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.

Finance and economicsPower to Persuade3 July 2025Disability, Poverty, Wealth inequality

Policy for One: The New Class Divide in Australia

Finance and economics, Policy and governance, PoliticsPower to Persuade11 June 2025Wealth inequality

Community Wealth Building in the Victorian Goldfields

There has been increasing interest in revamping our economic systems to better support individual and collective health and wellbeing and distribute wealth more evenly, while doing more to protect the planet. In today’s post, recently-appointed VicHealth (@VicHealth) postdoctoral research fellow Melissa Kennedy of Deakin University (@DeakinSeed) explains what Community Wealth Building (CWB) is and how a recent Masterclass in the Victorian Goldfields region explored its transformative potential.

Innovation, Finance and economicsPower to Persuade9 April 2025economy, Place, financial wellbeing, innovation

Company directorships as economic abuse are flying under the radar

Womens Policy Action Tank, Issues, Finance and economics, GenderPower to Persuade24 October 2023economic abuse, women and work, violence against women

What are Foodbank prices really like?

Advocacy, Lived experience, Finance and economicsPower to Persuade3 October 2023Poverty

Indigenous-owned businesses: Creating strong Indigenous employment

Christian Eva (@ChristianEva9), Kerry Bodle, Dennis Foley, Jessica Harris, and Boyd Hunter discuss their new research in the Australian Journal of Social Issues on Indigenous owned businesses - to help inform future policy direction for both Indigenous employment and Indigenous business policies.

International development and gender: A return of the “invisible” woman?

Dr Adrian Bazbauers (@AdrianBazbauers) of the Public Service Research Group, UNSW Canberra discusses his new analysis of how multilateral development banks approach gender.

If it walks and talks like credit: behind the regulation of Buy Now Pay Later

In today’s post, Emma O’Neill of Good Shepherd (@GoodShepANZ) explores the potential impacts of the Government’s proposed regulation of Buy Now, Pay Later Products. Emma is a Senior Policy & Advocacy Advisor with a particular interest in women’s economic security, gender and climate change, and the impacts of marketisation on social equity.

Buy Now Pay Later is not the same as lay-by

In today’s analysis, Phoebe Nagorcka-Smith (@PNagorckaSmith) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodShepANZ) uses evidence from their recent ‘Safety net for sale’ report to explore how Buy Now Pay Later is used to trap family violence victim-survivors in debt, and why regulation is key to preventing it.

The Robodebt Royal Commission Starts Today: Let the Blame Game Begin

Policy and governance, Service Delivery, Finance and economicsPower to Persuade31 October 2022welfare conditionality, welfare-to-work, Royal Commission, unemployment

Who matters at the World Bank?

Dr Kim Moloney (@Global_Academic) of Hamad Bin Khalifa University shares a preview of her new book Who Matters at the World Bank: Bureaucrats, Policy Change, and Public Sector Governance, which tells the story of civil servant influence and the rise of public sector reform at the World Bank (read a sample chapter here).

It's time to put care at the centre of the Australian economy

Our care industries are vital to a healthy, functioning economy. In today’s analysis, Kristine Ziwica (@KZiwica), a journalist with 20 years experience working in Australia, the United States and the UK on human rights and gender equality campaigns, argues that we need to invest in our people and place care at the centre of the Australian economy.

Finance and economics, Gender, Policy and governance, PoliticsPower to Persuade19 May 2022economy, care work

Health budget 2022 spends a little on favoured interest groups but misses a chance for real reform

This article by Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor in the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, examines Australia’s 2022-23 Budget through a health lens and highlights missed opportunities for the federal government to improve primary care and aged care. It is republished from The Conversation.

Finance and economicsPower to Persuade30 March 2022health, Budget 2022

Ensuring Families aren't left behind in the COVID-19 recovery

New research shows households with young children are feeling the highest level of stress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is highest for families in communities that experience moderate levels of poverty. Professor Abigail Payne from the University of Melbourne discusses what needs to happen to ensure families are not left behind as we look ahead to the COVID-19 economic recovery.

Advocacy, Finance and economics, Policy and governancePower to Persuade21 October 2021COVID-19, family, Poverty, Policy making

Australians back the case for guaranteed basic income

According to a recent Anglicare Australia report, more than three quarters of Australians surveyed using a representative national sample method supported the creation of a permanent basic income. Last year’s JobSeeker/JobKeeper experience showed us the potential of this approach. This article from Nikki Stefanoff (@nikki_stefanoff) was originally posted on Pro Bono Australia.

Finance and economicsPower to Persuade10 August 2021Social Welfare, financial wellbeing

How much can the budget’s $1.1 billion for women’s safety really achieve? Two experts give their verdict

One of the headline figures in Tuesday’s federal budget was a A$1.1 billion dollar investment in women’s safety. This came as part of a special women’s budget statement, which pitched the budget as helping provide women with “respect, dignity, choice, equality of opportunity and justice”. It also comes amid a national crisis in domestic violence. On average, one woman is killed every week in Australia by a male current or former partner. So does the budget deliver on its promise to prioritise women’s safety and equality at home and at work? Does it do enough?

It’s Time for a Cross-Disciplinary Conversation About the Effectiveness of Job Seeker Sanctions

This post by Simone Casey (@simonecasey) and David O’Halloran considers a cross-disciplinary perspective on the effectiveness of JobSeeker sanctions, applying power relations and psycho-social lenses. This post originally appeared on Austaxpolicy: Tax and Transfer Policy Blog, with original version available here.

Finance and economicsPower to Persuade23 March 2021

Things you need to know before using a debt management company

The important message for the community in these challenging times is that people seeking to repair their credit reports or negotiate with their creditors do not need to pay expensive fees.

Finance and economicsPower to Persuade10 February 2021Social Welfare, financial vulnerability

Critical Junctures: opportunities and threats for democracies in the pandemic

Jensen Sass and Kate Henne, from the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the ANU, argue that the pandemic has opened up space for reconfiguring the relationships between states and markets.

An inclusive response to the financial impacts of COVID-19

A new report from the Centre for Social Impact provides an overview of the impact of the pandemic on the financial wellbeing of Australians, and explains the key elements of the government response so far.

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