Making & Breaking Social Policy

Nat talks to us about what is and will be done about the skyrocketing housing market locking young people out of homeownership, the backlog of social housing need and the policy choices that produce homelessness. She plans to put homefulness on the policy agenda and lived experience at the heart of policymaking in SA. Nat also mentions: Homestart: https://www.homestart.com.au/ Home Seeker SA: http...

In this episode, Lexi talks to us about her experience of growing up in out of home care. She is an advocate for the Make it 21 campaign championed by the CREATE Foundation. More about the Make it 21 campaign: https://create.org.au/make-it-21/ More about CREATE: https://create.org.au/ Hosted by Ben Lohmeyer Edited by Ryan Manhire Music by Anthem of Rain

In this episode, Dr Sarah Moulds from Uni SA gives us a realistic but hopeful account of her experience and research on getting the community involved in legislation and policy creation. She talks us through the various mechanism governments use to consult with the public and give us some hot tips and tricks about how to use them most effectively. Find Sarah here: https://people.unisa.edu.au/Sarah...

In this episode Sean Lappin (Connected Self) and Luke Cantley (SWIRLS) chat about the Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility Campaign. Drawing on ideas including Two Way Learning, Self Determination for Aboriginal People, Restorative Justice and Intergenerational Trauma they help us imagine an alternative to locking up 10 year-olds and perpetuating cycles of criminality. Resources: Find out mo...

Dr Michelle Jones chats about her research on the sustainability of the Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle (OPAL) program run in South Australia between 2009 and 2017. She unpacks how a shift in the program funding spurred the community to take ownership over part of the project they valued most. Find Michelle and her work Twitter: @83mgjones Flinders: Michelle Jones  Here is Michelle’s publica...

Dr Carmela Bastian chats about her research on the factors the facilitate the centring children in social work practice in the child protection system. She talks about how children can be made invisible due to the competing priorities of the child protection system, but also how social workers draw on a range of resources, including practice wisdom, to recentre and prioritise children’s voices. Fi...

Prof Sarah Wendt and Senior Lecturer Kate Seymour chat about the implication of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children for developing a Domestic Violence Workforce. They draw attention to the gendered nature of the problem of domestic violence and the similarly gendered nature of the workforce. The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children &nb...

Dr Joel McGregor and I have a chat about what change is really possible in young people’s lives through case management. Joel is a Lecturer in Criminology at Swinburne University. His work focuses on the complex relational practices that make up a case manager’s day-to-day work. We chat about a paper we published recently together that examines case management ratios, reporting requirements and qu...

Associate Professor Lorna Hallanhan , Deputy Director of SWIRLS at Flinders Uni , talks to us about her experiences working as a social worker in Disability Advocacy and for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. She describes herself as someone who likes to 'stir shit' and has a nasty habit of showing up. Lorna is funny and insightful offeri...

In this episode, Luke Cantley , Research Associate with SWIRLS at Flinders Uni , talks us through the Model of Care for Aboriginal Prisoner Health and Wellbeing in South Australia . His experiences as a researcher and practitioner in the South Australian Prison systems demonstrate how social policy makes and breaks human service practice (and vice versa). Follow Luke on Twitter : @luke_cantley The...

Welcome to a podcast about the making and breaking of social policy. Sounds boring? Yeah probably, but we'll try to not let it be. Here you will find interviews with academics, practitioners, activists and anyone else I can convince to have a chat. If you like the pod please share, subscribe and all the other things. Thanks!