Evaluating communication for development: supporting adaptive and accountable development. Australia spends $5.2 billion a year on overseas aid and is increasingly interested in the role of communication in sustainable development. This project will help to create a more effective means of understanding the impact of communication for development and improving its effectiveness in contributing to sustained, positive development outcomes.
Mobilising media for sustainable outcomes in the Pacific region. Almost 25 per cent of Australia's total aid budget will be spent in Pacific Island countries this year. In collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the project will research the use of media and communication for development in the Pacific to increase our understanding of the region and inform practices that will improve the development outcomes from Australia's aid funding.
Young People, Technology, and Wellbeing Research Facility. Large numbers of initiatives now mobilise technology to support the wellbeing of young Australians. However, amongst communities undertaking this work, there is currently significant duplication and insufficient sharing of research and best practice models. A Research Facility that consolidates existing research, and guides new research and initiatives will improve service delivery to young Australians by: reducing duplication between or ....Young People, Technology, and Wellbeing Research Facility. Large numbers of initiatives now mobilise technology to support the wellbeing of young Australians. However, amongst communities undertaking this work, there is currently significant duplication and insufficient sharing of research and best practice models. A Research Facility that consolidates existing research, and guides new research and initiatives will improve service delivery to young Australians by: reducing duplication between organizations working with young people; providing an accessible interface with research that can help address the community’s concerns about the role of technology in young people’s lives, and inform future policy and programs; and model effective cross-sector knowledge brokering to Australian industry. Read moreRead less
Supporting the sustainability of Australia's local news ecosystem. This project aims to understand how Australia’s main public broadcaster, the ABC, can best support public interest journalism in rural and regional communities, with a specific focus on fragile and underserved areas of the nation’s local news ecosystem. The project will develop new knowledge around media power and how news providers can work together to secure the sustainability of local news. Expected outcomes include a framewor ....Supporting the sustainability of Australia's local news ecosystem. This project aims to understand how Australia’s main public broadcaster, the ABC, can best support public interest journalism in rural and regional communities, with a specific focus on fragile and underserved areas of the nation’s local news ecosystem. The project will develop new knowledge around media power and how news providers can work together to secure the sustainability of local news. Expected outcomes include a framework to identify and define areas of news need, an assessment of existing interventions and road-tested approaches to improve information quality. The project should provide benefits by supporting forms of local journalism that ultimately enhances the demographic health and social fabric of small towns and cities.
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Addressing Misinformation with Media Literacy through Cultural Institutions. Misinformation can harm democratic processes, social cohesion and public health outcomes. Media literacy prepares citizens for misinformation by developing critical analysis abilities. This project partners with Australian public cultural institutions to increase adult media literacy. Through an action-based, mixed methods approach, the project investigates adults’ experiences with online misinformation and assesses the ....Addressing Misinformation with Media Literacy through Cultural Institutions. Misinformation can harm democratic processes, social cohesion and public health outcomes. Media literacy prepares citizens for misinformation by developing critical analysis abilities. This project partners with Australian public cultural institutions to increase adult media literacy. Through an action-based, mixed methods approach, the project investigates adults’ experiences with online misinformation and assesses their ability to identify and challenge it. Research findings will inform the design and evaluation of targeted evidence-based media literacy training and resources that will be shared across broadcast media, physical spaces and online. Through these initiatives Australians will be better equipped to combat misinformation.Read moreRead less
Australian information seekers and the social consequences of information poverty. This project aims to advance considerably our understanding of information seeking, and its social, cultural and civic implications for Australia. It will produce useful findings for researchers and policy makers interested in the economic and social consequences of information poverty, and will also contribute to the strategic planning of the public library sector.
Museum Digital Social Futures. This project aims to understand and transform the digital experience of museum audiences post COVID-19 through collaborating with ACMI who pioneered digital curation methods through a Living Lab model. This project will generate new methods for engaging diverse audiences across social and digital worlds in domestic and public spaces through codesigning with national museum peak body, AGaMA, stakeholders. Expected outcomes include resources (i.e. toolkits for implem ....Museum Digital Social Futures. This project aims to understand and transform the digital experience of museum audiences post COVID-19 through collaborating with ACMI who pioneered digital curation methods through a Living Lab model. This project will generate new methods for engaging diverse audiences across social and digital worlds in domestic and public spaces through codesigning with national museum peak body, AGaMA, stakeholders. Expected outcomes include resources (i.e. toolkits for implementation), online repository (website) and symposium for knowledge sharing and transferring of learnings. This should provide significant benefits to the museums sector including digital innovation for social inclusion strategies and resources.
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Digital storytelling and co-creative media: the role of community arts and media in propagating and coordinating population-wide creative practice. Community arts, community broadcasting and Indigenous media producers all face the challenge of digital media and user-led innovation. This project brings these systems together to test how existing infrastructure and new media affordances can be combined to stimulate broad-based innovation through creative participation.
Young Australians and the promotion of alcohol on social media. This project aims to determine how young people engage with alcohol and nightlife marketing on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Companies now leverage the power of social media to create advertisements that are made and shared by young people, targeted to them in particular times, places and contexts, and are thus difficult to monitor and regulate. The project will use computational, big social data app ....Young Australians and the promotion of alcohol on social media. This project aims to determine how young people engage with alcohol and nightlife marketing on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Companies now leverage the power of social media to create advertisements that are made and shared by young people, targeted to them in particular times, places and contexts, and are thus difficult to monitor and regulate. The project will use computational, big social data approaches and youth informants to assess the pervasiveness of branding on social media and how it shapes youth cultures. This work will extend media and cultural studies and support the development of effective monitoring and regulation of online marketing in general, with a particular focus on alcohol.Read moreRead less
Advancing digital inclusion in low income Australian families. This ethnographic investigation explores the complex relationship between digital and social inclusion, and social infrastructure's role (education facilities, charities, government services) in supporting low-income families' social and economic participation. It gathers insights from families in six diverse communities from Far North Queensland to Tasmania, across diverse urban, regional and rural locations. It focuses on the digit ....Advancing digital inclusion in low income Australian families. This ethnographic investigation explores the complex relationship between digital and social inclusion, and social infrastructure's role (education facilities, charities, government services) in supporting low-income families' social and economic participation. It gathers insights from families in six diverse communities from Far North Queensland to Tasmania, across diverse urban, regional and rural locations. It focuses on the digital inclusion implications of children's home and school learning experiences, school leavers' transitions into work, and parenting in digital times. The project is a collaboration with Australia's leading digital inclusion organisations and will develop new practices, policies and sector wide solutions.Read moreRead less