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
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
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
Pathways to social cohesion and social change: opinion-based groups and the dynamic formation of identities. This project will update the understanding of political conflict by exploring groups based around shared opinions. It will show that groups are likely to be more successful in their political campaigns when they tie their causes to national and other positive identifies.
The neglected dimension of community liveability: Impact on social connectedness and active ageing. Quality of life and well being are essential to maintaining a healthy and socially-engaged population. This project takes an innovative trans-disciplinary approach in addressing the national research priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health and the associated goal, Ageing well, ageing productively through research that identifies the attributes of communities that foster or inhibit social ....The neglected dimension of community liveability: Impact on social connectedness and active ageing. Quality of life and well being are essential to maintaining a healthy and socially-engaged population. This project takes an innovative trans-disciplinary approach in addressing the national research priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health and the associated goal, Ageing well, ageing productively through research that identifies the attributes of communities that foster or inhibit social engagement. The outcomes of the project will inform policy makers, planners and service deliver organisations about ways to identify, improve or maintain safe housing, transport and community environments for the benefit of all Australians.Read moreRead less
Outcomes of collective action: After the blockade, what next? The project intends to study how collective actors react when conventional or radical collective action succeeds or fails. If a democratic protest rally is ignored by authorities, does support for violence increase? If a turbulent riot attracts favourable media attention and concessions, does this increase the likelihood of future riots or undercut them? This project aims to answer these questions. It plans to test a new, theoreticall ....Outcomes of collective action: After the blockade, what next? The project intends to study how collective actors react when conventional or radical collective action succeeds or fails. If a democratic protest rally is ignored by authorities, does support for violence increase? If a turbulent riot attracts favourable media attention and concessions, does this increase the likelihood of future riots or undercut them? This project aims to answer these questions. It plans to test a new, theoretically integrative model of collective action and the intergroup dynamic, using a mixed-methods approach including experiments, small group research and longitudinal field surveys. Project outcomes may provide an evidence basis for policy-makers' debates about trajectories of radicalisation and deradicalisation, and for recommendations about engagement and negotiation of tactics for activists, political parties, and nongovernment organisations.Read moreRead less
Social inclusion through community embedded, socially supported university education. Through the collaboration of community agencies and tertiary institutions this research project identifies key impacts of community embedded socially supported higher education upon enhancing the social inclusion of disadvantaged Australians. It identifies the educational and social support factors which contribute to the effectiveness of this strategy and the cost and benefits of this innovative educational pa ....Social inclusion through community embedded, socially supported university education. Through the collaboration of community agencies and tertiary institutions this research project identifies key impacts of community embedded socially supported higher education upon enhancing the social inclusion of disadvantaged Australians. It identifies the educational and social support factors which contribute to the effectiveness of this strategy and the cost and benefits of this innovative educational pathway to social inclusion for governments and the community. Read moreRead less
Emerging from the shadows: the evaluation of intervention strategies to reduce social isolation amongst the aged. Social isolation imposes a high cost on affected individuals and the community at large. This project will determine what interventions work in addressing social isolation amongst the older population.
Enabling social innovation for local climate adaptability. Climate variability and change is likely to be felt most acutely at the local scale in Australia. This is where inter/national and State policies are translated into practices to prepare for, and adapt to, anticipated impacts of heatwaves, bushfires and floods. This project will investigate tensions and potentialities between risk-based assessments by local governance agencies and innovations by local groups and Non-Government Organisati ....Enabling social innovation for local climate adaptability. Climate variability and change is likely to be felt most acutely at the local scale in Australia. This is where inter/national and State policies are translated into practices to prepare for, and adapt to, anticipated impacts of heatwaves, bushfires and floods. This project will investigate tensions and potentialities between risk-based assessments by local governance agencies and innovations by local groups and Non-Government Organisations. The research will utilise an innovative mixed-methods approach to investigate and to analyse the strategies and experiments of adaptation practices. It aims to develop new ways of identifying and implementing practical, local, adaptive responses that are contextually relevant, socially innovative and capacity building.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100218
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$254,078.00
Summary
A world-class rock magnetic facility to support Australian palaeomagnetic and environmental research. Magnetic properties of rocks and environmental particles provide information about a vast range of geological and environmental processes. We propose to develop a facility that will enable detection and interpretation of these magnetic signals to aid understanding of climate change, mineral exploration, and the geological development of Australia.