Understanding and Costing Offending Trajectories: Creating an Evidence-Base for Targeting Crime Prevention. The research will provide an evidence-base for targeting diversionary and crime prevention programs and for assessing their cost-effectiveness. Many of these programs have resulted in a range of beneficial outcomes and they are receiving increased government funding. By providing a better understanding of offending pathways, the research will enable programs to be targeted towards particul ....Understanding and Costing Offending Trajectories: Creating an Evidence-Base for Targeting Crime Prevention. The research will provide an evidence-base for targeting diversionary and crime prevention programs and for assessing their cost-effectiveness. Many of these programs have resulted in a range of beneficial outcomes and they are receiving increased government funding. By providing a better understanding of offending pathways, the research will enable programs to be targeted towards particular at-risk groups at crucial developmental phases. The innovative longitudinal costing method that will be developed and applied in the Queensland context will enable an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of diversionary and crime prevention programs. This will provide a sound empirical basis for directing scarce government resources.Read moreRead less
Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations. The protection of whistleblowers and other internal witnesses to corruption, misconduct and maladministration is a great unsolved problem in public sector governance. Involving 11 integrity institutions, this first national study of internal witness management will describe and compare organisational experience under varying public interest disclosure regimes across the Au ....Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations. The protection of whistleblowers and other internal witnesses to corruption, misconduct and maladministration is a great unsolved problem in public sector governance. Involving 11 integrity institutions, this first national study of internal witness management will describe and compare organisational experience under varying public interest disclosure regimes across the Australian public sector. By identifying and promoting current best practice in workplace responses to public interest whistleblowing, the project will use the experience and perceptions of internal witnesses and first- and second-level managers to identify more routine strategies for preventing, reducing and addressing reprisals and other whistleblowing-related conflicts.Read moreRead less
Crime and CCTV in Australia: Understanding the Relationship. Crime costs Australia $32 billion annually (Mayhew, 2003). Increased criminal and terrorist activities, internationally and nationally have caused major breaches of security in public places, resulting in heightened investment in crime prevention strategies including Closed Circuit Television (CCTV). However, rigorous research into CCTV's effectiveness on crimes in public places has not been undertaken. This innovative project will ide ....Crime and CCTV in Australia: Understanding the Relationship. Crime costs Australia $32 billion annually (Mayhew, 2003). Increased criminal and terrorist activities, internationally and nationally have caused major breaches of security in public places, resulting in heightened investment in crime prevention strategies including Closed Circuit Television (CCTV). However, rigorous research into CCTV's effectiveness on crimes in public places has not been undertaken. This innovative project will identify CCTV's impact on crime and key socio-legal issues of security of public places. The outcomes will contribute to an important decision-making model for local, state, and federal departments, and private sector organisations responsible for CCTV and related crime prevention technologies. Read moreRead less
A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Child-Sex Offender Recidivism. The project has important implications for the prevention, prediction and treatment of sexual offences against children. New prevention strategies may be devised through the identification of individual, interpersonal and situational factors involved in sexual offence onset and recidivism. Better prediction models may be used to inform risk assessments for individuals applying to work with children, sentencing decisions involving ....A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Child-Sex Offender Recidivism. The project has important implications for the prevention, prediction and treatment of sexual offences against children. New prevention strategies may be devised through the identification of individual, interpersonal and situational factors involved in sexual offence onset and recidivism. Better prediction models may be used to inform risk assessments for individuals applying to work with children, sentencing decisions involving child-sex offenders, and decisions about the suitability for release of child-sex offenders from prison. Finally, more effective approaches to treatment may be developed from a better understanding of risk factors involved in recidivism.Read moreRead less
Bayesian statistical models for understanding outcomes and improving decision-making for women screened for breast cancer. This project has two key benefits: (i) the development of frontier statistical methods for spatio-temporal analysis and data synthesis, which are imperative in a wide range of disciplines; and (ii) the application of these methods for improved understanding of breast cancer outcomes for women screened in Queensland. The project results will lead to direct health and financi ....Bayesian statistical models for understanding outcomes and improving decision-making for women screened for breast cancer. This project has two key benefits: (i) the development of frontier statistical methods for spatio-temporal analysis and data synthesis, which are imperative in a wide range of disciplines; and (ii) the application of these methods for improved understanding of breast cancer outcomes for women screened in Queensland. The project results will lead to direct health and financial benefits through targeted policies for increasing screening uptake and reducing cancer morbidity and mortality and therefore health spending in this area. Importantly, the project represents an excellent training opportunity to develop a PhD candidate into an experienced interdisciplinary researcher.Read moreRead less
