Session spotlights - Alternative Futures: Ending Poverty

Public attitudes about poverty

Poverty is a word laden with assumptions and judgement. If we are all potentially only one major life event away from poverty, why are public attitudes so damning? This Conference panel session will bring together lived experience, expertise in policy, journalism and communications, to explore public attitudes about poverty, and more importantly, how to change them.

It will be facilitated by Stacey Thomas, CEO of the Wyatt Trust, one of Australia’s oldest and well-respected grant making trusts, with a vision of challenging inequality and eradicating poverty in South Australia. She also serves as the CEO of Foundation SA, South Australia’s newest community foundation providing a vehicle for individuals, families and businesses to formalise their philanthropy.
 

The Future is digital. You have to be in it to win it

Being able to access, use and afford digital technologies is a critical factor in addressing poverty. Basics like getting a job, accessing education and training, obtaining good health care and organising government services all involve digital access. So does connecting with news, family and friends, and contributing in communities, political and cultural life.

There are many challenges to effective participation including cost, complexity, security, and personal safety - and we know many in our community struggle for equal access.

This panel, facilitated by Teresa Corbin, Telstra's Chief Customer Advocate, will explore the nature and impacts of a digital future, and whether you have to be in it to win it. Also, what initiatives and support should we be providing to ensure equal access and prevent a huge poverty trap?
 

Housing affordability: moving beyond wicked problems to implementing solutions

Unaffordable housing is a famously wicked problem: no simple causes, no easy solutions. Particularly so if public investment at scale is politically unfashionable, and booming house prices are sold as a good thing (for those with assets). Housing policy is a story of failure for 30 years. Housing costs continue to rise, driving growing homelessness. The public housing system is broken. Private renting remains a third-rate option.

And yet the politics of housing are now moving in the right direction. Not-for-profit and civil society organisations are well placed to contribute new ideas and energy to grow the current green shoots into new institutional arrangements and new programs to meet housing need. This session will be facilitated by Gregg Ryan, an experienced director and public administrator in human services. From an early career as a social worker and advocate, Gregg has held senior positions in Commonwealth, Victorian and South Australian government departments, and at the City of Adelaide.
 

"Private is good; Public is bad" - Privatisation, outsourcing and its consequences

With leaders in policy, academia, philanthropy, economics and social enterprise, in this session we’ll explore what makes outsourcing work and what leads to failure. Also, the roles that public and private entities (not-for-profits, social enterprises, for-profits and philanthropy) can play in ending poverty - and some great examples. What characterises effective public/private partnerships and what could (or should) accountability look like?

This session will be facilitated by Helen Sheppard Chief Executive, UnitingCare Wesley Bowden. Helen’s desire to make the world a better place was born in her early childhood and led to a career in the for-purpose, not-for-profit industry. With 25 years senior leadership, operations and business development expertise in the health, disability, community, employment and training sectors, Helen is passionate about customer experience, outcomes-driven practice and establishing strategic business partnerships that deliver social impact.