Edited by the Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology

New Research

The Brotherhood's social barometer: living the second fifty years

09 March 2010The fourth Social Barometer examines the extent of disadvantage among older Australians through indicators of people’s capabilities covering eight key dimensions of life, including employment, income, health, housing, safety and social participation.

From the margins to the mainstream: the challenges for microfinance in Australia

09 March 2010This report on research undertaken by the Brotherhood and Community Foresters Finance draws on the literature and stakeholder consultation to explore microfinance in Australia, highlighting the need to achieve sustainability, scale up successful pilot programs and measure impact on financial exclusion.
Turning 18: pathways and plans

Turning 18: pathways and plans

09 March 2010The longitudinal Life Chances Study has followed some 140 young people from diverse backgrounds since they were infants. This report documents the altest stage of the project.

The road to elsewhere: Work, family and technology

06 March 2010Buffeted by streams of information coming via their Blackberries and laptops, this elite live with only one eye on the here and now.
Demography as destiny: Schooling, work and Aboriginal population change at Wadeye

Demography as destiny: Schooling, work and Aboriginal population change at Wadeye

05 March 2010Recent Commonwealth Treasury intergenerational reports have failed to consider the very different challenges that arise for the Indigenous population as a consequence of demographic ageing.
A national quality framework to support quality services for people experiencing homelessness

A national quality framework to support quality services for people experiencing homelessness

01 March 2010This discussion paper is part of consultations to develop a national quality framework (NQF) that will maximise the outcomes and life opportunities for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
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Community

Power, culture, economy: Indigenous Australians and mining

Power, culture, economy: Indigenous Australians and mining

02 March 2010While mining developments in regional and remote Australia may be the major­ contributors to local economic development, Indigenous communities have gained only limited long-term economic benefits from mining activity.

Welfare

Commentary

Big cuts and little cuts

03 March 2010It’s not so much the size of government spending that counts - it’s the quality, writes Brian Toohey in Inside Story

Mind the gap?

02 March 2010Should we care about the earnings gap between city professionals and the men and women who clean their offices, or is it enough to know that both groups are steadily getting richer, asks Andrew Leigh

A changing pattern of childlessness

23 February 2010Do the demands of high-status professions explain childlessness among some women? Robert Tanton describes new research findings
More...

Audio

Artists working with children

Listen to audio
22 February 2010 The Australia Council is reviewing the protocols developed last year for artists working with children. One of the interested parties is the National Association for the Visual Arts, NAVA, who thinks the protocols are unnecessary.

Housing for millions

Listen to audio
27 November 2009Planning for happy cities, when you're also jamming in millions more people, is politically tricky.

Immigration & refugees

Stronger, simpler, smarter ESOS: supporting international students

Stronger, simpler, smarter ESOS: supporting international students

09 March 2010This final report of the Baird review of the legislation that governs international education in Australia makes a series of recommendations for reform.

Reforming the global order

05 March 2010Despite the many reasons to be pessimistic about the current world situation there are some distinguished optimists out there, with concrete plans for change for the better.

Video

Bess Nungarrayi Price on the NT Intervention

Listen to audio
15 February 2010Bess Nungarrayi Price, a Walpiri woman from Yuendemu in the N.T. discusses the issues facing her community and explains why she thinks policies such as enforced income management are needed and welcome.

Can we support care and gender equality?

Listen to audio
13 November 2009The women's revolution has seen many enter the workforce, invariably enhancing and liberating their lives. But who's taking care of the kids?

Families & households

Websites

Bringing Them Home

19 February 2010This website features oral history interviews with people who were involved in or affected by the removal of Indigenous children from their families.

Community Indicators Victoria

29 October 2009This site uses local community wellbeing indicators to improve citizen engagement, community planning and policy making.

Children's Rights Information Network

08 July 2009CRIN is a global network coordinating and promoting information and action on child rights.

Most viewed: This week

1
Framework for measuring wellbeing: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 2010
2
Turning 18: pathways and plans
3
Do employers discriminate by gender? A field experiment in female-dominated occupations
4
The Brotherhood's social barometer: living the second fifty years
5
Stronger, simpler, smarter ESOS: supporting international students

Books

Outrageous! Moral panics in Australia

Outrageous! Moral panics in Australia

  • Edited by Scott Poynting and George Morgan
  • ACYS Publishing
In this detailed examination of case studies, a distinguished group of experts demystifies the social processes of moral panic in Australia.
Racial Folly: A twentieth-century Aboriginal family

Racial Folly: A twentieth-century Aboriginal family

  • Gordon Briscoe
  • ANU E Press
A memoir and history of an Aboriginal family living under the race laws, practices and policies of Australia in the twentieth century.

Noticeboard

ALRC Family Violence Inquiry - monthly newsletter
11 January 2010

The 2009 report of the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children—Time For Action—identified the complex interaction between state and territory family and domestic violence and child protection laws and the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). The National Council made a number of recommendations, including that the ALRC should undertake an inquiry into these laws.

Lifestyles, consumption and environmental impact: National Household Consumption Survey
23 June 2009

The National Household Consumption Survey is open to all Australian residents until 30 June 2009.

Policy Guides

Arts for all: opening doors to people with a disability

This guide provides practical and long-term ways for artists and arts organisations to enhance their access, market their events to the disabled community and build new audiences.

15-02-10

Topics

APO