Australian Policy Research Articles

Intercultural Cities: Enriching Australian Multiculturalism?

ABSTRACT Since its inception in 2008, the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities program (ICC) has been gaining traction in increasingly diverse parts of the world. In 2017 and 2018 respectively, the City of Ballarat and the City of Melton became the first Australian cities to join the network. This ‘intercultural turn’ in local government signals a significant development in Australian diversity policy. To date, however, it has received limited scholarly attention. To help address this gap, this paper draws on interviews and focus groups with the architects of the intercultural turn to investigate the policy motivations that propelled it and the policy shifts that it brought about. The paper also engages with policy and theoretical debates about the nature and scope of interculturalism as an approach to diversity policy that may transcend some of the limitations of multiculturalism. Ultimately, the paper argues that interculturalism offers a valuable contribution to Australia’s multicultural policy framework, but that combining the two perspectives may be more complicated than prevailing views suggest.

Aboriginal plant foods policy in Australia: a critical discourse analysis

ABSTRACT The Australian continent has over 6500 edible endemic plant species, fourteen of which have been certified for commercial consumption. This paper seeks to critically analyze select Australian Commonwealth Government policy relating to these Aboriginal plant foods. The aim is to purposefully examine the positioning of non-Indigenous people in Aboriginal plant foods policy discourse and reveal tacit settler colonial power relations. This is in response to a call to action from Indigenous scholars to examine how settler colonialism manifests in regulatory mechanisms, such as government policy. This paper offers a theoretically informed critical discourse analysis methodology for examining Australian Commonwealth Government policy relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. Analysis comprised an explanation of the socio-political context of Aboriginal policymaking in Australia, textual analysis of policy texts related to Aboriginal plant foods and an interpretation of discourse practice to reveal how policy discourse tacitly promotes ideological agendas. This analysis revealed that Australian Commonwealth Government Aboriginal plant foods policy is framed according to settler terms and upholds neoliberal interests. Considerable rethinking is required about how power is exercised in Commonwealth Government policy relating to Aboriginal plant foods to ensure it does not replicate and perpetuate unjust settler colonial power relations.

Whitlam's Economic (Inter)Nationalism

By his own admission, Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was not much of an economist, a disclosure that has fuelled criticisms of his government's performance during the economic crises of the 1970s. By contrast, Whitlam was a self‐declared internationalist who promoted the domestic and global possibilities of the international system. Of course, twentieth‐century economics and internationalism were mutual rather than dichotomous. Accordingly, Whitlam's internationalism provides a vantage point to re‐evaluate his economics. This article focusses on how one strand of Whitlam's internationalism — his Third World sympathies and alignments — informed his government's resource policy, as designed by Minister for Minerals and Energy, Rex Connor. Rather than seeking to redeem Whitlam's economic credentials via this internationalism, however, I argue Whitlam's appeal to Third Worldism sought to infuse an anti‐economics — or, more precisely, a critique of mainstream economic thinking — into Australian resources policy. The legacies of this critique have been enduring. Whitlam and Connor's attempts to establish export controls, foreign investment regulations, and state‐owned enterprise galvanised a fierce backlash from miners and libertarian economists. This backlash has helped shape the neoliberal framing of Australian mining and energy policy over the past 40 years. At the same time, with climate change and energy transitions again illuminating the politics of natural resources, Whitlam's Third World critique remains salient.

The unintended consequences of IMF programs: Women left behind in the labor market

AbstractDespite societal progress toward achieving gender equality, women remain disadvantaged across all walks of life. We examine how pressures by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for austerity and liberalization policies affect women’s economic empowerment in developing countries. Focusing on labor market outcomes, we expect that IMF programs increase the gender unemployment gap. This effect will hold regardless of existing societal gender norms, reflecting that women work in less ‘crisis-proof’ jobs. In contrast, we believe that prevailing societal gender norms will adversely impact women’s ability to remain in the labor force, resulting in widening gender labor force participation gaps. Relying on a dataset covering 128 developing countries between 1992 and 2018, we confirm these expectations. Our findings underscore how, during economically turbulent times, policy demands of the Fund can amplify existing gender inequalities.

