Community spirit, social transformation, sustainable partnership: community capacity building for community transformations. This partnership is at the forefront of developments in the provision of community services. The project will contribute to a growing international field of research focused on developing integrated frameworks for measuring community wellbeing. The community capacity building approach will serve as a best practice model for other Australian municipalities. The indicators a ....Community spirit, social transformation, sustainable partnership: community capacity building for community transformations. This partnership is at the forefront of developments in the provision of community services. The project will contribute to a growing international field of research focused on developing integrated frameworks for measuring community wellbeing. The community capacity building approach will serve as a best practice model for other Australian municipalities. The indicators are a tool for engaging communities in making informal decisions and developing shared goals; a policy tool for evidence based planning; and a reporting tool to track and communicate progress towards agreed goals and outcomes. The outcomes will be efficient use of available funding for community services and lower cost of provision of social welfare.Read moreRead less
Working from the Ground Up: A Participatory Approach to Community Regeneration in Public Housing Neighbourhoods. This research will discover approaches, strategies and interventions that contribute to sustainable changes in public housing estates. It will trial interventions and develop quantitative tools. The outcomes of the project will include stronger, more cohesive communities, opportunities for residents to actively participate in their communities, and the development of services through ....Working from the Ground Up: A Participatory Approach to Community Regeneration in Public Housing Neighbourhoods. This research will discover approaches, strategies and interventions that contribute to sustainable changes in public housing estates. It will trial interventions and develop quantitative tools. The outcomes of the project will include stronger, more cohesive communities, opportunities for residents to actively participate in their communities, and the development of services through partnerships between the communities and relevant government, non government and private organizations. This will enhance health and wellbeing and increase education and training opportunities for residents. Read moreRead less
The emotional and social burden of caring for a young child with complex health needs. The National Agenda for Early Childhood and the Stronger Families and Community Strategy provide a framework for achieving efficient and effective outcomes in early childhood. This project will contribute to those strategies by gaining an understanding of the currently unknown issues faced by the group of families of young infants and children with complex health needs in a variety of geographic, community and ....The emotional and social burden of caring for a young child with complex health needs. The National Agenda for Early Childhood and the Stronger Families and Community Strategy provide a framework for achieving efficient and effective outcomes in early childhood. This project will contribute to those strategies by gaining an understanding of the currently unknown issues faced by the group of families of young infants and children with complex health needs in a variety of geographic, community and service settings, and the government supported services required. The identification of risk and resilience factors will enable the early detection of children at 'high-risk' and provide the opportunity to implement preventative and early intervention programs.Read moreRead less
Model of care: A family focussed approach to promote child protection. Childhood neglect and abuse is an issue for all Australians. Models of best practice for child protection services are essential to protect the well-being of these children. This project will draw upon information from consumers and workers to provide a framework for a sustainable model of best practice for child protection that is transferable to other settings. A further benefit of this study is that it will provide insight ....Model of care: A family focussed approach to promote child protection. Childhood neglect and abuse is an issue for all Australians. Models of best practice for child protection services are essential to protect the well-being of these children. This project will draw upon information from consumers and workers to provide a framework for a sustainable model of best practice for child protection that is transferable to other settings. A further benefit of this study is that it will provide insight into occupation health and safety issues associated with working in long term relationships with vulnerable families. Read moreRead less
Families on the Fringe: Promoting the Social Inclusion of Young Families who have Relocated to Non-Metropolitan Areas. We aim to promote the social inclusion of young families who relocate to non-metropolitan communities by developing policy and infrastructure options based on an understanding of their characteristics and needs. The project's significance lies in capturing these characteristics to provide models upon which policy initiatives can be developed and policy outcomes monitored. Th ....Families on the Fringe: Promoting the Social Inclusion of Young Families who have Relocated to Non-Metropolitan Areas. We aim to promote the social inclusion of young families who relocate to non-metropolitan communities by developing policy and infrastructure options based on an understanding of their characteristics and needs. The project's significance lies in capturing these characteristics to provide models upon which policy initiatives can be developed and policy outcomes monitored. The project combines the Office of Economic and Statistic Research's expertise in socio-demographic research and policy development, The Benevolent Society and Mission Australia's experience in community service delivery in geographically diverse communities, with the CI's research skills, towards strengthening the social and economic fabric of Australian communities Read moreRead less
