Brotherhood Talks

Public policy specialist Andrew Wear argues we should be optimistic about resolving some of the toughest policy dilemmas in Australia and elsewhere.

His new book is titled 'Solved! How other countries have cracked the world's biggest problems, and we can too.' He says it provides an evidence base to show change is 'absolutely possible'.

Among the examples he highlights: Denmark is on track to attain 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030, Norway has achieved higher living standards with better wealth distribution, South Korea's health system and diet has led to higher life expectancy and the United Kingdom has slashed levels of violent crime.

Andrew Wear is a senior public policy adviser in Victoria, and a fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia. His work is published in peer-reviewed journals as well as in The Mandarin and The Guardian.

In this Brotherhood Talk, he speaks with Professor Shelley Mallett, head of the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre. This talk place took in February 2020.

Duration: 50 minutes 31 seconds

Published/Pocast: March 2020

Production: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

The Brotherhood of St Laurence historic Family Centre project sought to empower families experiencing hardship to improve their circumstances.

Professor Hayden Raysmith AM and Dr Michael Liffman worked on this 1970s project. In this Brotherhood Talk, they reflect on the contemporary relevance of its multi-faceted approach, along with David Tennant, CEO of FamilyCare, which now services Shepparton in regional Victoria.

Brotherhood Research and Policy Centre Director, Professor Shelley Mallet leads the discussion, which took place in October 2019, during Anti-Poverty Week. Toni Wren, Director of Anti-Poverty Week, opens with an overview of some of the latest research into community attitudes to poverty.

Duration: 47 minutes, 6 seconds

Published/podcast: March 2020

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

Transcript: The Family Centre project (175KB PDF)

From left: David Tennant, Toni Wren, Prof Hayden Raysmith and Dr Michael Liffman

In New Zealand, major reforms brought in by Jacinda Ardern's government aim to lower the number of children who live in poverty.

The reforms include the Child Poverty Reduction Act, the introduction of a well-being budget framework and social security reforms.

NZ expert Dr Michael Fletcher says these measures are an 'excellent advance', and while there are no guarantees, are 'likely to lead to lasting change'. He's a senior researcher with the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, and gives a detailed overview and analysis in this Brotherhood Talk.

Professor Shelley Mallet, head of the Brotherhood's Research and Policy Centre, then leads a panel discussion with Dr Fletcher about the reforms, and how they relate to child poverty policies in Australia.

The panellists are:

•Professor Cindy Kiro, pro vice-chancellor, Maori, Auckland University; chair of a key New Zealand Government expert advisory group and former NZ Children's Commissioner

•Brian Howe, former Australian Deputy Prime Minister, and

•Andi Sebastian, Council for Single Mothers and their Children policy and advocacy coordinator.

This talk took place to mark Anti-Poverty Week in October 2019.

Duration: One hour and three minutes

Published/podcast: February 2020

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

Former Federal Minister Jenny Macklin has been at the front line of social policy debates for more than three decades. She presented our 2019 Sambell Oration.

Ms Macklin argues we must find a path to a just and sustainable future for all. Brotherhood Executive Director Conny Lenneberg responds to the wide-ranging social and economic policy matters raised in the oration, and outlines the Brotherhood's approach to addressing them.

During a 23-year career as a federal MP, Jenny Macklin served as Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Minister for Disability Reform. She was a key architect of the National Disability Insurance Scheme - one of the most significant social policy reforms Australia has seen in the modern era. As a cabinet minister, her achievements included helping deliver Australia's historic Apology to the Stolen Generations. Now, she is a Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

The oration was presented on 21 November 2019. The Brotherhood Talks podcast is an initiative of the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre.

Transcript: Towards a just future: Reimagining social and economic policy (161KB PDF)

Duration: 43 minutes, 58 seconds

Published/podcast: January 2020

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

There's a vast gap between the projected lifetime earnings of the average Australian man with kids, compared with the projected earnings of the average Australian woman with kids. The gap is about two million dollars.

That's according to Danielle Wood, budget policy and institutional reform program director with the Grattan Institute, specialising in tax, budget and competition policy, integrity reforms and inequality.

In this Brotherhood Talk, she looks at the main factors that contribute to women's economic disadvantage, considering earnings across the course of their lives.

Download Danielle's slide presentation (782KB PDF).

Economic sociologist Dr Dina Bowman argues many of those factors have persisted over the decades. She is principal fellow in work and economic security with the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre, and honorary principal fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Brotherhood executive director Conny Lenneberg opens the discussion.

This public talk was hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre on 12 September 2019.

Transcript: The gap: Why Australian women earn millions less (267kb PDF)

Duration: 49 minutes, 43 seconds

Published/podcast: November 2019

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

As Australia's public sector outsources more and more of its thinking on public service reform, the Productivity Commission has become an increasingly important, independent voice.

In this Brotherhood Talk, we examine the role of a major Australian institution. The Productivity Commission has provided independent advice to governments on economic, social and environmental matters, while maintaining a focus on advancing the interests of the community at large, since it was set up in 1998.

Peter Harris AO served as Commission chair for five years to 2018. He says it is a measure of the Commission's value that many countries are very interested to copy it.

He's in conversation here with Alison McClelland AM, a former commissioner, as well as a life member of the Brotherhood of St Laurence.

This public talk was hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre on 8 August 2019.

