Innovative new research demonstrates the full extent of professional and educational impacts on women from domestic violence. Government responses, such as employment services and paid leave entitlements, should be scaled up to meet the needs of affected women.

To improve lives, we need policy systems that can listen, learn and adjust. Bayesian methods combined with changing technology offer a new pathway to address persistent challenges by informing decisions and evaluating success.

Writing for The Policymaker is a pathway to policy influence through in-depth analysis, well-explained ideas and collaborative editorial support.

After disasters, housing recovery uses what’s immediately available, such as transportable cabins, motels, campgrounds and government lots. These stopgaps help in the short-term but also expose the extent of fragility in the housing system. What if instead we saw housing as critical infrastructure post-disaster?

Achieving Net Zero by 2050 demands a larger, more inclusive clean energy workforce. Here’s how energy experts recommend we boost women’s participation and leadership in the sector.

Australia can boost the supply for affordable housing by working with regional partners to generate greater efficiencies in international supply chains for construction.

The construction industry can significantly boost its productivity by embracing digitalisation. Here’s how government can support the sector’s technological transition and drive growth in the NSW economy.

Targeted strategies to boost recruitment and retention of men in nursing can help address Australia’s health workforce shortages.

In fast-moving regulatory spaces with a paucity of data, experimentation can deliver timely and robust evidence to inform decisions.

As governments seek to boost density and supply to make housing more affordable, there is an opportunity for planning policy to also foster healthy and connected communities.

A focus on the built environment is critical for Australia to achieve its circular economy targets. Here are five key requirements for developing an effective, full-lifecycle and targeted policy for enhancing circularity in the built environment.

By reframing the problem of growing drug-induced deaths in Australia as an “overdose crisis”, policymakers can prioritise harm reduction strategies that draw on the experiences of people who use drugs.

NSW’s recently released Innovation Blueprint 2035 is a critical milestone for the state’s industry policy. But the real challenges lie in implementation. Here are five policy priorities to drive impact at scale.

Digital technologies are evolving rapidly, offering enormous potential – but the platforms shaping this future are driven by profit, not necessarily the public interest. Securing Australia’s sovereignty over digital infrastructure is essential to building an online ecosystem grounded in democratic values.

APPI experts share their policy opportunities for the next term of government spanning productivity, artificial intelligence, energy, health, early childhood education & care, and defence & foreign policy.

The Policymaker's Federal Election Tracker is a tool to track political commitments made by Australia’s major parties.

A well-designed, universal school meals program at the state level could help give children the nutrition they need to thrive in their education.

Australia has led the way in endometriosis education, advocacy and care. However, continued progress on this chronic, incurable disease requires a renewed focus on policy reform, funding, research and evaluation.

The Adverse Childhood Experiences model lacks a First Nations lens. Focusing on early interventions and culturally safe, community-led strategies, as well as enhanced data collection, would improve health equity.

Supporting Australians’ reproductive needs and choices isn’t just good for individual health – it’s also a productivity imperative. Here’s how we can build a legal framework for universal reproductive health leave.

Food insecurity is a growing problem for Australians – but we need better data and evidence to understand it. Here’s how government can implement more robust and comprehensive data collection to inform policymaking on food security.

Prevention, early intervention, harm reduction and education should be prioritised in the NSW Government’s new Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Strategy.

We published more articles and authors than ever before in 2024, as The Policymaker continued to grow as a leading platform for public policy analysis and ideas. Here are our five most popular articles from this year.

Greater access to EV charging in densely populated areas can encourage sustainability. Here’s four expert recommendations to boost EV charging installation in apartment buildings.

Want to get your research and recommendations in front of key policymakers? Here’s how to write a cut-through article for The Policymaker.

NSW has an abundance of public parks and natural beauty. Here’s how we can ensure more of these spaces are inclusive hubs for community cohesion and environmental resilience.

Better coordinated approaches that prioritise preventative health could help stem diabetes prevalence in Australia.

Effective city-level planning is essential for Australia to meet its Net Zero targets. Australia can learn from leading global cities to improve policy coordination, employ targeted finance and harness research to develop more effective local climate policy.

This episode focuses on the energy transition with university experts, those leading the charge in the non-profit sector and government policymakers to the importance of collaboration to build Australia’s Net Zero future.

