Broadening Choice and Increasing Diversity in Public Schools. Currently, most families are limited to the public school in their catchment area, meaning the area in which they can afford to live. This leads to socio-economically and ethnically homogenous schools and entrenches disadvantage, as well as denying students the crucial life lessons that flow from being part of a diverse student body. This project aims to investigate a model for allocating public school places that integrates catchment ....Broadening Choice and Increasing Diversity in Public Schools. Currently, most families are limited to the public school in their catchment area, meaning the area in which they can afford to live. This leads to socio-economically and ethnically homogenous schools and entrenches disadvantage, as well as denying students the crucial life lessons that flow from being part of a diverse student body. This project aims to investigate a model for allocating public school places that integrates catchment areas. The expected outcome would be a system that gives families a wider choice, enabling them to enrol in out-of-area schools, while ensuring that allocations remain fair, equitable and balanced, and also delivering benefits such as achieving a desired level of diversity in student populations within schoolsRead moreRead less
Innovation in police gender equity management: Looking back, moving forward. This project aims to investigate gender equity recruitment and career support policies in all nine Australian and New Zealand policing agencies. A wide range of equity initiatives that have been implemented across police agencies will be examined, along with affirmative action measures including recent 50/50 male/female recruitment targets. The project expects to generate an advanced best practice model that can be used ....Innovation in police gender equity management: Looking back, moving forward. This project aims to investigate gender equity recruitment and career support policies in all nine Australian and New Zealand policing agencies. A wide range of equity initiatives that have been implemented across police agencies will be examined, along with affirmative action measures including recent 50/50 male/female recruitment targets. The project expects to generate an advanced best practice model that can be used by domestic and international police agencies. This will allow police organisations to better manage equity issues and support a more inclusive and representative workforce. The benefits of this project are significant, they range from stronger police-community relations through to better service delivery by police.Read moreRead less
Testing strategy-proofness in matching markets: an experimental study. This project seeks to test and improve matching algorithms by investigating the effect of advice on strategy-proofness. Matching algorithms are used to solve allocation problems in designed markets (eg school or house allocation problems). Many of the algorithms employed are strategy-proof: participants never gain from strategising, that is, from lying about their preferences. Strategy-proofness had been seemingly validated b ....Testing strategy-proofness in matching markets: an experimental study. This project seeks to test and improve matching algorithms by investigating the effect of advice on strategy-proofness. Matching algorithms are used to solve allocation problems in designed markets (eg school or house allocation problems). Many of the algorithms employed are strategy-proof: participants never gain from strategising, that is, from lying about their preferences. Strategy-proofness had been seemingly validated by experimental research, but new evidence suggests that participants could be prone to follow wrong advice and therefore lie. In order to improve the performance of designed markets, the project proposes to further test strategy-proofness by investigating how advice can affect truth-telling in strategy-proof algorithms and whether learning can counteract or complement the effect of advice.Read moreRead less
Structural safety guidelines for accidental hydrogen explosion hazards . This project aims to develop structural safety guidelines to mitigate hydrogen explosion hazards which can be identified as a major safety concern due to the higher demand worldwide for sustainable energy sources with no carbon emission. The world’s growing demand for hydrogen and Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy to develop the industry will make Australia a core player in hydrogen production creating a massive econom ....Structural safety guidelines for accidental hydrogen explosion hazards . This project aims to develop structural safety guidelines to mitigate hydrogen explosion hazards which can be identified as a major safety concern due to the higher demand worldwide for sustainable energy sources with no carbon emission. The world’s growing demand for hydrogen and Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy to develop the industry will make Australia a core player in hydrogen production creating a massive economic opportunity. However, the high flammability and low ignition energy of hydrogen makes it vulnerable to accidental explosions. Hence, this project will address the lack of safety protocols in Australian Standards related to the handling of hydrogen by producing essential design recommendations.Read moreRead less
Domestic violence disclosure schemes: A national review. In 2014 family violence was declared a national emergency in Australia. In the years since there has been extensive law reform activity. Domestic violence disclosure schemes have emerged within this context as a policy option that may improve safety outcomes for victims. However, there is currently no evidence as to the impact of these schemes and no consultation with victims as to their value. This project aims to generate the evidence re ....Domestic violence disclosure schemes: A national review. In 2014 family violence was declared a national emergency in Australia. In the years since there has been extensive law reform activity. Domestic violence disclosure schemes have emerged within this context as a policy option that may improve safety outcomes for victims. However, there is currently no evidence as to the impact of these schemes and no consultation with victims as to their value. This project aims to generate the evidence required to inform decisions about the introduction of these schemes, to better understand what victim/survivors want from them, and how such schemes can be effectively operationalised. The findings seek to be relevant to all Australian states and territories as well as international jurisdictions.Read moreRead less
