As What Works centres mature and grow in the UK, and the movement spreads internationally, there will be more lessons to be learned and shared. Jonathan Breckon and Dr Robyn Mildon outline some common issues for anybody setting up a new evidence centre. Read More
It’s hard to tell what’s happening to the distribution of wealth in Australia. Since death duties went, Australian income inequality has climbed, with the standard measure (known as the Gini coefficient) climbing from 0.27 to 0.32 between 1982 and 2016 on a scale where a result of zero would mean income was equally shared and a result of 1 would mean one person earned all the income. Read More
Emerging research suggests that we are now facing a global loneliness epidemic among our young people. In fact, young people are now reporting feelings of loneliness more frequently than those of their parents or grandparents. Read More
Is the absence of evidence evidence of absence? The opposite assumption — that an absence of evidence is not evidence of absence — is having its moment as the status of truth. Read More
How can we predict the futures of cities? We could study population statistics; we could analyse technological trajectories and business trends to forecast economic possibilities. Or, we could get classically creative by using works of fiction to predict likely scenarios under the 'Literary Method of Urban Design'. Read More
It’s common to frame discussions of societal transitions by focusing on the new skills that become essential. But instead of looking at what we’re learning, perhaps we should consider the obverse: what becomes safe to forget? Read More
Geoff Gallop outlines what he sees as some of the important issues at stake in the contemporary debate about accountability and how to properly guarantee it in our national politics and government. Read More
Whether Australia could successfully replicate the 'citizens' council' system of governance modelled by Belgium is worth the discussion. Read More
We do not have to sleepwalk into the global workforce crisis in healthcare. With concerted, coherent effort we can orchestrate 10 large-scale changes to enhance the capacity to care by 20%. Australia is already leading the way in advanced practice and telehealth. Read More
With a proactive approach to the ethical development of AI, Australia can do more than just mitigate against any risks. If we can build AI for a fairer go, we can secure a competitive advantage as well as safeguard the rights of Australians. Read More
Neither the APS nor the government of the day can control every factor that determines public trust. But a regime based on institutional integrity puts it in the best position possible to be an essential and trusted Australian institution into 2030 and beyond. Read More
What have reforms to the old Building Code of Australia delivered? Is the new code good enough? Read More
Half a billion dollars sounds like a lot of money, but that really depends on what you’re spending it on. In Tuesday’s federal budget, the… Read More
Parent mental health is an increasingly held topic of public conversation, but it’s fair to say that we have a way to go. Often, child and youth mental health are discussed in isolation – but we can’t talk about child mental health without talking about parent mental health. The two issues go hand in hand. Read More
Internationally, the payment of welfare benefits is increasingly being made contingent on a diverse array of behavioural conditions from attending parenting classes, to sending children to school and getting them immunised. We need more debate about the threat this growing regime of surveillance and punishment poses to citizens’ autonomy. Read More
