FEBRUARY 2023

Welcome to the latest news from the Social Policy and Research Centre (SPARC) at the  Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL).

Two recent policy submissions presented our approach to understanding poverty and measuring what matters to people's wellbeing, based on capabilities. We also responded to a consultation about improving the nation's energy performance.

Our work on employment is represented in a report of the Pathways to Employment (P2E) trial and a radio interview about AgFutures.

You can read more about our current work at www.bsl.org.au/research and browse our policy submissions. 

Please share this policy and research update with your colleagues and encourage them to subscribe.

MIND THE GAP! 
How to close the gender pay gap created by insecure, part-time and undervalued work

Thursday 9 March 2023, 12 pm to 1 pm

Why do women in Australia earn on average $26,596 less than men each year? What can be done about this persistent pay gap?

Join BSL’s Dr Dina Bowman, Principal Research Fellow, Work and Economic Security, in conversation with:

• Professor Lyn Craig, Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Melbourne 
• Lisa Darmanin, Branch Secretary, Victorian and Tasmanian Authorities and Services Branch, Australian Services Union 
• Natalie Paine, Social Impact and Reporting Lead, ANZ

POLICY: UNDERSTANDING POVERTY IN AUSTRALIA

Poverty impacts people’s ability to make choices and live lives that they value. While income-based poverty measures are essential, they only provide a partial picture of the extent and nature of disadvantage. BSL has therefore urged the Australian Government to adopt a multidimensional approach to poverty reduction.

Read our submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee re the extent and nature of poverty in Australia (PDF, 332 KB)

POLICY: MEASURING WELLBEING

BSL supports the development of measures by which Australia can gauge its social, economic and environmental progress, including consideration of a wellbeing framework. Our submission to the Australian Treasury focuses on the importance of measuring and optimising people’s capabilities – that is, their real opportunities to be and do what they value. 

Read more in Measuring what matters: BSL response to the Australian Treasury discussion paper (PDF, 294 KB)

REPORT: TESTING NEW PATHWAYS TO WORK

Pathways to Employment (P2E) was a small, proof-of-concept trial to test the efficacy of mainstream employment pathway support for young people in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Despite implementation constraints during COVID-19 lockdowns, our evaluation shows that the P2E trial generated positive outcomes for participants.

Read the report by Deborah Warr, Liam Fallon, Andrew Thies and Amber Mills, Improving employment outcomes for young people with disability: insights from the P2E program trial, (PDF, 556 KB)

POLICY: IMPROVING HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR ALL

Efficient use of energy is critical to Australia’s efforts to mitigate climate change and improve energy affordability. Our submission re the National Energy Performance Strategy focuses on seizing the opportunity to improve home energy efficiency for households facing disadvantage, drawing from BSL’s experience of energy efficiency pilot delivery, policy work and research.

Read our submission re the National Energy Performance Strategy (PDF, 441 KB)

PRACTICE: TACKING SKILLS SHORTAGES IN RURAL VICTORIA

BSL’s Kira Clarke was interviewed on radio 3WM’s Country Today program about AgFutures, a collaborative program that aims to address both rural workforce shortages and youth unemployment by developing tailored, entry-level training and paid workplace experience with local employers in south-west Victoria.

Listen to the interview AgFutures provides training in the dairy industry

Funded by the Victorian Government’s Workforce Training Innovation Fund, AgFutures brings together six expert partners: South West TAFE, Skills Impact, Dairy Australia, Food & Fibre Great South Coast, Brophy Family & Youth Services and BSL. As the enabling organisation, BSL will  oversee the administration, strategic governance and evaluation.

Find out more about AgFutures, which builds on the work of the wider National Youth Employment Body

LIBRARY NEWS: SILENT FILMS OF POSTWAR LIFE IN THE SLUMS

In 2022, the BSL Library partnered with the National Film and Sound Archive to digitise three 16mm films made for the Brotherhood of St. Laurence between 1946 and 1950.

These short, silent films were screened in public gatherings, with a speaker providing commentary. They were unique for their time, as depictions of inner-Melbourne slums and family hardships:

• These are our children (1946, B&W, 11 mins) tells the story of a young boy and girl who have little to do with their time, which leads them to petty crime and eventually to the Children's Court.
• Beautiful Melbourne (1947, B&W, silent, 10 mins) shows the tough conditions of Fitzroy housing.
• A place to live (1950, B&W, silent, 12 mins) is about housing, homelessness and inequality.

Access the three films via their BSL library catalogue record

​The Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL) is a social justice organisation that works to prevent and alleviate poverty across Australia. You are receiving this email as you have previously subscribed to the BSL Research and Policy Centre e-newsletter. To unsubscribe, please click on the link below.