Muscle memory: The key to novel interactive memory support systems. This project aims to investigate how the use of muscle memory as a deliberate interaction design resource can effectively support declarative memory. The project brings together memory interaction design and bodily activity design to address increasing concerns surrounding Australians’ memory. By investigating muscle memory in interaction design, the project is expected to advance international understanding of scholarly and pra ....Muscle memory: The key to novel interactive memory support systems. This project aims to investigate how the use of muscle memory as a deliberate interaction design resource can effectively support declarative memory. The project brings together memory interaction design and bodily activity design to address increasing concerns surrounding Australians’ memory. By investigating muscle memory in interaction design, the project is expected to advance international understanding of scholarly and practical processes that complement design for declarative memory. The project will lay the foundation for extending research which will assist movement, rehabilitation, health and educational sports practitioners that can create engaging experiences that use muscle memory for the benefit of all Australians.Read moreRead less
Building A Better Built Environment for Older Australian's Ageing-in-place. Most older Australians prefer to age in place after their retirement. This project aims to understand how the built environment as a comprehensive system supports (or hinders) their ageing-in-place given that the existing Australian built environment fails to meet older Australians' requirements for independent living. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of ageing-friendly communities using Bayesia ....Building A Better Built Environment for Older Australian's Ageing-in-place. Most older Australians prefer to age in place after their retirement. This project aims to understand how the built environment as a comprehensive system supports (or hinders) their ageing-in-place given that the existing Australian built environment fails to meet older Australians' requirements for independent living. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of ageing-friendly communities using Bayesian Network analysis and interactive design charrettes. Expected outcomes include an evidence-based Bayesian network model that determines how the built environment affects independent living in the community and design innovation and guidelines to improve the built environment design for older Australians' ageing-in-place.Read moreRead less
Extracting energy from air: mechanism of a bacterial hydrogenase. The atmosphere has recently been shown to be a key source of energy for diverse soil bacteria. Bacteria use complex enzymes, namely Huc-type hydrogenases, to harvest atmospheric hydrogen directly from air to support growth and survival. However, little is known about how Huc functions within and outside cells. By synergising expertise in microbiology, biochemistry, and chemistry, we will resolve the mechanism, assembly, and integr ....Extracting energy from air: mechanism of a bacterial hydrogenase. The atmosphere has recently been shown to be a key source of energy for diverse soil bacteria. Bacteria use complex enzymes, namely Huc-type hydrogenases, to harvest atmospheric hydrogen directly from air to support growth and survival. However, little is known about how Huc functions within and outside cells. By synergising expertise in microbiology, biochemistry, and chemistry, we will resolve the mechanism, assembly, and integration of Huc, including the basis of its remarkably high affinity and oxygen insensitivity compared to previously studied hydrogenases. This project will enable biotechnological applications, as the first study of an enzyme that extracts energy from air, and has broad ecological and biogeochemical implications.Read moreRead less
Decentralised assets trading, centralised clearing and systemic risk. This project aims to study the effect of regulating over-the-counter (OTC) financial markets on economic performance. The lack of transparency of OTC financial markets may have exacerbated the severity of the 2007-09 financial crisis. In response, regulators around the world decided to mandate centralised clearing of derivatives traded OTC, believing this would reduce system-wide risk. This project will study the regulatory ch ....Decentralised assets trading, centralised clearing and systemic risk. This project aims to study the effect of regulating over-the-counter (OTC) financial markets on economic performance. The lack of transparency of OTC financial markets may have exacerbated the severity of the 2007-09 financial crisis. In response, regulators around the world decided to mandate centralised clearing of derivatives traded OTC, believing this would reduce system-wide risk. This project will study the regulatory change’s effects on market participation, volumes of trade and prices, and the behavioural effect of shifting risk from market participants to clearinghouses. It expects to suggest remedial policies clearinghouses could implement to control market participants’ risk appetite. These can help enhance future productivity and reduce unemployment in Australia.Read moreRead less
Co-designing and co-evaluating technology experiences in residential care . This project aims for meaningful experiences and skill development by older adults living in residential care using technologies. Based on the interests, abilities and everyday context it is important to introduce technologies in a way that supports agency and confidence. Through co-design and co-evaluation we develop a process to explore technology choices and learning. We will (i) generate guidelines for introducing te ....Co-designing and co-evaluating technology experiences in residential care . This project aims for meaningful experiences and skill development by older adults living in residential care using technologies. Based on the interests, abilities and everyday context it is important to introduce technologies in a way that supports agency and confidence. Through co-design and co-evaluation we develop a process to explore technology choices and learning. We will (i) generate guidelines for introducing technology, (ii) develop methods and success criteria for the co-evaluation of the process, and (iii) gain in-depth understandings of how facilitation and technology uptake are enacted in a range of residential settings. Older adults in residential care will benefit through increased digital equity and technology adoption. Read moreRead less