Brotherhood of St Laurence

Library Blog - July 2026

Selected readings

A curated selection of recent articles and papers relevant to our work.

AI and Emerging Technology:
  • How to Use AI to Make Us Smarter: Hana Lee Goldin, Card Catalogue
    The author argues that AI will not make us less intelligent if we use it well, because the real determinant is how we engage with it, and treating AI as a tool for inquiry and critical thinking can strengthen rather than replace our ability to understand and evaluate information.
  • Algorithmic Monocultures in Hiring: Rishi Bommasani, Sarah H. Bana, Kathleen A. Creel et al.
    The authors argue that when many employers rely on the same hiring algorithms, it creates an algorithmic monoculture that systematically reproduces biased outcomes and concentrated rejection patterns, meaning certain racial groups and individuals are disproportionately excluded and must apply far more widely just to reach human review.
  • How AI Systems can Misread Domestic Violence: Hawra Rabaan, Data & Society
    The author argues that AI systems misinterpret domestic violence because they reduce complex, culturally shaped and relational experiences into simplistic data categories, which can obscure real harms, misread survivors’ agency, and weaken the support systems needed for safe and meaningful decision-making.
Democracy, policy and politics
  • Gina Rinehart and Southern Cross Austereo: what do billionaire media buyouts mean for democracy?: Cameron McTernan, The Conversation
    The author argues that billionaire investment in media, including Gina Rinehart’s involvement in Southern Cross Austereo, can allow owners to shape news agendas and public debate in ways that reflect their own interests rather than democratic needs, and that this risk is heightened in Australia’s already highly concentrated media landscape where limited regulation and ongoing consolidation threaten diversity and the health of democracy.
  • Interviewing policymaker elites: improving lessons for researchers at the evidence-policy interface: Cairney, P., Williams, E., & Head, B., Policy Design and Practice 1–10
    The authors argue that the evidence to policy relationship is ineffective when treated as one way, because academics need a deeper understanding of policymaking processes and better access to policymakers’ insights, yet limited support for studying these processes and growing barriers to trust leave researchers poorly equipped to engage in ways that genuinely influence policy.
  • Pauline Hanson is thriving in Australia's 'belonging vacuum': Clayton Chin, University of Melbourne Pursuit
    The author argues that Pauline Hanson’s growing support reflects a broader failure of mainstream Australian politics to articulate an inclusive, shared sense of national identity, leaving a “belonging vacuum” that her exclusionary vision fills.

Inclusion

    • ‘Technostress’: why many older people feel shut out by the digital world: Melanie Stowell, The Conversation
      The author argues that while digital technologies can support independence and connection, they also create “technostress” for many older people, as rapid change, reduced face to face options, and risks such as scams produce barriers that leave them excluded from essential services and social participation unless digital inclusion is actively addressed. 
    • Tightening NDIS eligibility will disproportionately affect women – in more ways than you’d expect: Molly Saunders, Sophie Yates, The Conversation
      The authors argue that tightening NDIS eligibility will disproportionately harm women by restricting access to support and shifting greater unpaid care, financial strain and social risk onto them, reinforcing existing gender inequalities in the scheme.
    • 2026 Care Economy special report, The Mandarin 
      Australia’s care economy is at a turning point, with simultaneous major reforms across aged care, disability support, veterans’ services, digital health and payments creating an unprecedented convergence in social policy that this report examines for public servants, program managers and policy advisers.

    Climate

    • Climate Change and Time: Daniela Blei, Stanford Social Innovation Review
      The author argues that while public discourse on climate change has become increasingly urgent and alarmist over time, it continues to rely on largely unchanged and distant timeframes for both impacts and action, which can shape and potentially limit how society understands and responds to the crisis.
    • Extreme heat is harming remote First Nations communities. It’s time we listen to them: Manoj Bhatta, Gloria Baliva, Supriya Mathew
      The authors argue that extreme heat is disproportionately harming remote First Nations communities due to structural disadvantages, and that effective responses require listening to and resourcing community-led solutions grounded in local knowledge and needs.

    Children and families


    Journals

    Academic journals present peer‑reviewed research by subject experts. Recent issues from selected publishers are listed below.

