Australian Journal of Social Issues最新文献

Ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children removed from their families by child protection services remain connected to their kin, Country and culture is a priority to begin to redress the intergenerational trauma and harm caused by colonisation. This article describes the views of staff working in three mainstream out-of-home care organisations, where children are cared for by non-Indigenous foster carers. Through the lenses of recovery and justice capital, we explore the cultural assets and resources that are made available to non-Indigenous foster carers providing care for children, as well as the institutional elements that either inhibit or facilitate cultural connection and activities. We argue that the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices when ascertaining information about children's culture and connection is critical to ensuring best cultural practice. Forums that support relationships are largely absent, and we identify important elements of institutional justice capital that could ensure children are connected and prevent further harm and trauma.

Embedded in the framework of intergenerational solidarity, this paper explores the interactions between older immigrants' participation in volunteering activities and intergenerational family relationships in the Chinese community in Sydney, Australia. The study investigates the effects of volunteering on the lives of older Chinese immigrants. It draws on 57 in-depth interviews and 6 focus groups with older immigrants, the vast majority of whom were from China. The findings suggest that volunteering among older immigrant parents is shaped by intergenerational family relationships. Volunteering serves to improve the wellbeing of older people who would otherwise suffer from social isolation and often helps to mend strained family relationships. For older Chinese immigrants, volunteering provides a means to access public services, navigate social service systems and reduce dependency on their children, thereby fostering functional, normative and affective solidarity. This study also uncovers the interconnectedness of the six dimensions of intergenerational family relationships, showing that when adult children actively support their older parents' volunteering, it benefits the elderly immigrants, their families as well as the broader community. The paper calls for better preparedness for aging in the context of immigration, advocating for capacity-building initiatives for both older immigrants and their adult children.

The interface between Australia's aged care and disability systems has come into sharper focus with the 2023 Review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) recommendation to retain the upper age limit for entry and the introduction of an age criterion for assessment in the Aged Care Act 2024. Both are set at age 65. This precise administrative boundary contrasts with the considerable movement across the two systems in practice and prompts examination of these flows from the perspective of the populations in the ‘interface’ age groups, 60–64 and 65–69 years. This article begins with a review of the reasoning behind the lack of age criteria in aged care until the 2024 Act and the NDIS age definition. It then shows how the application of current criteria in the two systems gives rise to permeability across the interface. The size and characteristics of service use in the cohorts at the interface are then examined, including expected trends. The findings lead to the conclusion that sharpening the age division will not resolve the boundary between the disability and aged care systems. Instead, further analysis from a policy and program perspective is proposed to understand how the issues have arisen and how they might be addressed.

Hearing loss is a poignant issue in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and, without sufficient support, it can also contribute to disabling life experiences. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is intended to provide support to eligible people experiencing disability, however, to effectively serve this population, it requires a nuanced understanding of their lived experiences, support needs and how these needs can be met within the context of the NDIS. This article presents findings from a qualitative analysis of yarnings with 15 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NDIS participants who are deaf or hard of hearing. The findings demonstrate the support needs of this group are diverse, encompassing socio-cultural, communication, health and disability specific support domains. The capacity of the NDIS to address these needs varied, from positive to sub-optimal outcomes. The study highlights the need for significant reform within the NDIS to better meet the needs of this population.

This narrative literature review examines key issues surrounding psychosocial disability support in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). It highlights the NDIS's neoliberal approach to support, which has underpinned a lack of clarity around the conceptualisation of psychosocial disability and recovery. Several studies identified a mismatch between the episodic nature of mental illness and the NDIS's permanent disability criteria. Additionally, the review highlights the NDIS's inadequate consideration of social disadvantage in implementing support for individuals with psychosocial disability. Challenges in managing NDIS funding can result from both fluctuating mental health conditions and a lack of accessible information for informed decision-making regarding service options. Findings highlight that the NDIS tends to employ a neoliberal approach focused on capacity building, which may not fully capture the qualitative and individualised aspects of recovery. Systemic and socio-structural barriers within the NDIS and individual circumstances can hinder NDIS service users' decision-making. In conclusion, the review emphasises the need for a diverse range of services tailored to the specific needs of NDIS participants with psychosocial disability to support their unique recovery processes. There is a need for further research to comprehend the multifaceted recovery processes and lived experiences of NDIS participants with psychosocial disability.

