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
Academic networks and performance frameworks: Comparing the impact of policy on knowledge generation across disciplines and countries. Australian universities are central to the infrastructure that develops and fosters human talent and encourages innovation, through producing research, providing training, and transferring the knowledge they generate to government and the Australian community. This proposal falls with National Research Priority 3 - promoting an innovation culture and economy. It ....Academic networks and performance frameworks: Comparing the impact of policy on knowledge generation across disciplines and countries. Australian universities are central to the infrastructure that develops and fosters human talent and encourages innovation, through producing research, providing training, and transferring the knowledge they generate to government and the Australian community. This proposal falls with National Research Priority 3 - promoting an innovation culture and economy. It will provide an essential framework for immediate use in examining the consequences of the new research performance and funding arrangements being introduced in 2007, and assessing the impacts of policies that encourage collaboration. The comparisons with three other countries with similar policy goals will generate insights on how policy can best support knowledge generation.Read moreRead less
Education and training and regional networks: the implications for outcomes and governance. The project will investigate local learning and employment networks (LLENs) that have been established in Victoria. It will analyse the effectiveness of networks in delivering education and training services and improving outcomes for young people. The inter- and intra-action of networks, and their relationships with government in policy formation will also be analysed. The project is located in a majo ....Education and training and regional networks: the implications for outcomes and governance. The project will investigate local learning and employment networks (LLENs) that have been established in Victoria. It will analyse the effectiveness of networks in delivering education and training services and improving outcomes for young people. The inter- and intra-action of networks, and their relationships with government in policy formation will also be analysed. The project is located in a major and unique innovation in education and training, and for the first time will apply meso level theory and methodology in this area of public policy. It will provide new findings on effectiveness of networks in education outcomes.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
A taxonomy of Australian consumers' food and health knowledge. Identification and measurement of the basic dimensions of food knowledge of consumers will inform new education curricula and community communication programs. The findings will enable better targeting of community and industry education by policy planners, education authorities, and the food industry. They will also enable monitoring and evaluation of food communication programs. In the longer term, this research may also enable cit ....A taxonomy of Australian consumers' food and health knowledge. Identification and measurement of the basic dimensions of food knowledge of consumers will inform new education curricula and community communication programs. The findings will enable better targeting of community and industry education by policy planners, education authorities, and the food industry. They will also enable monitoring and evaluation of food communication programs. In the longer term, this research may also enable citizens to deal with the changes caused by climate change, metabolic disease and increasing longevity; help educate more literate food industry workers; enhance communications between citizens, industry and government; and generate greater demand for higher quality food products.
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Socially Responsible Indicators for Policy, Practice and Benchmarking in Service Organisations. The Australian Government, while attempting to limit the spiralling costs of the welfare state, has encouraged market principles and practices in service organisations. This has raised value dilemmas and administrative tensions for education and welfare organisations who, while committed to social justice and social responsibility, have to operate efficiently and effectively. This research aims, thr ....Socially Responsible Indicators for Policy, Practice and Benchmarking in Service Organisations. The Australian Government, while attempting to limit the spiralling costs of the welfare state, has encouraged market principles and practices in service organisations. This has raised value dilemmas and administrative tensions for education and welfare organisations who, while committed to social justice and social responsibility, have to operate efficiently and effectively. This research aims, through the identification and analysis of tensions between social and economic value orientations in the workplace, to develop a values framework and key socially responsible indicators for the improvement of policy, decision making and practice within the Industry Partners and the wider service sectors.Read moreRead less
Ethnographies of housing: exploring the role of housing officers in public housing service provision. This research examines the everyday practice of public housing officers working in the Victorian Office of Housing. It aims to analyse the ways that workers exercise discretion, and the patterns of meanings that they construct, through their interactions with clients, departmental managers and other human service providers. It is the first ethnographic study of front-line work in housing servi ....Ethnographies of housing: exploring the role of housing officers in public housing service provision. This research examines the everyday practice of public housing officers working in the Victorian Office of Housing. It aims to analyse the ways that workers exercise discretion, and the patterns of meanings that they construct, through their interactions with clients, departmental managers and other human service providers. It is the first ethnographic study of front-line work in housing services in Australia and builds on comparable work done in the United Kingdom and America. The knowledge generated will inform innovation in public housing services, housing policy debates and emerging programs designed to integrate housing with other human services.Read moreRead less
A multi-modal investigation of current and proposed structures and processes determining and sustaining quality in Australian centre-based child care. Access to good quality government-regulated child care is a national policy direction, underpinned by Australia's quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms, and based on evidence that high quality care positively affects children's developmental wellbeing. Of concern is that care of poorer quality is linked with adverse outcomes, especially f ....A multi-modal investigation of current and proposed structures and processes determining and sustaining quality in Australian centre-based child care. Access to good quality government-regulated child care is a national policy direction, underpinned by Australia's quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms, and based on evidence that high quality care positively affects children's developmental wellbeing. Of concern is that care of poorer quality is linked with adverse outcomes, especially for more vulnerable children. The effective provision of high quality care requires a thorough understanding of the structures and processes that contribute to and sustain quality outcomes. The results of this study will provide invaluable information to guide the decisions of policy makers and service providers in determining new directions in child care quality assurance.Read moreRead less
Indigenous participation in a low-carbon economy. Australia’s transition towards a low-carbon economy will cause changes in skill requirements and raises the need to maximise Aboriginal participation. This innovative project will provide a better understanding of what is required for this to occur and showcase a new way of developing educational and training strategies for Indigenous engagement.
Custom-based land and resource management and the educational and social re-engagement of Indigenous youth in the Northern Territory. Social and educational disengagement has reached crisis levels among Indigenous youth in many remote communities; young people are leaving school and training programs because they perceive them to be irrelevant or meaningless. The social cost of this phenomenon is high. This project aims to identify ways to combine Indigenous customary and western science-based l ....Custom-based land and resource management and the educational and social re-engagement of Indigenous youth in the Northern Territory. Social and educational disengagement has reached crisis levels among Indigenous youth in many remote communities; young people are leaving school and training programs because they perceive them to be irrelevant or meaningless. The social cost of this phenomenon is high. This project aims to identify ways to combine Indigenous customary and western science-based land and resource management knowledge and practice with locally and culturally meaningful education and training programs to re-engage young people with learning and their wider communities. The project will produce a series of scholarly outcomes in addition to a coordinated model for strategic policy and program development.
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