Understanding and preventing gun violence: A qualitative study. Gun violence causes significant harm across Australian communities. Excluding sexual assault, firearms feature in nearly one in 10 violent crimes. The annual costs of gun violence run into tens of millions of dollars. This project aims to make an original qualitative contribution to understanding and preventing gun violence in three contexts: drug dealing/trafficking, other organised crime activity, and armed robbery. The proposed r ....Understanding and preventing gun violence: A qualitative study. Gun violence causes significant harm across Australian communities. Excluding sexual assault, firearms feature in nearly one in 10 violent crimes. The annual costs of gun violence run into tens of millions of dollars. This project aims to make an original qualitative contribution to understanding and preventing gun violence in three contexts: drug dealing/trafficking, other organised crime activity, and armed robbery. The proposed research would be the first study nationally - and one of the very few internationally - to interview convicted gun crime users about the acquisition and use of firearms in criminal life. Project results are expected to have direct implications for reducing the impact of gun violence in Australia.Read moreRead less
Evaluating consumer product regulatory responses to improve child safety. This project aims to quantify the level of similarity between consumer product regulatory practices and child injuries, and compare national approaches. Consumer product safety regulation operates in a global and ‘virtual’ market. Online purchasing, limited border protection and distance between suppliers and consumers make monitoring and enforcing product safety more difficult for regulators, putting consumers at risk. A ....Evaluating consumer product regulatory responses to improve child safety. This project aims to quantify the level of similarity between consumer product regulatory practices and child injuries, and compare national approaches. Consumer product safety regulation operates in a global and ‘virtual’ market. Online purchasing, limited border protection and distance between suppliers and consumers make monitoring and enforcing product safety more difficult for regulators, putting consumers at risk. A rapid responsive product safety system that operates across sectors and borders is an international priority. This project expects to close gaps in consumer regulatory practice and safety policy.Read moreRead less
Non-linear modelling for predicting patient presentation rates for mass-gatherings. Mass-gatherings are events where crowds gather. Access to health care at these events is critical, though difficult. Complex interrelationships exist between characteristics of events and presenting patient profiles. To prevent overwhelming local hospital and emergency services it is important to accurately predict patient volume. A predictive model constructed through linear modelling has been widely used. Key f ....Non-linear modelling for predicting patient presentation rates for mass-gatherings. Mass-gatherings are events where crowds gather. Access to health care at these events is critical, though difficult. Complex interrelationships exist between characteristics of events and presenting patient profiles. To prevent overwhelming local hospital and emergency services it is important to accurately predict patient volume. A predictive model constructed through linear modelling has been widely used. Key features affecting patient presentations are non-linear in character and non-linear modelling may provide more accurate patient predictive models. This project provides prospective analysis of data to develop a non-linear predictive model.Read moreRead less
Elucidating the mechanics of facet dislocation and fracture in the neck. This project aims to address shortcomings in understanding the mechanics of neck trauma. Understanding the mechanical factors leading to cervical facet dislocation and fracture is necessary to improve injury prevention strategies and their assessment. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of spinal injury biomechanics, developing and using new experimental techniques. The project expects to provide know ....Elucidating the mechanics of facet dislocation and fracture in the neck. This project aims to address shortcomings in understanding the mechanics of neck trauma. Understanding the mechanical factors leading to cervical facet dislocation and fracture is necessary to improve injury prevention strategies and their assessment. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of spinal injury biomechanics, developing and using new experimental techniques. The project expects to provide knowledge necessary to improve crash test dummy design, associated injury criteria, and computational models, which provide the potential for improved injury prevention measures and methods for assessing existing and new technologies. The anticipated benefits of this project will be significant in reducing the personal and economic burden of spinal injuries.Read moreRead less