News
The Social Justice Initiative has recently published a report on Climate Change and Energy Poverty in Timor Leste.
You can find the report here
Two positions in Climate Ethics are available at the University of Melbourne.
Research Fellow: Climate Justice
Research Fellow: Climate Change and Social Justice
ARC Linkage Grants announced!
Congratulations to Chief Investigators Dr Rebecca Bentley and Dr Yin Paradies who were each awarded an ARC Linkage Grant for their respective projects in the most recent ARC funding round -- with the grant funding to commence in July 2010. Both projects initially received SJI Seed funding.
Dr Rebecca Bentley, Dr Emma Baker, Dr Shelley Mallett, A/Prof Anthony LaMontagne, Prof Andrew Beer, Prof Anne Kavanagh, Dr Deborah Keys and Ms Violet Kolar have been awarded a $130K grant for the project, “New directions in health inequalities research: understanding the intersection between housing, employment and health in Australia”. The project partners are Hanover Welfare Services, Melbourne Citymission and VicHealth.
A/Prof Joo Cheong Tham with Prof Brian Costar and Dr Graeme Orr have been awarded an ARC grant of $129,000 for the project "Dollars and Democracy: The Dynamics of Australian Political Finance and its Regulation." This project will provide a foundation for meeting the complex challenge of realising democratic principles given the various flows of money in politics. It analyses reform recommendations, and data will serve the national benefit by enabling the political and electoral system to better advance the democratic functions of parties; the principles of transparency, equality and liberty; and the prevention of corruption and its perception. The public availability of its data will enhance political reporting and accountability. It will also contribute significantly to the international literature on political finance through its comparative examination of theoretical explanations and democratic principles.
Dr David Nolan, Mr Michael Gawenda, A/Prof Karen Farquharson and Dr Timothy K Marjoribanks recieved an ARC grant of $253,000 to research "Media Treatment and Communication Needs of Sudanese Australians". Working with industry partners the ABC and Adult Multicultural Education Services, the purpose of this research project is twofold: to investigate the media's coverage of the Sudanese community in Australia and to establish and assess an innovative journalism training program and news website providing Sudanese Australians with a real media voice. Dr David Nolan and Mr Michael Gawenda were also awarded a grant from the Myer Foundation Poverty and Disadvantage Small Grants Program to run their pilot project "Sudanese Australian Media Training Project".
Dr Yin Paradies, A/Prof Margaret Kelaher, Prof Alan Shiell, Prof Eric Vos, A/Prof Anthony LaMontagne and Dr Marion Frere have been awarded a $150K grant for the project ”Addressing race-based discrimination in Australia: a cost-benefit analysis”. The project partners are Australian Human Rights Commission and VicHealth.
For more information on the project grants, please visit the Social Determinants of Health and the Economic Cost of Racism project pages on the Social Justice Initiative website.
UNESCO - Social Justice Initiative Workshop - "Carbon taxes - Will they work?". On Monday 6 June 2011 this one day workshop explored some of the many complicated issues associated with carbon taxes and issues of social justice. Dr. Darryl Macer (UNESCO) presented on “Ethics and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific Project”, Dr. John Quiggin (Econ, University of Queensland) presented on "How carbon prices work", Nic Maclellan (Journalist and researcher in the Pacific Islands) presented on “Carbon Taxes, Robin Hood Taxes and Adaptation Funding - climate justice in the Pacific Islands”, Anne Kallies (Law, University of Melbourne) presented on “Carbon Tax and Renewable Energy: Just a matter of the setting the right price?”, Kane Thornton (Clean Energy Council) presented on “Carbon pricing objectives: energy sector perspective”, and Ellen Roberts (Friends of the Earth) presented on “Carbon Trading and Social Justice: Case Studies from California and Kalimantan”
Social Justice Seminar and Workshop Series 2011
On Tuesday 14 June, The Social Justice Initiative hosted a workshop on Justice, Equality and the Social Determinants of Health.Sharon Friel (National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, ANU Chair, Global Action for Health Equity Network), Ian MacDonald (Faculty of Economics, University of Melbourne), Michael Rafferty (Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney and Kim Webster (Participation and Equity for Health Unit, VicHealth) presented.
On 3 June 2011, The Social Justice Iniative hosted a workshop on Valuing Life: Autonomy, Capacity and Life Threatening Treatment Choices. Dr Carol Silberberg (Consultant Psychiatrist, St Vincent's Mental Health Service and Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne), Prof. Jeanette Kennett (Professor, Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University), Prof. Loane Skene (Professor, School of Law, University of Melbourne), Dr Jill Craigie (Research Fellow, Centre of Medical Law and Ethics, King's College London), Prof Catriona MacKenzie (Professor, Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University) and Dr Paul Biegler (Research Fellow, Centre for Human Bioethics, Monash University) presented.
On Tuesday 31 May, Associate Professor Neil Levy presented Neuroethics and Moral Judgments?A study of the ethical issues arising from the sciences of the mind and the implications that neuroscience has for moral and political judgements.University of Melbourne
On Tuesday 3 May 2011, Prof Jeff Borland of the Dept of Economics, University of Melbourne, presented a seminar on ‘Changing life trajectories: The Early Years Education Research Project’.
On Tuesday 8 March, Dr Zoë Morrison (Brotherhood of St Laurence) presented the first Social Justice seminar of 2011, on the topic of 'Recognition, Difference and Social Inclusion'. The seminar powerpoint and flyer are now available here.
* NEW SJI INTERACTIVE PORTAL *
The Social Justice Intiative together with Fairfax Media's National Times is developing a SJI Interactive Portal, featuring commentary on topical social justice issues from leading thinkers and commentators from the University of Melbourne and beyond. To access, go to: http://www.socialjustice.unimelb.edu.au/sji_interactive/www/index.html
New Social Justice Series Publication: Risk, Welfare and Work
We are pleased to announce the release of the latest addition to the Social Justice Series publication:
Risk, Welfare and Work (MUP, 2010)
Edited by Greg Marston, Jeremy Moss and John Quiggin
The book bring together contributors from diverse disciplines to explore historical and contemporary transformations of the welfare state. For more information, see here.
Special Issue: Social Inclusions
The lastest issue of the Australian Journal of Social Issues has now been published, featuring a special issue edited by John Howe, Ian McDonald and Jeremy Moss on social inclusions. The issue is linked to SJI Project on Social Inclusion. For the AJSI table of contents, see here.
Dr Joo-Cheong Tham's book, Money and Politics: The Democracy We Can't Afford was launched at a public forum on Tuesday 3 August at the Melbourne Law School. The event flyer is available here.
Project News! SJI Projects awarded two ARC Linkage Grants!
Congratulations to Chief Investigators Dr Rebecca Bentley and Dr Yin Paradies who were each awarded an ARC Linkage Grant for their respective projects in the most recent ARC funding round -- with the grant funding to commence in July 2010. For more information on the project grants, please visit the Social Determinants of Health and the Economic Cost of Racism project pages.
Temporary Migrant Work and Social Justice Project
Materials from the 'Temporary Migrant Work and Social Justice' workshop is now available here. The workshop was held on Wednesday 7 April 2010 at the Melbourne Law School and was convened by Dr Martina Boese, Dr Kate McDonald, Dr Michael McGann, Dr Winsome Roberts and Dr Joo-Cheong Tham.
For archived news and events, please see here.
Digital Opinion
Online interviews with local and international experts on Social Justice issues. More information...