Peace Building and Responsive Governance in Asia and the Pacific. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of generations of children, sets back regional economies and encourages warlords to become transnational criminals who traffic in drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across Australia's region.
Fresh insights will be obtained from the successes and failures of attempts to build peace in failing states that Australia sees as a threat to our sec ....Peace Building and Responsive Governance in Asia and the Pacific. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of generations of children, sets back regional economies and encourages warlords to become transnational criminals who traffic in drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across Australia's region.
Fresh insights will be obtained from the successes and failures of attempts to build peace in failing states that Australia sees as a threat to our security. These national and regional diagnoses will enhance the quality of Australia's contribution to security and stability in our part of the globe and enhance national capacity to contribute to global peace strategies. Read moreRead less
Restorative Justice and Responsive Governance: Fresh Challenges, New Theory, Global Networks. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of children and children's children. It sets back economies, encourages transnational crime through trafficking drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across our region in ways that directly affect Australians. This research will provide fresh insights from the successes and failures of peacebuilding in the Pacific and ....Restorative Justice and Responsive Governance: Fresh Challenges, New Theory, Global Networks. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of children and children's children. It sets back economies, encourages transnational crime through trafficking drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across our region in ways that directly affect Australians. This research will provide fresh insights from the successes and failures of peacebuilding in the Pacific and Asia. The effectiveness of new restorative and responsive strategies for improving the performance of our health system, strengthening the knowledge economy, improving competition and preventing crime will be tested and developed. Australia will grow as the dominant locus of research on restorative and responsive strategies that work.Read moreRead less
Restorative Justice and the Life Course: Victims and Offenders in Longitudinal Perspective. Reduction of crime and its effects is a major priority for Australia. Restorative justice represents one of the most promising policy innovations currently available for prevention of repeat offending and for benefiting victims of crime. Apart from the justice dimension, it has much wider community application from school bullying to peace building after civil war. Our study will provide knowledge about i ....Restorative Justice and the Life Course: Victims and Offenders in Longitudinal Perspective. Reduction of crime and its effects is a major priority for Australia. Restorative justice represents one of the most promising policy innovations currently available for prevention of repeat offending and for benefiting victims of crime. Apart from the justice dimension, it has much wider community application from school bullying to peace building after civil war. Our study will provide knowledge about its actual economic and social benefits (or adverse effects) - nationally and at the community level. This knowledge is vital to answer the questions: "Is it effective? Should it play a major role in our society?" as well as identifying areas in which current use can be improved to the benefit of victims of crime and the broader community.Read moreRead less
EEO in a Culture of Uncertainty. Australia appears to be losing its commitment to equal opportunity as work becomes increasingly insecure. Deference to employers, including transnational corporations, is already exercising a disproportionate effect on women, racial minorities and people with disabilities. The impact of the market, globalisation and free trade agreements is resulting in the increasing marginalisation of EEO and anti-discrimination measures. As a turning away from social justice i ....EEO in a Culture of Uncertainty. Australia appears to be losing its commitment to equal opportunity as work becomes increasingly insecure. Deference to employers, including transnational corporations, is already exercising a disproportionate effect on women, racial minorities and people with disabilities. The impact of the market, globalisation and free trade agreements is resulting in the increasing marginalisation of EEO and anti-discrimination measures. As a turning away from social justice in favour of the market and profit-making can only impoverish a democratic society, this timely study will examine the nature of the retreat in the hope that something might be done about it. Read moreRead less
Courts, the Judiciary and Social Change. While few Australians have direct experience of courts, nearly all agree that courts are important to the community, though public confidence is low. Social changes and the ambiguous position of courts in relation to change are part of this tension. This project will undertake a concrete examination of one aspect of social change and the courts: the increasing number of women in the judiciary. The focus on how gender interacts with judicial work and th ....Courts, the Judiciary and Social Change. While few Australians have direct experience of courts, nearly all agree that courts are important to the community, though public confidence is low. Social changes and the ambiguous position of courts in relation to change are part of this tension. This project will undertake a concrete examination of one aspect of social change and the courts: the increasing number of women in the judiciary. The focus on how gender interacts with judicial work and the wider roles of courts will produce new and valuable understandings of gender and judging, gender and work, and courts and social change. Better knowledge about these complex relationships will strengthen Australian society and its legal integrity.Read moreRead less
