A new report commissioned by Pro Bono Australia in partnership with the Human Rights Law Centre, has found that not for profits are on a path of quiet advocacy.

The Civil Voices research showed that to a greater or lesser degree civil society organisations are engaging in various forms of “self silencing” – treading very carefully in their advocacy work, less they risk financial security and political retribution.

In this episode of Not for Podcast: Where Not for Profits Fear to Tread, we unpack the report and look at the current state of not-for-profit advocacy in Australia, and how it compares to a decade ago.

The latest research is framed against Australia Institute’s 2004 report, Silencing Dissent: Non-government organisations, which detailed the growing fears across the NGO sector concerning their right to advocate in the public policy domains, and more broadly about their changing role in the democratic process.

A lot has happened in the 13 years since that report was published including changes to the political and regulatory landscape, the formation of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, the passing of the Charities Act and advances in the digital landscape.

But Civil Voices shows us that Australian civil society still needs to be supported and encouraged to engage in frank and fearless advocacy.

Pro Bono Australia is proud to have spearheaded the research and believes it sits firmly within the remit of our social impact mission to give a voice to civil society organisations.

We know from a previous sector-wide survey conducted by Pro Bono Australia in 2015 that nine out of 10 not-for-profit respondents considered recognition of their advocacy role as the most important factor in developing the social sector.

From our unique position as an umbrella to the sector we were able to take the temperature of civil society organisations on this important matter.

In this podcast we speak to report author Sarah Maddison about what the report tells us about how charities are feeling at the moment; we talk to Community Council of Australia CEO David Crosbie about whether some of the sector’s fears are being realised; and we talk to the former president of the Human Rights Commission Gillian Triggs about the dangers of silencing the charity sector and what we can do to make sure organisations are not silenced.

Download the transcript here.

Featured in this episode:

University of Melbourne Associate Professor Sarah Maddison

Community Council of Australia CEO David Crosbie

Former president of the Human Rights Commission Gillian Triggs

Produced by Wendy Williams and Luke Michael.

Recorded in November 2017.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we approach the first anniversary of the national rollout and the fourth anniversary since the scheme was introduced in the trial sites, we look back at the highs and lows of the last 12 months, and whether the scheme is on track to deliver on it’s promise.

The first of July 2016 marked the beginning of the national rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The $22 billion a year scheme, which doubles the level of public funding for disability,  is Australia’s biggest social policy project since Medicare.

It promised to put people with disability in the driver’s seat, and give them more choice and control.

But is the reality living up to the expectation?

In this episode, we speak to the agency responsible for running the scheme, the peak body for service providers, Christian Porter talks to us about the teething problems and we hear from people with disability about whether the market can deliver what they need.

Download the transcript here.

Featured in this episode:

Maryanne Diamond, the general manager of Community Linkages and Engagement at the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)

Minister for Social Services Christian Porter

Writer and disability advocate El Gibbs

Natasha Hudson, founder of Coforte Consulting, assisting organisations affected by the NDIS

Fran Connelley, founder of FC Marketing and The NFP Accelerator Toolkit and author of How to Thrive Under the NDIS

Ken Baker is the chief executive at National Disability Services

Produced by Wendy Williams and Rachel McFadden.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether you think of housing as a prevention or a cure for homelessness, it is undisputable that having a stable form of shelter is imperative.

But making sure that everyone has a house is no easy feat.

Australia is currently in the middle of a housing crisis.

There is a lack of affordable housing and according to the experts there has been a lack of investment in public housing by successive governments over decades.

So how do we increase the capacity of affordable housing?

In the third and final episode of our series, Housing the Homeless: The Pathway, we talk to experts from the banking and property sectors, as well as people with lived experience to find out what needs to be done.

Download the transcript here.

Featured in this episode:

• Andrew Cairns, CEO of Community Sector Banking
• Robert Pradolin, former general manager of Frasers Property Australia
• Simon, who has lived experience of being homeless.
• David Spriggs, CEO of Infoxchange, the company behind Ask Izzy.

Produced by Ellie Cooper and Wendy Williams and brought to you by Akolade, not-for-profit event specialists.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.