Social Futures & Life Pathways of Young People in Queensland: Waves 6 & 7. This project plans to extend a large longitudinal study of young people in Queensland to investigate the impact of social, political and economic changes on educational, workforce, partnering, family and housing transitions in early adulthood. The project is designed to combine large-scale survey research with in-depth qualitative interviewing to track stability and change in the values, aspirations, health and wellbeing ....Social Futures & Life Pathways of Young People in Queensland: Waves 6 & 7. This project plans to extend a large longitudinal study of young people in Queensland to investigate the impact of social, political and economic changes on educational, workforce, partnering, family and housing transitions in early adulthood. The project is designed to combine large-scale survey research with in-depth qualitative interviewing to track stability and change in the values, aspirations, health and wellbeing of a cohort of young people who were first surveyed as secondary school students a decade earlier. This aims to inform social policy by identifying factors that promote positive career, relationship, housing and health outcomes for young adults, and those which place young adults at risk of unemployment, tertiary non-completion, residential and relationship instability, and poorer mental and physical wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Will older workers change their retirement plans in line with the Government’s calls for later retirement? The study will inform and contribute to the integration of retirement policy reform across all tiers of Government. It will especially project probabilities of change in workforce and retirement behaviour, and evaluate the likely efficacy of policy measures aimed at encouraging labour market participation among older workers and reversing current trends to early retirement. The study is tim ....Will older workers change their retirement plans in line with the Government’s calls for later retirement? The study will inform and contribute to the integration of retirement policy reform across all tiers of Government. It will especially project probabilities of change in workforce and retirement behaviour, and evaluate the likely efficacy of policy measures aimed at encouraging labour market participation among older workers and reversing current trends to early retirement. The study is timely because population ageing in Australia is just becoming a factor in labour market considerations, but its effects (which differ markedly by region) will soon escalate. Read moreRead less
Managing innovation with a policy-relevant framework to assess the social consequences of technological developments. A framework to assess the social consequences of new technologies will enable their benefits to be maximised and impacts lessened. By considering impacts during development and before release, design criteria can be broadened, appropriate management and mitigation measures implemented and appropriate regulatory conditions established. Interested parties can participate in discuss ....Managing innovation with a policy-relevant framework to assess the social consequences of technological developments. A framework to assess the social consequences of new technologies will enable their benefits to be maximised and impacts lessened. By considering impacts during development and before release, design criteria can be broadened, appropriate management and mitigation measures implemented and appropriate regulatory conditions established. Interested parties can participate in discussions about technology directions at an early stage, allowing technological development that is more democratic and less obstructed by conflict. Society benefits by having socially-appropriate and socially-acceptable technologies. Industry benefits from clearer technology development paths and a better understanding of potential social impacts of new technology.Read moreRead less
Everyday Incivilities. The study aims to provide the best available evidence on the seriousness of everyday incivilities between strangers in public places as a social problem in Australian society. This will involve gathering self-report data from socially diverse Australians for the purpose of exploring social group differences in (i) the type and prevalence of everyday incivilities experienced, and (ii) the social and psychological costs of exposure to everyday incivilities. The information ....Everyday Incivilities. The study aims to provide the best available evidence on the seriousness of everyday incivilities between strangers in public places as a social problem in Australian society. This will involve gathering self-report data from socially diverse Australians for the purpose of exploring social group differences in (i) the type and prevalence of everyday incivilities experienced, and (ii) the social and psychological costs of exposure to everyday incivilities. The information gathered will be used to identify high risk social groups and public places, and serve as a basis for developing programs for reducing everyday incivilities.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
Time and Politics: A Rapprochement of Analytic Political Philosophy and Post-structuralism. The most obvious benefits of this project will be academic, in that it will enrich contemporary political philosophy and advance theoretical work on the post-structuralism of Derrida and Deleuze. I will also be consulting with philosophers across Australia of both analytic and 'European' persuasion, and encouraging such a dialogue contributes to what is an emerging movement to break down the oppositional ....Time and Politics: A Rapprochement of Analytic Political Philosophy and Post-structuralism. The most obvious benefits of this project will be academic, in that it will enrich contemporary political philosophy and advance theoretical work on the post-structuralism of Derrida and Deleuze. I will also be consulting with philosophers across Australia of both analytic and 'European' persuasion, and encouraging such a dialogue contributes to what is an emerging movement to break down the oppositional thinking that has pervaded the Australian philosophical community. Finally, the findings of this project will also be used to instigate new ways of thinking regarding political issues afflicting Australians and the world, particularly in regard to refugees and reconciliation.
