A lot of press coverage questions whether reforms to social policy - particularly welfare services - should be taken forward in the current economic climate. My own view is that they need to be put in place more quickly but such measures need to be agile and designed to respond to various 'shocks' to the market we see taking place. Predicting unpredictable events is hard but designing flexible solutions, that can be iterated, is core to reducing the impact of recession on those most vulnerable as well as newly unemployed. This sits at the centre of much of our discussion with governments ar..View Complete Post

Busy times as we found out a few days ago that we had been short-listed – alongside 200 other organizations – to help develop innovative approaches to tackling unemployment amongst some of the hardest to help communities in Australia. The Innovation Fund has some interesting similarities to ‘Right to Bid’ in the UK. Over coming days, our team in Australia and the extensive group of people in the UK who have spent time in Australia over the last two years sharing ideas and building our understanding of the market, will be waiting with baited breath for the outcome of ..View Complete Post