Policy Forum Pod

By Policy Forum Pod

What's Policy Forum Pod about?

Policy Forum Pod is the podcast of PolicyForum.net - Asia and the Pacific's platform for public policy debate, analysis and discussion. Policy Forum is based at Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Policy Forum Pod episodes:

04.19.2024
Building for social inclusion with Sara Bice
In this podcast we speak to Professor Sara Bice about the importance of building for social inclusion, co-design and community consultation as Australia spends $300 billion on infrastructure projects. Professor Bice co-founded the Institute for Infrastructure in Society to help...
04.12.2024
21st Century Capitalism - A tribute to Susan Sell
In this episode we pay tribute to Professor Susan Sell. Professor Sell died unexpectedly in December 2023. In re-releasing this conversation from August 2023 about 21st Century Capitalism, we honour her intellectual rigour and the enormous contribution of her research. Professor...
04.05.2024
Politics, policy and a healthy human future with Helen Clark
On this special episode of Policy Forum Pod the Rt Hon Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former UNDP Administrator, joins Professor Sharon Friel and Professor Bina d’Costa to discuss policy, politics and governing human future. This event...
03.28.2024
The public sector and public value
Professor Janine O’Flynn joins us for the first episode of Policy Forum Pod for 2024! In conversation, the Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy talks about the obligation and position of the school, and other universities, to exercise...
12.14.2023
Reflecting on 2023 with John Falzon and Thomas Mayo
In the final episode for 2023 we speak to John Falzon and Thomas Mayo about the year that was. We reflect on the challenges that we have faced from the cost of living, the Voice to Parliament referendum, and discuss...
12.08.2023
Strengthening political representation
In this episode, we speak to Professor Carolyn Hendriks about democracy, representation, political trust and decision making and what's happening in local communities. Democracy is under strain as the legitimacy of representatives is questioned and public trust declines. The...
12.01.2023
Caring through disaster
Australia is facing another tough summer. Natural disasters are occurring more frequently than ever, so this week on the Podcast, we talk about what care looks like in times of crisis. We speak to Dr Millie Rooney from Australia ReMADE and...
11.24.2023
Housing fit for our climate
In the final episode of our mini-series on housing, we speak to Emeritus Professor Barbara Norman about planning issues and, particularly, the way we need to rethink housing, land use and urban policy in the context of climate emergency and...
11.17.2023
Reimagining urban planning
On this episode in our housing mini-series Professor Nicole Gurran talks about reimagining the role of urban planning in creating sustainable and inclusive communities. Professor Gurran notes that there is no substitute for housing, and unless there is some better planning...
11.10.2023
Fixing our social housing crisis
Australia has seriously neglected social housing, a crisis everyone is now paying the price for. Social housing was once seen as an essential part of the welfare state. It has now become a last resort or, often, an impossible dream. In...
11.03.2023
Australia’s dependence on housing
Australia’s housing crisis: Housing is one of the biggest drivers of our economy, but it is also at the core of the biggest financial hardships people are facing. Dr Nicholas Frank lays out why house prices skyrocketed in the 1980s...
10.27.2023
The importance of music and creativity
In this special episode of the pod, we discuss the importance of music and creativity. Professor Kim Cunio and Professor Lane Gabora talk about why the creative arts are more important now than ever before, how music makes you feel...
10.20.2023
Reflecting on the Voice with Janine O’Flynn
In this episode, the Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy, Professor Janine O’Flynn, takes stock of the Voice to Parliament referendum result. She, along with Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta Hunter make some initial reflections and begin to work...
10.11.2023
Referendums and Constitutional change with Frank Bongiorno
In this episode, historian and Professor Frank Bongiorno talks us through Australia’s constitutional history and explains why the upcoming referendum has the potential to reshape our ability to change as a nation. Professor Frank Bongiorno, AM, is a Professor of History,...
10.06.2023
The narrative of the Voice with Rebecca Huntley
The narrative and origin story of the Voice to Parliament are key to understanding how Australian’s will vote in the referendum, says Rebecca Huntley. She talks about soft-yes and soft-no voters, people who do not feel strongly about the Voice...
10.04.2023
History is calling with Peter Yu
In this episode, we speak to Professor Peter Yu about what the First Nations Voice to Parliament means for our past, our present, and our future as a nation and the vital role universities play in teaching people to bridge...
09.27.2023
Thomas Mayo on the Voice to Parliament
In this special episode of Policy Forum Pod, Thomas Mayo joins Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta Hunter to discuss the importance of the Voice to Parliament. Thomas Mayo explains how the Voice will create unity and a stronger future. We are a...
09.22.2023
Health impacts of fossil fuels
This podcast delves into the complex world of balancing the need for energy through fossil fuels and protecting the environment and human health. Energy is central to so much human activity today and the politics are complex, weighing up local...
09.15.2023
Insights into the Intergenerational Report
This Podcast delves into the Intergenerational Report, looking at both the challenges and opportunities it highlights. Dr Liz Allen and Professor Paul Burke discuss the key takeaways of the latest IGR that in 2062 Australia will be bigger, slower growing, and...
09.08.2023
Power and policy: from despair to action
This episode discusses the connections between planetary health and human health. Sharon Friel and Fran Baun look at the challenges of health inequality, over-consumption and how we move toward a better future. To have healthy people we need to have a...
09.01.2023
Creating communities for children
This National Child Protection Week we ask the question: What part can we as individuals play in protecting children and creating a culture of care? The theme for this year’s National Child Protection Week is ‘Where we start matters’ building on...
08.25.2023
Reclaiming imagination with Rob Hopkins
In this episode, Rob Hopkins discusses why we need imagination as a core component to create the future we want. We need to make time to listen to the bird song and allow our minds time to come up with...
08.18.2023
Towards Net Zero: climate, policy and politics
In this episode, Dr Rebecca Colvin talks about Australia’s new Net Zero Authority, and the challenges some regional communities are facing as we move towards a decarbonised future. She expands on the role of both local and political leadership, and...
08.11.2023
Politics of despair: 21st century capitalism
In this episode, Professor Susan Sell talks about 21st century capitalism and how it undermines health outcomes, social goals and equity. She discusses the connection between the market, our work and our health, particularly for those with precarious working conditions...
08.04.2023
What we value: reimagining social policy
This week, Professor Kay Cook and Associate Professor Ben Phillips talk about reimagining what we value and how we value it when it comes to poverty and social policy in Australia. Both Professor Cook and Associate Professor Phillips are on the...
