Tag Archives: Australia

How do you change the way Australians think about poverty, let alone extreme poverty?

Posted in: Poverty, Reflection | May 1, 2013 at 9:56 am , by Guest Author/s

This year, Live Below the Line (6-10 May) in Australia aims to raise $2.5 million to support development work in Papua New Guinea and Cambodia. Kevin Hawkins, of The Oaktree Foundation, reflects on his experience living below and the complexities of changing how people think about poverty....

Bob Carr: Foreign Aid Raider

Posted in: Foreign Aid, Migration | January 21, 2013 at 8:20 pm , by Guest Author/s

No comments

The Australian Government's so-called “aid raid”, exposed in 2012’s home stretch, has settled to little more than a blip on the radar. Olivia Rosenman doesn't think it should have slipped so easily off the radar, as it may reveal that the Australian public really doesn't care about aid....

Top Five Aid Myths Busted

Posted in: Foreign Aid, Fundraising | May 22, 2012 at 7:00 pm , by Guest Author/s

13 comments

With current discussion going on about the proposed cuts to the Australian overseas aid budget, there are plenty of misconceptions and downright falsehoods being bandied about. Here are a few of the most common myths about overseas aid - busted. We're honoured to have this guest post from Archie...

Don’t cut Australian aid (except to UNESCO, FAO and other multilateral agencies)

Posted in: Foreign Aid | April 5, 2012 at 8:21 am , by Brendan Rigby

One comment

Australia has just released its own report on the effectiveness of multilateral agencies and development banks. It was released in the same week of rumours that the Australian Government may put a promised increase on foreign aid on the backburner by 3-5 years. In this post, Brendan tells you what...

Children in an urban world: Reflecting on the topic of The State of the World’s Children 2012

Posted in: Education, Networking & Events | February 28, 2012 at 8:00 am , by Guest Author/s

3 comments

UNICEF has dedicated the 2012 edition of its flagship report, The State of the World’s Children, to the situation of children growing up in urban settings. Nikola Balvin, a Research Officer in the Division of Communication at UNICEF New York, reflects on what this topic means to her and to...

Murdoch’s war on Australian development aid

Posted in: Foreign Aid | February 23, 2012 at 8:00 am , by Brendan Joyce

2 comments

Questions about aid effectiveness and criticism of AusAID are justified in time and place. However, recent attacks by News Limited journalists on all things Australian development are often unsolicited and misinformed. In sorting the facts from fiction, Brendan Joyce actively rebuffs these criticisms and provides a reality check....

Education still a long way off for children with disabilities in poverty

Posted in: Disability, Education | February 22, 2012 at 8:00 am , by Lucy Daniel

One comment

The cycle of poverty and disability can be broken, argues Lucy Daniel of CBM Australia. But, although the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and AusAID include girls and children with disabilities in education programs they fund in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines, what is happening on the ground...

Collaboration for social change – why now? what next?

Posted in: Networking & Events | February 1, 2012 at 8:00 am , by Guest Author/s

One comment

Are you based in Australia, and working across the aid and development sectors? Are you looking to meet like-minded people, engage in spirited debates and build your networks? Then look no further. Lexi Randall-L’Estrange and Nick Byrne talk about the exciting expansion of The Development Circle in Melbourne and Brisbane,...

As long as the razor wire exists: Voices of refugees

Posted in: Migration | January 18, 2012 at 10:00 pm , by Susannah Waters

3 comments

Increasing rates of self-harm and a string of suicides reveal a troubling picture of Australian immigration detention centres. Deteriorating conditions are taking their toll on asylum seekers, yet the Australian government is persisting with its policy of mandatory detention. Susannah Waters speaks to some people at the heart of the...

How should we best describe Australia’s first inhabitants?

Posted in: Indigenous | November 25, 2011 at 1:21 pm , by Guest Author/s

One comment

Often the choice of language used to describe groups is a matter of personal preference rather than correct grammar. In his first post for whydev, Luke Pearson explains the originals of common terms used to describe Indigenous Australians and offers his view as to how best describe Australia's first inhabitants....

Offshore processing is dead, courtesy of politics, not conscience.

Posted in: Migration | October 14, 2011 at 11:44 pm , by Weh Yeoh

5 comments

Offshore processing of asylum seekers is dead. For now. But does this indicate a new era of clean conscience for our government? A born-again Machine Gun Preacher-like about face towards a more humane approach to those who need our help? Will it mean that Labor will start representing those on...

When I move you move: it’s the conflict, stupid.

Posted in: Migration | October 5, 2011 at 8:13 pm , by Brendan Rigby

One comment

The other week, Triple J's Hack featured a IV-part series looking at the decade since 9/11. One of the interviewees, an academic from ANU, spoke of how 9/11 and the subsequent conflicts have been a catalyst for increased migration. In particular, of forced migration; or in Australian terms, 'why people...

How do we develop happiness? (Part 2)

Posted in: Alternatives in development | September 30, 2011 at 12:54 am , by Sophia Kagan

9 comments

In Part 1 of ‘How do we develop happiness’, Weh Yeoh looked at the increasing trend of governments to enact policies aimed at increasing their citizens’ happiness. In Part 2, Sophia Kagan looks at how governments can measure happiness and how these measures can impact on government policies. Is...

CSR: Causing Some Reservations. A response to the Aid Blog Forum

Posted in: CSR | September 21, 2011 at 8:00 am , by Emily D'Ath

2 comments

This is a joint post in response to the first discussion for the 'The Aid Blog Forum'; an initiative started by J. at Tales from the Hood. The first topic is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Emily, Weh and Brendan present each of their responses to the guiding questions for this...

Who wants to be a refugee?

Posted in: Migration | September 3, 2011 at 12:21 am , by Brendan Rigby

12 comments

A new game show broadcast in the Netherlands pits asylum seekers who have failed to prove their claim to asylum and are awaiting deportation, against each other, in a bid to prove who can be the most patriotic. Awareness raising, or just simple titillation? Brendan explores the answer to this...