Welfare reform and welfare stigma : scroungers, slackers and bludgers? This project aims to build an evidence base of the prevalence, causes and consequences of welfare stigma in Australia. Welfare policies and proposed reforms aim to reduce welfare expenditure, increase workforce participation, and promote personal and family wellbeing. However, stigmatising attitudes and discrimination towards those receiving welfare benefits may undermine these policy goals: reducing employment opportunities ....Welfare reform and welfare stigma : scroungers, slackers and bludgers? This project aims to build an evidence base of the prevalence, causes and consequences of welfare stigma in Australia. Welfare policies and proposed reforms aim to reduce welfare expenditure, increase workforce participation, and promote personal and family wellbeing. However, stigmatising attitudes and discrimination towards those receiving welfare benefits may undermine these policy goals: reducing employment opportunities and causing poorer health and wellbeing. Through innovative experimental studies, the project plans to identify ways in which welfare policy can minimise stigma and promote employment. Project outcomes may provide an evidence base for the design of more effective welfare policy.Read moreRead less
Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. This project aims to develop a policy suite to respond to an older workforce. By 2060, nearly half of Australians aged 64 or older will be employed. Failure to address their health problems could threaten Australia’s economy, tax base and provision of health and care services. This collaboration between national policy portfolios (employment, social services, workplace health and socia ....Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. Working longer, staying healthy and keeping productive. This project aims to develop a policy suite to respond to an older workforce. By 2060, nearly half of Australians aged 64 or older will be employed. Failure to address their health problems could threaten Australia’s economy, tax base and provision of health and care services. This collaboration between national policy portfolios (employment, social services, workplace health and social equity) and expert scientists in work, health, social equality and policy process intends to reveal the diversity of older workers’ work-health dilemmas and effective ways for national policies to solve them. The policy suite will promote financial independence and meet social goals of equity and healthy ageing.Read moreRead less
Job quality and the mental health and well-being of working parents and their children. Maximizing workforce participation is a national priority, essential to support an ageing population. Also critical is the full development of children's capabilities; part of a healthy start to life. Jobs, parents, children and family life lie at the centre of these priorities. Although employment supports families financially, this may come at a cost if aspects of the job affect parent well-being, or strain ....Job quality and the mental health and well-being of working parents and their children. Maximizing workforce participation is a national priority, essential to support an ageing population. Also critical is the full development of children's capabilities; part of a healthy start to life. Jobs, parents, children and family life lie at the centre of these priorities. Although employment supports families financially, this may come at a cost if aspects of the job affect parent well-being, or strains family relationships, which are critical to children's development and well-being. As well as informing industrial relations changes, this project will benefit the twin economic and social policy goals of workforce participation while at the same time supporting the health and well-being of parents and their children.Read moreRead less
Living with personal data: Australians' understandings and practices. This project aims to involve citizens and other stakeholders in generating new knowledge about Australians' practices and understandings related to their personal data and data futures. Personal digital data have possible benefits not just for the individuals from whom the data are generated, but also for society, government and the economy. Yet there are also potential harms, such as challenges to civil rights, life opportuni ....Living with personal data: Australians' understandings and practices. This project aims to involve citizens and other stakeholders in generating new knowledge about Australians' practices and understandings related to their personal data and data futures. Personal digital data have possible benefits not just for the individuals from whom the data are generated, but also for society, government and the economy. Yet there are also potential harms, such as challenges to civil rights, life opportunities and data privacy. The project intends to develop applied and theoretical insights into the nature of people’s understandings of and engagements with their data. Its findings are expected to contribute knowledge relevant to policy development and data privacy advocacy.Read moreRead less
Violence, Religion and Well-being in Contemporary Burma (Myanmar): A Medical Anthropological Study of Everyday Life Under Dictatorship. For 40 years, Burma has been controlled by a military dictatorship with human rights abuses occurring daily. Terror and political violence are used as tools of repression. An in-depth ethnographic study will be conducted into the relationship between emotional/psychological distress and the violence and fear that pervades everyday Burmese life. The project will ....Violence, Religion and Well-being in Contemporary Burma (Myanmar): A Medical Anthropological Study of Everyday Life Under Dictatorship. For 40 years, Burma has been controlled by a military dictatorship with human rights abuses occurring daily. Terror and political violence are used as tools of repression. An in-depth ethnographic study will be conducted into the relationship between emotional/psychological distress and the violence and fear that pervades everyday Burmese life. The project will test the hypothesis that religion plays an important role in mediating responses to fear. No other study has been conducted of everday life under this dictatorship, or of survival strategies created to alleviate fear. Outcomes will include refereed articles, a major monograph on the subject and the development of a new methodology appropriate for aiding victims of terror and torture.Read moreRead less
Discretionary Time: A New Method of Cross-National Welfare Comparison Focusing on Freedom. Cross-national comparisons of welfare regimes and their gender divisions explore issues of income and employment. Those bring liberation of a sort, but they do not exhaust people's freedom and autonomy. This Project will explore how paid and unpaid labour responsibilities interact, impinging on people's discretionary time and thus autonomy. A new measure of 'discretionary time' will be developed and its ....Discretionary Time: A New Method of Cross-National Welfare Comparison Focusing on Freedom. Cross-national comparisons of welfare regimes and their gender divisions explore issues of income and employment. Those bring liberation of a sort, but they do not exhaust people's freedom and autonomy. This Project will explore how paid and unpaid labour responsibilities interact, impinging on people's discretionary time and thus autonomy. A new measure of 'discretionary time' will be developed and its usefulness for cross-national comparisons illustrated through analysis of time use data from Australia, Finland, Canada and Sweden. Different ways of targeting social assistance to the most time-pressured groups in society will be examined for policy lessons from abroad.
