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

New Research

Evidence and perceptions of inequality in Australia

15 March 2010This paper considers the ways in which globalising economic forces have affected the level of income and wealth inequality within Australian society.

Child mortality target: analysis and recommendations

15 March 2010Indigenous children aged 0-4 years die at 3 times the rate of non-Indigenous children. This analysis provides direction to achieve the Government’s commitment to halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children by 2018.

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.
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.
More...

Community

Mass localism: A way to help small communities solve big social challenges

17 March 2010  Localism presents a dilemma. Government has traditionally found it difficult to support genuine local solutions while achieving national impact and scale. This UK report offers a solution

The open book of social innovation

17 March 2010This volume describes the hundreds of methods and tools for innovation being used across the world, as a first step to developing a knowledge base.

Beyond corporate responsibility: the 'spiritual turn' and the rise of conscious business

15 March 2010This paper asks whether the Corporate Responsibility movement can transform business practices enough to assist society address key human and environmental sustainability challenges.

Welfare

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.

Commentary

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

Time for bankruptcy law reform

09 February 2010Australia's bankruptcy laws are out of step with today's credit market place, write Fiona Guthrie and Nicole Rich in On Line Opinion

Welfare quarantining: reversing the burden of truth

06 February 2010The federal government's new quarantining rules won't solve the problem they're designed to address, argues Kemran Mestan
More...

Audio

The challenges of food security

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05 March 2010While expanding populations and the changing diets that accompany growing wealth have put greater strain on lagging gains in food production, climate change and environmental degradation are slowly contaminating food supplies and eroding agricultural productivity.

The right to property and the right to health

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04 March 2010Is it morally permissible to impose strong patent protections where doing so prices important new medicines out of the reach of many poor people?

Immigration & refugees

Economic, civic and social contributions of refugees and humanitarian entrants: a literature review

Economic, civic and social contributions of refugees and humanitarian entrants: a literature review

17 March 2010This report highlights the entrepreneurial spirit and a strong commitment to education and volunteerism brought to Australia by the 740,000 refugee and humanitarian migrants settled since Federation.

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.

Video

Bess Nungarrayi Price on the NT Intervention

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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.

Change the 'lock em up' mentality

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23 October 2009Ted Wilkes, Chair, National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee, speaks about alcohol use in Indigenous Communities and the links between self esteem, substance abuse and incarceration. The Australian Drug Foundation's conference Thinking Drinking 3 held in Brisbane in August 2009, looked at the role of alcohol in entertainment, violence and crime, the night-time economy, marketing, taxation, competition policy, alcogenic environments and more. 9.59 minutes

Families & households

Responding to intimate partner violence victimisation: effective options for help-seeking

19 March 2010Using data from the International Violence Against Women Survey, this paper examines predictors of help-seeking by intimate partner violence victims and considers whether such responses are influenced by the severity of abuse experienced.

The political economy of intergenerational income mobility

17 March 2010International comparisons of intergenerational mobility must take into account differences in politico-economic institutions, according to this study.

The added worker effect and the discouraged worker effect for married women in Australia

17 March 2010This paper investigates both the added worker effect (the labour supply responses of women to their partners’ job losses) and the discouraged worker effect (workers withdrawing from the labour market because of failed searches) for married women in Australia, with the emphasis on the former.

Websites

Community Indicators Victoria

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

A social health atlas of Australia (Third Edition) 2008

14 May 2009An interactive mapping and statistics site providing Australian demography and socioeconomic status, health status and risk factors. Able to be browsed and searched by country or state/ territory area. Produced by the Public Health Information Development Unit (PHIDU) at The University of Adelaide. 

Gambling - at what cost?

20 April 2009This site contains information for gamblers and their families, friends and associates.  Problem gambling resources can be also be downloaded

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Jobs

Policy Adviser
NSW Business Chamber
North Sydney
Senior Research & Projects Officer
Mission Australia
Sydney- CBD

Events

Delivering Policy Masterclass: Led by Prof Scott Prasser
18 Mar 2010 - 9:00am - 30 Mar 2010 - 5:30pm
Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne
Seminar
Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change - Australian book launch, talk, Q&A
24 Mar 2010
Sydney
Conference
Arts-Activated Conference
25 Mar 2010 - 26 Mar 2010
Sydney

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

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