An examination of the factors shaping recent developments in youth drinking. Over the past 15 years, the proportion of Australian teenagers who drink alcohol has halved. This project aims to understand the drivers of this major shift in teenage drinking behaviour. Initial work has shown that drinking has declined across demographic, socio-economic and cultural groups. This project plans to use mixed methods to analyse new and existing data to examine four potential drivers of this generational c ....An examination of the factors shaping recent developments in youth drinking. Over the past 15 years, the proportion of Australian teenagers who drink alcohol has halved. This project aims to understand the drivers of this major shift in teenage drinking behaviour. Initial work has shown that drinking has declined across demographic, socio-economic and cultural groups. This project plans to use mixed methods to analyse new and existing data to examine four potential drivers of this generational change in behaviour. Understanding the reasons behind this shift is important both to expand knowledge about the socio-cultural conditions shaping teenage alcohol consumption practices, and to support and maintain these trends through informed social policy.Read moreRead less
'Digital Natives': Growing up with new and old media in Australia. Developing a sophisticated digital literacy is important for both the future of children, the cultural, social and economic well-being of the nation. Digital literacy requires not only communications infrastructure but targeted investment in human skills. Investing in the development of a digitally literate Australian population has become an explicit means for promoting the future economic and social well-being of the nation. Th ....'Digital Natives': Growing up with new and old media in Australia. Developing a sophisticated digital literacy is important for both the future of children, the cultural, social and economic well-being of the nation. Digital literacy requires not only communications infrastructure but targeted investment in human skills. Investing in the development of a digitally literate Australian population has become an explicit means for promoting the future economic and social well-being of the nation. The information provided by this project has the potential to contribute significantly to giving children 'a healthy start to life' in their early years. Read moreRead less
Enforcing labour standards in supply chains through voluntary frameworks. This project aims to investigate the potential of multi-stakeholder initiatives to ensure the enforcement of labour standards in supply chains by examining the cleaning accountability framework - an initiative comprised of diverse representatives in the commercial cleaning supply chain in Australia. It is expected that this will result in the development of new regulatory methods/technology to improve compliance. This is e ....Enforcing labour standards in supply chains through voluntary frameworks. This project aims to investigate the potential of multi-stakeholder initiatives to ensure the enforcement of labour standards in supply chains by examining the cleaning accountability framework - an initiative comprised of diverse representatives in the commercial cleaning supply chain in Australia. It is expected that this will result in the development of new regulatory methods/technology to improve compliance. This is expected to improve the quality of life of vulnerable workers in supply chains and the mitigation of reputational risk for business.
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Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. This project aims to develop a policy suite to respond to an older workforce. By 2060, nearly half of Australians aged 64 or older will be employed. Failure to address their health problems could threaten Australia’s economy, tax base and provision of health and care services. This collaboration between national policy portfolios (employment, social services, workplace health and socia ....Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. This project aims to develop a policy suite to respond to an older workforce. By 2060, nearly half of Australians aged 64 or older will be employed. Failure to address their health problems could threaten Australia’s economy, tax base and provision of health and care services. This collaboration between national policy portfolios (employment, social services, workplace health and social equity) and expert scientists in work, health, social equality and policy process intends to reveal the diversity of older workers’ work-health dilemmas and effective ways for national policies to solve them. The policy suite will promote financial independence and meet social goals of equity and healthy ageing.Read moreRead less
Globalisation and the global income distribution in times of stability and in times of crisis. Australia is one of the countries most affected by globalisation and the rise of Asia. Moreover, the large income disparities between Australia and its neighbours put many burdens on Australia to manage immigration, accommodate refugees, and provide support to regional governments. This study uses data from around the world to model how global and regional economic integration is changing over time. Of ....Globalisation and the global income distribution in times of stability and in times of crisis. Australia is one of the countries most affected by globalisation and the rise of Asia. Moreover, the large income disparities between Australia and its neighbours put many burdens on Australia to manage immigration, accommodate refugees, and provide support to regional governments. This study uses data from around the world to model how global and regional economic integration is changing over time. Of special importance for Australia is this study's focus on the robustness of national and regional boundaries in times of crisis. The study will use innovative statistical techniques to help us better understand Australia's place in the world-economy, its relationship to the Asia-Pacific region, and the region's connections to the wider world.Read moreRead less
