Early childhood sustained home visiting: outcomes at 4 years and the transition to school. The Commonwealth has been committed to developing a national agenda for early childhood, with a strong focus on development and use of Australian-relevant evidence, an outcomes focus, a focus on vulnerable communities, families and children, and strengths-based approaches. This agenda is also reflected in the key research priority areas of the Commonwealth Government. The proposed study is a critical next ....Early childhood sustained home visiting: outcomes at 4 years and the transition to school. The Commonwealth has been committed to developing a national agenda for early childhood, with a strong focus on development and use of Australian-relevant evidence, an outcomes focus, a focus on vulnerable communities, families and children, and strengths-based approaches. This agenda is also reflected in the key research priority areas of the Commonwealth Government. The proposed study is a critical next step in the development of an Australian evidence base for professional home visiting: a key strategy for the delivery of services to promote the health and development of young Australians. The findings of this study will have significant implications for the development of early childhood policy and strategy throughout Australia.Read moreRead less
Promoting successful further education and work transitions for young people in state care. The national benefits of this research include:
. understanding the impact of being in care on educational participation, career aspirations and transitions
. knowledge about further education, work pathways and employment outcomes for care leavers
. informed policy and program responses to young people transitioning from care aimed at reducing early exit from education and enhancing their work ....Promoting successful further education and work transitions for young people in state care. The national benefits of this research include:
. understanding the impact of being in care on educational participation, career aspirations and transitions
. knowledge about further education, work pathways and employment outcomes for care leavers
. informed policy and program responses to young people transitioning from care aimed at reducing early exit from education and enhancing their work readiness
. raising expectations for young people in care and improving their capacity to make choices towards positive pathways.Read moreRead less
From colonisation to conciliation: A collaborative examination of social work practice with Indigenous populations. The social work profession, along with many other human service professions, has a complex history of working with Indigenous populations. One of the significant factors in the maintenance of this problematic relationship is the marginalisation of Indigenous issues within mainstream social work practice. This project, in collaborating with Indigenous communities, social work practi ....From colonisation to conciliation: A collaborative examination of social work practice with Indigenous populations. The social work profession, along with many other human service professions, has a complex history of working with Indigenous populations. One of the significant factors in the maintenance of this problematic relationship is the marginalisation of Indigenous issues within mainstream social work practice. This project, in collaborating with Indigenous communities, social work practitioners and academics in Australia and the United States, will examine current practice needs and their interrelationship with current social work pedagogy. This analysis will identify the ways in which social work practice can enhance, rather than inhibit, Indigenous well-being, and how social work education can be reframed so as to engender such practice.Read moreRead less
COMMUNITY BASED COALITIONS FOR HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING: DEVELOPMENT OF A BEST PRACTICE MODEL. In recent years, governmental and non-governmental organisations have developed coalitions of professionals and community groups to advance health, safety and wellbeing. These coalitions in the fields of prevention, public health, community psychology and community development have to be evaluated and refined in order to maximize their potential. As a result, our project has two main aims: (1) To d ....COMMUNITY BASED COALITIONS FOR HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING: DEVELOPMENT OF A BEST PRACTICE MODEL. In recent years, governmental and non-governmental organisations have developed coalitions of professionals and community groups to advance health, safety and wellbeing. These coalitions in the fields of prevention, public health, community psychology and community development have to be evaluated and refined in order to maximize their potential. As a result, our project has two main aims: (1) To develop a framework for the evaluation of community-based coalitions for health, safety, and wellbeing, and (2) To develop a best-practice model for the effective creation and functioning of community-based coalitions for health, safety, and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Changing modes: A study of the knowledge economy of human service research in Australia. Significant national benefits will accrue through this study of the human services knowledge economy. The creation of human services employing knowledge-based interventions will address the real needs of Australians in the current socio-political environment. In investigating how current systems of knowledge production contribute to the creation of relevant and effective human services, the research will ide ....Changing modes: A study of the knowledge economy of human service research in Australia. Significant national benefits will accrue through this study of the human services knowledge economy. The creation of human services employing knowledge-based interventions will address the real needs of Australians in the current socio-political environment. In investigating how current systems of knowledge production contribute to the creation of relevant and effective human services, the research will identify the restraints to innovation in human services and the structures in which knowledge production is articulated. In modelling an 'ideal-type' of knowledge transfer conducive to the development of socially accountable research, it will inform changes needed for effective human service delivery. Read moreRead less