Understanding and Managing the Occupational Health Impacts on Investigators of Internet Child Exploitation. Through developing best practice models for managing vicarious trauma in investigators of Internet child exploitation, the project will result in enhanced job satisfaction and less burnout of workers, and reduced health costs for policing organisations. Thus the project addresses a serious occupational health issue and contributes to the goal of promoting and maintaining good health. Furth ....Understanding and Managing the Occupational Health Impacts on Investigators of Internet Child Exploitation. Through developing best practice models for managing vicarious trauma in investigators of Internet child exploitation, the project will result in enhanced job satisfaction and less burnout of workers, and reduced health costs for policing organisations. Thus the project addresses a serious occupational health issue and contributes to the goal of promoting and maintaining good health. Further, by better managing the occupational health of investigators, the project will enhance the capacity of police organisations to deliver on their mission of investigating and preventing Internet child exploitation. This in turn contributes to the reduced consumption of Internet child exploitation and the associated traumatisation of abused victims. Read moreRead less
Characterisation and improvement of radiation beams used for radiotherapy of small lesions. This project aims to characterise the radiation dose from a medical linear accelerator after the beam has been shaped by a mini-multileaf collimator. The characterisation will be achieved through a combination of computer simulations and experimental investigation of the beam using the technique of three-dimensional gel dosimetry. When the dosage characteristics are known, techniques will be developed to ....Characterisation and improvement of radiation beams used for radiotherapy of small lesions. This project aims to characterise the radiation dose from a medical linear accelerator after the beam has been shaped by a mini-multileaf collimator. The characterisation will be achieved through a combination of computer simulations and experimental investigation of the beam using the technique of three-dimensional gel dosimetry. When the dosage characteristics are known, techniques will be developed to improve radiotherapy treatments in patients with small lesions with sizes of up to a few centimetres. This will lead to an improved outcome for some cancer patients.Read moreRead less
Multi-modal, Multi-dimensional Virtual Microscopy for Diagnostic Quantitative Pathology. This project will contribute to the development of a new generation of virtual microscopy (VM) systems that provide new and innovative features capable of significantly increasing the adoption of digital imaging technology throughout the field of pathology. These systems have the potential to significantly enhance the efficiency and efficacy of not only primary diagnostic workflows, but also aspects of profi ....Multi-modal, Multi-dimensional Virtual Microscopy for Diagnostic Quantitative Pathology. This project will contribute to the development of a new generation of virtual microscopy (VM) systems that provide new and innovative features capable of significantly increasing the adoption of digital imaging technology throughout the field of pathology. These systems have the potential to significantly enhance the efficiency and efficacy of not only primary diagnostic workflows, but also aspects of proficiency testing and continuing education vital for a vibrant, well regulated discipline. In addition, the project will contribute to our knowledge of the pathology assessed in the screening and diagnosis of cancers such as cervical, lung and bladder cancers.Read moreRead less
Planning female and male vaccination and cervical screening strategies to achieve optimal prevention of HPV-related disease. The findings from this research will inform the development of public health policy on the most cost-effective utilisation of resources for preventing cervical, anogenital and head/neck cancers, and genital warts, in women and men, due to human papillomavirus (HPV). We will evaluate strategies for using emerging screening and vaccine technologies to prevent HPV-related dis ....Planning female and male vaccination and cervical screening strategies to achieve optimal prevention of HPV-related disease. The findings from this research will inform the development of public health policy on the most cost-effective utilisation of resources for preventing cervical, anogenital and head/neck cancers, and genital warts, in women and men, due to human papillomavirus (HPV). We will evaluate strategies for using emerging screening and vaccine technologies to prevent HPV-related disease, and assess potential adverse outcomes of vaccination. Men are currently not covered by routine vaccination or screening programs; this research will assess the benefit to men of vaccinating women only, and will consider the impact of vaccination and other interventions targeted towards men.Read moreRead less
Modelling and characterisation of radiation beams used in radiotherapy. The purpose of this project is to use computer modelling of radiation fields in radiotherapy to investigate and improve their precision. It is expected that this will result in improved outcomes and fewer side-effects for radiotherapy patients.