Australian Journal of Social Issues最新文献

This article highlights the lessons learned from a study of the 2021 Intergenerational Report hosted by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. That study, published in a book, More than Fiscal, (Podger et al., 2023, More than Fiscal, ANU Press), also advises how to improve future IGRs. The article includes a brief assessment of the extent to which the recently published 2023 IGR takes up the improvements suggested.

For more than three decades, official and independent enquiries have documented the poor outcomes experienced by many young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC) in Australia, known as care leavers. Yet, until 2017, most of the state and territory governments cut off financial support to these vulnerable young people at no later than 18 years of age and failed to provide them with the ongoing material and relationship assistance into early adulthood guaranteed to most of their non-care peers. Australia was regarded internationally as a leaving care laggard. This paper examines the remarkably effective advocacy strategies used by the Home Stretch campaign, formed in 2016, to persuade all Australian jurisdictions to extend OOHC until 21 years. By the end of 2022, every state and territory had agreed to introduce some form of extended care, and Australia was recognised as a global leader in leaving care policy and programmes provision.

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered widespread socioeconomic hardship, disproportionately impacting disadvantaged populations. People who use illicit drugs are more likely to experience unemployment, homelessness, criminal justice involvement and poorer health outcomes than the general community, yet little is known about the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic on their lives. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted in-depth interviews with 76 participants from two cohort studies of people who use illicit drugs (people who inject drugs and/or use methamphetamine) in Victoria, Australia. Findings support claims that pandemic-related Social Security supplementary payments and initiatives to reduce homelessness, although not systemically transforming people's lives, produced temporary relief from chronic socioeconomic hardship. Results also indicate how temporary interruptions to drug supply chains inflated illicit drug prices and produced adverse consequences such as financial and emotional stress, which was exacerbated by drug withdrawal symptoms for many participants. Furthermore, increased community demand for emergency food and housing support during the pandemic appeared to reduce participants' access to these services. Our findings about the unintended consequences of pandemic responses on the socioeconomic lives of a group of people who use illicit drugs provide insights into and opportunities for policy reform to redress their entrenched disadvantage.

When Australia ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention) in 1990, all children within its borders became entitled to the protection of the rights set out in the Convention. Children, thus, became rights holders. More than just human rights holders, they became children's rights holders. The Convention is the first international instrument to address the protection of children from violence directly. Corporal punishment (CP) is increasingly recognised internationally as physical abuse and a violation of children's rights. However, CP in the home is still legal in all Australian jurisdictions even though it violates several of the rights protected by the Convention. This contribution will examine Articles 2, 3(1), 5, 16, 19(1), 24(3) and 37(a) of the Convention to outline how parental CP undermines the legally binding obligations of the Convention by violating the rights espoused by these provisions. This article then calls for CP to be outlawed by all state and territory governments to adhere to the aim of the Convention that because of children's unique vulnerabilities, all their rights need to be protected, respected and promoted by those who ratified the Convention.

Australians with disability have inequitable access to assistive technology (AT) and home modifications (HMs). This is inconsistent with human rights obligations and fails to capitalise on internationally recognised potential return on investment. Co-designed with a consortium of AT stakeholders, this study quantifies the public provision of AT and HM in Australia by identifying all publicly funded national and state-/territory-based schemes and reporting and comparing available data on the spend per person. An environmental scan and data survey identified 88 government funders administering 109 schemes. Data were available for 1/3 of schemes. Economic evaluation of available cost and participant data estimated the annual AT/HM and wrap-around support spend per person per scheme and organisational costs. Data demonstrated significant AT/HM spend variability across schemes, for example a 50-fold difference between Aged Care ($51) and National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS, $2500). Modelled costs are presented for a $16 billion national scheme where all Australians with disability are funded NDIS-equivalent. These foundation data demonstrate substantial service provision gaps and an urgent need for change in disability policy. A cost model and policy principles have been proposed to achieve economies of scale and equity in the provision of AT and HM.

