Pathways or cul-de-sacs: the causes, impact and implications of part-time senior secondary study. The research will investigate the factors contributing to the relatively high proportion of SA students who undertake their senior secondary studies part-time, and explore the implications for the students and their communities in terms of educational and employment outcomes. It will also map the geographic, gender and socio-economic dimensions of this phenomenon and identify whether there is a rela ....Pathways or cul-de-sacs: the causes, impact and implications of part-time senior secondary study. The research will investigate the factors contributing to the relatively high proportion of SA students who undertake their senior secondary studies part-time, and explore the implications for the students and their communities in terms of educational and employment outcomes. It will also map the geographic, gender and socio-economic dimensions of this phenomenon and identify whether there is a relationship between part-time senior secondary study, early school leaving and re-entry pathways. The project will draw on recent state and national research, and educational policy analyses, together with qualitative and quantitative data analysis at the state and regional level, to enhance understandings of these issues and inform the development of educational and youth policy at the state and national levels.Read moreRead less
Boundary making and strategy making in knowledge-forming organisations. Government policy is devoted to bettering linkages between university research and commercial product development in the knowledge economy. Yet little is known of relationships between university and non-university knowledge forming organisations (KFOs) and what policies and resources sustain and adjust the border between them. Different countries approach these issues in distinctive ways, in part because of public policy, i ....Boundary making and strategy making in knowledge-forming organisations. Government policy is devoted to bettering linkages between university research and commercial product development in the knowledge economy. Yet little is known of relationships between university and non-university knowledge forming organisations (KFOs) and what policies and resources sustain and adjust the border between them. Different countries approach these issues in distinctive ways, in part because of public policy, in part through different endogenous dynamics. Using case study research in five countries, the project will identify ways the division of labour between different KFOs can be optimised, while sustaining their respective strengths, and maximising the opportunities for strategy and innovation.Read moreRead less
New Police Management - From Command and Control to Collaborative Governance: An assessment of organisational change at Victoria Police. Changes in governance will be assessed and refined in order to assist Victoria Police to become more proactive and collaborative in achieving its strategic aims of intelligent, confident, community and partnership policing and thereby to make a difference to community safety over the next five years. Proactive collaboration at all levels will help Victoria Po ....New Police Management - From Command and Control to Collaborative Governance: An assessment of organisational change at Victoria Police. Changes in governance will be assessed and refined in order to assist Victoria Police to become more proactive and collaborative in achieving its strategic aims of intelligent, confident, community and partnership policing and thereby to make a difference to community safety over the next five years. Proactive collaboration at all levels will help Victoria Police to protect communities from terrorism and crime in contemporary conditions and will assist in the safeguarding of Australia. More generally, the results of the project will assist the accumulation of research-based evidence to inform policy making based on the claimed benefits of decentralisation in police forces around the world.Read moreRead less
From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance re ....From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance requirements against the desire to help clients. The project aims to create a new framework for understanding how policy instruments and design experiments can improve services for those who are in need.Read moreRead less
The new digital governance of welfare to work. This project aims to analyse the implementation of a 'digital first' employment services system, its effects on frontline services and governance, and its potential for policy learning. It expects to generate new knowledge on how digitalisation changes interactions between jobseekers, providers, employers and the government, by working with our industry partners in a collaborative innovation lab. Expected outcomes of this project include a theoretic ....The new digital governance of welfare to work. This project aims to analyse the implementation of a 'digital first' employment services system, its effects on frontline services and governance, and its potential for policy learning. It expects to generate new knowledge on how digitalisation changes interactions between jobseekers, providers, employers and the government, by working with our industry partners in a collaborative innovation lab. Expected outcomes of this project include a theoretically informed, and practically tested, model of how digitalisation can promote service design and policy innovation that benefits jobseekers and employers. This should provide significant benefits for welfare system design, service outcomes, and policy learning nationally and internationally. 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
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
The Contractualisation of Government: Public Accountability and Performance. Contracting has changed the delivery of government services and infrastructure in Australia. This project examines how such 'contractualisation' has affected accountability at the federal level and how current practices may be improved. Four key research questions are addressed. First, what changes, if any, in public accountability were expected from contractualisation? Second, through an analysis of case studies, ho ....The Contractualisation of Government: Public Accountability and Performance. Contracting has changed the delivery of government services and infrastructure in Australia. This project examines how such 'contractualisation' has affected accountability at the federal level and how current practices may be improved. Four key research questions are addressed. First, what changes, if any, in public accountability were expected from contractualisation? Second, through an analysis of case studies, how have public accountability practices altered in reality? Third, how might public accountability be strengthened whilst maintaining the benefits of contractualism? Fourth, what kind of performance information would assist Auditors General to strengthen their role in supporting public accountability and good governance?Read moreRead less
Where commerce and culture connect? Corporate governance and social capital in the global era: the case of the AFL. This project investigates a central puzzle that confronts many community organisations in the global era: how does an organisation sustain its cultural core while negotiating the new challenges of commercial viability and strategic governance? Increasingly, community organisations are confronted with the logics of the market and corporate management. At stake is their cultural ....Where commerce and culture connect? Corporate governance and social capital in the global era: the case of the AFL. This project investigates a central puzzle that confronts many community organisations in the global era: how does an organisation sustain its cultural core while negotiating the new challenges of commercial viability and strategic governance? Increasingly, community organisations are confronted with the logics of the market and corporate management. At stake is their cultural identity, autonomy and their embeddedness in local communities. Through a study of the 16 clubs of the Australian Football League, this project aims to generate a new analytical framework to evaluate organisations that seek to blend corporate governance and community engagement in novel and innovative ways.Read moreRead less
What counts is what is counted: performance measurement and its consequences. Measuring public sector performance is important as it potentially improves services and saves money, but it has become increasingly time and resource consuming. This project will analyse performance measurement and its consequences, and generate information on how governments can contain its growth and reduce its undesirable consequences.