Making a Difference: Building on Children's Perspectives on Economic Adversity. Governments allocate a large volume of resources to address the needs of children. Investigating children's perspectives on the nature and impacts of economic adversity in the family, at school and in the community will provide a better understanding of how policy can make a difference to children's lives. The direct involvement of major government and non-government agencies in the research will strengthen its relev ....Making a Difference: Building on Children's Perspectives on Economic Adversity. Governments allocate a large volume of resources to address the needs of children. Investigating children's perspectives on the nature and impacts of economic adversity in the family, at school and in the community will provide a better understanding of how policy can make a difference to children's lives. The direct involvement of major government and non-government agencies in the research will strengthen its relevance and impact. The resulting improvements in service design and delivery will generate substantial economic and social benefits in areas that align with the designated national research priorities.Read moreRead less
Preventing the financial abuse of older people by a family member: Designing and evaluating older-person-centred models of family mediation. The financial abuse of older people is a significant social problem that is likely to intensify as Australia's ageing population continues to rise exponentially over the next twenty years. This project engages a broad range of stakeholders, including older people and their families, in the process of developing specialised models of family mediation to redu ....Preventing the financial abuse of older people by a family member: Designing and evaluating older-person-centred models of family mediation. The financial abuse of older people is a significant social problem that is likely to intensify as Australia's ageing population continues to rise exponentially over the next twenty years. This project engages a broad range of stakeholders, including older people and their families, in the process of developing specialised models of family mediation to reduce the incidence and severity of financial abuse within a framework that promotes social sustainability and family cohesion. The outcomes of the project, therefore, will have a direct and positive impact on policy and practice in the social and economic care of older people.Read moreRead less
Disruptive children in alternative care: new approaches to the prevention of placement breakdown. Recent evidence suggests that many of the widely publicised problems in Australian foster care are due to the inability of foster families to care for children with challenging behaviours. Our own research suggests that such children typically experience 10 - 20 placement changes annually and display very poor developmental outcomes. The aim of this project, then, is to undertake a comprehensive int ....Disruptive children in alternative care: new approaches to the prevention of placement breakdown. Recent evidence suggests that many of the widely publicised problems in Australian foster care are due to the inability of foster families to care for children with challenging behaviours. Our own research suggests that such children typically experience 10 - 20 placement changes annually and display very poor developmental outcomes. The aim of this project, then, is to undertake a comprehensive international review and national trial of programmes for the reduction of placement breakdown. The project will provide insights into the social histories of the target population, assist in the design of interventions, and inform foster care policy.
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Young Carers: Social policy impacts of the caring responsibilities of children and young adults. This project is a unique collaboration between university researchers, eight government agencies in NSW and South Australia and two Carers Associations, using innovative methods to inform policy development. The project will focus on the costs to young carers (their education, training, employment, social activities, health and wellbeing); benefits of the care relationship to families and to governm ....Young Carers: Social policy impacts of the caring responsibilities of children and young adults. This project is a unique collaboration between university researchers, eight government agencies in NSW and South Australia and two Carers Associations, using innovative methods to inform policy development. The project will focus on the costs to young carers (their education, training, employment, social activities, health and wellbeing); benefits of the care relationship to families and to government through savings on formal services; and the social policy frameworks. It will provide a comprehensive audit of policies and services for young carers and care recipients, and identify gaps for future policy development.Read moreRead less
Grandparents as primary carers of their grandchildren: A national, State,Territory analysis of grandparent-headed families - policy and practice implications. This unique collaboration between researchers, four government Departments in the Commonwealth, NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory concerned with child and family welfare, and Mission Australia, uses innovative methods to analyse non-Indigenous and Indigenous grandparents as primary carers of their grandchildren. The project w ....Grandparents as primary carers of their grandchildren: A national, State,Territory analysis of grandparent-headed families - policy and practice implications. This unique collaboration between researchers, four government Departments in the Commonwealth, NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory concerned with child and family welfare, and Mission Australia, uses innovative methods to analyse non-Indigenous and Indigenous grandparents as primary carers of their grandchildren. The project will analyse the circumstances and needs of grandparents and grandchildren in different formal and informal arrangements. It will provide a comprehensive audit of national, state and territory policies and identify gaps for the development of policies and services to promote the health and wellbeing of grandparents and children.Read moreRead less