    Listen and watch

    A selection of podcasts, webinars and recorded talks relevant to our work.
    • Convene. Catalyse. Learn: Systems change for kids with Michael Hogan: It Depends (Podcast)
      Michael Hogan on systems change for Queensland kids — why the partnership chose to convene rather than compete, how it leads, facilitates and affiliates across a fragmented ecosystem, and what it takes to shift investment toward outcomes.
    • Incorporating children’s voices into practice and processes: Emerging Minds (Podcast)
      This podcast discusses how children’s voices are essential to improving services and outcomes, and that practitioners must actively create safe, respectful processes and relationships that enable children to share their perspectives and influence decisions affecting their lives.
    • Reducing Inequalities through Financial Literacy - Associate Professor Michelle Cull: Western Sydney University Library (YouTube)
      Associate Professor Michelle Cull argues that widespread gaps in financial literacy among students contribute to stress and inequality, and that education initiatives, including a tool she helped develop called Wallet$mart, can significantly improve financial knowledge, decision-making and long-term wellbeing.
    • Painful burns, Pauline protests, PMO: what's your poison (Podcast)
      We cover the inner workings of the Prime Minister's Office, Pauline's Press Club speech, populist campaign and political risks, immigration and multiculturalism, press club questions, and public perception and political shifts.
    • Positive Duty Oration 2026 by Disability Discrimination Commissioner Rosemary Kayess: Australian human Rights Commission (YouTube)
      In this powerful address, Commissioner Kayess explores what a positive duty means for organisations, communities and individuals and why shifting from reactive compliance to proactive inclusion is essential for real change. 

    Learning Opportunities

    Upcoming events, including talks, short courses and webinars.

    • Work participation inequities among LGBTIQ+ Australians: Implications for health, policy and inclusion
      1 July, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Online
      This webinar examines new national evidence on employment disparities affecting LGBTIQ+ Australians and the implications for policy and system reform. This webinar will present new national evidence on work participation among LGBTIQ+ Australians using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. 
    • The Sibling Effect
      1 July, Disability Employment Australia, Online, Free
      Siblings are often one of the longest relationships in the life of a person with disability, yet they remain largely invisible within service systems. This session explores the evidence behind sibling relationships and their unique contribution to employment outcomes.
    • AMFRT Seminar Series: Multicultural Australia and the Economy
      6 July, Online, Free
      This seminar brings together leading researchers, policymakers and practitioners to examine the relationship between migration, economic participation, entrepreneurship, housing, productivity and social inclusion, and what these issues mean for Australia's long-term economic future.
    • My Special Place: An Evening of Storytelling
      Wheeler Centre, 9 July, Melbourne
      In celebration of NAIDOC Week and The Torch’s My Special Place exhibition at The Wheeler Centre, this special event brings together powerful First Peoples voices to reflect on place, belonging and the transformative power of language and art.
    • Power, Prosperity and Planet, with Thom Woodroofe
      Graduate House, University of Melbourne, 15 July, Melbourne
      Australia’s climate debate has long focused on three central pillars: clean power, future economic prosperity and protecting the planet. After nearly two decades of “the climate wars”, we’ve heard the calls: we must decarbonise our energy system, we must develop our green industries and clean tech, and we must do more to keep global temperature increases within safe limits.
    • Responding to uncertainty: A compassionate approach to practice
      AIFS, 15 July, Online, Free 
      Presenters: Mary Freer, Dr Elly Quinlan, Professor Michelle Lazarus and Dr Mandy Truong. This webinar will explore how compassion and tolerance of uncertainty can support both practitioners and the children and families they work with.
    • Institute of Community Directors Leadership Week Webinars
      20-23 July, Online, Free
      This four-part series equips leaders with the tools and skills to lead well, work better, and support their teams to thrive. Covering effective execution, the opportunities and risks of AI, and approaches to difficult conversations and talent development, each session focuses on real-world challenges and actionable techniques to improve team performance and leadership impact.
    • Paul Kelly on the Coalition Years
      Wheeler Centre, 21 July, Melbourne
      Paul Kelly, veteran political commentator and Editor-At-Large of The Australian, unpacks the crisis facing the centre right, 20 years in the making.
    • 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 about First Nations voices, highlighting books in our collection that are written by First Nations authors or tell the stories of First Nations people in their own words. Our items on display can be found in the Books on Display list.

    Acknowledgement of Country

    The Brotherhood of St. Laurence acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which our organisation operates. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past and present.

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