S-J Fenton
@s-jfenton.bsky.social
Today Maria Katsonis, a mental health advocate with lived experience of mental health issues, discusses the complexity of including lived experience in mental health reform, warning that organisations and policymakers must be willing to share power if the promise of lived experience is to be realised.
Read MoreAs we approach the end of 2024, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on both the progress that has been made in disability equality, but also the things that we all do to protect ourselves and sustain our collective and individual advocacy efforts. In the Spring 2024 Edition of the Canberra Disability Review , Editor Rob Donnelly invited readers to do this, by responding to the question: What do you do that helps you to keep going, and maintain some measure of hope, when progress towards a fairer and more inclusive Australia is under heavy fire?
Advocacy for Inclusion’s Head of Policy, Craig Wallace, and the Disability Leadership Institute’s CEO and Founder, Christina Ryan, shared their perspectives.
Read MoreCare-giving can be a rich and complex experience that is both rewarding and challenging. Enrico Pfeifer (@EnricoPfeifer1), a PhD Candidate at the University College London, knows this first-hand. Today, he explores his doctoral research on the impact that care-giving can have on people’s health, and how we can support care-givers to stay healthy.
Read More@Anti-Poverty Week is an event held every October to raise awareness and understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty in Australia, and to encourage action to end it. In today’s blog, Life Course Centre (@lifecourseAust) Research Fellow Dr Chandana Maitra from the University of Sydney (@Sydney_Uni) highlights food insecurity which is a hidden and overlooked socio-economic problem in Australia.
Read MoreThe whole world watches the Olympics and Paralympics, and national pride and achievement are front and centre. In today’s post, VicHealth postdoctoral research fellow Aurélie Pankowiak (@AureliePanko) of Victoria University (@iHealthSportVU) argues more resources need to be invested to ensure sport participants are safe from abuse. Learning from lived experience would allow for trauma-informed guidelines for both prevention and response and enable the creation of safer sport organisations.
Read MoreMy first experiences of co-production were in the national youth charity Woodcraft Folk (WCF). An organisation founded on principles of co-operation and youth empowerment whose trustee board has included a majority of young people for more than 20 years [1] [2] [3]. From joining, age 8, I was given responsibilities which contributed to collective aims. Co-producing events and campaigns with my peers in the self-organising 16-20 year old section were formative experiences [4]. Age 22, I began working at the head office as a youth empowerment development officer. My role was to support a steering group of young(er) people to run leadership training, improve representation in the organisation, and to have fun (allegedly then the only big lottery funded youth programme using ‘fun’ as an outcome measure!). Of course, it wasn’t perfect co-production - the holy grail – but, in these roles I witnessed the ‘magic’ and ‘electricity’ often spoken about in relation to co-production.
Read More2022 saw a lot of movement in the policy space, including a change in the Federal government and the largest number of independent candidates elected to office. There are many policy-related issues that are currently in flux, as indicated by royal commissions, law suits, the question of Indigenous Voice to Parliament, responses to climate change, continued management of COVID-19 and the economic reset that it caused, inflation, reforming the safety net, and fundamental questions about how government governs and is held accountable.
Read MoreIn today’s post, CR Byrne draws on her experience to explore how Australia’s welfare system creates barriers to support for people with chronic illness and disability. CR Byrne is an activist and photographer.
Read MoreIn the wake of the budget, the Antipoverty Centre asked people on Centrelink payments – the real social policy experts – for their reactions. A contributor shared how he and other carers performing unpaid labour save the government money, and another describes the devastating impact of the failure to raise the JobSeeker rate on welfare recipients.
Read MoreIn the wake of the budget, the Antipoverty Centre asked people on Centrelink payments – the real social policy experts – for their reactions. One said “This budget is democide. This is social murder. They cannot claim ignorance of the deaths that keeping the welfare rate below the poverty line will cause. A number of them have even said during parliament that the rate is far too low to survive on, but when it comes time to change it they chose not to.
Read MoreAfter the 2022 Federal Government budget, The Antipoverty Centre asked people on Centrelink payments – the real social policy experts – for their reactions. One example: “This budget is an exercise in austerity & cruelty for the poorest, most vulnerable Australians, but for the wealthiest Australians it's an exercise in government handouts.’
Read MoreMarcella Brassett from Democracy in Colour argues the national anti-racism strategy cannot be just another tick-a-box, saying “Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) have done our bit for diversity and inclusion ‘way out’ for white people with power. We need to act on every level to make Australia a safe place to live, work, build families and futures for everyone, not just Anglos.”
Read MoreGlobally 5% of people live with severe mental illness which includes schizophrenia, other psychotic disorders and bipolar disorder. Antipsychotic medication is the main treatment option and whilst helpful in controlling psychotic symptoms, they can cause debilitating side-effects. This may lead individuals to abruptly stop medication, without the knowledge of clinicians, which for many increases the likelihood of relapsing.
Read MoreA diversity of perspectives, particularly from those with lived experiences of poverty and socio-economic disadvantage, is critical to strengthening public health research, policy and practice. In today’s analysis, Joelie Mandzufas (@jmzuf7) PhD candidate at Telethon Kids Institute (@telethonkids) at The University of Western Australia (@uwanews) highlights the need for complex social problems to be addressed ‘from the inside out’.
Read MoreThe Federal government has proposed changes to the National Consumer Credit Protection Act which will, it says, make credit more accessible to individuals and small businesses during the recovery period from COVID-19. However, these changes have been critiqued as a way to circumvent some of the recommendations from the Banking Royal Commission. In today’s analysis, Lily Gardener and Madeleine Ulbrick (@MaddyUlbrick), both of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodAdvocacy) summarise their submission commenting on the Amendment, detailing how such changes are likely to further disadvantage women who are still struggling from the pink recession.
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