http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/elaine-henry/ Elaine Henry, OAM, is the Chief Executive Officer of The Smith Family, a position she has held since 1998. Prior to this she was the Executive Director of the Cancer Council of NSW for 12 years.  Elaine has served on numerous committees at the state, national and international levels. Currently she is Chair of Nonprofit Australia, a director of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, and of Social Ventures Australia. She is a member of a number of bodies including the Australian Government Financial Literacy Board, the Australian School of Business Advisory Council, University of NSW, the Sydney Advisory Council of the Centre for Social Impact and Chief Executive Women. Elaine’s passion is ensuring that disadvantaged kids in Australia get access to educational and learning opportunities to ensure they get the best out of their education to go on to make the most of their lives. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/choosing-your-own-life/ This week marks National Career Development Week (17-23 May), with the aim of encouraging all Australians to take responsibility for managing and developing their own journey towards a fulfilling and prosperous career – an ideal very close to my heart. The theme of the week this year is ‘get the life you love’ which sounds like an obvious proposition, but is so easily lost among young people just starting out in the career world. Following a passion can fall down when kids aren’t aware of the paths available to them to help with a smooth transition beyond the classroom, and confidence wanes. Instead, it can be easy to settle for a future which a young adult would never have expected to pursue as a child. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/choosing-your-own-life/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/choosing-your-own-life/#item3130 Thu, 20 May 2010 18:30:27 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prescriptions-for-a-healthy-australia/ It’s sobering to know that Australia has now joined the ranks of nations lining up to grapple with the obesity epidemic affecting its citizens. Equally dismal is the news relating to mental health, that tells us that suicide is now the number one killer of all Australians under 35. What does this say about the image of ‘the lucky country’ and the land of the ‘fair go’ that we hold so close to our national identity? What has happened over the last decades that has brought us to this point, and most importantly, how can we move forward in creating a healthier Australia? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prescriptions-for-a-healthy-australia/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prescriptions-for-a-healthy-australia/#item2906 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:35:36 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-program-for-change-with-room-for-everyone/ I was heartened last week to note the launch of the GenerationOne project to address Indigenous disadvantage in Australia and in particular, the approach the campaign has taken towards reaching out to the younger generation to “make a difference in our lifetime”. It is certainly not the first time such a grand plan to address the gap between non-Indigenous Australians and Indigenous has been announced, however the backing of high calibre celebrities and notable businesspeople goes a long way towards bringing this idea to the attention of mainstream media – something many similar projects have failed to achieve. This is an issue that requires the attention of all Australians, however individuals can often feel powerless in the face of such an immense and longstanding disparity, not knowing how one person can make a difference.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-program-for-change-with-room-for-everyone/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-program-for-change-with-room-for-everyone/#item2716 Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:45:49 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maternity-leave-why-progress-depends-on-values/ When Tony Abbott announced his paid parental leave policy on Monday, I – like many of those at the International Women’s Day celebration hosted by Manly Council – was taken by surprise. For the 15 minutes before he took my place on the podium, I had been speaking about the challenges Australia faces in creating a society that better values children, and in particular the need to better support the critical dual contribution of mothers in exercising their skills within the workplace and nurturing the next generation of Australians at home.  Much has been written this week around the pros and cons of Tony’s policy, most of it scathing and very little of it constructive. What impressed me were his opening remarks that seem to have been lost amid the frenzied discussion his announcement generated in the media. Having been associated with the infamous statement back in 2002 that compulsory paid maternity leave would be introduced ‘over this government’s dead body’, I was heartened to hear Tony’s admission that he had since learnt, from research and a variety of sources close to him, the critical importance of the early years and the attachment of mother and baby in laying the foundations for the social and economic future of the nation. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maternity-leave-why-progress-depends-on-values/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maternity-leave-why-progress-depends-on-values/#item2598 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:36:01 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-gfc-might-be-over-but-the-poverty-crisis-remains/ According to the Australian Treasury the global financial crisis is now officially ‘over’, with business booming and the unemployment rate once again beginning to shrink. From an economic perspective, we might breathe a tentative sigh of relief, bearing in mind the fact that these boom and bust cycles are a cyclical feature of the global economy. However, a broader social crisis still remains in the form of the persistent and intergenerational disadvantage that is preventing a significant proportion of Australians from contributing to the three national challenges of ‘Productivity’, ‘Participation’ and ‘Population’ identified in this year’s Intergenerational Report. