Social policies and issues
Advocacy is about working on activities that will influence policy. It is a consistent and persistent effort to shift perceptions through regular positive activity to bring about change. Advocacy groups work towards influencing policy on behalf of members of society who may not be able to themselves due to their vulnerability or other circumstances. The groups work towards better outcomes for these people who may be adversely affected by the policies introduced.
Lobbying is active campaigning of the government with the view to asking policymakers to take a specific position on an item of legislation.
The Lobbying Code of Conduct is available on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPM&C) website and defines a lobbyist as: ... any person, company or organisation who conducts lobbying activities on behalf of a third party client or whose employees conduct lobbying activities on behalf of a third party client.
You can find relevant advocacy and lobby groups by Googling keywords and limiting the domain address.
Example:
women reproductive rights site:.org.au
- VCOSS Victorian Council of Social Services "VCOSS raises awareness of the existence, causes and effects of poverty and inequality in Victoria—and pursues meaningful change."
- ACOSS "The Australian Council of Social Service is a national advocate for action to reduce poverty and inequality and the peak body for the community services sector in Australia. Our vision is for a fair, inclusive and sustainable Australia where all individuals and communities can participate in and benefit from social and economic life."
- Brotherhood of St Laurence "The Brotherhood of St Laurence is a community organisation that works to prevent and alleviate poverty across Australia."
- Refugee Council of Australia "The Refugee Council of Australia is small, not-for-profit organisation and relies on public financial support to continue its vital work in research, education and advocacy."
- SNAICC - Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care SNAICC is the national voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. All children deserve to thrive and fulfil their potential. We exist to see all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children grow up healthy, happy and safe.
A selective list of institutes that conduct research related to social policy:
- AHURI AHURI is a national independent research network with an expert not-for-profit research management company, AHURI Limited, at its centre.Our mission is to deliver high quality research that influences policy development to improve the housing and urban environments of all Australians.
- APO - Analysis & Policy Observatory An open access research database of over 20,000 publications sourced regularly from over 2,500 government, NGO, academic and media organisations and journals in Australia, New Zealand and internationally.
- Australian Government Productivity Commission "Through our research the Commission contributes to the public debate and encourage informed policy discussion."
- Australian Institute of Family Studies AIFS is the Australian Government's key research body in the area of family wellbeing.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) - Governments and the community use our reports and data in discussing, debating, and making policy decisions on health, housing and community services matters.
- Castan Centre for Human Rights Law "The Castan Centre is a world-renowned academic centre using its human rights expertise to create a more just world where human rights are respected and protected, allowing people to pursue their lives in freedom and with dignity. The Centre’s innovative approach to public engagement and passion for human rights are redefining how an academic institution can create important and lasting change. The Centre is named after the late Ron Castan AM QC, a passionate advocate of human rights".
- Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research "The Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) is Australia’s foremost social science research body focusing on Indigenous economic and social policy from a national perspective. CAEPR aims to undertake social science research on Indigenous policy and development that is excellent by the best international and disciplinary standards and that informs intellectual understanding, public debate, policy formation and community action."
- Centre for Social Impact The Centre for Social Impact is a collaboration of three universities: UNSW Australia, Swinburne University of Technology, The University of Western Australia.
- NATSEM "For over 20 years NATSEM has been, and remains, one of Australia’s leading economic and social policy research centres, and is regarded as one of the world’s foremost centres of excellence for microsimulation, economic modelling and policy evaluation."
- UNSW Social Policy Research Centre "The Social Policy Research Centre is at the forefront of research generating real change for individuals and communities in Australia, and internationally. We are dedicated to making a positive impact through independent and leading research that tackles critical social issues. Our research enlightens public debate and enhances policy formation, both nationally and internationally. We are Australia’s largest team of social policy researchers, trusted partners with government, industry and the community."
- The Australian Institute The Australia Institute is the country’s most influential progressive think tank. Based in Canberra, it conducts research on a broad range of economic, social and environmental issues in order to inform public debate and bring greater accountability to the democratic process.
- The Centre for Independent Studies The CIS supports a market economy and a free civil society under democratic government. We believe that smaller government is the key to unlocking individual responsibility, liberty, choice and enterprise.
- Evatt Foundation "The Evatt Foundation was established in 1979 as a memorial to Dr Herbert Vere Evatt with the aim of advancing the ideals of the labour movement, such as equality, participation, social justice and human rights. For more than 30 years, the Foundation has been helping to promote these ideals through research, publications, public discussion and debate."
