An investigation of the declining supply of school principals in Australia. Leadership is critical when reforming schools for new knowledge economies. Yet international and Australian anecdotal evidence suggests a declining supply of applicants for school leadership. This study investigates the existence, extent and nature of, and explanations for, this paradox across three states and all education systems against international trends. Its unique contribution lies in its focus on (i) interaction ....An investigation of the declining supply of school principals in Australia. Leadership is critical when reforming schools for new knowledge economies. Yet international and Australian anecdotal evidence suggests a declining supply of applicants for school leadership. This study investigates the existence, extent and nature of, and explanations for, this paradox across three states and all education systems against international trends. Its unique contribution lies in its focus on (i) interactions between institutional structures, cultures and professional identity,(ii) context and location, (iii) the interplay of gender, race and ethnic difference. Innovative research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, will produce evidence to inform policy development on principal recruitment, selection, induction and professional development.Read moreRead less
Connecting Government to Community: A study of social and political connectivity at the municipal level. Facilitating community strengthening by making public institutions more responsive to the needs of citizens is a central policy challenge in the global era. This project will advance theoretical, methodological and practical understandings of this issue by using comparative measures of personal ties and organizational connectedness in four municipalities to explicate the networks linking poli ....Connecting Government to Community: A study of social and political connectivity at the municipal level. Facilitating community strengthening by making public institutions more responsive to the needs of citizens is a central policy challenge in the global era. This project will advance theoretical, methodological and practical understandings of this issue by using comparative measures of personal ties and organizational connectedness in four municipalities to explicate the networks linking politicians, bureaucrats, civic leaders and ordinary citizens. The study will generate new measures of which kinds of connections count most, which ties bring more isolated groups closer to engagement, and which community strengthening strategies are likely to make improved governance outcomes feasible.Read moreRead less
How governments innovate: Networks, normative frames and leadership styles. This project addresses the national research priority goal of promoting an innovation culture and economy. Understanding the development and uptake of innovative ideas is critical for maximising Australia's creative capability. Improving our understanding of how policy leaders frame innovation, who they source innovative policy ideas from and how, and what individual and collective resources they draw upon is key to unde ....How governments innovate: Networks, normative frames and leadership styles. This project addresses the national research priority goal of promoting an innovation culture and economy. Understanding the development and uptake of innovative ideas is critical for maximising Australia's creative capability. Improving our understanding of how policy leaders frame innovation, who they source innovative policy ideas from and how, and what individual and collective resources they draw upon is key to understanding the factors conducive to innovation and its acceptance. This project will provide vital information on structures and processes for encouraging and managing innovation, and will lead to more responsive pathways for innovation, better governance systems and better policy outcomes.Read moreRead less
Reducing health disparities for older LGBTI Australians. Reducing health disparities for older LGBTI Australians. This project aims to optimise health and aged care services throughout Australia, by bringing together researchers and key organisations in the health, aged, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) sectors to build a much-needed evidence base. Older LGBTI Australians have vastly poorer health outcomes than the broader population. This project will provide detaile ....Reducing health disparities for older LGBTI Australians. Reducing health disparities for older LGBTI Australians. This project aims to optimise health and aged care services throughout Australia, by bringing together researchers and key organisations in the health, aged, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) sectors to build a much-needed evidence base. Older LGBTI Australians have vastly poorer health outcomes than the broader population. This project will provide detailed quantitative and qualitative data on the challenges and needs of older LGBTI Australians and service providers, and develop essential resources so policymakers and service providers can reduce older LGBTI Australians’ health disparities.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
Auditing the Victorian Charter: Australian and international perspectives on applied human rights. This project is a detailed legal, government and policy case study of the most important human rights initiative in recent Australian history. It will provide research and new knowledge in key areas of human rights: the operation of human rights Bills, links between human rights and social disadvantage, education and community attitudes, and strategic government implementation. The project will d ....Auditing the Victorian Charter: Australian and international perspectives on applied human rights. This project is a detailed legal, government and policy case study of the most important human rights initiative in recent Australian history. It will provide research and new knowledge in key areas of human rights: the operation of human rights Bills, links between human rights and social disadvantage, education and community attitudes, and strategic government implementation. The project will develop a new policy tool (a national Audit) to monitor, plan and strengthen human rights in government and the community, and contribute to better social wellbeing and stronger democracy in Australia.Read moreRead less
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
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
Comparing immigration policy in the group of five: developing an evidence base for evaluating the role of policy in international migration. Testing the impact of immigration policy is an interdisciplinary, multi-national study evaluating the policy management of immigration movements over 50 years and across the five countries Australia uses as comparators. It includes a detailed study of measures to deter and otherwise control irregular migration.
Community Engagement for Localised Greenhouse Reduction: a local government demand-management model for business and household water, energy and waste reduction. New integrated community strategies are needed to deal with the imperative of reducing Australia's carbon footprint. With an explicit focus on enhancing community engagement for localised greenhouse reduction, this project will generate important analysis and policy prescriptions for demand reduction strategies. The development of endur ....Community Engagement for Localised Greenhouse Reduction: a local government demand-management model for business and household water, energy and waste reduction. New integrated community strategies are needed to deal with the imperative of reducing Australia's carbon footprint. With an explicit focus on enhancing community engagement for localised greenhouse reduction, this project will generate important analysis and policy prescriptions for demand reduction strategies. The development of enduring sustainable environment attitudinal and behavioural change is central to the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development, which sees a clear role for governments, business and individuals in progressing ecologically sustainable development. The results will contribute to developing new place-based integrated eco-sustainability models for implementation by local/state governments.Read moreRead less