Development of cultural identity is understood to be central to well-being; however, it is not always prioritised for children in out-of-home care (OOHC). This paper examines current policy and practice designed to support the cultural identity and connection of non-Indigenous culturally and linguistically diverse children (CALD) in OOHC, who make up approximately 14% of children in care. These are children who have migrated to Australia or have a family history of migration. OOHC practice guidance has paid minimal attention to this group of children, with only New South Wales and Western Australia requiring cultural care plans for CALD children. We conducted a review of current policy and online world café sessions with 65 OOHC professionals across all Australian States and Territories to explore the current state of policy and practice for CALD children in OOHC as this relates to maintaining their cultural identity and connections. Participants were from a wide range of backgrounds, including providers of OOHC, government officials, policymakers and multicultural community leaders. Four key themes were identified within world café sessions: the meaning of culture and identity; the role of children and families; barriers and facilitators to effective service provision; and organisational training and resource priorities. Implications for practice and policy contexts are discussed.

Amid increasing public and policy attention on the care and support sector, which millions of Australians rely upon for essential services, care workers continue to advocate for better pay and fairer conditions. This article draws on the concepts of recognition, value and social distribution from feminist ethics of care scholarship to explore how public perceptions of pay, job security, and working conditions shape attitudes towards care work. It also investigates how personal experiences of unpaid caregiving influence whether people view care work as fulfilling and their likelihood of considering a future job in the care sector. Using data from an original, representative survey, the findings demonstrate that positive perceptions of job security and working conditions are strongly correlated with the view that care work is fulfilling, while those who regard pay in the sector as fair are significantly more likely to consider future employment in the care sector. These findings underscore the urgent need for workforce planning and policy reforms that affirm the societal value of care work by enhancing job security, pay adequacy and working conditions, addressing long-standing calls from feminist care scholars for a fairer and more sustainable care economy.

This paper draws on a survey and interview data, collected from a group of 180 donors who made monetary gifts to an Australian higher education institution, to better understand what drives individuals and organisations to donate to Indigenous initiatives. The analysis helped to identify five types of donors: the Advocate and Prescriptive donors, the supporter types who donate to Australian Indigenous initiatives and the Constrained, Reserved and Opposing donors, non-supporter types who withhold from donating to such initiatives. The results show a wide range of motivations, varied attitudes and multiple perceived barriers to donating to Australian Indigenous initiatives. The study reveals that while some donors do engage and reflect on issues around the role of philanthropy in achieving positive outcomes for Indigenous people, others' motivations and barriers to donating confirm the concerns of scholars who have shown how philanthropy can maintain inequality and colonial practices. This paper also provides practical implications for developing a reflexive approach to philanthropy that supports Indigenous initiatives.

This article analyses the entanglement of political ideology and digitalisation in the Australian approach to online assessment of claims for income security, with a focus on job seeker classification. In the Australian social security system, the Job Seeker Classification Instrument (JSCI) has been used to screen and ‘score’ income security claimants, to estimate the likelihood of their remaining on income security payments 12 months after their initial claim and to direct claimants into different forms of employment services support. After two decades of use, the JSCI was ‘digitalised’ as the Job Seeker Snapshot. A socio-technical analysis of this case of digital conversion illuminates how classification incorporates political-ideological beliefs about the causes of long-term unemployment and of the desirability of intervention. It identifies the implications of ideological interoperability for system integrity, both across and within systems, and underlines the importance of a historical perspective in studies of the digitalisation of welfare systems.