Re-Writing the Nation: The Politics of Indonesian History since Suharto. In Indonesia's New Order era under President Suharto, history served a direct propaganda role in state ideology. As yet no replacement state ideology has been formulated by the three subsequent governments. In the absence of a clear direction for the state, Islamic, nationalist and other groups jockey for power. By examining the politics of historical debates in Indonesia since 1998, this project analyses processes by which ....Re-Writing the Nation: The Politics of Indonesian History since Suharto. In Indonesia's New Order era under President Suharto, history served a direct propaganda role in state ideology. As yet no replacement state ideology has been formulated by the three subsequent governments. In the absence of a clear direction for the state, Islamic, nationalist and other groups jockey for power. By examining the politics of historical debates in Indonesia since 1998, this project analyses processes by which political legitimacy is being reshaped by the contending groups in Indonesia. The project will advance the understanding both of the public uses of history and of the unstable nature of Indonesian political discourse.Read moreRead less
Trans/national activism: Organizing for Domestic Worker Rights in Southeast Asia. This project will contribute to the identified national priority, Safeguarding Australia, by providing a better understanding of the issues surrounding labour migration, including the capacity of NGOs and state governments to address the needs and rights of labour migrants in Southeast Asia. By expanding our understanding of the possibilities for democratisation within the region and contributing to theoretical dev ....Trans/national activism: Organizing for Domestic Worker Rights in Southeast Asia. This project will contribute to the identified national priority, Safeguarding Australia, by providing a better understanding of the issues surrounding labour migration, including the capacity of NGOs and state governments to address the needs and rights of labour migrants in Southeast Asia. By expanding our understanding of the possibilities for democratisation within the region and contributing to theoretical developments on the relationship between state and civil society, this research will also contribute to the national interest in influencing institutional reform and democratic transition in Asia. Read moreRead less
China's invisible economic leadership: women in family enterprises. Chinese women are generally regarded as not having been in the leadership of economic reform. In contrast, the Chief Investigator's recent research on the new rich in North China suggests that the wives of new entrepreneurs may play significant, though unacknowledged, leadership roles in enterprise development. In particular, it suggests that women often act as business managers and accountants alongside their husbands, especial ....China's invisible economic leadership: women in family enterprises. Chinese women are generally regarded as not having been in the leadership of economic reform. In contrast, the Chief Investigator's recent research on the new rich in North China suggests that the wives of new entrepreneurs may play significant, though unacknowledged, leadership roles in enterprise development. In particular, it suggests that women often act as business managers and accountants alongside their husbands, especially in family based enterprises first established in the private sector. It is now proposed to test the wider applicability of these findings, and explore the consequences for the development of enterprises, families and local politics.Read moreRead less
Knowledge-making in Australian society: sociology and its social impact. This project aims to reveal how Australians, over several generations, have sought to make sense of society in an organised way. The project intends to draw from interviews with key scholars, archival and citation data to ascertain how sociological knowledge has been shaped by a context of post-colonialism, multiculturalism and global capitalism as well as the extent to which these ideas have contributed to, and been influe ....Knowledge-making in Australian society: sociology and its social impact. This project aims to reveal how Australians, over several generations, have sought to make sense of society in an organised way. The project intends to draw from interviews with key scholars, archival and citation data to ascertain how sociological knowledge has been shaped by a context of post-colonialism, multiculturalism and global capitalism as well as the extent to which these ideas have contributed to, and been influenced by, policy, legislation and public debate. Expected outcomes include new evidence about the role of disciplines and contribute to the international research effort in this emerging field.Read moreRead less
Employment Activation and the Changing Economy-Society Relation. Underemployment and joblessness have emerged as serious social problems in an age of global economic uncertainty. This project focuses on how, across advanced liberal societies, these problems are being redefined via transnational policy models and experiments seeking to 'activate' underemployed and unemployed populations. This project posits that these experiments articulate a new dynamic between economy and society and aims to pr ....Employment Activation and the Changing Economy-Society Relation. Underemployment and joblessness have emerged as serious social problems in an age of global economic uncertainty. This project focuses on how, across advanced liberal societies, these problems are being redefined via transnational policy models and experiments seeking to 'activate' underemployed and unemployed populations. This project posits that these experiments articulate a new dynamic between economy and society and aims to provide a better understanding of this dynamic. It aims to deliver a reconceptualisation of under- and unemployment, a new and relevant analysis of policy models, and new empirical insight into the mobilisation of activation policies.Read moreRead less