Public health, family violence, and COVID-19

<p><strong>This week we discuss whether Australia’s coronavirus prevention measures are fit for purpose and take a look at the challenges facing victims of family violence who are stuck at home due to the pandemic.</strong></p><br><p>Are Australia’s COVID-19 prevention measures sustainable? How can policymakers get the balance right in the coming months and maybe years while the world searches for a vaccine? And what has been the impact of the pandemic on those living in abusive relationships? On this episode of <em>Policy Forum Pod</em>, Professor Sharon Bessell chats with infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon AM about Australia’s COVID-19 prevention measures, before Dr Bianca Calabria joins us to discuss family violence during the pandemic.</p><br><p><strong>Professor Peter Collignon&nbsp;AM</strong> is an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist at the Canberra Hospital. He is currently Executive Director of ACT Pathology and a Professor at The Australian National University Medical School.</p><br><p><strong>Dr Bianca Calabria</strong> is a Research Fellow at the Research School of Population Health at The Australian National University and a Conjoint Lecturer at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at University of New South Wales. She also works as a psychologist, with people who have experienced trauma, particularly survivors of domestic violence.</p><br><p><strong>Professor Sharon Bessell</strong>&nbsp;is a Professor at Crawford School of Public Policy, where she is co-leader of the ANU Individual Deprivation Measure (IDM) team. The IDM is&nbsp;a new, gender-sensitive and multidimensional measure of poverty.</p><br><p><em>Policy Forum Pod is available on&nbsp;</em><a href="https://play.acast.com/s/policy-forum-pod/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Acast</em></a><em>,&nbsp;</em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/policy-forum-pod/id1100512143?mt=2&amp;ls=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>,&nbsp;</em><a href="htt