Sue Olney
LGBTIQA+ people are more likely to experience marginalisation, stigma, social exclusion, abuse, and violence than the wider community. Philippa Moss, CEO of ACT-based LGBTIQA+ peer-led health service Meridian, and Alison Barclay, researcher and social impact consultant, explain how peer-led services are helping to address this gap, and what more needs to be done.
Read MoreToday’s post is from Giselle Newton (@newtonatron) from the Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Sydney, about her research into donor-conceived people’s experiences, views and support needs in a digital era. She reflects on strengthening policy and legislation in this fraught and quickly-evolving policy area.
Read MoreEvents such as wild fires, floods, and droughts in all continents remind us of how fragile and vulnerable cities, communities, and wildlife are. In this blog Dr Juan Carlos Fallas Chinchilla examines the role engineering innovation has in relation to alleviating climate change; and debate the need for new technology alongside other policy instruments and how these can be complementary in tackling the climate emergency.
Read MoreYoung people with lived experience of self-harm or suicidal behaviour should be at the forefront of designing, evaluating and implementing suicide prevention research.
You name it. As a suicide prevention researcher I have heard it all…by funders, ethics committees, Higher Education Health and Safety committees to name a few.
In this blog, I (Dr Maria Michail) share my experience of working in partnership with young people with lived experience of self-harm and suicidal behaviour to co-design of a guide titled “Visiting your General Practitioner: A guide for young people with lived experience of self-harm and suicidality”.
Read MoreOne woman a week is murdered in Australia, but there has been little to no progress on reducing this grim statistic. In the wake of the Women’s Safety Summit, it is clear a multi-pronged approach is needed. In today’s analysis, Brenda Gonzales of the Data Feminism Network (@DataFemNetwork) provides an example of how a private citizen in Mexico initiated policy change to make women safer through contextualised data collection of feminicides.
Read MoreA ground-breaking faith-based program in the Pacific seems to be having significant, and hopefully longer-term, impacts on men’s violence and abuse, with several important lessons for similar programs elsewhere, writes Miranda Forsyth, ANU Pacific Institute Convener and Associate Professor at ANU’s School of Regulation and Global Governance.
Read MoreAccording to the recently released Women's Economic Security Statement, increasing women’s workforce participation is an economic and social priority in Australia. To that end, the $109 million package, built around three pillars - workforce participation; earning potential; and financial independence - focuses on practical measures to effect positive change. We recently looked at the Statement's potential impacts on pillar 1 - workforce participation. In today’s analysis, Helen Dalley-Fisher and Hannah Gissane (@HannahGissane) of the Equality Rights Alliance Australia (@ERAAustralia) drill down to one of the specific measures announced in the package - the reinstatement of the Time Use Survey, and how it functions to make unpaid work visible to policy-makers. This piece was originally published by the Broad Agenda.
Read MoreResearch engagement and impact. Everyone’s talking about it. The United Kingdom’s 2014 Research Excellence Framework included it. As announced in the National Innovation and Science Agenda, the Australian Government now wants to see it. Dr Pauline Zardo with the Queensland University of Technology explores the implications for practice.
Read MoreNHS statistics released this week documented that eating disorders in men have increased by 70% in the UK, finding that these illnesses are rising at the same rate in young men as they are in young women. The media has been inundated with headlines discussing this rise in male eating disorders pointing towards causes such as social media and rise of body image pressures on men and boys within modern society as a way to understand this phenomenon. While there is no doubt that such issues may have an influence on such a sharp rise in men experiencing such illnesses, male eating disorders are not a new phenomenon, simply one that has been “underdiagnosed, undertreated, and misunderstood” (Strother, Lemberg & Tuberville, 2012). A study in 2007 estimated that up to 25% of individuals with eating disorders were male, with underdiagnoses being debated due to the low number of men within services.
Research into the reasons why people develop these illnesses have developed steadily in recent years with evidence suggesting that the similarities outweigh the differences between genders with regards to the core features and psychology of eating disorders. With treatment outcomes reported as equally successful for men as for women, Dr Una Foye asks the question remains why this “sudden” increase?
Read MoreDifferent strategies for using data are needed, depending on the institution, policy or individuals in question. In this post, Josh Powell, Chief Strategy Officer at the Development Gateway weighs in on the 'data and development' debate.
Read MoreSocial sciences can undoubtedly benefit from developments in computational tools for data collection and analysis, as well as the growing accessibility and availability of data sources. However, Marta Stelmaszak and Philipp Hukal flag the importance of continued careful reflection when using new forms of data and methods in this sphere, particularly reflection on and investigation of the mechanisms that generate and manipulate information up to the point of collection. It is this reflection and investigation, they argue, that sets social science apart from data science. This post was originally published on the LSE Impact Blog as part of its digital methodologies series.
Read MoreRecent effective election campaigns by nurses and teachers may point the way to new industrial campaigning on issues that is led by women and will shift beyond the traditional union-Labor party dynamic, writes Ben Spies-Butcher in the post below.
It was originally published at the POP Politics Blog and is republished here with permission.
Read MoreIt has been widely publicized that women’s superannuation accrual is significantly below their male counterparts' and often inadequate to support women in their retirement years. This policy analysis identifies the current weaknesses in the legal structure and provides practical suggestions for rectifying the inequities.
Read MoreChildren with disability may make up the majority of those in out of home care, yet they are barely visible in public debate and policy development, writes Dr Jess Cadwallader from People with Disability Australia. In fact, she says the recent National Standards for Out of Home Care contain zero guidance in relation to disability. She argues that a critical starting point to providing proper care for them is to at least collect basic and crucial data.
Read MoreDiscussion around immigration and asylum seekers in Australia has become increasingly populist and emotive and too often devalues evidence-based decision making. This piece by Professor Christina Boswell, originally published on her blog, explores how the immigration debate in the UK has evolved over time and how to develop a more nuanced and realistic conversation based on evidence and experience.
Read MoreThe highly-publicised gender pay gap matters for reasons of equity and fairness, but also because women are disproportionately disadvantaged as a consequence. Research and Policy Specialist Susan Maury, from Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, unpacks some of the reasons for gendered disparities as well as some actions that can be taken to mitigate them.
Read MoreANROWS has released a new report detailing the extent of violence against women in Australia. Below, Dr Peta Cox provides an overview. We urge you to read the full report at www.anrows.org.au/PSS
For a summary of the report and infographics for download, go to: http://anrows.org.au/publications/compass/PSS
Read MoreVeteran tobacco control researcher Professor David Hill paid homage at the recent 2015 Oceanic Tobacco Control conference in Perth to his former colleague Dr Nigel Gray, regarded by many as the 'father of tobacco control globally as well as in Australia".
Here are excerpts from his tribute speech - it's a #Longread but provides so many great insights into research and advocacy.
Dr Nigel Gray with former Labor Health Minister Nicola Roxon
Read MoreLeave entitlements for fathers can increase paternal involvement in housework and childcare but their longer-term impact on the gender division of labour in the home is contested. In this post, Pia Schober from the German Institute for Economic Research discusses policy movements concerning paternity leave in Europe and their outcomes in improving paternal involvement in household and care labour.
This item was originally posted on Policy Network.
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