Inequality in first family formation in contemporary Australia. The timing and context of Australians' entry into parenthood differs across the socio-economic spectrum. This project investigates the socio-economic disparities in entering parenthood, particularly focusing on education and employment differentials as well as socio-demographic factors such as ethnic and religious background, and experience of family dissolution. Using longitudinal panel data, this project aims to: determine the soc ....Inequality in first family formation in contemporary Australia. The timing and context of Australians' entry into parenthood differs across the socio-economic spectrum. This project investigates the socio-economic disparities in entering parenthood, particularly focusing on education and employment differentials as well as socio-demographic factors such as ethnic and religious background, and experience of family dissolution. Using longitudinal panel data, this project aims to: determine the socio-economic and demographic differentials of inequality in first family formation in Australia; discover how inequality in first family formation has changed since the middle of the 20th Century; and, assess how family-policy regime mediates or exacerbates this inequality.Read moreRead less
Challenging the neoliberal critique of deficit spending and public debt. This project aims to analyse the rhetoric of balanced budgets by examining its intellectual and political history and revisiting counterarguments. Expected outcomes from the project will include insights into the development of rhetoric based on analysis of archival, textual and interview-based data . Findings from the project will be published in online fora with wide readership in national and international policy circle ....Challenging the neoliberal critique of deficit spending and public debt. This project aims to analyse the rhetoric of balanced budgets by examining its intellectual and political history and revisiting counterarguments. Expected outcomes from the project will include insights into the development of rhetoric based on analysis of archival, textual and interview-based data . Findings from the project will be published in online fora with wide readership in national and international policy circles. The project has the capacity to provide insights into and benefits for policy discourse on government deficit-spending and public debt.Read moreRead less
COVID-19, health and labour market marginalisation . This project aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour market marginalisation in Australia. It seeks to generate new insights about whether the global economic shock had a disproportionately negative effect on the employment circumstances of working-age Australians with mental health and musculoskeletal/pain conditions, which are the leading causes of disability in Australia. The expected outcomes of this project includ ....COVID-19, health and labour market marginalisation . This project aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour market marginalisation in Australia. It seeks to generate new insights about whether the global economic shock had a disproportionately negative effect on the employment circumstances of working-age Australians with mental health and musculoskeletal/pain conditions, which are the leading causes of disability in Australia. The expected outcomes of this project include improved policy responses to direct effective support and assistance to those with the greatest need, and new resources for the research community. This should lead to significant benefits through reduced inequalities and improved social, economic and workforce outcomes for vulnerable Australians.Read moreRead less
Revisiting the 'Fourth Age': health, socioeconomic and cultural transformation of, and diversity in, Australia's oldest old population, 1981-2011. The oldest-old (those aged 85 years and over) is the fastest growing segment of the Australian population, and the changing make-up and experiences of this group needs attention. This project will expand our knowledge base about Australia's oldest old, helping to inform public policy and to improve discussions on what the 'Fourth Age' really means in ....Revisiting the 'Fourth Age': health, socioeconomic and cultural transformation of, and diversity in, Australia's oldest old population, 1981-2011. The oldest-old (those aged 85 years and over) is the fastest growing segment of the Australian population, and the changing make-up and experiences of this group needs attention. This project will expand our knowledge base about Australia's oldest old, helping to inform public policy and to improve discussions on what the 'Fourth Age' really means in Australia.Read moreRead less
Welfare reform and welfare stigma : scroungers, slackers and bludgers? This project aims to build an evidence base of the prevalence, causes and consequences of welfare stigma in Australia. Welfare policies and proposed reforms aim to reduce welfare expenditure, increase workforce participation, and promote personal and family wellbeing. However, stigmatising attitudes and discrimination towards those receiving welfare benefits may undermine these policy goals: reducing employment opportunities ....Welfare reform and welfare stigma : scroungers, slackers and bludgers? This project aims to build an evidence base of the prevalence, causes and consequences of welfare stigma in Australia. Welfare policies and proposed reforms aim to reduce welfare expenditure, increase workforce participation, and promote personal and family wellbeing. However, stigmatising attitudes and discrimination towards those receiving welfare benefits may undermine these policy goals: reducing employment opportunities and causing poorer health and wellbeing. Through innovative experimental studies, the project plans to identify ways in which welfare policy can minimise stigma and promote employment. Project outcomes may provide an evidence base for the design of more effective welfare policy.Read moreRead less
