Growing Sustainable Regions: Developing a Rural Statistical Sustainability Framework. Given the challenges facing rural and regional Australia, it is essential that communities and decision-makers have the information and resources to make informed and sustainable decisions. While there is a plethora of data that can provide this evidence-base, it is often complex, disorganised and inaccessible to those who need it. Hence, to facilitate smart information use, this research develops and implement ....Growing Sustainable Regions: Developing a Rural Statistical Sustainability Framework. Given the challenges facing rural and regional Australia, it is essential that communities and decision-makers have the information and resources to make informed and sustainable decisions. While there is a plethora of data that can provide this evidence-base, it is often complex, disorganised and inaccessible to those who need it. Hence, to facilitate smart information use, this research develops and implements a Rural Statistical Sustainability Framework and decision support modelling tool that integrates environmental, economic and social data into a single user-friendly source. This will provide a platform for evidence-based decision-making that will lead to a sustainable future for rural and regional Australia.Read moreRead less
Gambling and Pathways into Homelessness. Does gambling contribute to homelessness in Australia? What aspects of gambling are most likely to contribute to the incidence of homelessness and how does this relate to other dimensions of addictive behaviour? This project examines the role of gambling as a trigger of homelessness through direct means such as evictions and loss of employment, as well as indirect pathways such as serving as a contributing to the incidence of domestic violence and famil ....Gambling and Pathways into Homelessness. Does gambling contribute to homelessness in Australia? What aspects of gambling are most likely to contribute to the incidence of homelessness and how does this relate to other dimensions of addictive behaviour? This project examines the role of gambling as a trigger of homelessness through direct means such as evictions and loss of employment, as well as indirect pathways such as serving as a contributing to the incidence of domestic violence and family breakdown. The research will examine what types of intervention - at what points in the pathway into homelessness - are likely be most effective. The research will lead to better policies and the enhanced delivery of services to this vulnerable population.Read moreRead less
Cultural Diversity, Community and Family Services: Experiences among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse parents of local early childhood services. The evidence is clear that strong communities and effective early intervention strategies play a key role in preventing social disadvantage later in a child's life. Through the provision of high quality training to a doctoral student, this project will have significant benefits at many levels of policy and government. Local, state and federal gover ....Cultural Diversity, Community and Family Services: Experiences among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse parents of local early childhood services. The evidence is clear that strong communities and effective early intervention strategies play a key role in preventing social disadvantage later in a child's life. Through the provision of high quality training to a doctoral student, this project will have significant benefits at many levels of policy and government. Local, state and federal governments and family service providers will have the opportunity to see the effectiveness of their services on parents over an extended period of time and to learn from the project about new strategies that may be deployed to assist culturally diverse families in their communities. Read moreRead less
Impact of parents' employment on children's well-being: The influence of employment quality, time and activities with children, and parenting practices. Most Australian children now grow-up in families where both their mother and their father are employed. Using a new national dataset, this research examines how parents' working conditions are related to children's well-being. It is proposed that parents' availability, resources, and family functioning mediate between parental employment and chi ....Impact of parents' employment on children's well-being: The influence of employment quality, time and activities with children, and parenting practices. Most Australian children now grow-up in families where both their mother and their father are employed. Using a new national dataset, this research examines how parents' working conditions are related to children's well-being. It is proposed that parents' availability, resources, and family functioning mediate between parental employment and child outcomes. The Growing-Up in Australia study (available in 2005) surveys 10,000 children, combining measures of child well-being, existing validated measures of work conditions and family functioning, with a new child-focused diary that measures time and activities undertaken with children. New knowledge generated will inform future policy development.Read moreRead less
Job quality and the mental health and well-being of working parents and their children. Maximizing workforce participation is a national priority, essential to support an ageing population. Also critical is the full development of children's capabilities; part of a healthy start to life. Jobs, parents, children and family life lie at the centre of these priorities. Although employment supports families financially, this may come at a cost if aspects of the job affect parent well-being, or strain ....Job quality and the mental health and well-being of working parents and their children. Maximizing workforce participation is a national priority, essential to support an ageing population. Also critical is the full development of children's capabilities; part of a healthy start to life. Jobs, parents, children and family life lie at the centre of these priorities. Although employment supports families financially, this may come at a cost if aspects of the job affect parent well-being, or strains family relationships, which are critical to children's development and well-being. As well as informing industrial relations changes, this project will benefit the twin economic and social policy goals of workforce participation while at the same time supporting the health and well-being of parents and their children.Read moreRead less
