This Positioning Paper reports on the first stage of research into the adoption, in Australia, of new models of assertive outreach as responses to homelessness. The aim of the study is to explore the ‘assertive outreach’ approach, with a specific focus on the potential for this approach to reduce rough sleeping. The study can be...

This paper argues that paternalist policies may be considered justifiable under circumstances where high stakes decisions are involved, the decisions being made by individuals are irreversible and it is possible to identify failures in people’s reasoning. It is further argued that if paternalist interventions are able to be justified in terms of people’s own values...

Retirement-village residents may be disadvantaged by current policy on eligibility for Commonwealth Rent Assistance, reports this paper examining potential inequities in rent assistance for older people across different types of housing. This report is concerned with policies on Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) for older people living in retirement villages, manufactured home parks and caravan parks...

All services offered by the Family Support Program (FSP)—managed by the Australian Government Department of Families and Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA)—are required to be accessible, equitable and responsive. This includes engaging groups that may have barriers to access, such as families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. Social equity and substantive...

December 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of the Final Report of the Council of Aboriginal Reconciliation and the culmination of the formal reconciliation process. It is timely therefore to reflect on how far we have come on the reconciliation journey. The report, Are We There Yet?, calls on governments to advance their commitment to ‘resetting’...