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
Ageing in prison: A strategic framework for the management of ageing offenders in the Australian criminal justice system. The knowledge and strategies offered by this research will contribute to significant improvements in planning of programs and facilities for Australian prisons and prisoner support services. In turn, ageing prisoners will benefit from improved mental and physical health, reduction in homelessness, and reduced recidivism. Improved knowledge of the needs of ageing prisoners wil ....Ageing in prison: A strategic framework for the management of ageing offenders in the Australian criminal justice system. The knowledge and strategies offered by this research will contribute to significant improvements in planning of programs and facilities for Australian prisons and prisoner support services. In turn, ageing prisoners will benefit from improved mental and physical health, reduction in homelessness, and reduced recidivism. Improved knowledge of the needs of ageing prisoners will allow reduced costs, through better planning, less inefficiencies and a decreased burden on community health and welfare systems. The project will also assist government departments to ensure national and international human rights obligations are met.Read moreRead less
Ethnographies of housing: exploring the role of housing officers in public housing service provision. This research examines the everyday practice of public housing officers working in the Victorian Office of Housing. It aims to analyse the ways that workers exercise discretion, and the patterns of meanings that they construct, through their interactions with clients, departmental managers and other human service providers. It is the first ethnographic study of front-line work in housing servi ....Ethnographies of housing: exploring the role of housing officers in public housing service provision. This research examines the everyday practice of public housing officers working in the Victorian Office of Housing. It aims to analyse the ways that workers exercise discretion, and the patterns of meanings that they construct, through their interactions with clients, departmental managers and other human service providers. It is the first ethnographic study of front-line work in housing services in Australia and builds on comparable work done in the United Kingdom and America. The knowledge generated will inform innovation in public housing services, housing policy debates and emerging programs designed to integrate housing with other human services.Read moreRead less
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
Engaged Government: A study of government-community engagement for regional outcomes. The devolution of government business to regional government/community partnerships, coupled with the call for greater policy coherence, is challenging all levels of government and communities to collaborate in new ways to deliver regional outcomes. There is little empirical research to guide public managers in determining best value arrangements and strategic investments for building a region's 'collaborative ....Engaged Government: A study of government-community engagement for regional outcomes. The devolution of government business to regional government/community partnerships, coupled with the call for greater policy coherence, is challenging all levels of government and communities to collaborate in new ways to deliver regional outcomes. There is little empirical research to guide public managers in determining best value arrangements and strategic investments for building a region's 'collaborative advantage'. This project will examine the conditions (strategic, structural and procedural) under which multi-sectoral collaboration can deliver policy coherence and positive regional outcomes and identify the costs, benefits, trade-offs and capacities associated with effective multi-sectoral collaboration.
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Community Management of Human Services in the Quasi-market: A critical examination of management practices in government funded community service providers. Small community organisations providing human services in Australia are in crisis following introduction by governments of funding practices based on quasi-market constructs of 'purchasing' and 'contracting'. These organisations traditionally based their structure and practices on participation of, and accountability to, the local community. ....Community Management of Human Services in the Quasi-market: A critical examination of management practices in government funded community service providers. Small community organisations providing human services in Australia are in crisis following introduction by governments of funding practices based on quasi-market constructs of 'purchasing' and 'contracting'. These organisations traditionally based their structure and practices on participation of, and accountability to, the local community. Explicit positioning of government as "customer" fundamentally alters this relationship. The research partners are increasingly aware of the practical issues for community management committees attempting to mediate these changes. In this research the emergent structures and practices of community organisations will be critically examined, and their impact on service provision analysed, through qualitative methods and textual analysis.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
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453801
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$102,900.00
Summary
Asia/Pacific HIV/AIDS Database: Support for Regional Policy Research. HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest contemporary threats to global human security, and its rapid growth in parts of the Asia/Pacific region makes it a major concern for Australia. Appropriate responses to the threat require accurate and regularly updated policy information. The construction of an interactive HIV policy data bank will support considerable research in a number of disciplines directly relevant to HIV control. This pr ....Asia/Pacific HIV/AIDS Database: Support for Regional Policy Research. HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest contemporary threats to global human security, and its rapid growth in parts of the Asia/Pacific region makes it a major concern for Australia. Appropriate responses to the threat require accurate and regularly updated policy information. The construction of an interactive HIV policy data bank will support considerable research in a number of disciplines directly relevant to HIV control. This project draws on multiple sources to construct a research and policy tool which will be drawn on by the partner organizations in a variety of HIV-related research projects.
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Evaluating the community governance of crime prevention and community safety. In partnership with the Victorian Department of Justice this research aims to evaluate the Safer Cities and Shires program using both in-depth data analysis and focus groups. It questions the theoretical assumptions underlying the program; identifies effective and cost-effective community governance structures and factors that enhance or inhibit a community's capacity to participate in and respond to community safety i ....Evaluating the community governance of crime prevention and community safety. In partnership with the Victorian Department of Justice this research aims to evaluate the Safer Cities and Shires program using both in-depth data analysis and focus groups. It questions the theoretical assumptions underlying the program; identifies effective and cost-effective community governance structures and factors that enhance or inhibit a community's capacity to participate in and respond to community safety initiatives; and evaluates the impact of the program on the incidence of crime and perceptions of safety and security. The outcomes will advance knowledge in community psychology and inform future policy and allocation of resources to community based crime prevention programs.Read moreRead less
Reconceptualising partnership: new options for effective partnerships between State governments and the third sector in employment services in Australia. The rapid devolution of employment services from the Commonwealth Employment Service to a model of contracted Job Network agencies assumes effective partnerships between Commonwealth, State, third sector and private organizations. Recent research suggests this is not the case. Furthermore, the industry partner, SACOSS, argues that the disparate ....Reconceptualising partnership: new options for effective partnerships between State governments and the third sector in employment services in Australia. The rapid devolution of employment services from the Commonwealth Employment Service to a model of contracted Job Network agencies assumes effective partnerships between Commonwealth, State, third sector and private organizations. Recent research suggests this is not the case. Furthermore, the industry partner, SACOSS, argues that the disparate requirements of Australian States in addressing local circumstances and diverse needs of disadvantaged jobseekers have not been met. This collaborative project will use network analysis methodology to assess alternative models of governance and identify best options for effective State/third sector partnerships that promote efficient and equitable labour markets.Read moreRead less