Designing illicit drug policy solutions: the role of participation. This project aims to study whether the design of illicit drug policies can be enhanced with participation. As a complex social problem, the development of new policy design solutions requires participatory processes which engage multiple stakeholders and make explicit the underlying values and goals. The project aims to study the effects of participatory policy design and generate new innovative technologies of participation. Th ....Designing illicit drug policy solutions: the role of participation. This project aims to study whether the design of illicit drug policies can be enhanced with participation. As a complex social problem, the development of new policy design solutions requires participatory processes which engage multiple stakeholders and make explicit the underlying values and goals. The project aims to study the effects of participatory policy design and generate new innovative technologies of participation. The expected outcomes are new knowledge and practices for policy design, including policy design solutions for three current policy dilemmas for Australian governments. The benefits of more effective and participatory illicit drug policies include the economic, social and health gains accrued when policy works.Read moreRead less
The science-policy interface in policy theories: a comparative case study of street-level policing for illicit drugs. This project will analyse two prominent policy process theories by their application to illicit drugs policing case studies, this having never previously been done. The project aims to assess the scientific merit of the two competing policy process theories; examine their applicability to policing; and study the ways in which each theory can account for the interface between scie ....The science-policy interface in policy theories: a comparative case study of street-level policing for illicit drugs. This project will analyse two prominent policy process theories by their application to illicit drugs policing case studies, this having never previously been done. The project aims to assess the scientific merit of the two competing policy process theories; examine their applicability to policing; and study the ways in which each theory can account for the interface between science and policy. The project will create new knowledge in relation to the scientific merit of the theories, and the role of science in police policy formation. This new knowledge will assist those working at the interface between science and policy to enhance policy analysis and policy influence in this strongly contested domain.Read moreRead less
From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance re ....From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance requirements against the desire to help clients. The project aims to create a new framework for understanding how policy instruments and design experiments can improve services for those who are in need.Read moreRead less
What counts is what is counted: performance measurement and its consequences. Measuring public sector performance is important as it potentially improves services and saves money, but it has become increasingly time and resource consuming. This project will analyse performance measurement and its consequences, and generate information on how governments can contain its growth and reduce its undesirable consequences.
Material well-being in the Australian welfare state. This project will use Australian Bureau of Statistics data on incomes, wealth and time use to construct a picture of material well-being in contemporary Australia. The results will show how material well-being relates to stages in the life cycle, to family types, and to relative affluence and relative poverty. Comparisons will be drawn between these results and a similar Australian study based on data from the late 1980s. International compari ....Material well-being in the Australian welfare state. This project will use Australian Bureau of Statistics data on incomes, wealth and time use to construct a picture of material well-being in contemporary Australia. The results will show how material well-being relates to stages in the life cycle, to family types, and to relative affluence and relative poverty. Comparisons will be drawn between these results and a similar Australian study based on data from the late 1980s. International comparisons will also be attempted. The findings provide important guidelines for public policy and especially for welfare policy.Read moreRead less
Resolving Complex Policy Problems - the role of social science. This project will show how social science research can enhance policy decision-making on complex social issues. Factors which help or hinder productive use of social research will be identified, and models for improving these relationships will be examined. The project investigates complex case-studies to develop richer explanations of how social research findings could be more fully utilised in resolving complex policy problems. Th ....Resolving Complex Policy Problems - the role of social science. This project will show how social science research can enhance policy decision-making on complex social issues. Factors which help or hinder productive use of social research will be identified, and models for improving these relationships will be examined. The project investigates complex case-studies to develop richer explanations of how social research findings could be more fully utilised in resolving complex policy problems. The project builds on international research to provide a deeper understanding of the direct and indirect impacts of social research in policymaking. It will develop new approaches to how social science researchers demonstrate ‘value’ and benefits to government and other partners. Read moreRead less
Making complex interfaces work for the national disability insurance scheme. This project aims to examine how organisations, frontline workers and participants negotiate funded supports across the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and mainstream services and systems interfaces by taking a street-level perspective. The project intends to generate knowledge about self-governing arrangements and adaptive practices that encourage coordinated planning using case study methodology and novel ....Making complex interfaces work for the national disability insurance scheme. This project aims to examine how organisations, frontline workers and participants negotiate funded supports across the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and mainstream services and systems interfaces by taking a street-level perspective. The project intends to generate knowledge about self-governing arrangements and adaptive practices that encourage coordinated planning using case study methodology and novel digital research tools. Expected outcomes include the identification of optimal organisational approaches and models of sector governance that mobilise and embed interface efficiencies. This project should significantly benefit the sustainability of the NDIS and ensure the system works effectively for participants.Read moreRead less
The deterrent effects of Australian drug law enforcement. Drug law enforcement efforts have been underpinned by the assumption that police deter or prevent drug use and trafficking, yet deterrent effects have gone unexamined or measured using narrow parameters. By using modern criminological conceptualisations of deterrence and innovative methods, this project aims to measure the deterrent effects of four Australian policing strategies on current and would-be offenders' decisions to use, possess ....The deterrent effects of Australian drug law enforcement. Drug law enforcement efforts have been underpinned by the assumption that police deter or prevent drug use and trafficking, yet deterrent effects have gone unexamined or measured using narrow parameters. By using modern criminological conceptualisations of deterrence and innovative methods, this project aims to measure the deterrent effects of four Australian policing strategies on current and would-be offenders' decisions to use, possess and traffic illicit drugs and identify mechanisms by which police can and cannot deter. The project aims to provide detailed empirical insight into an enduring policy conundrum, namely the extent to which police can be expected to deter, and build capacity for more evidence-informed responses to drug-related crime.Read moreRead less
Sparking a National Conversation. This project aims to understand why some promises of a ‘national conversation’ on a policy issue seem to be mere hyperbole, while others seem more authentic. Using an evaluative framework based on the latest democratic theory, and the aims and understandings of key actors in each case, the project plans to compare three cases that claimed to spark a national conversation: the Scottish National Conversation 2007–14; debates around the Affordable Care Act in the U ....Sparking a National Conversation. This project aims to understand why some promises of a ‘national conversation’ on a policy issue seem to be mere hyperbole, while others seem more authentic. Using an evaluative framework based on the latest democratic theory, and the aims and understandings of key actors in each case, the project plans to compare three cases that claimed to spark a national conversation: the Scottish National Conversation 2007–14; debates around the Affordable Care Act in the United States, 2009; and the ongoing issue of Indigenous constitutional recognition in Australia. The project aims to identify why some real-world efforts work better than others, and draw lessons for replicating best practice in Australia. Project outcomes may provide advice to policy-makers on how to engage citizens better in the major issues of the day.Read moreRead less
Decision making in international organisations: who and what shapes decisions? This project explores the working of seven international organisations (IOs) to ask who or what shapes what IOs do. Using public policy concepts to analyse the contributions of state representatives, chief executives and staff within IOs, this project seeks to provide more realistic appreciation of what IOs can achieve.