Lucinda Brogden AM

Applying a gender lens when considering safe, affordable housing is not only fair, but also catalytic for social change. In August, Australians Investing in Women convened a Housing Roundtable in Adelaide to ask some critical questions:  ✨What’s working in housing and gender equality across Australia?   ✨What (or who) is missing out?   ✨What are the key enablers and barriers to applying a gender lens—and what steps must we take to achieve a more equitable housing system for women and girls? With thanks to Dr Katrina (Kate) Raynor (Centre for Equitable Housing) for moderating, The Wyatt Trust and the The Don Dunstan Foundation for their support. The Roundtable built on work commissioned by AIIW, including A Home of One’s Own (Per Capita Australia, 2022) and the Equitable Foundations Framework, developed with funding from the Paul Ramsay Foundation. Our next stop is Perth as we fill out the roadmap to embedding a gender lens on housing investments. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gDAr2833 

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Old, dilapidated buildings are preventing community health organisations in Victoria from expanding their services. Community health organisations help keep people healthy, socially connected and out of hospital for longer. They could help more people, but operate out of old or not fit for purpose buildings that have leaking roofs, structural issues and spaces that don’t meet their clients’ needs. The latest research from Infrastructure Victoria aims to improve health services for the most vulnerable Victorians, and help ease the burden on our public hospitals.   Victorian hospitals are spending half a billion dollars helping people whose health could be managed in the community. Providing more funding for community health organisations means they can deliver the healthcare and social supports for vulnerable Victorians to manage their care in the community and help reduce costs to our public hospitals and emergency departments.   Infrastructure Victoria recommends the Victorian Government increase annual funding to between $30 million and $60 million – just 1.5% to 3% of the $2 billion the government spends on average each year on health infrastructure. This fractional increase in funding would support vulnerable Victorians to manage complex health needs and ease the load of some of the 500,000 emergency hospital visits that could be managed in the community instead. Head to our website to read the new 'Investing in Community Health Infrastructure' report - https://lnkd.in/gx4rayhV And check out the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) report from Shannon Schubert - https://lnkd.in/g5prQSsT #community #health #infrastructure #victoria #research #evidence Victorian Department of Health Victorian Health Building Authority Victorian Healthcare Association Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) Access Health and Community Leigh Clarke Anna Robinson

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The head of Australian Government Consulting, Andrew Nipe, gave a rare interview about how the fledgling unit was performing on Tuesday. It was an interesting insight into what is a new area for the Commonwealth. The public sector unit saving Canberra millions on private consultants https://lnkd.in/gRETa_cH A strategy of targeting “rare but repeatable” work across the public sector has helped the AGC displace almost $7 million of work that would have been done by external advisers The unit is also helping public servants become better at buying professional services. A May 2024 version of the unit's consulting buying guide is attached below. It details the sheer amount of work buyers need to do before hiring consultants. On this, Nipe said: "The amount of investment that the client puts in when working with us definitely pays through in multiples after we’ve gone...the big bit will be them understanding the advice and understanding why various decisions have been made in order to be able to implement it later." There are likely lessons in this for all purchaser of consulting services. In a similar vein: The lazy thing to do is hire a consultant: public service boss https://lnkd.in/g5v-k9SZ Public service managers should avoid the lazy option of hiring consultants, says senior public servant Blair Comley, but exceptions include so-called wicked problems. Also, AGC is hiring for appox. six roles...https://lnkd.in/g-ATEgBV

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The Standing Council of Attorneys-General has signalled reform, with Attorney-General Hon Michelle Rowland MP calling for national consistency. It is such a welcome step, but this is the opportunity for broader reforms. At SydWest, we operate across aged care, disability, youth, and family support. Each sector has its own clearance regime, audit framework, and compliance expectations. The result? - Frontline workers navigating multiple checks - Providers managing overlapping systems - Fragmentation that increases risk for vulnerable Australians This isn’t just administrative inefficiency. It is a structural vulnerability. 🔍 Consider that: 1 in 8 Australians work in the care economy & over 5.8 million hold a WWCC. We need a screening system that reflects the interconnected nature of care. That means: ✅ A single national clearance framework ✅ Real-time data sharing across jurisdictions ✅ Cross-sector bans because safeguarding the vulnerable must be seamless. Policy reform must match the complexity of the care economy. Let’s move beyond sector silos and build a system that protects all our citizens, children, older people, people with disability with equal rigour. Let’s use this moment to build a system people can trust. #PolicyLeadership #CareEconomy #WWCC #SystemsReform #HumanServices #SydWest 

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