A new system for better employment and social outcomes: report of the Reference Group on Welfare Reform to the Minister for Social Services

This review’s purpose was to identify how to make Australia’s welfare system fairer, more effective, coherent and sustainable and encourage people to work. Overview The review, which was led by Patrick McClure AO, provides a comprehensive analysis and set of recommendations on simplification of Australia’s welfare system. It recommends an integrated approach which builds on four pillars of reform: Simpler and sustainable income support system Strengthening individual and family capability Engaging with employers Building community capacity The Government will consider the Report’s recommendations and will make further decisions on these as part of a longer term vision of Australia’s welfare system

Hearing her voice: report from the kitchen table conversations with culturally and linguistically diverse women on violence against women and their children

The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022 (the National Plan) is a 12-year strategy that aims to make a significant and sustained reduction in violence against women and their children. Under the Second Action Plan 2013–2016: Moving Ahead (the Second Action Plan) of the National Plan, Commonwealth and state and territory governments have committed to deepening our understanding of diverse experiences of violence, including the experiences of women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. We have also committed to working with communities to prevent violence, ensure that the voices of CALD women are heard, and support women and their children who may require a range of targeted responses. In 2014–15, CALD women leaders hosted 29 kitchen table conversations throughout Australia with women from more than 40 ethnic and cultural backgrounds about violence against women and their children. The hosts invited women from their networks and communities and provided a culturally appropriate and accessible setting, supported by the Department of Social Services (DSS). The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the key issues and some suggested responses raised by participants in the conversations. At the conversations, there was general agreement that CALD women share many issues and experiences in common with other Australian women in relation to domestic and family violence and sexual assault, such as finding affordable accommodation, achieving financial independence, undertaking employment, obtaining legal advice and locating appropriate childcare. However, these difficulties can be exacerbated by factors such as not being able to speak English, having no independent rental history, lower employment rates, lack of transport, and having few friends or family members in Australia who can provide support. There was agreement that CALD women are less likely to report violence, can experience more barriers in accessing support services, and are less likely to leave a family violence situation than other Australian women. At the same time, it was important to recognise that CALD women are not victims, but courageous and successful survivors with a capacity to flourish. Given the commonalities between CALD and other Australian women, this report focuses on 11 interrelated issues and themes which were identified as specific to CALD women and communities: 1. Understanding Australia’s laws, rights and cultural norms and new arrivals. 2. Gaining familiarity with and knowledge of support services. 3. Enhancing the availability and accessibility of support services. 4. Resolving immigration status and eligibility for support services and payments. 5. Reducing women’s isolation and promoting community participation. 6. Recognising cultural beliefs and norms about gender and marriage. 7. Building the capacity of community and religious leaders. 8. Raising professional standards in interpreting and translation. 9. Improving police interventions. 10. Engaging and educating CALD men to inspire behaviour change. 11. Recognising the intersectionality of issues for CALD women. The valuable feedback from the kitchen table conversations will be used to inform the ongoing implementation of the Second Action Plan and shape the future direction of the National Plan

New migrant outcomes: results from the third longitudinal survey of immigrants to Australia

This report describes key findings from the department’s third Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia – LSIA 3. The LSIA 3 is a survey of approximately 10 000 Primary Applicants from the Family and Skill stream who either: arrived in Australia between December 2004 and March 2005; or were granted their visa onshore between December 2004 and March 2005. So far, migrants have been surveyed in two waves - wave one was run in August 2005 (approximately six months after arrival or grant of visa onshore) and wave two was run 12 months later. A third wave is planned for 2008. The most significant finding of the report is the dramatic reduction in the unemployment rate between wave one and wave two of LSIA 3. This improvement is experienced by both streams with Skill stream unemployment falling from 9 per cent at wave one to 3 per cent at wave two, and Family stream unemployment falling from 20 per cent to just 6 per cent

The job network and underemployment

The paper notes how long-term unemployment has been replaced with long-term underemployment and examines the role of the Job Network in this new environment. The paper discusses how the structure of unemployment has changed, how the Job Network has evolved and comments on its performance. It is noted that the Job Network has become more and more driven by tightly specified processes and services supported by an ever tighter compliance regime. This business model has much in common with franchising and this analogy is used to interpret the observed outcomes and the concerns expressed by providers and other interested parties. The paper concludes that there are some inherent problems with the franchising model and suggests that less prescriptive arrangements may be preferable

