Australian Competitions Club

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2013/07/09/launching-the-gavin-mooney-memorial-essay-competition-this-years-topic-is-climate-change-and-equity/

Launching the Gavin Mooney Memorial Essay Competition. This year’s topic is climate change and equity
Melissa Sweet | Jul 09, 2013 7:26PM


An essay competition has been launched to honour the work and memory of the late Professor Gavin Mooney, a health economist who was a tireless advocate for social justice in local, national and international arenas.

The Gavin Mooney Memorial Essay Competition is a joint project of the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Croakey, and Inside Story, an online current affairs publication from the Swinburne Institute for Social Research.

Each year the competition will call for entries related to a theme around equity and social justice. The inaugural competition will recognise an essay related to the theme of climate change and equity, in recognition of the work of Professor Mooney’s late partner Dr Delys Weston.

Entry is open to anyone, in Australia or overseas, whether academics, writers, journalists or citizens.

The winner receives a prize of $5,000 donated by the Sydney School of Public Health, and publication at Inside Story. The University of Sydney may also publish the essay as part of a series of mini e-books arising from the competition.

As well as honouring the work and writings of Professor Mooney, the competition seeks to draw public attention to social justice and health equity concerns, and to recognise the public interest value of writing and writers.

Professor Glenn Salkeld, the head of the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, announced the competition as many of Gavin’s colleagues gather in Sydney this week for the 9th World Congress on Health Economics.

He said the prize will encourage people to speak out on an issue that is of universal importance to Australians and people across the world.

“Inside Story is delighted to be involved in this important initiative,” said editor Peter Browne.

“We believe the prize will contribute to a greater awareness of the importance of intelligent and engaging coverage of health issues in the Australian media. The choice of climate change and equity as the first topic reflects the complexity of the challenges facing countries like Australia in the coming decades.”

Professor Mooney has been a prolific contributor to this blog, writing dozens of articles on issues ranging from Indigenous health to health policy, global health and citizen’s juries (more details are here.)

It is Croakey’s view that we need more people like Gavin who are prepared to wield the power of the pen in the interests of creating fairer, more sustainable societies.

Entries for the inaugural prize close on 2 December, 2013. 

(Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’ve any queries).