Participatory Decision Making and Policy Production in Child Welfare. Our research focuses on one of the most sensitive and complex areas of citizen participation - the participation of families in child welfare decision making and policy production. The project will build practical models for participatory practices with families with young children who are engaged with child welfare services. By enhancing family members' participation in decision making and policy production this project wil ....Participatory Decision Making and Policy Production in Child Welfare. Our research focuses on one of the most sensitive and complex areas of citizen participation - the participation of families in child welfare decision making and policy production. The project will build practical models for participatory practices with families with young children who are engaged with child welfare services. By enhancing family members' participation in decision making and policy production this project will contribute to strengthening the family safety net for young vulnerable children and to the creation of policies that better recognise the diverse concerns of young families engaged in child welfare systems. Read moreRead less
Pathways to better practice: developing human resources in child protection services for Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Queensland. This study addresses the serious and escalating problem of providing child protection services to Indigenous children and their families in rural and remote areas. Service delivery to rural and remote environments in Australia is a high cost exercise and, to date, little research has been conducted to understanding the complex nature of professiona ....Pathways to better practice: developing human resources in child protection services for Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Queensland. This study addresses the serious and escalating problem of providing child protection services to Indigenous children and their families in rural and remote areas. Service delivery to rural and remote environments in Australia is a high cost exercise and, to date, little research has been conducted to understanding the complex nature of professional (non-medical) interventions in communities with high proportions of Indigenous families and children. The study, conducted across two states, will contribute to national benefit in 3 key areas: the health and wellbeing of Indigenous children; skills shortage in rural areas and intergenerational change in professional disciplines.Read moreRead less
Enhancing outcomes for young people in out-of-home care who self-place. This project aims to enhance the safety and well-being of young people in out-of-home care who leave formal placements to stay in unapproved locations. The significance lies in the development of new knowledge with this group of young people about their needs and of factors shaping effective responses to them. Expected outcomes include the generation of policies and practices to reduce the drivers of young people leaving a ....Enhancing outcomes for young people in out-of-home care who self-place. This project aims to enhance the safety and well-being of young people in out-of-home care who leave formal placements to stay in unapproved locations. The significance lies in the development of new knowledge with this group of young people about their needs and of factors shaping effective responses to them. Expected outcomes include the generation of policies and practices to reduce the drivers of young people leaving approved placements and to address the support and protective needs of young people when staying in unapproved locations. The benefits include improved social and economic inclusion of young people in out-of-home care and reduced socio-economic burdens on health and justice systems associated with placement breakdown. Read moreRead less
The production of pay (in)equity for women: a study of emerging occupations. The aims of this project are to extend understanding of current impediments to pay equity for women, and to elaborate the ways in which pay inequality is re-created in new contexts. The focus is on emerging occupations likely to provide increasing employment opportunities in the near future. This is highly significant research at a time of structural change and when new procedures for addressing pay equity are being dev ....The production of pay (in)equity for women: a study of emerging occupations. The aims of this project are to extend understanding of current impediments to pay equity for women, and to elaborate the ways in which pay inequality is re-created in new contexts. The focus is on emerging occupations likely to provide increasing employment opportunities in the near future. This is highly significant research at a time of structural change and when new procedures for addressing pay equity are being developed in several States following pay equity inquiries. Expected outcomes include enhanced comprehension of the reproduction of pay inequality and evidence to assist the advancement of pay equity through identified mechanisms and strategies.Read moreRead less
Developing a national rural volunteering roadmap. This project aims to investigate the challenges affecting rural volunteering in Australia. Conducting a national analysis of volunteering demand and supply, this project expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge of the structural, demographic, organisational and personal factors affecting the sustainability of rural volunteering. Expected outcomes of this project include a world-first index of volunteering vulnerabilities and a spatial ....Developing a national rural volunteering roadmap. This project aims to investigate the challenges affecting rural volunteering in Australia. Conducting a national analysis of volunteering demand and supply, this project expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge of the structural, demographic, organisational and personal factors affecting the sustainability of rural volunteering. Expected outcomes of this project include a world-first index of volunteering vulnerabilities and a spatial map of volunteering unevenness, leading to the development of an evidence-based National Rural Volunteering Roadmap (2025-2035), which will guide our volunteering peak body partners, governments and rural communities to plan for and support rural volunteering over the longer-term.Read moreRead less
