Library Blog - April 2026

Articles of interest

This month's papers and articles of interest:

Work and economics:

• Nickel and Dimed at 25: Barbara Ehrenreich’s classic reveals the high cost of low‑wage work: Eve Vincent, The Conversation.
  Vincent reflects on the 25th anniversary of Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, highlighting how her undercover investigation into low‑wage work exposed the physical exhaustion, economic impossibility and everyday indignities faced by workers earning poverty wages. To borrow this or the other books mentioned in the article visit the BSL Library.

Disability and aged care:

• Looking at quality through a systems lens—Applying systems thinking to the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme: Hart, J., Weeratunga, V., Dickinson, H., Blackman, D, Australian Journal of Public Administration.
  This paper applies ideas from the field of applied systems to demonstrate their utility in a public administration context. It does so by applying a systems framework to analysis of the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
• Do Australian Disability Policies Support Accessible and Inclusive Neighbourhoods for Children with Disability and Their Families?: Badland, H., Villanueva, K., Dearn, E., Alderton, A., Urban Policy & Research.
  This paper analyses Australian national, state, and territory disability policy documents to understand the extent neighbourhood child liveability domains are considered as levers to support wellbeing and social inclusion for children with disability.
• A scoping review and thematic synthesis of research in family care of older migrants in Australia: expectations, burdens, barriers and generational gaps: Zhang M, Liu S, Pachana N, Bhar S, Ageing & Society.
  This scoping review systematically synthesises research on the experiences of family carers of older migrants in Australia to broaden the literature on how sociocultural context shapes care experiences.

Society and Culture:

• We can’t coerce our way to social cohesion. Here’s what else governments should be doing: Keiran Hardy, Rebecca Wickes, The Conversation.
  Wicks and Hardy argue that while governments often respond to social tension by expanding bans, hate crime laws and coercive controls, these measures may protect social cohesion in a limited sense but cannot create it.
• We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – here are the first three steps: Jason Hickel, Yanis Varoufakis, The Guardian.
  Hickel and Varoufakis argue that averting ecological collapse requires moving beyond the capitalist model toward a more democratic, planned economy that prioritises human well‑being and planetary limits over profit.

AI:

• AI Job Loss Research Ignores How AI Is Utterly Destroying the Internet: Jason Koebler, 404 Media.
  Koebler argues that most AI job‑loss studies miss AI’s real, immediate economic damage by ignoring how it is overwhelming the internet with spam and low‑quality content that erodes traffic, revenue and livelihoods across journalism, creative work and online businesses.
• AI can slowly shift an organisation’s core principles. How to spot ‘value drift’ early: Guy Bate, Rhiannon Lloyd, The Conversation.
  Bate and Lloyd argue that as organisations adopt generative AI for everyday tasks like writing justifications, feedback and policies, it can subtly reshape what feels normal or acceptable, causing “value drift” unless leaders actively reflect on how AI is changing judgments and accountability.

Housing:

• More than 45,000 Indigenous households lack adequate housing. Here’s what must change: Vivienne Mulligan, Megan Moskos, The Conversation.
  Mulligan and Moskos argue that tens of thousands of Indigenous households in Australia lack adequate housing due to chronic underinvestment, overcrowding and policy failures, and calls for sustained funding, Indigenous‑led housing solutions and systemic reform to address both the scale and structural causes of the crisis.

• Australian Journal of Public Administration (Volume 85, Issue 1, March 2026)
• Children and Youth Services Review (Volume 183, April 2026)
• Disability and Health Journal (Volume 19, Issue 2, April 2026)
• Evaluation Review (Volume 50 Issue 2, April 2026)
• Journal of Poverty (Volume 30, Issue 2, 2026)
• Journal of Public Policy (Volume 46, Issue 1, March 2026)
• Journal of Social Policy (Volume 55, Issue 2, April 2026)
• Labour Economics (Volume 99, April 2026)
• Studies in Educational Evaluation (Volume 88, March 2026)
• Social Policy & Administration (Volume 60, Issue 2, March 2026)
• Social Work Research (Volume 50, Issue 1, March 2026)

Podcasts & Streaming

A selection of videos, webinar recordings or podcasts:

