How do teachers learn to enact the Australian Curriculum? A question of policy in practice. This project aims to show how teachers learn to engage with the new curriculum in the context of increasingly standardised national and international educational reforms. This is significant for determining whether the 'Australian Curriculum' will result in its projected benefits. This project aims to reveal how policy support for the new curriculum influences teacher learning in diverse schooling setting ....How do teachers learn to enact the Australian Curriculum? A question of policy in practice. This project aims to show how teachers learn to engage with the new curriculum in the context of increasingly standardised national and international educational reforms. This is significant for determining whether the 'Australian Curriculum' will result in its projected benefits. This project aims to reveal how policy support for the new curriculum influences teacher learning in diverse schooling settings in a broadly neoliberal, global context.Read moreRead less
School retention and second chance schooling. This project is concerned with ensuring that students who experience systemic disadvantage are not excluded from the benefits of a formal education. It provides an account and critique of the growth of second chance schooling options catering to such students in both Australia and the UK.
Security and Health Diplomacy: A Necessary Partnership? This project analyses whether invoking international health issues as security threats leads to greater diplomatic success and investment. It seeks to answer this question through a two-step process. First, the project will critically explore the extent to which a select number of international health initiatives, introduced over the past decade, have been created and advanced through the use of security rhetoric. Secondly, it will compare ....Security and Health Diplomacy: A Necessary Partnership? This project analyses whether invoking international health issues as security threats leads to greater diplomatic success and investment. It seeks to answer this question through a two-step process. First, the project will critically explore the extent to which a select number of international health initiatives, introduced over the past decade, have been created and advanced through the use of security rhetoric. Secondly, it will compare and explain the resources, political interest and longevity devoted to those initiatives that use the ‘security card’ with those initiatives that have not sought linkage with national security or biosecurity concerns.Read moreRead less
What about the children? A study of the intergenerational consequences of paternal incarceration. Parental incarceration may have a profound and detrimental effect on children, heightening risk of offending and extreme disadvantage. The proportion of children affected is certain to increase as prison populations continue to grow. This research will identify policies and prevention strategies that will interrupt the cycle of disadvantage for children of prisoners and prevent social exclusion. Sig ....What about the children? A study of the intergenerational consequences of paternal incarceration. Parental incarceration may have a profound and detrimental effect on children, heightening risk of offending and extreme disadvantage. The proportion of children affected is certain to increase as prison populations continue to grow. This research will identify policies and prevention strategies that will interrupt the cycle of disadvantage for children of prisoners and prevent social exclusion. Significant cost-savings and prevention of victimisation could result from effectively targeting this high-risk population, reducing risk of offending and increasing the young person's ability to contribute meaningfully to society. Appropriately timed programs can deliver a range of long-term benefits for children, families and communities.Read moreRead less
Indigenous solutions to global challenges in the Pacific Islands. The global COVID 19 pandemic represents a unique opportunity to understand the nature and potential of Indigenous sustainable development in Pacific Island communities, where Indigenous practices have been central in responses to closed borders and industry downturns. This project proposes to analyse the efficacy and cultural value of new, pandemic-era Indigenous sustainable development initiatives in sustaining island communities ....Indigenous solutions to global challenges in the Pacific Islands. The global COVID 19 pandemic represents a unique opportunity to understand the nature and potential of Indigenous sustainable development in Pacific Island communities, where Indigenous practices have been central in responses to closed borders and industry downturns. This project proposes to analyse the efficacy and cultural value of new, pandemic-era Indigenous sustainable development initiatives in sustaining island communities. It aims to culminate in a novel geographic theory of Indigenous sustainable development, and to identify new opportunities to support the expansion of Indigenous sustainable development. This should better enable the Pacific Islands region to respond to climate change, pandemics and other global challenges.Read moreRead less