Engineering the Economy through Austerity: The Influence of International Economic Expertise in Iceland after the First World War

This essay explores how Iceland, a newly independent state on the northern European periphery, responded to the international agenda for post-war stabilisation set out by economic experts after the turmoil of the First World War. It shows that the government of the so-called Austerity Alliance, led by Jón Þorláksson, adopted austerity policies devised at the international financial conferences in Brussels (1920) and Genoa (1922). To please external experts and creditors, it implemented a comprehensive fiscal and monetary policy of austerity and created a new central bank that was independent of politics. The aim, however, was not to divorce markets from government in a return to a pre-war era of laissez-faire as the scholarly literature suggests. Offering the first analysis of ‘the Icelandic business cycle’, the Þorláksson government enforced austerity by carving out ‘the economy’ – a measurable entity legible to expert management – that greatly expanded the role of the state.

Ill Fares the Land: Confronting Unsustainability in the U.K. Food System through Political Agroecology and Degrowth

The U.K. food system exhibits strong unsustainability indicators across multiple dimensions, both in terms of food and nutritional insecurity and in terms of adverse climate change, biodiversity, and physical resource impacts. These indices of an unsustainable and inequitable social metabolism are the result of capitalist agriculture and society in general and, more specifically, of neoliberal and austerity policies adopted with vigour since the global financial crisis. The causal, capitalistic, and, latterly, more neoliberal bases of the U.K. food system are delineated in the first section of the paper. These bases are then detailed in terms of their impacts in exacerbating climate change, biodiversity (and resource) decline and loss, and food and nutritional insecurity. The political narratives and policy frameworks available to dissemble, mitigate, or, more rarely, to address (resolve) these impacts are then delineated. It is argued that the only policy framework available that strongly integrates food security (social equity) with ecological sustainability is political agroecology and an accompanying degrowth strategy. The final section of the paper details what political agroecology and degrowth might entail for the U.K. food system.

Will Australia's tightened prescription system reduce nicotine vaping among young people?

Australia introduced a prescription only policy for e-cigarettes in 2011 to prevent uptake among youth while allowing smokers to access e-cigarettes for cessation. This is one of the restrictive forms of regulation for e-cigarettes recommended by the World Health Organisation. To assess whether the policy has prevented e-cigarette youth uptake and facilitated smokers' access to e-cigarettes for cessation; and to examine a proposed toughening of the policy. An analysis of survey and administrative data on e-cigarette use and smoking and a critical analysis of the contents of submissions to parliamentary inquiries into the policy. E-cigarette use among youth and young adults has increased steeply since 2016 but very few of these products have been obtained through the prescription system, because medical authorities discourage their use. A policy change in 2021 to increase the prescription of e-cigarettes has not reduced e-cigarette use among youth and only marginally increased rates of prescribing. Australian policy makers have nonetheless tightened the prescription system by banning any use of e-cigarettes unless prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a pharmacist. Australia's tightened prescription policy for e-cigarettes may reduce adolescent vaping but at the risk of reducing smokers' access to e-cigarettes and increasing the size of the illicit market for combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes. A more effective policy would allow vapes to be sold as consumer products by licensed tobacconists under regulations that require prior product approval, plain packaging, bans on their promotion and enforced age restrictions on purchases.

Job Loss Due to COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study of Mental Health, Protective and Risk Factors.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on unemployment, which-compounded by the additional stressors associated with the pandemic-had considerable mental health impact. The current study examined the trajectory of mental health amongst those experiencing pandemic-related job loss, alongside the impact of risk and protective factors. Data were obtained from 374 Australian participants who were allocated to a waitlist control arm of a randomised control trial. The outcome variables assessed at baseline and six-month follow-up consisted of depression, anxiety, and suicidality. The assessed risk and protective factors were age, gender, relationship status, education, exercise frequency, COVID-related stress, dispositional resilience, and coping self-efficacy. Re-employment by follow-up was used as a covariate. Overall, there were decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms, and partial evidence of decreased suicidality, demonstrating an apparent capacity for individuals to better cope with their circumstances over time. Demographics and exercise had no effect on changes in mental health. Those with high COVID-related stress, low resilience, and low coping self-efficacy had worse mental health at baseline, although exhibited significantly greater improvements in mental health over time. Obtaining re-employment by follow-up did not predict changes in mental health. The present results offer an optimistic picture of recovery for those experiencing pandemic-related job loss, even for those with the most substantial risk and severity. The likely protective role played by Australian social welfare policies over the course of the study is explored. Stress around one's broader sociocultural or economic circumstances, perceived resilience, and coping self-efficacy are valuable targets for intervention.