The show’s first episode focuses on AI and Equity, exploring the complexities and opportunities of championing equitable outcomes in this fast-moving space.

Building on international initiatives, a Future Generations Commissioner in Australia could put long-term interests front of mind for today’s policymakers.

Australia can lead on comprehensive climate risk management by regulating corporate financial disclosures to include the physical risks posed by climate change.

Australia can move beyond sustainability and circularity towards an approach to industrial innovation prioritising regenerating nature and our social wellbeing.

SMEs are critical to NSW and Australia’s manufacturing landscape and are vital to economic renewal. However, manufacturing SMEs have struggled to increase productivity by harnessing advanced technologies. As government deepens its focus on industry policy, here’s how to fix that.

As the challenges to maintaining economic resilience, social cohesion, and mental wellbeing grow, national time banks could mobilise social production and safeguard prosperity.

Despite having a robust and mature retirement savings system, many Australians are choosing property as their preferred retirement investment. By addressing underlying trust issues in the superannuation system, government can alleviate this added pressure on the property market and encourage a more balanced approach to retirement planning.

By measuring outcomes beyond immediate upfront costs, governments can develop a more holistic understanding of the downstream effects of their decisions. Here’s where to start.

Innovative analysis of paleoclimate data from the last thousand years is informing better environmental management. What more can governments do to harness this valuable natural record to improve policymaking?

Local microfactories have the potential to sustainably supply the metals and critical materials needed for Australia’s green transition. But what are the right policy settings to support the reprocessing of waste for manufacturing?

Recent changes to Australia’s Paid Parental Leave scheme are a positive development. However, government can do more to value care work as a social good, including by encouraging fathers to take paternity leave and integrating parental leave with childcare and education policies.

Regional inequality is driving an increased demand for greater engagement between researchers and policymakers in the UK. What lessons can Australia’s knowledge brokering community learn from its British counterpart?

For Australia to better empower low-income households, we should focus on affordability. Here’s how governments and the private sector can work together to achieve this.

Australians should embrace prefabricated homes as an efficient and sustainable way to boost supply and lower prices. Government should lead the way with a supportive policy framework.

While the environmental and energy impetus for residential battery storage is well established, adopting a “mission” approach could help governments deliver on broader social, economic and sustainability objectives.

Industry policy is experiencing a renaissance as governments address compounding economic, social, environmental and strategic challenges. What can we learn from policymakers and researchers working on these grand challenges?

Some governments are starting to develop better frameworks to understand the benefits of investing in long-term wellbeing and prevention. Here’s where to start.

A childcare system that responds to the actual needs of families and local communities will improve equity and increase productivity. Here’s what a flexible, place-based approach might look like.

“Housing affordability” and “affordable housing” are distinct but related policy objectives. Australia needs an integrated strategy that protects vulnerable groups while fostering an economy that supports quality, reasonably priced housing for all.

Government has emerged as a decisive strategic investor in Australia, helping shape markets to address complex policy challenges. How did it get here and what can it do next?

Harnessing the skills and insight of people with experience in the system is the key to sustainable and transformative reform of our child protection systems.

Appointing some ministers from outside parliament could help boost representation and improve policymaking.

What does successful knowledge brokering between climate scientists and government look like?

Australia needs a more deliberate approach to industrial policy to achieve a productivity dividend within tight budget constraints – here’s how.

Financial literacy, workplace skills, health consciousness and independent living should all be core lessons for Australian high schoolers.

With Australia’s Online Safety Act under review, regulators should take heed of the UK’s experience in imposing duties of care on digital platforms.

The transition from school to university is a pivotal moment in the lives of young people – how can we better support their choices for improved individual and social outcomes?

Australians have proven themselves resilient in the face of housing pressures – but structural reform to boost supply and dampen rising costs is desperately needed.

What role can stories play in supporting people-centred policymaking and place-based reform?

While the political and policy focus has rightly been on regulating artificial intelligence, we also need to plan now to harness AI’s power as a policymaking tool – especially, its capacity to model outcomes in complex systems.

Simple quantitative metrics don’t do justice to the breadth and complexity of human experience. Researchers and policymakers can benefit from frameworks implementing a nested relationship between data and lived experiences, metrics and relational processes.

As governments look to reform our social services systems, they must tap into the transformative power of relationships.

