In our final episode of Seriously Social, we bring you a special interview with 2023 Senior Australian of the Year, Professor Tom Calma AO. A Kungarakan and Iwaidja Elder, educator, human rights campaigner and academic, Professor Calma has spent decades effecting positive change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In this interview, Professor Calma reflects on the things that drive him and the hopes he has for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, and all Australians, in the wake of the Voice Referendum. Don’t miss this important message of truth and hope from one of Australia’s most significant changemakers, in conversation with host Ginger Gorman. Watch the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6gJKSNTn8g USEFUL LINKS Australian of the Year Awards The Voice referendum results The Squiz 2005 Social Justice Report Australian Human Rights Commission Close the Gap Campaign Racism. It stops with me. Australian Human Rights Commission Tackling Indigenous Smoking Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation Living First Language Platform

As the housing crisis worsens, do we have the courage to reimagine a home among the gumtrees or are we too set in our ways to branch out? In this episode, we investigate why density is a dirty word and offer a comprehensive view of the possibilities ahead. Join host Ginger Gorman as she speaks to housing policy expert Professor Bill Randolph (UNSW City Futures Research Centre), innovative architect Lisa Garner from LIAN Architects, and Associate Professor in Urban Planning (The University of Queensland), Dr Dorina Pojani, to break ground on the problem and reimagine our cities. Useful Links Nightingale Housing Victorian Government Future Homes Initiative Outrage and Optimism Podcast

Incarceration rates are on the rise in Australia. Is there a crime wave or is it media hype? Join host Ginger Gorman as she cuts through the clickbait to uncover the truth about crime in Australia and who we lock up. Professor Eileen Baldry AO, a leading criminologist from UNSW, separates fact from fiction, while Justen Thomas, an advocate for vulnerable youth offers a unique perspective from firsthand experience. Get ready for a confronting discussion on the real story behind the headlines and whether incarceration is truly the answer. Useful Links Lifeline 11 13 14 1800 Respect 1800 737 732 Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 Outrage + Optimism Podcast National Children’s Commissioner slams “shocking” new Queensland youth justice laws Australian Human Rights Commission New South Wales Government to double penalties for knife crimes NSW Government The sad story of Marlon Noble ABC Ramp Up NSW police use force against Indigenous Australians at drastically disproportionate levels, data shows The Guardian

Which professions and brands do you trust? In this episode, Professor Nicole Gillespie from the Trust, Ethics and Governance Alliance at the University of Queensland talks us through trust—how to build it, maintain it, and what to do if we lose it. Going beyond the personal perspective, Professor Gillespie examines the factors that make an organisation trustworthy and the psychology behind building consumer confidence. Useful Links 2023 Productivity Commission Report What Australia Thinks ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods Mattel recalls nearly 100 000 toys after lead paint alert The Guardian AMP scandal shows the coverup is often worse than the crime ABC News

If you were feeling low and needed to talk, would you turn to a robot? With the rise of AI Chatbot technology, many Australians are doing just that—and seeing the benefits. In this episode, Associate Professor Gemma Sharp, head of the Body Image and Eating Disorders Research Group at Monash University, explains why chatbots can successfully bridge the gap between people living with an eating disorder and access to in-person treatments, while host of the Butterfly: Let’s Talk podcast, Sam Ikin shares how having an eating disorder that doesn’t fit the stereotype can be a barrier to seeking help. Useful Links Butterfly: Let’s Talk Podcast The Butterfly Foundation Lifeline 13 11 14 Sharp Body Image and Eating Disorders Research Group Monash University Specialist Women’s Mental Health Service Opens in Shepparton Alfred Health

Many people switch to a meat-free diet on the basis that it’s a healthy lifestyle choice with a low carbon footprint. But can we really believe the hype when it comes to vegan meat products? In this episode, Professor Christine Parker from the University of Melbourne Law School serves up the truth on the rise of imitation meat products and dives into who is responsible for ensuring the claims made on their labels are accurate. Get ready to sink your teeth into this captivating episode on ethics and the implications of the vegan meat industry. Useful Links The Impossible Burger Food standards code: a quick guide Food Standards Australia New Zealand Impossible task? Australian food law and the challenge of novel meat analogues Hope Johnson and Christine Parker

Get ready for a thought-provoking episode of Seriously Social! The upcoming Voice Referendum presents a pivotal moment for Australia to reshape its relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and confront the truths of our history. Join us for this captivating episode with the esteemed The Hon. Dr Barry Jones AC, former politician and noted polymath. With his wealth of experience and wisdom, Dr Jones fearlessly explores the attitudes of the past and challenges us to ask ourselves a crucial question: Is it finally time to embrace honesty and ignite a change that propels us toward unlocking our nation's full human potential? Don't miss this captivating speech that will compel you to reflect, question, and envision a future where recognition and acceptance pave the way for a more inclusive and compassionate Australia. Tune in and join us on this remarkable journey of truth, change, and the pursuit of our collective destiny.