Links

Read more about the report Peter Harris discusses, Shifting the Dial: 5 year productivity review - Inquiry report

Read more about the book Alison McClellan refers to, Revisiting Henderson: Poverty, social security and basic income

Duration: 49 minutes, 51 seconds

Published/podcast: November 2019

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

Transcript: The Productivity Commission: A key voice on policy reform (185kb PDF)

In the second of this two-part Brotherhood Talk, a panel of experts responds to questions from the audience at a public talk exploring the National Disability Insurance Scheme, or NDIS, said to be biggest social policy reform since the introduction of Medicare.

Leading the panel discussion is Amanda Pagan, head of Inclusive Communities with the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre.

There are four panellists:

Professor Bruce Bonyhady, Executive Chair and Director of the Melbourne Disability Institute at the University of Melbourne. He was the Inaugural Chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency which implements the NDIS, and a key architect of the scheme.

Karen Dimmock, CEO of the Association for Children with Disability

Samantha Connor, disability rights campaigner and convener of NDIS Grassroots on Facebook, and

John McKenna, disability advocate, NDIS recruiter and podcaster.

This public talk was hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre and the Melbourne Disability Institute at the University of Melbourne on 25 July 2019.

Duration: 44 minutes, 12 seconds

Published/Broadcast: October 2019

Transcript: NDIS: What's working, what's not? Part Two podcast transcript (281KB PDF)

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

Find us online at www.bsl.org.au/brotherhoodtalks, subscribe for more episodes and join the conversation on social at #BSLtalks.

More than 300,000 people around Australia receive services through the National Disability Insurance Scheme, or NDIS. Another 160,000 need to be brought into the scheme. So, what's working and what's not?

In the first of this two-part Brotherhood Talk, a panel of experts analyses the NDIS, offering deep insights its positive impacts, and aspects which could be improved. Leading the discussion is Amanda Pagan, head of Inclusive Communities with the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre.

There are four panellists:

Professor Bruce Bonyhady, Executive Chair and Director of the Melbourne Disability Institute at the University of Melbourne. He was the Inaugural Chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency which implements the NDIS, and a key architect of the scheme.

Karen Dimmock, CEO of the Association for Children with Disability

Samantha Connor, disability rights campaigner and convener of NDIS Grassroots on Facebook, and

John McKenna, disability advocate, NDIS recruiter and podcaster.

This public talk was hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre and the Melbourne Disability Institute at the University of Melbourne on 25 July 2019.

Duration: 40 minutes, 59 seconds

Published/Broadcast: October 2019

Transcript: NDIS: What's working, what's not? Part One podcast transcript (265KB PDF)

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

Find us online at www.bsl.org.au/brotherhoodtalks, subscribe for more episodes and join the conversation on social at #BSLtalks.

With unprecedented numbers of displaced people, what are the opportunities and challenges for refugees globally, and in Australia?

We are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record, according to the United Nations. An unprecedented 70.8 million people around the world have been forced from home.

In this Brotherhood Talk, a range of Brotherhood of St Laurence managers and staff provide perspectives and insights based on their rich professional and lived experience.

Executive Director Conny Lenneberg draws on her extensive international development experience in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Principal research fellow Dr Dina Bowman leads our Research and Policy Centre research on economic security and employment, and explores the current labour market landscape. And staff from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, with professional and lived experience, share their insights in a panel discussion:

Joseph Youhana is Settlement, Youth and Families manager and supports the work of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the UN Human Rights Council;

Heikma Siraj is a recruitment and field officer with Given the Chance, a program which supports disadvantaged jobseekers including people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds;

Noura Hachem is a recruitment and employer engagement coordinator with Given the Chance; and

Mubarek Imam is a youth coach in our Broadmeadows youth employment program.

This public talk was hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre in June 2019 to mark World Refugee Day.

Duration: 40 mins 47 secs

Published/Broadcast: September 2019

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

Transcript: Refugees in 2019 podcast transcript (55KB PDF)

Brotherhood Talks is a podcast by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, a community organisation working towards an Australia free of poverty. Listen to experts discuss a wide range of issues of key importance in overcoming the challenge of poverty and disadvantage in Australia.

Find us online at www.bsl.org.au/brotherhoodtalks, subscribe for more episodes and join the conversation on social at #BSLtalks.

Professor Jeremy Moss says the concept of justice needs to be front and centre of our efforts to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change. If we don't, he says, we could make a very bad situation worse.

To avoid dangerous climate change, the world must drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions. social and economic changes to achieve that will be costly and disruptive. The choices we make will determine who benefits and who bears the burden.

Jeremy Moss is a Professor of Political Philosophy and Co-Director of the Practical Justice Initiative at the University of New South Wales, where he leads the Climate Justice Research Program. He also chaired the UNESCO working group on Climate Ethics and Energy Security.

This episode presents highlights of a public talk, hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre in April 2019.

Duration: 42 mins 31 secs

Published/Podcast: August 2019

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

Transcript: Climate Justice podcast transcript (283KB PDF)

Brotherhood Talks is a podcast by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, a community organisation working towards an Australia free of poverty. Listen to experts discuss a wide range of issues of key importance in overcoming the challenge of poverty and disadvantage in Australia.

Find us online at www.bsl.org.au/brotherhoodtalks, subscribe for more episodes and join the conversation on social at #BSLtalks.