Library Blog - June 2026

Selected readings

• When AI Helps Write Research: What Happens to Lived Experience? Sylwia Frankowska-Takhari, The Scholarly Kitchen
  Frankowska-Takhari discusses how AI‑generated research writing can accurately surface themes and produce polished summaries, but in doing so it often softens, abstracts, or dilutes the emotional depth and specificity of lived experience.
• Developing emotion-based speech technology for the Māori language: Jesin James, Data & society
   James highlights that efforts to build emotion‑based speech technology for te reo Māori reveal how dominant AI models can misinterpret culturally specific expressions of emotion, underscoring the need for community‑led, culturally grounded approaches to create more inclusive and accurate systems.
• Transcribing speech is never neutral. It shapes power and bias: Celeste Rodriguez Louro, The Conversation Louro argues that transcribing speech is not neutral but embeds the biases of dominant language norms, shaping how speakers are perceived and potentially reinforcing inequalities—particularly for First Nations people.
• Zero-Click Readership: Are AI Overviews Changing the Way We Discover Research: Roohi Ghosh, The Scholarly Kitchen
  Ghosh suggests that AI‑generated overviews are driving a rise in “zero‑click readership,” where researchers consume synthesized summaries without accessing original papers—improving efficiency but risking reduced critical engagement, visibility, and understanding of research.

• “I teach her at home”: Home learning environments amid resource constraints: Jill Hoiting, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Family Relations. 2026;1–21
  Hoiting and Halpern-Meekin examine how mothers with low incomes think about and enact investments of time and money for their infants and toddlers.
• Understanding the journey to higher education: decision-making insights from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students: Melissa Fong-Emmerson, Claire Lambert, Braden Hill, Maria Ryan, Higher Education Research & Development, 1–18
  This study investigates the decision-making process of Indigenous Australian students in pursuing higher education, addressing a gap in understanding their educational choices. It identifies the key factors influencing university enrolment decisions and how these shape students’ educational pathways.

First Nations and Reconciliation

• Snapshot: The impact of Reconciliation  Action Plans in 2025: Reconciliation Australia
  Every year Reconciliation Australia measures the extraordinary impact that organisations with Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs) are having across the country.

Inclusion

• Running the Gauntlet: Experiences of Transgender and Gender-Diverse People in the Recruitment Process: Robin C. Ladwig, Michael J.Walsh, Raechel Johns, Gender, Work & Organization: 1–15
  Ladwig et al. find that transgender and gender‑diverse candidates face critical moments of potential bias, discrimination, and self‑presentation dilemmas during recruitment, highlighting the need for more inclusive hiring practices to ensure equitable access to employment.
• 27% of Australian students now have an adjustment for disability at school. Why are we seeing this growth? Linda J. Graham, Callula Killingly, The Conversation
  Graham and Killingly say the sharp rise in Australian students receiving disability adjustments reflects changes in how support is defined and reported—rather than a sudden increase in disability—highlighting underlying issues in funding models and inclusive education design
• What Can We Learn from Disability Enterprises When Thinking About a Job Guarantee Program? Joyce A, Campbell P, Crosbie J, Wilson E., Disabilities. 2026; 6(3):44
  Findings from 77 interviews show that while supported employment can enhance wellbeing through tailored roles and support, it often limits inclusion, pay, and career progression, highlighting the need for investment in supports and clear transition pathways within any inclusive job guarantee for people with intellectual disability.

Politics and Democracy

• Education for democracy: a review of studies examining the effect of education on levels and distributions of democratic competences: Adrian Arellano, Jan Germen Janmaat, Bryony Hoskins, Educational Research Review, Volume 51, 2026
  In this scoping review of education and democratic competences, Arellano et al. suggest that inclusive, participatory education is a “win–win” for boosting democratic competences and reducing inequalities.

• Wealth, provision and the limits of adjustment: What the budget reveals about Australia’s policy model: Nikko Riazi, The Mandarin
  Intergenerational equity is not about assigning fault. It is about the distribution of opportunity and risk across time, and whether the policy settings governing that distribution remain fit for purpose.

Society and Culture

• You’d better start paying attention to the manosphere. You’re living in it: Ben Rich, Paul Sutherland, The Conversation
  Rich and Sutherland argue that the manosphere is no longer confined to fringe online spaces but has permeated mainstream culture, with its language and ideas increasingly shaping everyday discourse and institutions.

