Policy orientation of non-health sectors to social determinants of health. This project aims to advance understanding of how Australian government policies in four sectors (justice, environment, planning, and industry) are oriented to action on social determinants of health equity (SDHE), including Indigenous health. Evidence shows that government policy in all sectors affects health. The World Health Organization and the United Nations have called for whole-of-government approaches to SDHE. The ....Policy orientation of non-health sectors to social determinants of health. This project aims to advance understanding of how Australian government policies in four sectors (justice, environment, planning, and industry) are oriented to action on social determinants of health equity (SDHE), including Indigenous health. Evidence shows that government policy in all sectors affects health. The World Health Organization and the United Nations have called for whole-of-government approaches to SDHE. The project plans to apply theory to understand how policy values and strategies in the selected sectors provide for or present barriers to this approach. Expected project outcomes will produce evidence for policy-makers on how to strengthen policy coherence across sectors to address SDHE more effectively in order to promote Australian health and reduce health inequities.Read moreRead less
Changing children’s chances: Exploring pathways to developmental inequities. This project aims to investigate the causes of health and developmental inequities between Australian children. Inequities are increasingly observed in Australian children’s physical health, social and emotional wellbeing, and academic learning. Such inequities are unjust, unnecessary and potentially preventable. This project aims to understand the pathways leading to these inequities by examining the many contexts in w ....Changing children’s chances: Exploring pathways to developmental inequities. This project aims to investigate the causes of health and developmental inequities between Australian children. Inequities are increasingly observed in Australian children’s physical health, social and emotional wellbeing, and academic learning. Such inequities are unjust, unnecessary and potentially preventable. This project aims to understand the pathways leading to these inequities by examining the many contexts in which children and their families live and grow. Through a series of innovative analyses using existing data, the project aims to identify potentially modifiable factors at the child, family, school, and community level that contribute to developmental inequities. Understanding of the most promising leverage points for interventions to reduce inequities for Australian children could be used to inform policy.Read moreRead less
Pathways, policies and prevention: better outcomes for western Australian children. This project will provide new knowledge to inform and enable future policy and prevention strategies for improving child health and wellbeing. The collaboration between researchers and policy makers across 11 government departments will deliver a new evidence base for understanding child, family and community level factors that increase or reduce vulnerability to poor outcomes through the utilisation of cross-sec ....Pathways, policies and prevention: better outcomes for western Australian children. This project will provide new knowledge to inform and enable future policy and prevention strategies for improving child health and wellbeing. The collaboration between researchers and policy makers across 11 government departments will deliver a new evidence base for understanding child, family and community level factors that increase or reduce vulnerability to poor outcomes through the utilisation of cross-sectoral population data. This collaboration will inform whole of government intervention and prevention strategies to improve outcomes, as well as evaluate and monitor existing initiatives. This project will provide a model for population-based research and policy development both nationally and internationally.Read moreRead less
Alcohol’s harm to others: patterns, costs, disparities and precipitants. This project aims to generate understanding of the magnitude, character, economic burden, disparities and precipitants of occurrence of alcohol’s harm to others across Australia, using a national survey, crime, community services and health data and qualitative interviews. The project outcome will be a robust current evidence base for our partners, government and Australian society to underpin advocacy, policy and planning, ....Alcohol’s harm to others: patterns, costs, disparities and precipitants. This project aims to generate understanding of the magnitude, character, economic burden, disparities and precipitants of occurrence of alcohol’s harm to others across Australia, using a national survey, crime, community services and health data and qualitative interviews. The project outcome will be a robust current evidence base for our partners, government and Australian society to underpin advocacy, policy and planning, aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm and suffering.Read moreRead less
Global dementias: Examining structural vulnerability and dementia outcomes. This project aims to examine the social and cultural dimensions of dementia by using a comparative ethnographic approach to examine the experiences of people living with dementia in Australia, Malaysia and India. The project expects to generate new anthropological knowledge about structural inequalities by examining how dementia is responded to in diverse geographic, cultural and social settings. Expected outcomes of thi ....Global dementias: Examining structural vulnerability and dementia outcomes. This project aims to examine the social and cultural dimensions of dementia by using a comparative ethnographic approach to examine the experiences of people living with dementia in Australia, Malaysia and India. The project expects to generate new anthropological knowledge about structural inequalities by examining how dementia is responded to in diverse geographic, cultural and social settings. Expected outcomes of this project include the creation of a new evidence-base on dementia and the production of briefing documents to guide global health frameworks. The project should provide significant benefits for people living with dementia by providing locally-relevant strategies to respond to dementia and resultant disability.Read moreRead less