They put me on a train: Assimilation and the Australian railways

AbstractThis article explores the involvement of the Australian railways in the forcible removal of Aboriginal children. Focusing on the visions and voices of Aboriginal peoples who were taken away from their families by train, the article considers how railways were used in the attempted assimilation of First Nations peoples into White society. The last train ride, an artwork by South Australian Yankunytjatjara artist and Stolen Generations survivor Kunyi McInerney, serves as a point of departure to study how the settler colonial infrastructure of rail operationalised the Australian government policies of assimilation. I ask how railway infrastructures have affected Aboriginal peoples and how Aboriginal peoples have responded to railway infrastructures. In centring the artworks and narratives of Aboriginal people taken away by train, I extend an invitation to readers to rethink geography through the visual expressions and stories of First Nations peoples. Close attention to the perspectives of affected peoples opens possibilities to view infrastructures in a different light. The visions and voices of Aboriginal families impacted by assimilation policies show that the railways played a pivotal role in the separation of Aboriginal children from families and that railway infrastructures have also been sites of resistance to and subversion of assimilation and child removal. Paying careful attention to First Nations voices and visions, the article informs how the Australian railways have been complicit in assimilation policies and how Aboriginal peoples have used the railways to resist and survive such settler colonial projects.

Corporate entrepreneurship strategy in universities: emerging leadership in austerity time

AbstractPublic organizations have widely adopted corporate entrepreneurial strategy. The complex and financially constrained context in which public organizations operate calls for the implementation of entrepreneurial actions. Our study validates the theoretical framework of Kearney and Meynhardt (Int Public Manage J 19(4):543–572, 2016), which recognizes strategic vision and organizational factors as the main components of corporate entrepreneurial strategy and theorize its main antecedents and outcomes. Thus, by analyzing the public University of Bergamo as a single case study, we demonstrate that entrepreneurial orientation is beneficial for public organizations such as universities. Specifically, the entrepreneurial leadership was able to recognize opportunities in the unsupportive political external environment characterizing the entire Italian public sector during the period 2009-2015. The austerity policy known as the Gelmini reform was designed to make public organizations more efficient and transparent, by cutting personnel costs, by explicitly accounting for university budgets, and introducing external controls on university governance and performance. Despite the climate of general austerity, the entrepreneurial leadership succeeded in engaging several stakeholders and grounding an entrepreneurial strategy at the university. This has significantly changed the image of this public organization.

The anatomy of austerity in Finnish media: The journalistic point-of-view towards Europe from the North

This article investigates how four Finnish media outlets, Helsingin Sanomat, YLE, Iltalehti and STT, framed the discussions about austerity policies and their impacts on Finland's national identity from 1998 to 2019. Using historical discourse analysis, the article shows the arc of austerity reporting and how Finland's position and role in the Euro crisis changed during the years. The analysis reveals something about the national self-understanding of Finland, as presented in the media in relation to other European countries. The article addresses three research questions. (1) How did the journalistic treatment of austerity change over time and what were the key turning points? (2) What kinds of perspectives and narratives did journalism construct in the coverage of austerity? (3) How was Finland as a nation represented and compared to other nations in the context of the Euro crisis and austerity? The article shows that the journalistic coverage of austerity evolved from a local issue affecting municipal economies to a global issue linked to the Euro crisis, and that Finland's national identity was constructed through a contrastive comparison with other Northern and Southern European countries. The article contributes to the discussion on media coverage of austerity by providing a longitudinal comparative analysis.

Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) in Australia: Key Considerations for Assessment and Implementation

Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) have been a feature of global biodiversity targets since 2010 (Aichi Targets, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework), although the concept has only relatively recently been formally defined. Although uptake has been limited to date, there is much interest in identifying OECMs to contribute to the target of protecting at least 30% of terrestrial, freshwater and ocean areas by 2030, in conjunction with protected areas. Australia has a long history of protected area development across public, private and Indigenous lands, but consideration of OECMs in policy has recently begun in that country. We review principles proposed by the Australian Government for OECMs in Australia and highlight where these deviate from global guidance or established Australian area-based policy. We examined various land use categories and conservation mechanisms to determine the likelihood of these categories/mechanisms meeting the OECM definition, with a particular focus on longevity of the mechanism to sustain biodiversity. We identified that the number of categories/mechanisms that would meet the OECM definition is relatively small. A number of potentially perverse outcomes in classifying an area as an OECM are highlighted in order to guide proactive policy and program design to prevent such outcomes occurring.

