To drive innovation, Australia must boost rather than curb investment in humanities and social science research

During the Senate Estimates on 25th October 2018, Labor Senator for Victoria, Kim Carr, revealed on Twitter that then minister for education and training, Simon Birmingham, rejected 11 funding grants recommended by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in 2017 and 2018. The grants, all for funding in the humanities, amounted to a combined total of A$4.2 million, including A$1.4m in discovery grants. The decision has been widely condemned in Australia and overseas as undermining confidence in Australia’s highly competitive and rigorous peer-review system.

In the post below, social science researcher and Power to Persuade moderator, Dr. Brigid Trenerry, summaries key reports in Australia and overseas and reflects on how the recent ministerial veto could harm innovation and technological change, where Australia must boost rather than curb investment in social science and humanities research.

Policy and governance, Issues, InnovationPower to Persuade8 November 2018Policy Research, Research

Actions government can take to address thin markets and market gaps in the NDIS

Calls for management of the NDIS market are increasing rapidly as the scheme progresses. There have been a number of high-profile calls for better market stewardship for the many NDIS markets and sub-markets nationally, most recently the market readiness report from the Joint-Standing Committee on the NDIS. Social researchers Gemma Carey and Eleanor Malbon highlight how the NDIA can detect market deficiencies and what strategies it can use to address them.

Can Co-production Really Transform UK Mental Health Services?

If you can’t quite get a grip on co-production, you’re not alone. Much of the literature dating back as far as 1984 suggests that it’s something of a greased pig and that efforts to define it end up like a policy pig scramble. Is it democratic citizen involvement public services? Is it individual, ‘responsibilised’ health and social care consumerism? Is it power shifting to communities through participatory governance? Some authors have said that ‘neither on the level of interactions between organisations nor on the level of servicing users, has co-production a fixed meaning’ and others have noted its ‘excessive elasticity.’ Perhaps it’s the ultimate post-modern policy concept. Dr Sarah Carr of the Institute for Mental Health at the University of Birmingham asks can it work for mental health?

Advocacy, Policy and governancePower to Persuade26 October 2018mental health, co-production

The UK government’s terror strategy 'compromises the Mental Health Act and must be challenged'

Post 9/11 Islamophobia and the pathologisation of black people in the UK mental health context should be tackled as part of the ongoing Mental Health Act review, argue former psychiatrist Suman Fernando and researcher Tarek Younis in this post for re-published from Mental Health Today.

Spirals and circles, snakes and ladders. Why women's super is complex

Unpaid work, part-time and interrupted work, and the gender pay gap are only some of the reasons women are poor in retirement. A lot of the time the reasons are far more complex.

The NDIS is delivering ‘reasonable and necessary’ supports for some, but others are missing out

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) began a full national rollout in July, 2016 based on a fundamental principle to give those with a disability choice and control over their daily lives. Participants can use funds to purchase services that reflect their lifestyle and aspirations. Two years on, how is the scheme faring?

Policy and governancePower to Persuade2 October 2018Disability, ndis

National Policy for Sale?

As long as the richest and most powerful have the greatest influence over national policy, the interests of our communities will be poorly reflected in many areas of national policy making, writes Community Council for Australia CEO David Crosbie.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade27 September 2018accountability, policy making

Flexible working: innovations and issues

Australia’s Fair Work Act 2009 provides employees in the national workplace relations system with a legal right to request flexible working arrangements. And while this practice is welcomed by employers, it may be more difficult to implement in practice. UNSW Canberra’s Public Service Research Group academics Dr Sue Williamson and Dr Meraiah Foley, as well as Central Queensland University’s Dr Linda Colley, explain some of the policy’s innovations and challenges experienced by employers when they assist employees in achieving balance between work and their personal lives.

This article was originally published on The Mandarin.

Innovation, Issues, Policy and governancePower to Persuade21 September 2018Flexible Work

Developing and recruiting the future public servant

Public service workforce reform has been on the minds of public administrators, especially in light of high profile reviews such as the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service. UNSW Canberra’s Public Service Research Group academics Professor Deborah Blackman, Dr Samantha Johnson, Associate Professor Helen Dickinson and Dr Linda Dewey delve into this issue in greater detail from a development and recruitment perspective. They suggest that there are four distinct elements in social learning that can serve as a framework for building workforce capability and supporting change within the public service.

A full version of their thoughts can be found in Reimagining the Future Public Service Workforce.

One step forward, two steps back? The re-entry of Tony Abbott into Indigenous Affairs

What might we expect from former Prime Minister Tony Abbott as Indigenous envoy? Dr Prue Brown of the University of Queensland analyses the discourse in his Closing the Gap speeches to Parliament, compared with those of Rudd and Turnbull.

