Negotiating Transitions to Retirement. This project will track diverse pathways in work/retirement transitions, by analysing how the present policy mix accommodates shifts in labour markets, demographic shifts and shifts in households and income distributions. Focused on cohorts aged 45 to 64, it firstly analyses national data sets to track the impact of the current policy mix in terms of income security, industrial relations, housing, health, education and training and work/life. Secondly, i ....Negotiating Transitions to Retirement. This project will track diverse pathways in work/retirement transitions, by analysing how the present policy mix accommodates shifts in labour markets, demographic shifts and shifts in households and income distributions. Focused on cohorts aged 45 to 64, it firstly analyses national data sets to track the impact of the current policy mix in terms of income security, industrial relations, housing, health, education and training and work/life. Secondly, it draws on qualitative data to further examine how these transitions are played out. The research will develop a new policy matrix for older workers that addresses risk, social exclusion and social protection.Read moreRead less
Refugee Women at Risk: protection and integration in Australia. The potential for long-term settlement problems for vulnerable refugee groups has serious implications for the wider Australian community in terms of social cohesion and the weakening of the social fabric. Concern has been expressed by service providers and refugee and migrant communities, about the social and economic consequences of the failure to adequately respond to the needs of these refugees, most of who come from traumatic b ....Refugee Women at Risk: protection and integration in Australia. The potential for long-term settlement problems for vulnerable refugee groups has serious implications for the wider Australian community in terms of social cohesion and the weakening of the social fabric. Concern has been expressed by service providers and refugee and migrant communities, about the social and economic consequences of the failure to adequately respond to the needs of these refugees, most of who come from traumatic backgrounds. The research will identify models of best practice service provision and will analyse the role these play in supporting and accelerating successful integration and in promoting social harmony in our diverse cultural society.Read moreRead less
Risk shifting, retirement and low-paid work. This project will respond to the pressing need for greater understanding of the new socio-economic terrain of social risk shifting. The project will situate retirement financing within a discourse of risk shift to households and individuals, which is seeing social roles and identities tied, in cultural as well as monetary ways, into global finance.
Managing Older People's Financial Assets in Aged Care Facilities: The Intersection of Legal and Care Requirements and Financial Management Practices. This project will provide important new knowledge and propose changes to policy, practice and legislation that will promote older people's independence and choice in how their financial affairs are managed. The physical and cognitive frailty of aged care facility residents is increasing and their capacity to manage their assets and income is often ....Managing Older People's Financial Assets in Aged Care Facilities: The Intersection of Legal and Care Requirements and Financial Management Practices. This project will provide important new knowledge and propose changes to policy, practice and legislation that will promote older people's independence and choice in how their financial affairs are managed. The physical and cognitive frailty of aged care facility residents is increasing and their capacity to manage their assets and income is often limited. This study will address financial elder abuse and problems with how decisions are made on behalf of older people. Improving the legislative, policy and practice frameworks that govern the risks, rights and responsibilities of care staff and family members will assist them to appropriately support and protect older people in residential care.Read moreRead less
Creating Collaborative Advantage through Better Network Governance: A Comparative Study of New Institutions and Instruments. By harnessing the embedded resources of different government and service delivery organisations operating at community level, and by removing costly boundary problems between them, governments can address the needs of citizens in a more wholistic and flexible manner. But to do this in a coherent way it is necessary to develop new institutional rules and organisational proc ....Creating Collaborative Advantage through Better Network Governance: A Comparative Study of New Institutions and Instruments. By harnessing the embedded resources of different government and service delivery organisations operating at community level, and by removing costly boundary problems between them, governments can address the needs of citizens in a more wholistic and flexible manner. But to do this in a coherent way it is necessary to develop new institutional rules and organisational processes to allow agencies to collaborate without fear of reduced accountability or syphoning of public funds. The project will examine the structures and processes used in a selection of leading international cases in order to improve Australia's performance in gaining a collaborative advantage for citizens and agencies.Read moreRead less
