The face of the poor: a history of poverty through the eyes of the St Vincent de Paul Society. This project will develop a detailed understanding of the changing role of the church sector in the provision of 'front-line' social welfare. It will train a postgraduate student in the skills of archival and policy analysis, at a time when many welfare agencies are employing staff in research and policy functions. By focusing on a voluntary organisation, it will provide insight into the historical rol ....The face of the poor: a history of poverty through the eyes of the St Vincent de Paul Society. This project will develop a detailed understanding of the changing role of the church sector in the provision of 'front-line' social welfare. It will train a postgraduate student in the skills of archival and policy analysis, at a time when many welfare agencies are employing staff in research and policy functions. By focusing on a voluntary organisation, it will provide insight into the historical role of volunteers in Australian welfare. By illuminating how the roles of the church agencies in the mixed economy of welfare have changed over time, the project will contribute to the goal of strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric. Read moreRead less
Voicing the Welfare State: Experiences of the Sixteenth-Century French Poor. This research enhances our historical understanding of poverty and its support mechanisms in Europe's past, through reconstruction of a comprehensive and detailed picture of the sixteenth-century French poor. New methodologies and techniques for recovery of formal and informal social networks will be developed. Historical models of such mechanisms provide context of the long history of Australia's welfare structure mode ....Voicing the Welfare State: Experiences of the Sixteenth-Century French Poor. This research enhances our historical understanding of poverty and its support mechanisms in Europe's past, through reconstruction of a comprehensive and detailed picture of the sixteenth-century French poor. New methodologies and techniques for recovery of formal and informal social networks will be developed. Historical models of such mechanisms provide context of the long history of Australia's welfare structure models, philosophy and participation strategies. The programme provides expert research training for early career researchers, in a collaborative Humanities team environment. Australian historians can thus continue to generate globally competitive and significant research.Read moreRead less
The other welfare state: the non-government welfare sector in Victoria, 1945 - 1995. This project investigates the history and development of the non-government welfare sector in Victoria in the half-century following 1945. Through archival research and oral histories, the project consists of case studies of four key faith-based agencies, as a lens through which to examine how the sector has related to governments and how it has imagined its purposes and its 'clients'. Little attention has been ....The other welfare state: the non-government welfare sector in Victoria, 1945 - 1995. This project investigates the history and development of the non-government welfare sector in Victoria in the half-century following 1945. Through archival research and oral histories, the project consists of case studies of four key faith-based agencies, as a lens through which to examine how the sector has related to governments and how it has imagined its purposes and its 'clients'. Little attention has been given to the post-war history of this sector in Australia, but its escalating role today in service delivery is reflected in an international literature on the changing role of non-government organisations within modern welfare regimes.Read moreRead less