A model of sex offender registration, monitoring, and risk management. This research will investigate the ways in which sexual offenders are managed in the community and identify the most effective means of preventing further offending, thereby promoting community safety.
To what extent does Australian food policy consider its health impact. This research will examine how public policies relating to food can be made healthier. The diet of Australians currently contributes to high rates of disease including diabetes, heart disease and the underlying issue of obesity. It will examine Australian agriculture and food processing, manufacturing and marketing and the environmental impacts of these sectors. The research will analyse policy documents and interview key peo ....To what extent does Australian food policy consider its health impact. This research will examine how public policies relating to food can be made healthier. The diet of Australians currently contributes to high rates of disease including diabetes, heart disease and the underlying issue of obesity. It will examine Australian agriculture and food processing, manufacturing and marketing and the environmental impacts of these sectors. The research will analyse policy documents and interview key people involved in each sector to determine their views on the ways in which our food supply affects our health. It will result in policy recommendations advising how the Australian food sector can be made more supportive of health and equity. Policy makers will be engaged with our findings through a Food Policy Summit. Read moreRead less
Statistical methods for the analysis of critical care data, with application to the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Database. The recent inquiry into Queensland's Bundaberg Base Hospital highlights the need to monitor hospital performance. This project develops new statistical methods to account for uncertainty in the assessment of provider performance and its outcomes will provide government with institutional comparisons for policy and planning.
Production of Biodegradable Polyhydroxyalkanoate Polymers using Advanced Biological Wastewater Treatment Process Technology. The aim of this project is to develop a sustainable process for producing biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHAs)polymers from an innovative aerobic-anaerobic biological wastewater treatment process, ?treating? high strength food industry effluent. These biopolymers offer enormous potential for use as renewable and biodegradable thermoplastics.
It is proposed to inve ....Production of Biodegradable Polyhydroxyalkanoate Polymers using Advanced Biological Wastewater Treatment Process Technology. The aim of this project is to develop a sustainable process for producing biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHAs)polymers from an innovative aerobic-anaerobic biological wastewater treatment process, ?treating? high strength food industry effluent. These biopolymers offer enormous potential for use as renewable and biodegradable thermoplastics.
It is proposed to investigate two process configurations, namely the sequencing batch reactor and a continuous two step anaerobic-aerobic reaction system. These will be studied at bench-scale. The outcomes include:
1. Determination of the optimum microbial conditions and key growth
parameters for the production of PHA.
2. Optimisation of the process configuration, operating strategies
and operating conditions to maximise the
production of PHA.
3. Assessment of the influence of the feed composition (e.g. VFA)
on the PHA composition (PHB/PHV).
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Involving children in social research: balancing the risks and benefits. There is a growing consensus that children's involvement in social research is important, but considerable uncertainty remains around children's inclusion in research on 'sensitive' issues, reflecting concerns about how to balance children's protection with their participation. Key to this are deeply embedded assumptions and beliefs about children and childhood, especially concerning notions of capacity, agency, vulnerabili ....Involving children in social research: balancing the risks and benefits. There is a growing consensus that children's involvement in social research is important, but considerable uncertainty remains around children's inclusion in research on 'sensitive' issues, reflecting concerns about how to balance children's protection with their participation. Key to this are deeply embedded assumptions and beliefs about children and childhood, especially concerning notions of capacity, agency, vulnerability, dependency and the like. This project aims to better understand and address the tensions between the protection of children and their participation in research, and to explore how ethics committees, parents, other gatekeepers and children themselves manage and navigate these tensions.Read moreRead less
Consent in the void: moral, legal and community values in decisions about human biological donations. This project will improve consent procedures for embryo and organ donation. This will increase the autonomy of those consenting, the quality of consent that is given, and increase public trust in the processes of embryo and organ donation. The legal and moral status of the wishes of the newly dead or embryo donors and will be clarified thereby increasing the quality of consent processes for all ....Consent in the void: moral, legal and community values in decisions about human biological donations. This project will improve consent procedures for embryo and organ donation. This will increase the autonomy of those consenting, the quality of consent that is given, and increase public trust in the processes of embryo and organ donation. The legal and moral status of the wishes of the newly dead or embryo donors and will be clarified thereby increasing the quality of consent processes for all involved. By including community values in addition to the legal and moral issues, this project will make well-founded recommendations for the development of laws, policies and guidelines in relation to decisions about frozen embryos and the newly dead.Read moreRead less
Insights into macroevolution using a model adaptive radiation of lizards (Lerista). Australia has arguably the greatest diversity of lizards in the world. This research will investigate how this diversity arose, using Lerista, a radiation of skinks with over 80 species spanning fully limbed to totally legless forms. We will investigate how development, geographic distribution and morphological features have influenced the evolutionary diversification of Lerista. We will also map the biodivers ....Insights into macroevolution using a model adaptive radiation of lizards (Lerista). Australia has arguably the greatest diversity of lizards in the world. This research will investigate how this diversity arose, using Lerista, a radiation of skinks with over 80 species spanning fully limbed to totally legless forms. We will investigate how development, geographic distribution and morphological features have influenced the evolutionary diversification of Lerista. We will also map the biodiversity of Lerista across Australia using (and thus testing) several alternative methods of quantifying biodiversity. Such knowledge is important as many hotspots of Lerista diversity are coming under increasing human pressure (e.g. mid-coast of WA), and many species have very localised ranges.Read moreRead less
Heat transfer in novel solar thermal reactors to process minerals and solar fuels. The project will develop new design tools for optimising novel solar reactors for the production of solar fuels and for low emission minerals processing. It will enable substantial cost reductions in these technologies and establish a unique and leading program in solar power tower technology within Australia.
Fire, air, water and earth: Using fossils to discover the evolution of Australia’s open vegetation. How Australia came to be dominated by open, tough-leaved vegetation is an old but still highly controversial question, especially with recent developments in molecular biology that challenge paradigms established from the fossil record. The project will test this new molecular paradigm with innovative use of characteristics of fossil leaves to identify the timing and drivers of the evolution of Au ....Fire, air, water and earth: Using fossils to discover the evolution of Australia’s open vegetation. How Australia came to be dominated by open, tough-leaved vegetation is an old but still highly controversial question, especially with recent developments in molecular biology that challenge paradigms established from the fossil record. The project will test this new molecular paradigm with innovative use of characteristics of fossil leaves to identify the timing and drivers of the evolution of Australia’s open vegetation. The integration of new and rigorous evidence derived from living and fossil plants will provide the clearest evidence yet for the origins of Australian environments. This has ramifications for understanding plant responses to past and future climate changes.Read moreRead less
Reducing Aboriginal imprisonment: An offence-specific study. This project aims to capture the complex personal, cultural, and social factors underpinning behaviours of Aboriginal prisoners in South Australia and Northern Territory. This project expects to generate new knowledge through focus groups and interviews with Aboriginal prisoners as well as intensive immersion within key communities to which Aboriginal prisoners return. The project will result in place-based and culturally informed appr ....Reducing Aboriginal imprisonment: An offence-specific study. This project aims to capture the complex personal, cultural, and social factors underpinning behaviours of Aboriginal prisoners in South Australia and Northern Territory. This project expects to generate new knowledge through focus groups and interviews with Aboriginal prisoners as well as intensive immersion within key communities to which Aboriginal prisoners return. The project will result in place-based and culturally informed approaches for supporting desistance from crime among high-rate offenders. This will provide significant benefits by enhancing scholarly and policy understanding of Aboriginal incarceration and pathways to social and economic well-being.Read moreRead less