Creating the conditions for collective impact: transforming the child serving system in disadvantaged communities. No one institution can close the gap in child wellbeing and school achievement between poor and affluent areas. This project will draw schools, child serving agencies and community members into coalitions in disadvantaged areas to build, test and evaluate an integrated 'backbone support system' designed to foster healthy development of the whole child.
The Kids in Communities Study: national investigation of community level effects on children's developmental outcomes. This project (a cross-disciplinary collaboration) will investigate community level factors influencing early childhood developmental outcomes using a mixed methods approach in up to 10 communities across Australia. This will result in a potential set of measures or indicators that reflect communities that are good for children.
Upholding the right to cultural connection for children in care. A positive sense of cultural identity is critical to wellbeing, yet children in out-of-home care often lose their cultural identities and connections. There is little evidence to guide out-of-home care agencies to support a culturally meaningful foster care placement for non-Indigenous culturally and linguistically diverse children. This project tests promising practices identified by the partner organisations and research literatu ....Upholding the right to cultural connection for children in care. A positive sense of cultural identity is critical to wellbeing, yet children in out-of-home care often lose their cultural identities and connections. There is little evidence to guide out-of-home care agencies to support a culturally meaningful foster care placement for non-Indigenous culturally and linguistically diverse children. This project tests promising practices identified by the partner organisations and research literature to produce an exemplary model of cultural care, with input from children, carers and birth families. Trial implementation in the partner organisations will inform guidelines and recommendations so that the model can inform policy and practice in out-of-home care across Australia.
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ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. Our vision is for Australian children to be healthy, educated and connected. This Centre will integrate child health, education, and digital and social connectedness, innovating across disciplines to meet Australia’s ongoing challenges of supporting young children growing up in a rapidly changing digital age. The Centre’s world-leading team investigates children’s digital practices through three interconnected research programs supported by a longi ....ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. Our vision is for Australian children to be healthy, educated and connected. This Centre will integrate child health, education, and digital and social connectedness, innovating across disciplines to meet Australia’s ongoing challenges of supporting young children growing up in a rapidly changing digital age. The Centre’s world-leading team investigates children’s digital practices through three interconnected research programs supported by a longitudinal family cohort study and children’s technology laboratories. The Centre will address tensions in a contested field to inform government and non-government policy, technology innovation, and develop programs and guidelines for children, families, educators and technology developers. Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures. ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures aims to transform and improve the life chances of Indigenous Australians by utilising Indigenous knowledges in unique trans-disciplinary cross-sector designed research to enhance our understanding about the complex nature of Indigenous intergenerational inequity. The Centre expects to generate new knowledge to enable evidence-based policy formulati ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures. ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures aims to transform and improve the life chances of Indigenous Australians by utilising Indigenous knowledges in unique trans-disciplinary cross-sector designed research to enhance our understanding about the complex nature of Indigenous intergenerational inequity. The Centre expects to generate new knowledge to enable evidence-based policy formulation and implementation including best practice models. The Centre will be entirely led by Indigenous researchers working with communities, government agencies and practitioners to strengthen the delivery of outcomes and linkages intentionally focused on all four of the National Agreement Close The Gap -2020’s Priority Reform areas.Read moreRead less
Confronting everyday harms: preventing abuse of people with disability. The findings of the Disability Royal Commission necessitate new approaches to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Framed by recognition theory, this project proposes empirical research with young people with cognitive disability, using a new concept of ‘everyday harms’ in their paid relationships. The results will inform early responses to poor quality interactions in disability support. The strategic alliance ....Confronting everyday harms: preventing abuse of people with disability. The findings of the Disability Royal Commission necessitate new approaches to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Framed by recognition theory, this project proposes empirical research with young people with cognitive disability, using a new concept of ‘everyday harms’ in their paid relationships. The results will inform early responses to poor quality interactions in disability support. The strategic alliances with the government, industry and community partners will develop a practice framework to prevent everyday harms and the escalation to abuse, and to promote safety and wellbeing. The research has policy benefits for capacity-building in the sector to act on the rights and voices of people with disability. Read moreRead less
