Developing a national rural volunteering roadmap. This project aims to investigate the challenges affecting rural volunteering in Australia. Conducting a national analysis of volunteering demand and supply, this project expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge of the structural, demographic, organisational and personal factors affecting the sustainability of rural volunteering. Expected outcomes of this project include a world-first index of volunteering vulnerabilities and a spatial ....Developing a national rural volunteering roadmap. This project aims to investigate the challenges affecting rural volunteering in Australia. Conducting a national analysis of volunteering demand and supply, this project expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge of the structural, demographic, organisational and personal factors affecting the sustainability of rural volunteering. Expected outcomes of this project include a world-first index of volunteering vulnerabilities and a spatial map of volunteering unevenness, leading to the development of an evidence-based National Rural Volunteering Roadmap (2025-2035), which will guide our volunteering peak body partners, governments and rural communities to plan for and support rural volunteering over the longer-term.Read moreRead less
Work, care, retirement and health: ageing agendas. This project will undertake a gendered analysis of how Australians can retire well, taking account of their key resources (such as work, superannuation, the aged pension, and other assets) and key demands (such as to work longer and to care for others in the context of an ageing population and a more feminised workforce).
Integrating models with molecular 'logbooks' to better forecast extinction risk from climate change. Current forecasts indicate that human-driven climate change will likely cause widespread biodiversity loss. However, climatic shifts during the Quaternary (2.6 million years ago to present), similar in magnitude to those projected for the 21st century, did not apparently cause extensive extinctions (with the exception of the megafauna). This project aims to use models linked to past responses imp ....Integrating models with molecular 'logbooks' to better forecast extinction risk from climate change. Current forecasts indicate that human-driven climate change will likely cause widespread biodiversity loss. However, climatic shifts during the Quaternary (2.6 million years ago to present), similar in magnitude to those projected for the 21st century, did not apparently cause extensive extinctions (with the exception of the megafauna). This project aims to use models linked to past responses imprinted in species’ genes to resolve whether the disparity between observed and predicted extinction rates comes from models over-predicting species loss due to climate change. It will use this genetic-demographic approach to improve predictions of biodiversity responses to global change by establishing the biological and environmental determinants of extinction.Read moreRead less
Policing the Neighbourhood: Australian Police Peace-keeping, Capacity-building, and Development in Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Australia's involvement in policing offshore is growing rapidly. Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands, and shortly, Papua New Guinea, feature in these developments. The Australian Federal Police is now a key player in regional security and development. This study takes stock of this trend. Through three case studies, the project examines the grou ....Policing the Neighbourhood: Australian Police Peace-keeping, Capacity-building, and Development in Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Australia's involvement in policing offshore is growing rapidly. Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands, and shortly, Papua New Guinea, feature in these developments. The Australian Federal Police is now a key player in regional security and development. This study takes stock of this trend. Through three case studies, the project examines the grounds for providing assistance, the different cultural and political contexts in which assistance is taking place, the forms of that assistance, and the achievements and shortcomings of previous and current police assistance missions. It will also provide an analytical framework for future engagements of this nature.Read moreRead less
Screening and responding to domestic violence experienced by refugee women. We will adapt and test an evidence-based intervention to identify and address domestic violence with newly arrived refugee women, partnering with Settlement Services International, one of Australia’s largest providers of settlement programs. Domestic violence is the lead contributor to premature death among Australian women, and costs $22 b each year, with refugee women at heightened risk. This study will compare outcome ....Screening and responding to domestic violence experienced by refugee women. We will adapt and test an evidence-based intervention to identify and address domestic violence with newly arrived refugee women, partnering with Settlement Services International, one of Australia’s largest providers of settlement programs. Domestic violence is the lead contributor to premature death among Australian women, and costs $22 b each year, with refugee women at heightened risk. This study will compare outcomes for women who receive the intervention to controls and culturally sensitive, scaleable tested tools. This intervention should reduce the human and financial cost of domestic violence among refugee and other vulnerable migrant women, providing tools to settlement services to address this complex, hidden problem. Read moreRead less
An integrated tool for informing pest management: modelling range shifts for an invasive vertebrate in response to climate change. Invasive species and climate contribute directly to loss of biodiversity and economic productivity. This research project focuses on providing user-orientated tools that enable a strategic approach to European rabbit management and vertebrate pest control in Australia in response to anticipated climate and land-use change.
Range dynamics and demographics of spatially structured populations under global change. Why are particular species present in some locations, but not others? This is a simple, fundamental ecological question, yet surprisingly, our answers on this point remain far from complete. Using an integrated, systems-based approach, we will determine the interplay between: (i) birth, death and movement rates, (ii) species interactions, and (iii) the constraints of the physical environment (temperature, ra ....Range dynamics and demographics of spatially structured populations under global change. Why are particular species present in some locations, but not others? This is a simple, fundamental ecological question, yet surprisingly, our answers on this point remain far from complete. Using an integrated, systems-based approach, we will determine the interplay between: (i) birth, death and movement rates, (ii) species interactions, and (iii) the constraints of the physical environment (temperature, rainfall, soil type), which determine the limits of species' ranges. Our models will provide Australian conservation managers with a novel, validated toolbox to explore the trade-offs, and synergies, inherent in trying to adapt to climate change and other stressors on biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Analysing interactions within the criminal deportation system. This project aims to investigate the convergence of migration control and criminal justice by analysing pathways to criminal deportation. The project expects to generate new criminological understandings of deportation as a means of promoting community safety using interdisciplinary approaches that capture regional and metropolitan practice. Expected outcomes include knowledge of how information flows between migration control and cr ....Analysing interactions within the criminal deportation system. This project aims to investigate the convergence of migration control and criminal justice by analysing pathways to criminal deportation. The project expects to generate new criminological understandings of deportation as a means of promoting community safety using interdisciplinary approaches that capture regional and metropolitan practice. Expected outcomes include knowledge of how information flows between migration control and criminal justice agencies, and the implications for policing, courts, and prison administration. This should provide significant benefits for policy-makers and practitioners, by articulating emerging and unexplored practices that have major consequences for community safety, social cohesion and the rule-of-law.Read moreRead less
Building Australia's next-generation ocean-sea ice model. Ocean and sea ice models are used for predicting future ocean and climate states, and for climate process research. This project aims to bring the next generation of ocean-sea ice models to Australia and configure the models for our local priorities. The ultimate goal is to create a new coupled ocean-sea ice model for Australia that includes surface waves and biogeochemistry. The model will be optimised and evaluated on Australian facilit ....Building Australia's next-generation ocean-sea ice model. Ocean and sea ice models are used for predicting future ocean and climate states, and for climate process research. This project aims to bring the next generation of ocean-sea ice models to Australia and configure the models for our local priorities. The ultimate goal is to create a new coupled ocean-sea ice model for Australia that includes surface waves and biogeochemistry. The model will be optimised and evaluated on Australian facilities, and released for community use. These developments underpin future ocean state forecasts, sea ice forecasts, wave forecasts, decadal climate prediction and climate process studies. The project will benefit search and rescue, Defence and shipping operations, and will enhance future climate projections.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing the impact of climate change on Australian native species. This project will explore the impact of past climate change on Australian native animals to identify species and ecosystems at greatest potential risk, and to help predict and minimise the effects of future change.