Australia deserves a public service that embodies its multiculturalism – diversity targets are a proven way to get there.

With poor mental health outcomes for young people linked to a lack of agency to shape society, how can we better reflect the interests of youth in policy and politics?

Australia’s superannuation funds can anchor long-term investments that are essential for the development of new industries, especially manufacturing, and the transition to a low emissions economy.

In its second year, The Policymaker has grown to become a leading platform for public policy analysis and ideas informed by research expertise and experience – here are our five most popular articles in 2023.

As AI becomes invisibly embedded in everyday life, we must remain laser focused on controlling and regulating how it uses data and the data it generates.

NSW’s minister for industry and innovation outlines his vision for the NSW economy with research and evidence driving the government’s industry, decarbonisation and innovation policies.

A child protection system preoccupied with risk aversion is impeding the emotional growth of children. We need a new model based on relational care and reciprocity to break the cycle.

How can the law and policy governing disaster responses better facilitate shared decision-making between communities and government?

What are the challenges to academic influence in public policy? And what practical steps are available to bridge the gap between researchers and policymakers?

While governments often prioritise rebuilding roads and other physical infrastructure post-disaster, just as great a focus is needed on supporting communities to build resilient social infrastructure.

What is the potential for AI to automate repetitive, low complexity tasks in knowledge sectors? And what can government do to manage this transition?

Grasping the opportunities and managing the risks of generative AI is a generational challenge. The eSafety Commissioner explains how Australia is starting to tackle this issue.

Skills mismatches will grow due to climate change and its economic fallout. Microcredentials can enable rapid and inclusive re-skilling while offering universities an opportunity to re-invent their mission in a “climate changed” world.

Australia’s referendum on the Voice has highlighted the need for better regulation of social media platforms to prevent falsehoods corroding our democratic discourse.

Revenue-contingent loans for research-based start-ups could provide a sustainable model for boosting Australia’s R&D output.

A well-informed policy debate around legalisation should consider evidence from around the world on regulatory options for the supply, retail and consumption of currently illicit drugs.

The path to optimal collaboration between policymakers and researchers is long and winding – but innovative new institutions are helping accelerate the journey.

Australia has joined the race to regulate AI – but we aren’t paying enough attention to the gender-related challenges generated by these systems. Here’s how we can start to fix that.

Breaking down the barriers to collaboration between researchers and policy practitioners takes relationships of trust, innovative knowledge-brokering institutions and better mutual understanding.

Generative AI is here to stay. But with a nuanced understanding of the technology, sophisticated regulation and a long-term view, we can minimise its harms and capitalise on its transformative potential.

As Australia embraces a broader definition of national progress, we should use metrics that prioritise the wellbeing of the economy and society together.

Australia and the world need a new economic and social paradigm that prioritises people and the planet.

Australia can be a leader in sustainable business and contribute to a greener and more socially responsible future by developing strategic supports, incentives, stricter regulations and collaboration platforms for small and medium enterprises.

A passive approach to emerging artificial intelligence technologies could generate significant social problems – but “mission economy” and “just transition” approaches to AI can unlock a better, more inclusive future.

Policymakers should prioritise the risks of inequality, a loss of creativity and self-interested manipulation when thinking about AI.

In the face of global warming and the limited capacity of renewables, Australia squandered its hydrogen opportunity. What can we do to catch up on the clean energy transition?

Policymakers can empower communities to contribute to greater energy efficiency and resilience by applying a “just transition” lens to new technologies such as community battery storage.

Putting First Nations people in the driver’s seat of community development isn’t just the right thing to do – it delivers better outcomes too.

Policymakers should draw on Australian and international lessons from prescribing cannabis to implement effective regulation for the medicinal use of MDMA and psilocybin.

Decarbonising Australia’s industrial sector will be essential for Australia to reach net zero. The Australian Government can set the right policy signals with ambitious long-term goals to diversify economically in new clean industries and coordinate investment in specific locations.

Better coordination across all three levels of government and strategic investments in migrant services can boost migrant settlement in regional areas – helping Australians new and old.

Queensland’s new bail laws will infringe on the human rights of children. A better approach that understands the needs of vulnerable children is needed.

Closing – and exceeding – the gap on Indigenous employment outcomes means addressing discrimination and breaking down barriers to achievement.

