In this post, Paul Cairney and colleagues distil eight recommendations for promoting the use of evidence in policy making from 78 academic articles. But what if these recommendations are not enough? It’s OK, the authors also provide five additional resources to facilitate research impact in a policy context.
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Gillian McFee, from the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals writes about a quiet yet noticeable revolution shaping the NDIS landscape, which may increase choice and control for NDIS participants, their families and carers. It it the rise of the member-run organisations such as co-operatives. Repost from Disability Services Consulting.
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In an age of increasing concerns about falling trust in our government and democratic institutions, Professor Valerie Braithwaite from the ANU offers five key points about how to understand citizens’ trust in institutions through a psychological lens.
Read MoreIn this post, Ben Spies-Butcher explores the potential role of a levy on superannuation to fund aged care. How might this solution address key issues in aged care funding, such as generational equity and gender equity? The original post is from The Conversation.
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In this article, republished from the Conversation today, Associate Professor Helen Dickson from the Public Service Research Group at UNSW and Dr Catherine Smith from the University of Melbourne discuss their recent research published today by the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. The authors discuss the pros and cons of automation and say that the governments need to carefully plan for the inevitable expansion of new technologies to safeguard vulnerable people.
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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.
Read MoreCalls 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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
Read MoreThe 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?
Read MoreAs 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.
Read MoreAustralia’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.
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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.
Read MoreWhat 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.
Read MoreFinding 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.
Read MoreProfessor 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.
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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.
Read MoreCalls 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.
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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.
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