Parole in crisis? Public opinion on the use of parole. Serious crimes committed by parolees in Australia have brought parole into the public eye. Without concrete evidence, governments often act on the assumption that the public holds punitive attitudes. This project is expected to develop an evidence base to inform policy on parole at a crucial time when governments are under pressure to restrict its use. Three mixed-method studies aim to assess: what public views on parole are; why the public ....Parole in crisis? Public opinion on the use of parole. Serious crimes committed by parolees in Australia have brought parole into the public eye. Without concrete evidence, governments often act on the assumption that the public holds punitive attitudes. This project is expected to develop an evidence base to inform policy on parole at a crucial time when governments are under pressure to restrict its use. Three mixed-method studies aim to assess: what public views on parole are; why the public holds these views; and what influence these views have on policy and practice. The project is expected to make contributions to: creating information strategies that properly inform the public; supporting prisoner reintegration strategies; and shaping criminal justice policies based on informed community feedback.Read moreRead less
Identifying novel, health-related predictors of recidivism: Informing evidence-based throughcare. Throughcare is a policy priority for correctional authorities in Australia, however the evidence base to inform policy is limited. Using innovative modelling techniques and unique data from a large, representative cohort of ex-prisoners in Queensland, this study will: identify novel, health-related predictors of recidivism in the first two years after release from adult custody; examine the extent t ....Identifying novel, health-related predictors of recidivism: Informing evidence-based throughcare. Throughcare is a policy priority for correctional authorities in Australia, however the evidence base to inform policy is limited. Using innovative modelling techniques and unique data from a large, representative cohort of ex-prisoners in Queensland, this study will: identify novel, health-related predictors of recidivism in the first two years after release from adult custody; examine the extent to which risk and protective factors for recidivism vary over time and according to individual characteristics; and, provide evidence-based recommendations to improve throughcare interventions and reduce recidivism.Read moreRead less
What makes a community resilient? Examining changes in the adaptive capacities of Brisbane suburbs before and after the 2011 flood. This project will be the first study to examine the key community processes and structures associated with community resilience both before and after the 2011 Brisbane floods. Drawing on a longitudinal study of Brisbane suburbs, it will critically assess the conditions under which suburban communities respond to and recover from a major disaster.
Improving social and economic outcomes for children of incarcerated mothers. This project aims to identify how children’s experiences of maternal incarceration shape their life course. These children are one of the most vulnerable yet invisible groups in society and are rising in number. This project intends to interrogate system contact with child protection, justice, education and health agencies using a unique linked dataset across 30 years and over three generations, to describe social and e ....Improving social and economic outcomes for children of incarcerated mothers. This project aims to identify how children’s experiences of maternal incarceration shape their life course. These children are one of the most vulnerable yet invisible groups in society and are rising in number. This project intends to interrogate system contact with child protection, justice, education and health agencies using a unique linked dataset across 30 years and over three generations, to describe social and economic outcomes and how prison, child and maternal characteristics affect them. The project expects to provide critical evidence that can inform prevention strategies, with the potential to disrupt intergenerational patterns of profound disadvantage and reduce the social and economic costs of maternal incarceration to individuals and society.Read moreRead less
Everyday guardianship: A space time approach to crime prevention . This project aims to identify the temporal and spatial elements that influence the crime prevention actions of private citizens. Taking an interdisciplinary approach and applying a cutting edge methodology, it will be the first study to consider the capacity and availability of capable guardians and their intersection with the environmental contexts they frequent. The project intends to generate new knowledge on the resources nee ....Everyday guardianship: A space time approach to crime prevention . This project aims to identify the temporal and spatial elements that influence the crime prevention actions of private citizens. Taking an interdisciplinary approach and applying a cutting edge methodology, it will be the first study to consider the capacity and availability of capable guardians and their intersection with the environmental contexts they frequent. The project intends to generate new knowledge on the resources needed to ensure individuals can effectively respond to problems when and where they occur. Given the enormous costs of crime to society, the expected outcomes of this project will lead to the development of economically efficient and practical community crime prevention programs that benefit the wider community. Read moreRead less
