Transforming charity to reduce persistent poverty. This project aims to produce empirical knowledge to assist charities to reduce persistent poverty in Australia. In Australia people in poverty use charity to subsidise limited incomes and survive on a day-to-day basis. Recently charities are expected to assist in disrupting poverty in addition to poverty relief. However there is limited knowledge about how charities work with people who are poor and how they can change to work better. This proje ....Transforming charity to reduce persistent poverty. This project aims to produce empirical knowledge to assist charities to reduce persistent poverty in Australia. In Australia people in poverty use charity to subsidise limited incomes and survive on a day-to-day basis. Recently charities are expected to assist in disrupting poverty in addition to poverty relief. However there is limited knowledge about how charities work with people who are poor and how they can change to work better. This project expects to provide knowledge that governments, social service providers, and charities can use to transform their work with people in poverty. Read moreRead less
Engaging Men and Boys in Violence Prevention: Effective directions for practice. Violence against women is a significant issue of policy effort and community concern. In the past decade, there has been an increasing emphasis on the need to engage men and boys in preventing and reducing men’s violence against women, both nationally and internationally. However, little is known about what works and does not work. Using robust evaluations of key strategies and interventions, this project aims to pr ....Engaging Men and Boys in Violence Prevention: Effective directions for practice. Violence against women is a significant issue of policy effort and community concern. In the past decade, there has been an increasing emphasis on the need to engage men and boys in preventing and reducing men’s violence against women, both nationally and internationally. However, little is known about what works and does not work. Using robust evaluations of key strategies and interventions, this project aims to produce a systematic framework for effective practice in engaging men and boys in preventing violence against women. It aims to produce both significant scholarly insights regarding gender and violence prevention and practical directions for policy and programming.Read moreRead less
Enhancing Australia's Social Connectedness and Emotional Well-being. This project aims to redefine scientific understanding of why social connections are good for well-being, conceptualizing it as a process that involves successful regulation of emotions and behaviour. Effective social interventions require precise understanding of psychological process: the project will supply this understanding and leverage it to develop evidence-based interventions that grow social and emotional skills. Expec ....Enhancing Australia's Social Connectedness and Emotional Well-being. This project aims to redefine scientific understanding of why social connections are good for well-being, conceptualizing it as a process that involves successful regulation of emotions and behaviour. Effective social interventions require precise understanding of psychological process: the project will supply this understanding and leverage it to develop evidence-based interventions that grow social and emotional skills. Expected outcomes include generation of a novel literature at the intersection of social- and self-regulation and methodological innovations in the study of social connections. Significant benefits include creation of applied interventions with the potential to provide a ‘social cure’ for Australia’s loneliness problem.Read moreRead less
Racism, Wellbeing and Extremist Identification in Australia. Drawing on established social psychological theories of prejudice, the project aims to combat racism by ascertaining how it is maintained within a multicultural society and how its damaging consequences can be diminished. Racism is a pervasive problem and its harmful effects cost Australia an estimated $46.4 billion each year. The project plans to investigate how small negative interracial interactions can perpetuate racial hostility a ....Racism, Wellbeing and Extremist Identification in Australia. Drawing on established social psychological theories of prejudice, the project aims to combat racism by ascertaining how it is maintained within a multicultural society and how its damaging consequences can be diminished. Racism is a pervasive problem and its harmful effects cost Australia an estimated $46.4 billion each year. The project plans to investigate how small negative interracial interactions can perpetuate racial hostility and segregation; how negative interracial interactions might lead to extremist identification and sympathies; and how prejudice and discrimination develops between different minority groups. It also plans to investigate how positive interactions with majority groups (eg White Australians) might promote wellbeing and healthy behaviours in minority group members. Project outcomes may lead to solutions that promote social cohesion in Australia.Read moreRead less
How do teachers learn to enact the Australian Curriculum? A question of policy in practice. This project aims to show how teachers learn to engage with the new curriculum in the context of increasingly standardised national and international educational reforms. This is significant for determining whether the 'Australian Curriculum' will result in its projected benefits. This project aims to reveal how policy support for the new curriculum influences teacher learning in diverse schooling setting ....How do teachers learn to enact the Australian Curriculum? A question of policy in practice. This project aims to show how teachers learn to engage with the new curriculum in the context of increasingly standardised national and international educational reforms. This is significant for determining whether the 'Australian Curriculum' will result in its projected benefits. This project aims to reveal how policy support for the new curriculum influences teacher learning in diverse schooling settings in a broadly neoliberal, global context.Read moreRead less
School retention and second chance schooling. This project is concerned with ensuring that students who experience systemic disadvantage are not excluded from the benefits of a formal education. It provides an account and critique of the growth of second chance schooling options catering to such students in both Australia and the UK.
A social cure: how multiple social groups are key to health and wellbeing. Building on the increased recognition that social factors affect both mental and physical health, the research will examine how and when social identities and group membership determine wellbeing. The work is at the forefront of current societal concerns relating to coping with social disadvantage and life-transitions.
The role of community music in addressing social inequalities in Australia. This project aims to investigate the role community music can play in addressing social inequalities in Australia. The research expects to map and analyse a range of social outcomes fostered by community music, and investigate how these outcomes can enrich current place-based efforts to address social disadvantage. Through national sector mapping, community case studies, and an innovative analytic framework, expected out ....The role of community music in addressing social inequalities in Australia. This project aims to investigate the role community music can play in addressing social inequalities in Australia. The research expects to map and analyse a range of social outcomes fostered by community music, and investigate how these outcomes can enrich current place-based efforts to address social disadvantage. Through national sector mapping, community case studies, and an innovative analytic framework, expected outcomes include new interdisciplinary knowledge, music and social sector development, and greater creativity in place-based policies tackling inequalities. This should provide significant benefits for Australian communities where social inequalities exist, by harnessing their creative assets to drive positive social change. Read moreRead less
Drivers and constraints of romantic partner choice. This project aims to illuminate how genetic and environmental factors drive and constrain romantic partner choice. This choice can be the most significant in people’s lives, but how it works is not scientifically understood. This project will analyse the preferences and actual partners of thousands of twins using multivariable statistics and theoretic models of partner choice. The project aims to reveal why some people pair with incompatible pa ....Drivers and constraints of romantic partner choice. This project aims to illuminate how genetic and environmental factors drive and constrain romantic partner choice. This choice can be the most significant in people’s lives, but how it works is not scientifically understood. This project will analyse the preferences and actual partners of thousands of twins using multivariable statistics and theoretic models of partner choice. The project aims to reveal why some people pair with incompatible partners, and the consequences of partner mismatch for psychological wellbeing and for evolutionary processes driven by mate selection. This could lead to more effective relationship management.Read moreRead less
Security and Health Diplomacy: A Necessary Partnership? This project analyses whether invoking international health issues as security threats leads to greater diplomatic success and investment. It seeks to answer this question through a two-step process. First, the project will critically explore the extent to which a select number of international health initiatives, introduced over the past decade, have been created and advanced through the use of security rhetoric. Secondly, it will compare ....Security and Health Diplomacy: A Necessary Partnership? This project analyses whether invoking international health issues as security threats leads to greater diplomatic success and investment. It seeks to answer this question through a two-step process. First, the project will critically explore the extent to which a select number of international health initiatives, introduced over the past decade, have been created and advanced through the use of security rhetoric. Secondly, it will compare and explain the resources, political interest and longevity devoted to those initiatives that use the ‘security card’ with those initiatives that have not sought linkage with national security or biosecurity concerns.Read moreRead less