Policy Forum Pod

In the final instalment in our series on housing, Executive Director of Anglicare Australia Kasy Chambers joins us to discuss the dire state of housing affordability and how policymakers can turn things around. Housing affordability, particularly in Australia’s private rental market, is an issue of major concern for people on low incomes. According to Anglicare’s annual Rental Affordability Snapsh...

Joel Dignam from Better Renting and Farzana Choudhury from Canberra Community Law join us to discuss housing accessibility and justice on this episode of Policy Forum Pod .  How do poor housing conditions affect people’s health and wellbeing, particularly in the context of a cost-of-living crisis? How can policymakers ensure all Australians have access to safe, affordable, and healthy homes?...

To kick off a new bundle of episodes on housing, we discuss the impact of climate change on planning and housing policy with Barbara Norman, Emeritus Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Canberra. As the global population heads towards at least nine billion and pressure on the natural environment increases, how must policymakers adapt their plans for housing and the built...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , John Falzon joins Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta to examine the new Australian government’s first budget and what it means for equity and wellbeing. What does the new government’s budget mean for the millions of Australians living below the poverty line? Does the government have the political will to build a new architecture of fairness? And how could a wellbei...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , higher education and public policy leaders Helen Sullivan and Janine O'Flynn join us to discuss Australia’s higher education system and how universities can change to better foster fearless future leadership.  What role do universities play in our contemporary, globalised world? How can universities advance equity and diversity among students and staff? A...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , we speak to former teacher Alice Garner and award-winning author and educator Pasi Sahlberg about transforming the teaching profession in Australia. What needs to change so that teaching is a respected, valued profession in Australia - on par with medicine and law? How can policymakers better support teachers to do the critical work of educating children? And...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , education experts Kitty te Riele and Jennifer Skattebol join us to discuss how the education system can ensure all children have access to high quality education. How can policymakers ensure students with challenging behaviours and their teachers are receiving enough care and support in the classroom? What role should alternative schools play in the education...

To kick off our new series of episodes on education, Deborah Brennan and Leonora Risse join us to discuss how to create a world-class childcare and early education system. How could the Australian government provide universal childcare, making it available and affordable for all? What can the country do for the early education and care workforce to ensure they receive fair pay and recognition that...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , political economist Katherine Trebeck and author and advocate Tim Hollo join us to discuss reshaping political and economic systems that help us to better care for ourselves, each other, and the planet.   To deal with the major challenges that society faces, will small policy adjustments shift the status quo, or is deep systemic change necessary? How can...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , we discuss how ‘low-value’ health care is causing harm to patients and what policymakers can do to address it. How can policymakers and health professionals reduce ‘low-value care’, improve outcomes for patients, and address the health system’s carbon footprint? What is the impact of waste and inefficiency on the wellbeing of healthcare workers? And how can th...

General practitioner Louise Stone and psychiatrist Philip Keightley join us to discuss Australia’s mental health system, the wellbeing of health workers, and what policymakers can do to improve outcomes for patients on this episode of Policy Forum Pod . Why is it ‘no longer' possible to provide best practice mental health care for everybody in Australia’s public health system? What needs to change...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, Clare Skinner and Lesley Russell join us to explore where the opportunities exist for meaningful reform of Australia’s healthcare system, especially in emergency medicine.  What factors have contributed to Australia’s healthcare system being under-funded, under-resourced, under-staffed, and sometimes under-valued? Is the current funding model fit for purpose as...

According to a new study, Australia needs a national drinking water quality database - we speak to Paul Wyrwoll and Evie Rose, two authors of the study, about why on this episode of Policy Forum Pod . How many Australians lack access to safe and good-quality drinking water? What does it mean for people’s lives to not have access to water that meets Australian health and aesthetic standards for wat...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, the ANU Energy Change Institute’s Thomas Longden and RegNet’s Lee White join Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta Hunter to discuss the importance of equitable energy policies and survey the terrain ahead for Australia’s energy policymakers. As Australia grapples with transitioning to renewable energy, how is the country integrating affordable, reliable, and clean power sou...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, David Lindenmayer joins us to discuss Australia’s dire biodiversity trajectory and what policymakers need to achieve in the five years until the next State of the Environment Report. Why is environmental monitoring so important? How effective are biodiversity offsets in Australia and around the world? And what could the next State of the Environment Report look like...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, Mark Howden joins Arnagretta Hunter and Sharon Bessell to discuss the recent state of the environment report and the growing strain on the most important system of all - the planet.  With a general public demanding action on climate change, how can the government start delivering on its targets? Just how much leadership, and what legislative and policy responses...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , John Falzon, Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta Hunter discuss the serious impact inequality has on Australians, especially children, and how policymakers can reverse the marginalisation and demonisation of people experiencing poverty. What does the experience of living with poverty mean for the lives of Australian children? Is the new government’s move to create a...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, Sharon Friel joins Arnagretta Hunter and Sharon Bessell to look at the health impacts of the cost of living acrisis. How is the current cost of living crisis impacting the health and wellbeing of Australians? How do the social determinants of health play out in the community? And how might policymakers respond to future socio-economic crises without compromising peop...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, Vice-President First Nations at The Australian National University Peter Yu joins us in the second episode in our new mini-series on the social impacts of rising costs of living and the inflation crisis. What would an economic self-determination framework look like in Australia? What can we learn from First Nations’ experiences around the world, particularly from New...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, Warwick McKibbin and Kristen Sobeck join us in the first episode in our new mini-series on the social impacts of rising costs of living and the inflation crisis. What global and local factors have contributed to the rising cost of living and inflation? What is the role of the Reserve Bank in managing monetary policy? And what should policymakers consider when address...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, Virginia Marshall joins us to discuss the Uluru Statement from the Heart and Australia’s pathway towards healing.  How can Australia place kindness and care at the centre of its policy-making? What do First Nations’ knowledge systems tell us about protecting the land, waterways, and environment? And can implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart spark the t...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, Professor of Economics and Convenor of the Water Justice Hub Quentin Grafton joins us to discuss the environmental challenges and policy opportunities to ensure food, water and energy for all.  How does climate change impact our relationship to food, water and energy? How can truth-telling support a more equitable and sustainable approach to managing resources?...

This week on Policy Forum Pod, youth advocate Yasmin Poole and expert on gender-sensitive parliaments Sonia Palmieri join us to discuss Australia’s most diverse parliament in history and what it might mean for gender sensitive policy-making in the future. What should the major parties learn from the election outcome about gender diversity and intersectionality? What must the new government do to e...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , George Carter and Siobhan McDonnell join us to talk about Australia’s diplomacy in the Pacific, and if the new Australian government can become the region’s “partner of choice”.  How important is strong action on climate change to Australia’s security relationships in the Pacific? What lessons does China’s failure to strike a multilateral security and tra...

This week on Policy Forum Pod , public policy experts Helen Sullivan and Sara Bice join us to discuss the outcome of the federal election and what it might mean for Australia’s policy future. Last Saturday, Australia elected a new government, emphatically voting out the Liberal-National coalition that had been in power since 2013. In his victory speech, new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highligh...