The Close the Gap Campaign looks forward to seeing a comprehensive report on the refreshed targets for Closing the Gap by July 2021. The campaign notes the announcement that the release of the Closing the Gap data has been pushed back to July in order to allow a full reporting year since the signing of the new National Agreement with the Coalition of Peaks on Closing the Gap

One in five Australians has a disability. And disability presents itself in many ways. Yet people with disability are still underrepresented in the media and in literature. In Growing Up Disabled in Australia – compiled by writer and appearance activist Carly Findlay OAM – more than forty writers with disability or chronic illness share their stories, in their own words

Australian Progress have launched applications for their National Fellowship for the second half of 2021. Learn more and apply here

The Infoxchange Group is leading a cross-sector partnership to assist organisations on their digital transformation journey. The Digital Transformation Hub will support not-for-profit organisations on a journey to build their digital capability and enable them to support service transformation and new ways of working in a post COVID-19 world. Learn more here

On the second episode in a Policy Forum Pod mini-series on Indigenous wellbeing, co-chair of the Prime Minister’s Referendum Council Pat Anderson AO joins hosts Professor Sharon Bessell and Dr Arnagretta Hunter for a remarkable conversation about healing, history, and having the courage to call for change

Nearly half of young people with disability are living on inadequate income support payments as their main source of income, according to new research from Children and Young People with Disability (CYDA). The research found that, between 2009 and 2020, the number of students aged 20-25 with disability receiving Youth Allowance increased by 970.3%. Simultaneously, the number of young people with disability on JobSeeker increased by 372.8%.

“Young people with disability face well known disadvantage in securing a meaningful job because of systemic discrimination in their education and post-school transition, yet we punish them by forcing them to live below the poverty line,” says CEO of CYDA, Mary Sayers.

“We are calling on the Australian Government to increase Youth Allowance and JobSeeker for those with partial capacity to work and develop and implement a targeted National Youth Disability Employment Strategy plus COVID-19 youth recovery responses.”

The Healing Foundation has welcomed the recommendations of the Aged Care Royal Commission Final Report that recognise the specialised aged care needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including urgent trauma-aware and healing-informed services and care.

The final report notes that ‘… trauma-informed approaches are particularly important to the care of [survivors] of the Stolen Generations. By 2023, all Stolen Generations survivors will be aged over 50 years and potentially eligible for aged care services. Their childhood experiences further compromise their ability to seek services and should dictate and inform how such services should be provided’. The recommendation for a new Aged Care Act acknowledges that ‘…Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are entitled to receive support and care that is culturally safe and recognises the importance of their personal connection to community and country’.

The passage of the Government’s flawed merger bill by the barest of margins is a disappointing outcome for Australian children and families and tasks Australian judges with an impossible task.

The Law Council of Australia, Women’s Legal Services Australia, Community Legal Centres Australia and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services are among more than 155 stakeholders who have consistently opposed the Government’s bill to abolish the specialist, stand-alone Family Court out of concern it would harm, not help, Australian families and children.

HESTA is delighted to announce the winners of the first-ever national HESTA Impact Awards.

The Youth Projects team (VIC) behind ‘The Living Room’ initiative, which provides people facing homelessness with health services and social support, took out the gong for ‘Team Innovation’. Housing All Australians (based in VIC) was crowned ‘Outstanding Organisation’ for their work to transform vacant buildings into short-term affordable housing through their ‘Pop Up Shelters’.

The ‘Individual Distinction’ award was presented jointly to actress Julia Hales (WA) and Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service’s Melissa Browning (QLD) for their contributions to improving diversity and inclusion for people living with Down Syndrome and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, respectively.

• Join UNSW for the Governing Social Protection in the Long Term: Social Policy and Employment Relations in Australia and New Zealand webinar, where Gaby Ramia will present on the concept of social protection and its application through time in a comparative analysis of Australia and New Zealand - 9 March 2021 - Click here for more information and to register

• The Digital Advertising for Good Causes webinar will look at the types of paid advertising available from Facebook to Google, best practices for ad creation, tips and hacks, types of ads, examples of effective ads, measuring success and how to create compelling ads that drive results. We will also look at the Google Grants program and how to use it to get tens of thousands of dollars of free advertising for your cause per year - 17 March 2021 - Click here for more information and to register

• On national Close the Gap Day, join the webinar launch event of "Leadership & Legacy through crisis: keeping our mob safe", the Close the Gap Campaign report written by the Lowitja Institute. Featuring Close the Gap Campaign co-Chairs, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO and National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker & Practitioners (NAATSIHWP) CEO Karl Briscoe, Janine Mohamed, CEO of Lowitja Institute and special guest Sir Michael Marmot, for a discussion of the report's major findings - 18 March 2021 - Click here for more information and to register

• National Shelter with CHIA invite you to listen to a briefing by Prof Hal Pawson and Dr Chris Martin from City Futures Research Centre, UNSW about their recently published AHURI research  - Demand side assistance in Australia’s private rental market - and explain how for a relatively modest cost we could  reform CRA and improve housing outcomes for low income renters - 22 March 2021 - Click here to register

• The Volunteering Resource Hub is an initiative of Volunteering Australia. It brings together useful, evidence-based and current best practice resources to support effective volunteer management across Australia. This Resource Hub is coming at a critical time, as the volunteering sector is still struggling with the impact of COVID-19.
  
  
• An employer’s guide to working with refugees - unlocking new sectors of Australia’s workforce talent contains a series of examples that demonstrate the benefits of employing refugees for both employers and employees. It encourages other organisations to consider how they might offer refugees a pathway to integrate into the Australian economy, society and community. You can find it here.

• Sortli makes it easier for young people to find all the information needed to help support them through transition to independence in this free mobile app. The app has been designed by young people, for young people, through consultation with those who have already transitioned from care. It’s easy to use and perfect for young people 15 years over as they start to plan for their future. Click here for more information.

Jana Favero, Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre discusses the release of Medevac refugees from detention in Brisbane, Sydney and Darwin.

Daniel Webb, legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the laws represented an attempt to “silence” community voices.

Toni Wren, Executive Director of Anti-Poverty Week, discusses the concerns that the conditions will have a detrimental impact on people living in or close to poverty.

Instead the #jobseeker announcement shows the Government is willing to keep driving our people into poverty, and into the criminal justice system.

This is not how we #CloseTheGap https://t.co/v9G6EZceYi

— Change the Record (@Change_Record) February 23, 2021