Improving productivity: theory and application to Australian hospitals. This project aims to improve existing methods for analysing productivity and efficiency of organisations. The new methods will be applied to Australian hospitals, to analyse their productivity and efficiency, identify the best-practices and their determinants and recommend improvements and necessary reforms. The high level of healthcare costs in Australia, about 5 percent of gross domestic product, as well as their rapid and ....Improving productivity: theory and application to Australian hospitals. This project aims to improve existing methods for analysing productivity and efficiency of organisations. The new methods will be applied to Australian hospitals, to analyse their productivity and efficiency, identify the best-practices and their determinants and recommend improvements and necessary reforms. The high level of healthcare costs in Australia, about 5 percent of gross domestic product, as well as their rapid and accelerating growth, imply that application of methods developed through this project may save billions of dollars and, more importantly, thousands of lives. An expected outcome of this project will be superior theoretical and practical methods for analysing productivity and efficiency of economic systems, to enhance understanding of the potential for improvements and of the necessary reforms.Read moreRead less
Analysing and comparing concepts of addiction for improved social and health outcomes in Australia. Australia invests heavily in responding to alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. This project will analyse a key concept shaping AOD responses, namely addiction. The analysis will help develop new, more productive approaches to AOD prevention, education and treatment, contributing to improved AOD-related social and health outcomes.
Optimal maintenance planning for critical mining and energy infrastructure. This project aims to develop cutting-edge mathematical algorithms for optimising maintenance activities in the mining and energy sectors. Such maintenance activities are prone to budget and time overruns due to poor planning - the result of outdated, inefficient manual processes. The project is expected to result in new maintenance planning methods, underpinned by rigorous mathematical theory, for reducing manual interve ....Optimal maintenance planning for critical mining and energy infrastructure. This project aims to develop cutting-edge mathematical algorithms for optimising maintenance activities in the mining and energy sectors. Such maintenance activities are prone to budget and time overruns due to poor planning - the result of outdated, inefficient manual processes. The project is expected to result in new maintenance planning methods, underpinned by rigorous mathematical theory, for reducing manual intervention and optimising both short- and long-term maintenance based on real-time sensor data. These new methods will be powerful tools for tackling the complexity of large-scale, time-critical maintenance projects, driving productivity in the resources industry and fostering collaboration between mathematicians and engineers.Read moreRead less
Pathways to agri-food supply chains that co-benefit people and nature. This project aims to improve biodiversity outcomes of agricultural food production and consumption, and expects to generate new knowledge about impacts of interventions and shocks on the environment, human health and livelihoods in agri-food systems. This will be achieved using an interdisciplinary approach that accounts for uncertainties in links between farmers, suppliers, consumers and supply-chain outcomes. The expected o ....Pathways to agri-food supply chains that co-benefit people and nature. This project aims to improve biodiversity outcomes of agricultural food production and consumption, and expects to generate new knowledge about impacts of interventions and shocks on the environment, human health and livelihoods in agri-food systems. This will be achieved using an interdisciplinary approach that accounts for uncertainties in links between farmers, suppliers, consumers and supply-chain outcomes. The expected outcome is a value of information framework for identifying nature-friendly policies and actions with co-benefits for human well-being. Benefits include sustainability pathways with win-win outcomes for people and nature, and improved ways of meeting international commitments such as Sustainable Development Goals.Read moreRead less
Youth identity and educational change in Australia since 1950: digital archiving, re-using qualitative data and histories of the present. This is an historical and longitudinal study of Australian youth and education since the 1950s. It creates a digital archive of the study for future researchers and re-examines earlier qualitative studies to better understand generational changes in youth pathways and educational inequalities.
Overcoming Violence and Building Peace in Conditions of Complexity in PNG . The project is an investigation of the drivers and inhibitors of three inter-related forms of violence in Papua New Guinea - tribal fighting, sorcery accusation related violence and family and sexual violence. The harm caused by these forms of violence is systemic and ongoing, with widespread negative impacts for women, men and children across multiple dimensions of social and economic development. The project will produ ....Overcoming Violence and Building Peace in Conditions of Complexity in PNG . The project is an investigation of the drivers and inhibitors of three inter-related forms of violence in Papua New Guinea - tribal fighting, sorcery accusation related violence and family and sexual violence. The harm caused by these forms of violence is systemic and ongoing, with widespread negative impacts for women, men and children across multiple dimensions of social and economic development. The project will produce new knowledge about how violence and peace-making initiatives emerge, connect, spread and disperse, and generate new conceptual models to better analyse the dynamics of violence and peace across time and space. These theoretical insights will inform better violence prevention initiatives for Papua New Guinea and beyond.Read moreRead less
Building social infrastructure in settings of locational disadvantage. This project will generate improved understanding the ways in which locational disadvantage influence residents’ social networks. A national study will generate an evidence-base for understanding the extent and contours of place-based social exclusion, and inform effective policies, programs and processes targeting locational disadvantage.