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.

Homelessness is a broad term which encompasses a diverse range of people and experiences, but in it’s simplest form, it is the state of having no home.

In Australia an increasing number of people are finding themselves in this state due in part to a lack of affordable housing, which can both lead to homelessness and further entrench it.

While there is no silver bullet for homelessness, a number of solutions are now putting housing first, based on the belief that housing is a human right.

In the second episode of our three-part series, Housing the Homeless: The Solution, we explore whether a housing-led approach is the best solution to homelessness.

We talk to the father of the housing first model and hear from people who have lived and worked it.

Download the transcript here.

Featured in this episode:

• Dr Sam Tsemberis, the founder and executive director of Pathways to Housing
• Chris Bratchford, Mission Australia housing executive
• Cheryl, Common Ground tenant
• Professor Guy Johnson, Unison Professor of Urban Housing and Homelessness.

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.

Homelessness is not a choice. But for many it is a reality.

On any given night one in 200 people in Australia are homeless. And the problem is getting worse.

In the last few years the number of people seeking help from homelessness services has been increasing faster than population growth.

While there are many causes of homelessness, an acute shortage of affordable housing is pushing up the numbers.

At a time when more than 105,000 people are homeless, crisis accommodation services are turning away more than half of all those seeking new accommodation, public housing stock has declined and there are rumours that the National Affordable Housing Agreement could be scrapped in May’s budget.

In a three-part series Housing the Homeless, we explore the role housing, or a lack thereof, is having on homelessness and whether putting housing first could be the key to solving the problem.

In this first episode, The Cause, we speak to sector experts and people who have experienced homelessness personally, to find out what is causing the problem.

Featured in this episode:

• Christine, who has lived experience of homelessness
• Jenny Smith, CEO of Council to Homeless Persons
• Adrian Pisarski, National Shelter executive officer
• Suzanne Fagan, who has lived experience of homelessness

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.

Social entrepreneurs may dream of changing the world, but to make a dent in the most pressing social and environmental issues, they need to achieve scale. Find out how in the final episode of our three-part series.

Scale is one of the hardest challenges a social enterprise will face. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have struggled to grow their operations and impact.

In the final How to Social Enterprise episode, Not for Podcast speaks to a handful of these entrepreneurs about how they achieved scale.

From finance to business models to grassroots campaigns, they all have a unique story and different lessons to pass on.

But they all agree that, at every point in the social enterprise journey, an entrepreneur should plan for scale.

Featured in this episode:

• Jamie Green, founder of ONE NIGHT STAND
• Rebecca Scott, CEO and co-founder of STREAT  
• Adam Makepeace, senior manager, employment and training services at 180 Painting Services
• Daniel Flynn, co-founder and managing director of Thankyou.

Produced by Ellie Cooper and Wendy Williams, brought to you by Social Ventures Australia.

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

Find out what it takes to set up and run a social enterprise in the second episode of our three-part podcast series.

In the first episode of How to Social Enterprise, Motivations, we looked at the why of the social enterprise model and who should consider going down that pathway.

In Skills we ask whether combining a business brain with a charity heart requires a unique skill set to get started.

Not for Podcast spoke to social entrepreneurs about what they learnt along their social enterprise journey, what worked, what didn't and what would they change if they could do it all again.

Featured in this episode:

• Will Dayble, founder of Fitzroy Academy
• Alastair Pryor, founder of Totes Making a Diff and Compact Shelters
• Simon Griffiths, co-founder of Ripple, Shebeen and Who Gives a Crap
• Ben Robb, finance and strategy volunteer at ASRC Catering and ASRC Cleaning
• Adrian Watts, CEO of National Health Co-op

Stay tuned for episode three, How to Social Enterprise: Scale – to find out how ultra-successful entrepreneurs grew their business and social impact.

Produced by Ellie Cooper and Wendy Williams, brought to you by Social Ventures Australia.

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

Have you ever thought about setting up a social enterprise? Find out whether it’s right for you and  in the first episode in our three-part series

Featured in this episode:

• Social Change Central co-founder Anne Lennon
• The Difference Incubator CEO and co-founder Bessi Graham
• Social Traders head of investment and advisory Libby Ward-Christie
• YGAP co-founder and CEO Elliot Costello

Produced by Ellie Cooper and Wendy Williams, brought to you by Social Ventures Australia.

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