Advancing digital inclusion in low income Australian families. This ethnographic investigation explores the complex relationship between digital and social inclusion, and social infrastructure's role (education facilities, charities, government services) in supporting low-income families' social and economic participation. It gathers insights from families in six diverse communities from Far North Queensland to Tasmania, across diverse urban, regional and rural locations. It focuses on the digit ....Advancing digital inclusion in low income Australian families. This ethnographic investigation explores the complex relationship between digital and social inclusion, and social infrastructure's role (education facilities, charities, government services) in supporting low-income families' social and economic participation. It gathers insights from families in six diverse communities from Far North Queensland to Tasmania, across diverse urban, regional and rural locations. It focuses on the digital inclusion implications of children's home and school learning experiences, school leavers' transitions into work, and parenting in digital times. The project is a collaboration with Australia's leading digital inclusion organisations and will develop new practices, policies and sector wide solutions.Read moreRead less
Enhancing outcomes for young people in out-of-home care who self-place. This project aims to enhance the safety and well-being of young people in out-of-home care who leave formal placements to stay in unapproved locations. The significance lies in the development of new knowledge with this group of young people about their needs and of factors shaping effective responses to them. Expected outcomes include the generation of policies and practices to reduce the drivers of young people leaving a ....Enhancing outcomes for young people in out-of-home care who self-place. This project aims to enhance the safety and well-being of young people in out-of-home care who leave formal placements to stay in unapproved locations. The significance lies in the development of new knowledge with this group of young people about their needs and of factors shaping effective responses to them. Expected outcomes include the generation of policies and practices to reduce the drivers of young people leaving approved placements and to address the support and protective needs of young people when staying in unapproved locations. The benefits include improved social and economic inclusion of young people in out-of-home care and reduced socio-economic burdens on health and justice systems associated with placement breakdown. Read moreRead less
An econometric analysis of the effects of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation in Australia. This project will help to 'strengthen Australia's economic fabric' by improving our understanding of the effect of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation. This is important because boosting fertility and labour force participation are both seen as ways of mitigating the economic burden of population ageing, thereby helping Austra ....An econometric analysis of the effects of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation in Australia. This project will help to 'strengthen Australia's economic fabric' by improving our understanding of the effect of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation. This is important because boosting fertility and labour force participation are both seen as ways of mitigating the economic burden of population ageing, thereby helping Australia to 'age well, age productively' in a national sense. Also, achieving a desired level of national saving is a medium term goal of government economic policy. Hence it is important to understand the interaction of saving, fertility and labour force participation in order to develop compatible and effective economic policies.Read moreRead less
Identifying, attracting and retaining successful foster parents. This research project will improve Australian foster care systems. By developing tools to identify, attract and retain successful foster parents more effectively we will address two critical problems facing foster care organisations: decreasing numbers of foster parents and increasing numbers of 'placement breakdowns'. Improvements of these factors will (1) give foster children a more positive and healthier start to life; (2) reduc ....Identifying, attracting and retaining successful foster parents. This research project will improve Australian foster care systems. By developing tools to identify, attract and retain successful foster parents more effectively we will address two critical problems facing foster care organisations: decreasing numbers of foster parents and increasing numbers of 'placement breakdowns'. Improvements of these factors will (1) give foster children a more positive and healthier start to life; (2) reduce the extent to which foster children develop antisocial and emotional attachment problems; (3) reduce the incidence of criminal and antisocial behaviours among foster children; and consequently (4) have a positive long-term effect on the social fabric of Australia.Read moreRead less
Linking to learn and learning to link: building integrated school-based support systems for children and families in a disadvantaged community. The project will implement in a disadvantaged community changed institutional practices within primary schools and a partner welfare agency to increase family-school connectedness to improve children's behaviour and school performance. We build on the Pathways Project, which improved these outcomes for vulnerable preschool children, but highlighted the c ....Linking to learn and learning to link: building integrated school-based support systems for children and families in a disadvantaged community. The project will implement in a disadvantaged community changed institutional practices within primary schools and a partner welfare agency to increase family-school connectedness to improve children's behaviour and school performance. We build on the Pathways Project, which improved these outcomes for vulnerable preschool children, but highlighted the critical importance of family involvement with schools to effect enduring change and the difficulties of achieving this within current structures. We address this challenge by nurturing whole-school culture change, providing teacher professional development, and locating family support resources within schools to promote home-school partnerships, family functioning, and child well-being. Read moreRead less
