Catalyst is proud to launch the first in a series of readers: Equality Speaks

Australia may have dodged the bullet that has put the US, Britain and most European economies on life support, but our new collection of essays shows that – despite our enviable economic position – Australia is not the egalitarian paradise that many believe it to be.

Equality Speaks features an eclectic mix of writers who highlight a common challenge – to use our (relatively) stable economic times to make the shift to a fairer Australia. It includes new research on the distribution of wealth in Australia.  And it brings together some of our sharpest minds to look at paths to a more equal Australia in areas like transport, homelessness, education, women, tax, refugees, work and employment amongst others.

This is a great resource for anyone with an interest in social policy and a concern about justice for our communities.

Free download

Introduction by Catalyst Executive Director Jo-anne Schofield.

Equality Speaks is available to purchase for just $14.95 per copy (plus $2.95 postage) through our paypal system below or by filing out the manual order form and mailing it with your cheque to Catalyst Australia (Suite 110, Level 1, 4 Goulburn St, Sydney NSW 2000).

Publication contents

Tax reform Julian Disney

The design of the tax system greatly affects peoples ability to generate their own resources through work, saving and investment and to draw on those resources when needed. This obviously applies to the way in which wages are taxed but also includes, for example, tax rules concerning superannuation, housing, health insurance and child care. The design can create effects which greatly increase or reduce hardship and inequity. Disney

Income support and poverty Gerard Thomas and Melissa Coad

Australia is often reported to have high levels of welfare dependency requiring restrictions in spending on social security payments. This is not however the case. When compared with other wealthy countries, Australia has a comparatively low percentage of people of working age reliant on social security (18%). By a number of measures Australias… social security system has not succeeded in alleviating poverty, particularly among children and the elderly. Thomas and Coad

Education Lyndsay Connors

If we believe that all our children are to be equally valued that means that they are equally entitled to assistance from their schools to achieve their personal best; and … to teachers who can engage them in learning that has personal significance for them and that is valued in the wider society. Connors

Transport Shannon OKeeffe, Rod Pickette and Andrew Thomas

For most people mobility, through either public or private transport, is linked to increased social, employment and education participation. Having limited or no transport significantly reduces your ability to participate fully in everyday life. It is also important for accessing health care and for maintaining a sense of independence. A number of studies have shown that the links between social disadvantage and a lack of transport are particularly significant in urban Australia compared to other countries. OKeeffe, Pickette and Thomas

Indigenous People Larissa Behrendt

Indigenous policy is always targeted at intervention, at emergency. It rarely seeks to look at the underlying issues. Addressing disadvantage requires long term solutions, not just interventions. Rather than always reacting to a crisis, a long-term sustained approach requires addressing the underlying causes of disadvantage. Behrendt

Children and child poverty Zoë Morrison

Australia ranked 13th out of 24 OECD countries in percentage of children living in relative income poverty …. Overall 14.7% or one in seven children were living in poverty in Australia in 2005 … We will ensure a greater chance of reducing child poverty if we see a greater investment in effective universal services for children, from child-care and primary education upwards. Morrison

Australian Women Rae Cooper and Marian Baird

For many years, feminist scholars and other observers of the labour market have pointed to the glass ceiling (women find it difficult to move into the most senior positions in organisations) and glass walls (women work in highly feminised industries and occupations). But the sticky floor has received less attention. Women predominate in low paid jobs with little or no career path. Cooper and Baird

Homelessness Andrew Hollows and Tony Keenan

To state the obvious, the main reason people are homeless is because they dont have a house. Rates of housing affordability and availability have dropped to alarmingly low levels, with public housing becoming a safety net option only available for those with the most complex needs. The number of applicants on the waiting list for public housing was 176,321 in 2007. Hollows and Keenan

Work and employment Brigid van Wanrooy

The growth in casual employment has really set Australia apart from other developed countries. This has been attributed to the award system recognising casual work as another valid form of employment but without any restrictions or safeguards. Once the casual loading has been accounted for, casual employees earn less than their permanent counterparts. van Wanrooy

The distribution of wealth in Australia Frank Stilwell and David Primrose

Economic inequality causes social stress. There is now mounting evidence linking inequality to ill health, crime, greater stresses on social services and lower levels of overall happiness in society. Stilwell and Primrose

Rudd Governments report card on refugees Dianne Hiles

There is a growing recognition that those who arrive on our shores seeking our protection should be treated humanely, but there are yawning gaps between what we practice and what we accepted as our obligations when we signed such international treaties as the Refugee Convention, the Convention Against Torture, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. Hiles

Inequality is bad for our health Jo-anne Schofield

Building communities where resilience and opportunity can flourish is central to tackling inequality in health. Prevention will have little impact if the social determinants of health are not considered, including factors which result in social exclusion. Key among these is tackling poverty, disability, poor social support and lack of education and skills. Schofield

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