Investigating a New Explanation of Discrimination Against Migrant and Excluded People. Migrants and socially excluded people are often the subjects of discrimination and prejudice. Our research will provide valuable knowledge about when and why people discriminate against migrant and excluded individuals as well as how this type of behaviour can be reduced. Our research will benefit Australia by contributing scientific information to the policy developments of national organizations that aim to ....Investigating a New Explanation of Discrimination Against Migrant and Excluded People. Migrants and socially excluded people are often the subjects of discrimination and prejudice. Our research will provide valuable knowledge about when and why people discriminate against migrant and excluded individuals as well as how this type of behaviour can be reduced. Our research will benefit Australia by contributing scientific information to the policy developments of national organizations that aim to reduce discrimination and prejudice. Hence, our research falls within the Government's broader goal of creating a more harmonious multicultural Australian society.Read moreRead less
Predicting health, well-being, and educational success in emerging adults: An 8 year longitudinal study. This project will inform the community about factors that affect the psychological, physical, academic, and employment outcomes of emerging adults. It will improve our knowledge of why some young people do not reach their full potential. The project will provide a comprehensive assessment of factors associated with well-being across several domains. It will better equip and assist professiona ....Predicting health, well-being, and educational success in emerging adults: An 8 year longitudinal study. This project will inform the community about factors that affect the psychological, physical, academic, and employment outcomes of emerging adults. It will improve our knowledge of why some young people do not reach their full potential. The project will provide a comprehensive assessment of factors associated with well-being across several domains. It will better equip and assist professionals to identify early those youth at risk of having poor psychological, health, and employment prospects post-school. The project will inform the development of intervention programs for young people and maximise their overall adjustment and well-being several years later.Read moreRead less
Promoting high-performing multidisciplinary health care teams: An examination of the antecedents and consequences of psychological safety. Australian health care services are faced with an increasing burden of complex disease and changing demographics which require identification of new models of care. By promoting effective teams, this research aims to empower both organisations and their employees to contribute to a process of continuous improvement that identifies best-practice solutions for ....Promoting high-performing multidisciplinary health care teams: An examination of the antecedents and consequences of psychological safety. Australian health care services are faced with an increasing burden of complex disease and changing demographics which require identification of new models of care. By promoting effective teams, this research aims to empower both organisations and their employees to contribute to a process of continuous improvement that identifies best-practice solutions for all Australian hospitals. Overall, findings will help strengthen Australia's social and economic fabric by providing reliable and valid research evidence regarding ways to promote effective health care teams.Read moreRead less
The role of supervisors in managing psychosocial risk factors in the workplace: Implications for employee health and organisational effectiveness. This research aims to increase the capacity of Australian employers to identify and manage psychosocial risk factors in the workplace. By promoting a continuous improvement approach to occupational stress management, negative outcomes for employers will be reduced, in terms of absenteeism, turnover, and associated losses in productivity. By making b ....The role of supervisors in managing psychosocial risk factors in the workplace: Implications for employee health and organisational effectiveness. This research aims to increase the capacity of Australian employers to identify and manage psychosocial risk factors in the workplace. By promoting a continuous improvement approach to occupational stress management, negative outcomes for employers will be reduced, in terms of absenteeism, turnover, and associated losses in productivity. By making business operators more robust to work-related stressors, their need to react to critical stress-related incidents will be lessened and government resources will not be lost as a result of processing claims. In terms of social benefits, this research aims to enhance the quality of working life for employees.Read moreRead less
On feeling good and succeeding: Identifying the antecedents of emotional well-being and school success amongst adolescents. We propose a multi-wave longitudinal study of all high school students in the Wollongong Catholic Diocese, identifying the psychological predictors of academic and emotional problems. We will track students and monitor the influence over time of a comprehensive set of predictors, examining their unique effects on the trajectories of educational and emotional outcomes. The s ....On feeling good and succeeding: Identifying the antecedents of emotional well-being and school success amongst adolescents. We propose a multi-wave longitudinal study of all high school students in the Wollongong Catholic Diocese, identifying the psychological predictors of academic and emotional problems. We will track students and monitor the influence over time of a comprehensive set of predictors, examining their unique effects on the trajectories of educational and emotional outcomes. The study will inform us about the developmental processes through which youth pass, leading to a new model of the psychological processes involved in academic and emotional outcomes. This model will enhance future intervention programmes with youth at risk of academic and emotional problems.Read moreRead less
