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This research evaluated the operation of a specialist foster care model focusing on family reunification from the perspectives of foster carers and program staff. The research identified the key strengths of the program and made recommendations about how to optimise service provision to enhance outcomes for foster carers and children. Understanding how specialist foster carers experience their role is vital to ensuring they are well-supported, which also enhances outcomes for children. This research highlights the specific demands of specialist foster care and identifies ways support for specialist carers can be optimised. It recommends increasing investment in this critical role in order to improve outcomes for children, which in turn is likely to result in downstream savings for the welfare, health and justice sectors.

This report outlines the findings of evaluative research examining the Facilitating Partner model adopted by AnglicareSA for Playford Communities for Children (South Australia). The evaluation finds that the Facilitating Partner model is inclusive, responsive and highly valued by stakeholders. The model has been implemented effectively and continues to evolve to meet local and stakeholders needs. The Facilitating Partner model represents an example of collaborative community development with an intermediary or ‘backbone’ organisation taking a lead role in fostering partnership and capacity-building. The evaluative research illustrates how key conditions such as a strong commitment to partnership and communication; shared vision and accountability; and coordinated and mutually reinforcing activities support effective collaboration. The findings highlight the importance of a well-connected intermediary organization in fostering these conditions and suggest that not-for-profits with deep understanding of and commitment to local communities may be ideally situated to play facilitative roles in collaborative community development settings.

‘Forgotten Australians’ are the estimated half a million children who were placed in institutional care in Australia from the 1920s to the 1980s. Increasing numbers are entering older age but many are poorly positioned to age well and with the supports they need. This is often because the lasting effects of childhood institutional care have contributed to poor housing outcomes, including housing insecurity, reliance on social housing, prevalence of rental stress and experiences of homelessness. This report presents the results of a rapid review of the evidence on the long-term housing experiences and outcomes of people who spent time in childhood institutional care. It identifies service gaps that are likely to undermine the capacity of the housing and aged care sectors to improve the care and supports available for this group. This evidence review was complemented by qualitative interviews with community service practitioners and representatives of advocacy groups. The report highlights potential improvements to service delivery for people who experienced institutional care as children and directions for further research. This research begins to build a stronger evidence base around the housing and care needs of this group in mid- and later life.

No abstract., Intergenerational Justice Review, Vol 6, No 2 (2020): Intergenerational wealth transfers through inheritance and gifts

Inheritance drives wealth concentration and economic inequality, meaning there is a strong case for wealth transfer taxation as an important element of government redistributive policy. In contrast to many OECD countries, Australia has not had estate or inheritance taxes for 40 years and little is known about contemporary public attitudes towards wealth transfer taxation. This paper draws on qualitative interviews investigating the attitudes of young adult and senior Australians towards wealth transfer taxation. Both groups supported the idea of reintroducing wealth transfer taxation in Australia, largely due to an almost universal absence of expectation that people would or should leave bequests to their descendants. These findings raise the possibility that considering the reintroduction of appropriately targeted wealth transfer taxation in Australia at a time when the Commonwealth Government is experiencing acute fiscal pressures may not generate as much public resistance as might have been assumed. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

As in other advanced industrial democracies, tax and welfare policies in Australia over the last few decades have tended to preserve benefits for some groups of citizens while the safety net for others is weakened. Young people, including children, are among those bearing increased social risks which tend to be exacerbated rather than ameliorated by redistributive policies. There is little evidence of discontent about the overall redistributive policy context, suggesting it broadly aligns with public opinion. The research described in this paper set out to explore the factors underpinning the attitudes of young adult and senior Australians towards redistributive policy, whether there were differences between the two age groups, and if there was any support for policy reform. The results suggest that the young participants’ habituation to neo-liberal policy settings, particularly their adherence to individualistic norms, made them less likely than the seniors to express negative attitudes towards existing policy settings or to advocate reform. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

At every federal election, there is a moment when election-watchers turn their attention to the seat of Eden-Monaro in New South Wales. Between 1972 and 2013, the party that formed government won Eden-Monaro. It was (and for some, still is) considered a bellwether seat – what happens in Eden-Monaro is representative of the Australian electorate at large. But there is another election bellwether we never hear about: people experiencing homelessness. Taken as a group, those who experience homelessness are representative of multiple forms of disadvantage and marginalisation.

“Forgotten Australians” are the estimated half a million children who were placed in institutional care in Australia from the 1920s to the 1980s. Increasing numbers are entering older age but many are poorly positioned to age well and with the supports they need. This is often because the lasting effects of childhood institutional care have contributed to poor housing outcomes, including housing insecurity, reliance on social housing, prevalence of rental stress and experiences of homelessness. This paper presents a review of the evidence on the housing experiences and outcomes of people who spent time in childhood institutional care. The evidence review was complemented by qualitative interviews with community service practitioners and representatives of advocacy groups. Based on the prior evidence and fieldwork, we identify data and service gaps that are likely to undermine the capacity of the housing and aged care sectors to improve the care and supports available for Forgotten Australians. We suggest potential improvements to service delivery for people who experienced institutional care as children and directions for further research. This paper contributes to a stronger evidence base around the housing and care needs of Forgotten Australians in mid- and later life. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health, economic and social crisis that is likely to have lasting consequences, including increased rates of financial hardship, housing insecurity, mental health problems, substance abuse and domestic violence. Workers in the community service sector have continued to support some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged Australians during the pandemic, while also delivering services to new groups experiencing the economic impacts of virus suppression strategies. We surveyed community service sector workers from across Australia in three snapshots during April–May 2020 and found that perceptions of acute needs and organisational pressure points shifted even through this short period. While the sector faced significant challenges, it responded to the initial phase of the pandemic with flexibility, a strongly client-centred approach and a re-emphasis on collaboration between services. The community service sector's demonstrated capacity for agility and rapid adaptation suggests it is well placed to provide critical supports to those affected by crisis situations and everyday disadvantage. However, the sector's capacity to perform this role effectively depends on strong, stable government supports for all Australians in need. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

People experiencing homelessness are a highly marginalised group and often experience a range of additional social disadvantages, including civic exclusion. Their need for democratic inclusion and effective representation is high yet there has been little research into their relationship with voting. This mixed-methods study, undertaken at the time of Australia’s 2019 Federal Election, investigates how people experiencing homelessness perceive voting and the obstacles they face to electoral engagement. We were particularly interested in understanding the psycho-social aspects of their voting exclusion and in disclosing the full practical, moral and symbolic significance of electoral participation for people experiencing homelessness. A key finding is that, although the study participants had much lower enrolment and turnout rates than the general population, this was not due to lower levels of political interest. Rather, people experiencing homelessness face barriers and disincentives to voting that are closely tied to their lived experience of disadvantage and marginalisation.