An Evaluation of Suspended Sentences of Imprisonment. A suspended sentence is a fixed term of imprisonment, the execution of which has been suspended in whole or in part. It is widely used in most Australian jurisdictions. A conflict between public and legal perceptions about the severity of this sanction contributes to a lack of public confidence in the criminal justice system and makes abolition or restrictions on the use of suspended sentences a real possibility when governments feel pressure ....An Evaluation of Suspended Sentences of Imprisonment. A suspended sentence is a fixed term of imprisonment, the execution of which has been suspended in whole or in part. It is widely used in most Australian jurisdictions. A conflict between public and legal perceptions about the severity of this sanction contributes to a lack of public confidence in the criminal justice system and makes abolition or restrictions on the use of suspended sentences a real possibility when governments feel pressured to be tough on crime. This project aims to explore the use of the suspended sentence and to evaluate its efficacy as an alternative to imprisonment.
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Farming 4 Care: Using nature to cultivate resilience in young people. This project aims to explore how passive and active engagement with nature might influence outcomes for young people who have experienced trauma, maltreatment and disrupted families. These people are extremely vulnerable, but often slip through the system. As they rarely engage in traditional therapy, non-traditional interventions may offer a viable alternative that should be explored and harnessed for this population. In addi ....Farming 4 Care: Using nature to cultivate resilience in young people. This project aims to explore how passive and active engagement with nature might influence outcomes for young people who have experienced trauma, maltreatment and disrupted families. These people are extremely vulnerable, but often slip through the system. As they rarely engage in traditional therapy, non-traditional interventions may offer a viable alternative that should be explored and harnessed for this population. In addition, traditional interventions are delivered at enormous cost and with minimal success for this group. Using an innovative multidisciplinary design, the project plans to test four hypotheses about nature engagement to contribute to the growing field of nature-based interventions. Our approach offers an alternative that draws on existing community resources and benefits local organisations, young people and farmers.Read moreRead less
Change Detection in Causal Relationships and Measurement of Systemic Risk. Empirical measures of interconnectedness between financial institutions based on tests of Granger causality are currently used in detecting systemic risk. However, researchers need to define periods of calm and stress exogenously in order to implement these tests appropriately. This project aims to develop a new procedure to identify changes in causal relationships and the timing of these changes. The new approach has the ....Change Detection in Causal Relationships and Measurement of Systemic Risk. Empirical measures of interconnectedness between financial institutions based on tests of Granger causality are currently used in detecting systemic risk. However, researchers need to define periods of calm and stress exogenously in order to implement these tests appropriately. This project aims to develop a new procedure to identify changes in causal relationships and the timing of these changes. The new approach has the potential to be a significant improvement in the real-time identification of emerging turmoil in financial markets and provide an improved method for the detection of systemic risk. The new test procedure will be implemented using data for financial and non-financial institutions across Europe, the US and Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100784
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,728.00
Summary
The nexus between organisational trust and collaboration in disasters . This project will use empirical investigation to develop a multidimensional model depicting the organisational practices that are vital for quickly establishing and maintaining trusting relationships in emergency management collaboration. Trust is the crucial but often neglected element that determines the success of collaboration. Expected outcomes include the creation of the first rigorously established knowledge base for ....The nexus between organisational trust and collaboration in disasters . This project will use empirical investigation to develop a multidimensional model depicting the organisational practices that are vital for quickly establishing and maintaining trusting relationships in emergency management collaboration. Trust is the crucial but often neglected element that determines the success of collaboration. Expected outcomes include the creation of the first rigorously established knowledge base for understanding what mechanisms are effective to overcome conflicting cultures in Australian emergency management arrangements and successfully build trusting relationships. This should provide significant benefits for all organisations when collaborating in the response to, and recovery from, disasters.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101182
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,945.00
Summary
Problem families in the 21st century: policy, practice, outcomes. The project aims to investigate intractable intergenerational disadvantage by critically examining policy and practice in relation to so-called problem families. It expects to generate new knowledge for social work, policy and welfare by documenting how problem families are understood and managed through the key areas of data linkage, priority investment, income management and family support, and how these areas might be shaped by ....Problem families in the 21st century: policy, practice, outcomes. The project aims to investigate intractable intergenerational disadvantage by critically examining policy and practice in relation to so-called problem families. It expects to generate new knowledge for social work, policy and welfare by documenting how problem families are understood and managed through the key areas of data linkage, priority investment, income management and family support, and how these areas might be shaped by emerging fields including data analytics and epigenetics. Expected outcomes include greater practitioner capacity to engage with the implications of intergenerational disadvantage and dysfunction. This should provide significant benefits including more effective interventions and a richer evidence base for policy.Read moreRead less
