Strengthening Health Workforce Migration to Australia and Canada. The project aims to define skilled migration trends in relation to the key fields (medicine, nursing and dentistry). Australia is one of very few countries with an explicit policy to import migrant health professionals. The project plans to assess if the goal of domestic self-sufficiency is likely to be met by 2025 and examine the risk of a ‘two tier’ health workforce developing (with conditionally registered migrants servicing pa ....Strengthening Health Workforce Migration to Australia and Canada. The project aims to define skilled migration trends in relation to the key fields (medicine, nursing and dentistry). Australia is one of very few countries with an explicit policy to import migrant health professionals. The project plans to assess if the goal of domestic self-sufficiency is likely to be met by 2025 and examine the risk of a ‘two tier’ health workforce developing (with conditionally registered migrants servicing patients in undersupplied sectors and sites). It then aims to propose changes to make the migration and health policy systems more effective and ethical in future compared to Canada (Australia’s key global competitor for skilled migrants), through evidence-based policy reform.Read moreRead less
Sustainable development of Aboriginal-owned small to medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) in the Bundjalung Nation. This project will identify the factors that facilitate the sustainable development of Aboriginal owned small to medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) in the Bundjalung Nation. Barriers preventing the sustainability of businesses will also be identified. There currently is a paucity of data and, therefore a poor level of knowledge, about the factors that contribute to the successful oper ....Sustainable development of Aboriginal-owned small to medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) in the Bundjalung Nation. This project will identify the factors that facilitate the sustainable development of Aboriginal owned small to medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) in the Bundjalung Nation. Barriers preventing the sustainability of businesses will also be identified. There currently is a paucity of data and, therefore a poor level of knowledge, about the factors that contribute to the successful operations of SMTEs. Consequently, there has been a high failure rate of Aboriginal tourism enterprises. This project will help overcome the failure rates amongst Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal SMTEs by increasing the expertise available to Aboriginal SMTEs.Read moreRead less
Improving employment outcomes for Australians with disability. This project aims to provide evidence about how to improve employment outcomes for people with disability. Nearly one in five adult Australians have a disability and just over half of these are in the labour force; a modest increase in employment rates will have significant social and economic benefits for people with disability and society. By collecting longitudinal quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) data at three ti ....Improving employment outcomes for Australians with disability. This project aims to provide evidence about how to improve employment outcomes for people with disability. Nearly one in five adult Australians have a disability and just over half of these are in the labour force; a modest increase in employment rates will have significant social and economic benefits for people with disability and society. By collecting longitudinal quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) data at three time points from over 1500 jobseekers with disability, critical information should be gained about how the characteristics of employment services, workplaces and jobseekers contribute to sustainable, meaningful employment for people with disability.Read moreRead less
Unequal futures: A critical investigation of regional and sociocultural variations in teenage pregnancy. The overarching aim of this project is to investigate geographical and sociocultural variations in teenage pregnancy in Australia, encompassing the over-representation of young Indigenous teenage mothers. It considers the implications of these differences for government policy.
The project aims to:
- define the parameters of teenage pregnancy
- map the complex social context in whic ....Unequal futures: A critical investigation of regional and sociocultural variations in teenage pregnancy. The overarching aim of this project is to investigate geographical and sociocultural variations in teenage pregnancy in Australia, encompassing the over-representation of young Indigenous teenage mothers. It considers the implications of these differences for government policy.
The project aims to:
- define the parameters of teenage pregnancy
- map the complex social context in which to understand teenage pregnancy
- identify the information, support, and services most likely to ensure that young women have options for pregnancy and motherhood which maximise their health and wellbeing
- identify factors which account for unintentional teenage pregnancy and strategies for prevention or amelioration.
