Sue Olney
Ensuring all Australians have a safe, secure and affordable home is an important focus of Anti-Poverty Week 2023 (15-27 October). Here, Professor Stephen Whelan from the University of Sydney School of Economics (@USydneyEcon) and Life Course Centre (@lifecourseAust) examines the current state-of-play in Australia’s housing market, its influence on experiences of poverty, and what can be done to improve the future health, welfare and dignity of all Australians.
Read MoreExploring the pressing need for trauma-informed care in Australia's National Housing and Homelessness Plan, Research Fellow Chris Hartley sheds light on the deep links between trauma and homelessness while advocating for a unified, comprehensive approach to address the issue in line with global best practices.
Read MoreWhile COVID-19 is no longer considered a global emergency, Chris Hartley discusses its enduring effects on homelessness policy and practice.
Read MoreMarisa Lo Bartolo (LinkedIn), from Good Shepherd (@GoodShepANZ) reflects on the recent Australian Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Recovery and Healing Conference in Wollongong. Marisa is a Policy and Advocacy Advisor, and has a particular interest in the primary prevention of gender based violence, trauma recovery, and issues faced by LGBTIQA+ communities.
Read MoreAfter being punished by hostile welfare and housing systems, a trans welfare recipient reveals how she was able to rebuild her life through the power of queer solidarity and mutual aid. The author, Natalie Feliks, is a writer and activist currently living in Naarm. This post is part of series of articles curated for Power to Persuade by the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, shining a light on people’s experiences of the welfare system.
Read MoreIn the wake of anti-poverty week Joey King, a community services professional and student living with mental illness, details the systemic pressures that keep her ‘dirt poor’ and homeless.
Read MoreThe Women’s Safety Summit has sparked multiple conversations about best practice and effective policy for the next National Plan to End Violence Against Women and their Children. In today’s analysis, Emma O’Neill of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodAdvocacy) makes the argument that wider policy decisions during the term of the first National Plan reduced women’s economic security and ran counter to women’s safety, and that these need to be reversed under the next National Plan.
Read MoreToday’s article expands on a recent post by the same author published on Power to Persuade that exposed flaws in processes for government to capture the experiences of people with disability experiencing homeless in recent federal and state government inquiries (link to other post). How can governments better factor the needs and circumstances of people with disability into consultation processes and policies, and how might this improve policy outcomes? The post’s author, who has lived experience of disability and homelessness, looks at the intersection of disability and housing insecurity and proposes some wide-ranging reforms. The author is still in search of stable housing herself and has asked to remain anonymous.
Read MoreResearch shows that people who experience chronic homelessness are likely to have complex needs linked to a developmental or psychiatric disability, a traumatic brain injury, physical health problems and/or mental health issues. Today’s post examines the complex intersection of disability and homelessness in the context of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into homelessness in Australia initiated in February 2020 and the Victorian Government inquiry into homelessness initiated in June 2019. The post raises important questions about whose voices are being heard and included in these inquiries, given that the call for submissions and public hearings overlapped with bushfires, bushfire recovery and the COVID-19 pandemic - a time when the resources and energy of many people with disability, Disabled People’s Organisations, and people in insecure housing were stretched to breaking point and their capacity to focus on and influence the business of government was severely limited. These are not the only examples of government failing to factor the needs and circumstances of people with disability into consultation processes, and it smacks of systemic bias. This post’s author, who has lived experience of disability and homelessness and started a support group for homeless women, is still in search of stable housing herself. She has asked to remain anonymous.
Read MoreThe Covid-19 pandemic is exposing a raft of issues with social welfare policy in Australia. Australia’s lack of social housing and lack of affordable rentals means many people are living in crowded or inadequate housng, or are homeless. In today’s blog post Nicole Gurran, Peter Phibbs and Tess Lea discuss the issues Australia is now facing as Covid-19 intersects with homelessness and inadequate housing, and what governments need to do to help.
