A critical review of the capability approach in Australian Indigenous policy

The capability approach has recently been used in Australian Indigenous policy formation. Of particular note is how it has been used in some instances to justify current paternalistic and directive policies for Indigenous Australians. These include behavioural conditionalities on state support and income management—policy apparatuses that aim to create individual responsibility and to re-engineer the social norms of Indigenous people. This interpretation of the capability approach is at odds with the writings of Sen, because it overlooks the core concepts of freedom, agency and pluralism. To examine this tension, this paper reviews the contestation between capability scholars and commentators on Indigenous policy, paying particular attention to four areas: human capability vs human capital, deficit discourse, individual responsibility, and the ends and means of policy. Finally, to reinvigorate the capability approach in Australian Indigenous policy, six areas are suggested in which the capability approach could be used in the future

Empowered Communities: review of the empowered communities design report

The Empowered Communities: Empowered Peoples Design Report proposes a new model of Indigenous empowerment and development in Australia. The authors of this Report have focused on economic development to achieve Indigenous empowerment, with an emphasis on Indigenous individuals and families increasing their productivity (through taking responsibility). The Report sets out short term and long term goals for Indigenous development across Australia. Nonetheless, there are some inconsistencies within the conceptual and methodological frameworks used, raising questions of the overall logic of the Empowered Communities model, as well as its prospects for achieving Indigenous-led emancipatory development in Australia. This paper will raise questions relating to five areas in the Report and conclude that given the grand vision set out by the authors, it is essential that these inconsistencies are addressed

The Cashless Debit Card trial in the East Kimberley

This paper focuses on the Cashless Debit Card trial in the East Kimberley, Western Australia. The card aims to restrict cash and purchases to curb alcohol consumption, illegal drug use and gambling. The card targets Indigenous people disproportionately – 82.0% of the people in the East Kimberley trial are Indigenous. The current study is based on 13 months of research into the Australian Government’s trial of the card in the East Kimberley. We review the card in the context of current policies to manage Indigenous consumption. We then look at aspects of the trial in the East Kimberley, including its implementation, lack of community engagement, community resistance and effects on money management. We find not only that the trial was chaotic, but that its logic is deeply flawed, and disconnected from the relational poverty experienced by people receiving state benefits. We also find that the card has become a symbol of government control and regulation in the study site

Looma Lesson Planner

Looma Lesson Planner is a web application that allows its users, experienced educators, to select, organize, and present existing classroom materials and educational content in the format of a custom-made lesson plan. Looma, an all-in-one computer developed by non-profit organization VillageTech Solutions, is designed for school teachers in rural Nepal, India. It provides them with basic access to textbooks, activities, and digital media that may be relevant in meeting Nepal\u27s curriculum requirements. However, Looma did not initially include a simple interface for teachers to connect many different forms of content together into cohesive, custom lesson plans. Our application presents and organizes Looma\u27s existing content in an accessible, user-friendly manner, and allows the teacher to create reusable lesson plans from this content. The application utilizes HTML5, CSS3, PHP, MongoDB, and JavaScript to create a simple, user-friendly, WYSIWYG design. The application\u27s goal is to remove a key technical barrier that Looma currently poses on teachers, and to create a seamless classroom experience for the teachers and their students. Going forward, we plan on working with VillageTech Solutions to integrate our application with Looma\u27s operating system. Once we have completed this task, VillageTech Solutions will use Looma and our web application to conduct user testing with teachers in Nepal. We are also finalizing both a technical guide and a user manual for VillageTech Solutions that will outline our code structure and illustrate how to use the web application, respectively

Developmental dyscalculia in adults: Current issues and open questions for future research.

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a chronic condition that poses not only a barrier to employment and socio-emotional wellbeing but that also persists into adulthood. Thus, understanding the neuro-cognitive foundations of DD is relevant for both children and adults with DD. However, so far the vast majority of scientific research endeavours has been dedicated to the study of DD in children only. Consequently, our current understanding of DD in adulthood is rather patchy. The main aim of the present review is to summarize the scientific findings on DD in adults by focusing on its cognitive manifestations and neural substrates in adults. For instance, research on DD in adulthood suggests that – beyond an outstanding deficiency in number processing – the processing of non-numerical magnitudes and domain-general skills seem to be also impaired in adults suffering from persistent DD. A secondary aim of this review is to delineate future lines of research that will provide us with a more elaborate understanding of the neurocognitive underpinnings of DD in adults (thus fostering the development of sensitive diagnostic marker tasks), and to formulate potential intervention areas targeting deficiencies frequently characterizing DD in adults

Categorical and continuous - disentangling the neural correlates of the carry effect in multi-digit addition

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recently it was suggested that the carry effect observed in addition involves both categorical and continuous processing characteristics.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the present study, we aimed at identifying the specific neural correlates associated with processing either categorical or continuous aspects of the carry effect in an fMRI study on multi-digit addition.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In line with our expectations, we observed two distinct parts of the fronto-parietal network subserving numerical cognition to be associated with either one of these two characteristics. On the one hand, the categorical aspect of the carry effect was associated with left-hemispheric language areas and the basal ganglia probably reflecting increased demands on procedural and problem solving processes. Complementarily, the continuous aspect of the carry effect was associated with increased intraparietal activation indicating increasing demands on magnitude processing as well as place-value integration with increasing unit sum.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In summary, the findings suggest representations and processes underlying the carry effect in multi-digit addition to be more complex and interactive than assumed previously.</p

Social security and time use during COVD-19

The base rates of Australia’s working-age social security payments are below the poverty line, and have been for some time. Additionally, people who receive payments are often required to undertake various ‘mutual obligations’ such as 'Work for the Dole.' In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Government introduced a $550 per fortnight Coronavirus Supplement (‘the Supplement’) from 27 April 2020 for a period of six months and temporarily suspended mutual obligations. As states and territories were able to control the spread of the virus and ease restrictions, the Australian Government began to reduce the Supplement and re-introduce mutual obligations. Even with the Australian Government’s recently legislated permanent increase to the base rate of payments of$50 per fortnight, people receiving these payments will continue to live in poverty. This study used an online survey to examine how people receiving social security payments used the $550 Coronavirus Supplement (‘the Supplement’) and their time as a result of the temporary suspension of mutual obligations. The authors were also able to compare whether these changes differed from people who did not receive the Supplement, either because their payment did not include the Supplement or because they did not receive social security payments. Key findings: The Supplement was used by respondents for meeting basic needs, as well as other strategic expenditures to improve their household’s long-term financial security. The Supplement and suspension of mutual obligations improved respondents’ physical and mental health and contributed to their overall wellbeing. These dramatic changes enabled people to turn their attention away from day-to-day survival and towards envisioning and working towards a more economically secure future for themselves and their dependents. The Supplement and suspension of mutual obligations allowed people to better engage in many forms of unpaid productive work, including care work and community support. These policy changes meant that the pandemic was a period of reprieve for many people receiving social security payments due to the easing of financial stress, scrutiny, and uncertainty. This is very different to normative characterisations of the pandemic and associated lockdowns, which was experienced as a period of great stress and uncertainty for many people.This report was commisioned by Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfar