Assessing the Impact of Public Finances on the PNG-Australia Borderland. The project aims to address a vexed public policy problem of how to better manage the flow of public finances and people across our international borders. Torres Strait Islanders and Papua New Guinea (PNG) nationals living in the PNG–Australia borderland have relatively unrestricted access across the border for traditional activities, under the legal framework of the Torres Strait Treaty. The interplay of public finance exp ....Assessing the Impact of Public Finances on the PNG-Australia Borderland. The project aims to address a vexed public policy problem of how to better manage the flow of public finances and people across our international borders. Torres Strait Islanders and Papua New Guinea (PNG) nationals living in the PNG–Australia borderland have relatively unrestricted access across the border for traditional activities, under the legal framework of the Torres Strait Treaty. The interplay of public finance expenditure emanating from Australia strongly dominates the borderland economy, influencing cross-border mobility and attendant public health and security risks from disease transmission, quarantine and transnational crime. By problematising current policy framings and analysing the asymmetric socio-economic context of the region relative to other borderlands internationally, the project aims to propose alternative finance modalities that improve effectiveness across both sides of the border.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101175
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,643.00
Summary
The asset state: Comparing new models for financing public investment. This project aims to investigate policy models that account for public spending as an asset rather than a cost. The project expects to build knowledge about how changes in the way governments budget for and deliver funding create new options for public investment. The project develops a comparative study of the relationship between accounting reforms and financing models for higher education, social housing and renewable ener ....The asset state: Comparing new models for financing public investment. This project aims to investigate policy models that account for public spending as an asset rather than a cost. The project expects to build knowledge about how changes in the way governments budget for and deliver funding create new options for public investment. The project develops a comparative study of the relationship between accounting reforms and financing models for higher education, social housing and renewable energy in Australia and the UK. Expected outcomes include conceptualising new spaces of fiscal power in the 'asset state' and developing tools for policy makers to guide budgetary choices. This should provide significant benefits by identifying equitable and sustainable ways to pay for critical services and infrastructure.Read moreRead less
Governing digital cities. This project will examine the relationship between private interests and urban governments that underpin Australia's transition to a digital economy. Drawing on international case studies, it will help to close the policy gap between digital infrastructure strategy and urban planning within Australian political debate.
Bushfires and biodiversity: optimising conservation outcomes in peri-urban areas at risk. Risks of dangerous bushfires in the urban fringe have the potential to restrict conservation policy. This project will examine community attitudes and concerns to provide recommendations that ensure future native vegetation management balances fire-risk perceptions against biodiversity value.
The impacts of industry restructuring. This project aims to shed light on how Australia's workforce and communities will engage with the world of work in a future shaped by new business models and disruptive technologies. Using the closure of the automotive industry as a lens into this topic, the project will provide new insights into how displaced workers find work, use services, relate to others, and reshape their futures. It sheds light on the community-wide impacts of restructuring, providin ....The impacts of industry restructuring. This project aims to shed light on how Australia's workforce and communities will engage with the world of work in a future shaped by new business models and disruptive technologies. Using the closure of the automotive industry as a lens into this topic, the project will provide new insights into how displaced workers find work, use services, relate to others, and reshape their futures. It sheds light on the community-wide impacts of restructuring, providing new perspectives on how local resources and public policies best advance the process of adjustment.Read moreRead less
Mapping the effect of social enterprise on regional city disadvantage. This project aims to explore how social enterprises affect wellbeing and community capacity in disadvantaged areas of regional cities. Governments increasingly invest in social enterprise to benefit individuals and places. This project will use a spatial methodology to map where and how benefits are realised. To date, robust evidence about how social enterprise affects disadvantage is lacking, partly due to inadequate researc ....Mapping the effect of social enterprise on regional city disadvantage. This project aims to explore how social enterprises affect wellbeing and community capacity in disadvantaged areas of regional cities. Governments increasingly invest in social enterprise to benefit individuals and places. This project will use a spatial methodology to map where and how benefits are realised. To date, robust evidence about how social enterprise affects disadvantage is lacking, partly due to inadequate research methodology. This project expects to provide web-based design tools and applications to assist regional city communities and councils in the development of social enterprises that can help disadvantaged people and places.Read moreRead less
Local Government and Housing in Australia for the 21st Century. This project plans to analyse survey data, qualitative interviews and detailed case studies to investigate and theorise trends in the relationship between local government and housing supply and demand. It aims to answer a number of questions: What is the role of local government in housing Australians in the 21st century? How have changing economic, social, demographic and political processes affected the interaction between local ....Local Government and Housing in Australia for the 21st Century. This project plans to analyse survey data, qualitative interviews and detailed case studies to investigate and theorise trends in the relationship between local government and housing supply and demand. It aims to answer a number of questions: What is the role of local government in housing Australians in the 21st century? How have changing economic, social, demographic and political processes affected the interaction between local government and housing over the past decades, and what are the likely impacts in the future? How might a reshaped Australian Federation recast the role of local government in this area of social and economic policy? The research aims to consider inner urban, suburban and regional and rural areas; and to contribute to a healthier and more productive Australia by providing local governments with evidence on their role in the housing market and how they can prepare for the future.Read moreRead less
The power of public spaces to connect communities and places. The project aims to uncover the vital role of public spaces during COVID-19 and in a time of climate change. Public spaces are not just places that are nice to have, they are an essential civic and environmental asset. The project adopts a collaborative framework to build dialogue, bridge academic and industry practice and promote debate about how to sustain public spaces now and in the future. Expected outcomes include new understand ....The power of public spaces to connect communities and places. The project aims to uncover the vital role of public spaces during COVID-19 and in a time of climate change. Public spaces are not just places that are nice to have, they are an essential civic and environmental asset. The project adopts a collaborative framework to build dialogue, bridge academic and industry practice and promote debate about how to sustain public spaces now and in the future. Expected outcomes include new understandings of the diversity of community connections to public space and the importance of Indigenous leadership in public space-making and design. Benefits include an interactive website that will communicate new roles for public space and provide a valuable resource for communities, educators and governments. Read moreRead less
Closing other gaps: Yolngu perspectives on and proposals for two-ways learning to improve intercultural communication and policy. Current efforts in Indigenous affairs to ‘close the gap’ have not succeeded in sustainably improving intercultural communications or social and environmental outcomes, particularly in remote locations. Indigenous knowledge authorities have thought long and hard about these issues. In a longstanding collaboration with Yol?u knowledge authorities, this project will deve ....Closing other gaps: Yolngu perspectives on and proposals for two-ways learning to improve intercultural communication and policy. Current efforts in Indigenous affairs to ‘close the gap’ have not succeeded in sustainably improving intercultural communications or social and environmental outcomes, particularly in remote locations. Indigenous knowledge authorities have thought long and hard about these issues. In a longstanding collaboration with Yol?u knowledge authorities, this project will develop a replicable two-ways learning approach to communications to inform cross-cultural collaborations, developing a Yol?u mathematics framework that improves tourists’ understanding of human-environment relationships. The research will examine tourist and Yol?u experience and consider policy implications of a framework that counters ontological separation of people from place.Read moreRead less
Volumetric urbanism. This project aims to explain how global built environment and development firms ‘push the envelope’ of urban space. In cities worldwide, governments are faced with the problem and possibilities of ‘volume’: stacking and moving people within booming central business districts, especially around mass public transport nodes. This project will examine the prototypes, calculative devices and mediating technologies that are used to redefine cities and maximise development values. ....Volumetric urbanism. This project aims to explain how global built environment and development firms ‘push the envelope’ of urban space. In cities worldwide, governments are faced with the problem and possibilities of ‘volume’: stacking and moving people within booming central business districts, especially around mass public transport nodes. This project will examine the prototypes, calculative devices and mediating technologies that are used to redefine cities and maximise development values. It will analyse the justifications for high volume urban development projects, and assess how transnational business and design models shape city redevelopment. This project expects to provide insights into interpreting complex urban megaprojects in Australia and internationally.Read moreRead less