Change Agents

Navin75/Flickr, Australian Marine Conservation Society, ANUThe anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd has called a halt to its famous missions tracking the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean. For the past 12 years the group’s boats have engaged in annual high-seas battles with vessels carrying out Japan’s self-described scientific whaling program. But Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has admitted that Japan’s use of military-grade technology such as real-time satellite tracking has left the activists unable to keep up. Watson also criticised the Australian government over its response to Japan’s whaling program, despite a global ban on most whaling. Read more: Murky waters: why is Japan still whaling in the Southern Ocean? Scientific whaling is technically allowed under the International Whaling Commission’s treaty, and countries such as Japan have the right to decide for themselves what constitutes “scientific” in this context. Australia i

Amee Meredith and Caterina Politi turned the worst day of their lives into a campaign for meaningful law reform. AAP/The Conversation The death of Melbourne heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann has again focused attention on the fatal consequences of so-called “one-punch” attacks. In response to this form of violence, Australian states and territories have enacted quite different laws, often following campaigns by family members seeking justice for a lost loved one. On this episode of Change Agents, Andrew Dodd speaks to two of these campaigners. In Victoria, Caterina Politi campaigned successfully for ten-year mandatory minimum sentences following the death of her son, David Cassai. And in the Northern Territory, Amee Meredith lobbied for tougher sentences after the death of her husband, Brett, who was also a territory police officer. Change Agents is a collaboration between The Conversation and the Swinburne Business School and Swinburne University’s Department of Media and Communication. It is pre

David Buchanan and Fr Paul Kelly have spearheaded pushes to abolish the gay panic defence. Forbes Chambers/ABC/SuppliedThe gay panic – or homosexual advance – defence has allowed people literally to get away with murder. It’s given them a way to convince juries they were provoked to kill because a homosexual person propositioned them. In an alarming number of cases, juries were convinced that an advance by a gay – or supposedly gay – man was sufficient provocation for killing him. Juries have opted instead to convict the defendant of the lesser offence of manslaughter. Over the past 14 years this practice has been abolished across Australia’s states and territories; Queensland is the latest state to do so. In this episode of Change Agents, Andrew Dodd speaks to Catholic priest Fr Paul Kelly and Sydney barrister David Buchanan, SC, about how they did it. Change Agents is a collaboration between The Conversation and the Swinburne Business School and Swinburne University’s Department of Media and Communic

Lucy Haslam and Alex Wodak helped convince the public and politicians that the time for legalised medicinal cannabis had come. AAP/Alan PorrittIn 2016 three Australian states and the Commonwealth passed laws to legalise the growing of medicinal cannabis. It was an extraordinary result for a campaign that struggled for decades to gain traction. Suddenly the push had taken off in the public imagination, prompting state and then federal politicians to agree to the cultivation and prescription of cannabis for people suffering from a wide range of conditions. In this episode of Change Agents, Andrew Dodd speaks to Lucy Haslam, who launched the grassroots campaign in New South Wales after her son Dan was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and Alex Wodak, the president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation. Together they convinced the public and politicians the time for change had come. Change Agents is a collaboration between The Conversation and the Swinburne Business School and Swinburne University’s Dep

Stuart Morris QC (left) and Leonie Hemingway (formerly Leonie Burke) led the Labor and Liberal governments' attempts at reforming local government. Andrew Dodd, CC BY-NDVictoria’s council reforms in 1994 remain Australia’s most radical restructuring of local government. The changes under the Kennett government reduced the number of councils from 210 to 79 through amalgamations. In this episode of Change Agents, Andrew Dodd brings together Stuart Morris QC and Leonie Hemingway (formerly Leonie Burke), the two people who respectively led the Labor and Liberal governments’ attempts at reform. They speak for the first time publicly about their successes and failures on the road to this overhaul of local government. Change Agents is a collaboration between The Conversation and the Swinburne Business School and Swinburne University’s Department of Media and Communication. It is presented by Andrew Dodd and produced by Samuel Wilson and Andrew Dodd, with production by Heather Jarvis. The authors do not wo

Susan Alberti (left) and Debbie Lee were pivotal to the formation of the national women's AFL competition. Melbourne Football ClubWhen it kicks off in 2017 the national women’s football league will include eight AFL teams from five states, with at least another five likely to follow soon after. The national competition is the culmination of decades of work by women’s football associations around Australia. These have steadily grown and overcome ignorance and discrimination to gain greater acceptance. On this episode of Change Agents Andrew Dodd talks to veteran footballer Debbie Lee, who is the community manager at the Melbourne Football Club, and businesswoman Susan Alberti, the vice president of the Western Bulldogs, about how they made the national women’s league a reality. Change Agents is a collaboration between The Conversation and the Swinburne Business School and Swinburne University’s Department of Media and Communication. It is presented by Andrew Dodd and produced by Samuel Wilson and Andre

Rhonda Galbally and Bruce Bonyhady were both instrumental in the creation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Alan Porritt and Julian Smith (AAP)This is the first program in a new podcast series, Change Agents. It will focus on examples of ordinary people who have brought about profound social, political and cultural change, celebrating their success and explaining how they did it. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is the biggest social reform in Australia this century. By 2022 it will help half a million people access comprehensive disability support at a cost of around A$25 billion. On this program, two of the NDIS’ founders explain how they developed something so radical and comprehensive and then won support for the idea. Bruce Bonyhady is the chairman and Rhonda Galbally is a board member of the National Disability Insurance Agency, the body that implements the NDIS. You can read the transcript below. Andrew Dodd: Hello, I’m Andrew Dodd and this is Change Agents, a series ab