The nature, extent and effect of infant removal by child protection. This project aims to provide new knowledge about the nature, extent and effect of removals of babies from their parents in Australia. Removal is the highest level of intervention by the child protection system, and one which some mothers experienced on multiple occasions. Little is known, however, about its incidence and effects, nor whether there are over-represented groups (e.g. Aboriginal mothers and babies) who would respon ....The nature, extent and effect of infant removal by child protection. This project aims to provide new knowledge about the nature, extent and effect of removals of babies from their parents in Australia. Removal is the highest level of intervention by the child protection system, and one which some mothers experienced on multiple occasions. Little is known, however, about its incidence and effects, nor whether there are over-represented groups (e.g. Aboriginal mothers and babies) who would respond to targeted interventions. This project aims to identify appropriate early intervention and prevention strategies, preventing the need for babies to spend their whole childhood in care at great financial and societal cost.Read moreRead less
Utilising Simulation to develop culturally responsive social workers. This project aims to increase cultural responsive practitioners by co-designing a culturally informed simulation centred curriculum program for social work students and field educators focusing on rural and remote experiential learning, a first in Australia. Significance may include increased effective cross-cultural practice; reduced costs of Field Practicum across Australia and increased graduates preparedness. The expected ....Utilising Simulation to develop culturally responsive social workers. This project aims to increase cultural responsive practitioners by co-designing a culturally informed simulation centred curriculum program for social work students and field educators focusing on rural and remote experiential learning, a first in Australia. Significance may include increased effective cross-cultural practice; reduced costs of Field Practicum across Australia and increased graduates preparedness. The expected outcome of the project includes decreased burden for Aboriginal communities. Benefits may include enhanced ability of social work graduates to demonstrated knowledge, skills, and values required for culturally responsive social work practice and decreased disparity for Aboriginal Peoples.Read moreRead less
Reducing young women’s offending through improved service delivery . Young women’s contact with justice and welfare agencies has increased rapidly across Australia and the world, creating a crisis that is costly and harmful, especially for young Indigenous women. Pathways into these systems are gendered; but the systems were designed to address the needs of young male offenders. This project therefore aims to discover how these systems could be better designed to improve outcomes for young women ....Reducing young women’s offending through improved service delivery . Young women’s contact with justice and welfare agencies has increased rapidly across Australia and the world, creating a crisis that is costly and harmful, especially for young Indigenous women. Pathways into these systems are gendered; but the systems were designed to address the needs of young male offenders. This project therefore aims to discover how these systems could be better designed to improve outcomes for young women. The project uses a novel approach that gives young women a voice in how five Anglicare end-users (the research partners) and other end-users can enhance their service provision in the welfare and justice sectors and become models of best practice.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course. The 2020 ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (LCC2020) aims to deliver transformative research and translation to break the cycle of deep and persistent disadvantage for Australians. Critically, LCC2020 will tackle disadvantage in specific context to understand how people negotiate it daily in real places, and how best to design policies and programs that support improved life pathways. B ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course. The 2020 ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (LCC2020) aims to deliver transformative research and translation to break the cycle of deep and persistent disadvantage for Australians. Critically, LCC2020 will tackle disadvantage in specific context to understand how people negotiate it daily in real places, and how best to design policies and programs that support improved life pathways. By understanding life course contexts much more finely and using new methods and better data to personalise responses to disadvantage, LCC2020 will deliver the evidence, infrastructure, capacity and partnerships to reduce disadvantage and better equip Australian children and families for emerging challenges. Read moreRead less
Engaging the over 50s to ensure the sustainability of our blood supply. Australia faces blood shortages as our population ages and demand for blood-product derived treatments increase. Donors aged over 50 donate more regularly with fewer adverse events than younger donors, yet comprise under 24% of blood donors. This multi-method project aims to investigate how those aged over 50 understand and engage with blood donation in the context of ageing, and how their involvement can be managed to maint ....Engaging the over 50s to ensure the sustainability of our blood supply. Australia faces blood shortages as our population ages and demand for blood-product derived treatments increase. Donors aged over 50 donate more regularly with fewer adverse events than younger donors, yet comprise under 24% of blood donors. This multi-method project aims to investigate how those aged over 50 understand and engage with blood donation in the context of ageing, and how their involvement can be managed to maintain psychosocial wellbeing. This project expects to generate new knowledge in recruiting, retaining, and deferring older blood donors. Expected outcomes include tailored, validated resources that may significantly benefit Australia by effectively engaging older adults to ensure the sustainability of the blood supply.Read moreRead less