Building communities: managing public assets to provide social value. Local government facilities have a social value for the community beyond the immediate provision of service or amenity. However, this aspect is not generally considered in the formal planning and management of public facilities, which concentrate on economic considerations and community service needs. This project explores the links between public assets, their social value and community well-being. The research will provide a ....Building communities: managing public assets to provide social value. Local government facilities have a social value for the community beyond the immediate provision of service or amenity. However, this aspect is not generally considered in the formal planning and management of public facilities, which concentrate on economic considerations and community service needs. This project explores the links between public assets, their social value and community well-being. The research will provide a rationale, model, and set of indicators to assess social value for facilities, assisting local government decision-making, including regional and rural communities, and contribute to the development of meaningful long-term infrastructure and community plans.Read moreRead less
Regional Governance in Rural NSW: Emerging Issues and Future Options. Effective service delivery,community development and environmental management are crucial issues for Australian rural communities,albeit varying regionally in type and importance.This project will demonstrate how their quality of provision depends on the structure and capacity of regional governance-including the roles of local and other tiers of government,other institutions,and private actors. It considers the need for flexi ....Regional Governance in Rural NSW: Emerging Issues and Future Options. Effective service delivery,community development and environmental management are crucial issues for Australian rural communities,albeit varying regionally in type and importance.This project will demonstrate how their quality of provision depends on the structure and capacity of regional governance-including the roles of local and other tiers of government,other institutions,and private actors. It considers the need for flexible governance, and for systems of service delivery and management tailored to regional problems and capacities.Although these themes will be developed in a representative sample of three NSW rural regions,the findings will have wider national implications.Read moreRead less
Public-private partnerships as a solution to housing affordability problems: a case study of an inner urban development. Through a case study of an innovative inner city, medium density, low cost housing project, the characteristics of a public-private partnership will be described and analysed in many contexts. The financial, political and institutional impediments to the development of such ventures will be identified and broadened to a solution for other Australian municipalities. This will ....Public-private partnerships as a solution to housing affordability problems: a case study of an inner urban development. Through a case study of an innovative inner city, medium density, low cost housing project, the characteristics of a public-private partnership will be described and analysed in many contexts. The financial, political and institutional impediments to the development of such ventures will be identified and broadened to a solution for other Australian municipalities. This will be achieved by policy and process recommendations. The model will be used to provide a practical solution to low cost inner city housing, which to date has not been sustainably achieved in Australia.
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Managing medium density development: a municipal case study. There has been no applied, local government-focused research on medium-density residential development. This issue creates the most political and planning problems for many urban local governments in Australia. Using the case study municipality of Boroondara (Melbourne), the aim is to identify, explain and address the many problems associated with such development. This will advance our knowledge about the implications of medium densit ....Managing medium density development: a municipal case study. There has been no applied, local government-focused research on medium-density residential development. This issue creates the most political and planning problems for many urban local governments in Australia. Using the case study municipality of Boroondara (Melbourne), the aim is to identify, explain and address the many problems associated with such development. This will advance our knowledge about the implications of medium density housing for municipalities and thus enable the implementation of better management practices.Read moreRead less
Inner urban public housing redevelopment: a case study of the high rise estate at Kensington, Melbourne. Many of the old public housing estates in Australia require redevelopment, the first of these high rise towers now due for demolition in Melbourne. This project will trace the redevelopment process on one estate from conception to post-occupancy, analysing the financial, organisational, political and construction hurdles that had to be overcome. This analysis will serve as a comprehensive m ....Inner urban public housing redevelopment: a case study of the high rise estate at Kensington, Melbourne. Many of the old public housing estates in Australia require redevelopment, the first of these high rise towers now due for demolition in Melbourne. This project will trace the redevelopment process on one estate from conception to post-occupancy, analysing the financial, organisational, political and construction hurdles that had to be overcome. This analysis will serve as a comprehensive model for other imminent developments, particularly as a model for the incorporation of private sector development interests.
