Policy Forum Pod

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , economist at King’s College London Alfredo Saad-Filho joins us to talk about neoliberalism, its impact on care and community, and the prospect of a new economic and social paradigm in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. What is neoliberalism, and how has it come to shape policy and politics? Is it possible to eliminate poverty in a neoliberal society? And how c...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , physician and researcher James Trauer and Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association Kylie Woolcock join us to talk about the future of healthcare in Australia. Since early 2020, health policy-making has been in the spotlight like never before, as Australian governments scrambled to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Bu...

In this live Democracy Sausage and Policy Forum Pod crossover episode, Nicholas Biddle joins Sharon Bessell, Arnagretta Hunter and Mark Kenny to talk about what issues matter to voters and why good policy so often gets lost in translation in Australia’s political system. How can political candidates and policymakers address long term, intergenerational issues like climate change? What do voters me...

On the fourth episode in our mini-series on care, Diane Gibson and Kasia Bail from the University of Canberra join us to discuss what policymakers can do to fix the systemic issues that have plagued Australia's aged care sector. Will this federal election campaign lead to change the way aged care is valued in Australia? How do ageism, sexism, and racism intersect and influence the sector? And how...

Newly-appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur Dr Ian Fry joins us to discuss the human rights impacts of climate change. How has climate diplomacy evolved in recent decades, especially in the Pacific? In the face of increasingly frequent and severe disasters, how can people’s human rights be protected? And what implications might climate displacement have on cultural identity? In the third epi...

On the second episode in our new mini-series, John Falzon from Per Capita and Kasy Chambers from Anglicare Australia join us to look at the Australian federal budget through the lens of care. Did this federal budget provide real assistance for people in the face of the climbing cost-of-living pressures, or was it too focused on one-off sugar hits? What should the Australian Government be doing in...

Millie Rooney joins Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta Hunter on the 250th episode of Policy Forum Pod to discuss rethinking the public good and to launch our new mini-series on care. How can valuing care enhance policy outcomes? Do policymakers need to expand the way they think about infrastructure to include social benefits rather than just roads and bridges? And how do the public want governments to...

On this episode of  Policy Forum Pod , Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Conservation Foundation Kelly O’Shanassy joins us to talk about habitat destruction, the future of Australia’s threatened species, and why governments must do more to protect biodiversity. Since colonisation, Australia’s native species have lived under enormous strain. In the two centuries since, some 30 Australi...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , Barbara Norman and Mark Howden join us to discuss the urgent need for more comprehensive climate change adaptation measures in Australia. In recent years, climate disasters in Australia - from the Black Summer of 2019-20 to the floods across the east coast in recent weeks - have been dramatic in terms of their intensity, severity, and levels of destruction the...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , Elise Klein from The Australian National University and Kay Cook from Swinburne University join us to discuss how to improve Australia’s social security system, especially how it serves women. Is Australia’s social security system serving women in the way it should be? How is care work valued within the system? And what policy responses are needed to ensure it...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , Anthea Roberts and Nicolas Lamp - authors of The Six Faces of Globalization: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why it Matters - join us to discuss the need for empathy in the debates about economic globalisation. For decades, the principles of economic globalisation have been key to shaping public policy, but the status quo assumption that globalisation is good for all...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , Patty Kinnersly from Our Watch and Jen Hargrave from Women with Disabilities Victoria join us to discuss the Changing the landscape report, a new national resource to prevent violence against women and girls with disabilities. Australian women and girls with disabilities are twice as likely to experience violence than women and girls without disabilities. How...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , Maria Dahm and Carmel Crock join hosts Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta Hunter to discuss the importance of communication to reaching a correct diagnosis. Diagnostic error is a major issue in Australia, with up to 140,000 people experiencing it every year. But according to new research, the key to changing may not simply be improving doctors’ understanding of dis...

On our first episode of Policy Forum Pod for 2022, we’re joined by Faith Gordon and Rob Watts to talk about lowering Australia’s voting age to 16 years old, the rights of children and young people, and the future of Australian democracy.   The election day tradition in Australia is one most Australians are familiar with. You go to your polling place on a Saturday, stand in line, and get your...

Health equity scholar Sharon Friel and regular hosts Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta Hunter join Angus Blackman to reflect on some of the ‘brain-changing conversations’ on the pod in 2021, and to look forward at what’s needed in terms of leadership and policy as Australia heads into an election year. Has Australia learnt the right lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of health and wellbeing,...

On this Policy Forum Pod , Ariadne Vromen and Briony Lipton join us to talk about the increase in customer abuse and job insecurity Australian retail workers are facing during the pandemic, and what government and industry can do to ensure staff are protected. Retail workers have played a critical role throughout the pandemic, ensuring essential food, medicine and other goods have been available i...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , climate negotiator Dr Siobhan McDonnell and disaster risk expert Dr Robert Glasser join us to look back at what was achieved at COP26, what wasn’t, and what comes next. It was billed as an extraordinary climate conference - the ‘last chance saloon’ according to Prince Charles - but in the end how different was COP26 from previous conferences? What do the outco...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , Kate Fielding from arts and culture think tank A New Approach and Kim Cunio from ANU School of Music join us to talk about why arts and culture matters for Australian society, and why investment in the sector offers such good value for money.  Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Australians have relied on the arts - from binging shows on Netflix to rediscov...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , the Australian Capital Territory’s Climate Change Commissioner Sophie Lewis and Member for Ginnenderra Jo Clay join us to talk about a unique approach to measuring carbon emissions and what it means for our lives and societies. Climate change has been in the headlines in recent weeks as a result of COP26, with much of the conversation focusing on the politics...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , Helen Sullivan, Helen Dickinson, and Hayley Henderson join us to discuss the changing role of the public servant, the importance of integrity and accountability, and public services in a time of major disruption. What role does history play in shaping the values of a particular civil service? How do public servants negotiate issues of integrity and ethics when...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , Siobhan McDonnell and George Carter join us for a powerful, confronting conversation about the impact of climate change in the Pacific Island region ahead of COP26 in Glasgow. Despite being at an enormous disadvantage in terms of resources and delegation size, what strategies have Pacific Island countries used to be so effective in international climate negoti...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , climate experts Mark Howden and Frank Jotzo join us to discuss Australia’s climate policy, energy transitions, and the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. In just over a week’s time, world leaders and climate negotiators will gather in Glasgow, Scotland for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference - or COP26. It’s been billed...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , climate researcher Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and health professional Simon Quilty join us to discuss the “health crisis” that awaits Australia if global temperature increases continue. With global temperatures rising, what sorts of scenarios are likely to unfold over the coming decades in terms of extreme heat? What does this mean for vulnerable communities on...

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod , scholars Mathew Davies and Susan Harris Rimmer join us to look at the complex human rights landscape in Southeast Asia and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and what role the international community can and should play. What is the current status of human rights, especially for women and girls, throughout the Asia Pacific? How have recent events in Myanmar a...

On this Policy Forum Pod , we discuss climate change, security, and the upcoming UN Conference of the Parties in Glasgow with Robert Glasser.  What’s been achieved so far in international climate change negotiations? What lessons need to be learnt from both Australia’s Black Summer and the most recent wildfire season in North America? And what’s at stake at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conf...