Engaging ethnic minority and majority blood donors in donor recruitment. Word-of-mouth is a potentially powerful way to recruit blood donors. Talking about donation increases awareness, trust, commitment and positive feelings about donating, particularly in ethnic minority groups. However, donors seldom tell others about donating. This project aims to determine how to motivate blood donors to recruit new donors using word-of-mouth, through research comprising co-design, surveys, and experiments. ....Engaging ethnic minority and majority blood donors in donor recruitment. Word-of-mouth is a potentially powerful way to recruit blood donors. Talking about donation increases awareness, trust, commitment and positive feelings about donating, particularly in ethnic minority groups. However, donors seldom tell others about donating. This project aims to determine how to motivate blood donors to recruit new donors using word-of-mouth, through research comprising co-design, surveys, and experiments. This project will generate new knowledge of how to encourage effective word-of-mouth for pro-social behaviours. Expected outcomes include producing culturally relevant, validated resources that will significantly benefit Australia by encouraging effective conversations to promote blood donation in all communities.Read moreRead less
DIsrupting Child Exploitation - the DICE project. Child sexual exploitation is an insidious social problem which impacts the most vulnerable children and young people in Australia. The DICE project (Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation) aims to develop a multi-agency response which pivots the focus of intervention to the sexual exploitation predators who target vulnerable young people in statutory care. Previous interventions have prioritised protecting (and controlling) the young people, with l ....DIsrupting Child Exploitation - the DICE project. Child sexual exploitation is an insidious social problem which impacts the most vulnerable children and young people in Australia. The DICE project (Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation) aims to develop a multi-agency response which pivots the focus of intervention to the sexual exploitation predators who target vulnerable young people in statutory care. Previous interventions have prioritised protecting (and controlling) the young people, with limited success. Through a trauma informed approach which supports young people, combined with disruptive police strategies targeting perpetrators, and co-ordinated multiagency working, it is anticipated that there will be measurable changes to the protection of vulnerable young people. Read moreRead less
Child health and developmental inequities: Evidence for precision policy. The project aims to use cutting edge analytic approaches applied to existing data to identify how policy interventions related to parents’ mental health, preschool programs, and the built environment can be optimised to reduce inequities in children’s mental, academic, and physical health outcomes. The project will be informed by our partners and advisers from across government portfolios and service delivery, ensuring tha ....Child health and developmental inequities: Evidence for precision policy. The project aims to use cutting edge analytic approaches applied to existing data to identify how policy interventions related to parents’ mental health, preschool programs, and the built environment can be optimised to reduce inequities in children’s mental, academic, and physical health outcomes. The project will be informed by our partners and advisers from across government portfolios and service delivery, ensuring that the evidence generated has contemporary policy relevance. The project expects to identify clear and actionable policy pathways to reduce child inequities in Australia, which can benefit decision makers by helping them to direct limited public funds towards intervention opportunities that will have the greatest impact.Read moreRead less
More than a Roof Overhead: Meeting the Need for a Sustainable Housing System in Remote Indigenous Communities. Many Indigenous Australians live in substandard and over-crowded accommodation, and experience poor health, education, family stability and child-safety outcomes as a result. The lack of improvement in this situation is largely due to levels of funding and approaches to construction and management inadequate to the scale of the problem. This situation is changing and new funding and po ....More than a Roof Overhead: Meeting the Need for a Sustainable Housing System in Remote Indigenous Communities. Many Indigenous Australians live in substandard and over-crowded accommodation, and experience poor health, education, family stability and child-safety outcomes as a result. The lack of improvement in this situation is largely due to levels of funding and approaches to construction and management inadequate to the scale of the problem. This situation is changing and new funding and policies are being established. The researchers will work alongside housing providers and selected Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Northern Territory to develop procurement, construction and housing management practices that will meet the critical need for more affordable, appropriate and sustainable housing.Read moreRead less