Social Division and the Pursuit of Harmony Across the Antipodes in the Twentieth Century. Into the twentieth century,reformers envisaged the antipodes as a liberal utopia. The social laboratory in Australia and New Zealand is now viewed as a reactionary social model. This project sets out to place Paul Kelly's influential notion of an Australian Settlement within a series of frames which establish the extent of division and the limits to inclusion alongside the achievements of the antipodean exp ....Social Division and the Pursuit of Harmony Across the Antipodes in the Twentieth Century. Into the twentieth century,reformers envisaged the antipodes as a liberal utopia. The social laboratory in Australia and New Zealand is now viewed as a reactionary social model. This project sets out to place Paul Kelly's influential notion of an Australian Settlement within a series of frames which establish the extent of division and the limits to inclusion alongside the achievements of the antipodean experiment. It considers Arbitration as the core institution of the new liberal utopia, and its transformation by Labor into the 1980s. It will result in a major book, two shorter books and two doctoral theses.Read moreRead less
Genetic Identity Testing and the Family: the articulation between biotechnology and family relationships, politics and policy. Genetic identity testing cuts to the very nature of the family itself. For the first time in human history, it is possible to identify paternity - and misattributed paternity - with reasonable certainty. Parentage testing has become a vehicle for the fathers? rights movement, and is influencing the management of child support policy. Governments are currently developing ....Genetic Identity Testing and the Family: the articulation between biotechnology and family relationships, politics and policy. Genetic identity testing cuts to the very nature of the family itself. For the first time in human history, it is possible to identify paternity - and misattributed paternity - with reasonable certainty. Parentage testing has become a vehicle for the fathers? rights movement, and is influencing the management of child support policy. Governments are currently developing broad policy frameworks on this issue. Yet there is almost no social research on parentage testing. This study will provide scope for Australian leadership in an area of study that will become progressively more important with the rapid development of DNA chip technology. Read moreRead less
Discretionary Time: A New Method of Cross-National Welfare Comparison Focusing on Freedom. Cross-national comparisons of welfare regimes and their gender divisions explore issues of income and employment. Those bring liberation of a sort, but they do not exhaust people's freedom and autonomy. This Project will explore how paid and unpaid labour responsibilities interact, impinging on people's discretionary time and thus autonomy. A new measure of 'discretionary time' will be developed and its ....Discretionary Time: A New Method of Cross-National Welfare Comparison Focusing on Freedom. Cross-national comparisons of welfare regimes and their gender divisions explore issues of income and employment. Those bring liberation of a sort, but they do not exhaust people's freedom and autonomy. This Project will explore how paid and unpaid labour responsibilities interact, impinging on people's discretionary time and thus autonomy. A new measure of 'discretionary time' will be developed and its usefulness for cross-national comparisons illustrated through analysis of time use data from Australia, Finland, Canada and Sweden. Different ways of targeting social assistance to the most time-pressured groups in society will be examined for policy lessons from abroad.
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Young injecting drug users, embodied identities and social worlds: an ethnographic study. This research explores the social experience of young injecting drug users, mapping processes of initiation, the hidden drug experience, and modes of maturing out of drug use. It analyses and compares the trajectories of young drug users in both rural and urban contexts, focusing on the experience of embodied selfhood, social worlds and identities, exploring injecting use as a medium of relationship with t ....Young injecting drug users, embodied identities and social worlds: an ethnographic study. This research explores the social experience of young injecting drug users, mapping processes of initiation, the hidden drug experience, and modes of maturing out of drug use. It analyses and compares the trajectories of young drug users in both rural and urban contexts, focusing on the experience of embodied selfhood, social worlds and identities, exploring injecting use as a medium of relationship with the self and the other, and mapping social networks and cultures of risk. It will develop key implications for national and local drug policy in three critical areas: prevention, harm minimisation and withdrawal.Read moreRead less
Ageing Baby Boomers in Australia (ABBA): Informing Actions For Better Retirement. The research will improve understanding of baby boomers & inform action to achieve positive outcomes individually & for an ageing Australia. It will: 1)inform baby boomers of ways in which their actions in late middle age can increase the chance of having satisfying healthy lives in retirement; 2)inform employers & governments on key factors enabling people to work longer; 3)challenge stereotypes of baby boomers b ....Ageing Baby Boomers in Australia (ABBA): Informing Actions For Better Retirement. The research will improve understanding of baby boomers & inform action to achieve positive outcomes individually & for an ageing Australia. It will: 1)inform baby boomers of ways in which their actions in late middle age can increase the chance of having satisfying healthy lives in retirement; 2)inform employers & governments on key factors enabling people to work longer; 3)challenge stereotypes of baby boomers by showing their variability over the life course & in retirement; 4)provide four researchers with knowledge & expertise in applied, multi-disciplinary research on individual & population ageing; 5)identify baby boomers' expectations for themselves, governments, & the community to guide directions for Australia's response to ageing.Read moreRead less