Genetic Identity Testing and the Family: the articulation between biotechnology and family relationships, politics and policy. Genetic identity testing cuts to the very nature of the family itself. For the first time in human history, it is possible to identify paternity - and misattributed paternity - with reasonable certainty. Parentage testing has become a vehicle for the fathers? rights movement, and is influencing the management of child support policy. Governments are currently developing ....Genetic Identity Testing and the Family: the articulation between biotechnology and family relationships, politics and policy. Genetic identity testing cuts to the very nature of the family itself. For the first time in human history, it is possible to identify paternity - and misattributed paternity - with reasonable certainty. Parentage testing has become a vehicle for the fathers? rights movement, and is influencing the management of child support policy. Governments are currently developing broad policy frameworks on this issue. Yet there is almost no social research on parentage testing. This study will provide scope for Australian leadership in an area of study that will become progressively more important with the rapid development of DNA chip technology. Read moreRead less
The health implications of uncertain child support payments for children in low-income single parent families. The study will clarify the implications of child support policy by focussing on the economic, social and health impacts for low-income children. These findings will: provide single parents, schools and communities with insight into the process of promoting the social inclusion of low-income children; enable schools and social welfare agencies to design programs and services to meet the ....The health implications of uncertain child support payments for children in low-income single parent families. The study will clarify the implications of child support policy by focussing on the economic, social and health impacts for low-income children. These findings will: provide single parents, schools and communities with insight into the process of promoting the social inclusion of low-income children; enable schools and social welfare agencies to design programs and services to meet the needs of low-income single parent families; provide data for continued child support policy review and development; and contribute to the evidence base for ongoing debates such as the effect of poverty on child social inclusion and how children experience social inclusion.Read moreRead less
Currencies of Care: Establishing the scope of performance indicators in child and family welfare services. This project aims to establish the scope of performance indicators for assessing outcomes in welfare services in urban, regional and rural contexts. Its significance lies in the analysis of outcomes, in addition to service outputs, and in advancing understanding of performance assessment beyond a narrow focus on urban service delivery environments. The project combines UnitingCare Burnside' ....Currencies of Care: Establishing the scope of performance indicators in child and family welfare services. This project aims to establish the scope of performance indicators for assessing outcomes in welfare services in urban, regional and rural contexts. Its significance lies in the analysis of outcomes, in addition to service outputs, and in advancing understanding of performance assessment beyond a narrow focus on urban service delivery environments. The project combines UnitingCare Burnside's experience in and commitment to delivery of high quality services with the CIs' interdisciplinary expertise in evaluation of caring work. Anticipated outcomes include development of a conceptual framework for performance assessment which will be used by the industry partner in managing and delivering services.Read moreRead less
Constituencies for welfare: Public responses to Australia's 'new welfare state'. The main national and community benefits fall within Research Priority 2: Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, and particularly 'Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric'. Australia's welfare state helps maintain the social fabric, but its performance depends on citizens' confidence in the purposes and outcomes of welfare. This project investigates how well Australians understand recent welfare changes ....Constituencies for welfare: Public responses to Australia's 'new welfare state'. The main national and community benefits fall within Research Priority 2: Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, and particularly 'Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric'. Australia's welfare state helps maintain the social fabric, but its performance depends on citizens' confidence in the purposes and outcomes of welfare. This project investigates how well Australians understand recent welfare changes, and measures their confidence in policy directions. The project will produce fresh research into the public's response to the Australian government's largest area of fiscal responsibility, provide new analytical and data tools for policymakers, and strengthen Australia's international profile in research into welfare reform.Read moreRead less