Have you ever wanted to be Queen? Perhaps Grand Poobah? How simple is it to just start your own nation, and is it even legal? In this episode, Dr Harry Hobbs from the University of Technology Sydney is our travel guide through the weird and wonderful world of micronations. Guest James Blackwell, Research Fellow in Indigenous Diplomacy at the Australian National University, uncovers how Australia’s lack of recognition of sovereign states has had serious and ongoing impacts on Indigenous sovereignty and constitutional recognition. USEFUL LINKS How to Rule Your Own Country: The Weird and Wonderful World of Micronations Harry Hobbs and George Williams The Geneva Conventions and their Commentaries The International Committee of the Red Cross Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States University of Oslo Creating a Nation to Save the Planet Harry Hobbs Treaty of Waitangi NZ History Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice National Indigenous Australians Agency Uluru Statement from the Heart

Who do you picture when you think of the word “poor”? In a prosperous nation like Australia, surely no one should be living in poverty—but we all know that plenty of people from all walks of life don’t have enough to make ends meet. In this episode of Seriously Social, economist and Deputy Director of the HILDA Survey, Professor Roger Wilkins crunches the numbers on what poverty in Australia looks like and what we can do about it, and demographer Dr Liz Allen breaks down why “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” isn’t as simple as it sounds for those who find themselves in dire financial straits.

How can the voice of children and young people count if they aren't counted in elections? When you turn 16 you can drive a car, consent to medical procedures and pay taxes—but you can’t vote. Professor Lisa Hill explains why we’re so scared of giving younger people a vote, and shares fascinating research about 16 and 17-year-olds in the voting booth. Useful Links Voting at 16: Does lowering the voting age lead to more political engagement? Evidence from a quasi-experiment in the city of Ghent Cambridge University Press Condorcet’s Theorem 1000-Word Philosophy Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey The Lancet

Are you an activist or slacktivist? Would you take to the streets for a cause you’re passionate about, or sign a petition? What actions make a real difference? In this episode of Seriously Social, Brisbane City Councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan, academic and activist Aidan Ricketts and sexual consent advocate Chanel Contos answer the question 'What is the point of a protest?', take a look at the ways protesting has changed over the years and highlight how governments and lawmakers are making it harder for protestors to exercise their rights. Useful Links 1800 RESPECT Phone 1800 737 732 Lifeline Phone 13 11 44 Kids Helpline Phone 1800 55 1800 Centre for Sex and Gender Equality The Australia Insititute Teach Us Consent Extinction Rebellion The history of the Australian Environment Movement Australian Environmental Grant Network Franklin Dam and the Greens National Museum Australia Elizabeth Reid talks women, advocacy and change in Australia Seriously Social

Australians love sport. It’s healthy, fun and brings the community together for a common goal. Or so we’re told. But what happens when our national obsession with sport causes division in the community? And who is left out of the game altogether? In this episode of Seriously Social, Emeritus Professor David Rowe explains how involvement in sport can be so contentious it has started a war while author and host of The Outer Sanctum podcast, Nicole Hayes, discusses the benefits to the wider community that occur when marginalised voices enter the conversation about sport. Useful Links Honduras vs El Salvador: The football match that kicked off a war BBC News The day Cathy Freeman flew the flag and flagged the future The Sydney Morning Herald Australian Citizenship: Our common bond Department of Home Affairs Kick It Out Reclink

It’s our 50th episode and we are celebrating this milestone with an extra-special interview with the first women’s advisor to a head of government anywhere in the world. Elizabeth Reid AO, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a former visiting Fellow at the Gender Relations Centre and Department of Human Geography at ANU, was appointed in 1973 to advise then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on the changes in policy that the women of Australia were desperate to see implemented. From placards and protests to the halls of power, Elizabeth Reid takes us through the ways in which women have tried to make society sit up and listen, and the challenges of being a figurehead for a social movement for change. Watch our extended interview with Elizabeth on our Seriously Social YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/SrPI3F2hCWs Fill in our podcast survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BX33W8K Useful Links Elizabeth Reid: Transforming adversity into impact ANU Gender Institute Women’s Liberation Movement International Women’s Year Milestones for Australian Women Since 1975 ABC News March4Justice