SOCIAL WORK IN THE ENTERPRISE UNIVERSITY: A COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF AUSTRALIAN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATORS 1982 TO 2004. In an era when the nature of welfare practice and higher education are being radically transformed in a globalizing marketplace, the socio-demographic characteristics, education, research productivity and international linkages of Australian social work academics are of critical importance. This research proposes a national survey of current Australian social work educators in 2004, t ....SOCIAL WORK IN THE ENTERPRISE UNIVERSITY: A COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF AUSTRALIAN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATORS 1982 TO 2004. In an era when the nature of welfare practice and higher education are being radically transformed in a globalizing marketplace, the socio-demographic characteristics, education, research productivity and international linkages of Australian social work academics are of critical importance. This research proposes a national survey of current Australian social work educators in 2004, the results of which will be compared with a baseline survey carried out in 1982, and with other contemporary studies of Australian academics. Fifty in-depth interviews with a stratified sample of respondents will then explore key themes in the changing political eocnomy of the professions in their adaptation to the shifting higher education and community service environment.Read moreRead less
Womens access to welfare after prison - an international comparison. The aim of the proposed research is to undertake an comparative analysis of the services accessed by female prisoners following their return to the community and the potential of these services to reduce re-offending. This analysis will build upon the current ARC project in Victoria and a similar project in Scotland. Scotland and Victoria provide an interesting focus for comparative research, having similar populations, similar ....Womens access to welfare after prison - an international comparison. The aim of the proposed research is to undertake an comparative analysis of the services accessed by female prisoners following their return to the community and the potential of these services to reduce re-offending. This analysis will build upon the current ARC project in Victoria and a similar project in Scotland. Scotland and Victoria provide an interesting focus for comparative research, having similar populations, similar numbers of women imprisoned and similar increases during the last decade in the daily female prison population. Moreover in both jurisdictions initiatives are being introduced to enhance women's access to services when they leave prison.
The purpose of the proposed research will be to develop and implement a framework for the comparative analysis of data on women's experiences after prison that will be generated by two funded studies in Scotland and Victoria.Read moreRead less
Women's access to welfare after prison. This project aims to examine the nature of welfare services available to women after they leave Victorian prisons, how the women access these services and the extent to which the services meet their needs and contribute to their rehabilitation. Although female ex-offenders are likely to have a high need for welfare services, and the evidence suggests that these services can make a difference to their successful re-integration, little is known about whether ....Women's access to welfare after prison. This project aims to examine the nature of welfare services available to women after they leave Victorian prisons, how the women access these services and the extent to which the services meet their needs and contribute to their rehabilitation. Although female ex-offenders are likely to have a high need for welfare services, and the evidence suggests that these services can make a difference to their successful re-integration, little is known about whether and how women access services or benefit from them. The results of the project will inform the development of welfare services by the industry partner and elsewhere.
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Fostering lifelong connections for children in permanent care. The out-of-home care sector in Australia is undergoing transformation to ensure children who cannot be restored to birth families exit care to permanent families. New South Wales is leading the way on these reforms. The emerging Australian policy model, permanency with lifelong connection to birth families, is distinctly different from the policy models in similar Western nations. While the Australian policy goal is clear, practices ....Fostering lifelong connections for children in permanent care. The out-of-home care sector in Australia is undergoing transformation to ensure children who cannot be restored to birth families exit care to permanent families. New South Wales is leading the way on these reforms. The emerging Australian policy model, permanency with lifelong connection to birth families, is distinctly different from the policy models in similar Western nations. While the Australian policy goal is clear, practices for achieving this goal are under-developed. This action research project will engage the New South Wales out-of-home care sector to design and trial relationship-building practices that promote positive relationships between children and their birth families.Read moreRead less
Making prevention matter: Establishing characteristics of effective child sexual abuse prevention programs. Child sexual abuse is a significant public health problem requiring intervention and prevention. School-based child sexual abuse prevention programs aim to educate children to protect themselves and teach adults skills for protecting children. But programs vary widely in their quality and there is inadequate information available to guide program choice. This fundamental research, undertak ....Making prevention matter: Establishing characteristics of effective child sexual abuse prevention programs. Child sexual abuse is a significant public health problem requiring intervention and prevention. School-based child sexual abuse prevention programs aim to educate children to protect themselves and teach adults skills for protecting children. But programs vary widely in their quality and there is inadequate information available to guide program choice. This fundamental research, undertakes the necessary first steps towards implementing high quality, evidence-based child sexual abuse prevention programs. It will develop an overarching evidence-based conceptual framework for program design and evaluation thus advancing Australia's responses to child protection and enhancing children's healthy start to life.Read moreRead less