The Politics of Development Financing Competition in Asia and the Pacific. This Fellowship aims to investigate why, when and how recipient states decide to accept international development financing from certain states and not others. Intensifying competition between provider states is hindering providers’ capacity to achieve intended policy goals, despite spending vast sums. This is the only study to explain which groups in recipient countries prefer particular providers, why, and which group’s ....The Politics of Development Financing Competition in Asia and the Pacific. This Fellowship aims to investigate why, when and how recipient states decide to accept international development financing from certain states and not others. Intensifying competition between provider states is hindering providers’ capacity to achieve intended policy goals, despite spending vast sums. This is the only study to explain which groups in recipient countries prefer particular providers, why, and which group’s interests are likely to prevail. It expects to develop enhanced research and policy capacity to analyse and engage effectively in competitive environments. This should significantly improve Australian international development financing's outcomes and help recipient states obtain financing that meets their needs.Read moreRead less
Testing theoretical propositions concerning the onset and progression of child-sex offending, and field testing a new sexual abuse prevention model. Child sexual abuse poses serious threats to the health and well-being of Australian children. Data from a variety of sources indicate that, for a variety of reasons, Indigenous children are exposed to a heightened risk of sexual abuse. The present project is expected to lead to new discoveries about the causes of sexual abuse and to new evidence-bas ....Testing theoretical propositions concerning the onset and progression of child-sex offending, and field testing a new sexual abuse prevention model. Child sexual abuse poses serious threats to the health and well-being of Australian children. Data from a variety of sources indicate that, for a variety of reasons, Indigenous children are exposed to a heightened risk of sexual abuse. The present project is expected to lead to new discoveries about the causes of sexual abuse and to new evidence-based prevention methods both within Indigenous communities and in the wider community. The project will therefore contribute at a national level, as well as at a local community level, to broader efforts to improve the life chances of Australian children.Read moreRead less
'Trading' Women's Rights in Transitions: Designing Diplomatic Interventions in Afghanistan and Myanmar. This project aims to examine the link between diplomatic negotiations and their impact on the shifting status of women during times of deep political change. It will assess three key areas of international diplomatic negotiations around peace agreements, aid, and security sector reform and assess how these negotiations affected women's status on the ground. It will seek to design approaches to ....'Trading' Women's Rights in Transitions: Designing Diplomatic Interventions in Afghanistan and Myanmar. This project aims to examine the link between diplomatic negotiations and their impact on the shifting status of women during times of deep political change. It will assess three key areas of international diplomatic negotiations around peace agreements, aid, and security sector reform and assess how these negotiations affected women's status on the ground. It will seek to design approaches to diplomatic interventions that may be more cognisant of gendered impacts and aim to benefit women.Read moreRead less
Thinking about possibilities: Towards a unified cognitive framework. Thoughts about possibilities are fundamental to what makes us human. We routinely imagine what might happen in the future and reflect on how the past could have turned out differently. This psychology project aims to establish the circumstances in which children and non-human primates think about alternative possibilities, and to explain how they do it. The project expects to provide new knowledge of cognitive development and e ....Thinking about possibilities: Towards a unified cognitive framework. Thoughts about possibilities are fundamental to what makes us human. We routinely imagine what might happen in the future and reflect on how the past could have turned out differently. This psychology project aims to establish the circumstances in which children and non-human primates think about alternative possibilities, and to explain how they do it. The project expects to provide new knowledge of cognitive development and evolution, and to distinguish between simple and complex processes for thinking about possibilities. Expected benefits include progress towards a unified cognitive framework that may ultimately be leveraged to help people better reason about possibilities and bring them to fruition.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the potential of bacterial polymers by defining key determinants. Sugary structures that coat the surface of some bacteria, known as capsules, can be modified by bacterial viruses (bacteriophage) in the environment. For the bacterial genus Acinetobacter, this influences their use as naturally renewable 'green' biopolymers for remediating environments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. This project aims to characterise crucial capsule polymerase enzymes using a combination of bio ....Unlocking the potential of bacterial polymers by defining key determinants. Sugary structures that coat the surface of some bacteria, known as capsules, can be modified by bacterial viruses (bacteriophage) in the environment. For the bacterial genus Acinetobacter, this influences their use as naturally renewable 'green' biopolymers for remediating environments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. This project aims to characterise crucial capsule polymerase enzymes using a combination of bioinformatics and experimental methodologies to establish how bacteriophage influence Acinetobacter capsules. Outcomes include the development of an innovative genomics pipeline to detect capsule change, improving the use of living bacteria for bioremediation and sustainable rehabilitation of natural ecosystems.Read moreRead less