Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100028
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$432,029.00
Summary
Addressing gender and sexuality in drug education. This project aims to generate new knowledge on the relationship between young people’s concerns about drugs and the priorities informing drug education. Alcohol and illicit drug use costs Australia almost $40 billion per year and is a leading contributor to total burden of disease for young Australians. Drug education is a key strategy used to reduce youth alcohol and illicit drug-related harm, yet it has been the subject of sustained criticism ....Addressing gender and sexuality in drug education. This project aims to generate new knowledge on the relationship between young people’s concerns about drugs and the priorities informing drug education. Alcohol and illicit drug use costs Australia almost $40 billion per year and is a leading contributor to total burden of disease for young Australians. Drug education is a key strategy used to reduce youth alcohol and illicit drug-related harm, yet it has been the subject of sustained criticism for its inability to address youth effectively, including the gendered and sexual dimensions of harm. Outcomes expected from this project include more effective and equitable drug education materials. Overall, the project seeks to reduce alcohol and illicit drug-related harm among young Australians.Read moreRead less
Investigating memory reliability in intoxicated witnesses of crime. Eyewitness testimony is a crucial piece of evidence for solving a crime. Inaccurate testimony leads to miscarriages of justice such as failed prosecutions or false convictions. Many witnesses and victims are affected by alcohol or other drugs during the crime. This project brings together a multidisciplinary team aiming to improve understanding of how intoxication with different substances affects the reliability of victim and w ....Investigating memory reliability in intoxicated witnesses of crime. Eyewitness testimony is a crucial piece of evidence for solving a crime. Inaccurate testimony leads to miscarriages of justice such as failed prosecutions or false convictions. Many witnesses and victims are affected by alcohol or other drugs during the crime. This project brings together a multidisciplinary team aiming to improve understanding of how intoxication with different substances affects the reliability of victim and witness memory accuracy. Crucially, crimes are frequently distressing; therefore the interaction between intoxication and stress urgently requires exploration. This project will significantly advance our understanding of key mechanisms behind drug effects on memory, and support fairer judicial outcomes for all. Read moreRead less
Improving social, economic and health outcomes through drug policy reforms. Globally, recognition is growing that common prohibitionist drug policies contribute to drug-related harms and have not succeeded. Identified harms include the current drug overdose crisis in North America and a surge in overdose deaths in Australia, adding new force to calls for urgent reform. This project aims to respond to these calls by exploring how human rights considerations can inform improvements to drug policy. ....Improving social, economic and health outcomes through drug policy reforms. Globally, recognition is growing that common prohibitionist drug policies contribute to drug-related harms and have not succeeded. Identified harms include the current drug overdose crisis in North America and a surge in overdose deaths in Australia, adding new force to calls for urgent reform. This project aims to respond to these calls by exploring how human rights considerations can inform improvements to drug policy. The project seeks to generate new knowledge on how human rights can guide reform so as to improve social, economic and health outcomes. The project should provide significant benefits to the nation, informing Australian legal, policy and practice reforms as well as international efforts to reduce drug-related harms.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240101337
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$433,000.00
Summary
Unpacking the policy process: alcohol policy in complex social environments. In pursuit of effective alcohol policies, experts have focused on promoting evidence-based solutions, assuming that policymakers will select policies on the basis of research evidence. However, this linear model of evidence-based policy rarely plays out when related to highly contested social issues such as alcohol use. We need new ways of thinking about influencing alcohol policy that account for and engage with the re ....Unpacking the policy process: alcohol policy in complex social environments. In pursuit of effective alcohol policies, experts have focused on promoting evidence-based solutions, assuming that policymakers will select policies on the basis of research evidence. However, this linear model of evidence-based policy rarely plays out when related to highly contested social issues such as alcohol use. We need new ways of thinking about influencing alcohol policy that account for and engage with the realities of policymaking in socially complex regions, particularly policy relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This DECRA will address this critical gap in knowledge by generating knowledge on alcohol policy processes, with a view to informing more effective engagement in the alcohol policymaking process.Read moreRead less
Reimagining strengths approaches to drug and alcohol care for young people. This project aims to advance the conceptualisation and practical application of strengths-based approaches in the youth alcohol and drug sector. These approaches provide a promising way forward for addressing substance use and disadvantage among young people, and are widespread in the sector, but lack a strong evidence base. The project will learn from excellence in Aboriginal strengths-based models, and draw on sociolog ....Reimagining strengths approaches to drug and alcohol care for young people. This project aims to advance the conceptualisation and practical application of strengths-based approaches in the youth alcohol and drug sector. These approaches provide a promising way forward for addressing substance use and disadvantage among young people, and are widespread in the sector, but lack a strong evidence base. The project will learn from excellence in Aboriginal strengths-based models, and draw on sociological frameworks, to generate evidence on which to build more relevant responses for disadvantaged young people. This will provide significant benefit to service providers and policymakers by providing evidence about how to do strengths-based practice that is responsive to the needs of disadvantaged young people.Read moreRead less
Lived experiences of treatment for hepatitis C in Australia. This project aims to support uptake of new hepatitis C treatments. With the introduction of new treatments in 2016, the Australian Government adopted the WHO’s goal of eliminating the disease by 2030. While early treatment rates were high, they have since plateaued, with stigma and poor information considered key obstacles. This project will generate new knowledge on treatment decisions and experiences, using a proven qualitative metho ....Lived experiences of treatment for hepatitis C in Australia. This project aims to support uptake of new hepatitis C treatments. With the introduction of new treatments in 2016, the Australian Government adopted the WHO’s goal of eliminating the disease by 2030. While early treatment rates were high, they have since plateaued, with stigma and poor information considered key obstacles. This project will generate new knowledge on treatment decisions and experiences, using a proven qualitative methodology. In doing so, it will produce a website covering personal experiences of treatment, issues in treatment decision-making, and advice on enhancing life on treatment and after. It will tackle hepatitis C-related stigma, and inform and benefit potential treatment users, families and relevant professionals.
