Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100057
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$339,446.00
Summary
Creating tactile electronic books for people with vision impairment. This project aims to create a framework which allows authoring, reading and storing of tactile electronic books for people with vision impairment by using multi-touch, audio, and tactile technologies. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of human computer interaction and information visualisation utilising new techniques to present visual information in the form of audio and tactile. Expected outcomes of t ....Creating tactile electronic books for people with vision impairment. This project aims to create a framework which allows authoring, reading and storing of tactile electronic books for people with vision impairment by using multi-touch, audio, and tactile technologies. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of human computer interaction and information visualisation utilising new techniques to present visual information in the form of audio and tactile. Expected outcomes of the project are to reduce the cost of authoring accessible textual and graphical content, and to provide a practical and intuitive reading experience. This should provide benefits to people with vision impairment while accessing information in a more effective and efficient way.Read moreRead less
AI for Legal Problem Diagnosis in the Diverse Language of Australians. The number of Australians with unmet legal needs is estimated to be over four million people per year and growing, and free legal assistance is severely under-resourced. A bottleneck for free legal assistance providers is the determination of what (if any) specific legal needs the individual has, to which end this project proposes to develop AI models to semi-automate the process, with particular focus on fairness across user ....AI for Legal Problem Diagnosis in the Diverse Language of Australians. The number of Australians with unmet legal needs is estimated to be over four million people per year and growing, and free legal assistance is severely under-resourced. A bottleneck for free legal assistance providers is the determination of what (if any) specific legal needs the individual has, to which end this project proposes to develop AI models to semi-automate the process, with particular focus on fairness across users of all backgrounds, generalisation from small amounts of curated data, and dynamic interaction with the help-seeker. The project will help deliver legal assistance to some of the most vulnerable members of Australian society, and reinforce Australia's position as a world leader in AI for Law.Read moreRead less
A community based social identity approach to loneliness. Loneliness across Australia is a deep concern. Social prescribing is a novel community-based approach to managing loneliness, however it is unclear when and in what circumstances it is effective. This project aims to test a social identity approach to loneliness, incorporating longitudinal, cross-sectional, and experimental methods to understand how best to engage isolated people in group programs. The expected benefits of this project ar ....A community based social identity approach to loneliness. Loneliness across Australia is a deep concern. Social prescribing is a novel community-based approach to managing loneliness, however it is unclear when and in what circumstances it is effective. This project aims to test a social identity approach to loneliness, incorporating longitudinal, cross-sectional, and experimental methods to understand how best to engage isolated people in group programs. The expected benefits of this project are to produce a validated social prescribing model that can be implemented in multiple settings across Australia in order to reduce loneliness, strengthen communities, and guide more appropriate uses of health services.Read moreRead less
The production, use and effect of social work research. This project aims to reform social work research to improve the quality and effectiveness of human services. The human services industry is vital to many people’s quality of life, but lacks innovation and struggles to demonstrate its effectiveness. Crucially for social work, research expands thinking about how to respond to social disadvantage. This project intends to examine the scope and quality of Australian social work research in child ....The production, use and effect of social work research. This project aims to reform social work research to improve the quality and effectiveness of human services. The human services industry is vital to many people’s quality of life, but lacks innovation and struggles to demonstrate its effectiveness. Crucially for social work, research expands thinking about how to respond to social disadvantage. This project intends to examine the scope and quality of Australian social work research in child protection, disability services, and aged care; assess the use of this research to the human services sector and its effect on generating innovation; and develop strategies to advance the production, uptake, and effect of social work research.Read moreRead less
Fostering lifelong connections for children in permanent care. The out-of-home care sector in Australia is undergoing transformation to ensure children who cannot be restored to birth families exit care to permanent families. New South Wales is leading the way on these reforms. The emerging Australian policy model, permanency with lifelong connection to birth families, is distinctly different from the policy models in similar Western nations. While the Australian policy goal is clear, practices ....Fostering lifelong connections for children in permanent care. The out-of-home care sector in Australia is undergoing transformation to ensure children who cannot be restored to birth families exit care to permanent families. New South Wales is leading the way on these reforms. The emerging Australian policy model, permanency with lifelong connection to birth families, is distinctly different from the policy models in similar Western nations. While the Australian policy goal is clear, practices for achieving this goal are under-developed. This action research project will engage the New South Wales out-of-home care sector to design and trial relationship-building practices that promote positive relationships between children and their birth families.Read moreRead less
Young people bereaved by domestic homicide. Far-reaching decisions are made about the future of a child bereaved by domestic homicide, including where they should live and whether they should have contact with the perpetrator. Practitioners and policymakers lack empirical and theoretical input to guide these decisions. This fellowship draws upon young people's, caregivers' and professionals' perspectives on children's living arrangements, relationships and identity development post-homicide. It ....Young people bereaved by domestic homicide. Far-reaching decisions are made about the future of a child bereaved by domestic homicide, including where they should live and whether they should have contact with the perpetrator. Practitioners and policymakers lack empirical and theoretical input to guide these decisions. This fellowship draws upon young people's, caregivers' and professionals' perspectives on children's living arrangements, relationships and identity development post-homicide. It expects to generate a theoretical model of children's outcomes as well as actionable advice for policymakers and practitioners. The main benefit will be enhanced capacity to support children, families and professionals in the context of domestic homicide in Australia and abroad. Read moreRead less
Aboriginal child restoration from out-of-home care: pathways for success. The soaring rates of Indigenous children living in out-of-home care requires an urgent response. This research aims to considerably advance the knowledge regarding child restoration by investigating the lived experiences and outcomes of Aboriginal parents whose children have been restored from care. The project intends to identify successful child restoration initiatives and produce an empirical roadmap for navigating serv ....Aboriginal child restoration from out-of-home care: pathways for success. The soaring rates of Indigenous children living in out-of-home care requires an urgent response. This research aims to considerably advance the knowledge regarding child restoration by investigating the lived experiences and outcomes of Aboriginal parents whose children have been restored from care. The project intends to identify successful child restoration initiatives and produce an empirical roadmap for navigating service systems with the goal of restoration. The project expects to make a substantial contribution to this largely neglected research area that will benefit birth parents and families, communities, practitioners, policy makers and academics. In doing so, it aspires to reduce the prevalence of Aboriginal children in care.Read moreRead less
Strengthening Relationships for Young People in Residential Care. Young people in residential care face major challenges in forming positive relationships, many having experienced adults as a source of threat rather than safety. This project aims to investigate practices within therapeutic residential care that enable or limit young people’s identity formation, positive social connections, safety and wellbeing. This research will generate nuanced knowledge informing interpersonal and institution ....Strengthening Relationships for Young People in Residential Care. Young people in residential care face major challenges in forming positive relationships, many having experienced adults as a source of threat rather than safety. This project aims to investigate practices within therapeutic residential care that enable or limit young people’s identity formation, positive social connections, safety and wellbeing. This research will generate nuanced knowledge informing interpersonal and institutional change. Expected outcomes include improved approaches to therapeutic care and to methods for enabling the participation of young people in care in matters that may change their life trajectory on exiting care. Expected benefits include more responsive policies and frameworks for practice.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