Negotiating the Lifecourse: Changing and Maintaining Household and Labour Market Links. This study builds upon and extends a unique longitudinal Australian project concerned with the way in which men and women negotiate employment and domestic responsibilities over the lifecourse. We are seeking funds to collect a third wave of data from our sample and to extend the project in three key areas concerning the domestic division of labour, women's employment and marital stability, and family formati ....Negotiating the Lifecourse: Changing and Maintaining Household and Labour Market Links. This study builds upon and extends a unique longitudinal Australian project concerned with the way in which men and women negotiate employment and domestic responsibilities over the lifecourse. We are seeking funds to collect a third wave of data from our sample and to extend the project in three key areas concerning the domestic division of labour, women's employment and marital stability, and family formation. The significance of the project lies in its longitudinal design enabling us to address key social questions that have not been examined in Australia in the past. The project will deliver important information to policy-makers as well as providing a unique database for social researchers.Read moreRead less
Examining the impact of employment on social relationships in urban communities. Intra-community relationships are associated with positive health outcomes for communities and residents by increasing social support, promoting engagement and encouraging community belonging. Community health outcomes are also linked to community socio-economic disadvantage suggesting that strengthened community relationships can potentially reduce socio-economic disparities in health. However, first an understan ....Examining the impact of employment on social relationships in urban communities. Intra-community relationships are associated with positive health outcomes for communities and residents by increasing social support, promoting engagement and encouraging community belonging. Community health outcomes are also linked to community socio-economic disadvantage suggesting that strengthened community relationships can potentially reduce socio-economic disparities in health. However, first an understanding of the complex effects of employment on forming and sustaining community relationships is needed. This research will provide policy makers with evidence to better balance and address objectives of increasing employment, strengthening community and improving health by taking into account their interdependencies.Read moreRead less
An econometric analysis of the effects of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation in Australia. This project will help to 'strengthen Australia's economic fabric' by improving our understanding of the effect of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation. This is important because boosting fertility and labour force participation are both seen as ways of mitigating the economic burden of population ageing, thereby helping Austra ....An econometric analysis of the effects of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation in Australia. This project will help to 'strengthen Australia's economic fabric' by improving our understanding of the effect of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation. This is important because boosting fertility and labour force participation are both seen as ways of mitigating the economic burden of population ageing, thereby helping Australia to 'age well, age productively' in a national sense. Also, achieving a desired level of national saving is a medium term goal of government economic policy. Hence it is important to understand the interaction of saving, fertility and labour force participation in order to develop compatible and effective economic policies.Read moreRead less
Understanding the Spatial and Social Drivers of Employment Transitions. This project reconsiders significant changes in the Australian labour market by utilising new conceptual tools based on temporal and spatial dimensions of productive activities and employment. The analysis provides an understanding of the socio-economic and spatial drivers of job and employment transitions and how they vary across Australia. The outcomes will be a new hierarchical model of labour market regions for assessin ....Understanding the Spatial and Social Drivers of Employment Transitions. This project reconsiders significant changes in the Australian labour market by utilising new conceptual tools based on temporal and spatial dimensions of productive activities and employment. The analysis provides an understanding of the socio-economic and spatial drivers of job and employment transitions and how they vary across Australia. The outcomes will be a new hierarchical model of labour market regions for assessing the social impact of employment transitions in regions, localities and remote areas providing evidence to inform region-specific policy. The innovative statistical methodology to enhance current analytical models of spatial variation in employment transitions will contribute significantly to international research. Read moreRead less
Unions and Regional Regeneration. Unions face many challenges in older industrial regions, where they previously have had a strong presence. Successful regeneration of such regions depends on the active involvement of unions and their members as well as business. In some places, however, unions have remained marginal to these processes. Not only does this project extend theory on union purpose, capacities and organisation in support of economic, political and environmental change towards sustain ....Unions and Regional Regeneration. Unions face many challenges in older industrial regions, where they previously have had a strong presence. Successful regeneration of such regions depends on the active involvement of unions and their members as well as business. In some places, however, unions have remained marginal to these processes. Not only does this project extend theory on union purpose, capacities and organisation in support of economic, political and environmental change towards sustainable futures, it applies a novel combination of methods. This application examines the consequences of involvement and non-involvement in these processes. The project seeks to extend theories of social change and social mobilisation.Read moreRead less
Developing interdisciplinary expertise in universities. This project aims to create a strong integrative research foundation to explain how university researchers and students develop the expertise needed to work in interdisciplinary teams and how this development can be enhanced. It combines three perspectives investigating: how research and innovation communities create interdisciplinary knowledge, how interdisciplinary teams learn to function effectively and the personal resourcefulness that ....Developing interdisciplinary expertise in universities. This project aims to create a strong integrative research foundation to explain how university researchers and students develop the expertise needed to work in interdisciplinary teams and how this development can be enhanced. It combines three perspectives investigating: how research and innovation communities create interdisciplinary knowledge, how interdisciplinary teams learn to function effectively and the personal resourcefulness that enables individuals to participate in interdisciplinary work. The outcomes will provide a much better understanding of the qualities that help individuals and groups to work productively across disciplinary boundaries. They will be used to create better strategies for supporting interdisciplinary learningRead 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
Hierarchy to high-performance? Evaluating 30yrs of Senior Executive Service. This project aims to evaluate whether Senior Executive Service (SES) schemes, introduced in the public sector the 1980s, have enabled the delivery of superior performance. This study will examine all nine Australian jurisdictions, across time in order to identify how and why institutional frameworks changed, analyse the composition of the SES and identify their changing roles and accountabilities. The expected outcomes ....Hierarchy to high-performance? Evaluating 30yrs of Senior Executive Service. This project aims to evaluate whether Senior Executive Service (SES) schemes, introduced in the public sector the 1980s, have enabled the delivery of superior performance. This study will examine all nine Australian jurisdictions, across time in order to identify how and why institutional frameworks changed, analyse the composition of the SES and identify their changing roles and accountabilities. The expected outcomes will provide a better understanding of the profile and roles of executives who lead policy development and service delivery, and an evaluation of whether current institutional frameworks optimise their capacity to perform their role.Read moreRead less
Spatially Integrated Socio-Economic Analysis: Australia at the New Millennium. A new spatially integrated approach is used to analyse and evaluate the divides in Australian society at the new millennium, drawing on perspectives from three key disciplines in the social sciences - economics, human geography and sociology. Pathbreaking microsimulation and GIS based spatial modelling techniques are used to generate new synthetic variables by integrating ABS Census and survey data to enhance the unde ....Spatially Integrated Socio-Economic Analysis: Australia at the New Millennium. A new spatially integrated approach is used to analyse and evaluate the divides in Australian society at the new millennium, drawing on perspectives from three key disciplines in the social sciences - economics, human geography and sociology. Pathbreaking microsimulation and GIS based spatial modelling techniques are used to generate new synthetic variables by integrating ABS Census and survey data to enhance the understanding of patterns and improve explanation of differential outcomes in the well-being of both people and places. The new decision support systems we develop will better inform policy responses to address distributional equity, efficiency and competitiveness.Read moreRead less
Career mobility in educational markets: a sociological study of how families reconcile priorities. Family units have to reconcile career opportunities with educational opportunities, which can make decisions about moving complex. This project will survey police, health and education professionals with family responsibilities about how their families balance career opportunities in rural and remote areas, with education strategies.