Standing up to racism and racial bullying among Australian school students. This project aims to substantially increase understandings of bystander responses (including their extent, nature, potential, merits, benefits, and constraints) as a means of countering racism and racial bullying among Australian school students. This aims to be achieved through examining experiences of, attitudes towards, and responses to, racism and racial bullying among school students; identifying health, wellbeing, ....Standing up to racism and racial bullying among Australian school students. This project aims to substantially increase understandings of bystander responses (including their extent, nature, potential, merits, benefits, and constraints) as a means of countering racism and racial bullying among Australian school students. This aims to be achieved through examining experiences of, attitudes towards, and responses to, racism and racial bullying among school students; identifying health, wellbeing, education and social outcomes of racism and racial bullying for individuals, schools and communities; exploring the enablers and obstacles associated with bystander responses to racism and racial bullying; and by developing and piloting a school-based program to foster bystander responses to racism and racial bullying.Read moreRead less
Tertiary education and social capital in Victoria: the effects of the new economy courses in Business and IT. Over one third of tertiary students are enrolled in the fast-growing new economy disciplines in business studies and IT. In partnership with the Victorian government, this project studies the contribution of business and IT courses to social capital, the collaborative networks that underpin economic innovation and sustainable community. The research will survey and interview Victorian 15 ....Tertiary education and social capital in Victoria: the effects of the new economy courses in Business and IT. Over one third of tertiary students are enrolled in the fast-growing new economy disciplines in business studies and IT. In partnership with the Victorian government, this project studies the contribution of business and IT courses to social capital, the collaborative networks that underpin economic innovation and sustainable community. The research will survey and interview Victorian 1500 graduates from 12 higher education and VET institutions (6 rural); and survey and interview employers and community leaders. The research will inform Victoria's education policy and Growing Victoria Together strategy, and encourage tertiary institutions throughout Australia to strengthen their contribution to social capital.Read moreRead less
Refugees employment aspirations and inter-generational communication about future occupational pathways. This project is the first to investigate the long-term employment aspirations of recently arrived refugees and how they communicate them to their children. Findings will inform policy and service delivery aimed at helping these people to achieve the potential they bring to Australia.
Digital energy futures: forecasting changing residential electricity demand. This project aims to understand and forecast changing digital lifestyle trends and their impact on future household electricity demand, including at peak times. The project expects to generate new knowledge by employing digital ethnography and sociological theories to investigate how changing social practices will impact on electricity sector planning. Expected outcomes include: scenarios and principles for digital ener ....Digital energy futures: forecasting changing residential electricity demand. This project aims to understand and forecast changing digital lifestyle trends and their impact on future household electricity demand, including at peak times. The project expects to generate new knowledge by employing digital ethnography and sociological theories to investigate how changing social practices will impact on electricity sector planning. Expected outcomes include: scenarios and principles for digital energy futures; an interdisciplinary energy demand forecasting methodology; and demand management tools to help the sector meet future residential consumption. This should provide significant benefits, such as lowering the cost of infrastructure spending, and helping secure affordable electricity provision.Read moreRead less
Youth-led learning: local connections and global citizenship. Focussing on social connections across racial and religious boundaries, the project directly addresses two areas of immediate national concern: young peoples' wellbeing, and Australia's relationship with its neighbours. The project will generate a new model of sustainable partnership across NGOs and learning institutions to provide youth-led, global education programs for school-aged youth, promoting learning from a local basis about ....Youth-led learning: local connections and global citizenship. Focussing on social connections across racial and religious boundaries, the project directly addresses two areas of immediate national concern: young peoples' wellbeing, and Australia's relationship with its neighbours. The project will generate a new model of sustainable partnership across NGOs and learning institutions to provide youth-led, global education programs for school-aged youth, promoting learning from a local basis about global issues. In creating this shared evidence base the project will benefit two industry sectors (NGOs and Education) and facilitate the development of effective processes toward young people's greater participation in social life.Read moreRead less
Determining the individual, community and societal impacts of compensable injury in Australia. This project will enhance our understanding of the individual, community and societal impacts of workplace and transport injury in Australia. The project will develop new impact measurement tools for application in workers' compensation and motor accident compensation schemes.
Cycle Aware: Driving with Bikes. This project focuses on the education and training required by drivers to interact safely with cyclists. It uses two ontologically diverse methodologies to examine how Australian drivers become cyclist aware and the education and training necessary to foster safe driver–cyclist interactions. The project aims to provide a critical knowledge base for state and territory driver education policies and a cycle-aware module for learner drivers. These outcomes are inten ....Cycle Aware: Driving with Bikes. This project focuses on the education and training required by drivers to interact safely with cyclists. It uses two ontologically diverse methodologies to examine how Australian drivers become cyclist aware and the education and training necessary to foster safe driver–cyclist interactions. The project aims to provide a critical knowledge base for state and territory driver education policies and a cycle-aware module for learner drivers. These outcomes are intended to reduce cyclist road trauma and on-road tensions between cyclists and drivers, and to improve opportunities for active travel to tackle the growing issue of inactivity.Read moreRead less
Cyber-racism and community resilience. Racism has become a significant source of social stress, facilitated through the internet, undermining community cohesion. This project will document perpetrators’ creation of racist content, internet users’ exposure to cyber-racism, the capacity of regulation to manage the impact, and how social media can help communities to resist cyber-racism.
Policing and Quality Part-time Work: Constraints and Options. Research suggests that a major barrier to retaining women both in sworn and unsworn positions in police work is the limited provision and uptake of part-time work. A related impediment is the conditions associated with the part-time work available in policing services. This project uses an action research approach to analyse the constraints on and options for ensuring that part-time work within Victoria Police is good 'quality' work. ....Policing and Quality Part-time Work: Constraints and Options. Research suggests that a major barrier to retaining women both in sworn and unsworn positions in police work is the limited provision and uptake of part-time work. A related impediment is the conditions associated with the part-time work available in policing services. This project uses an action research approach to analyse the constraints on and options for ensuring that part-time work within Victoria Police is good 'quality' work. The project outcomes will contribute to better theoretical and organisational understandings of the dimensions of quality in the implementation of part-time work in public policing and in other organisational contexts.
Read moreRead less
Local government, mining companies and resources development in regional Australia: meeting the governance challenge. Sustainable regional development and continuing growth of the resources sector are key national priorities. The current resources boom is placing significant pressure on the physical, social and governance infrastructure of mining-intensive regions. Unless these issues can be better managed, new resource projects risk being delayed or deferred and the trend to fly-in fly-out oper ....Local government, mining companies and resources development in regional Australia: meeting the governance challenge. Sustainable regional development and continuing growth of the resources sector are key national priorities. The current resources boom is placing significant pressure on the physical, social and governance infrastructure of mining-intensive regions. Unless these issues can be better managed, new resource projects risk being delayed or deferred and the trend to fly-in fly-out operations will be accelerated, with deleterious consequences for sustainable regional growth. This project will contribute to a more effective response to these challenges by investigating the changing nature of local level governance in mining intensive regions and how these arrangements can be improved.Read moreRead less