research Specialist with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, argues that, as the least-understood form of family violence, economic abuse needs to receive significant attention.
Read MoreStrategic participation in international legal processes can be extremely valuable for NGOs undertaking policy and law reform work. The Universal Periodic Review, a process of the United Nations Human Rights Council, is one method by which Australia’s human rights record is assessed on the international stage. Internationally and in Australia, the UPR is proving to be a useful mechanism for NGOs to engage with governments on issues of human rights and related law and policy. Anna Lyons, Senior Lawyer at Justice Connect Homeless Law explains.
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