Families at the centre: negotiating Australia's mixed market in early education and care. Despite a surge of policy reforms and Australian government investment in early childhood education and care (ECEC), little is known in Australia about how local ECEC markets function and how low-income families make decisions about the use or non-use of child care services. This project will provide evidence for policy-making and service provision that aims to encourage child care use by low-income familie ....Families at the centre: negotiating Australia's mixed market in early education and care. Despite a surge of policy reforms and Australian government investment in early childhood education and care (ECEC), little is known in Australia about how local ECEC markets function and how low-income families make decisions about the use or non-use of child care services. This project will provide evidence for policy-making and service provision that aims to encourage child care use by low-income families. The direct involvement of child care providers in the research will strengthen its relevance and impact. This research will place Australia at the forefront of international research on local child care markets, and resulting improvements in ECEC policy and services will generate substantial economic and social benefits.Read moreRead less
Addressing food insecurity through participatory social enterprise. This project aims to address food insecurity by assisting vulnerable populations to participate in the development of new food businesses. The project is expected to empower individuals and communities and create new economic development opportunities. The social and economic benefits of this project includes increased access to food, greater participation in new food enterprises and an improved quality of life for vulnerable pe ....Addressing food insecurity through participatory social enterprise. This project aims to address food insecurity by assisting vulnerable populations to participate in the development of new food businesses. The project is expected to empower individuals and communities and create new economic development opportunities. The social and economic benefits of this project includes increased access to food, greater participation in new food enterprises and an improved quality of life for vulnerable people experiencing food insecurity in Australia.Read moreRead less
Promoting young people's citizenship in a complex world. This project aims to promote empowerment and agency to young Australians by developing the concept and practice of 'active citizenship'. This is done by confronting the emerging sense of disempowerment and alienation that many young people feel by developing ongoing work with a cross section of groups that are an important part of the civic landscape.
Improving health equity of young people? The role of social enterprise. This project aims to explain the effects of social enterprise on the social determinants of health inequities among young people. During the transition to adulthood, health inequities may become entrenched, and young people in disadvantaged areas experience relatively poorer health than the wider population. Addressing health inequities upstream is critical to reducing them, with social enterprise gaining recent attention as ....Improving health equity of young people? The role of social enterprise. This project aims to explain the effects of social enterprise on the social determinants of health inequities among young people. During the transition to adulthood, health inequities may become entrenched, and young people in disadvantaged areas experience relatively poorer health than the wider population. Addressing health inequities upstream is critical to reducing them, with social enterprise gaining recent attention as one vehicle for doing this. The project will examine if, and how, social enterprises redress the root causes of health inequities. Intended outcomes include innovation in social policy, health promotion and social enterprise design to improve health equity for disadvantaged young people and their communities.Read moreRead less
Mapping the effect of social enterprise on regional city disadvantage. This project aims to explore how social enterprises affect wellbeing and community capacity in disadvantaged areas of regional cities. Governments increasingly invest in social enterprise to benefit individuals and places. This project will use a spatial methodology to map where and how benefits are realised. To date, robust evidence about how social enterprise affects disadvantage is lacking, partly due to inadequate researc ....Mapping the effect of social enterprise on regional city disadvantage. This project aims to explore how social enterprises affect wellbeing and community capacity in disadvantaged areas of regional cities. Governments increasingly invest in social enterprise to benefit individuals and places. This project will use a spatial methodology to map where and how benefits are realised. To date, robust evidence about how social enterprise affects disadvantage is lacking, partly due to inadequate research methodology. This project expects to provide web-based design tools and applications to assist regional city communities and councils in the development of social enterprises that can help disadvantaged people and places.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100468
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,144.00
Summary
Decentralisation in India and Indonesia: how non-government organisations affect citizens' encounters and experiences of local level governance. This project critically examines how local non-government organisations affect decentralisation in India and Indonesia. It offers new understandings of the potential for development agencies to transform the meanings, practices and identities that shape how citizens experience local governance.
Improving employment outcomes for Australians with disability. This project aims to provide evidence about how to improve employment outcomes for people with disability. Nearly one in five adult Australians have a disability and just over half of these are in the labour force; a modest increase in employment rates will have significant social and economic benefits for people with disability and society. By collecting longitudinal quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) data at three ti ....Improving employment outcomes for Australians with disability. This project aims to provide evidence about how to improve employment outcomes for people with disability. Nearly one in five adult Australians have a disability and just over half of these are in the labour force; a modest increase in employment rates will have significant social and economic benefits for people with disability and society. By collecting longitudinal quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) data at three time points from over 1500 jobseekers with disability, critical information should be gained about how the characteristics of employment services, workplaces and jobseekers contribute to sustainable, meaningful employment for people with disability.Read moreRead less
The Kids in Communities Study: national investigation of community level effects on children's developmental outcomes. This project (a cross-disciplinary collaboration) will investigate community level factors influencing early childhood developmental outcomes using a mixed methods approach in up to 10 communities across Australia. This will result in a potential set of measures or indicators that reflect communities that are good for children.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100735
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$346,000.00
Summary
Charting work, life and well-being after the auto industry. This project aims to study the effects of industrial decline. Plans by Australia's last remaining car-makers to close local automotive assembly operations by 2016-17 are part of a major structural change in Australia’s economy and society away from manufacturing. This project will document how automotive employees and components manufacturers in Melbourne and Geelong contend with the transition. It will also explore how Federal and Vict ....Charting work, life and well-being after the auto industry. This project aims to study the effects of industrial decline. Plans by Australia's last remaining car-makers to close local automotive assembly operations by 2016-17 are part of a major structural change in Australia’s economy and society away from manufacturing. This project will document how automotive employees and components manufacturers in Melbourne and Geelong contend with the transition. It will also explore how Federal and Victorian State government transitional arrangements can safeguard manufacturing skills and occupations, mitigate socio-economic disadvantage in closure-affected communities and prevent workers and their families from sliding into precarity.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100390
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$392,371.00
Summary
Urban inequality: The initiation and preservation of spatial privilege in Australia's elite suburbs. Increased spatial inequality in Australian cities since the 1970s has seen rising wealth in the wealthiest suburbs and increased poverty in the poorest. Investigating the drivers of such polarisation, this project will innovate by focusing on the wealthiest suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. It will measure inequalities in access to services and investigate how affluent communities mobilise their f ....Urban inequality: The initiation and preservation of spatial privilege in Australia's elite suburbs. Increased spatial inequality in Australian cities since the 1970s has seen rising wealth in the wealthiest suburbs and increased poverty in the poorest. Investigating the drivers of such polarisation, this project will innovate by focusing on the wealthiest suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. It will measure inequalities in access to services and investigate how affluent communities mobilise their financial means, family and social networks and negotiation skills to draw in investment in infrastructure and services. This project’s results will advance international analytical knowledge of urban dynamics and will inform planning and policy strategies to achieve more equitable distribution of services and infrastructure in metropolitan areas.Read moreRead less