Bioeconomic Modelling of Marine Reserves. Australian waters contain a huge range of biodiversity, but are under threat from human activities. To face this challenge and resolve the problems of depleted fisheries and habitat destruction, innovative approaches are required to integrate marine biology with fisheries economics. The research meets this immediate need by developing bioeconomic models of marine reserves to determine reserve location and size, and analyse interactions between reserves a ....Bioeconomic Modelling of Marine Reserves. Australian waters contain a huge range of biodiversity, but are under threat from human activities. To face this challenge and resolve the problems of depleted fisheries and habitat destruction, innovative approaches are required to integrate marine biology with fisheries economics. The research meets this immediate need by developing bioeconomic models of marine reserves to determine reserve location and size, and analyse interactions between reserves and harvested areas under environmental uncertainty. The models will be developed using the latest developments in economics, biology and numerical methods and will be used to conserve Australia's marine biodiversity and improve fisheries management.Read moreRead less
Adaptive economic management of Australia's urban water. This project responds to the so-called 'wicked problem' of ensuring an adequate supply of water to urban consumers at the lowest price even during long-term droughts. The project will generate, for the first time in the world, an integrated, dynamic, and adaptive supply and demand model to manage urban water optimally over time.
Counter-COVID public policies and the impacts on Australian children. This project aims to identify the causal effects of counter-COVID school closures, stay-at-home mandates and government support payments on the educational and developmental outcomes of Australian children. It will establish, for the first time, a comprehensive causal evidence base on the average and distributional impacts of these policies on children across the spectrum of schooling years from preschool to secondary school c ....Counter-COVID public policies and the impacts on Australian children. This project aims to identify the causal effects of counter-COVID school closures, stay-at-home mandates and government support payments on the educational and developmental outcomes of Australian children. It will establish, for the first time, a comprehensive causal evidence base on the average and distributional impacts of these policies on children across the spectrum of schooling years from preschool to secondary school completion. This project expects to advance our understanding of child skill accumulation and the relative importance of schools, parents, peers and government intervention. Anticipated benefits include providing policy recommendations to restore student learning outcomes and reduce educational inequality in Australia.Read moreRead less
Quantifying the El Niño-Indian Ocean Dipole system using high-resolution coral palaeoclimate archives. The ocean surrounding Indonesia is the warmest on Earth and a major source of energy for global atmospheric circulation. Understanding the role of the Warm Pool in future climate change is of key importance, but highly controversial because the potential extent of its variability is largely unknown. To address this issue, this project will provide the first major geochemical investigation of ....Quantifying the El Niño-Indian Ocean Dipole system using high-resolution coral palaeoclimate archives. The ocean surrounding Indonesia is the warmest on Earth and a major source of energy for global atmospheric circulation. Understanding the role of the Warm Pool in future climate change is of key importance, but highly controversial because the potential extent of its variability is largely unknown. To address this issue, this project will provide the first major geochemical investigation of recently discovered ancient corals in Indonesia using state-of-the-art microanalytical techniques. Outcomes from these palaeoclimate records will advance our understanding of global climate change, rainfall variability related to the El Nino - Indian Ocean Dipole system, and Australian drought.Read moreRead less
Trajectories of Wrongful Conviction and Pathways to Exoneration. This is the first national study of its kind that investigates the trajectories of wrongful convictions as systems failures by examining decisions from investigation to exoneration. Wrongful conviction is a significant social and legal problem in Australia and other nations. It costs the Australian government millions in police, court and prison services and has health and psychological consequences for exonerees and their families ....Trajectories of Wrongful Conviction and Pathways to Exoneration. This is the first national study of its kind that investigates the trajectories of wrongful convictions as systems failures by examining decisions from investigation to exoneration. Wrongful conviction is a significant social and legal problem in Australia and other nations. It costs the Australian government millions in police, court and prison services and has health and psychological consequences for exonerees and their families. Expected outcomes for this project include an early warning detection tool to identify at-risk cases and overall improved accuracy in convictions. This will provide significant benefits, for criminal justice agencies, victims and accused individuals while positioning Australia as a world leader in the field.Read moreRead less