Currencies of Care: Establishing the scope of performance indicators in child and family welfare services. This project aims to establish the scope of performance indicators for assessing outcomes in welfare services in urban, regional and rural contexts. Its significance lies in the analysis of outcomes, in addition to service outputs, and in advancing understanding of performance assessment beyond a narrow focus on urban service delivery environments. The project combines UnitingCare Burnside' ....Currencies of Care: Establishing the scope of performance indicators in child and family welfare services. This project aims to establish the scope of performance indicators for assessing outcomes in welfare services in urban, regional and rural contexts. Its significance lies in the analysis of outcomes, in addition to service outputs, and in advancing understanding of performance assessment beyond a narrow focus on urban service delivery environments. The project combines UnitingCare Burnside's experience in and commitment to delivery of high quality services with the CIs' interdisciplinary expertise in evaluation of caring work. Anticipated outcomes include development of a conceptual framework for performance assessment which will be used by the industry partner in managing and delivering services.Read moreRead less
Researching an all-of-family program in family violence & substance misuse. Family violence services and drug and alcohol services have been inappropriately siloed given co-occurrence of these problems is common. This project aims to evaluate an innovative program which integrates these services, focuses on fathering to ensure recognition of the needs of children (50% of family violence victims) and provides all-of-family support to ensure the safety and well-being of women and children. Expect ....Researching an all-of-family program in family violence & substance misuse. Family violence services and drug and alcohol services have been inappropriately siloed given co-occurrence of these problems is common. This project aims to evaluate an innovative program which integrates these services, focuses on fathering to ensure recognition of the needs of children (50% of family violence victims) and provides all-of-family support to ensure the safety and well-being of women and children. Expected outcomes include better evidence for countering family violence, and policy frameworks for integrated service provision. Changing the behaviour of men who use violence is a significant social challenge and the outcomes of this targeted approach should have ramifications nationally and internationally. Read moreRead less
Social cognitive change in late adulthood. This project aims to develop and test a model of how normal adult ageing affects the ability to perceive and interpret social cues, a critical predictor of social competency and well-being, and identify the most important determinants of any age-related changes. This project predicts that older adults who have the greatest difficulties perceiving and interpreting social cues will also have the poorest social function and well-being, so better understand ....Social cognitive change in late adulthood. This project aims to develop and test a model of how normal adult ageing affects the ability to perceive and interpret social cues, a critical predictor of social competency and well-being, and identify the most important determinants of any age-related changes. This project predicts that older adults who have the greatest difficulties perceiving and interpreting social cues will also have the poorest social function and well-being, so better understanding the mechanistic factors that drive resilience and risk for these difficulties is expected to have direct and important implications for Australia’s growing older adult community.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
A study investigating the feasibility of implementing a national approach to child and family health services. Understanding and strengthening the way in which universal health services are provided to pregnant women, children and families has the potential to impact over a million Australian families annually. The findings of this study will have national application as federal, state and territory governments work towards implementing a national approach to child and family health services. Th ....A study investigating the feasibility of implementing a national approach to child and family health services. Understanding and strengthening the way in which universal health services are provided to pregnant women, children and families has the potential to impact over a million Australian families annually. The findings of this study will have national application as federal, state and territory governments work towards implementing a national approach to child and family health services. The findings will inform effective multidisciplinary collaboration and service integration, address service gaps and duplication and lead to increased access to services. This study will generate new knowledge about characteristics of organisations, service delivery and professions that facilitate or hinder innovation.Read moreRead less