COVID and Suicide Prevention: Perspectives from Social Media

There is increasing cross-sectoral unease about the mental health impact of COVID-19 and the lockdown put in place to combat it. A recent commentary in the Lancet suggested that “suicide is likely to become a more pressing concern as the pandemic spreads and has longer-term effects on the general population, the economy, and vulnerable groups” (Gunnell et al. 2020). While a relationship between COVID and suicide is not clearly established, Dr Anna Lavis argues that the key to forging understandings of their potentially complex connections is an attention to the many suicide-related discussions currently happening on social media.

Behind Victoria's decision to open primary schools to all students: Report shows COVID transmission is rare

Power to Persuade12 November 2020schools, covid, covid-19, education

50 Words In Australian Indigenous Languages

Power to Persuade9 November 2020NAIDOC Week, Indigenous research and policy, Aboriginal issues

Building back better: An intersectional feminist approach to COVID-19 recovery

As the number of COVID-19 cases continue to fall in Victoria, it is time to think deeply about what recovery looks like. In today’s analysis, Adele Murdolo (@AdeleMurdolo) of the Multi-Cultural Centre for Women’s Health (@MCWH1978) argue that the people most impacted by COVID-19, such as migrant and refugee women, should be integrally involved in the decision making about what happens next. This analysis has been adapted from a Pre-Budget submission to the Victorian government produced by the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health.

Womens Policy Action TankWomen's Policy Action Tank6 November 2020COVID-19, CALD communities, Policy making

Big little victories: changes to payments suspension in employment services

Dr Simone Casey (@simonecasey) reminds us today that it’s important to celebrate the small wins as well as aim for large-scale reforms. She describes the work that went into the recent decision to give jobseekers a 48-hour ‘grace period’ between missing a mutual obligation appointment or activity and having their payments suspended.

AdvocacyPower to Persuade5 November 2020employment, welfare reform

Markets in social care: outsourcing administrative burden to citizens and the third sector

We know that the NDIS is a lot of administrative work for scheme participants, but the administrative burden isn’t just borne by people with disability. Today’s post comes from Ellie Malbon (Centre for Social Impact), Gemma Carey (CSI), Helen Dickinson (Public Service Research Group), Megan Weier (CSI), and Gordon Duff (National Disability Services), who have done some research on the administrative burden of the NDIS for service providers.

Service Delivery, Policy and governancePower to Persuade3 November 2020NDIS, markets in public services, Disability

Poverty in childhood leads to poverty in adulthood

Today’s post by Dr Esperanza Vera-Toscano and Professor Roger Wilkins ( @RogerWilkins_au ) discusses the relationship that childhood poverty has with adulthood poverty.

This article was first published on Pursuit. Read the original article.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade29 October 2020Disadvantage

Will the work-from-home genie go back into the bottle?

In an article originally published by The Canberra Times, Dr Sue Williamson and Associate Professor Linda Colley discuss their recently released report Working During the Pandemic: From resistance to revolution. Their research found that the majority of public service employees want to continue the working from home arrangements some workplaces put in place during the coronavirus epidemic, and that while there are negative aspects to working from home, these are far outweighed by the positives. Governments may not find it as easy as they might hope to put this particular genie back in its bottle.

Australian literature's great silence

Power to Persuade16 October 2020

Going virtual: Digital social service delivery to vulnerable families

With the onset of lockdown measures in response to COVID-19, social service providers were forced to pivot to virtual support with little warning or forward planning. For Anti-Poverty Week, we examine what this might mean for clients. In today’s analysis, Robbie Fordyce (@r4dyc) of Monash University (@Monash_Arts), Milovan Savic (@nav0lim) of Swinburne University of Technology (@Swinburne), Policy Whisperer Kay Cook (@KayCookPhD) of Swinburne University of Technology (@SwinHASS), and Kath Albury (@KathAlbury) of Swinburne University of Technology (@AdmsCentre) share their research into how family welfare workers and their clients view the potentials and drawbacks of virtual support. This blog draws from the research report Doing better for vulnerable young parents and their children: An exploration of how technology could catalyse system transformation.