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Cross-cultural institution-building and development interventions: linking applied and critical approaches. This project will examine cross-cultural institutions created in the context of development, planning and management interventions. The proposed collaboration will support two APAI scholars to research the social and cultural processes whereby such institutions engage local communities in resource mapping, planning and decision-making. One scholar will work in East Timor, the other in the ....Cross-cultural institution-building and development interventions: linking applied and critical approaches. This project will examine cross-cultural institutions created in the context of development, planning and management interventions. The proposed collaboration will support two APAI scholars to research the social and cultural processes whereby such institutions engage local communities in resource mapping, planning and decision-making. One scholar will work in East Timor, the other in the Northern Territory. A key objective is to combine applied and critical approaches in expanding our understanding of the interactions that takes place between external agencies and local communities. The research will contribute to the improved design and implementation of initiatives for managing local resources.Read moreRead less
Negotiating alternative economic strategies for regional development in Indonesia and the Philippines. In the context of recent decentralization of government functions in Indonesia and the Philippines this action research project will test an innovative model of partnership between four communities and local government units aimed at generating new pathways for regional development. Community-based researchers and local government workers will map the social and economic transactions and assets ....Negotiating alternative economic strategies for regional development in Indonesia and the Philippines. In the context of recent decentralization of government functions in Indonesia and the Philippines this action research project will test an innovative model of partnership between four communities and local government units aimed at generating new pathways for regional development. Community-based researchers and local government workers will map the social and economic transactions and assets of each local region as a step towards mobilizing these people-centred resources in alternative livelihood projects. Innovative strategies that build upon indigenous and local capacities for sustainable development of a diverse community economy will be explored and implemented.Read moreRead less
Understanding Burma's Health Crisis and its Challenge to Regional Security: New Pathways to Peacebuilding. Researching ways in which war-torn societies can build the human capital necessary for long-term implementation of peacebuilding initiatives will contribute to making peace interventions more successful. The unique focus upon the right to health and its linkages with human rights within conflict economies will provide significant information and new policy directions for improving human sec ....Understanding Burma's Health Crisis and its Challenge to Regional Security: New Pathways to Peacebuilding. Researching ways in which war-torn societies can build the human capital necessary for long-term implementation of peacebuilding initiatives will contribute to making peace interventions more successful. The unique focus upon the right to health and its linkages with human rights within conflict economies will provide significant information and new policy directions for improving human security and stability among Australia's neighbours in the Asian region.Read moreRead less
The relationship between mining companies and mine-affected communities in developing countries. Conflicts with local communities have been a major source of social risk for mining companies operating in Indonesia and other parts of the Asia Pacific region, and this research will contribute to Australian national security by dealing directly with this issue. It will contribute to the formation of better policies and practices for empowering women and empowering communities in the Indonesian mini ....The relationship between mining companies and mine-affected communities in developing countries. Conflicts with local communities have been a major source of social risk for mining companies operating in Indonesia and other parts of the Asia Pacific region, and this research will contribute to Australian national security by dealing directly with this issue. It will contribute to the formation of better policies and practices for empowering women and empowering communities in the Indonesian mining sector. At a regional and global scale, the lessons learnt about the construction of effective strategies for 'engendering' the development process will be applicable in other locations where Australian capital, technology and expertise are invested in large-scale industrial development, both inside and outside of the mining sector.Read moreRead less