It’s 32 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. While progress has been slow – and in some cases retrograde – there is a path to better outcomes for Indigenous people if they are empowered to lead policy responses.

How to disrupt policy and enable collective intelligence – for people and place – by asking the questions that matter most.

Modern slavery is a wicked problem for Australia—but effective coordination of the actors involved in prevention, law enforcement and victim protection can enable a more effective response.

The harms and costs of alcohol to Australia are clear. Government needs to mandate effective messaging around alcohol consumption.

It’s been a big first year for The Policymaker—here are our top five most-read articles for 2022.

The NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner explains why it’s in everyone’s interests to tackle modern slavery and human trafficking as a system-level challenge.

New draft codes from tech companies could pose risks to Australian children. A better approach—led by government—is needed instead.

What is required to translate recent policy progress into practice when it comes to engaging men and boys to prevent violence in our society? Changing the way men relate to themselves, to people in their lives and to deeply embedded norms that put pressure on men to be a certain way are key parts of the solution.

To combat this human rights abuse, we need to understand the scale of the problem, amplify survivors’ voices and work towards a fair compensation system.

The battle against modern slavery is increasingly occupying the mind of investors—collaboration can contribute to its demise.

Local governments are vital laboratories for policy innovation and experimentation. How can Australia better harness this potential?

Australian universities contribute to the public good. But we need to be more ambitious about realising their potential. It’s time to remedy and reimagine our research system.

Solving our biggest global challenges means putting people and communities at the centre of policymaking.

Labor’s October Budget was good news for aged care—but the hard questions of funding the Support at Home program remain. Here’s two ideas for cost sharing models.

Solving our biggest global challenges means putting people and communities at the centre of policymaking.

Australia has world-leading research on recycling and green manufacturing. Here’s how the right policy settings can harness it.

The Albanese government’s October budget presents an opportunity to transform the purpose and principles of economic policy.

Improved data management, monitoring and analysis could be critical to combatting racism – here’s a plan for how research and numbers can help us tackle one of Australia’s biggest social issues.

While reforms to improve the quality of aged care are welcome, the government must also consider how to resource providers to meet higher standards.

The new Labor government has a historic opportunity to boost young people’s wellbeing as part of its economic agenda—here’s how.

Is now the moment to (re)introduce an independent "buffer body" for the tertiary sector that will enable universities to respond to future jobs, skills and research needs?

Digital technologies offer an opportunity to tackle Australia’s youth mental health crisis. But effective solutions will require us to think innovatively and listen to the voices of young people with first-hand experience.

While fiscal stimulus applied during the COVID-19 crisis has boosted employment, the much bigger challenge remains productivity and wage stagnation. This will require an ambitious national reform agenda to transform Australian industry.

New research shows that by taking into account the broader financial benefits of domestic manufacturing, building key transport infrastructure locally can be the fiscally smart decision.

We should reimagine how capital markets can better back women entrepreneurs, especially those at society’s margins, and boost women’s economic security more broadly. The design of a new venture capital fund announced by the NSW Government can demonstrate what’s possible.

While Australia is doing well on full employment, it’s time to prepare for the next downturn by upgrading the economy’s recession-fighting toolkit.

Focusing on both employment law and how we design visas could help address the systemic underpayment of migrant workers.

For Australia to become more inclusive—where no one is left behind—children need to be front of mind for policymakers when developing and implementing our post-Covid recovery framework.

There is now an effective consensus around net zero—and Australia has a range of promising sector-specific climate policies for getting there. Policymakers need to shift their focus to doing so at minimum cost.

The declining performance of Australia’s secondary schools is limiting productivity growth. An ambitious, inclusive plan for policy reform is needed to move things in a better direction.

Governments at all levels need a new mindset which places Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander shared decision making at the centre of policy development, design and delivery.

Australia’s material footprint per capita is rising. But with the right policies, we can break the nexus between depleting our ecological resources and improving economic growth.

COVID-19 reminded us that insights from the lab and the social world must be considered in tandem to tackle some of our hardest public health challenges.

Almost all the materials used for electrification are finite. Waste recycling should play a major role in the transition to a decarbonized economy.

High-quality mental health care is possible. But it will demand structural reform, effective accountability, and the will to make it a reality.

Policymakers help to design the future. Their challenge is to embrace a world of twenty-first century dynamic, complex systems.