Community Engagement for Productive Ageing: Models to support rural healthy ageing through the maintenance of community involvement and contribution. Governments at all levels are concerned about the looming social and economic challenges flowing from an ageing population. At present, ageing services are largely focussed on caring for the frail dependent aged. Yet, ultimately, the key to meeting the ageing challenge will lie in how successful we are in supporting our healthy independent aged to ....Community Engagement for Productive Ageing: Models to support rural healthy ageing through the maintenance of community involvement and contribution. Governments at all levels are concerned about the looming social and economic challenges flowing from an ageing population. At present, ageing services are largely focussed on caring for the frail dependent aged. Yet, ultimately, the key to meeting the ageing challenge will lie in how successful we are in supporting our healthy independent aged to stay contributing and productive members of their community. By developing evidence-based interventions that focus on preventing social disengagement before it occurs, the project provides a cost effective approach to ensuring that Australia's rapidly growing aged cohort remain social assets and do not become social burdens.Read moreRead less
Individual, social and physical environmental influences on children's active transport and independent mobility. Childhood obesity is likely to have significant economic and social impacts on Australian society. Preventing further increases in this disease is crucial, particularly among children at high risk such as those living in rural or disadvantaged areas. The promotion of behaviours such as active transport may have a significant benefit for public health; however little is known about wh ....Individual, social and physical environmental influences on children's active transport and independent mobility. Childhood obesity is likely to have significant economic and social impacts on Australian society. Preventing further increases in this disease is crucial, particularly among children at high risk such as those living in rural or disadvantaged areas. The promotion of behaviours such as active transport may have a significant benefit for public health; however little is known about what influences active transport among children in rural or disadvantaged areas. This study will identify important factors influencing active transport and will directly inform strategies aiming to promote health and wellbeing, thereby creating a healthier generation of Australian children.Read moreRead less
Epidemiologic and economic approaches to reduce the burden of depression and related chronic diseases in the workforce. Employers and governments alike are increasingly recognising that mental health impacts productivity, but many employers remain uninformed about the magnitude of the productivity consequences and what they can do about it. The ongoing individual and economic burden from depressive and anxiety disorders among working adults necessitates multi-disciplinary solutions. This series ....Epidemiologic and economic approaches to reduce the burden of depression and related chronic diseases in the workforce. Employers and governments alike are increasingly recognising that mental health impacts productivity, but many employers remain uninformed about the magnitude of the productivity consequences and what they can do about it. The ongoing individual and economic burden from depressive and anxiety disorders among working adults necessitates multi-disciplinary solutions. This series of studies will provide nationally and internationally significant new data to both inform understanding of the magnitude of the problem, and to provide cost-effective solutions to addressing it. Findings will directly inform workplace mental health promotion and prevention activities and be usable by employers, clinicians, and governments.Read moreRead less
Sustainable fiscal federalism and reform of the GST distribution system. The primary source of funds for Australian States and Territories is GST revenue distributed by the Commonwealth using an equalisation formula that has proved to be politically unsustainable and in recent times manifestly inadequate to provide the revenue needed in response to crises and natural disasters. A tipping point has been reached and reform is urgently needed. Drawing on international experience with GST distributi ....Sustainable fiscal federalism and reform of the GST distribution system. The primary source of funds for Australian States and Territories is GST revenue distributed by the Commonwealth using an equalisation formula that has proved to be politically unsustainable and in recent times manifestly inadequate to provide the revenue needed in response to crises and natural disasters. A tipping point has been reached and reform is urgently needed. Drawing on international experience with GST distributions specifically and fiscal federalism more generally, the project aims to develop a reform blueprint for a sustainable and equitable fiscal federalism regime in Australia that best aligns with Australia’s current and long-term fiscal needs.Read moreRead less
From risk factor analysis to translation: multiple sclerosis and vitamin D deficiency. This research on multiple sclerosis will focus on its causes and lifestyle factors that affect it and will trial vitamin D supplementation as a treatment. Studies on vitamin D deficiency in healthy populations aim to develop new public health recommendations on sun exposure and vitamin D that balance risk of skin cancer against vitamin D deficiency.