IN FOCUS: POLICY FUTURES

New ways of measuring and tackling poverty are making crucial progress, but the scale of the problem is large, and many challenges and negative trends remain. Addressing these will be crucial to ending poverty, Sharon Bessell writes.

With the number of academic journals growing endlessly and quality control failing, a new measure for whether research is ‘valuable’ is needed. Unfortunately, a change seems far from certain, Asit Biswas and Cecilia Tortajada write.

By allowing more asylum seekers and refugees to apply for visas through complementary pathways, Australia can help discourage boat journeys and make a real difference to global needs in the process, Claire Higgins writes.

The #MeToo movement and feminism on social media have been building momentum across Pakistan. The public response to this, however, highlights that its impacts can be both negative and positive, Tahmina Rashid writes.

Despite ongoing incidents of piracy in Asia, international co-operation efforts are having genuine success at containing the issue. Various policy initiatives are showing promise for the security of the region's sea lanes, now and into the future, Sam Bateman writes.

Research and technology are laying the groundwork for a sustainable agricultural future, and Australia could be a global leader in the field. Without change, however, the country seems destined to miss its opportunity, Colin Chartres writes.

Governments around the world are facing new and wicked policy problems. With rapid technological change, policymakers have come to rely on ‘smart’ solutions in combination with old models of thinking, but this will only perpetuate existing challenges, Kris Hartley writes.

After a decade of spinning its wheels on active transport policy, Australia needs to wise up and invest in a post-car future with bicycles at the forefront, Craig Richards writes.

With digitalisation creating a wave of change across society, governments need to respond with good policy. Policies protecting encryption, investing in education and research, and creating better systems to store data are crucial, but they don’t seem to be forthcoming, Lesley Seebeck writes.

Despite a strong link with abuse during migration journeys and irregular migrants, people smuggling remains misunderstood globally. However, policymakers have laid the groundwork for additional new avenues for international cooperation to counter smuggling, Marie McAuliffe writes.