Nodal Governance and Human Security. Australia is in a region where a number of countries fail to provide their people with security in basic areas such as health and community security. Understanding the security problems of Australia's neighbours is vital, but not easy. This pathbreaking project will help Australians involved in working with these countries to gain an interrelated understanding of the problems facing our neighbours. The benefits that flow from this include an improved planning ....Nodal Governance and Human Security. Australia is in a region where a number of countries fail to provide their people with security in basic areas such as health and community security. Understanding the security problems of Australia's neighbours is vital, but not easy. This pathbreaking project will help Australians involved in working with these countries to gain an interrelated understanding of the problems facing our neighbours. The benefits that flow from this include an improved planning capacity for dealing with security issues in the region, better use of the resources that we provide, and strengthened relationships with our neighbours. We will do this while placing Australia at the head of an emerging, highly exciting field of study centred on human security.Read moreRead less
Avoiding community backlash in the fight against terrorism . This project examines the willingness of diverse minority groups to cooperate in counter-terrorism initiatives and how fair procedures and perceptions of the law shape attitudes towards counter-terrorism policing. Outcomes will provide insights into how public cooperation in counter-terrorism can be enhanced.
Evaluating the community governance of crime prevention and community safety. In partnership with the Victorian Department of Justice this research aims to evaluate the Safer Cities and Shires program using both in-depth data analysis and focus groups. It questions the theoretical assumptions underlying the program; identifies effective and cost-effective community governance structures and factors that enhance or inhibit a community's capacity to participate in and respond to community safety i ....Evaluating the community governance of crime prevention and community safety. In partnership with the Victorian Department of Justice this research aims to evaluate the Safer Cities and Shires program using both in-depth data analysis and focus groups. It questions the theoretical assumptions underlying the program; identifies effective and cost-effective community governance structures and factors that enhance or inhibit a community's capacity to participate in and respond to community safety initiatives; and evaluates the impact of the program on the incidence of crime and perceptions of safety and security. The outcomes will advance knowledge in community psychology and inform future policy and allocation of resources to community based crime prevention programs.Read moreRead less
The religious factor and trends in civil society under conditions of globalisation in Australia, the U.S.A. and Brazil. This project explores a supposed chain of connections between globalisation, rapid religious change, the fragmentation of civil society, and a consequent weakening of democracy. Through comparative analysis, a counter claim will be investigated: that certain types of religious associations flourishing under conditions of globalisation in the three countries examined are importa ....The religious factor and trends in civil society under conditions of globalisation in Australia, the U.S.A. and Brazil. This project explores a supposed chain of connections between globalisation, rapid religious change, the fragmentation of civil society, and a consequent weakening of democracy. Through comparative analysis, a counter claim will be investigated: that certain types of religious associations flourishing under conditions of globalisation in the three countries examined are important elements in the regeneration of disturbed civil societies. The focus is on Australia, but a novel comparative analysis will help determine whether current fears about social fragmentation in Australia are justified. Resulting publications will enrich debate about the perils and opportunities of increasing multiculturalism in globalising societies.Read moreRead less
Exploring the experience of security in the Australian Vietnamese community: practical implications for policing. Effective policing in Victoria depends upon sensitive relations with complex communities, but police experience persistent difficulties in implementing community policing strategies with the Australian Vietnamese community. Vietnamese residents call for police action and protection from drug and gambling-related crime. However, police find it difficult to build effective communicati ....Exploring the experience of security in the Australian Vietnamese community: practical implications for policing. Effective policing in Victoria depends upon sensitive relations with complex communities, but police experience persistent difficulties in implementing community policing strategies with the Australian Vietnamese community. Vietnamese residents call for police action and protection from drug and gambling-related crime. However, police find it difficult to build effective communication and co-operation with a community that seems reticent and lacking in trust. This project explores solutions to these problems, drawing on qualitative research on attitudes, experience of security and insecurity, institutional culture and cultural understandings amongst both police and community members. Read moreRead less