Would you switch to greener super if it meant more money at retirement? But is the benefit worth the hassle? As climate change makes itself felt in our everyday lives, we explore how our choice of superannuation fund can cost us in the long run if we don’t pay attention to climate-friendly investment now. In this episode, Professor Jacqueline Peel, Director of Melbourne Climate Futures talks about how it's possible to prompt climate action by strategic superannuation investment. Professor Wai Fong Chua also reveals just what it will take for big businesses to disclose climate-related material risk. Useful Links “REST super fund commits to net zero emission investments after Brisbane man sues” ABC News Melbourne Climate Futures University of Melbourne The Paris Agreement United Nations Climate Change Market Forces

When you think back to your childhood, who do you remember spent the most time doing the day-to-day care? The most common answer to that question historically, would be mum. But in 2022, is that beginning to change? In this episode, Professor of Gender and Employment Relations, Marian Baird, (University of Sydney), discusses Australia’s current Paid Parental Leave schemes including how they work, what needs to change and how can we learn from other schemes. Useful links: Dad days: how more gender-equal parental leave would improve the lives of Australian families by Grattan Institute Early Childhood Australia Gender equality and paid parental leave in Australia: A decade of giant leaps or baby steps? by Marian Baird, Myra Hamilton and Andreea Constantin PPL Evaluation Report by the Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland

Are you one of the 50% of Australians who have tried an illicit drug? Or do you believe all drugs should be illegal? The field of drug policy is in a state of flux. Whilst drugs are being legalised in some parts of the world, other countries are cracking down. In this episode, Professor Alison Ritter, Director of the UNSW Drug Policy Modelling Program, explores Australia's drug policies: who makes them, who influences them, and who is being left out of the discussion? Useful Links Drug Policy Modelling Program, University of Sydney Australian Institute of Criminology

Feeling burned out? It’s not surprising: experts say we all have a 30% chance of experiencing it. (Sorry to doctors, teachers and others in caring professions: your chances are way higher.) In this episode, the founder of the Black Dog Institute, Professor Gordon Parker, explains what burnout is, why it’s often misdiagnosed, and which personalities are most at risk of experiencing this syndrome which can impact our relationships, personality, and brain function. Useful links: Burnout: A guide to identifying burnout and pathways to recovery by Gordon Parker, Gabriela Tavella and Kerrie Eyers The Carers Club Lifeline: 13 11 14

Did you know there have been more dictatorships than democracies? Ever wondered if all dictators are cut from the same cloth? With the help of author Professor Graeme Gill and journalist Matt Bevan from the ABC “If you’re listening” podcasts, we explore how dictatorships work and why democracy is a more unusual system of government than most of us realise. Useful Links If You're Listening Podcast with Matt Bevan Bridling Dictators: Rules and Authoritarian Politics by Graeme Gill

What makes a speech, especially a political speech impactful, memorable and stirring? And why does it always feel so long between those times when we hear a good one? In this episode of Seriously Social, political historian Professor Sean Scalmer joins us to discuss the origins of the stump speech, and what it takes to move hearts and minds with words. Useful Links On the Stump: Campaign Oratory and Democracy in the United States, Britain and Australia by Sean Scalmer Julia Gillard's Misogyny Speech in Full (2012) ABC News Lieutenant General David Morrison AO ICMI Speakers and Entertainment Jacqui Lambie delivers emotional speech condemning uni fee rises ABC News Winston Churchill Speech Before Commons (June 4, 1940) Hanover Education Australian Election Speeches: Gough Whitlam 1972 Museum of Australian Democracy Paul Keating speech on impact of European settlement on Indigenous Australia (1992) ABC Australia Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins address the National Press Club of Australia National Press Club of Australia

The data is in: racism in Australia is on the rise. But in recent years has racism become more covert than it once was? We unpack the spectrum of racist behaviour as we look at racism in Australia today, and consider why, even as it goes undercover, it's getting worse. Useful links: Racism in Australia Today (2021) by Amanuel Elias, Fethi Mansouri and Yin Paradies Lies, Damned Lies (2021) by Claire G. Coleman The School That Tried To End Racism (2021, ABC) hosted by Marc Fennell The impact of racism on the health and wellbeing of young Australians (2009) Fethi Mansouri, Louise Jenkins, Les Morgan, Mona Taouk Couldn't be fairer documentary (1984)