Accessibility of ‘essential’ alcohol in the time of COVID-19: casting light on the blind spots of licensing?

Among the Australian and UK governments’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the designation of outlets selling alcohol for off-premise consumption as ‘essential’ services, allowing them to remain open while pubs, hotels and restaurants have been forced to close. In a context of restrictions on movement outside the home in both countries, and where alcohol providers are trying to find new ways to reach their customers, this may lead to an intensification of the social and health harms associated with home drinking. By examining the current situation in both Australia and the UK, we argue that heightened risks from home drinking amid COVID-19 bring into sharp focus long-standing weaknesses within licensing systems in both countries: the regulation of offpremise outlets to minimise harms from drinking at home. We call for critical conversations on how licensing systems should be revised to take more responsibility for protecting people from the health and social harms associated with home drinking, both under COVID-19 and in the future

The impact of higher education for part-time students

This report discusses the findings of a study undertaken by Birkbeck, University of London and the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, commissioned by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills to examine the impact of higher education (HE) on the labour market experiences of graduates who studied part-time and full-time as undergraduates

More than the power of two: sharing leadership for social justice in Australian schools with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

Australian schools are now under constant pressure to improve student achievement, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Successful school-community interrelationships are considered an important contributing factor to this improvement as is the school's educational leadership. This paper reports on a four year research project that looks into these contributing factors, through the work of Indigenous Education Workers (IEWs)/Community Education Counsellors (CECs) and principals and how they collaborate together. Informed by theoretical underpinnings emanating from a critical theorist framework, a mixed method, participatory action research multi-site case study approach was undertaken in a large educational region in the state of Queensland, Australia. Insights into the significance of the IEW/CEC role and the distinctive educational leadership relationship practice between IEWs/CECs and principals are presented. Finally, the paper explains the scholarly significance of the project and its potential to influence system policy and actions of educational leaders in Australian schools