Mapping & Harnessing Public Mistrust: Constitutional Values Survey 2023-27. Declining public trust is well recognised as a problem of democratic government, including in Australia. However solutions are more elusive, confounded by the reality that mistrust and distrust play not just negative, but positive roles in our existing political and constitutional traditions. This project aims to be the first to comprehensively map the positive values of mistrust in citizen political attitudes and experi ....Mapping & Harnessing Public Mistrust: Constitutional Values Survey 2023-27. Declining public trust is well recognised as a problem of democratic government, including in Australia. However solutions are more elusive, confounded by the reality that mistrust and distrust play not just negative, but positive roles in our existing political and constitutional traditions. This project aims to be the first to comprehensively map the positive values of mistrust in citizen political attitudes and experience, building on previous Constitutional Values Surveys (2008-21) to test new measures of the content of trust including a first-ever longitudinal study of changing trust over time. The results will inform concrete solutions to three key policy reform dilemmas, providing better answers for sustaining public trust overall.
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Constituent power in federal constitutions. The concept of constituent power is fundamental to public law. This project aims to provide the first systematic and theoretical examination of the concept as it manifests in federations. The idea of constituent power was first developed in unitary states. Consequently, its role in federations has rarely been explored. Expected outcomes include a systematic comparative analysis of constituent power in federations and the development of a theory of plur ....Constituent power in federal constitutions. The concept of constituent power is fundamental to public law. This project aims to provide the first systematic and theoretical examination of the concept as it manifests in federations. The idea of constituent power was first developed in unitary states. Consequently, its role in federations has rarely been explored. Expected outcomes include a systematic comparative analysis of constituent power in federations and the development of a theory of pluralised constituent power. Expected benefits include the generation of insights into the constitutional foundations of federal systems (including Australia), new approaches to the interpretation of federal constitutions and mapping of pathways for legitimate constitutional reform.Read moreRead less
Revitalising Indigenous-state relations in Australia . This project aims to investigate the complexity of Indigenous affairs governance and the ongoing tensions in the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the Australian state. The project expects to generate new data on contemporary Indigenous governance arrangements and analyse them using an original conceptual framework to inform knowledge-exchange workshops designed to advance proposed new approaches. Expecte ....Revitalising Indigenous-state relations in Australia . This project aims to investigate the complexity of Indigenous affairs governance and the ongoing tensions in the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the Australian state. The project expects to generate new data on contemporary Indigenous governance arrangements and analyse them using an original conceptual framework to inform knowledge-exchange workshops designed to advance proposed new approaches. Expected outcomes of this project include concrete proposals for re-setting Indigenous-settler relations and Indigenous affairs policy. This should provide significant benefits in the field of Indigenous governance including plans for more genuine transformation in Australian Indigenous-settler relations.Read moreRead less
Understanding and Combatting 'Dark Political Communication'. This project examines an emergent series of tactics used by political actors (i.e. politicians, lobbyists, political groups, etc.) that we are calling 'Dark Political Communication' (DPC). DPC differs markedly from existing, well-established modes of political communication, as it often involves the deliberate spread of disinformation, use of highly inflammatory language, antagonism towards the press and democratic institutions, as wel ....Understanding and Combatting 'Dark Political Communication'. This project examines an emergent series of tactics used by political actors (i.e. politicians, lobbyists, political groups, etc.) that we are calling 'Dark Political Communication' (DPC). DPC differs markedly from existing, well-established modes of political communication, as it often involves the deliberate spread of disinformation, use of highly inflammatory language, antagonism towards the press and democratic institutions, as well as actions that seek to exacerbate social discord. In this project, we will provide the first-ever complete account of DPC tactics, and provide a series of recommendations to journalists about how their practice can best evolve to address this novel communication paradigm. Read moreRead less
Pathways to social cohesion and social change: opinion-based groups and the dynamic formation of identities. This project will update the understanding of political conflict by exploring groups based around shared opinions. It will show that groups are likely to be more successful in their political campaigns when they tie their causes to national and other positive identifies.