Nutrition insecurity and livelihood decision-making in rural Myanmar. Global progress against malnutrition has been too slow to allow the Millennium Development Goals on hunger to be met. International research has proposed that these failures are due to the fact that the livelihood options available to poor households are increasingly misaligned from their traditional channels for ensuring food and nutrition security. This argument is highly influential in international development research, un ....Nutrition insecurity and livelihood decision-making in rural Myanmar. Global progress against malnutrition has been too slow to allow the Millennium Development Goals on hunger to be met. International research has proposed that these failures are due to the fact that the livelihood options available to poor households are increasingly misaligned from their traditional channels for ensuring food and nutrition security. This argument is highly influential in international development research, underpinning calls for nutrition-sensitive development interventions. The aim of this project is to test the proposition using original survey data collected from 1 600 households in rural Myanmar. This will be the first project of this kind, aiming to shed crucial insight into this issue at this vital moment in Myanmar's transition.Read moreRead less
Linking for Life: Enhancing pathways to well-being for all Australians. The Linking for Life Project will identify pathways to wellbeing and better social outcomes across the life-course for high-risk/vulnerable individuals and their families to streamline service provision, improve outcomes and identify cost-efficiencies across government agencies. The work will expand cross-sectoral data linkage capability, enhancing research capacity to generate evidence-based policy to improve integrated ser ....Linking for Life: Enhancing pathways to well-being for all Australians. The Linking for Life Project will identify pathways to wellbeing and better social outcomes across the life-course for high-risk/vulnerable individuals and their families to streamline service provision, improve outcomes and identify cost-efficiencies across government agencies. The work will expand cross-sectoral data linkage capability, enhancing research capacity to generate evidence-based policy to improve integrated service delivery across government. The project will also trial innovative data linkage models including the creation of data repositories to improve efficiency for data provision and access, which will have application nationally and enable more timely access to whole-population linked cross-sector data.Read moreRead less
Work-related fatal and non-fatal accidents and injuries and exposure to workplace hazards in migrant workers in Australia. Do migrants have worse workplace conditions and more work-related accidents and injuries than Australian-born workers? This project will analyse national deaths and hospital discharge data, and determine best practice methods to include migrant workers in a future cross-sectional study looking at occupational health and safety.
The life-course implications of declining adolescent drinking. The project aims to identify ways to ensure that recent declines in adolescent drinking are maintained and reinforced as these cohorts age into young adulthood. It expects to generate new knowledge on the trajectories of youth drinking into young adulthood. Expected outcomes include new cross-national understandings of the predictors of heavy drinking in adulthood and an updated evidence base for the development of harm prevention po ....The life-course implications of declining adolescent drinking. The project aims to identify ways to ensure that recent declines in adolescent drinking are maintained and reinforced as these cohorts age into young adulthood. It expects to generate new knowledge on the trajectories of youth drinking into young adulthood. Expected outcomes include new cross-national understandings of the predictors of heavy drinking in adulthood and an updated evidence base for the development of harm prevention policies and interventions by governments and NGOs. This should provide significant benefits to Australia via reductions in the negative health and social impacts of heavy drinking for these cohorts across their lives. Read moreRead less
Exposure to workplace hazards among migrant workers in Australia. This project aims to compare the prevalence of exposure to workplace hazards, namely carcinogens and psychosocial risk factors (eg bullying and precarious work), among migrant and Australian-born workers. The international literature suggests that migrant workers are exposed to more workplace hazards than native-born populations, but the evidence base for Australia is patchy despite the fact that Australia has such a large migrant ....Exposure to workplace hazards among migrant workers in Australia. This project aims to compare the prevalence of exposure to workplace hazards, namely carcinogens and psychosocial risk factors (eg bullying and precarious work), among migrant and Australian-born workers. The international literature suggests that migrant workers are exposed to more workplace hazards than native-born populations, but the evidence base for Australia is patchy despite the fact that Australia has such a large migrant population. The anticipated goal of this project is to address this gap in evidence. The intended outcomes are the necessary first step in the process of reducing exposure to harmful substances and behaviours for all workers.Read moreRead less