Journals

• Children and Youth Services Review (Volume 185, June 2026)
• Climatic Change (Volume 179, Issue 5, May 2026)
• Disability & Society (Volume 41, Issue 6, 2026)
• Educational Research Review (Volume 51, May 2026)
• Evaluation Review (Volume 50 Issue 3, June 2026)
• Evidence & Policy (Volume 22, Issue 2, May 2026)
• Gender, Work & Organization (Volume 33, Issue 4, July 2026)
• Human Relations (Volume 79 Issue 6, June 2026)
• International Journal of Care and Caring (Volume 10, Issue 2, May 2026)
• Journal of Disability Policy Studies (Volume 37 Issue 1, June 2026)
• Journal of Poverty (Volume 30, Issue 3, 2026)
• Review of Educational Research (Volume 96 Issue 3, June 2026)
• Socio-Economic Review (Volume 24, Issue 2, April 2026)

Listen and watch

• Who takes the fall? The AI responsibility gap: Automated Societies (podcast)
  When AI systems mislead, discriminate, or get things wrong—who is actually responsible? In this episode of Careful Minds, Rayane El Masri speaks with Dr Joanne Kuai about the growing “responsibility gap” in AI.
• Who Decides: Making Place Matter (podcast)
   Making Place Matter is a podcast from Partnerships for Local Action and Community Empowerment (PLACE), a national organisation that champions community-led approaches to social and economic challenges. This season, Who Decides, is all about shared decision making – a foundation of place-based work. You’ll hear what that process really looks like, what gets in the way, and what becomes possible when communities are genuinely at the table.
• The politics of fear and migration: SSI Critical Conversations
  In this inaugural session of SSI’s Critical Conversations series, hear directly from a powerhouse panel of experts and thought leaders on how Australia can reject fear-based politics and instead build a migration system grounded in fairness, equal opportunity and the belief in a fair go.
• Budget 2026: Housing changes to slowly reverse decades of damage: Dollars & Sense (Podcast)
  On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor discuss the federal budget, the latest wages data, and why the government is making Australian workers wait-o for the WATO.
• What We're Learning - Empowering Disability Services in Australian Higher Education: ADCET Podcast
  Despite supporting more than 98,000 students with disability, there is limited understanding of the experiences and needs of disability practitioners in Australian universities. In this session, Darlene McLennan shares early findings from her ACSES Equity Fellowship, exploring what disability support looks like across the sector, the realities of practitioner roles, and what students say matters most. 

Learning Opportunities

Upcoming events, including talks, short courses and webinars.

• Preventing violence against women: Engaging men from culturally and linguistically diverse communities
  AIFS, 9 June, Online, Free
  This webinar will bring together research, practice and lived experience to explore what meaningful engagement with men looks like and important considerations to support engagement with men from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. 
• Who Decides? A conversation about shared decision-making
  PLACE Australia, 11 June, Online, Free
  Hear directly from Jo-Anne Kelly of Learning the Macleay, Amy Robinson from the Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Project, Eugene McGarrell from Sydney North PHN, and Luke Craven from PLACE as they reflect on their experience of shared decision-making and how collaboration can spark real change and make a lasting impact. 
• Cyber and AI governance: actions you can take today
  Institute of Community Directors Australia, 15 June, Online
  Relevant for NFPs of all sizes, the session cuts through technical jargon to focus on what boards actually need to oversee: risk, accountability, data protection, ethical AI use, and organisational resilience. Expect plain language, real-world charity examples, and a practical takeaway checklist you can share directly with staff and fellow board member.
• Beyond Pronouns and Wheelchairs WDV, 24 June, Online, Free 
  Women with Disabilities Victoria are pleased to invite you to Beyond Pronouns and Wheelchairs, a FREE online event launching new workforce development resources focused on preventing violence against LGBTIQA+ people with disabilities. These resources have been co-designed with a lived experience group and are grounded in real-world insight, expertise, and leadership. These resources are designed to support workers across disability, health, LGBTIQA+, and violence prevention sectors to strengthen inclusive, accessible, and safe practice. 
• 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.
• 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 for National Reconciliation Week, highlighting just some of our First Nations focused collection. Our items on display can be found in the Books on Display list and for more, browse our curated subject list on Indigenous Australians and BSL, or try a subject search for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.