A Critique of the Discursive Turn of Australian Multicultural Policy in the Globalisation Era

This article examines the changing discourses of Australian multicultural policy from the late 1990s until now and discusses their ideological significance under the twin-frames of globalization and Australian political culture. By systematically analyzing the series of policy papers launched by successive governments, it becomes clear that the multicultural policy has completed a discursive turn, deviating from its progressive trajectory of cultural diversity and substantive equality to suit the neo-conservative agenda of national unity and economic productivity. While the strengthened national identity based on the civic model corresponds with the surging tide of social conservatism, the shrinking government funding in this policy area and the utilitarian perception of cultural diversity are tied up with market-oriented reforms, indicating the government's shifting interests from minimizing the existing cultural barriers to maximizing cultural dividends through diversity management strategies.

Asymmetric effects of macro policies on women’s and men’s incomes. An empirical investigation of the eurozone crisis in a gender perspective

We study how macro policies affected women’s and men’s incomes during the financial crisis in Europe. We consider the monetary stance, proxied by benchmark interest rates, and the fiscal stance, measured by the variation in public expenditures and public revenues, and investigate how they are associated to women’s and men’s labor and capital incomes, using microdata for 27 European countries between 2008 and 2016. We individualize household-level data by considering four scenarios of intra-household sharing of resources. We also explore how and to what extent macro-policies affect the distribution of labour incomes for men and women by applying a conditional quantile regression approach. Results highlight that the ECB’s expansionary policies had a positive effect on both labor and capital incomes for both men and women, while austerity policies had a mixed impact. Reductions in public expenditure had the effect of reducing labor incomes for both men and women, particularly at the median of the wage and labor distributions. In contrast, increases in public revenues benefited capital incomes, for all income quantiles.

The Seventh State and the Barnes Dance: Deciding the Future for the Territory of Papua and New Guinea

The most momentous change to the political make-up of the Australian state was undoubtedly the independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975. But decolonisation was not a foregone conclusion until late in the 1960s. Through the mid-1960s politicians on both sides of the Torres Strait considered the option that the Territory of Papua and New Guinea (TPNG) might become the seventh state of Australia. The option had global and domestic implications and exposed the fault lines of Australian policies towards its northern most territories. The rights to free movement within the nation state, the right to welfare, and the benefits of full citizenship for Papua New Guineans were considered across Australian government departments before being comprehensively rejected following an extraordinary Canberra meeting in 1966 between the elected representatives of the TPNG and federal ministers led by Charles (Ceb) Barnes whose equivocation on statehood fed speculation throughout TPNG.

The AUstralian multidomain Approach to Reduce dementia Risk by prOtecting brain health With lifestyle intervention study (AU-ARROW): A study protocol for a single-blind, multi-site, randomized controlled trial.

The Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study (FINGER) led to the global dementia risk reduction initiative: World-Wide FINGERS (WW-FINGERS). As part of WW-FINGERS, the Australian AU-ARROW study mirrors aspects of FINGER, as well as US-POINTER. AU-ARROW is a randomized, single-blind, multisite, 2-year clinical trial (n = 600; aged 55-79). The multimodal lifestyle intervention group will engage in aerobic exercise, resistance training and stretching, dietary advice to encourage MIND diet adherence, BrainHQ cognitive training, and medical monitoring and health education. The Health Education and Coaching group will receive occasional health education sessions. The primary outcome measure is the change in a global composite cognitive score. Extra value will emanate from blood biomarker analysis, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and retinal biomarker tests. The finalized AU-ARROW protocol is expected to allow development of an evidence-based innovative treatment plan to reduce cognitive decline and dementia risk, and effective transfer of research outcomes into Australian health policy. Study protocol for a single-blind, randomized controlled trial, the AU-ARROW Study.The AU-ARROW Study is a member of the World-Wide FINGERS (WW-FINGERS) initiative.AU-ARROW's primary outcome measure is change in a global composite cognitive score.Extra significance from amyloid PET imaging, brain MRI, and retinal biomarker tests.Leading to development of an innovative treatment plan to reduce cognitive decline.

Experiences of research-policy engagement in policy-making processes.

