Measuring the hidden costs of disability in Australia
Measuring the hidden costs of disability in Australia

Australians with disability and their families are well aware that living with disability can be very expensive – and yet our national poverty statistics and indicators do not take account of the hidden costs and earning barriers of being disabled in Australia. In their new article for a special issue of the Australian Economic Review, Sue Olney and Sophie Yates discuss the links between disability and poverty. They also explore why we need to think about using both monetary and non-monetary indicators (drawing on the knowledge of people with lived experience of both disability and poverty) to capture the full picture of inequality between people with and without disability in Australia.

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Finance and economicsPower to PersuadeDisability, Poverty, Wealth inequality
Connection and stories as a model for empowering communities
Connection and stories as a model for empowering communities

In this post, Karina Harback shows why “Inspire Connections” offers more than just time with horses—it’s a striking example of what becomes possible when communities are empowered to respond creatively to children’s needs. Partly funded by Communities for Children in Southern Tasmania, this equine-facilitated learning program shows how intelligent support can unlock locally driven, strengths-based initiatives. As a teacher and Equine Facilitated Learning Practitioner, Karina continually adapts the program to create a responsive, safe, and relational space where students develop emotional regulation, self-awareness, and confidence—skills often out of reach in traditional classrooms. At its heart, this is a story about what happens when community, care, and connection come together - and why enabling place-based responses is key to supporting all children to thrive.

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Lived experience, Innovation, Community engagement, Service DeliveryPower to PersuadeEquine-facilitated learning, Community, Learning with horses, Children
No Wrong Door: Why Every Family Deserves a Wendy in the First 1,000 Days
No Wrong Door: Why Every Family Deserves a Wendy in the First 1,000 Days

Bernadette Black AM, CEO and Founder of SEED Futures, shares her deeply personal journey from teenage motherhood to national systems change advocate. Reflecting on the transformative impact of one woman’s care and belief in her, she makes a powerful case for reimagining the way Australia supports families in their earliest, most vulnerable days. With warmth and urgency, Black argues that kindness must not depend on chance—it must be built into the system. Through SEED Futures and the Incremental Reform Catalogue, she offers a clear, practical path to make that vision real.

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Lived experience, Service Delivery, Policy and governance, Issues, Human Rights, Gender, 21stC Policy and Rights, AdvocacyPower to PersuadeSEED Futures, Family support, 1000 days, Young parent, Incremental Reform Catalogue, National Primary Preventative Framework
What counts as learning? Rethinking out-of-school time with Children’s University
What counts as learning? Rethinking out-of-school time with Children’s University

In a world where even after-school chess is expected to polish a child’s critical thinking résumé, the pressure to prove every moment's utility has reshaped how we talk about education. But what if children themselves have a different idea? This post by Megan Lang explores how Children’s University challenges narrow definitions of learning, and what happens when we start listening to children’s own accounts of joy, curiosity, and connection beyond the classroom.

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Education, Lived experience, Community engagementPower to PersuadeLearning, Children, Children's University, Participation, Evaluation
Why Where You Live Matters for Young Children
Why Where You Live Matters for Young Children

Ahead of the International Day of Families on 15th May, Dr Karen Villanueva and colleagues from the Social Equity Research Centre at RMIT University, along with researchers from the University of South Australia, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and the University of Montreal, explore why neighbourhoods matter for young children.

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Policy and governancePower to Persuadesocial determinants of health, Place, urban planning, family, Equity, Children