Brotherhood of St Laurence
A partnership for social inclusion across the life-course
In 2009, the University of Melbourne signed a memorandum of understanding with the Brotherhood of St Laurence. This formalised a long and productive collaboration between the Brotherhood and the University.
Through the partnership, the partners will work together for an Australia free from poverty by creating evidence for policy and improving decision-makers’ understanding of social inclusion.
The focal themes of the partnership are the four life-course transitions
- The early years
- Through school to work
- Moving in and out of work
- Retirement and ageing
At the heart of the partnership are four joint positions
| Name | University Position | Brotherhood Position |
|---|---|---|
| Prof Paul Smyth |
Professor of Social Policy School of Social and Political Sciences |
General Manager, Research and Policy Centre |
| Prof Simon Biggs |
Professor of Gerontology & Social Policy School of Social and Political Sciences |
Senior Manager, Gerontology & Social Policy, Research and Policy Centre |
| Dr Francisco Azpitarte |
Henderson Fellow Melbourne Institute for Applied Economics & Social Research |
Henderson Fellow |
| Dr Nadine Cameron | Research Fellow – Early Years Social Inclusion | Research Fellow – Early Years Social Inclusion |
Joint Teaching
Staff from the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre are very active teaching into programs at the University of Melbourne, especially the Master of Social Policy, raising capacity across the sector:
Social policy special topic: Ageing, society and social policy, 16-18 March 2012
Specialist Certificate in Social Policy (Social Inclusion)
Social Inclusion Policy and Practice, May 2012
Social Inclusion and the politics of recognition, October 2012
Joint Research
Social Inclusion with a flexible labour market
Flexicurity has the potential to address a range of issues of shared concern across multiple sectors. Discussions carried out with representatives of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Business Council of Australia (BCA), federal government, and experts and academics across a range of fields and disciplines has encouraged the Brotherhood of St Laurence and The University of Melbourne to pursue further research in relation to the Australian context, and to foster a consultative environment leading to enhanced relationships between government, business, community sector and unions.
Early Years Research (supported by the Barr Family Foundation)
- Adapting the HIPPY program to indigenous communities
- Atherton Gardens Child and Family Hub evaluation
- Develop interns\ placements based on M Teach and research higher degree students
The New Henderson Poverty Line
The project aim is to develop an innovative web-based tool that will enable the general community to easily access information on social exclusion and poverty that goes beyond the narrow understandings and reliance on income poverty and unemployment rates.
This builds on successful work in 2009 by Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, and will represent a significant advance on the widely used Henderson Poverty Line, updated by the Melbourne Institute Quarterly and used by the Brotherhood as its main indicator on poverty and disadvantage.
Social inclusion across the life course
The purpose of this project is to research policies that will promote social inclusion across the life course. It will focus on each of the key transition phases: early years, youth, working years and ageing as well as the dynamics across the transitions. Our analyses of both primary and secondary quantitative and qualitative data will allow us to build a comprehensive picture of the risks confronted by specific populations and the opportunities they have for developing ‘capabilities’. A specific focus of the project will be the role of social structures and institutions in shaping individuals’ sense of agency and real world choices; and the implications of this for policy development.
Living poor in contemporary Australia: the social recognition of poverty and disadvantaged neighbourhoods
Residents of neighbourhoods with socio-economic disadvantage widely report the stigma associated with their neighbourhood. This is linked to the ways in which poverty is socially recognised and interpreted.
This project seeks to develop new ways of understanding and responding to contemporary conditions of social inequality and social recognition in Australia. The cross-disciplinary research brings together the fields of sociology/anthropology, public policy, cultural studies, social work, art and epidemiology to explore the subjective impact of negative social recognition, and the attitudes of the non-poor towards poverty and disadvantage. Pilot qualitative research work will be conducted in Victoria and the findings will inform the development of a nationally-focused ARC research proposal.
Oh, the wonder and joy of it all: kids at play at the Brotherhood's Craigieburn Family Day Care program. Photograph Ross Bird 2008
Useful links
Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Brotherhood of St Laurence engagement fact sheet.pdf | 197.51 KB |