Objectives and importance of study: For public policy to respond effectively to social, economic, and health challenges, there is an urgent need for research-policy collaboration to advance evidence-informed policy. Many organisations seek to promote these engagement activities, but little is known about how this is experienced by researchers and policy actors. This study aimed to understand how policy actors and researchers in Australia experience collaboration and the impediments and enablers they encounter. Study type and methods: An online survey was developed, and using convenience sampling, self-identified Australian policy actors and researchers were invited to participate. Results: In total, 170 responses were analysed, comprising 58% policy actors and 42% researchers. Respondents reported the primary purpose for collaboration was evidence-informed policy making. Policy actors reported that the most common barrier to collaboration with academics was 'budget constraints' while academics reported 'budget, 'political risk' and 'structural barriers'. Reported enablers were 'leadership' and 'connections'. Conclusions: Our findings build upon existing evidence that highlights the importance of collaboration for facilitating evidence-informed policy. Structural deficits in both policy agencies and research funding systems and environments continue to present challenges to policy-research partnerships. Future initiatives could use these findings to implement preferred collaboration methods, alongside rigorous evaluation, to explore 'what works' in promoting engagement for evidence-informed policy.

E-mental health interventions for men: an urgent call for cohesive Australian policy and investment

Abstract Few men who experience a common mental disorder access any mental healthcare from a health professional. E-mental health (eMH; online) interventions may facilitate men’s access to mental healthcare and reduce inequities in access via assistance in a format that aligns with their preferences and needs. Recent reviews show that men who have used these programmes generally find them useful and satisfactory; however, data on their effectiveness and factors impacting effectiveness in men’s use are limited. Few eMH interventions have been designed specifically to suit men’s preferences and circumstances, and little is known about the eMH-related experiences and needs of men from vulnerable and marginalized backgrounds. Despite their potential, Australian men’s health, digital mental health, preventive health, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and social and emotional well-being policies—and men’s health policies from Malaysia, Ireland, and South Africa—make no specific mention to progressing the use or evaluation of eMH for men. We present a series of policy recommendations, aiming to improve men’s access to effective and acceptable mental health assistance via eMH and increase health professional confidence to recommend and support these programmes. These include (i) the need for specific, connected health policy actions and targeted funding; (ii) policy priorities for intervention development, dissemination and evaluation; and (iii) for the experiences of men, particularly those from marginalized and vulnerable backgrounds, to be centred in policy. eMH for men should be promoted alongside interventions to reduce systems and social-level determinants of men’s mental health inequities.

Accessibility and Inclusivity in Online Education: A Comparative Study of Policies and Practices in Australia

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the accessibility and inclusivity in online education: a comparative study of policies and practices in Australia.
 Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries.
 Findings: The study compared Australian policies and practices in online education accessibility and inclusivity, revealing notable gaps in implementation despite progress. It emphasized the necessity of comprehensive policies and ongoing educator training to address diverse student needs effectively. Overall, it highlighted the importance of continual improvement to ensure equitable access for all students in online education.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Social model of disability, universal design for learning (UDL) & critical pedagogy may be used to anchor future studies on the accessibility and inclusivity in online education: a comparative study of policies and practices in Australia. Develop guidelines and best practices for inclusive course design and delivery in online education, tailored to the Australian context. Advocate for the integration of accessibility and inclusivity mandates into national and institutional policies governing online education in Australia.

From Harmful Practices and Instrumentalisation, towards Legislative Protections and Community-Owned Healthcare Services: The Context and Goals of the Intersex Movement in Australia

People with innate variations of sex characteristics (also known as intersex traits or disorders or differences of sex development) have any of a wide range of innate physical traits that differ from medical and social norms for female and male bodies. Responses to these physical differences create experiences and risks of stigmatisation, discrimination, violence, and harmful medical practices intended to promote social and familial integration and conformity with gender stereotypes. As is evident globally, the Australian policy response to the existence and needs of people with innate variations of sex characteristics has been largely incoherent, variously framing the population as having disordered sex development in need of “fixing”, and a third sex/gender identity group in need of recognition, with only recent engagement by intersex community-controlled civil society organisations. This paper presents an overview of the context and goals of the intersex human rights movement in Australia. Australian intersex community organisations have sought to apply human rights norms and develop new infrastructure to address key health and human rights issues, and necessitating new ways of resolving policy incoherence. Together with human rights, mental health, and public health institutions, they have called for significant changes to medical models of care and reform to research and classification systems. Intersex community organising and resourcing have made a tangible difference. The Australian Capital Territory is the first jurisdiction in the country to move ahead with reforms to clinical practice, including a legislative prohibition of certain practices without personal informed consent, oversight of clinical decision-making, and investment in psychosocial support. A national community-controlled psychosocial support service has also commenced.