Pathways to better practice: developing human resources in child protection services for Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Queensland. This study addresses the serious and escalating problem of providing child protection services to Indigenous children and their families in rural and remote areas. Service delivery to rural and remote environments in Australia is a high cost exercise and, to date, little research has been conducted to understanding the complex nature of professiona ....Pathways to better practice: developing human resources in child protection services for Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Queensland. This study addresses the serious and escalating problem of providing child protection services to Indigenous children and their families in rural and remote areas. Service delivery to rural and remote environments in Australia is a high cost exercise and, to date, little research has been conducted to understanding the complex nature of professional (non-medical) interventions in communities with high proportions of Indigenous families and children. The study, conducted across two states, will contribute to national benefit in 3 key areas: the health and wellbeing of Indigenous children; skills shortage in rural areas and intergenerational change in professional disciplines.Read moreRead less
Modelling the Causes of Regional Disparities across Australia. This project aims to explain the changing patterns of regional economic performance across Australia between 2001-2011 in the context of two developments: major structural shifts in world trade and commodity prices spawning massive mining growth and negative exchange rate impacts elsewhere (for example, manufacturing); and the financial crisis ending the credit boom leaving east coast economies struggling. The resulting regional disp ....Modelling the Causes of Regional Disparities across Australia. This project aims to explain the changing patterns of regional economic performance across Australia between 2001-2011 in the context of two developments: major structural shifts in world trade and commodity prices spawning massive mining growth and negative exchange rate impacts elsewhere (for example, manufacturing); and the financial crisis ending the credit boom leaving east coast economies struggling. The resulting regional disparities have policy implications for education and skills training, housing affordability, infrastructure provision, and community sustainability. These issues will be investigated using a new functional economic regions geography and state of art spatial modelling tools supplemented by regional case studies.Read moreRead less
Families and generational asset transfers: making and challenging wills in contemporary Australia. This project, in collaboration with Public Trust offices across Australia, will provide a national database on which sectors of the population fail to make wills and why. The results will inform innovative service models, law reform initiatives and public education campaigns.
Creative Barkly: Sustaining the Arts & Cultural Sector in Remote Australia. This project plans to examine how the arts and cultural sector is currently functioning in remote Australia and where its growth potential lies. There is increasing recognition that this sector plays a crucial role in regional development, but very little is known about how this operates in Australia’s remotest regions where the demographics of communities are vastly different from other regional centres. The project pla ....Creative Barkly: Sustaining the Arts & Cultural Sector in Remote Australia. This project plans to examine how the arts and cultural sector is currently functioning in remote Australia and where its growth potential lies. There is increasing recognition that this sector plays a crucial role in regional development, but very little is known about how this operates in Australia’s remotest regions where the demographics of communities are vastly different from other regional centres. The project plans to map the sector in one of Australia’s largest remote regions, the Barkly, examine the role leading organisation Barkly Regional Arts plays in this, and deliver resources and recommendations that will inform current policies, strategies, and initiatives in the Barkly and beyond.Read moreRead less