07.28.2023
Hierarchies of evidence: reimagining social policy
In this episode, Dr Andrew Leigh MP sits down in the studio with Sharon and Arnagretta to discuss the hierarchies of evidence in policy making in Australia. Dr Leigh, a former Economics Professor at the ANU and prolific...
07.21.2023
After Robodebt: reimagining social policy
Professor Peter Whiteford joins us to talk about the highly anticipated Robodebt Scheme Royal Commission report. He breaks down some key items of the report, and how he thinks we can prevent a policy like this from happening again. It...
07.14.2023
Valuing care: reimagining social policy
This episode kicks off our miniseries on reimagining social policy. Sharon Bessell sits on the other side of the mic to give her insights into how Australia ended up in the position it is, the commodification of public policy and...
07.07.2023
Constitutional reform: recalibrating Australia’s voice
In this episode we talk to Professor Kim Rubenstein about what Constitutional change means for Australia and how the Voice to Parliament is the first step in recalibrating for modern times. She discusses how the Australian Constitution is structurally caught...
06.30.2023
The challenges and heartbreak of climate negotiations
On this episode, we discuss the deliberations, points of contention and wider implications of the Bonn Climate Change Conference, which recently took place in Germany. Dr Siobhan McDonnell who was part of the negotiations joins us for this podcast. The Bonn...
06.23.2023
Catch up on the Voice to Parliament
Policy Forum Pod encourages you to take this week to listen back to some of our episodes around the Voice to Parliament. Professor Kate Auty spoke to Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta Hunter about her work on documenting Australia’s true history...
06.16.2023
Integrating risk, reward and resilience in policy
In this episode, we delve into the new Risk, Reward, and Resilience Framework with Professor Anthea Roberts and Dr Arnagretta Hunter. The pair, along with host Sharon Bessell discuss how this framework can be applied across multiple disciplines from health...
06.09.2023
Policy without voice: a history of failure and harm
Catherine Liddle, the CEO of SNAICC the National Voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, joins us for a powerful conversation about the lasting trauma of policy failures. She tells the incredible story of her family meeting Thomas Mayo...
06.02.2023
Budget beyond the numbers with Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers
In this special episode of Policy Forum Pod, we are joined by the Treasurer, the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP, who talks about the values behind the May budget. The Pod was recorded live in front of an audience at the...
05.26.2023
Behind the scenes of change
In this episode, we speak to Rachel Perkins, a film and television director, on her dedication to telling indigenous stories and the Voice to Parliament. WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners are warned that the following podcast contains stories...
05.18.2023
The economy and our future
Budgets are a central tool of government, offering not just economic policy but defining social and environmental policies for the years ahead. The 2023 budget moves in “the direction of fairness,” but is it moving fast enough? In this...
05.12.2023
Budget 2023: Defining Our Values
The latest federal budget defines our values but does it live up to them? Australian historian, Professor Frank Bongiorno, joins us to discuss the limitations, merits and shift of focus in the second Albanese government budget. Professor Bongiorno explores the values-based...
05.05.2023
Uncovering a cycle of child abuse in Australia
Two-thirds of Australians experience one or more forms of abuse or neglect as children. Daryl Higgins, a co-author of a new ground-breaking study into child maltreatment, joins us to discuss the findings, and what needs to be done to stop...
04.28.2023
Beacon of Democracy: The strength of listening
Helen Haines, the Independent Federal Member for Indi, joins us to discuss the unifying power of grassroots democracy and the major challenges Australia is facing in 2023. Dr Haines discusses how kitchen table conversations had with humility and patience can bring...
04.21.2023
Lessons from South Australia’s Voice to Parliament
South Australia's inaugural Commissioner for First Nations Voice Dale Agius joins us to discuss how South Australia’s Voice to Parliament can be used as a template to understand the need for our national referendum. Dale talks about how in his more...
04.14.2023
Global health: holding industries accountable
A third of global deaths can be linked to a combination of climate change, the non-communicable disease epidemic, and just four industry sectors: tobacco, ultra-processed food, fossil fuel, and alcohol. Professor Sharon Friel joins hosts Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta Hunter for...
04.06.2023
Courting change: Indigenous reconciliation
As we move towards the referendum on the Voice later this year, it is important that we think deeply about both our future and our past. We cannot do that unless we talk honestly about a history of dispossession...
03.30.2023
Markets of misery and the value of hope
Kicking off 2023, we discuss a public service reckoning with the failure of Robodebt, and its path to rebuilding trust. Sharon and Arnagretta sit down with the new Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy, Professor Janine O’Flynn to...
12.09.2022
Kicking policy goals
On the final episode of Policy Forum Pod for 2022, Katherine Trebeck and Millie Rooney join us to reflect on this year’s big policy issues and consider the opportunities for change that lie before us. What were the policy highlights and...
12.02.2022
The loss and damage consensus at COP27
On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Siobhan McDonnell and George Carter join us to share their experiences inside the COP27 negotiations in Egypt and why the agreement on a ‘loss and damage’ fund was a landmark moment in global...
11.25.2022
Justice for First Nations Australians
Valerie Cooms from The Australian National University joins us on this episode to discuss justice reinvestment, the importance of the whole Australian community embracing First Nations languages, and progress towards a constitutionally-enshrined Voice to Parliament. Is the allocation of $81.5 million...
11.18.2022
Addressing the housing affordability crisis
In the final instalment in our series on housing, Executive Director of Anglicare Australia Kasy Chambers joins us to discuss the dire state of housing affordability and how policymakers can turn things around. Housing affordability, particularly in Australia’s private rental market,...
11.11.2022
Not every house is a home
Joel Dignam from Better Renting and Farzana Choudhury from Canberra Community Law join us to discuss housing accessibility and justice on this episode of Policy Forum Pod. How do poor housing conditions affect people’s health and wellbeing, particularly in the context...
11.04.2022
Housing in a changing climate
To kick off a new bundle of episodes on housing, we discuss the impact of climate change on planning and housing policy with Barbara Norman, Emeritus Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Canberra. As the global population...
10.28.2022
Building a new architecture of fairness
On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, John Falzon joins Sharon Bessell and Arnagretta to examine the new Australian government’s first budget and what it means for equity and wellbeing. What does the new government’s budget mean for the millions of...