Globalisation, Sustaining Rural Livelihoods and Organics: The Impacts of the Transformation in the Production and Consumption of Organic Foods. The production and consumption of organic foodstuffs has been transformed in recent years, from a focus on small-scale production for local consumption to a global industry dominated by large agribusiness companies and supermarkets. This not only raises questions about the role of organic agriculture in achieving sustainable development in Australia and ....Globalisation, Sustaining Rural Livelihoods and Organics: The Impacts of the Transformation in the Production and Consumption of Organic Foods. The production and consumption of organic foodstuffs has been transformed in recent years, from a focus on small-scale production for local consumption to a global industry dominated by large agribusiness companies and supermarkets. This not only raises questions about the role of organic agriculture in achieving sustainable development in Australia and elsewhere, but is also creating relationships of dependency within the less developed world which may well reduce food security and make the problem of feeding growing populations more difficult. This study seeks to develop a range of policy alternatives in order to enhance sustainability through organic farming.Read moreRead less
The measurement and prediction of police interviewing performance and the dissemination of good practice through a distributive workplace learning system. This research aims to develop the first ever standardised measures of police interviewers' performance, focusing on interviews about sexual offences. Standardised measures are essential for quality control evaluation, identifying training needs, assigning workload, predicting case outcome and benchmarking organisation capabilities. By improvin ....The measurement and prediction of police interviewing performance and the dissemination of good practice through a distributive workplace learning system. This research aims to develop the first ever standardised measures of police interviewers' performance, focusing on interviews about sexual offences. Standardised measures are essential for quality control evaluation, identifying training needs, assigning workload, predicting case outcome and benchmarking organisation capabilities. By improving the quality of police interviews about sexual offences, this research will improve the reporting, prosecution and conviction rates of sexual offences, which will have a deterrent effect on potential offenders. Further, this research will reduce the stress of witnesses and suspects involved in the legal process and reduce burnout of police interviewers by increasing competency and job satisfaction.Read moreRead less
Truncating presenilin mutations and their effects on gamma-secretase activity, tau and beta-catenin - insights into Alzheimers disease and cancer. Cancer and dementia are primarily afflictions of the aged and are increasingly important in an aging Australian population. 95% of all Alzheimer's disease is spontaneous (not inherited) but we know little about the molecular mechanisms underlying it. Our discovery that truncated presenilin proteins potently inhibit normal protein function suggests tha ....Truncating presenilin mutations and their effects on gamma-secretase activity, tau and beta-catenin - insights into Alzheimers disease and cancer. Cancer and dementia are primarily afflictions of the aged and are increasingly important in an aging Australian population. 95% of all Alzheimer's disease is spontaneous (not inherited) but we know little about the molecular mechanisms underlying it. Our discovery that truncated presenilin proteins potently inhibit normal protein function suggests that changes in presenilin function in aged cells might be a common molecular link between spontaneous and inherited Alzheimer's disease and could contribute to frontotemporal dementia and cancer. Our research will show whether this phenomenon might provide a breakthrough in our understanding of these diseases and be a productive area for research into their amelioration and/or prevention.Read moreRead less
Evolution and development of a lateralised brain: A behavioural ecology perspective. Little research on fish behavioural ecology is conducted in Australia despite our imperilled, unique aquatic ecosystems. Studies examining cerebral lateralisation using our native species as model organisms will help determine how animals classify and process information, providing a novel method of examining how native fishes respond to invasive predators and competitors. Increased understanding of lateralised ....Evolution and development of a lateralised brain: A behavioural ecology perspective. Little research on fish behavioural ecology is conducted in Australia despite our imperilled, unique aquatic ecosystems. Studies examining cerebral lateralisation using our native species as model organisms will help determine how animals classify and process information, providing a novel method of examining how native fishes respond to invasive predators and competitors. Increased understanding of lateralised cognitive function will shed light on its selective advantage as a fundamental aspect of brain function in all animals including humans. This multidisciplinary proposal will facilitate international collaborations, see the return of a home-grown scientist and ensure that Australia remains a world leader in scientific research.Read moreRead less
Using eye movements to study how past experiences shape expectations. We intend to examine how the brain decides where to look next with our eyes, a decision made approximately three times every second. Understanding how the normal brain makes decisions will in turn help us to understand what happens when things go wrong in diseases like dementia and Parkinson's disease, with the hope of better - and earlier - diagnosis, and improved monitoring of treatment. In addition, our research will establ ....Using eye movements to study how past experiences shape expectations. We intend to examine how the brain decides where to look next with our eyes, a decision made approximately three times every second. Understanding how the normal brain makes decisions will in turn help us to understand what happens when things go wrong in diseases like dementia and Parkinson's disease, with the hope of better - and earlier - diagnosis, and improved monitoring of treatment. In addition, our research will establish an important research link with The University of Cambridge, and allow Australia to be competitive with laboratories in North America and Europe that are currently studying how the brain makes decisions about where to look.Read moreRead less