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-gfc-might-be-over-but-the-poverty-crisis-remains/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-gfc-might-be-over-but-the-poverty-crisis-remains/#item2492 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:30:19 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/myschool-should-help-us-reinvent-education/ The launch of the MySchool website has resulted in some of the most contentious debate about education in our country in a long time. It seems everyone has an opinion, with teachers, parents and policymakers all putting forward their perspectives on what is arguably the government’s first major step in identifying the discrepancies in the quality of education provided between schools.  Putting aside the pros and cons of this method of measurement of a school’s success, the one thing there is no argument about is the site’s success in igniting discussion at every level of society about education in Australia. We have known for many years that too many students are leaving school without the skills needed to participate in the 21st century (characterised as the knowledge era). This is in part because, as Sir Ken Robinson, a leading education advisor from the UK, observed in his visit to Australia last year, our current education systems are stuck in the industrial era and are in many cases inhibiting rather than nurturing the talents students need to succeed. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/myschool-should-help-us-reinvent-education/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/myschool-should-help-us-reinvent-education/#item2379 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:25:50 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/successful-schooling-begins-at-home/ This week I was struck by the story of an 18-year-old Victorian student who was among 48, 594 young people to receive their Year 12 results and find out that they’d completed their Victorian Certificate of Education, or VCE. Jack was by all accounts a model student in his senior years at school: he loved the subjects he was studying, and even stepped up to the role of house captain. But in his early years at secondary school, it was a totally different story. Jack didn’t want to be at school, had no interest in his class work and didn’t feel like he fit in with classmates at all. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/successful-schooling-begins-at-home/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/successful-schooling-begins-at-home/#item2035 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:30:58 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-giving-your-time-is-the-best-chrissy-gift-of-all/ You can’t go anywhere without hearing about climate change. There’s no denying that it’s a critical issue for many of us when thinking about the future. Today as I walked to work I noticed a young man wearing a T-shirt with an image of Earth and text that said ‘Defend Tomorrow’ and it was clear what his views were. It’s great to see this sort of passion, but it made me think about the thousands of volunteers who contribute to The Smith Family’s work, because their social conscience is undoubtedly just as strong as this man’s, just perhaps less overt. Although many Australians are continuing to feel the effects of the global financial crisis, The Smith Family has been inundated with requests from members of the public to offer their services as volunteers over the Christmas period. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-giving-your-time-is-the-best-chrissy-gift-of-all/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-giving-your-time-is-the-best-chrissy-gift-of-all/#item1917 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:30:54 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-path-to-healing/ The depth of the distress revealed by members of the ‘forgotten children’ this week should be a wake-up call for all Australians to ensure we adequately protect and nurture our children’s emotional development. Like most other Australians, I have been shocked by the heart-breaking stories of the brave souls who have come forward over the course of this week talking about the abuse they suffered while in the care of government institutions, foster care and church organisations in our country.  It is clear that the feelings of abandonment, coupled with sexual, physical, and emotional abuse have left indelible, intergenerational scars, with many finding it difficult to trust or love others throughout their adult lives.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-path-to-healing/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-path-to-healing/#item1788 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:45:40 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-silently-booming-sector-of-the-economy/ Throughout the global financial crisis, the spending habits of populations around the world have been scrutinised and stimulated as a key driver in restoring economic wellbeing. In fact, the performance of the retail sector remains one of the most commonly referred to indicators, precisely because it makes such a significant contribution to national GDP. Many of you might be surprised to discover in this context that the GDP contribution of the non-profit sector in Australia is actually on a par with that of the retail industry. Today, there are as many as 600,000 non-profit organisations in Australia that in 2007 contributed a staggering $43 billion to our GDP, up from $21 billion in 2000. If you incorporate the $15 billion imputed value of its 4.6 million volunteers, there’s no ignoring the fact that non-profits are major economic players.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Elaine Henry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-silently-booming-sector-of-the-economy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-silently-booming-sector-of-the-economy/#item1663 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:35:57 +0000 Elaine Henry | Author bios | The Punch