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Be part of the youth homelessness solution
Narelle Clay | April 18, 2012Youth homelessness does not just mean someone sleeping rough on the streets. Today, on Youth Homelessness Matters Day, Narelle Clay urges Australians to consider how they can help young people in their community.
Youth Homelessness Matters Day 2012 is on 18 April – it is a timely reminder that 50% of people supported by homelessness services and 45% of people experiencing homelessness on any given night in Australia are aged under 25.
This year Homelessness Australia is urging everyone to be part of the solution. Research has identified that if young people are not properly supported when they first experience homelessness, they have a higher chance of becoming homeless in their adult lives. Around 40% of people homeless as adults were first homeless as young people. Most young people enter homelessness by couch surfing, staying temporarily with friends or relatives.
Lift your life, not your face
Denis Moriarty | April 17, 2012According to the 2011 census data 36% of Australian’s volunteered their time, service or skill to community organisations during that year. The benefits to those organisations are obvious but Denis Moriarty says volunteering and community groups are good for us all.
UncategorisedStrengthening economic relations between Australia and New Zealand
editor | April 16, 2012
The Australian and New Zealand Productivity Commissions will jointly study options for reforms that would increase economic integration and improve economic outcomes between the two countries.The study will include opportunities for boosting productivity through reducing the regulatory burden on business, increasing competition and encouraging closer economic cooperation. It is being headed by the Commissions’ chairmen, Gary Banks and Murray Sherwin, together with Commissioners Jonathan Coppel (Australia) and Graham Scott (New Zealand).
Brave new thinking in a brave new world
Malcolm Crompton | April 15, 2012The traditional privacy protection model focuses on user control at the point of data collection, but Malcolm Crompton says it is time to change our thinking on privacy to better serve individuals.
When will we shift from outdated thinking on privacy?
2012 is the 10-year anniversary of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing initiative (TwC), which began when Bill Gates sent around a companywide memo emphasising security, privacy and availability as the keys to instil trust in computing. To mark the occasion, on February 28 the Corporate Vice-President of Microsoft TwC, Scott Charney, delivered a paper entitled Trustworthy Computing Next, which reflected on the past 10 years and the new challenges that lie ahead. His observations on the latest developments in technology and their consequences on privacy are particularly noteworthy.
Why give at work?
Edward Kerr | April 13, 2012The idea of corporate social responsibility has received a lot of interest lately as an antidote to the stories of corporate greed that surrounded the Global Financial Crisis. Edward Kerr believes we need to create a vision of a better community achieved by employers, employees and charities working together.
You might think I am directing this question to workers asked to throw a gold coin into a collection tin on dress down Fridays. But I am not.
Many employers allow fundraising in their workplace and a growing number allow donations to charities via payroll deductions. Corporate volunteering also is promoted in workplaces.
Why we need to do something about productivity – right now
patrickcallioni | April 11, 2012High productivity with low input is what every business in the world is looking for. Patrick Callioni says that getting the equation right is about more than sacking people or making them work harder – it’s about working smarter.
When I use the term productivity, I mean the amount of value produced per hour worked, which is the result of the application of several economic factors, including capital, labour and land, the traditional factors, plus knowledge or know how and several other less visible, but increasingly crucial factors in a globalised economy.
Building stronger communities, one grant at a time
Simon Herd | April 9, 2012Each year governments, universities, foundations and the private sector give out billion of dollars in grants. Much of that money goes to community organisations, but Simon Herd says the process of giving grants can be wasteful when it’s done poorly.
What’s easier than giving out a grant? You just get a pot of money, pile it in a heap, ring the bell and stand well back.
No matter your skills or experience, it’s almost impossible for the giver of the funds – the “grant maker” – not to do some good.
Of course, as Aristotle pointed out, there are some complications: “To give away money is an easy matter … and in every man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how large and when, for what purpose and how, is neither in every man’s power nor an easy matter.”
No logic to current drug laws
Chris Berg | April 5, 2012This week Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr declared he supports decriminalising low-level drug use to allow police more opportunity to redirect their resources. Chris Berg looks at the political origins of drug laws.
It doesn't take more than a moment of thought to recognise that the rulings on which drugs are legal or illegal are governed by no particular logic.
No theory from medicine or philosophy or psychology demands alcohol, tobacco and caffeine must be legal while marijuana, cocaine, and heroin must be prohibited.
We cannot rely on distinctions about relative harm. Many experts have pointed out that marijuana is on balance less dangerous than alcohol. But this legal discord isn't unusual. One British police chief controversially stated a few years ago that ecstasy is safer than aspirin.
Australian superannuation – for the benefit of Canberra, Collins Street or Struggletown?
Fergus Neilson | April 3, 2012Australians have more money invested in managed funds per capita than any other economy in the world. But Fergus Neilson wonders if we are making the most of it.
Demand management strategies needed for home electricity use
Jodie Kleinschafer | April 3, 2012Changing the way we use electricity at home can make a big impact on the size of the bill at the end of the month. Dr Jodie Kleinschafer looks at how households make energy efficiency choices and what motivates those choices.
