Improving Sub-national Population Forecasts. The aim of this project is to make significant advances in two related areas of regional, council area and local population forecasting, namely improving accuracy, and providing an indication of forecast uncertainty. Population forecasts often turn out to be far more inaccurate than users realise and fail to come with any information about reliability. Every year forecasts inform a wide variety of planning and policy development activities and influen ....Improving Sub-national Population Forecasts. The aim of this project is to make significant advances in two related areas of regional, council area and local population forecasting, namely improving accuracy, and providing an indication of forecast uncertainty. Population forecasts often turn out to be far more inaccurate than users realise and fail to come with any information about reliability. Every year forecasts inform a wide variety of planning and policy development activities and influence investment decisions worth billions of dollars. In order to increase the value of forecasts to users, this project aims to combine methods from a range of disciplines to devise more accurate ways of forecasting populations, and provide accompanying information on their likely error.Read moreRead less
Securing the essential: assisting Indigenous communities and their service providers to sustainably manage water and energy supply. The provision of water and energy supplies to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) communities is a critical challenge for service providers. This project uses a novel unobtrusive smart metering system, aligned with culturally appropriate consultation with ATSI communities, to reveal patterns of household water and water related-energy consumption. Si ....Securing the essential: assisting Indigenous communities and their service providers to sustainably manage water and energy supply. The provision of water and energy supplies to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) communities is a critical challenge for service providers. This project uses a novel unobtrusive smart metering system, aligned with culturally appropriate consultation with ATSI communities, to reveal patterns of household water and water related-energy consumption. Significantly, the research aims to identify effective behavioural and technological water and energy efficiency strategies in three remote ATSI communities in Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia. A key outcome is to provide an adaptive evidence-based and community-driven handbook to facilitate the secure long-term supply and efficient use of energy and water resources in remote ATSI communities.Read moreRead less
Modelling the Causes of Regional Disparities across Australia. This project aims to explain the changing patterns of regional economic performance across Australia between 2001-2011 in the context of two developments: major structural shifts in world trade and commodity prices spawning massive mining growth and negative exchange rate impacts elsewhere (for example, manufacturing); and the financial crisis ending the credit boom leaving east coast economies struggling. The resulting regional disp ....Modelling the Causes of Regional Disparities across Australia. This project aims to explain the changing patterns of regional economic performance across Australia between 2001-2011 in the context of two developments: major structural shifts in world trade and commodity prices spawning massive mining growth and negative exchange rate impacts elsewhere (for example, manufacturing); and the financial crisis ending the credit boom leaving east coast economies struggling. The resulting regional disparities have policy implications for education and skills training, housing affordability, infrastructure provision, and community sustainability. These issues will be investigated using a new functional economic regions geography and state of art spatial modelling tools supplemented by regional case studies.Read moreRead less
CENTRE OF RESEARCH EXCELLENCE TO REDUCE INEQUALITY IN HEART DISEASE
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,607,253.00
Summary
There is increasing recognition of a societal responsibility to provide effective and sustainable health care to the entire population and not just to selected parts. Indigenous and regional Australians are most affected by Australia's biggest killer - heart disease. In response, the CRE to Reduce Inequality in Heart Disease, is a national collaboration of researchers from a range of health disciplines. Together they aim to address this problem by developing sustainable and cost-effective health ....There is increasing recognition of a societal responsibility to provide effective and sustainable health care to the entire population and not just to selected parts. Indigenous and regional Australians are most affected by Australia's biggest killer - heart disease. In response, the CRE to Reduce Inequality in Heart Disease, is a national collaboration of researchers from a range of health disciplines. Together they aim to address this problem by developing sustainable and cost-effective health care services.Read moreRead less
Call Out and Listen In: A New Way to Detect and Control Invasive Species. This project aims to use novel acoustic techniques to detect and capture invasive frog species to protect native species. Invasive frogs are an under-appreciated but serious ecological problem worldwide, because they are voracious predators and are often toxic to native species. Male frogs call to attract mates, and answer calls they hear. Using new acoustic technologies, these behaviours can be exploited to detect species ....Call Out and Listen In: A New Way to Detect and Control Invasive Species. This project aims to use novel acoustic techniques to detect and capture invasive frog species to protect native species. Invasive frogs are an under-appreciated but serious ecological problem worldwide, because they are voracious predators and are often toxic to native species. Male frogs call to attract mates, and answer calls they hear. Using new acoustic technologies, these behaviours can be exploited to detect species and attract gravid females for removal. This project aims to combine an early warning system (electronic listening) and trap (calling and catching), which can be customised to any invasive frog, and use it to detect and remove cane toads, especially in low density populations.Read moreRead less
The ecology of trace metal contamination in native Australian mammals. The ecology of trace metal contamination in native Australian mammals . This project aims to evaluate the impacts of mined trace metals on the health and performance of native Australian mammals in a northern tropical ecosystem and to determine how each species’ ecology contributes to their risk of contamination. The research also aims to give local Indigenous Rangers scientifically based strategies to improve wildlife conser ....The ecology of trace metal contamination in native Australian mammals. The ecology of trace metal contamination in native Australian mammals . This project aims to evaluate the impacts of mined trace metals on the health and performance of native Australian mammals in a northern tropical ecosystem and to determine how each species’ ecology contributes to their risk of contamination. The research also aims to give local Indigenous Rangers scientifically based strategies to improve wildlife conservation on their island. Australia’s long-term health relies on its ability to minimise the environmental costs of mining, particularly in areas characterised by high biodiversity, unique native species, or species of cultural or touristic value. Anticipated outcomes are better, more targeted strategies for conservation in mining areas.Read moreRead less
What is 'natural'?: Locating and deciphering pre-human records of vegetation from northern Australian savannahs. The nature and magnitude of the environmental impact of human colonisation of Australia are fundamental issues in Australian prehistory and ecology. The project will locate and develop archives of environmental change from sinkholes in the Northern Territory that date back to the Last interglacial - a period which had a similar climate to the present day, but was before humans arrived ....What is 'natural'?: Locating and deciphering pre-human records of vegetation from northern Australian savannahs. The nature and magnitude of the environmental impact of human colonisation of Australia are fundamental issues in Australian prehistory and ecology. The project will locate and develop archives of environmental change from sinkholes in the Northern Territory that date back to the Last interglacial - a period which had a similar climate to the present day, but was before humans arrived.Read moreRead less