Restorative justice and re-offending. Restorative justice conferences are meetings between young offenders and their victims to discuss crimes and negotiate ways of responding to conflict. Restorative justice advocates claim that because young offenders leave conferences with a better understanding of how their behaviour has affected others, they are less likely to re-offend. This research project will directly test this claim. It will show, for the first time, what young offenders know and u ....Restorative justice and re-offending. Restorative justice conferences are meetings between young offenders and their victims to discuss crimes and negotiate ways of responding to conflict. Restorative justice advocates claim that because young offenders leave conferences with a better understanding of how their behaviour has affected others, they are less likely to re-offend. This research project will directly test this claim. It will show, for the first time, what young offenders know and understand about conference events and how this relates to future offending. This project is the first scholarly analysis of restorative justice conferencing that examines how and why conferencing works to reduce crime.Read moreRead less
Work/Life Balance, Well-Being and Health: Theory, Practice and Policy. This project links to the national research priority of promoting and maintaining good health in two ways. It establishes a new annual national measure of work/life balance, a critical element of good health and well-being, assisting understanding about work/life conflict and informing workplace and government policy responses to it, strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric. Deep study of work/life issues in the h ....Work/Life Balance, Well-Being and Health: Theory, Practice and Policy. This project links to the national research priority of promoting and maintaining good health in two ways. It establishes a new annual national measure of work/life balance, a critical element of good health and well-being, assisting understanding about work/life conflict and informing workplace and government policy responses to it, strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric. Deep study of work/life issues in the health sector will also inform recruitment, retention and well-being in the health workforce, with flow-on to the health system more broadly. The project includes analysis of 'pre-retirement' work/life issues, also linking to the 'ageing well, ageing productively' priority. Read moreRead less
The Work, Housing, Services and Community Project. Australian cities are bursting at their seams. Major new housing developments are being undertaken to meet housing demand. These new developments sit alongside existing developments and raise issues about socio-spatial integration. New developments attempt to meet changing work, housing, services and community needs. This project examines how they are succeeding, how workers and residents see the relationship between work, home, services, and th ....The Work, Housing, Services and Community Project. Australian cities are bursting at their seams. Major new housing developments are being undertaken to meet housing demand. These new developments sit alongside existing developments and raise issues about socio-spatial integration. New developments attempt to meet changing work, housing, services and community needs. This project examines how they are succeeding, how workers and residents see the relationship between work, home, services, and the community they want to live amidst, and what kinds of spatial alignments they seek. The project will assist urban planners, workplaces, service providers and the developer community, potentially improving the well being of men, women and children.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
The Dynamics of Low Income, Welfare reliance, and Changes in the Family Stucture of Parents with Dependent children. We build a new seven-year longitudinal database, from FaCS administrative records and supplementary surveys, for low income parents with dependent children to analyse the dynamics of, and interrationships among, changes in family structure, income and welfare reliance. We identify and analyse exit and entry routes from low income, short and long run welfare receipt and movement fr ....The Dynamics of Low Income, Welfare reliance, and Changes in the Family Stucture of Parents with Dependent children. We build a new seven-year longitudinal database, from FaCS administrative records and supplementary surveys, for low income parents with dependent children to analyse the dynamics of, and interrationships among, changes in family structure, income and welfare reliance. We identify and analyse exit and entry routes from low income, short and long run welfare receipt and movement from one program to another, and highlight locational/regional variations in these movements. The project will help policy makers evaluate the impacts of existing programs and will change the nature and significance of Australian research and policy development in welfare dependency and support.Read moreRead less
Young Carers: Social policy impacts of the caring responsibilities of children and young adults. This project is a unique collaboration between university researchers, eight government agencies in NSW and South Australia and two Carers Associations, using innovative methods to inform policy development. The project will focus on the costs to young carers (their education, training, employment, social activities, health and wellbeing); benefits of the care relationship to families and to governm ....Young Carers: Social policy impacts of the caring responsibilities of children and young adults. This project is a unique collaboration between university researchers, eight government agencies in NSW and South Australia and two Carers Associations, using innovative methods to inform policy development. The project will focus on the costs to young carers (their education, training, employment, social activities, health and wellbeing); benefits of the care relationship to families and to government through savings on formal services; and the social policy frameworks. It will provide a comprehensive audit of policies and services for young carers and care recipients, and identify gaps for future policy development.Read moreRead less