Intergenerational Disadvantage: Causes, Pathways, and Consequences. This Project aims to prevent poor Australian children from becoming poor adults by developing scientific evidence and creative policy approaches to overcome entrenched disadvantage. The Project will generate new knowledge on how social assistance dependence is linked across generations using new Australian data. Expected outcomes are the identification of i) the causal link between parents’ and children’s social assistance depen ....Intergenerational Disadvantage: Causes, Pathways, and Consequences. This Project aims to prevent poor Australian children from becoming poor adults by developing scientific evidence and creative policy approaches to overcome entrenched disadvantage. The Project will generate new knowledge on how social assistance dependence is linked across generations using new Australian data. Expected outcomes are the identification of i) the causal link between parents’ and children’s social assistance dependence; ii) the pathways through which youths overcome disadvantage; and iii) the role of family structure in transmitting disadvantage. Transforming the evidence base, the findings will have significant benefits in redesigning the Australian social safety net, promoting social and economic mobility.Read moreRead less
Measuring the benefits of reuse in the circular economy. The project will advance understanding of reuse commodity chains, their societal benefits and contributions to a more sustainable circular economy. Drawing on case study research with charitable and community reuse organisations, factors facilitating or inhibiting reuse will be identified, and rigorous methods developed for assessing the benefits of reuse organisations in terms of quantities of materials processed, employment, skills devel ....Measuring the benefits of reuse in the circular economy. The project will advance understanding of reuse commodity chains, their societal benefits and contributions to a more sustainable circular economy. Drawing on case study research with charitable and community reuse organisations, factors facilitating or inhibiting reuse will be identified, and rigorous methods developed for assessing the benefits of reuse organisations in terms of quantities of materials processed, employment, skills development and contributions to regional economic development. Research outputs will provide a sound evidence base for government policy and decision-making and strengthen conceptual understanding of drivers and enablers of reuse and links with broader economic activities. Read moreRead less
Music, Mobile Phones and Community Justice in Melanesia. This project seeks to understand how communities mobilise in Melanesia through the integration of digital media, mobile phones and music. Community integration and cohesion has long been connected to music as a vital medium in the region. This project plans to draw on new uses of mobile phones for creating, disseminating and listening to music to transform related social, cultural and industrial practices in Melanesia. The intended outcome ....Music, Mobile Phones and Community Justice in Melanesia. This project seeks to understand how communities mobilise in Melanesia through the integration of digital media, mobile phones and music. Community integration and cohesion has long been connected to music as a vital medium in the region. This project plans to draw on new uses of mobile phones for creating, disseminating and listening to music to transform related social, cultural and industrial practices in Melanesia. The intended outcomes of this project — novel phone apps and distribution strategies — will be designed to enable the creation and dissemination of community-building music more widely and affordably, and to provide an income-stimulating model of music distribution for Melanesian musicians.Read moreRead less
Incentivising On Country Aboriginal Employment: Anangu Futures. . This project aims to investigate the changing face of cultural tourism in central Australia and examine pathways towards sustainable aboriginal employment in and around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The project is significant because it brings together Aboriginal community members, industry and government stakeholders to identify micro-business opportunities, youth training initiatives, better relations across cultural divides, ....Incentivising On Country Aboriginal Employment: Anangu Futures. . This project aims to investigate the changing face of cultural tourism in central Australia and examine pathways towards sustainable aboriginal employment in and around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The project is significant because it brings together Aboriginal community members, industry and government stakeholders to identify micro-business opportunities, youth training initiatives, better relations across cultural divides, and the economic value of Aboriginal knowledge. Outcomes include a model for sustainable Aboriginal employment in remote and very remote contexts, and the development of culturally relevant and sustainable governing guidelines for regional investment. Benefits include more sustainable jobs for Aboriginal people.Read moreRead less
Managing an ageing population for income adequacy and fiscal sustainability. This project aims to improve understanding of the impacts of existing key reforms intended to ease fiscal pressures associated with population ageing. The right mix of retirement income policies is vital to Australia's fiscal sustainability, however the effectiveness of existing policies is unknown. The project expects to identify impacts of key reforms on employment, re-training, income, savings and future retirement i ....Managing an ageing population for income adequacy and fiscal sustainability. This project aims to improve understanding of the impacts of existing key reforms intended to ease fiscal pressures associated with population ageing. The right mix of retirement income policies is vital to Australia's fiscal sustainability, however the effectiveness of existing policies is unknown. The project expects to identify impacts of key reforms on employment, re-training, income, savings and future retirement income and public pension receipt. The project will develop a new tax records-based dataset to facilitate future research on tax and welfare systems.Read moreRead less