The Impact of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence on the Dynamics of Conflict. This project aims to understand the impact of sexual and gender-based violence on the dynamics of conflict. With an innovative mixed method design it will study all reported incidences of sexual and gender-based violence in 41 conflict-affected countries between 1998 and 2018. It will generate new knowledge establishing how and when crimes of sexual and gender-based violence affect the onset and intensity of conflict. Th ....The Impact of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence on the Dynamics of Conflict. This project aims to understand the impact of sexual and gender-based violence on the dynamics of conflict. With an innovative mixed method design it will study all reported incidences of sexual and gender-based violence in 41 conflict-affected countries between 1998 and 2018. It will generate new knowledge establishing how and when crimes of sexual and gender-based violence affect the onset and intensity of conflict. The expected outcomes of this project include the identification of the most high-risk situations, the phases of violence, and the improvement of risk assessments for such violence. The project will significantly benefit the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict-affected situations globally.Read moreRead less
Preventing Mass Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Conflict and Non-Conflict Affected Countries. Widespread and systematic Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) has been recognised by the United Nations Security Council since 2000 as a matter of international peace and security. Under the 1998 Rome Statute it is a crime against humanity, a war crime and an act of genocide. There are two explanations for mass SGBV: the presence of armed conflict and the existence of extreme gender inequality a ....Preventing Mass Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Conflict and Non-Conflict Affected Countries. Widespread and systematic Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) has been recognised by the United Nations Security Council since 2000 as a matter of international peace and security. Under the 1998 Rome Statute it is a crime against humanity, a war crime and an act of genocide. There are two explanations for mass SGBV: the presence of armed conflict and the existence of extreme gender inequality and oppression prior to onset of conflict. Yet, to date, there is little knowledge of how variations in the type of conflict and gender inequality contribute to SGBV crimes. This project will test and refine the two dominant and competing explanations for SGBV crimes to inform strategies for the prevention of SGBV where risk is high.Read moreRead less
Civilian Protection and the Use of Force in UN Peacekeeping Operations. This project seeks to evaluate the use of force to protect civilians in United Nations peacekeeping. United Nations peacekeepers are on the frontline of efforts to protect civilians from violence. More than 100 were killed in 2014. Hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on peacekeepers for their safety. To date, however, there has been little systematic evaluation of the impact of the use of force for civilian protection ....Civilian Protection and the Use of Force in UN Peacekeeping Operations. This project seeks to evaluate the use of force to protect civilians in United Nations peacekeeping. United Nations peacekeepers are on the frontline of efforts to protect civilians from violence. More than 100 were killed in 2014. Hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on peacekeepers for their safety. To date, however, there has been little systematic evaluation of the impact of the use of force for civilian protection mandates on both immediate protection goals and the wider goals of peacekeeping. This project aims to assess the impact of the implementation of mandates to use force to protect civilians. Through a focused comparison of six missions, it plans to identify what works, what doesn't, and the factors which determine these outcomes in order to identify ways of improving performance in the future.Read moreRead less
The Open Innovation Process: Factors and Technologies that Matter. This project aims to identify approaches to enable firms to find and introduce ideas through open innovation. Open innovation, with its focus on external sources of ideas, is a promising approach for increasing organisational innovation. While uptake of open innovation is on the increase, the lack of understanding of practices and technologies used to successfully introduce it into firms, limits its usefulness and results in wast ....The Open Innovation Process: Factors and Technologies that Matter. This project aims to identify approaches to enable firms to find and introduce ideas through open innovation. Open innovation, with its focus on external sources of ideas, is a promising approach for increasing organisational innovation. While uptake of open innovation is on the increase, the lack of understanding of practices and technologies used to successfully introduce it into firms, limits its usefulness and results in wasted resources. This project aims to investigate open innovation and relevant technologies to identify success factors for the idea generation and assessment phases of open innovation, develop guidelines for their application, identify effective technologies and related recommendations for use, and quantify their impact on innovation.Read moreRead less
Tracing real Internet attackers through information correlation. If this research accomplishes successfully, it will be a big step forward on tracing Internet attackers in terms of traceback scope, accuracy, usability and deployment. This will empower authorities to control and punish Internet crime and terrorism. It will also greatly reduce the damage caused by Internet crime and terrorism. The prototype of the distributed information correlation tracing system can possibly be patented or even ....Tracing real Internet attackers through information correlation. If this research accomplishes successfully, it will be a big step forward on tracing Internet attackers in terms of traceback scope, accuracy, usability and deployment. This will empower authorities to control and punish Internet crime and terrorism. It will also greatly reduce the damage caused by Internet crime and terrorism. The prototype of the distributed information correlation tracing system can possibly be patented or even be commercialised. The capability of a nation to trace the real source of any attacks on its information infrastructure is central to the control of such attacks and hence to a nation's long-term survival and prosperity.Read moreRead less