Policy Forum Pod

In episode three of our ‘Making the invisible, visible’ bonus series, Aarti Betigeri chats with Dr Helen Suich about what research through the Individual Measure of Multidimensional Poverty project has revealed about patterns of poverty in South Africa. Poverty in South Africa has historical roots, with the prospects of the majority of the population curtailed by Apartheid throughout much of the 2...

On this episode, we’re joined by Kim Cunio, Denise Ferris, and Clive Barstow to discuss the value of Australia’s arts sector and what policymakers can do to support artists in their time of need. They are the people society turns to in times of crisis to provide an entertaining distraction or salve, but the coronavirus crisis has left many in Australia’s already vulnerable arts sector on the brink...

In episode two in our ‘Making the invisible, visible’ bonus mini-series, Janet Hunt and Sharon Bessell join us to get behind the data from the Individual Measure of Multidimensional Poverty project, and discuss what this tells us about the gendered dimensions of poverty. For 12 years, researchers from Crawford School of Public Policy have been working on an ambitious project to redefine how povert...

On this episode, guest host Kim Cunio speaks with writer and social activist Stephanie Dowrick and Northern Territory-based paediatrician Paul Bauert about fighting for social justice in Australia. What does it take to be an activist for policy change? How can governments and Australian society more broadly do more to advocate for social justice? And what role can professionals like artists and he...

In the first episode in our ‘Making the invisible, visible’ bonus mini-series, Professor Sharon Bessell joins us to discuss the limitations of the international poverty line and what new research has revealed about the gendered, multidimensional nature of poverty. It has been 20 years since the Millennium Development Goals were first conceptualised, and in that time a significant number of people...

On this episode, guest host Kim Cunio is joined by Kathleen Harriden and Jessica Weir to talk about the importance of Indigenous knowledge, the deep connection of Indigenous people to Country, and how to decolonise Australian institutions. Are the disciplinary boundaries used by universities and the policymaking apparatus to understand challenges and distribute resources actually preventing societ...

On this episode, our panel - Dr Jenny Davis, Dr Jennifer Hunt, and Yun Jiang - join us to discuss online hate, anti-social behaviour on digital platforms, and what policymakers can do about it.   There’s little doubt social media can, at times, become very unpleasant. From run of the mill rudeness all the way to hate speech, there is no shortage of social media horror stories from users. Wome...

Some 13.9 per cent of Australians aged 20-24 are unemployed, and that’s likely to get worse the longer the coronavirus crisis continues. How will the crisis and the recession to come impact their future careers and prospects? On this week’s Policy Forum Pod we take a look at economic scarring – what it is, how it impacts people, and what policymakers can do about it. While we’re still learning muc...

On this week’s Policy Forum Pod we lift the lid on one of the most hotly-contested policy areas – taxes – and speak to the authors of a new report on how we can create a tax system that eases the unfair burden on younger Australians.   Despite repeated calls for reform – including Ken Henry’s Tax Review of 2008 – Australia’s tax system remains complex. But according to the authors of a new re...

On this episode, we hear from leading Indonesia experts about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on jobs, particularly on vulnerable workers in the country’s massive informal sector. As elsewhere in the world, Indonesia’s devastating COVID-19 health crisis is having a major impact on the country’s economy. The Indonesian government projects that five and a half million of its citizens coul...

On this episode, we’re joined by top health practitioners and policy experts to tackle the elimination versus suppression debate, plus why a comprehensive approach to health and wellbeing is so important for our future. With another outbreak of COVID-19 in Victoria, and the threat of more cases emerging across state borders weighing heavily on the minds of the Australian population, the country’s...

On this special ‘human futures’ episode, Dr Arnagretta Hunter takes the reins and is joined by Dr Robyn Alders and Dr Tayanah O’Donnell to discuss a rethink in how we value food, and why mitigation and adaptation to climate change are key to building a better future. Food is at the heart of how we live and where we live. But around the world, agricultural systems are being challenged, food produce...