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Public-Private-Partnership Governance and Performance: An Empirical Assessment. While Australia's rural and regional communities require improved infrastructure services at reduced costs and higher quality; infrastructure costs are significant and governments' funds are insufficient to meet demand. Public-private-partnerships (PPPs), if they work successfully, can be the key to meet this demand. As PPPs reduce the financial investment that governments need to make, the greater the opportunity fo ....Public-Private-Partnership Governance and Performance: An Empirical Assessment. While Australia's rural and regional communities require improved infrastructure services at reduced costs and higher quality; infrastructure costs are significant and governments' funds are insufficient to meet demand. Public-private-partnerships (PPPs), if they work successfully, can be the key to meet this demand. As PPPs reduce the financial investment that governments need to make, the greater the opportunity for considered infrastructure development, if the PPPs are successful and meet their intended financial and social objectives. Thus, a better understanding of the performance outcomes of different governance mechanisms in PPPs can result in less expensive and better infrastructure services for Australia's communities.Read moreRead less
Improving the life chances of young disabled Australians. This project will determine the social and economic impact of disability on young people and identify why some young people experience more negative outcomes. The outcome will be a model of the impact of disability which can be used to guide and monitor progress towards Australia's social inclusion agenda for people with disabilities. A substantial benefit will be growth in Australia's capacity in disability disadvantage research.
Young people's understandings of the relation between work, the labour market and education: Their origins and effects. Young people's pathways between school and work have become much more diverse and complex than in the past. Yet the impact of family background on their education and employment outcomes has hardly changed. This project focuses on young people's perceptions of the relation between work, education and the labour market and the pathways open to them. Taking account of recent m ....Young people's understandings of the relation between work, the labour market and education: Their origins and effects. Young people's pathways between school and work have become much more diverse and complex than in the past. Yet the impact of family background on their education and employment outcomes has hardly changed. This project focuses on young people's perceptions of the relation between work, education and the labour market and the pathways open to them. Taking account of recent major changes in the youth labour market, the research aims to understand the role of these perceptions in shaping young people's choices and pathways, how these vary according to social background and experience, and how they affect employment outcomes.Read moreRead less
The role of community connectedness in retaining skilled migrant women in Australia. Australia faces a severe skills shortage in areas central to its social fabric and that are traditionally dominated by women: nursing, childcare and teaching. While we are successful in attracting skilled migrants to fill these gaps, one third choose to leave Australia within 5 years. This is a very unfavourable outcome in view of the continuing skills shortage and the unrecoverable costs associated with attract ....The role of community connectedness in retaining skilled migrant women in Australia. Australia faces a severe skills shortage in areas central to its social fabric and that are traditionally dominated by women: nursing, childcare and teaching. While we are successful in attracting skilled migrants to fill these gaps, one third choose to leave Australia within 5 years. This is a very unfavourable outcome in view of the continuing skills shortage and the unrecoverable costs associated with attracting skilled migrants. The project will gain insight into factors that influence the retention rates of skilled female migrants and, in doing so, enable government agencies to develop targeted retention measures.Read moreRead less
Bridging worlds, linking cultures: an electronic planning tool for the Western Sydney region. This project aims to address, theoretically and practically, goals and demands for cultural planning in the information age. It will develop principles and procedures for using the immense power of digital resources within a framework that is aware of the richness and diversity of societies, communities and cultures, integrating subjective and objective data holistically into local government planning p ....Bridging worlds, linking cultures: an electronic planning tool for the Western Sydney region. This project aims to address, theoretically and practically, goals and demands for cultural planning in the information age. It will develop principles and procedures for using the immense power of digital resources within a framework that is aware of the richness and diversity of societies, communities and cultures, integrating subjective and objective data holistically into local government planning processes. It will use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) digital infrastructure to develop new information architecture, new interface designs and new strategies to interrogate and use available databases and information systems relevant to regional strategic cultural planning in Greater Western Sydney.Read moreRead less
The Costs of Foster Care in Australia. The aim of the study is to determine adequate and appropriate levels of reimbursement for carers by undertaking empirical research on the economic and social costs associated with fostering. For the first time in Australia the indirect costs to carers will be examined and a model developed for reimbursing foster carers similar to other paid carers in the community. In collaboration with the Industry Partner it will explore the feasibility of using budget st ....The Costs of Foster Care in Australia. The aim of the study is to determine adequate and appropriate levels of reimbursement for carers by undertaking empirical research on the economic and social costs associated with fostering. For the first time in Australia the indirect costs to carers will be examined and a model developed for reimbursing foster carers similar to other paid carers in the community. In collaboration with the Industry Partner it will explore the feasibility of using budget standards methodology to estimate the direct costs of care of children by refining and adapting budgets to reflect costs specific to different types of foster care.Read moreRead less