DECEMBER 2023Thank you for your support and interest in Spotlight this year. We hope you have a restful summer and look forward to sharing updates on our work in the new year. This month you can read our annual report, watch our BSL Talks webinar on ending child poverty in Australia, read our analysis and proposal for reforms to the Family Tax Benefit system, learn our latest insights from the SEED Project, delve into our submissions on the Victorian education system and the community sector, and view the David Scott archive. You can read more about our current work at www.bsl.org.au/research and also browse our policy submissions. Please share this social policy and research update with your colleagues and encourage them to subscribe. BSL’s 2023 annual report: Reshaping Australia’s future ‘I’m proud of how BSL is driving an ambitious national agenda to end poverty Our 2023 annual report shares our achievements over the year driving innovation, We also look forward as we introduce our new strategic WEBINAR RECORDING: ENDING CHILD POVERTY IN AUSTRALIAAs part of Anti-Poverty Week, on 19 October we hosted a special BSL Talks on what can be done to end child poverty in Australia. One in six children (16.6%) are growing up in poverty in Australia, which is higher than the general rate for adults (12.7%). We know this negatively impacts children, so what can be done to address it? Prof. Sharon Goldfeld from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Myra Geddes from Goodstart, and a person with lived experience of child poverty spoke with our Executive Director Travers McLeod to explore the importance of the new Early Years Strategy and how access to high quality early childhood education can help break cycles of disadvantage. Watch the webinar Ending Child Poverty in Australia REPORT: GROWING PAINSWe believe the Australian family payments system needs reform. Our latest research report, prepared in partnership with University of Melbourne, uses the history and analysis of the present state of the Family Tax Benefit to illustrate problems with the current system and offer guidance for improvement. We propose solutions that will ensure the system is able to achieve a balance between providing adequate income support for families with children, properly valuing unpaid care work in the family, gender equity and paid workforce participation. Read the report by Miranda Stewart, Emily Porter, Dina Bowman and Emily Millane, Growing pains: Family Tax Benefit issues and options for reform (PDF, 1.2 MB) REPORT: SEEDING CHANGE The first two years (2021–22) of the SEED Project entailed the discovery, program design and early implementation phase of the project. Drawing on project documents and interviews with project staff, this report outlines how the SEED Project was developed up to early implementation of the model, and summarises challenges and lessons learned. Read the report by Margaret Kabare, Seeding change: insights and lessons from the development and establishment of the SEED project in Seymour (PDF, 375 KB) “The education system is structured so that the things that matter aren’t valued, the teachers don’t have time to care about who students are and what students need ... and feel like they have no importance.” – Letter from a David Scott School student BSL welcomes the Victorian Government Inquiry into the state education system. We proposed 15 recommendations for reform based on decades of experience working with children, young people and their families across Australia, including through the delivery of educational support programs, partnerships with a range of schools in disadvantaged communities. We also drew on our own re-engagement program, the David Scott School – a senior secondary specialist education program in Melbourne. Read our Submission to the Inquiry into the state education system in Victoria (PDF, 385 KB) As a largely community-based organisation working in Australia for over 90 years, BSL is perfectly placed to help address points raised in the A stronger, more diverse and independent community sector issues paper. We make 15 recommendations to the Department of Social Services towards building a more meaningful relationship between government and the community sector and to recognise the real cost of service delivery. Read our Submission to DSS for a stronger, more diverse and independent community sector (PDF, 391 KB) BSL LIBRARY TIMELINE: DAVID SCOTT COLLECTIONDavid Scott was a director of BSL, a socially progressive community icon, and a key figure in the history of community organisations and social advocacy in Australia. The BSL library houses the David Scott archive which spans from 1930 to 2011. Assembled by Scott when preparing his biography, the archive offers crucial insights into Scott’s early life and his role in various Australian and international organisations, government agencies and political movements. Read more about David Scott on the Library’s Timeline page or, for more information, contact library@bsl.org.au. Dr Emily Porter is a Senior Research Fellow in the SPARC Work and Economic Security team. She joined BSL in 2020 as the second recipient of the ANZ Tony Nicholson Fellowship. Emily is passionate about using research to inform social policy and improve outcomes for disadvantaged communities. Her research at BSL has focused on patterns of financial wellbeing among vulnerable groups of Australians. She is currently working on financial stress as part of the broader SEED (Sustaining Empowerment and Economic Dignity) Project. Prior to joining BSL Emily worked as a policy analyst in government and consulting and lectured in social policy at the University of Melbourne while completing her PhD. Keep up to date with BSL’s work by subscribing to our free e-newsletters. Support our research and programs to make change that lasts. BSL Social Policy and Research Centre © Brotherhood of St. Laurence 2023 ABN 24 603 467 024 ARBN 100 042 822 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 Social Policy and Research Centre newsletter. To unsubscribe, please click on the link below. |