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 the latest industrial relations bill. --- John Falzon is a sociologist, poet and social justice advocate and is a senior fellow at Per Capita and a visiting fellow at RegNet here at the ANU. He was CEO of the St Vincent de Paul Society from 2006 to 2018 and in 2015 received an...

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 rise of populism is changing the way many think about democracy and democratic representation, while new forms of leadership emerge. --- Professor Carolyn Hendriks is one of the leading thinkers on democracy and...

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 Amanda Kelly, the CEO of Women’s Health Goulburn North East, about a joint project called ‘Care through Disaster’ that looks at what would happen if we put care at the centre of disaster decision making.  People want to be seen, be safe, and be supported,...

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 extreme weather events. --- Barbara Norman is Emeritus Professor of Urban & Regional Planning at the University of Canberra and an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Barbara is also the Director of the Urban Climate Change...

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 now, the crisis we are facing will only escalate. She also adds that the language used around housing is often misleading, with housing needs driven by an increase in population. In contrast, housing demand is how much...

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 this episode, we speak with Professor Alan Morris about what we can do to fix the social housing crisis, as well as the decline in homeownership across Australia. Having stable housing brings a significant cost benefits, ranging from improvements in mental...

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 and how the availability of credit became vital for families to survive with rising costs of living. The consumption aspect of the economy currently depends on the wealth generated by increasing house prices. While this has led to wealth inequality, it has also...

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 seen. They also discuss how artificial intelligence is changing, and threatening, creativity.   Professor Liane Gabora is an Interdisciplinary cognitive scientist at the University of British Columbia and is currently a visiting scholar at the ANU School of Music....

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 through where we now need to go as a nation. --- Professor Janine O’Flynn is the Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy. Her research interests are in public management, especially reform and relationships.   Sharon Bessell is a...

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, at the ANU’s College of Arts and Social Sciences. He has held positions in Australia and the UK, and has written widely on Australia’s political history. He is the author of four books, including the recently published...

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 to Parliament, their level of engagement and what is important to them. Dr Huntley says her research shows that the majority of Indigenous Australians understand what is at stake in the referendum, and that is not a broader understanding by the rest of...

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 relationship gaps.  Professor Yu says current indigenous policy is a cost-benefit failure, and taxpayers should want better for their money, and the Voice will make that happen. --- Professor Peter Yu is a Yawuru man from Broome in the Kimberley. He is currently the...

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 Nation divided, but Constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples gives us a way of coming together and leaving a legacy of collective hope and justice for our children. --- Thomas Mayo is a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal,...

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 and global needs for energy, the ‘needs of the economy’ against the resultant environmental and climate impacts.  Guests Professor Melissa Haswell and Professor Hillary Bambrick discuss how in the centre of this balance is human health and wellbeing...

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 more diverse, with living standards at risk of going backwards. Liz says we are “heading into the greatest demographic headwinds of our time,” and we need to spend more time imagining the whole picture, with a particular focus on...

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 healthy planet, and in order to do that we need to be prioritising the health and wellbeing lens as a powerful tool for policy shifts. "It can't be biomedical, it's about social. It can't be economic, it's about social. It can't be...

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 the essence that ‘every child in every community needs a fair go’. In this episode, we speak to researcher Tim Moore, and NAPCAN Deputy-CEO Rani Kumar about what needs to happen, not just this week, but every day of the year. They discuss the...

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 solutions to tough problems. “At a time when we fundamentally have to reimagine everything, we’ve created the worst possible conditions for the human imagination,” Hopkins said. Without imagination and big-picture thinking, we are unable to create a longing for our future that will spark hard...

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 how identity influences the way in which our politics work. People’s love for and connection to place is often overlooked or outright ignored, as is local knowledge. Place-based community approaches are an integral part of climate...

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 where we see the market’s direct impact on physical and mental wellbeing. Professor Sell explains the phenomenon of ‘failure demand,’ growing demand for services we shouldn’t need, particularly if we were to value caring for...