- The Grattan Institute A Melbourne-based , non-aligned institute, the Grattan Institute contributes to public policy in Australia as a liberal democracy in a globalised economy. Grattan Institute focuses on six key policy areas: Cities, Energy, Health, Schools Education, Higher Education and Productivity
- Institute of Public Affairs Australia "The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a public policy think tank based in Melbourne, Australia. It advocates free market economic policies such as privatisation and deregulation of state-owned enterprises, trade liberalisation and deregulated workplaces, climate change scepticism (through its environmental subsidiary the Australian Environment Foundation), and the accountability of non-government organisations (NGOs)"
Government policy & legal resources
To search for the work of parliamentary committees, parliamentary debates/Hansard, bills and legislation, parliamentary publications, parliamentary media releases and the budget papers.
- ParlInfoTo search for the work of parliamentary committees, parliamentary debates/Hansard, bills and legislation, parliamentary publications, parliamentary media releases and the budget papers
Tip: use the ‘Advanced search’ option to limit your results - Making LawsGovernments
- Law Council of AustraliaInformation is provided on council policies, media releases, membership and submissions
To find relevant policy documents from State Legislation and Bills search the individual State parliament websites.
Queensland Parliament:
- Live and Archived BroadcastsSearch live and archived broadcasts of Committee Hearings.
- Record of Proceedings (Hansard)Search Hansard transcripts by sitting date.
NSW Parliament:
- NSW BillsSearch current NSW Bills.
- Hansard & House PapersSearch the Hansard documents by keyword.
Victorian Parliament:
- Hansard searchSearch the Hansard documents.
Political parties policies in Australia
- Liberal Party of Australia"Our plan"
- National Party of Australia"Our policies"
- The Greens"Our policies"
- Labor Party"Campaigns"
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)Provides guidance, advice, quality standards and information services for health, public health and social care in the U.K. Also contains resources to help maximise use of evidence and guidance.
- Policy Hub, UK Cabinet OfficePolicy Hub is a web-site developed by the UK Cabinet Office Strategy Unit which aims to improve the way public policy is shaped and delivered.
- Australian Politics and PolicyThe first completely customisable, open access textbook on Australian politics, Australian Politics and Policy provides a unique, holistic coverage of politics and public topics for use in junior and senior university courses. With an online database of 40 chapters, the book innovatively enables instructors to compile a bespoke edition to suit their teaching needs, or to include individual chapters in course readers.
Foresight in Action by ISBN: 9781849775748Publication Date: 2012Assessing the future is vital in informing public policy decisions. One of the most widespread approaches is the development of scenarios, which are alternative hypothetical futures. Research has indicated, however, that the reality of how professionals go about employing scenarios is often starkly at odds with the theory - a finding that has important ramifications for how the resulting images of the future should be interpreted.
INSPIRE Handbook by ISBN: 9789241514095Publication Date: 2019The INSPIRE handbook: action for implementing the seven strategies for ending violence against children explains in detail how to choose and implement interventions that will fit your needs and context.
News articles can be a good source of information on recent events, policies, developments and their impact on the local populations, public perceptions and responses. However newspapers are not acceptable academic sources unless as objects of research.
Click to see a complete list of databases relevant for News articles.
- Factiva This link opens in a new windowFactiva provides full text access to Australian newspapers, and newspapers and news wires from around the world. Besides newspapers, the database allows users to browse through a collection of global content sources from 200 countries – including continuously updated newswires from Dow Jones and Reuters, journals and magazines, websites, blogs, and multimedia. Factiva also includes brief company and industry profiles, financial information for listed companies worldwide, and global coverage of financial market data.
- LexisNexis capital monitor This link opens in a new windowCapital Monitor is currently unavailable. The Library is working to resolve access.
Capital Monitor provides parliamentary, political, legislative, regulatory and judicial news and information to its subscribers almost as soon as it is available. The team are located in the Press Gallery within Parliament House in Canberra where they filter news and information before distributing it by e-mail to subscribers according to their monitoring briefs. All content is updated on Capital Monitor's comprehensive database which allows you to conduct keyword search anytime, on any jurisdiction and for content from 1996 onwards. - Newsbank newspapers : Australia and the world. This link opens in a new windowSee: Access world news : research collection
- Trove This link opens in a new windowThe Australian National Library's Trove service helps users find and use resources relating to Australia. It provides integrated access to over 45 million items from a range of the National Library's collaborative services and from elsewhere. Metadata is aggregated from Australian sources including: The Australian National Bibliographic Database - containing location information from more than 1,200 Australian libraries, The Picture Australia program, The Australian Research Online program, The Music Australia program, The Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts, and The People Australia program, and some overseas sources.