SEPTEMBER 2022
Welcome to the latest news from the BSL Social Policy and Research Centre (SPARC).
We feature BSL’s five-point proposal to enable a better future for young people, outlined in Travers McLeod’s Menzies oration, and look forward to a webinar in Anti-Poverty Week.
Other items relate to insurance challenges in the face of extreme weather events, effective community engagement, and factors shaping economic security and financial resilience.
You can read more about our current work at www.bsl.org.au/research and also browse our policy submissions.
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Special ANTI-POVERTY WEEK session of BSL Talks
TACKLING CHILD POVERTY THROUGH POLICIES AND PAYMENTS
Thursday 20 October 2022, 12 noon – 1 pm
During Anti-Poverty Week, BSL’s Dr Dina Bowman will facilitate a panel including Professor Miranda Stewart, National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds and an expert by experience, who will explore the current family payments system and its impacts on child and family poverty. Family Tax Benefits play an important role in tackling child poverty, but successive changes have undermined their effectiveness, leaving children at risk.
SPEECH: TOWARDS A BETTER DEAL FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
A five-point plan to build real pathways to employment for young people was presented by BSL Executive Director, Travers McLeod, when he delivered the Menzies Oration at Federation University in Ballarat.
Read the text of the Menzies oration, Do I have a future? A better deal for young people in Australia
FORUM SUMMARY: INSURANCE IN A CHANGING CLIMATE
How can we ensure insurance is affordable and accessible for all, in the context of increased risks associated with climate change? Financially vulnerable people often live in the areas most under threat from extreme weather events such as floods and storms.
BSL, Financial Counselling Victoria and Melbourne Institute co-hosted the Insurance in a changing climate forum, which brought together stakeholders from industry, government, academia and the community sector to share insights and consider potential solutions.
Read the summary report Key issues and future pathways for home and contents insurance (PDF, 420 KB) by Antonia Settle, Emily Porter and Sandy Ross.
PRESENTATION: LISTENING TO COMMUNITY VOICES
Our project Listening to community voices explores the views of people with disability about effective and respectful ways of including them in improving services.
View the presentation made at Anglicare’s national conference by researchers Amber Mills and Deborah Warr and Community Project Officer Vasiliky Kasidis, ‘I don’t know how to answer that!’: exploring community perspectives on engagement activities (PDF, 847 KB)
PRESENTATION: SAFETY NETS FOR ECONOMC SECURITY
Our study of economic security among 30-year-olds showed that for some their family cushions the impact of insecure work but that the family safety net is inherently unequal. This is part of the longitudinal Life Chances study.
View the presentation by Ursula Harrison, Safety nets, resilience and hope: insights from a qualitative longitudinal study (PDF, 357 KB) at the Anglicare conference.
Read more in the research report Return to the family safety net?
PRESENTATION: BUIILDING FINANCIAL RESILIENCE
Initial findings from a study of budget priorities and saving capacity among low-income households point to both risks and opportunities to improve financial resilience.
View the presentation by Emily Porter Savings buffers, housing stress and building resilience in tough times (PDF, 337 KB) at the Anglicare conference.
Dr David Longley joined the Youth Opportunities team of the Social Policy and Research Centre in 2021.
David completed his PhD in history at Monash University. Before joining BSL, he worked in the university sector, his research focusing on the African diaspora in the 20th century and the intersection of ethnicity, culture and nationality.
His current work addresses vocational education reform as part of the National Youth Employment Body. This includes improving apprenticeship outcomes among disadvantaged young people, and the implications of a transition to a green economy for skills and training.
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BSL Social Policy and Research Centre
67 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy Vic. 3065 Australia
Phone: (03) 9483 1183
Email: research@bsl.org.au
Web: www.bsl.org.au/research
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