Issues, Policy and governancePower to Persuade19 September 2018Indigenous research and policy

Policymaking amid complex systems: finding the levers of influence

Finding the right levers to influence policies in a complex environment can be very difficult. The Mandarin’s David Donaldson sought and consolidated the views of three academics, including that of UNSW Canberra’s Public Service Research Group professor Deborah Blackman, on policymaking in complex systems.

This article was originally published on The Mandarin.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade18 September 2018policy making, Governance, government

Back-to-back MoGs induce ‘dysfunction’, warns APS review submission

Professor Deborah Blackman, Associate Professor Helen Dickinson, Dr Karen Gardner, Dr Fiona Buick, Dr Samantha Johnson and Dr Sue Olney from UNSW Canberra’s Public Service Research Group believe that machinery of government changes are often poorly planned, disruptive and costly. Their APS review submission outlines five priority areas for reform.

This article was originally published on The Mandarin.

Innovation, Policy and governance, IssuesPower to Persuade17 September 2018government, Governance, Reform, Machinery of Government

Australian politics and the art of strategic ignorance

Does our Prime Ministry *really* think coal is “clean?” In today’s post, RMIT Master of Social Science student Lanie Stockman (@The_Real_Lanie) analyses government policy using the framework of strategic ignorance. This concept may explain some of the odd stances that are taken in Canberra.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade11 September 2018evidence-based policy, policy making, politics and democracy

Cracking the collaboration code

Calls for collaborative solutions to difficult policy problems have recently become louder and more insistent. In 2016 the Australia and New Zealand School of Government and the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy at Curtin University co-invested in a comparative case study of five collaborative initiatives in Australia and New Zealand.

The team’s purpose was to identify important factors influencing the success of collaborative approaches. Here, Dr John Butcher shares a few “take homes” from this research.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade21 August 2018Collaboration

Justice, parents and child protection: a role for a Charter of Rights?

We spend a lot of time as a local, national and global community considering the wellbeing of children and what is in ‘the best interest of the child’ when they are at risk of abuse and neglect. We spend much less time considering the rights and responsibilities of parents and other family members who have children in the care of child protection services. It is time for a Charter of Rights for Parents and Families, argues Sharynne Hamilton from the Telethon Kids Institute at the University of Western Australia.

Tesla's 'virtual power plant' might be second-best to real people power

The Bruny Island Battery Project is trailing new technology in Tasmania, with the aim of creating a grid that is flexible, reliable, cheaper and based on renewable energy. The researchers involved tell us more in this repost from The Conversation

What are NDIS scheme actuaries measuring and what are they missing?

In this post, Gemma Carey, Helen Dickinson, Michael Fletcher and Daniel Reeders examine the role of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) actuaries, describing their purpose in the scheme, the limitations in the ways they are used and the implications.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade31 July 2018Disability, evaluation, funding models

Beyond NAIDOC 2018: Our Responsibility to Celebrate the Voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women

The theme for this year's NAIDOC Week, held from 8-15 July 2018, was "Because of her, we can". In the following article, republished from IndigenousX with permission, Antoniette Braybrook calls for the ongoing celebration and acknowledgment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, who work tirelessly for the community, and whose views and experiences are often invisible to policy-makers. Antoinette Braybrook is the CEO of Djirra (formerly the Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service Victoria) and the National Convenor of the National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum. She also tweets @BraybrookA

Investing in a resilient generation

The University of Birmingham (UK) has launched a Policy Commission report calling for increased investment in the prevention of poor mental health. The report comes at a time when half of life-long mental health problems show their first signs by the age of 15, and three quarters by the age of 25, and evidence that the rates of mental health problems amongst young people are increasing. The Commission Report, therefore, identifies childhood and adolescence as a critical opportunity to prevent and promote better mental health. In this post, Karen Newbigging discusses the report and implications from this work.

How could primary care services become more accessible and acceptable to vulnerable young people?

Mental health problems in young people are increasing. Suicide remains a leading cause of death in those aged 15-24 worldwide. The majority of mental health problems develop before the age of 25 but have their roots usually in childhood and teenage years. If left untreated, mental health problems can persist into adulthood with poorer prognosis and greater disability over the life course. In this blog post, Maria Michail, Jo Robinson, Tina Yutong Li, Sadhbh Byrne explore how primary care services can become more accessible and acceptable to vulnerable young people. This post has been co-produced with young people with lived experience of mental-ill health and highlights the importance of making primary care health services more accessible, acceptable and equitable for vulnerable young people.

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