Exposure to traumatic perinatal experiences and posttraumatic stress symptoms in midwives: Prevalence and association with burnout

Background: Midwives provide care in a context where life threatening or stressful events can occur. Little is known about their experiences of traumatic events or the implications for psychological health of this workforce. Objectives: To investigate midwives’ experiences of traumatic perinatal events encountered whilst providing care to women, and to consider potential implications. Design: A national postal survey of UK midwives was conducted. Participants: 421 midwives with experience of a perinatal event involving a perceived risk to the mother or baby which elicited feelings of fear, helplessness or horror (in the midwife) completed scales assessing posttraumatic stress symptoms, worldview beliefs and burnout. Results: 33% of midwives within this sample were experiencing symptoms commensurate with clinical posttraumatic stress disorder. Empathy and previous trauma exposure (personal and whilst providing care to women) were associated with more severe posttraumatic stress responses. However, predictive utility was limited, indicating a need to consider additional aspects increasing vulnerability. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress were associated with negative worldview beliefs and two domains of burnout. Conclusions: Midwives may experience aspects of their work as traumatic and, as a consequence, experience posttraumatic stress symptomatology at clinical levels. This holds important implications for both midwives’ personal and professional wellbeing and the wellbeing of the workforce, in addition to other maternity professionals with similar roles and responsibilities. Organisational strategies are required to prepare midwives for such exposure, support midwives following traumatic perinatal events and provide effective intervention for those with significant symptoms

The global pharmacy workforce: a systematic review of the literature

The importance of health workforce provision has gained significance and is now considered one of the most pressing issues worldwide, across all health professions. Against this background, the objectives of the work presented here were to systematically explore and identify contemporary issues surrounding expansion of the global pharmacy workforce in order to assist the International Pharmaceutical Federation working group on the workforce

Geographical classifications to guide rural health policy in Australia

The Australian Government's recent decision to replace the Rural Remote and Metropolitan Area (RRMA) classification with the Australian Standard Geographical Classification - Remoteness Areas (ASGC-RA) system highlights the ongoing significance of geographical classifications for rural health policy, particularly in relation to improving the rural health workforce supply. None of the existing classifications, including the government's preferred choice, were designed specifically to guide health resource allocation, and all exhibit strong weaknesses when applied as such. Continuing reliance on these classifications as policy tools will continue to result in inappropriate health program resource distribution. Purely 'geographical' classifications alone cannot capture all relevant aspects of rural health service provision within a single measure. Moreover, because many subjective decisions (such as the choice of algorithm and breakdown of groupings) influence a classification's impact and acceptance from its users, policy-makers need to specify explicitly the purpose and role of their different programs as the basis for developing and implementing appropriate decision tools such as 'rural-urban' classifications. Failure to do so will continue to limit the effectiveness that current rural health support and incentive programs can have in achieving their objective of improving the provision of health care services to rural populations though affirmative action programs

‘Cruel and unusual punishment’: an inter-jurisdictional study of the criminalisation of young people with complex support needs

Although several criminologists and social scientists have drawn attention to the high rates of mental and cognitive disability amongst populations of young people embroiled in youth justice systems, less attention has been paid to the ways in which young people with disability are disproportionately exposed to processes of criminalisation and how the same processes serve to further disable them. In this paper, we aim to make a contribution towards filling this gap by drawing upon qualitative findings from the Comparative Youth Penality Project - an empirical inter-jurisdictional study of youth justice and penality in England and Wales and in four Australian states. We build on, integrate and extend theoretical perspectives from critical disability studies and from critical criminology to examine the presence of, and responses to, socio-economically disadvantaged young people with multiple disabilities (complex support needs) in youth justice systems in our selected jurisdictions. Four key findings emerge from our research pertaining to: (i) the criminalisation of disability and disadvantage; (ii) the management of children and young people with disabilities by youth justice agencies; (iii) the significance of early and holistic responses for children and young people with complex support needs; and (iv) the inadequate nature of community based support