The individual, the family and the state: expectations, intergenerational obligations and constraints in providing for old age. Intergenerational equity is a principle underpinning policy debates around financing retirement and care in older age. Enhanced understanding of this cohort's expectations and obligations will assist in policy development around financing retirement and paying for care that takes account of this cohort's expectations and obligations. Further, exploring the expectations ....The individual, the family and the state: expectations, intergenerational obligations and constraints in providing for old age. Intergenerational equity is a principle underpinning policy debates around financing retirement and care in older age. Enhanced understanding of this cohort's expectations and obligations will assist in policy development around financing retirement and paying for care that takes account of this cohort's expectations and obligations. Further, exploring the expectations underpinning intergenerational exchanges from this cohort's perspective will assist in understanding the dynamics around these exchanges and lay the ground work for future research into factors that facilitate cross-generation family functioning.Read moreRead less
Social Policy and Transitional Labour Markets in Australia. The fundamental aim of this project is to explore new institutional arrangements in the area of social policy to cope with structural change in both labour markets and household formation. The project uses the idea of key labour market transitions both to explore the dynamics of labour markets over the life course for individuals or groups and to envisage new types of institutional arrangements that serve to manage risk and enhance peop ....Social Policy and Transitional Labour Markets in Australia. The fundamental aim of this project is to explore new institutional arrangements in the area of social policy to cope with structural change in both labour markets and household formation. The project uses the idea of key labour market transitions both to explore the dynamics of labour markets over the life course for individuals or groups and to envisage new types of institutional arrangements that serve to manage risk and enhance people's capacity for social participation. Bringing together a diverse and high-powered group of experts with experience across a range of social policy and labour market arenas, this project will contribute to international debate on the future of the welfare state.Read moreRead less
Transition to adulthood of young people with disabilities from state care in China. The project has implications for the national priority of safeguarding Australia through supporting the government strategy of engaging in our region. Disability is an AusAid priority in the Asia Pacific. The project demonstrates Australia's commitment to using our research and policy to improve social inclusion in China and to generalise to other developing countries. It contributes to developing Australian soci ....Transition to adulthood of young people with disabilities from state care in China. The project has implications for the national priority of safeguarding Australia through supporting the government strategy of engaging in our region. Disability is an AusAid priority in the Asia Pacific. The project demonstrates Australia's commitment to using our research and policy to improve social inclusion in China and to generalise to other developing countries. It contributes to developing Australian social policy, research and training in a way that is relevant to child and disability state care practices in Australia and China. The project facilitates future connections between researchers and policy officials in Australia and China, the Chinese Social Welfare Centre and the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs.Read moreRead less
Making policy reform work: a comparative analysis of social procurement . This project aims to clarify the institutional and cross-sectoral conditions needed for successful implementation of emerging social procurement policy reforms; these seek through public spending to increase employment and business opportunities for people experiencing social exclusion. Via a mixed-methods comparative study in the leading jurisdictions of Victoria and Scotland, the project will extend scholarly knowledge o ....Making policy reform work: a comparative analysis of social procurement . This project aims to clarify the institutional and cross-sectoral conditions needed for successful implementation of emerging social procurement policy reforms; these seek through public spending to increase employment and business opportunities for people experiencing social exclusion. Via a mixed-methods comparative study in the leading jurisdictions of Victoria and Scotland, the project will extend scholarly knowledge of implementing policy reforms that rely on government and non-government actors working together in new ways, and practical understanding of what is needed to realise social procurement policy goals. This will contribute to effective public expenditure and ultimately help redress the societal consequences of exclusion.Read moreRead less
Experiences of Families with Children with Disabilities in China. The project contributes to safeguarding Australia by understanding our region through the opportunity to demonstrate Australia's engagement in research to benefit China, with which it is establishing strong links in social, economic and cultural interests. Research expertise about Australia's child disability policies is relevant to China's social policy development. It contributes to national understanding of East Asian child dis ....Experiences of Families with Children with Disabilities in China. The project contributes to safeguarding Australia by understanding our region through the opportunity to demonstrate Australia's engagement in research to benefit China, with which it is establishing strong links in social, economic and cultural interests. Research expertise about Australia's child disability policies is relevant to China's social policy development. It contributes to national understanding of East Asian child disability policies, including partnership approaches to social support between government, nongovernment and communities, also developing in Australia. The project strengthens connections between Australian researchers and policy-makers, Plan International (China and Australia) and China Disabled Persons Federation.Read moreRead less