ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. The ARC CoE for Automated Decision-Making and Society aims to create the knowledge and strategies necessary for responsible, ethical, and inclusive automated decision-making (ADM). ADM applies new technologies from machine learning to blockchains across a wide range of social sectors; it carries great potential and risks serious failures. The Centre combines social and technological disciplines in an international industry, rese ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. The ARC CoE for Automated Decision-Making and Society aims to create the knowledge and strategies necessary for responsible, ethical, and inclusive automated decision-making (ADM). ADM applies new technologies from machine learning to blockchains across a wide range of social sectors; it carries great potential and risks serious failures. The Centre combines social and technological disciplines in an international industry, research and civil society network. It will formulate world-leading policy and practice; inform public debate; and train a new generation of researchers and practitioners. Expected benefits include reduced risks and improved outcomes in the priority domains of news and media, transport, social services and health.Read moreRead less
Museum Digital Social Futures. This project aims to understand and transform the digital experience of museum audiences post COVID-19 through collaborating with ACMI who pioneered digital curation methods through a Living Lab model. This project will generate new methods for engaging diverse audiences across social and digital worlds in domestic and public spaces through codesigning with national museum peak body, AGaMA, stakeholders. Expected outcomes include resources (i.e. toolkits for implem ....Museum Digital Social Futures. This project aims to understand and transform the digital experience of museum audiences post COVID-19 through collaborating with ACMI who pioneered digital curation methods through a Living Lab model. This project will generate new methods for engaging diverse audiences across social and digital worlds in domestic and public spaces through codesigning with national museum peak body, AGaMA, stakeholders. Expected outcomes include resources (i.e. toolkits for implementation), online repository (website) and symposium for knowledge sharing and transferring of learnings. This should provide significant benefits to the museums sector including digital innovation for social inclusion strategies and resources.
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Young Australians and the promotion of alcohol on social media. This project aims to determine how young people engage with alcohol and nightlife marketing on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Companies now leverage the power of social media to create advertisements that are made and shared by young people, targeted to them in particular times, places and contexts, and are thus difficult to monitor and regulate. The project will use computational, big social data app ....Young Australians and the promotion of alcohol on social media. This project aims to determine how young people engage with alcohol and nightlife marketing on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Companies now leverage the power of social media to create advertisements that are made and shared by young people, targeted to them in particular times, places and contexts, and are thus difficult to monitor and regulate. The project will use computational, big social data approaches and youth informants to assess the pervasiveness of branding on social media and how it shapes youth cultures. This work will extend media and cultural studies and support the development of effective monitoring and regulation of online marketing in general, with a particular focus on alcohol.Read moreRead less
Addressing Misinformation with Media Literacy through Cultural Institutions. Misinformation can harm democratic processes, social cohesion and public health outcomes. Media literacy prepares citizens for misinformation by developing critical analysis abilities. This project partners with Australian public cultural institutions to increase adult media literacy. Through an action-based, mixed methods approach, the project investigates adults’ experiences with online misinformation and assesses the ....Addressing Misinformation with Media Literacy through Cultural Institutions. Misinformation can harm democratic processes, social cohesion and public health outcomes. Media literacy prepares citizens for misinformation by developing critical analysis abilities. This project partners with Australian public cultural institutions to increase adult media literacy. Through an action-based, mixed methods approach, the project investigates adults’ experiences with online misinformation and assesses their ability to identify and challenge it. Research findings will inform the design and evaluation of targeted evidence-based media literacy training and resources that will be shared across broadcast media, physical spaces and online. Through these initiatives Australians will be better equipped to combat misinformation.Read moreRead less
Promissory Democratic Representation: Campaign Promises in Australia. This project aims to investigate the extent to which campaign promises made by politicians are kept or broken. It intends to conduct new research on Australian politics while advancing an established international research program. This project expects to generate and disseminate new knowledge that is urgently needed due to declining levels of trust among citizens in politicians. The expected outcomes include new theory and in ....Promissory Democratic Representation: Campaign Promises in Australia. This project aims to investigate the extent to which campaign promises made by politicians are kept or broken. It intends to conduct new research on Australian politics while advancing an established international research program. This project expects to generate and disseminate new knowledge that is urgently needed due to declining levels of trust among citizens in politicians. The expected outcomes include new theory and internationally comparative evidence on which campaign promises are kept and broken. This should provide significant benefits, such as greater public awareness of actual levels of promise keeping. It should also benefit policymakers who use campaign promises to anticipate and prepare government policies.Read moreRead less
