Women in Local Government: Understanding their Political Trajectories. This project aims to investigate the chronic under representation of women in Australian politics through a local government lens. It expects to generate new knowledge about barriers to female political representation, their political performance and pathways to higher tiers of elected office. By following men and women councillors across an election cycle, this research seeks to robustly compare and measure women's experienc ....Women in Local Government: Understanding their Political Trajectories. This project aims to investigate the chronic under representation of women in Australian politics through a local government lens. It expects to generate new knowledge about barriers to female political representation, their political performance and pathways to higher tiers of elected office. By following men and women councillors across an election cycle, this research seeks to robustly compare and measure women's experiences of local politics to develop a new framework to map and address obstacles preventing political equity. Expected outcomes include theoretical advances and a 'best practice' guide for achieving parity.This should provide significant public benefits by advancing female participation across all levels of governments.
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Understanding and Addressing Informal Voting in Victoria. Victoria's informal vote rate is high and rising. In order to combat the problem of hundreds of thousands of 'lost votes' at Victorian state and local government elections we must first understand it. This collaboration with the Victorian Electoral Commission addresses the problem at both state and local levels over 3 election periods using 4 distinct studies. We combine experimental data, aggregate-level data and individual-level data to ....Understanding and Addressing Informal Voting in Victoria. Victoria's informal vote rate is high and rising. In order to combat the problem of hundreds of thousands of 'lost votes' at Victorian state and local government elections we must first understand it. This collaboration with the Victorian Electoral Commission addresses the problem at both state and local levels over 3 election periods using 4 distinct studies. We combine experimental data, aggregate-level data and individual-level data to provide a thorough and multi-dimensional picture of informal voting. We will then propose remedies to be trialled and assessed. Taken together, our studies will represent the first multi-dimensional analysis of informality to be conducted in any Western democracy.
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Visualising Humanitarian Crises: Transforming Images and Aid Policy. This project aims to draw on the power of images to transform practices of aid. Prevailing visualisations of humanitarian crises are powerful but problematic. They often focus on violence and depict victims in stereotypical and dehumanising ways. The project develops new evidence-based visual strategies through interdisciplinary collaborations with leading industry partners in Australia and internationally. Expected outcomes in ....Visualising Humanitarian Crises: Transforming Images and Aid Policy. This project aims to draw on the power of images to transform practices of aid. Prevailing visualisations of humanitarian crises are powerful but problematic. They often focus on violence and depict victims in stereotypical and dehumanising ways. The project develops new evidence-based visual strategies through interdisciplinary collaborations with leading industry partners in Australia and internationally. Expected outcomes include best practice guidelines that better equip humanitarian organisations to help people in need and contribute to enduring political solutions. Resulting benefits are more effective aid policies at a time when humanitarian concerns are increasingly central to global stability and Australia’s national interest.Read moreRead less
Global Citizen Deliberation: Analysing a Deliberative Documentary. The project will enact and film the world’s first truly global citizens’ deliberation, a global citizens’ assembly (GCA) on genome editing, and proceed to analyse the impact of the ‘deliberative documentary’ film on public understanding of complex, fast-evolving science and technology. It will investigate the cross-cultural capacity of citizens to deliberate complex value-laden issues, and so ascertain prospects for an informed g ....Global Citizen Deliberation: Analysing a Deliberative Documentary. The project will enact and film the world’s first truly global citizens’ deliberation, a global citizens’ assembly (GCA) on genome editing, and proceed to analyse the impact of the ‘deliberative documentary’ film on public understanding of complex, fast-evolving science and technology. It will investigate the cross-cultural capacity of citizens to deliberate complex value-laden issues, and so ascertain prospects for an informed global public response to challenges posed by genome editing. Research will test the effects of the deliberative documentary on viewers, examining benefits of communicating complex issues via the work of the GCA. Other benefits include improving public trust in governance and advancing the Australian film industry.
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Appropriate Development Interventions to Violent and Hateful Extremism. This project investigates how the international development/humanitarian activities of Plan International should best address violent and hateful extremism (VHE). VHE impacts about 70% of Plan’s $1bn global activity, and around USD80bn foreign aid globally. This project thoroughly examines VHE impacts on their work in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Philippines and Indonesia, to develop new situation assessment tools and indicators, in ....Appropriate Development Interventions to Violent and Hateful Extremism. This project investigates how the international development/humanitarian activities of Plan International should best address violent and hateful extremism (VHE). VHE impacts about 70% of Plan’s $1bn global activity, and around USD80bn foreign aid globally. This project thoroughly examines VHE impacts on their work in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Philippines and Indonesia, to develop new situation assessment tools and indicators, in order to facilitate mainstreaming VHE into project planning and design and offer recommendations for primary (population), secondary (at-risk) and tertiary (those involved) interventions. Reduced VHE will benefit not only individuals participating in programs, but societies in those countries plus regional stability.Read moreRead less