OCTOBER 2023

This month we hear how a Voice to Parliament would deliver better outcomes for First Nations Australians, our latest research on how improvements can be made on consultation and engagement with disability service users, and ways youth employment service providers can collaborate to provide better employment opportunities for young people.

Parent support, housing and the Sambell Orations on our library timeline are also featured.

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

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

BSL TALKS: ENDING CHILD POVERTY IN AUSTRALIA
Thursday 19 October 2023, 1 pm to 2 pm

Online event open to all. Please join us.

As part of Anti-Poverty Week, BSL Talks will examine what can be done to end child poverty in Australia and will explore the importance of the new Early Years Strategy and how access to high quality early childhood education can help break cycles of disadvantage. 

Join Travers McLeod, BSL’s Executive Director, in conversation with:

• Professor Sharon Goldfeld, Theme Director, Population Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
• Myra Geddes, Social Impact General Manager, Goodstart
• a person with lived experience of childhood poverty.

WEBINAR RECORDING: THE DIFFERENCE THE VOICE WILL MAKE

On 13 September, BSL Talks featured Allira Davis, co-chair of the Uluru Youth Dialogue and Mary Crooks AO, Executive Director of the Victorian Women’s Trust and founder of the Together, Yes campaign. They spoke with Tracey O'Neill, Acting Director of Shared Services and Reconciliation Committee member at BSL. The group discussed how a Voice to Parliament will allow First Nations peoples to have a genuine say in the design and delivery of policies, programs and services that affect them and ultimately deliver better outcomes.

Watch the webinar The Difference The Voice Will Make

REPORT: LISTENING TO COMMUNITY VOICES

BSL’s Social Policy and Research Centre recently published Listening to Community Voices. This small study explored the experiences of people with disability, and their partners, carers and allies who have been involved in consultation and engagement activities as users of services. While various kinds of consultation take place, there is room for improvement in giving service users a voice in how services are designed and delivered and in responding to their insights.

Read the report by Deborah Warr, Amber Mills and Vas Kasidis, Listening to community voices: perspectives on consultation and engagement from people using disability services (PDF, 436 KB)

REPORT: MUTUAL INVESTMENT FOR MUTUAL BENEFIT

This short report draws on the experience of the Transition to Work Community of Practice as a primary case study of activating employers. The Transition to Work Community of Practice was a group of youth employment service providers across Australia that collaborated on a common service model. The model harnessed community investment to provide employment opportunities for young people aligned with their strengths and aspirations.

Read the report by Sharon Bond and Marion Coddou, Mutual investment for mutual benefit: activating employers to shift young people’s career trajectories (PDF, 1.2 MB) 

SUBMISSION: A NEW VOLUNTARY PARENT SUPPORT SERVICE

BSL made a submission to the consultation on a new voluntary parent support service. We are currently piloting an innovative, voluntary service called Sustaining Economic Empowerment and Dignity for women (SEED), in Seymour, Victoria. A well-designed voluntary parent support service will advance efforts to build the economic security of low-income parents, especially mothers. We welcome the opportunity to contribute to the design process and any further discussion with the Department about our learnings from SEED.

Read the Submission to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations on a new voluntary parent support service (PDF, 309 KB)

SUBMISSION: HOUSING AUSTRALIA FUTURE FUND 

BSL made a submission on the Housing Australia Future Fund. We recommended that in addition to passing the HAFF (No.2) and related bills, the Parliament should address the need for long-term structural reform and investment in housing affordability and supply through complementary measures. These additional housing supply measures should be supplemented by appropriate design controls and adequate funding for community infrastructure.

Read the Submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023 (PDF, 249 KB)

PROJECT AWARD: SUSTAINING ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND DIGNITY FOR WOMEN (SEED)

BSL has been awarded Anglicare Australia’s National Award for Innovation for our Sustaining Economic Empowerment and Dignity for Women (SEED) project. The SEED project is a place-based collaborative project bringing together our research, policy and practice teams. It is designed to respond to local conditions and increase collective capability to tackle barriers to women’s economic security and financial wellbeing, creating positive change at the individual, local and national level. Through the establishment of the Seymour Women’s Financial Wellbeing Hub, SEED has been able to demonstrate that working alongside participants to set goals and build plans leads to effective outcomes. The Anglicare innovation award recognises new ideas or approaches – for example, innovation to improve client outcomes, focus on particular target groups, overcome barriers, or bring about social change.

Pictured from left to right: Dr Dina Bowman, BSL Principal Research Fellow, Work and Economic Security and Honorary Principal Fellow, University of Melbourne, Penny Bohm, Project Manager 100 Women Project, Rebecca Meddings, Acting Head of Work, Economic Security and Social Inclusion programs.

BSL LIBRARY TIMELINE: SAMBELL ORATION 

​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.