Social Policy Whisperer, Womens Policy Action TankDr Kay Cook16 October 2020social services, coronavirus, COVID-19

Unravelling ‘complexity’: Keeping all women safe from violence

The phrase ‘complex forms of violence’ has been used to sequester certain types of violence to be addressed in a bespoke fashion. In today’s analysis, Laura Vidal (@lauraemilyvidal) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodAdvocacy) and Sana Ashraf of The Harmony Alliance (@aus_harmony) consider the unintended consequences of framing certain forms of violence as complex by providing a background to diverse experiences of violence for women and their children. This post is the third in a series in response to the Senate Inquiry into Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence. Part one argues for the need for a multi-disciplinary response to family violence, while Part two explains how financial independence is critical to ensuring women’s safety.

Big Tech, data and the public good: trade-offs and harms

The pandemic has exposed the multitude of dangers in trusting private entities with public data, demonstrating the need for carefully thought out regulation argue Jenna Harb and Kate Henne from the Justice and Technoscience (JusTech) Lab at the ANU School of Regulation and Global Governance.

Violence against public servants: risks and possible solutions

Violence and aggression perpetrated against frontline public servants is a serious issue, argues Steve Munns, psychologist, public servant and PhD scholar at the ANU’s School of Regulation and Global Governance.

Issues, Service DeliveryPower to Persuade7 October 2020public service, policy problem, crime, regulation, research

Critical Junctures: opportunities and threats for democracies in the pandemic

Jensen Sass and Kate Henne, from the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the ANU, argue that the pandemic has opened up space for reconfiguring the relationships between states and markets.

Women’s physical security cannot be achieved without securing their financial independence

In response to the Senate Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence, this is the second in a three-part series on how policy responses could be more effective in keeping women and children safe. Today’s analysis, written by Madeleine Ulbrick (@maddyulbrick) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@goodadvocacy), highlights the relationship between women’s physical security and financial independence, identifying that unlocking financial independence is a critical step to both prevention and protection from violence. This post is drawn from Good Shepherd’s submission to the Inquiry. Part one of this series can be accessed here.

ParentsNext - after COVID-19

COVID has amplified the fact Parenting is necessary and demanding work

Womens Policy Action TankPower to Persuade29 September 2020

The long tail of COVID-19: implications for disability policy

In today’s post, Georgia Katsikis, Alex Devine and Sue Olney explore the implications of COVID-19 for disability policy in Australia – policy currently affecting one in five Australians living with disability with the potential to affect a growing number who may acquire a disability as a consequence of the pandemic. They argue that the needs and rights of people with disability must be integrated into plans to rebuild the economy now, to avert far-reaching and long-lasting social and economic costs.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade28 September 2020COVID-19, employment, Disability, NDIS

It’s a man’s (pandemic) world: how policies compound the pain for women in the age of COVID-19

Covid-19 has rapidly highlighted many structural issues within our economy and society. Governments have responded with a range of policy responses however as Associate Professor Chris Wallce discusses below, the Government has largely pursued “men first” policies, meaning women continue to be significantly more impacted by the pandemic than men.

Power to Persuade24 September 2020

Collecting data on people with disability – who is being left out of the picture?

The health policy response to Covid-19 for people with disability has highlighted the importance of having accurate data with which to make informed policy decisions. However, as Dr Nicola Fortune discusses, data collection doesn’t always capture information on everyone and it is important to look at who might be being left out of the picture. Having reliable and accurate data is essential for not only ensuring equitable outcomes for people but for holding governments to account for policy decisions.

Power to Persuade23 September 2020

A multi-disciplinary response to family violence – building communities of action

The federal inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence was announced by the Honourable Marise Payne and the Honourable Senator Anne Ruston on the 4th of June 2020, and public hearings commenced last week following the Inquiry receiving over 150 submissions. Whilst advocates across Australia met this new Inquiry with scepticism, the Inquiry does provide an opportunity to rethink reform, and in particular highlight opportunities to address some of the lesser-known aspects of gendered violence that are critical to a whole-of-community response.

Today’s analysis is provided by CEO Stella Avramopoulos (@stellaavram), Laura Vidal (@lauraemilyvidal), and Madeleine Ulbrick (@maddyulbrick) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@goodshepANZ, @GoodAdvocacy) who argue that a multi-disciplinary and cross-sector response presents opportunities for action to prevent all forms of violence against women and their children. This piece is part 1 of 3, and draws on the Good Shepherd submission into the Inquiry which can be read in its entirety here.

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