Voluntary income management in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands

The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands is an Aboriginal Local Government Area located in north-west South Australia. In 2012, the local Women\u27s Council requested the introduction of income management into the APY Lands. The report found there are indications that income management may have made a modest contribution to addressing some of the challenges, but cannot alone make significant inroads into the social problems within the community. • Executive summary This is the final report of an examination of the implementation and early impacts of the introduction of Voluntary Income Management (VIM) in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. The project is a qualitative study of VIM in the APY Lands.  This study focuses on how the measure is operating in the short-term, after its introduction in October 2012. The study is based primarily on qualitative and quantitative face to face interviews with community members in Pukatja (Ernabella) and Amata – two of the biggest communities in the APY Lands. The project also draws on reports provided by the Department of Social Services on the number and profile of individuals on VIM in the APY Lands. The main findings are: •    The majority of community members and other stakeholders who participated in this study were positive about income management being introduced into the APY Lands. •    The fact that the communities had requested income management, and had been consulted about its introduction, appears to have had a major influence on the communities’ view of income management. •    Similarly the fact that the vast majority of people on income management in the APY Lands were on the Voluntary measure has facilitated the acceptance of income management in the APY Lands. •    Generally income management has been implemented smoothly but there were reportedly some early practical issues around the acceptance of the BasicsCard in some outlets. This was quickly remedied. •    There are mixed responses in relation to the impact of income management on the wellbeing of the community as a whole, but overall there is a belief that it has had a positive impact so far, although its impact is limited. •    The main reasons provided for the communities requesting income management were financial harassment (‘humbug’), misuse of alcohol and cannabis (gunja), gambling, and parents neglecting their children

Opportunities for information sharing: case studies

Personal information provided to government and non-government service providers is highly sensitive. Appropriate collection, management and storage of personal information are critical elements to citizen trust in the public sector. However, misconceptions about the frameworks governing sharing personal information can impact on the coordination of services, case management and policy development.   The NSW Department of Premier & Cabinet engaged the Social Policy Research Centre to develop three case studies that identified the challenges to sharing information appropriately, and the opportunities for better personal information sharing between government agencies and non-government organisations. Improved sharing of personal information in these areas can support more effective policy development, leading to improved service delivery performance and coordination.   The Social Policy Research Centre identified the legislative and policy framework for each case study, conducted qualitative research on the interpretation of this framework, and developed three case study reports

Arthritis and disability

Executive summary: Arthritis Australia commissioned the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) at UNSW Australia to carry out research on the lived experience of people with arthritis related conditions. This report outlines the methods, findings and implications of the research. Arthritis is the second leading cause of disability and the most common cause of chronic pain in Australia; it is the most prevalent long-term health condition, affecting 3 million people or about 15 per cent of the population. Studies are available on the health costs and loss of productivity associated with arthritis, but not as much is understood about the extent to which arthritis is associated with disability–who is affected, how people are affected, what helps people cope with their condition day to day, and how support services can be improved. Improving understanding of the disability impact of arthritis is particularly important given the transition in Australia to the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the impact this may have on service availability and delivery

Evaluation of Services Our Way

An evaluation of Services Our Way, a NSW Government service model designed to build the capacity of Aboriginal people to have greater access to mainstream and disability services and encourage self-directed support. Overview Services Our Way is a NSW Government service model designed to build the capacity of Aboriginal people to have greater access to mainstream and disability services and encourage self-directed support. The Social Policy Research Centre was commissioned to evaluate the Services Our Way pilot in Nowra, New South Wales, and did so through interviews with families and service providers. Services Our Way had positive impacts on Aboriginal people with disability and their families. The program helped Aboriginal people access a range of services, meeting immediate priorities of the families. The program was successful in engaging with the Aboriginal community using a culturally appropriate approach – an approach which could be shared with other staff and services to improve the appropriateness of service delivery more broadly. Through the program, families were able to access support and services to participate in social, economic and cultural activities, that helped strengthen and support community and social relationships. The evaluation could not determine the degree to which families transitioned to mainstream services – the research found that families had urgent needs to be met prior to transitioning to other services. The Services Our Way program in Nowra was a pilot, which developed from the initial concept in response to local needs. The evaluation identifies a range of issues in providing person centred approaches to Aboriginal people with disability and their families and communities which should influence the future directions under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).&nbsp

Understanding how the public sector organises and controls the outsourcing of human services

