Strengthening Health Workforce Migration to Australia and Canada. The project aims to define skilled migration trends in relation to the key fields (medicine, nursing and dentistry). Australia is one of very few countries with an explicit policy to import migrant health professionals. The project plans to assess if the goal of domestic self-sufficiency is likely to be met by 2025 and examine the risk of a ‘two tier’ health workforce developing (with conditionally registered migrants servicing pa ....Strengthening Health Workforce Migration to Australia and Canada. The project aims to define skilled migration trends in relation to the key fields (medicine, nursing and dentistry). Australia is one of very few countries with an explicit policy to import migrant health professionals. The project plans to assess if the goal of domestic self-sufficiency is likely to be met by 2025 and examine the risk of a ‘two tier’ health workforce developing (with conditionally registered migrants servicing patients in undersupplied sectors and sites). It then aims to propose changes to make the migration and health policy systems more effective and ethical in future compared to Canada (Australia’s key global competitor for skilled migrants), through evidence-based policy reform.Read moreRead less
Capturing value on the margins of the global knowledge economy. This project will explain the basis of competitiveness in knowledge economy industries. It is widely understood that high levels of participation in knowledge intensive activities contribute to economic growth and higher wages. There is a need to develop policies to promote Australia's performance in knowledge intensive industries. As such this project addresses a policy problem by analysing the basis of competitiveness in the medic ....Capturing value on the margins of the global knowledge economy. This project will explain the basis of competitiveness in knowledge economy industries. It is widely understood that high levels of participation in knowledge intensive activities contribute to economic growth and higher wages. There is a need to develop policies to promote Australia's performance in knowledge intensive industries. As such this project addresses a policy problem by analysing the basis of competitiveness in the medical instruments and video production industries as exemplar knowledge intensive industries. The findings will provide a basis for formulating new policy support for the knowledge economy which draws on the most recent theoretical insights derived from global production network research.Read moreRead less
Connecting social policy and urban planning for a low carbon future. Australia has one of the most carbon intensive economies in the developed world. This project aims to identify policy synergies between environmental, economic and social policies that can move Australia toward a low carbon economy and model of sustainable prosperity. The project plans to place questions about poverty, transport and urban planning at the heart of examining how developed nations can move past a high carbon model ....Connecting social policy and urban planning for a low carbon future. Australia has one of the most carbon intensive economies in the developed world. This project aims to identify policy synergies between environmental, economic and social policies that can move Australia toward a low carbon economy and model of sustainable prosperity. The project plans to place questions about poverty, transport and urban planning at the heart of examining how developed nations can move past a high carbon model of economic growth and city planning. It aims to use innovative research methods, such as cross-national comparisons, political discourse analysis, planning case studies and deliberative public forums to engage the community, scientists and policy makers in re-imagining Australia's future.Read moreRead less
Mapping the policy advisory capacity of the Australian federal government: assessing transformations in the policy advising role of the Australian Public Service. Governmental effectiveness depends to a significant extent on the availability of high quality information, analysis and advice. This project therefore addresses a matter of crucial national importance, namely the ability of the Australian Public Service to support decision-making through its policy advising functions. The project is s ....Mapping the policy advisory capacity of the Australian federal government: assessing transformations in the policy advising role of the Australian Public Service. Governmental effectiveness depends to a significant extent on the availability of high quality information, analysis and advice. This project therefore addresses a matter of crucial national importance, namely the ability of the Australian Public Service to support decision-making through its policy advising functions. The project is significant for both its theoretical and practical contributions. Its findings will inform better understandings of the policy advising role of the public service and its relationship to decision-makers in an increasingly pluralised governance context. The project will be the Australian contribution to a larger comparative project examining policy advisory capacities in four Westminster-style governments.Read moreRead less
Government web portals as government actors. This project aims to examine the architectures, rationales, effectiveness and power effects of government web portals, which are conceptualised as spaces of administrative, policy and power contestation. They are the formal public face of online government, but their effectiveness and contribution to government is largely unknown. The project uses digital research methods (hyperlink network analysis and web experiments) to comparatively assess 10 hi-t ....Government web portals as government actors. This project aims to examine the architectures, rationales, effectiveness and power effects of government web portals, which are conceptualised as spaces of administrative, policy and power contestation. They are the formal public face of online government, but their effectiveness and contribution to government is largely unknown. The project uses digital research methods (hyperlink network analysis and web experiments) to comparatively assess 10 hi-tech countries. It expects to contribute to understanding the structure and governance of the state in the 21st century, and provide foundational knowledge to underpin the next generation of government online service strategy.Read moreRead less
Beyond global discourses of data: Storying learning in marginalised schools. Globally, Australian school education is seen as under-performing. Consequently, attention to data, particularly numeric and standardised test data, in schools have become pervasive. This project aims to understand how teachers and educators in schools and school systems actually engage with a broader conception of data for enhanced learning, on a truly global scale, particularly in schools serving struggling communiti ....Beyond global discourses of data: Storying learning in marginalised schools. Globally, Australian school education is seen as under-performing. Consequently, attention to data, particularly numeric and standardised test data, in schools have become pervasive. This project aims to understand how teachers and educators in schools and school systems actually engage with a broader conception of data for enhanced learning, on a truly global scale, particularly in schools serving struggling communities. This project will reveal the myriad ways educators in diverse settings - England, Australia, Singapore and Bangladesh - engage with data. The project will re-conceptualise how data are understood globally, and will provide significant benefits including informing education policy-making and improving teaching practices.Read moreRead less
Collaboration as a solution to wicked public policy problems: the example of regional environmental and natural resources policy in Australia. This project contributes to the water national priority by assessing two major national programs to improve Australia's land and water management through innovative collaboration models. It examines whether new collaborations between governments and NGO stakeholders, together with the creation of numerous regional bodies, are likely to achieve better outc ....Collaboration as a solution to wicked public policy problems: the example of regional environmental and natural resources policy in Australia. This project contributes to the water national priority by assessing two major national programs to improve Australia's land and water management through innovative collaboration models. It examines whether new collaborations between governments and NGO stakeholders, together with the creation of numerous regional bodies, are likely to achieve better outcomes than the previous regulatory models. The project will enhance public policy models through analysis of the strengths and limitations of the new program approach. Problems and prospects at the national, state and regional levels will be assessed including how different forms of collaboration are linked to effective and accountable institutional arrangements. Read moreRead less
Decision making in international organisations: who and what shapes decisions? This project explores the working of seven international organisations (IOs) to ask who or what shapes what IOs do. Using public policy concepts to analyse the contributions of state representatives, chief executives and staff within IOs, this project seeks to provide more realistic appreciation of what IOs can achieve.
International Civil Servants and the World Bank: their Role and Impact. The World Bank is the principal international organisation responsible for alleviating poverty and advocating good governance.Understanding the World Bank and its impact in the South Asian and East Asia regions should enable an improved capability for Australia to appreciate the attempts to alleviate the poverty in the region that is so much a source of instability there. We further need to understand the potential of int ....International Civil Servants and the World Bank: their Role and Impact. The World Bank is the principal international organisation responsible for alleviating poverty and advocating good governance.Understanding the World Bank and its impact in the South Asian and East Asia regions should enable an improved capability for Australia to appreciate the attempts to alleviate the poverty in the region that is so much a source of instability there. We further need to understand the potential of internatonal civil servants to contribute to international cooperation and the process of globalization. Read moreRead less
Adjudicating rights for a sustainable National Disability Insurance Scheme. The aim of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is to redress unfairness for disabled Australians. The sensitive question for government and citizens is how to determine what support is fair? The goal is support based on the perceived needs and choices of individuals. The government is additionally concerned to ensure financial sustainability by limiting expectations about reasonable and necessary support. This proje ....Adjudicating rights for a sustainable National Disability Insurance Scheme. The aim of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is to redress unfairness for disabled Australians. The sensitive question for government and citizens is how to determine what support is fair? The goal is support based on the perceived needs and choices of individuals. The government is additionally concerned to ensure financial sustainability by limiting expectations about reasonable and necessary support. This project will identify the dominant operating principles and debates concerning funded support, by analysing relevant frameworks, decisions, appeals and internal reviews. By taking an administrative justice perspective, it contributes to a critical debate about the values guiding funded support decisions and fairness outcomes.Read moreRead less