Tax is back on the agenda and you might be surprised about a new alliance…

With growing talk of tax reform, advocacy to promote equity and ensure that those on low-incomes are not negatively impacted is essential. Interestingly, the advocacy landscape is changing, with new alliances being formed to advocate for a different type of tax reform. In this post, Ben Spies-Butcher (@SensibleBSB) takes us through how tax reform has been reframed and its implications for a more equitable taxation system.

The Invisible Hand of Loki

Linda Tirado is the author of Hand to Mouth: The truth about being poor in a wealthy world. In this guest post she explores the vast gulf between the ultra-wealthy and the poor in the US and asks whether trickle-down economics has achieved anything other than deliver more wealth to those who are already wealthy.

How effective are NFP submissions to Parliamentary Inquiries?

Public submissions to Parliamentary Inquiries are routine for many not-for-profit (NFP) organisations. These Inquiries provide an opportunity for NFPs to contribute to public life and to advocate for the communities they work with, however the impact of submissions and the efficacy of Inquiry processes are largely unknown. In this post, Jacqueline Williams examines these important issues and provides recommendations for improving interactions between NFPs and Parliamentary Inquiries. 

Victorian Government Budget leans towards those on the margins

How will the latest Victorian government budget support the daily lives of its more vulnerable constituents? Denis Fitzgerald (@FitzgeraldDenis) from Catholic Social Services Victoria highlights promising funding changes in the new Labor budget and calls for community input to enhance the equity of future budgets. 

Women’s rights in policy: Will they #destroythejoint?

What would it look like if policies were designed with gender equity and women’s rights in mind? On a micro and macro level, would it help or hinder progress? A new report from UN Women calls for alternative policy and a human rights framework to support better outcomes for the whole of society, including the economy. @UN_Women @apoonline

This article was originally posted on Australian Policy Online.

Kirill7929 CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Evaluation Case Study Week at Power to Persuade

This week is all about practical case studies in evaluation. In particular, this week is all about how I do on-the-ground evaluations with programs.

A while ago I wrote an article about the ‘policy whirlpool’ . This article was based on participant musings from the 2014 Power to Persuade symposium. The policy whirlpool model described four key areas that had to be seamlessly integrated in order to develop good policy that creates change. We have to make sure that our values and our knowledge are integrated, we have to communicate our values and knowledge to others, and we have to have good relationships to make this communication effective.

The three case studies I am posting this week show how evaluators have to mediate values, knowledge, communication and relationships to make evaluation work.

Continue reading to see how the case studies align with the policy whirlpool model.

What it means to defund the Indigenous Law Centre

Dr Leon Terrill is a lecturer in the UNSW Law School and a Fellow of the Indigenous Law Centre (ILC). He outlines how Federal Government cuts to  funding mean the ILC is seeking community support to continue its important work – including the only two Indigenous-specific law journals published in Australia .

A closer look at policy targeting and its role in addressing inequality

Policy that targets those groups most in need is the fairest way to distribute limited resources, right? Not necessarily, writes Dr Gemma Carey.