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Business.Public sector organisations (PSOs) outsource a range of activities, including human services such as health and social care. Transaction cost economic (TCE) theory suggests human services are difficult to contract over due to high asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency of transactions; the way human services are organised and controlled is also likely to be affected by probity requirements. The inter-organisational management control literature suggests relational control strategies – strategies that are nimble and adaptive – are best suited to activities of low contractibility; yet, where probity requirements are high, bureaucratic control strategies may be more appropriate. Given this tension, the thesis explains how the public sector can organise and control the outsourcing of low contractible human services. Using a qualitative case study of the outsourcing of primary health care services by the Australian Government, I use an abductive approach to explain how PSOs moderate the tension between low contractibility and probity when outsourcing human services

Health, education, and social care provision after diagnosis of childhood visual disability

Aim: To investigate the health, education, and social care provision for children newly diagnosed with visual disability.Method: This was a national prospective study, the British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study 2 (BCVIS2), ascertaining new diagnoses of visual impairment or severe visual impairment and blindness (SVIBL), or equivalent vi-sion. Data collection was performed by managing clinicians up to 1-year follow-up, and included health and developmental needs, and health, education, and social care provision.Results: BCVIS2 identified 784 children newly diagnosed with visual impairment/SVIBL (313 with visual impairment, 471 with SVIBL). Most children had associated systemic disorders (559 [71%], 167 [54%] with visual impairment, and 392 [84%] with SVIBL). Care from multidisciplinary teams was provided for 549 children (70%). Two-thirds (515) had not received an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP). Fewer children with visual impairment had seen a specialist teacher (SVIBL 35%, visual impairment 28%, χ2p < 0.001), or had an EHCP (11% vs 7%, χ2p < 0 . 01).Interpretation: Families need additional support from managing clinicians to access recommended complex interventions such as the use of multidisciplinary teams and educational support. This need is pressing, as the population of children with visual impairment/SVIBL is expected to grow in size and complexity.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Genetic mechanisms of critical illness in COVID-19.

Host-mediated lung inflammation is present1, and drives mortality2, in the critical illness caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Host genetic variants associated with critical illness may identify mechanistic targets for therapeutic development3. Here we report the results of the GenOMICC (Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care) genome-wide association study in 2,244 critically ill patients with COVID-19 from 208 UK intensive care units. We have identified and replicated the following new genome-wide significant associations: on chromosome 12q24.13 (rs10735079, P = 1.65 × 10-8) in a gene cluster that encodes antiviral restriction enzyme activators (OAS1, OAS2 and OAS3); on chromosome 19p13.2 (rs74956615, P = 2.3 × 10-8) near the gene that encodes tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2); on chromosome 19p13.3 (rs2109069, P = 3.98 ×  10-12) within the gene that encodes dipeptidyl peptidase 9 (DPP9); and on chromosome 21q22.1 (rs2236757, P = 4.99 × 10-8) in the interferon receptor gene IFNAR2. We identified potential targets for repurposing of licensed medications: using Mendelian randomization, we found evidence that low expression of IFNAR2, or high expression of TYK2, are associated with life-threatening disease; and transcriptome-wide association in lung tissue revealed that high expression of the monocyte-macrophage chemotactic receptor CCR2 is associated with severe COVID-19. Our results identify robust genetic signals relating to key host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage in COVID-19. Both mechanisms may be amenable to targeted treatment with existing drugs. However, large-scale randomized clinical trials will be essential before any change to clinical practice

Researching gender based violence remotely during a pandemic: challenges, opportunities and methodological implications

There has been increased awareness of the unique challenges faced by those researching gender based violence (GBV) in recent years. While much of the literature has rightly focused on the needs of participants (as victim/survivors), less has been written around the needs of researchers. Yet we know that researching GBV can have both positive and negative impacts on researchers (Nikischer, 2019) and it has recently been recommended that researchers have access to clinical supervision when regularly exposed to traumatic material (Williamson et al, 2020). This article draws on reflections from research carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the reasons why victims of domestic abuse and/or sexual violence may withdraw from the criminal justice process. The research team were provided with independent clinical supervision by a qualified therapist with expertise in interpersonal abuse throughout the duration of the project. Analysis of the researchers’ reflections suggest that while the move to remote research during the pandemic created opportunities in terms of flexibility there were additional emotional challenges to those experienced pre-pandemic. Importantly, this exploratory article shares reflections on the value of clinical supervision for addressing these challenges and recommends that all GBV researchers have access to this vital resource

Research on Youth Exposure to, and Management of, Cyberbullying Incidents in Australia: Synthesis Report

The Australian Government Department of Communications commissioned the UNSW Social Policy Research Centre, the University of South Australia, the University of Western Sydney, the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre, and the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre to research youth exposure to, and management of, cyberbullying incidents in Australia. The research aims to provide the Australian Government with evidence relating to the desirability of whether to create a new, separate cyberbullying offence and in its consideration of a new civil enforcement regime