What's Policy Forum Pod about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Policy Forum Pod episodes:

Building for social inclusion with Sara Bice

21st Century Capitalism - A tribute to Susan Sell

Politics, policy and a healthy human future with Helen Clark

The public sector and public value

Reflecting on 2023 with John Falzon and Thomas Mayo

Strengthening political representation

Caring through disaster

Housing fit for our climate

Reimagining urban planning

Fixing our social housing crisis

Australia’s dependence on housing

The importance of music and creativity

Reflecting on the Voice with Janine O’Flynn

Referendums and Constitutional change with Frank Bongiorno

The narrative of the Voice with Rebecca Huntley

History is calling with Peter Yu

Thomas Mayo on the Voice to Parliament

Health impacts of fossil fuels

Insights into the Intergenerational Report

Power and policy: from despair to action

Creating communities for children

Reclaiming imagination with Rob Hopkins

Towards Net Zero: climate, policy and politics

Politics of despair: 21st century capitalism

What we value: reimagining social policy

Hierarchies of evidence: reimagining social policy

After Robodebt: reimagining social policy

Valuing care: reimagining social policy

Constitutional reform: recalibrating Australia’s voice

The challenges and heartbreak of climate negotiations

Catch up on the Voice to Parliament

Integrating risk, reward and resilience in policy

Policy without voice: a history of failure and harm

Budget beyond the numbers with Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers

Behind the scenes of change

The economy and our future

Budget 2023: Defining Our Values

Uncovering a cycle of child abuse in Australia

Beacon of Democracy: The strength of listening

Lessons from South Australia’s Voice to Parliament

Global health: holding industries accountable

Courting change: Indigenous reconciliation

Markets of misery and the value of hope

Kicking policy goals

The loss and damage consensus at COP27

Justice for First Nations Australians

Addressing the housing affordability crisis

Not every house is a home

Housing in a changing climate

Building a new architecture of fairness