On this episode, we speak with The Australian National University’s Meg Keen, Henry Ivarature, and Nicole Haley about the successes and struggles in the Pacific Island region as it manages the coronavirus crisis. Despite so far avoiding widespread COVID-19 infections, the risk of a major outbreak in the Pacific Island region remains real while the virus continues to wreak havoc around the world. I...

Even before COVID-19 struck, local news was struggling, with newspapers moving online or disappearing completely. So is there a role for policy in protecting and supporting the essential role local news plays in our democracy? We’re joined by Caroline Fisher and Carolyn Hendriks to get the headlines and check the small print. New research has revealed that while rural and regional Australians valu...

In part two of our special episode of Ask Policy Forum , the panel tackles your tough questions, from the struggling arts sector, to how health systems around the world are coping with the COVID-19 crisis, to the serious business of lockdown snacks. Led by Professor Mark Kenny, we take you on a fairly raucous ride, discussing health, education, technology, and the arts, in part two of our special...

On this episode, we bring you part one of our first-ever online live recording of  Ask Policy Forum , the podcast where you ask the questions. This week we’re bringing you something a little special on today’s  Policy Forum Pod . With an all-star panel of pod regulars, plus one or two new faces, we tackled your questions in the third edition of our  Ask Policy Forum  series. Fr...

On this episode, we’re joined by Associate Professor Ben Edwards to discuss why the mental health of younger Australians has been so severely impacted during the COVID-19 crisis. New research from The Australian National University (ANU) has revealed a spike in severe psychological distress in young Australians under 35 since the start of the pandemic. But why is COVID-19 impacting the mental heal...

In part two of this special Policy Forum Pod , we hear personal perspectives and COVID-19 policy prescriptions from Sara Bice, Matthew Sussex, and Libby Hackett. What are the qualities of successful institutions and leaders during a crisis? How can governments improve their public messaging and arrest a trend of declining trust? And how are globalised educational institutions coping and adapting t...

This week on Policy Forum Pod we get some personal perspectives on some of the many policy problems that the pandemic presents from Quentin Grafton, Helen Sullivan, and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt. The coronavirus crisis has raised some big questions for policymakers and shone a light on policy problems around the world. On this special Policy Forum Pod , we hear some personal perspectives on the policy c...

On this special episode during National Reconciliation Week, we speak to Dr Virginia Marshall and Professor Tony Dreise about Indigenous health, listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, and the ongoing march for equality. With outcomes on many key indicators of Indigenous health falling short of those for non-Indigenous Australians, how can policymakers better listen to Indigenou...

With the $550 coronavirus supplement set to expire in September, we speak with Professor Peter Whiteford about the future of Australia’s JobSeeker program as calls grow for a permanent raising of the rate. Prior to the coronavirus crisis, there were calls from all sides of politics for the Australian government to increase the rate of its unemployment benefit, formerly known as Newstart. The Morri...

In this episode, we look at the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on perhaps one of Australia’s most underappreciated sectors, volunteering. Despite often going under the radar, the volunteering sector makes a huge contribution to society. From our rural fire-fighting services, to our local sports organisations, and beyond, volunteers play a bigger part in Australian life than many probably realise. B...

In this episode, we discuss the importance of infrastructure in Australia’s economic recovery and what the future holds for major projects in the wake of COVID-19. It was key to Australia’s economic recovery from the Global Financial Crisis, but what is the role of infrastructure as the country manages the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic? With delays, cancellations, and mothballing costing...

In this episode, we chat to Dr John Hewson and Dr Arnagretta Hunter about the catastrophic and existential risks facing humanity, and what we can do to ensure our future. With people around the world suffering at the hands of COVID-19, the virus has shone a spotlight on our vulnerability to a global disease outbreak. But pandemics like COVID-19 are far from the only serious risks threatening citiz...

In this episode, Professor Helen Sullivan and Dr Christian Downie examine the role of international organisations in the fight against COVID-19. The United States government’s decision to withdraw funding from the World Health Organization (WHO) over its handling of the coronavirus crisis has brought simmering tension sharply to the surface. So have international organisations, such as the WHO and...