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Enabling inter-agency data sharing to support the spatial analysis of social vulnerability in a transforming region. This project's resolution of constraints to government agency data sharing will enable modernisation of public sector information management, creating a secure environment for joined-up use of agency data and enabling major resource savings. It will produce more geographically sensitive indicators of social vulnerability, marking a major advance in its understanding and assessment ....Enabling inter-agency data sharing to support the spatial analysis of social vulnerability in a transforming region. This project's resolution of constraints to government agency data sharing will enable modernisation of public sector information management, creating a secure environment for joined-up use of agency data and enabling major resource savings. It will produce more geographically sensitive indicators of social vulnerability, marking a major advance in its understanding and assessment. The project will significantly broaden agency's capability for research and analysis. It will generate major social benefits nationally, enabling the development of research-based policy enhancements that better align human service delivery with community needs. Lastly, it will contribute significantly to the strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric.Read moreRead less
Building technologies and engagement processes for using spatialised data to enhance family and community outcomes in a region experiencing major change. The NSW government's Families First Initiative (FFI) seeks delivery of more effective services to families with children. FFI agencies need information about children's life circumstances, risk of disadvantage, and the effectiveness of intervention programs. The project uses innovative techniques and processes to develop practitioner-friendly, ....Building technologies and engagement processes for using spatialised data to enhance family and community outcomes in a region experiencing major change. The NSW government's Families First Initiative (FFI) seeks delivery of more effective services to families with children. FFI agencies need information about children's life circumstances, risk of disadvantage, and the effectiveness of intervention programs. The project uses innovative techniques and processes to develop practitioner-friendly, finely-scaled indicators. The collaborators bring professional skills in service delivery to the project. The University researchers bring cross-disciplinary expertise in statistical/spatial modelling and policy analysis. Outcomes include PhD training, inter-agency engagement skills, new indicator techniques, high-impact contributions to literatures on quantification and state theory, and the development of an ongoing socio-spatial modelling facility.Read moreRead less
Social Mix and Social Exclusion in Disadvantaged Communities: Clarifying the Links between Policy, Practice and the Evidence Base. The project tackles an important question and one of considerable national policy significance - that of whether social mix, planned for public housing estates to reduce the spatial concentration of disadvantaged households, will result in benefits for low-income residents in those places. The conceptual framework for exploring this central question is the contempora ....Social Mix and Social Exclusion in Disadvantaged Communities: Clarifying the Links between Policy, Practice and the Evidence Base. The project tackles an important question and one of considerable national policy significance - that of whether social mix, planned for public housing estates to reduce the spatial concentration of disadvantaged households, will result in benefits for low-income residents in those places. The conceptual framework for exploring this central question is the contemporary debate about social exclusion and its corollary social inclusion. The results will have important implications for government policy makers, not to mention improving the quality of life for residents in these neighbourhoods. It will also integrate Australian research into the international debate.Read moreRead less
Engaged Government: A study of government-community engagement for regional outcomes. The devolution of government business to regional government/community partnerships, coupled with the call for greater policy coherence, is challenging all levels of government and communities to collaborate in new ways to deliver regional outcomes. There is little empirical research to guide public managers in determining best value arrangements and strategic investments for building a region's 'collaborative ....Engaged Government: A study of government-community engagement for regional outcomes. The devolution of government business to regional government/community partnerships, coupled with the call for greater policy coherence, is challenging all levels of government and communities to collaborate in new ways to deliver regional outcomes. There is little empirical research to guide public managers in determining best value arrangements and strategic investments for building a region's 'collaborative advantage'. This project will examine the conditions (strategic, structural and procedural) under which multi-sectoral collaboration can deliver policy coherence and positive regional outcomes and identify the costs, benefits, trade-offs and capacities associated with effective multi-sectoral collaboration.
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Gambling-related harm in Northern Australia: A Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based spatiotemporal analysis of venue catchments. There is growing national concern about the impact of electronic gaming (poker) machines yet little is known about the effects of this gambling in rural and remote areas of Australia. We will develop a database to define the geographic distribution of gambling impacts, the nature of high-risk venues, and the characteristics, both spatial and social, of vulnerable ....Gambling-related harm in Northern Australia: A Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based spatiotemporal analysis of venue catchments. There is growing national concern about the impact of electronic gaming (poker) machines yet little is known about the effects of this gambling in rural and remote areas of Australia. We will develop a database to define the geographic distribution of gambling impacts, the nature of high-risk venues, and the characteristics, both spatial and social, of vulnerable communities. This will enable the design of much needed harm minimisation strategies and will provide regulatory bodies with insights into the capacity of local communities to absorb the impact of electronic gaming machine venues.Read moreRead less