How is Australia Faring?

How Australia is Faring: Australian Social Inclusion Board Report

The Australian Social Inclusion Board released its first annual report in January 2010, setting a baseline for measuring progress on reducing disadvantage in Australia. It reports clear statistics on 44 social inclusion indicators,such as income, work, education, and social participation in the political,civic and community spheres. It also addresses access to resources, and identifies locations of concentrated and multiple disadvantages.

Key element of achievng Social Inclusion have been identified as:

• Learn (participate in education and training);
• Work (participate in employment, unpaid or voluntary work including family and carer responsibilities);
• Engage (connect with people, use local services and participate in local, cultural, civic and recreational activities); and
• Have a voice (influence decisions that affect them).

CLOUD CULTURE: THE PROMISE AND THE THREAT

Facebook, google, twitter, what effect will they have on culture? This essay explores the pros and cons, acknowledging we are in the early stage of the web and its potential.

Our interests as citizens and consumers will be best served by their being a rich variety of cultural clouds: public and private, social and voluntary, global and very local, cosmopolitan and nationalist.

So how do clouds fit in? Read on as Leadbetter interogates notions of our digital futures.