The Kids in Communities Study: national investigation of community level effects on children's developmental outcomes. This project (a cross-disciplinary collaboration) will investigate community level factors influencing early childhood developmental outcomes using a mixed methods approach in up to 10 communities across Australia. This will result in a potential set of measures or indicators that reflect communities that are good for children.
Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse cons ....Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse consumers' priorities and gaps. Social media could offer latent insights, but ethical methodology producing useful de-identified policy insights has been lacking. This study exemplifies applying social media data analytics at scale to address policy problems and will produce up-to-date co-designed data use guidelines.Read moreRead less
Eviction: How private renters lose their homes and the consequences. Australia is experiencing a housing crisis that has been worsened by the pandemic. An estimated 75,000 private renters are evicted annually leading to ongoing housing precarity, poor health and trauma. This first large-scale study of the evicting process in Australia aims to examine how the process of evicting low-income private renters occurs, the actors, instruments and technologies involved and the long-term impacts of being ....Eviction: How private renters lose their homes and the consequences. Australia is experiencing a housing crisis that has been worsened by the pandemic. An estimated 75,000 private renters are evicted annually leading to ongoing housing precarity, poor health and trauma. This first large-scale study of the evicting process in Australia aims to examine how the process of evicting low-income private renters occurs, the actors, instruments and technologies involved and the long-term impacts of being under the constant threat of eviction or losing one’s home. The intended outcomes of the study are to deliver a comprehensive analysis of the evicting process and its impacts, identify how evictions might be avoided and provide evidence for policy changes that could benefit all parties in the private rental sector.
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Activating social connection to address isolation in Australia. Surveys of wellbeing repeatedly emphasise social isolation, but there is a gap in positive approaches that can be used to grow connection. This research aims to design an approach to activate social connection for people and communities. Using a pre-tested evidence-based framework, experiences of vulnerable cohorts, and affordances of ways to connect on and offline, this project takes a strengths focus to develop a joined-up place-b ....Activating social connection to address isolation in Australia. Surveys of wellbeing repeatedly emphasise social isolation, but there is a gap in positive approaches that can be used to grow connection. This research aims to design an approach to activate social connection for people and communities. Using a pre-tested evidence-based framework, experiences of vulnerable cohorts, and affordances of ways to connect on and offline, this project takes a strengths focus to develop a joined-up place-based strategy. Expected outcomes include world-first practical tools and guidance for local social connection activation and new knowledge about how interwoven on/offline services assist social connection. Increasing social connection is expected to improve individuals’ mental wellbeing and community resilience.Read moreRead less
Waithood: The experience of being on the social housing waiting list. This project aims to investigate the circumstances of people on the social housing waiting-list and how they manage their everyday lives while waiting for a social housing property to become available. It also aims to conduct a review of how social housing waiting list assessments are done and profile the waiting list population. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the study expects to generate new knowledge on different groups o ....Waithood: The experience of being on the social housing waiting list. This project aims to investigate the circumstances of people on the social housing waiting-list and how they manage their everyday lives while waiting for a social housing property to become available. It also aims to conduct a review of how social housing waiting list assessments are done and profile the waiting list population. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the study expects to generate new knowledge on different groups of applicants. Expected outcomes include an enhanced understanding of the impacts of being on the waiting list for extended periods. This study will provide significant benefits as the high quality evidence produced should enhance policymakers’ understandings of applicants' circumstances and lead to better outcomes.Read moreRead less
Conditional welfare: A comparative case study of income management policies. Using an innovative methodology that incorporates a cross-national comparison of policy design and practice, this project aims to explore the effects of income management policies. The research will provide new insights into compulsory income management in Australia, and its more recent introduction in New Zealand. The expected outcomes will provide benefits, such as a richer understanding of human agency, autonomy and ....Conditional welfare: A comparative case study of income management policies. Using an innovative methodology that incorporates a cross-national comparison of policy design and practice, this project aims to explore the effects of income management policies. The research will provide new insights into compulsory income management in Australia, and its more recent introduction in New Zealand. The expected outcomes will provide benefits, such as a richer understanding of human agency, autonomy and social identity in the context of social policy.Read moreRead less