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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100584
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,416.00
Summary
Social isolation and loneliness as factors maintaining domestic violence. Isolating victims from support systems is a common tactic of domestic violence, yet we know very little about a key psychological consequence of this: Loneliness. Early research has identified loneliness as a factor in victim-survivor decisions to stay in violent relationships and to return after escape. This project aims to understand loneliness as a feature of domestic violence and its long-term impacts on victim-survivo ....Social isolation and loneliness as factors maintaining domestic violence. Isolating victims from support systems is a common tactic of domestic violence, yet we know very little about a key psychological consequence of this: Loneliness. Early research has identified loneliness as a factor in victim-survivor decisions to stay in violent relationships and to return after escape. This project aims to understand loneliness as a feature of domestic violence and its long-term impacts on victim-survivors using a mixed-methods approach. This will include collection of repeated measures and qualitative data with victim-survivors and service workers. This project will endeavour to provide a comprehensive picture of the impact of loneliness on victims of domestic violence and how we can shape our future service responses.Read moreRead less
Understanding the role of trauma in alcohol and other drug-related problems. This project aims to investigate the relationship between trauma and alcohol and other drug (AOD)-related problems. Using a robust set of qualitative and ethnographic methods, the project expects to advance international knowledge on how experiences of trauma influence AOD consumption, and the diverse factors that shape variation in experience and outcomes for individuals. Expected outcomes include targeted recommendati ....Understanding the role of trauma in alcohol and other drug-related problems. This project aims to investigate the relationship between trauma and alcohol and other drug (AOD)-related problems. Using a robust set of qualitative and ethnographic methods, the project expects to advance international knowledge on how experiences of trauma influence AOD consumption, and the diverse factors that shape variation in experience and outcomes for individuals. Expected outcomes include targeted recommendations to improve AOD responses, policy and trauma-informed AOD care, and increased capacity of the Australian health workforce to respond to trauma and AOD-related problems. This should provide significant benefit by reducing the harms, and economic and social costs associated with AOD consumption.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100329
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$361,357.00
Summary
Adult drinking and child maltreatment in families, communities and societies. This project aims to measure how adult drinking is linked to child maltreatment within families, communities and societies. The project will use data from 20 countries, including Australia, and expects to develop new knowledge about links between adult drinking, fathering, community-level alcohol availability, societal drinking patterns and harms to children. Expected outcomes include national and cross-national policy ....Adult drinking and child maltreatment in families, communities and societies. This project aims to measure how adult drinking is linked to child maltreatment within families, communities and societies. The project will use data from 20 countries, including Australia, and expects to develop new knowledge about links between adult drinking, fathering, community-level alcohol availability, societal drinking patterns and harms to children. Expected outcomes include national and cross-national policy-relevant data and analysis that will inform prevention of alcohol-related child maltreatment and alcohol policy globally. This project should support reductions in the economic and human costs of alcohol-related child abuse and neglect for children, families and societies.Read moreRead less
The life-course implications of declining adolescent drinking. The project aims to identify ways to ensure that recent declines in adolescent drinking are maintained and reinforced as these cohorts age into young adulthood. It expects to generate new knowledge on the trajectories of youth drinking into young adulthood. Expected outcomes include new cross-national understandings of the predictors of heavy drinking in adulthood and an updated evidence base for the development of harm prevention po ....The life-course implications of declining adolescent drinking. The project aims to identify ways to ensure that recent declines in adolescent drinking are maintained and reinforced as these cohorts age into young adulthood. It expects to generate new knowledge on the trajectories of youth drinking into young adulthood. Expected outcomes include new cross-national understandings of the predictors of heavy drinking in adulthood and an updated evidence base for the development of harm prevention policies and interventions by governments and NGOs. This should provide significant benefits to Australia via reductions in the negative health and social impacts of heavy drinking for these cohorts across their lives. Read moreRead less