This forum aims to bridge the divide between welfare and social policy, and development practice through the prism of ‘inclusive growth’. Drawing upon the expertise of leading international policy makers and academics in the field, the forum will explore the following salient themes
Cost: $60 per person including morning tea, lunch and aftenoon tea.
For more information and to download the full program, click the Event Booking online link.
]]>Presenters: Professor Karen Rowlingson
Over the past 40 years, there has been a major shift in responsibility for welfare from the state to the individual. 'Spending' on the more 'passive' areas of welfare (eg unemployment benefits) has been cut in favour of 'investment' in more 'active' areas such as childcare, education and active labour market policies. Individuals are increasingly expected to take responsibility for their welfare through learning, earning, saving and careful consuming. The current focus on austerity is leading, in many cases, to an even greater withdrawal of the state from welfare provision (the UK’s 2010 budget and Australia's 2014 budget provide prime examples here).
While government discourse is often framed in terms of greater 'individual responsibility' for welfare, the reality is that people are being thrown on the 'mercy of the market' with a resulting increase in poverty and financial insecurity. One of the impacts of these changes is increased reliance on short-term, high-cost credit, eg through pay-day lenders. This raises issues of responsible lending and borrowing, and the role of the state in relation to regulation. This presentation will review the extent, nature and impact of these shifts, focusing particularly on reforms of the social security system and the regulation of high-cost, short-term credit. While the UK will be the focus of this presentation, other countries, particularly Australia, will also be discussed.
]]>Presenters: Associate Professor Peter Butterworth
Common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression are amongst the leading causes of disability in Australia and internationally. The onset of these disorders generally occurs during adolescence and early adulthood, and can have significant social and economic consequences across the lifecourse. Poverty, deprivation and social disadvantage are also key determinants of mental illness. This presentation will describe findings from an integrated program of research investigating the inter-relationship between work, welfare receipt and mental health to illustrate the key role that mental health may have in achieving major social policy objectives.
Peter Butterworth is an Associate Professor in the Research School of Population Health at The Australian National University.
]]>Presenters: Mr James Horton, Mr Timothy Pilgrim, Dr Monika Zalnieriute, Professor Megan Richardson
The Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, will head a legal, social policy and rights panel at the University of Melbourne. Commissioner Pilgrim will be joined by human rights scholar and advocate, Dr. Monika Zalnieriute, and technology advisor, James Horton. The free public event will be hosted by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the University of Melbourne.
University of Melbourne’s privacy and legal expert, Professor Megan Richardson, will MC the interactive panel and will be taking questions from the floor and from the live Twitter feed #ppnMelbourne. Privacy professionals, academics and students with an interest in privacy rights are encouraged to attend and join in the discussion.
Doors open at 5:30pm with refreshments on arrival. PLEASE NOTE due to increased interest this event has relocated to Graduate School of Education, 234 Queensbury St. Room 230
]]>The priority investment approach to welfare has been heralded as a new and more effective strategy to ensure that vulnerable Australians have a better future. Based on actuarial analysis, it involves identifying members of the community at risk of long-term welfare dependency and providing necessary social, education and employment services to enable them to participate more fully in the labour market and wider community. This approach has been implemented in a number of countries including New Zealand and was a key recommendation of the McClure Review of Australia’s welfare system {LINK}.
Priority Investment has the potential to address entrenched disadvantage combined with its promise of delivering longer term welfare savings. Despite this, the model is not without its pitfalls and detractors. Many of those who challenge the priority investment approach, highlight the narrow targeting and limited scope of these early inventions.
Join us for a critical conversation with leading researchers and policy makers from Australia and New Zealand who will explore the promise and pitfalls of investment approaches to welfare.
Featuring keynote presentations by Professor Peter Whiteford from ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy and Dr Simon Chapple, former chief economist of New Zealand’s Ministry of Social Development, now based at the School of Government at Victoria University of Wellington.
]]>Presenters: Professor Philip Alston
This event is booked out. The lecture will be recorded and will be published on the Melbourne Law School website.
In a report to the UN Human Rights Council in June, Philip Alston argued that the combination of rapidly growing inequality and 40 million people living below the poverty line endangers American democracy. Policies deliberately designed to remove basic protections from the poorest and punish those who are not in employment will make the situation much worse.
While leading members of Congress endorsed his findings, Nikki Haley, Ambassador to the UN and a Trump cabinet member, replied that “it is patently ridiculous for the UN to examine poverty in America.” Alston should instead have looked at Burundi and the DRC rather than wasting “the UN's time and resources, deflecting attention from the world' s worst human rights abusers and focusing instead on the wealthiest and freest country in the world.”
In this lecture, Professor Philip Alston reflects on what he sees as the increasingly dramatic parallels between the US and Australia, and the threat posed by these developments.
This lecture is presented in collaboration with the Human Rights Law Centre.
]]>How do we sustain Australia's economic growth without sacrificing social equity?
The leading national forum on economic and social policy, the Outlook Conference brings together thought-leaders and policy influencers for rigorous discussion of issues facing Australia today. This is the 12th Outlook Conference and will focus on the balance between economic growth and social equity – and how this balance affects and is affected by political ambition.
This year the Outlook Conference Cocktail Party and Dinner will take place on Thursday 11 October at the National Gallery of Victoria and include a keynote from the Honorable Bill Shorten MP, Leader of the Opposition. Tickets can be purchased as part of a two day package or purchased separately.
Join us on the morning of Friday 12 October for the Breakfast Roundtables: an opportunity for in-depth discussion of key policy issues affecting Australia, guided by subject-matter experts. The Breakfast Roundtables are free to attend and breakfast is provided. For those not attending a Roundtable, a separate networking breakfast will be available.
On Friday evening the Melbourne Institute and Women in Economics Network will host the WEN Cocktail Party. This event is open to all two day and Friday delegates and is free to attend.
The conference is proudly presented by the Melbourne Institute and The Australian.
]]>Presenters: Meg Montague, Clayton Chin, Sana Nakata, Neal Lawson
Current policies have become disconnected from the concerns of everyday people. In our present political climate, economic insecurity and worsening inequality have made decent jobs, affordable housing and a strong public service precarious. Indifference towards truth, in favour of vested interests in politics, is breeding contempt. As a result, policy failure is driving an historic loss of public trust in democracy.
We can't afford to take democracy for granted in the face of our complex social and political challenges – it must be reimagined as an inclusive force. What would such a democracy look like? What ideas and practices have the potential to increase participation in decision-making? How might new technologies enable this? Our panellists will discuss the changing values of democracy and its transformative potential for these social and political issues.
Join us for this facilitated event about the future of democracy, co-produced by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the University of Melbourne.
Please contact the event organiser with any accessibility requirements.
]]>