From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance re ....From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance requirements against the desire to help clients. The project aims to create a new framework for understanding how policy instruments and design experiments can improve services for those who are in need.Read moreRead less
The new digital governance of welfare to work. This project aims to analyse the implementation of a 'digital first' employment services system, its effects on frontline services and governance, and its potential for policy learning. It expects to generate new knowledge on how digitalisation changes interactions between jobseekers, providers, employers and the government, by working with our industry partners in a collaborative innovation lab. Expected outcomes of this project include a theoretic ....The new digital governance of welfare to work. This project aims to analyse the implementation of a 'digital first' employment services system, its effects on frontline services and governance, and its potential for policy learning. It expects to generate new knowledge on how digitalisation changes interactions between jobseekers, providers, employers and the government, by working with our industry partners in a collaborative innovation lab. Expected outcomes of this project include a theoretically informed, and practically tested, model of how digitalisation can promote service design and policy innovation that benefits jobseekers and employers. This should provide significant benefits for welfare system design, service outcomes, and policy learning nationally and internationally. Read moreRead less
Advocacy in the age of compacts: Strengthening the policy development dimension of partnership agreements between government and community organisations. The proposed research will be the first attempt to evaluate the roll-out of compacts in Australia. In order to ensure that the new compacts continue to be responsive to the needs of both government and community organisations it is crucial that their early operation be evaluated and the findings used to create ongoing mechanisms for monitoring, ....Advocacy in the age of compacts: Strengthening the policy development dimension of partnership agreements between government and community organisations. The proposed research will be the first attempt to evaluate the roll-out of compacts in Australia. In order to ensure that the new compacts continue to be responsive to the needs of both government and community organisations it is crucial that their early operation be evaluated and the findings used to create ongoing mechanisms for monitoring, outcome evaluation, and skill-building. The proposed project will assist Austraian governments to identify performance indicators for outcomes in the context of the compacts, particularly those that lead to the effective contribution of community organisations in policy development.Read moreRead less
Federalism in Australian schooling: Its impact upon quality and equity. The project is designed to support the objectives for schooling in Australia that have been identified by the Council of Australian Governments. These objectives are in the face of growing inequities in the distribution of educational resources, growing concentrations of students with high levels of educational needs, and imbalances in the distribution of resources across key stages, especially in early childhood education. ....Federalism in Australian schooling: Its impact upon quality and equity. The project is designed to support the objectives for schooling in Australia that have been identified by the Council of Australian Governments. These objectives are in the face of growing inequities in the distribution of educational resources, growing concentrations of students with high levels of educational needs, and imbalances in the distribution of resources across key stages, especially in early childhood education. By examining the ways in which federalism contributes to the structural barriers to these objectives and by developing and validating a set of structural reforms the project will contribute to these national objectives. Read moreRead less
Designing illicit drug policy solutions: the role of participation. This project aims to study whether the design of illicit drug policies can be enhanced with participation. As a complex social problem, the development of new policy design solutions requires participatory processes which engage multiple stakeholders and make explicit the underlying values and goals. The project aims to study the effects of participatory policy design and generate new innovative technologies of participation. Th ....Designing illicit drug policy solutions: the role of participation. This project aims to study whether the design of illicit drug policies can be enhanced with participation. As a complex social problem, the development of new policy design solutions requires participatory processes which engage multiple stakeholders and make explicit the underlying values and goals. The project aims to study the effects of participatory policy design and generate new innovative technologies of participation. The expected outcomes are new knowledge and practices for policy design, including policy design solutions for three current policy dilemmas for Australian governments. The benefits of more effective and participatory illicit drug policies include the economic, social and health gains accrued when policy works.Read moreRead less
The science-policy interface in policy theories: a comparative case study of street-level policing for illicit drugs. This project will analyse two prominent policy process theories by their application to illicit drugs policing case studies, this having never previously been done. The project aims to assess the scientific merit of the two competing policy process theories; examine their applicability to policing; and study the ways in which each theory can account for the interface between scie ....The science-policy interface in policy theories: a comparative case study of street-level policing for illicit drugs. This project will analyse two prominent policy process theories by their application to illicit drugs policing case studies, this having never previously been done. The project aims to assess the scientific merit of the two competing policy process theories; examine their applicability to policing; and study the ways in which each theory can account for the interface between science and policy. The project will create new knowledge in relation to the scientific merit of the theories, and the role of science in police policy formation. This new knowledge will assist those working at the interface between science and policy to enhance policy analysis and policy influence in this strongly contested domain.Read moreRead less
Enhancing the Technology Transfer Capability of Australian Univerities. This project aims to assist in achieving enhanced University capability in technology transfer which is regarded by government as cruicial to improving national innovation performance. I seeks to identify the determinants of effective technology transfer and provide in-depth understanding of the social process involved in transferring both inventions and associated scientific knowledge from universities to corporationss. Emp ....Enhancing the Technology Transfer Capability of Australian Univerities. This project aims to assist in achieving enhanced University capability in technology transfer which is regarded by government as cruicial to improving national innovation performance. I seeks to identify the determinants of effective technology transfer and provide in-depth understanding of the social process involved in transferring both inventions and associated scientific knowledge from universities to corporationss. Employing a contingent effectiveness model, the research will focus on the characteristics of the transfer agent, the transfer recipient, the transfer medium, the transfer object and the demand environment. Results and recommended strategies will be communicated to university and industry managers and government officials.Read moreRead less
The deterrent effects of Australian drug law enforcement. Drug law enforcement efforts have been underpinned by the assumption that police deter or prevent drug use and trafficking, yet deterrent effects have gone unexamined or measured using narrow parameters. By using modern criminological conceptualisations of deterrence and innovative methods, this project aims to measure the deterrent effects of four Australian policing strategies on current and would-be offenders' decisions to use, possess ....The deterrent effects of Australian drug law enforcement. Drug law enforcement efforts have been underpinned by the assumption that police deter or prevent drug use and trafficking, yet deterrent effects have gone unexamined or measured using narrow parameters. By using modern criminological conceptualisations of deterrence and innovative methods, this project aims to measure the deterrent effects of four Australian policing strategies on current and would-be offenders' decisions to use, possess and traffic illicit drugs and identify mechanisms by which police can and cannot deter. The project aims to provide detailed empirical insight into an enduring policy conundrum, namely the extent to which police can be expected to deter, and build capacity for more evidence-informed responses to drug-related crime.Read moreRead less
Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this stud ....Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this study will explore their impact upon the hospital system. Evidence-based strategies are needed to improve the accountability of service providers and regulators. Social and economic benefits flow from empowering patients and from improving hospital performance.Read moreRead less
Trade policy: maximising benefits for nutrition, food security, human health, and the economy. Depending on how it is done, trade can be good or bad for peoples' health and social well-being. This study will provide evidence to support the development of trade policy which combines economic as well as social and health goals. This will help improve global food security and human health, reduce poverty and support good international relations.