Meeting the needs of older persons in Indonesia. The project aims to identify the needs of older people in rural Indonesia for income, housing, health, daily care and social interaction and the extent to which their needs are met. It also considers the efficacy of existing policy programs and how these might be improved. Today, there are 22 million Indonesians aged 60 years and over, projected to rise to 48 million by 2035. Millions of older people live in rural areas from which younger people h ....Meeting the needs of older persons in Indonesia. The project aims to identify the needs of older people in rural Indonesia for income, housing, health, daily care and social interaction and the extent to which their needs are met. It also considers the efficacy of existing policy programs and how these might be improved. Today, there are 22 million Indonesians aged 60 years and over, projected to rise to 48 million by 2035. Millions of older people live in rural areas from which younger people have moved to the rapidly growing cities. This presents challenges for the traditional family-based aged care system in Indonesia. It is expected that findings from the study will be published in a series of policy papers to be presented in the Indonesian National Development Planning Board.Read moreRead less
Planet Chicken: Chemical Entanglements in Asia's Poultry Boom . This project aims to study the effects of Asia’s rapidly expanding chicken meat industry on environmental degradation, social inequality, public health and animal welfare. Agricultural chemicals and veterinary drugs saturate this industry, with little regulation or data on types, quantities and applications. Deploying interdisciplinary methods at key nodes of the chicken value chain in India, Thailand and Vietnam, this study will 1) ....Planet Chicken: Chemical Entanglements in Asia's Poultry Boom . This project aims to study the effects of Asia’s rapidly expanding chicken meat industry on environmental degradation, social inequality, public health and animal welfare. Agricultural chemicals and veterinary drugs saturate this industry, with little regulation or data on types, quantities and applications. Deploying interdisciplinary methods at key nodes of the chicken value chain in India, Thailand and Vietnam, this study will 1) examine practices and market structures that shape chemical use and 2) uncover chemical presence and socio-ecological impacts. The project intends to expose how toxicity, biodiversity, and health interact with global food systems and to propose interventions for effective governance of factory farming in Asia.Read moreRead less
Coding of olfactory information in the piriform cortex. This project aims to understand how electrical activity in the primary olfactory (piriform) cortex enables mice to recognise and remember odours. By using optical recording techniques together with genetic tools, the project expects to generate new knowledge about how the mammalian brain builds internal representations of the external world. Specific outcomes of the project include new insights into the functional architecture of the pirifo ....Coding of olfactory information in the piriform cortex. This project aims to understand how electrical activity in the primary olfactory (piriform) cortex enables mice to recognise and remember odours. By using optical recording techniques together with genetic tools, the project expects to generate new knowledge about how the mammalian brain builds internal representations of the external world. Specific outcomes of the project include new insights into the functional architecture of the piriform cortex and fresh understanding of how olfactory information is encoded and stored in neural circuits. More broadly, the project aims to advance our understanding of how the brain works, with benefits for future improvements in artificial intelligence and brain-machine interfaces.Read moreRead less
Structure and function of heterodimeric amino acid transporters. Recently a new family of amino acid transporters has been identified, the members of which are involved in the delivery of amino acids between cells and tissues. All members display a rather unusual structure in that they require two subunits to be functional. The main aim of this study is to investigate the interaction between large and small subunits. The study will give insight how membrane proteins form complexes in the membran ....Structure and function of heterodimeric amino acid transporters. Recently a new family of amino acid transporters has been identified, the members of which are involved in the delivery of amino acids between cells and tissues. All members display a rather unusual structure in that they require two subunits to be functional. The main aim of this study is to investigate the interaction between large and small subunits. The study will give insight how membrane proteins form complexes in the membrane and how these interactions affect the function of a complex membrane protein.Read moreRead less
MemberGuard: Protecting Machine Learning Privacy from Membership Inference. Machine Learning has become a core part of many real-world applications. However, machine learning models are vulnerable to membership inference attacks. In these attacks, an adversary can infer if a given data record has been part of the model's training data. In this project, the team aims to develop new techniques that can be used to counter these attacks, such as 1) new analytical models for membership leakage, 2) ne ....MemberGuard: Protecting Machine Learning Privacy from Membership Inference. Machine Learning has become a core part of many real-world applications. However, machine learning models are vulnerable to membership inference attacks. In these attacks, an adversary can infer if a given data record has been part of the model's training data. In this project, the team aims to develop new techniques that can be used to counter these attacks, such as 1) new analytical models for membership leakage, 2) new methods for susceptibility diagnosis, 3) new defences that leverage privacy and utility. Data-oriented services are estimated to be valuable assets in the future. These techniques can help Australia gain cutting edge advantage in machine learning security and privacy and protect its intellectual property on these services.Read moreRead less