Policy Forum Pod

The normalisation of gambling in Australian life has had devastating results for many people across the country. On this week’s pod, we talk to authors of new research on gambling harm in Australia and its impact on women.While as many as 200,000 Australians have a high-level problem with gambling, new research from The Australian National University shows that the impact of gambling harm goes well beyond individual gamblers. So how are loved ones, particularly women, harmed by gambling behaviour?On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, we’re joined by researchers Dr Megan Whitty and Dr Marisa Paterson from The Australian National University to discuss their new study on the issue, and what policymakers should be doing to tackle this major challenge.Dr Marisa Paterson is the Director of the Centre for Gambling Research at The Australian National University. Marisa specialises in qualitative research methods, with a particular research focus on gambling policy and regulation. She leads a broad range of projects relating to many different aspects of gambling.Dr Megan Whitty is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Gambling Research at ANU. Her research interests lie in the area of public health, particularly gambling, Indigenous health, and behavioural addiction.Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.You can access the Gambling Support Study and videos from the pod here, and if you or anyone you know needs help with gambling problems, support is available at the following places:Lifeline on 13 11 14Gambling Help Online on 1800 858 858Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36Policy Forum Pod is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In light of the Australian government’s announcement to focus on technology – such as hydrogen and carbon capture – to mitigate the impacts of climate change, we talk to an innovation policy expert about what Australia could learn from the Netherlands’ Topsector approach.Following the dramatic bushfires, Australia’s policy is more than ever in need of grand transformations – but how can policymakers best go about that and ensure that businesses are on board? The Dutch Topsector approach might give us some pointers. Launched in 2010, the policy creates so called Topsectors - businesses and knowledge institutes that work together with government to drive innovation and solve societal issues at the same time. In this episode of Policy Forum Pod, we talk to Dr Matthijs Janssen about this transformative policy, and what lessons Australia could draw from it.  Dr Matthijs Janssen is an Assistant Professor at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at University of Utrecht, investigating innovation policy and strategy.Julia Ahrens is a presenter on Policy Forum Pod.Policy Forum Pod is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we mark International Women’s Day with a special pod looking at women in leadership, from the boardroom to the front bench.  From business to politics to higher education, women are still hugely under-represented in the upper echelons of a range of sectors. While many have made a clear case for the benefits of gender diversity in terms of organisational performance and culture, women still face significant barriers which are preventing them from reaching the top in their fields. So why is this, and what can be done to bring about much-needed change? On this week’s pod, our panel - Julie Hare, Professor Sharon Bell, Sophia Hamblin Wang and Caitlin Figueiredo - talk about the bold changes that are needed in order to disrupt the status quo.Professor Sharon Bell is Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at The Australian National University.Sophia Hamblin Wang is the Chief Operations Officer of Mineral Carbonation International, a technology platform that transforms carbon dioxide into building materials and other valuable industrial products.Caitlin Figueiredo is the founder of Jasiri and is an Australia Global gender equality activist. She was named 2018 ACT Young Australian of the Year and was recognised on the Forbes under 30 list for her work on parliamentary gender equality through the Girls Takeover Parliament Program.Julie Hare is Editor of BroadAgenda, part of the 50-50 by 2030 Foundation at the University of Canberra.Dr Sue Regan is a Lecturer at Crawford School of Public Policy. In February 2020, Sue also became Policy Manager at Volunteering Australia.Policy Forum Pod is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Policy Forum Pod, our expert panel counts the cost of inaction on climate change.In recent times, much attention has been paid to the costs of new climate change policies. From job losses, to higher electricity prices, to new taxes, these tolls have been touted far and wide. But what about the cost of inaction? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, we’re joined by an expert panel - Professor Quentin Grafton, Dr Arnagretta Hunter, and Honorary Associate Professor Imran Ahmad - to ask what Australians are paying, and likely to pay into the future, if the country continues on its current trajectory.Dr Imran Ahmad is Founding Director of Future Earth Australia, former Director of East-Asia and Pacific at the Global Green Growth Institute, and an Honorary Associate Professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society.Dr Arnagretta Hunter is a cardiologist, physician, and a Senior Clinical Lecturer for The Australian National University Medical School.Professor Quentin Grafton is Professor of Economics at Crawford School, an ANU Public Policy Fellow, and Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Policy Forum.Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.Policy Forum Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s episode, we’re joined by Professor Patrick Dunleavy to talk about ‘robodebt’, department mergers, and why this very ‘Canberra’ issue has a big impact throughout the country.Will the government’s proposed departmental merger make the Australian Public Service more efficient? And as big data and artificial intelligence play a bigger role in the delivery of public services, are issues like the ‘robodebt’ scandal a harbinger of things to come? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Professor Sharon Bessell speaks with political scientist and public policy guru Professor Patrick Dunleavy about increasing public service productivity for the benefit of all.Patrick Dunleavy is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy within the Government Department of the London School of Economics. He is also Co-Director of Democratic Audit and Chair of the LSE Public Policy Group and Centenary Research Professor at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra.Sharon Bessell is a Professor at Crawford School of Public Policy, where she is co-leader of the ANU Individual Deprivation Measure (IDM) team. The IDM is a new, gender-sensitive and multidimensional measure of poverty.Policy Forum Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us at the pod squad members’ lounge as we field your questions on all sorts of issues, from how countries are performing on emissions reduction to which politician you’d least like to be stuck in conversation with at the annual Midwinter Ball.On the first episode of our special Ask Policy Forum series, regular hosts and special guests crack a beverage and chat about what you want to know. Led by Chris Farnham of the National Security Podcast, kick back as Mark Kenny of Democracy Sausage, Martyn Pearce of Policy Forum Pod, Professor Mark Howden, Associate Professor Carolyn Hendriks and Dr Arnagretta Hunter field your questions on life, the universe and everything.Future episodes of Ask Policy Forum will be released only to members of our Policy Forum Pod Facebook group, so make sure you jump online and join to get access to this exclusive monthly pod.Mark Howden is Director of the ANU Climate Change Institute. Mark was a major contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports for the United Nations, for which he shares a Nobel Peace Prize.Carolyn Hendriks is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Governance, at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. Her work examines the democratic aspects of contemporary governance.Arnagretta Hunter is a cardiologist, physician, and a Senior Clinical Lecturer for The Australian National University Medical School.Mark Kenny is the presenter of Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny and a Senior Fellow in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.Chris Farnham is the presenter of the National Security Podcast. He joined the National Security College in June 2015 as Policy and Events Officer. His career focus has been on geopolitics with experience working in and out of China for a number of years as well as operating in Australia and Southeast Asia.Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or find us on Facebook Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Policy Forum Pod, we tackle key questions about the novel coronavirus outbreak – what is the virus, how are countries responding, and how do we address the spread of misinformation when public tensions are running high.The coronavirus outbreak is rapidly evolving, with new information coming to light each day. With the level of uncertainty about the disease, misinformation is also spreading fast. While orchestrating major public health responses is difficult at the best of times, how can authorities ensure the public are well informed when falsehoods are spread so easily via social media? How appropriate and effective are the responses we’ve seen from international governments so far? And how important is it to maintain strong multilateral institutions to address global health crises? On this week’s pod, we speak to two public health experts – Professor Martyn Kirk and Dr Nick Coatsworth – and a China scholar – Yun Jiang – to unpack these issues. Martyn Kirk is a National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development Fellow and Professor of applied epidemiology at The Australian National University Medical School. He has worked for over 20 years in state, territory, and federal health departments in the areas of infectious disease surveillance and investigation.Nick Coatsworth is a Consultant Physician in infectious disease medicine at Canberra Hospital, a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Medicine at The Australian National University Medical School, and a PhD scholar at ANU School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet). He was President of Medecins Sans Frontieres Australia from 2010 to 2011.Yun Jiang is a researcher at the Australian Centre on China in World and Co-Editor of China Neican, a newsletter that decodes China issues with concise, timely, and policy-focused analysis. Her research interests include geo-economics, Australia-China relations, and Chinese-Australians.Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.Policy Forum Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While hundreds of bushfires still burn throughout Australia, some communities are beginning the enormous task of rebuilding. While the fires didn’t discriminate as they tore through towns around the country, the recovery process is especially difficult for those who were already struggling even before the disaster. People on low incomes, those living with a disability, rough sleepers, and other marginalised groups now face a huge task to recover.On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, our expert panel - Professor Sharon Bessell, Dr John Falzon and Professor Peter Whiteford - join us to discuss how best to support those who need it most.Peter Whiteford is Professor at Crawford School of Public Policy. He previously worked as a Principal Administrator in the Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris.Dr John Falzon OAM is Senior Fellow, Inequality and Social Justice at Per Capita. He is also a sociologist, poet, and social justice advocate, and was national CEO of the St Vincent de Paul Society from 2006 to 2018. John’s current work focuses on social security reform, housing and homelessness, workers’ rights, and rebuilding the concept of the common good across society.Sharon Bessell is a Professor at Crawford School of Public Policy, where she is co-leader of the ANU Individual Deprivation Measure (IDM) team. The IDM is a new, gender-sensitive and multidimensional measure of poverty.Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.Policy Forum Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Public interest in Indigenous fire management practices like ‘cool burning’ has grown significantly in the wake of Australia’s unprecedented bushfire crisis. But what is cool burning, and what does the attention it has received tell us about how Indigenous knowledge is valued in Australia? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Dr Virginia Marshall and Dr Annick Thomassin join us to talk about the impact of the bushfires on Aboriginal people, why Indigenous knowledge should be central to policy-making, and the state of reconciliation in Australia.Annick Thomassin is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the ANU Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research. She is the primary investigator of the Seachange: Aboriginal marine pathways to social inclusion project, a grassroots, research-action initiative developed in collaboration with Mogo and Batemans Bay Local Aboriginal Land Councils.Virginia Marshall is an Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow with the ANU School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) and the Fenner School of Environment and Society.Sue Regan is a PhD Scholar and tutor at Crawford School of Public Policy. Previously, Sue was Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, a UK-based research institute focusing on the well-being of low earners.Policy Forum Pod is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or find us on Facebook.If you’d like to help with the recovery effort or contribute to firefighting services, here’s how you can donate to bushfire appeals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Australia’s federal government is coming under increasing pressure to change course on its climate policies, but will it lead to tangible policy change? This week on Policy Forum Pod an expert panel - Professor Frank Jotzo, Professor Quentin Grafton, Dr Tayanah O’Donnell and Meegan Fitzharris – take a look at how the events of the last couple of months have shifted public views and how that might, or might not, translate into policy change.Frank Jotzo is Professor at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, and Director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy.Tayanah O’Donnell is Director of Future Earth Australia, based at the Australian Academy of Science.Meegan Fitzharris is a Senior Fellow in Health Policy and Leadership at ANU College of Health and Medicine. She is a former Labor Member of the Legislative Assembly for Molonglo and Yerrabi and was the ACT government’s Minister for Health and Wellbeing.Quentin Grafton is Professor of Economics at Crawford School, UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance, and Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Policy Forum.Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.Policy Forum Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.