Responding to Sexual Harm: An Australian Historical Criminology Approach . Despite sustained interventions from the 1970s onwards, sexual harm is a problem of enormous magnitude within Australia. The project focuses on contemporary histories of reform, aiming to understand how social, political, legal and cultural contexts have shaped experiences and conceptualisations of sexual harm. This project expects to generate vital knowledge on the impacts of recent historical reforms on diverse communit ....Responding to Sexual Harm: An Australian Historical Criminology Approach . Despite sustained interventions from the 1970s onwards, sexual harm is a problem of enormous magnitude within Australia. The project focuses on contemporary histories of reform, aiming to understand how social, political, legal and cultural contexts have shaped experiences and conceptualisations of sexual harm. This project expects to generate vital knowledge on the impacts of recent historical reforms on diverse communities, advance mixed methods and co-design approaches in historical criminology, and enhance Australia’s research capacity by training a new team of topic matter experts. By understanding the impacts of past reform, findings should provide significant benefits in informing future reforms and responses to sexual harm.Read moreRead less
Informing intervention responses to violent offenders through data linkage. The project aims to capitalise on new data access capacity to improve knowledge on violent offender pathways and criminogenic needs, such as acquired brain injury, to reduce offending and re-offending. Violence is a major social and health issue nationally and internationally. While there has been substantial investment in treatment/prevention campaigns, rates of violence remain high. Using diverse linked administrative ....Informing intervention responses to violent offenders through data linkage. The project aims to capitalise on new data access capacity to improve knowledge on violent offender pathways and criminogenic needs, such as acquired brain injury, to reduce offending and re-offending. Violence is a major social and health issue nationally and internationally. While there has been substantial investment in treatment/prevention campaigns, rates of violence remain high. Using diverse linked administrative data, we will identify key risk factors and times in trajectories, as well as effective treatment/justice responses. Expected benefits include evidence-based recommendations and engagement with policymakers targeting recidivism, offender screening, treatment, and coordinated violence prevention policy and practice.Read moreRead less
Strengthening Health Workforce Migration to Australia and Canada. The project aims to define skilled migration trends in relation to the key fields (medicine, nursing and dentistry). Australia is one of very few countries with an explicit policy to import migrant health professionals. The project plans to assess if the goal of domestic self-sufficiency is likely to be met by 2025 and examine the risk of a ‘two tier’ health workforce developing (with conditionally registered migrants servicing pa ....Strengthening Health Workforce Migration to Australia and Canada. The project aims to define skilled migration trends in relation to the key fields (medicine, nursing and dentistry). Australia is one of very few countries with an explicit policy to import migrant health professionals. The project plans to assess if the goal of domestic self-sufficiency is likely to be met by 2025 and examine the risk of a ‘two tier’ health workforce developing (with conditionally registered migrants servicing patients in undersupplied sectors and sites). It then aims to propose changes to make the migration and health policy systems more effective and ethical in future compared to Canada (Australia’s key global competitor for skilled migrants), through evidence-based policy reform.Read moreRead less
Artificial intelligence in education: Democratising policy. The rapid introduction of artificial intelligence into education is occurring with inadequate policy support. Additionally, there is a lack of stakeholder input into decisions about the use of AI in education. Utilising social science and data science approaches, this project aims to democratise policy about AI in education by building tools to monitor policies, and developing collaborative policy making methods. The expected outcomes i ....Artificial intelligence in education: Democratising policy. The rapid introduction of artificial intelligence into education is occurring with inadequate policy support. Additionally, there is a lack of stakeholder input into decisions about the use of AI in education. Utilising social science and data science approaches, this project aims to democratise policy about AI in education by building tools to monitor policies, and developing collaborative policy making methods. The expected outcomes include publicly available policy resources to anticipate, and respond to, the role of AI in education, and participatory frameworks for policy making. The benefits include informed stakeholder engagement, and concrete policy recommendations that are globally relevant and adaptable to the Australian context.Read moreRead less
Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse cons ....Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse consumers' priorities and gaps. Social media could offer latent insights, but ethical methodology producing useful de-identified policy insights has been lacking. This study exemplifies applying social media data analytics at scale to address policy problems and will produce up-to-date co-designed data use guidelines.Read moreRead less