Jeremy Sammut from Australia: Hard conversation about Aboriginal culture and child protection

Conservative social commentators have indulged in 'divisive grandstanding' by linking Aboriginal culture to the abuse and neglect of Aboriginal children, according to Ngiare Brown, the deputy chairman of the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council.

These claims suppress the hard conversation we need to have about Aboriginal culture and child protection.

Jeremy Sammut: Affordable health and ageing policy in Singapore

The Abbott government's decision to trim minister's titles has been criticised by commentators concerned that important issues, like population ageing, are no longer clearly tagged as portfolio responsibilities.

There is no doubting the policy challenges posed by the unprecedented ageing of the population in areas such as health and aged care. However, critics of the decision not to a have a designated 'Minister for Ageing' ignore the much bigger issue. The ability of governments to address ageing depends on the fiscal capacity to undertake ageing-related initiatives. Some countries are better equipped financially to do so than others.

Jeremy Sammut: Victorian revival highlights lost ground on child welfare

Compulsory school attendance was introduced in Australia during the Victorian era in the later-nineteenth century. The Victorians were the first to recognise that the state had a role to play in promoting child welfare by requiring parents to ensure that their children received a minimum level of schooling. This was part of a broader movement to encourage respectable standards of behaviour by people of all classes.