Read MoreWhile managing the archives for Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodShepANZ), Fraser Faithfull keeps a close eye on the impact of government policies for disadvantaged women, children and families. Today he shares a review of the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Homelessness, the challenges for the sector in Gippsland, and innovative responses that could support larger policy reforms.
Read MoreHomelessness for older women has risen by an astounding 30% in just 5 years. This is just the tip of the iceberg for older women’s increasing housing precariousness and poverty. In today’s analysis, Myfan Jordan (@Myfan_Jordan) of Per Capita (@PerCapita) shares findings from her recently-released research report, Mutual Appreciation: a social innovation thinkpiece. This is the third in a series exploring older women’s experiences of poverty to mark Anti-Poverty Week; research participant ‘Lorraine’ told her story earlier in the week, and we started out with an analysis of how older women are suffering on the Newstart Allowance.
Read MoreFor Anti-Poverty Week, we are focussing on older women’s disadvantage, accumulated across a lifetime. An earlier post explored how older women are now the largest demographic reliant on the Newstart Allowance, which is pushing many into crisis. In today’s post, “Lorraine”[1] generously shares her story, in her own words. Lorraine is 70 years old, currently living in private rental accommodation. She receives a full age pension and commonwealth rent assistance while also working part-time. Her story contains many of the barriers and bumps that all women face – relationship breakdown, single parenting, the need to reskill, relocation for jobs, being called upon to help with caring for ageing parents or grandbabies, and that ever-present sexually-transmitted debt. Lorraine was one of several peer researchers on Per Capita’s (@PerCapita) recent report on innovative solutions for housing precarity for older women. We are thankful to her for allowing us to share her story here.
Read MoreWith the federal election campaign in its final days, people are heading to polling booths to vote in Australia’s next government. In today’s federal election series, Policy Whisperer Susan Maury (@susanmaury) and Laura Vidal (@lauraemilyvidal), both of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, break down the Government and Australian Labor Party’s policies for improving women’s safety, providing both a comparison between the platforms and commentary on how the plans fall short. Today’s piece on women’s safety is the second in a two-part series from the @GoodAdvocacy team. You can read Part 1 on economic security here.
Read MoreOriginally posted in The Conversation (November 22nd), Alanna Kamp, Ana-Maria Bliuc, Kathleen Blair and Kevin Dunn (Western Sydney University) present some startling statistics on racism experienced by Asian Australians. Approximately 85% of the 6000 people surveyed had faced some form of racism and for almost 6 in every 10, this racism has prevented access to housing. The authors put forward several explanations ranging from a perceived loss to Anglo-Australia hegemony to generalised sinophobia, and conclude with a call to action grounded in Australia’s laws against racial discrimination.
Read MoreThe ACT specialist homelessness sector has been exploring how it can respond to the research that suggests that 100% of people engaging with services have been impacted by trauma. In this post, Rebecca Vassarotti explores what some of the research suggests and how human services sub-sectors can engage with practice approaches such as trauma-informed practice.
Read MoreIn his article for The Mandarin, David Donaldson reports on an inquiry into social impact investment (SII) for housing and homelessness, led by the Centre for Social for Impact. This inquiry, which was prepared for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, addresses three key questions:
What is SII and how can it be applied to housing and homelessness policy in Australia?
What are the actual, potential and perceived opportunities, risks and/or barriers of SII for housing and homelessness policy in Australia?
How can SII be applied to housing policy in the Australian context?
What does the 2018-19 Budget mean for society? Is this budget creating the Australia we want? This piece summarises the Centre For Social Impact's response to last week's budget release. The Centre for Social Impact is a collaboration between the University of New South Wales Sydney, the University of Western Australia and Swinburne University of Technology, with the purpose to catalyse social change. According to the Centre's Chief Executive Officer, Professor Kristy Muir, the budget does not do enough to support the most disadvantaged or to address key social issues.
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