Constituencies for welfare: Public responses to Australia's 'new welfare state'. The main national and community benefits fall within Research Priority 2: Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, and particularly 'Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric'. Australia's welfare state helps maintain the social fabric, but its performance depends on citizens' confidence in the purposes and outcomes of welfare. This project investigates how well Australians understand recent welfare changes ....Constituencies for welfare: Public responses to Australia's 'new welfare state'. The main national and community benefits fall within Research Priority 2: Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, and particularly 'Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric'. Australia's welfare state helps maintain the social fabric, but its performance depends on citizens' confidence in the purposes and outcomes of welfare. This project investigates how well Australians understand recent welfare changes, and measures their confidence in policy directions. The project will produce fresh research into the public's response to the Australian government's largest area of fiscal responsibility, provide new analytical and data tools for policymakers, and strengthen Australia's international profile in research into welfare reform.Read moreRead less
Community consultation and the hard to reach. Local government, social profiling and civic infrastructure. This study offers conceptual insights into reasons for non-participation in local government consultation, drawing on critical policy analysis and debates on governance and democratic capacity. The collaboration of 7 local councils and the VLGA enable the development of a transferable, generally viable framework linking: (i) sophisticated demographic profiles (ii) types of communication me ....Community consultation and the hard to reach. Local government, social profiling and civic infrastructure. This study offers conceptual insights into reasons for non-participation in local government consultation, drawing on critical policy analysis and debates on governance and democratic capacity. The collaboration of 7 local councils and the VLGA enable the development of a transferable, generally viable framework linking: (i) sophisticated demographic profiles (ii) types of communication media on a continuum of intensity (face to face, telephone/mail survey, email/Internet); (iii) issues on which residents wish to be consulted; and (iv) implications for civic infrastructure. Outcomes will benefit councils and Victorian citizens by providing an innovative, practically applicable framework for policy implementation using consultative processes.Read moreRead less
Science and Citizenship: Democracy in the age of science-mediated risk. This community-based project in the Goulburn Valley focuses on citizens' negotiation of scientific expertise, perceptions of risk and participation in policy formation. It asks: 'how can democracy work in a world of proliferating cultures of expertise?' The project will produce an environmental history drawn from citizens' experience of transforming the landscape for irrigation and agribusiness, and of scientific advice ov ....Science and Citizenship: Democracy in the age of science-mediated risk. This community-based project in the Goulburn Valley focuses on citizens' negotiation of scientific expertise, perceptions of risk and participation in policy formation. It asks: 'how can democracy work in a world of proliferating cultures of expertise?' The project will produce an environmental history drawn from citizens' experience of transforming the landscape for irrigation and agribusiness, and of scientific advice over time. It will explore how citizens deal with conflicting scientist-generated scenarios around climate change and environmental flows in the light of their historical experience, and trial new modes of public policy formation.Read moreRead less
Maximising the contribution of NGOs in a new planning framework for community services provision. This interdisciplinary study will investigate how the contribution of NGOs in a new planning framework for community services can be maximised. This is important as the Friedman Results Accountability Planning Framework is being adopted in NSW for whole-of-government, cross-sector, regionalised planning. Using participatory action research, this first Australian study will test and develop the frame ....Maximising the contribution of NGOs in a new planning framework for community services provision. This interdisciplinary study will investigate how the contribution of NGOs in a new planning framework for community services can be maximised. This is important as the Friedman Results Accountability Planning Framework is being adopted in NSW for whole-of-government, cross-sector, regionalised planning. Using participatory action research, this first Australian study will test and develop the framework's capability to bring forward, value and fully utilise the knowledge of diverse communities and organisations. The research will open up possibilities not only for streamlining and delivering better human services but also for developing social capital with strong applications for social policy and local government.Read moreRead less