This article explores the concept of conviviality: the practice and negotiation of sharing space in suburbs with diverse populations. Australia has a growing Muslim population and reports of Islamophobia remain widespread. While there is some evidence, however, that forming intercultural connections can foster more positive attitudes toward religious minority groups, we know little about how Muslim and non-Muslim communities share space in Australia. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative investigation into how conviviality is perceived in Australian suburbs with high concentrations of Muslim residents. Following qualitative, thematic analysis of 15 interviews with multicultural service providers who work with Muslims in Melbourne, Victoria, we conclude that conviviality is fostered by a sense of community between people who share similar backgrounds as well as increased opportunities to form intercultural social connections. We discuss the scholarly and policy implications of these findings, with consideration of existing arguments about the practices of sharing space in Australian cities.

In the attempt to increase mental health-related service contacts, research has increasingly focussed on understanding help-seeking; this has repeatedly found stigma and discrimination to present as significant factors inhibiting contact with services. Other cognate research has demonstrated the over-representation of mental illness in the criminal justice system, and varied impacts of police contact on perceptions of police legitimacy and future compliance-related behaviour. However, there has been limited-to-no research examining the potential effects of police contact on future help-seeking behaviours. The study included 101 Australian-based participants with a lived experience of mental illness who completed an online survey measuring anticipated and experienced discrimination, stigma, police contact variables and general help-seeking. Findings suggested that anticipated discrimination and prior police contact were associated with a lower intention to seek help, with those reporting prior police contact being significantly less likely to seek help than those without prior police contact. The results indicate the need to consider individualised experiences of contacts with health and justice services, and for these services to prioritise procedurally just engagement, to limit experiences of discrimination and increase people's inclination to seek help.

Racism and discrimination are fundamental determinants of health inequities, with young people particularly vulnerable. Since the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, reports of racism and discrimination rose sharply. This study examined direct discrimination, vicarious racial discrimination, heightened vigilance, worries about experiencing racial discrimination, COVID-19-related stressors and their associations with young people's mental health during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. A community-based, cross-sectional online survey collected data from 363 young people aged 16–24 years living in Victoria, Australia, of whom 45.3% self-identified as being from a multicultural background and 3.7% as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. 73.7% reported direct discrimination, 88.9% reported vicarious racial discrimination, 84.3% reported heightened vigilance, and 62.8% reported worries about experiencing racial discrimination. Half (51.3%) of the participants experienced one or two COVID-19-related stressors. 53.1% of participants reported moderate-to-high levels of distress or negative mood state. Experiences of direct discrimination, vicarious racial discrimination, heightened vigilance, worries about experiencing racial discrimination and multiple COVID-19-related stressors (3+) were associated with negative mood state, after adjusting for ethnicity, age, gender and socioeconomic position. Addressing racism and discrimination is critical to addressing health inequities for young people.

While there is much research on the topic of child maltreatment more broadly in Australia, a nuanced understanding of intergenerational child maltreatment is needed to improve our responses. Little work has considered all four intergenerational patterns of child maltreatment: cycle maintainers (maltreated parents with maltreated children), cycle breakers (maltreated parents with non-maltreated children), cycle initiators (non-maltreated parents with maltreated children) and a comparison group (non-maltreated parents with non-maltreated children). We use this terminology to maintain consistency with international literature, but acknowledge that these terms minimise the complexity inherent in contact with child protection systems. Research has mainly focused on maintainers, which hinders our ability to appropriately support all families and limits our understanding of individuals breaking the cycle. This paper outlines key knowledge gaps and identifies strategic areas of focus for researchers and policymakers. There is an urgent need for more emphasis on building resilience and strengths, the provision of more integrated and holistic support for families, and consideration of sex differences. We highlight the need for more research on this topic, particularly led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and hope that the recommendations in this paper can be revisited and updated as this important research base grows.

This article explores the concept of resurgent prejudice in response to marriage equality in Australia. We are using the term “resurgent prejudice” to refer to examples of reactionary collective action directed towards the rainbow community in Australia, with a specific focus on efforts to undermine progressive developments in sexual citizenship. We argue that Australia is currently seeing forms of resurgent prejudice in response to the passage of marriage equality legislation in 2017 by the federal Parliament and use the highly controversial Religious Discrimination Bill of 2022 as an example to illustrate this process. By making use of interviews with members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (rainbow) community, we highlight the concerns members of the rainbow community have regarding their rights, sexual citizenship and social participation. We conclude the article by arguing that vigilance is vital in the face of resurgent prejudice to preserve social and civil rights, and that an awareness of the concept of resurgent prejudice can be used by advocates to strengthen their social movements.