Social, economic and health vulnerabilities in Indonesia. This project aims to study and provide ways to overcome vulnerability in Indonesia. Half the Indonesian population is still clustered around the poverty line, contributing to their vulnerability. This project will identify vulnerable groups and why they are vulnerable. Using a common framework of the life course in eight Indonesian field sites, this project will investigate whether social networks and welfare programs reduce vulnerability ....Social, economic and health vulnerabilities in Indonesia. This project aims to study and provide ways to overcome vulnerability in Indonesia. Half the Indonesian population is still clustered around the poverty line, contributing to their vulnerability. This project will identify vulnerable groups and why they are vulnerable. Using a common framework of the life course in eight Indonesian field sites, this project will investigate whether social networks and welfare programs reduce vulnerability, and pinpoint strategies for reducing vulnerabilities in the future. The project expects to show how vulnerable citizens in Indonesia can be made more secure, helping to build a more stable and prosperous region.Read moreRead less
Improving responses to sexual violence against children in Papua New Guinea. The project aims to result in improved knowledge and community acknowledgement of sexual violence against children in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and an approach that could be adapted and adopted in other low income, fragile contexts. It is a very significant project because sexual violence against children is a widespread and escalating social problem, with a very limited capacity to respond to reported incidents. Working ....Improving responses to sexual violence against children in Papua New Guinea. The project aims to result in improved knowledge and community acknowledgement of sexual violence against children in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and an approach that could be adapted and adopted in other low income, fragile contexts. It is a very significant project because sexual violence against children is a widespread and escalating social problem, with a very limited capacity to respond to reported incidents. Working closely with two specialist services to trial and assess a low-cost approach, the project is expected to result in longer-term support for child survivors and their families, and reduce further victimisation and offending. The potential benefits are multiple and far ranging, in PNG and in the Pacific region more broadly. Read moreRead less
Monsoon extremes, environmental shifts, and catastrophic volcanic eruptions: quantifying impacts on the early human history of southern Australasia. The coincidence of a long, diverse Australasian human history with Earth's greatest climate systems presents the Australian and Indonesian communities with unrivalled opportunities for scientific discovery. Our study will improve understanding of global climate change, environmental shifts, volcanic catastrophes, and their role in early human disper ....Monsoon extremes, environmental shifts, and catastrophic volcanic eruptions: quantifying impacts on the early human history of southern Australasia. The coincidence of a long, diverse Australasian human history with Earth's greatest climate systems presents the Australian and Indonesian communities with unrivalled opportunities for scientific discovery. Our study will improve understanding of global climate change, environmental shifts, volcanic catastrophes, and their role in early human dispersal, and extinction, in Australasia. The significance of the results will extend to the modern world, where human behaviour modifies, and is modified by, climate and environment. Integration of research strengths in Australia and Indonesia will contribute to an improved bilateral relationship in science, education, and training, and engage the public in the excitement of scientific discovery.Read moreRead less
Multi-proxy fingerprinting, absolute dating, and large-scale modelling of Quaternary climate-volcano-environment impacts in southern Australasia. The discovery of Homo floresiensis (the Hobbit) revealed the surprising diversity of early humans and opened new ways for Australians and Indonesians to make tremendous scientific advances. Deployment of world-best analytical capabilities to untapped speleothem resources in Indonesia will put us at the forefront in understanding global climate change, ....Multi-proxy fingerprinting, absolute dating, and large-scale modelling of Quaternary climate-volcano-environment impacts in southern Australasia. The discovery of Homo floresiensis (the Hobbit) revealed the surprising diversity of early humans and opened new ways for Australians and Indonesians to make tremendous scientific advances. Deployment of world-best analytical capabilities to untapped speleothem resources in Indonesia will put us at the forefront in understanding global climate change, volcanic catastrophes, and environmental impacts on deep-time cultures shared by our nations. Our findings will extend to the modern world, where humans modify climates and landscapes at unprecedented rates. Integration of Australian and Indonesian research strengths will showcase bilateral science, education, and training, and engage the public in the excitement of scientific discovery.Read moreRead less
Simultaneous localisation and image fusion for robotic explorations. Australia has played a leading role in the field of autonomous system research that s becoming increasingly prevalent in industrial applications such as environment monitoring, remote sensing, and battlefield intelligence. Unstructured and landmark-deficient operating conditions impose significant challenges in achieving accurate mapping and localisation. This research will develop a framework for image-based mapping and fusion ....Simultaneous localisation and image fusion for robotic explorations. Australia has played a leading role in the field of autonomous system research that s becoming increasingly prevalent in industrial applications such as environment monitoring, remote sensing, and battlefield intelligence. Unstructured and landmark-deficient operating conditions impose significant challenges in achieving accurate mapping and localisation. This research will develop a framework for image-based mapping and fusion, thus contributing to the key enabling technologies for autonomous systems. The outcomes of this project will contribute to the current international leadership of Australia in this fast-evolving technology.Read moreRead less