• Evaluating Systems Change: New Ways to Spot, Show and Value Changes in Systems: Clear Horizon.
  Understanding what's shifting in a system is never easy: progress is non‑linear, hard to see, and often undervalued. In this webinar, Emily Gates and Jess Dart unpack new ways to evaluate systems transformation using complexity-aware approaches.
• Backlash against LGBTIQA+ community — why now? Joe Ball (2025 Higinbotham Lecture): Big Ideas, ABC Radio National.
  The hard fought for gains of one generation can pave the way for the next, but the road to equality is never straight. After meaningful progress for LGBTQIA+ people in recent years, that same community is now faced with some setbacks, and a rising hostility,  So why are the human rights of LGBTIQA+ people being challenged, curtailed and politicised right now?
• PWDA’s Online National Forum: InFocus: Queer & Disabled: PWDAustralia.
  In Focus: Queer & Disabled, a national online event bringing together an incredible line-up of LGBTQIA+ people with disability, including trans and gender diverse and First Nations voices, to share their stories, insights, and leadership.
• Gary Stevenson on wealth inequality and the rise of the far-right: Follow the Money Podcast, Australia Institute.
  On this episode of Follow the Money, author and economist Gary Stevenson joins Ebony Bennett to discuss wealth inequality, the global issue of housing unaffordability, why Australia should tax gas properly, and how many far-right parties have become the Steven Bradburys of global politics.
• The Matter of Facts (series): ABC iview.
  Hamish Macdonald wants to know what happens if we lose our faith in facts. We are all navigating a digital ecosystem where truth and lies can be indistinguishable, and where information is created - at scale - to change what we believe, how we behave and who we vote for.
• Democracy after Disaster: Kate Lawrence.
  Documentary audio maker Kate Lawrence, also a former CFA educator and community recovery officer, will talk to people from Macedon to Mallacoota and experts in recovery, history and political science, exploring concepts, structures and practical processes that offer us ways we can dramatically improve our democratic path to recovery after a natural disaster.
• How the world’s fourth biggest economy plans to reach 100 pct clean energy: Energy Insiders Podcast.
  David Hochschild, the head of the California Energy Commission, on how the world’s fourth biggest economy is moving away from fossil fuels, despite Trump.
• Where the Road Ends: Permanent Supportive Housing Outcomes and Moving On: National Alliance to End Homelessness.
  This webinar will feature two research studies. The first focused on housing outcomes for older adults and how they vary by race. The second study examined readiness to move on from permanent supportive housing (PSH) and developed a tool to support such decisions. 
• Multiculturalism in Focus: Migrants’ Sense of Belonging in Australia: Scanlon Foundation Research Institute.
  In this webinar, Senior Researcher Trish Prentice presents key insights from the Multiculturalism in Focus – Migrants’ Sense of Belonging Study 2025 from the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute.

PD & Events

Upcoming events, including talks, short courses and webinars:

• Clinical and cultural: approaches to healing and empowerment
  Centre for Social Impact UWA, 7 April, Online, Free.
  As part of our CSI UWA Research Webinar series, hear insights from a pilot program led by the Aboriginal Health Council of WA, which brings together clinical and cultural knowledge to provide a culturally centred, holistic and flexible approach to strengthening the social and emotional wellbeing of First Nations people.
• Getting Started: Analysing HILDA with Stata 2026
  Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, 8-10 April, Melbourne Institute.
  This course is designed for people who are interested in using the HILDA Survey data but have not yet done so. It will take a descriptive research problem and go through all the steps necessary to answer the research questions involved.
• Surveys in the real world: What works and what doesn’t
  AIFS, 15 April, Online, Free.
  This webinar will explore how and when to use surveys and tips for administering them in a child and family service practice context.
• The National Anti-Racism Framework and Mental Health
  Victorian Transcultural Mental Health, 15 April, Online, Free.
  Presenter: Giridharan Sivaraman (Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner)
• John Cain Lunch (April): Migration debates - A recurring feature of Australian politics, with Prof Karen Block
  Per Capita Australia, 15 April, Graduate House, University of Melbourne.
  Migration debates are a recurring feature of Australian politics. But what does the evidence tell us? At our April John Cain Lunch we will hear from Melbourne University's Professor Karen Block about her research on the interplay between host communities and migrants and the complex ways in which this interaction affects health inequalities, integration, inclusion and social cohesion.
• Driving maximum benefit: lessons from a quarter century of public housing transfers
  AHURI, 16 April, Online, Free.
  Join us online Thursday 16 April as we explore research findings from the AHURI Final Report ‘Public housing transfers: longer-term impacts on investment, tenant experience and sector outcomes’ with lead author, Senior Research fellow Dr Edgar Liu, UNSW Sydney and Mark Degotardi, CEO of Australian Community Housing, facilitated by Dr Tom Alves, AHURI Head of Development.  
• Conversations Workshop
  Common Cause, 22, 29 April, 20 May, Online.
  In these polarised times, there’s more need than ever to reach across divides and have productive conversations about the things that matter most. The workshop is designed to build your conversational skills and confidence, helping you to connect, find common ground and spark change.
• A Place for Culture: Culturally Responsive Learning and Development for Early Childhood Education and Care Staff
  SNAICC, 28 April, Balam Balam Place, Melbourne.
  A Place for Culture is a professional learning and development opportunity that supports Early Childhood Education and Care educators, leaders and service providers working in non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services to build inclusive early learning environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
• Understanding Poverty, Inequality and Social Disadvantage in Australia (short course)
  UNSW, 5 May, Online.
  Through a concentrated approach grounded in research and practical impact, this specialised short course builds on the research and findings of the Poverty and Inequality Partnership (PIP) with ACOSS to examine the causes and consequences of inequality and poverty in Australia. It offers a unique Australian policy perspective, utilising evidence-based methodologies to drive meaningful change to social inequality.
• Reclaiming Democracy Together
  Conversation at the Crossroads, 9 May, Melbourne Town Hall.
  Across the Western world, democratic institutions face deep strain. Public trust is fragile. Civic life is unsettled. On 9 May 2026, Reclaiming Democracy Together is launched — a seven-year national initiative dedicated to rethinking and revitalising democratic life in Australia and beyond. This launch marks the beginning of that long-term work.
• Scholarship Disabled: Crip research, crip scholars
  Newcastle Youth Studies Centre, 22 July, Online, Free.
  In this presentation, some core members of the Scholarship Disabled team will share the results of our research, interweaved with our own experiences of ableism and disablism in higher education.

Current Display

This month the book display in the library is on climate change. Please see the current display list for information about these items. 
For more related resources in the library catalogue see our curated subject matter list on climate change.