Keywords: Welfare Agencies
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AUSTRALIA
- David Halliday
- 28 February 2024
1 Comment
The main purpose of government is to promote the welfare of its people. And yet over the last few decades, through numerous inquiries, it’s become clear that the Australian government has failed to provide services for the Australian population as well as might be expected.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 22 February 2024
If the treatment of persons is unethical, it will inevitably lead to ethical corruption in the people and the institutions involved in administering it. It is almost impossible to participate in a policy based on such unethical premises without being complicit in it. If we do, we become blinded to what we owe one another by virtue of being human.
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AUSTRALIA
- Frank Brennan
- 07 February 2024
12 Comments
The referendum result was a disaster for the country and a tragedy for First Australians and there has been little appetite for public discussion about lessons to be learnt from this abject failure. If we are to move forward, it’s time to begin the conversation about past mistakes.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Falzon
- 14 December 2023
4 Comments
No doubt there were some who genuinely believed that privatising employment services would result in better services at a lower cost to the public purse. But the engineers of the socially destructive projects of the neoliberal era knew very well that they were more likely to result in the enrichment of some to the detriment of many.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 30 November 2023
8 Comments
Any legislation hastily designed to negate the effect of the High Court decisions will be vulnerable again to be struck down on judicial appeal. That haste suggests an initial disregard for human rights and the rule of law by Governments and an ingrained resistance to any limitation of its power. Vindictive laws come at a heavy cost to the integrity and reputation of the lawmakers.
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AUSTRALIA
- Mark Gaetani
- 02 August 2023
5 Comments
Despite causing despair and even leading to lives lost, those who orchestrated Robodebt from 2015 to 2019 appear unrepentant. Yet one fact remains unchallenged: this scheme lays bare a troubling disregard for the dignity of the most vulnerable in society.
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RELIGION
- Jamie Calder
- 21 June 2023
5 Comments
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse made a recommendation for professional supervision within religious and pastoral environments. But can professional supervision repair broken trust, ensure accountability, and promote a more ethical approach to care in the face of past failings?
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ECONOMICS
- Andrew Hamilton
- 02 March 2023
3 Comments
As politicians and economists search for a simple solution to inflation, high debt, and rising interest rates, Australia's inequality has become a defining feature of its economy. As the fear of unintended consequences and the power of vested interests loom large, incremental reform may be the only way to reduce inequality and serve the common good.
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RELIGION
- John Warhurst
- 12 January 2023
The Church must speak up to be relevant, but those who seek to ‘speak for the church’ must be brave. They risk exposing themselves to claims of bias unless they stick to a very narrow agenda and speak in extremely measured terms. Yet if they are too bland they risk being irrelevant to the sharp end of political debate and their intervention becomes little more than a symbolic ritual.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 24 November 2022
6 Comments
This year's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is particularly significant because it follows shortly after the release of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, a ten year project to eliminate violence against women in a generation. Of course, large initial hopes may be disappointed, but the implementation of plans is always the most difficult challenge.
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AUSTRALIA
- Julian Butler
- 08 November 2022
3 Comments
In the midst of the spring racing carnival, online betting companies have been told their advertising will next year need to include warnings about the risk of gambling. The new requirements fall well short of regulation that might meaningfully curb what is become a social norm and cultural marker for many.
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AUSTRALIA
- Frank Brennan
- 28 October 2022
6 Comments
In recent years, Australian policies in relation to asylum seekers and refugees have been unnecessarily mean, cruel and disorganised. The election of the Albanese government provides the opportunity for a reset, putting behind us the past mistakes of both Coalition and Labor Governments in the last 20 years.
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