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Big-Picture Bioethics: policy-making and liberal democracy. We live an era of rapid growth in biotechnology generating new and difficult ethical questions that need to be tackled by bioethicists and politicians. This project goes beyond typical approaches in bioethics to explore the "big picture": how policies are generated in ethically-contentious domains. It is important to examine how the values of different stakeholders are reflected in such processes to ensure that they are in accordance wi ....Big-Picture Bioethics: policy-making and liberal democracy. We live an era of rapid growth in biotechnology generating new and difficult ethical questions that need to be tackled by bioethicists and politicians. This project goes beyond typical approaches in bioethics to explore the "big picture": how policies are generated in ethically-contentious domains. It is important to examine how the values of different stakeholders are reflected in such processes to ensure that they are in accordance with Australia's commitment to fostering a multicultural, pluralistic, democratic society. This project will produce practical recommendations for refining public consultation in healthcare policy-making through an examination of three relevant contentious case studies in Australia with comparison to Canada.Read moreRead less
Australia's changing urban tree estate: a socio-ecological study of patterns, causes and consequences. The project will significantly advance social and environmental understanding of the patterns, causes and consequences of changes in the Australian urban tree estate, therefore having immediate relevance to the home-environment of the majority of Australians. This knowledge will be of direct benefit to researchers, planners, land managers and residents in improving the sustainability of Austral ....Australia's changing urban tree estate: a socio-ecological study of patterns, causes and consequences. The project will significantly advance social and environmental understanding of the patterns, causes and consequences of changes in the Australian urban tree estate, therefore having immediate relevance to the home-environment of the majority of Australians. This knowledge will be of direct benefit to researchers, planners, land managers and residents in improving the sustainability of Australian cities. In particular, better informed decisions about the urban tree estate will help to maintain Australia's biodiversity, mitigate local and global climate change effects, manage fire risk, contribute to water conservation, improve air quality, enhance environmental amenity, reduce tree-related social conflict and enhance sense of place. Read moreRead less
Island Communities, Island Rhetoric: Sustainable Development and the Global Promise? The challenge to integrate economic development, social equity and environmental care intensifies on small islands. This research focuses on Tasmania, peripheral island state of Australia, sometimes typified as ?regional basket-case?. The aim is to examine how Tasmanians understand and accommodate the paradoxes of sustainable development (demanding new forms of ecological citizenship) and globalisation (based on ....Island Communities, Island Rhetoric: Sustainable Development and the Global Promise? The challenge to integrate economic development, social equity and environmental care intensifies on small islands. This research focuses on Tasmania, peripheral island state of Australia, sometimes typified as ?regional basket-case?. The aim is to examine how Tasmanians understand and accommodate the paradoxes of sustainable development (demanding new forms of ecological citizenship) and globalisation (based on conservative consumer-citizenship). Both deeply influence core government policy as well as formal and informal institutional life and language. Drawing on cultural geography and political ecology, the research will enhance theory and policy discussions about island regions, local communities and governance, sustainability and social change.Read moreRead less
Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse cons ....Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse consumers' priorities and gaps. Social media could offer latent insights, but ethical methodology producing useful de-identified policy insights has been lacking. This study exemplifies applying social media data analytics at scale to address policy problems and will produce up-to-date co-designed data use guidelines.Read moreRead less