Heartbeat of Australia: Tracking, Understanding and Engaging News Audiences. This project aims to address the existential crisis of local news by developing a barometer of the health of local news ecosystems informed by longitudinal audience surveys, stakeholder in-depth interviews and case studies of marginalised audiences. Expected outcomes include a robust evidence base to assess the value of local news to audiences and wider society, and innovative new strategies to better address the challe ....Heartbeat of Australia: Tracking, Understanding and Engaging News Audiences. This project aims to address the existential crisis of local news by developing a barometer of the health of local news ecosystems informed by longitudinal audience surveys, stakeholder in-depth interviews and case studies of marginalised audiences. Expected outcomes include a robust evidence base to assess the value of local news to audiences and wider society, and innovative new strategies to better address the challenges the news industry faces in adapting to the digital environment. By devising strategies to produce and deliver quality local news that is financially sustainable, the project aims to deliver significant benefits to the news industry and the wellbeing of individuals and communities across Australia. Read moreRead less
Discovering a ‘good read’: Pathways to reading for Australian teens. This project aims to support the school, library, and book industries to increase teenagers’ recreational reading. Matching the right book to the right reader is essential to increase young people’s motivation to read. Yet how cultural intermediaries should operate to best effect within the complex ecologies that shape young people’s text selection is unclear. The project expects to generate robust evidence on how teens discove ....Discovering a ‘good read’: Pathways to reading for Australian teens. This project aims to support the school, library, and book industries to increase teenagers’ recreational reading. Matching the right book to the right reader is essential to increase young people’s motivation to read. Yet how cultural intermediaries should operate to best effect within the complex ecologies that shape young people’s text selection is unclear. The project expects to generate robust evidence on how teens discover books and the cultural factors that influence their choices. Expected outcomes include strategies that libraries, schools, and the book industry can use to promote Australian content for young adults, and equip young people to participate more fully in the social and economic benefits of pleasure reading.Read moreRead less
The Misinformation Future—Confronting Emerging Threats. Misinformation presents challenges to public health and democracy. Though psychological research has explored processing mechanisms and countermeasures, new threats are arising that need to be confronted. This project aims to help meet these threats by (a) investigating misinformation impacts on future-oriented cognition and behaviours, with a focus on global long-term issues and (b) addressing the unique challenges posed by visual and synt ....The Misinformation Future—Confronting Emerging Threats. Misinformation presents challenges to public health and democracy. Though psychological research has explored processing mechanisms and countermeasures, new threats are arising that need to be confronted. This project aims to help meet these threats by (a) investigating misinformation impacts on future-oriented cognition and behaviours, with a focus on global long-term issues and (b) addressing the unique challenges posed by visual and synthetic (AI-generated) misinformation. The expected outcome is new knowledge on the processing and impacts of emerging types of misinformation and translation into practical interventions. These promise to benefit consumers, educators and policymakers, contributing to a healthier information environment.Read moreRead less
When Your Face is Your ID: Public Responses to Automated Facial Recognition. This project would explore public attitudes toward the use of facial recognition technology in public and commercial spaces, schools, and workplaces with a national survey, focus group interviews, and four case studies. The project aims to generate new knowledge about public attitudes through a multi-method interdisciplinary approach that anticipates the future of the technology by studying its use in China. Expected ou ....When Your Face is Your ID: Public Responses to Automated Facial Recognition. This project would explore public attitudes toward the use of facial recognition technology in public and commercial spaces, schools, and workplaces with a national survey, focus group interviews, and four case studies. The project aims to generate new knowledge about public attitudes through a multi-method interdisciplinary approach that anticipates the future of the technology by studying its use in China. Expected outcomes include public reports on the survey and case studies, seven academic journal articles, and a book. The research would provide significant benefits by contributing new knowledge about how to implement the technology in accordance with Australian commitments to civil rights, ethics and democratic values.
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New approaches measuring Australia’s creative workforce: Beyond the Census . This project aims to develop new approaches to measuring Australia’s creative workforce to address increasingly urgent questions about the value of this growing but poorly understood part of the economy and society. It expects to develop and demonstrate novel methods for capturing a range of creative activity currently at the margins of traditional measurement typified by the Census. Expected outcomes, which will benefi ....New approaches measuring Australia’s creative workforce: Beyond the Census . This project aims to develop new approaches to measuring Australia’s creative workforce to address increasingly urgent questions about the value of this growing but poorly understood part of the economy and society. It expects to develop and demonstrate novel methods for capturing a range of creative activity currently at the margins of traditional measurement typified by the Census. Expected outcomes, which will benefit industry partners, the cultural and creative industries, and international scholarship, include new understandings of the scope of creative qualifications, the contribution of creatives working outside the creative industries, the extent of second and other incomes, and the value of volunteering and online entrepreneurship.Read moreRead less