Insecure Work and the Mental Health of Workers and their Families. This project aims to explore the relationship between insecure work and mental health by applying advanced econometric methods to large survey and administrative datasets, and newly collected survey data. This project expects to provide causal policy-relevant estimates of how insecure work is affecting the wellbeing of workers and their families, and for whom the effects are most harmful. It also expects to inform on how poor men ....Insecure Work and the Mental Health of Workers and their Families. This project aims to explore the relationship between insecure work and mental health by applying advanced econometric methods to large survey and administrative datasets, and newly collected survey data. This project expects to provide causal policy-relevant estimates of how insecure work is affecting the wellbeing of workers and their families, and for whom the effects are most harmful. It also expects to inform on how poor mental health influences the types of jobs that people enter into. This should provide significant benefits, including evidence needed to improve existing workplace and employment programs, and evidence ensuring that assistance is efficiently targeted to those workers and industries with the greatest need.Read moreRead less
Integrated Futures for the use of Motorised Mobility Devices. People using Motorised Mobility Devices (MMDs) face increased regulation. A pessimism exists about the future of MMDs because of the lack of evidence and explanation of MMD use in transport decision making. This project aims to fundamentally change knowledge about the everyday meanings and experiences of MMDs. The project seeks to provide comparative, trustworthy and in-depth baseline empirical data about how people who are reliant u ....Integrated Futures for the use of Motorised Mobility Devices. People using Motorised Mobility Devices (MMDs) face increased regulation. A pessimism exists about the future of MMDs because of the lack of evidence and explanation of MMD use in transport decision making. This project aims to fundamentally change knowledge about the everyday meanings and experiences of MMDs. The project seeks to provide comparative, trustworthy and in-depth baseline empirical data about how people who are reliant upon MMDs negotiate the current transport infrastructure. Expected outcomes with our Partner Organisation, Assistive Technology Services Australia, include a database of deliberative strategies. This project will benefit Australia’s urban and regional communities through a better understanding of transport. Read moreRead less
Regional Australia' skills shortages and high-skill refugees' employment . Regional Australia loses to cities thousands of professional and trade-related people whose skills cannot be replaced. Focusing on small and medium-size enterprises producing food and beverages, this project aims to determine whether refugee employment (i) is a strategic resource (ii) can alleviate these chronic regional skill shortages, and (iii) can be integrated in immigration policy. In doing so, it will for the firs ....Regional Australia' skills shortages and high-skill refugees' employment . Regional Australia loses to cities thousands of professional and trade-related people whose skills cannot be replaced. Focusing on small and medium-size enterprises producing food and beverages, this project aims to determine whether refugee employment (i) is a strategic resource (ii) can alleviate these chronic regional skill shortages, and (iii) can be integrated in immigration policy. In doing so, it will for the first time provide critical empirical evidence on the possible need to separate policy measures aimed at rural vs. urban employers. The outcomes will contribute to reducing the problem of critical skill shortages and wastage at once and do so with an eye to the needs to rural Australia – a key driver of the country’s exports. Read moreRead less
Mapping the Political Ecology of the Edible Birds’ Nests Trade in Indonesia. This study examines the origins and impacts of the rapidly emerging edible birds’ nests (EBN) trade for rural livelihoods and ecologies in Southeast Asia. A high-value Chinese delicacy, the EBN trade has surged across rural Indonesia and beyond. In partnership with the WWF and Tropenbos, our pioneering study investigates how rural producers negotiate the uneven social, economic and environmental influences of the EBN co ....Mapping the Political Ecology of the Edible Birds’ Nests Trade in Indonesia. This study examines the origins and impacts of the rapidly emerging edible birds’ nests (EBN) trade for rural livelihoods and ecologies in Southeast Asia. A high-value Chinese delicacy, the EBN trade has surged across rural Indonesia and beyond. In partnership with the WWF and Tropenbos, our pioneering study investigates how rural producers negotiate the uneven social, economic and environmental influences of the EBN commodity chain in the threatened Heart of Borneo, Indonesia, and the major urban trading centres of Jakarta, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The project offers novel insights into the trade’s sustainability across rural and urban regions of Asia and informs policy for poverty reduction and environmental management in the region.Read moreRead less
Socio-cultural Factors and the Use of Therapeutic Opioids in Indonesia. This project aims to determine how legal, policy and socio-cultural factors influence the use of therapeutic opioids in Indonesia. The project expects to generate a nuanced understanding of the impact of non-medical considerations in contested areas of health policy through its multidisciplinary and multi-scalar approach. We expect outcomes to include a robust model of influences on decision-making that can be applied in Ind ....Socio-cultural Factors and the Use of Therapeutic Opioids in Indonesia. This project aims to determine how legal, policy and socio-cultural factors influence the use of therapeutic opioids in Indonesia. The project expects to generate a nuanced understanding of the impact of non-medical considerations in contested areas of health policy through its multidisciplinary and multi-scalar approach. We expect outcomes to include a robust model of influences on decision-making that can be applied in Indonesia and adapted for use in other national contexts. This should provide significant benefits, including an innovative training program to empower doctors and pharmacists to make evidence-based decisions about the potential risks and benefits, both medical and social, of opioid-based treatment options.Read moreRead less