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This paper contributes to the growing body of research that demonstrates uneven impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on educational outcomes of students from different socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. We evaluate the early impacts of COVID-19 on student attendance in secondary school and show how these impacts depend on students' SES. We employ a quasi-experimental design, using difference-in-differences (DiD) estimation extended to incorporate third-order differences over time between low-SES and other students, and pre- versus during-COVID-19, leveraging robust administrative data extracted from the registers of the Tasmanian Department of Education. Using data from multiple cohorts of secondary school students in government schools in Tasmania (N = 14,135), we find that while the attendance rates were similar pre- and during-COVID-19 for high-SES students, there was a significant drop in attendance rates during COVID-19 among socioeconomically disadvantaged students, demonstrating the more pronounced impacts of COVID-19 for these students. The findings demonstrate that even "relatively short" lockdowns, as those in Tasmania in 2020 (30-40 days of home learning), can significantly affect the learning experiences of students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. We discuss the implications of this for future pandemic planning in educational policy and practice and how this needs to be addressed in Australia's COVID-19 recovery., Competing Interests: The authors declared no conflicts of interest related to this research., (© 2022 Australian Social Policy Association.)

As recent research indicates, refugees and people seeking asylum are suffering disproportionately from the COVID-19 pandemic and have become more and more "shut out" and marginalised. An important pathway to integration and self-reliance is sustainable employment. To explore the impacts of COVID-19 on the employment prospects of refugees and people seeking asylum, we conducted 35 interviews with managers from Australian organisations that employ or assist refugees and asylum seekers in finding employment and 20 interviews with refugees and people seeking asylum. Our interviews indicate that the labour market has become more difficult for these groups in the COVID-19 era due to (1) declines in job availabilities, (2) loss of jobs, (3) increased competition in the labour market and (4) increased discrimination and an "Australian first" mentality. Our interviews further suggest four strategies to improve employment prospects in the current situation: (1) pathways to permanent residency and citizenship for people seeking asylum; (2) access to healthcare and a financial safety net; (3) online training and education; and (4) social procurement., Competing Interests: 11An Associate Editor for the AJSI is one of this paper’s authors, however in accordance with the policy of AJSI they had no involvement in the editorial review of the manuscript nor the choice of reviewers, and no input into the decision to publish the article. Furthermore, this author’s identity was blinded from the Managing Editor and Recommending Editor to minimise any bias in the review process., (© 2021 Australian Social Policy Association.)

2020 was a year like no other, with the COVID-19 virus upending life as we know it. When governments around the world imposed lockdown measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, advocates in the domestic and family violence (DFV) sector recognised that these measures were likely to result in increases in violence against women, particularly intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV can take many forms, including physical, emotional, psychological, financial, coercive controlling behaviours, surveillance and isolation tactics. Lockdown conditions provide fertile ground for the exercise of coercive control by encouraging people to stay at home, limiting social interactions to household members, reducing mobility and enabling perpetrators to closely monitor their partner's movements. However, media reports and awareness of IPV are generally dominated by a focus on physical violence and lethality, which are easily defined and measured. By contrast, coercive control as a concept is difficult to operationalise, measure and action in law, policy and frontline interventions. This paper discusses the challenges inherent in measuring coercive control and engages with current debates around the criminalisation of coercive control in NSW. Such reflection is timely as the conditions of COVID-19 lockdowns are likely to lead to an increase in coercive controlling behaviours., Competing Interests: An Associate Editor for the AJSI is one of this paper’s authors, however in accordance with the policy of AJSI they had no involvement in the editorial review of the manuscript nor the choice of reviewers, and no input into the decision to publish the article. Furthermore, this author’s identity was blinded from the Managing Editor and Recommending Editor to minimise any bias in the review process., (© 2021 Australian Social Policy Association.)