How to do more and be more with less? Exploring Paucity Management strategies for resource poor community organisations in NSW. The research will examine the managerial strengths community organisations have developed and specialised to survive and strive under conditions of financial hardship. The aim is to develop a set of management strategies whereby organisations can do better with fewer resources. The concept of 'Paucity Management' will be tested to examine how community organisations can ....How to do more and be more with less? Exploring Paucity Management strategies for resource poor community organisations in NSW. The research will examine the managerial strengths community organisations have developed and specialised to survive and strive under conditions of financial hardship. The aim is to develop a set of management strategies whereby organisations can do better with fewer resources. The concept of 'Paucity Management' will be tested to examine how community organisations can operate with greater efficiency and ethically under such conditions.Read moreRead less
Negotiating Transitions to Retirement. This project will track diverse pathways in work/retirement transitions, by analysing how the present policy mix accommodates shifts in labour markets, demographic shifts and shifts in households and income distributions. Focused on cohorts aged 45 to 64, it firstly analyses national data sets to track the impact of the current policy mix in terms of income security, industrial relations, housing, health, education and training and work/life. Secondly, i ....Negotiating Transitions to Retirement. This project will track diverse pathways in work/retirement transitions, by analysing how the present policy mix accommodates shifts in labour markets, demographic shifts and shifts in households and income distributions. Focused on cohorts aged 45 to 64, it firstly analyses national data sets to track the impact of the current policy mix in terms of income security, industrial relations, housing, health, education and training and work/life. Secondly, it draws on qualitative data to further examine how these transitions are played out. The research will develop a new policy matrix for older workers that addresses risk, social exclusion and social protection.Read moreRead less
Cumulative Harm: Reducing child abuse through improved decision-making. In 2005/06 56,000 cases of child abuse were substantiated in Australia, and this figure is rising exponentially. Disillusionment is growing with an incident based approach to children's safety which fails to either acknowledge or intervene effectively in the cumulative effects of harm to the child's development and well-being. This project uses the leverage of new legislation to re-focus on an earlier intervention with vulne ....Cumulative Harm: Reducing child abuse through improved decision-making. In 2005/06 56,000 cases of child abuse were substantiated in Australia, and this figure is rising exponentially. Disillusionment is growing with an incident based approach to children's safety which fails to either acknowledge or intervene effectively in the cumulative effects of harm to the child's development and well-being. This project uses the leverage of new legislation to re-focus on an earlier intervention with vulnerable children at risk of cumulative harm within a hospital setting. An interdisciplinary lens is bought to the development of new knowledge to provide a better and healthier start to life for this group of children.Read moreRead less
Developing child-centred family and community practice: Listening to boys aged 9-12 with behaviour problems about their social contexts and needs. Children's and family services seek to reduce risks to children and ensure their well-being through holistic, strengths-based, collaborative family and community practice. Yet services remain adult-centric; children are often seen as recipients rather than informants, as targets rather than shapers of change. This study with Anglicare Victoria will ex ....Developing child-centred family and community practice: Listening to boys aged 9-12 with behaviour problems about their social contexts and needs. Children's and family services seek to reduce risks to children and ensure their well-being through holistic, strengths-based, collaborative family and community practice. Yet services remain adult-centric; children are often seen as recipients rather than informants, as targets rather than shapers of change. This study with Anglicare Victoria will examine the contexts, content and effects of professional responses to boys aged 9-12 years with challenging, aggressive behaviour, chiefly through the voices of the boys themselves. Adapting participatory enquiry methods for an unusually young and troubled population, the study aims to better understand their experiences and also to demonstrate opportunities and methods for enhancing children's participation.Read moreRead less
Creating Collaborative Advantage through Better Network Governance: A Comparative Study of New Institutions and Instruments. By harnessing the embedded resources of different government and service delivery organisations operating at community level, and by removing costly boundary problems between them, governments can address the needs of citizens in a more wholistic and flexible manner. But to do this in a coherent way it is necessary to develop new institutional rules and organisational proc ....Creating Collaborative Advantage through Better Network Governance: A Comparative Study of New Institutions and Instruments. By harnessing the embedded resources of different government and service delivery organisations operating at community level, and by removing costly boundary problems between them, governments can address the needs of citizens in a more wholistic and flexible manner. But to do this in a coherent way it is necessary to develop new institutional rules and organisational processes to allow agencies to collaborate without fear of reduced accountability or syphoning of public funds. The project will examine the structures and processes used in a selection of leading international cases in order to improve Australia's performance in gaining a collaborative advantage for citizens and agencies.Read moreRead less
Suicide prevention and management of deliberate self-harm: randomised control trial of an assertive engagement, brief psychotherapy and community linkage model. Suicide is the second commonest cause of death by injury in Australia. Suicide prevention is an important public health priority but rates remain high. People who have previously attempted suicide are most likely to kill themselves. Most suicidal people attend emergency departments where they get inadequate treatment for their psychologi ....Suicide prevention and management of deliberate self-harm: randomised control trial of an assertive engagement, brief psychotherapy and community linkage model. Suicide is the second commonest cause of death by injury in Australia. Suicide prevention is an important public health priority but rates remain high. People who have previously attempted suicide are most likely to kill themselves. Most suicidal people attend emergency departments where they get inadequate treatment for their psychological and social problems and remain depressed and suicidal. This project will test the effectiveness of a new psychological and social treatment to reduce the depression and link suicidal people with community supports. If successful, this treatment could be provided in any emergency department and help decrease suicide rates in Australia.Read moreRead less
Attracting and Retaining Practitioners in Child and Family Services in Rural Queensland: Generating a Model for Improved Practice. This study examines the problem of recruitment and retention of practitioners working in child and family welfare in rural Queensland. The study has two phases: first to determine the views and experiences of final year social work and human services students about rural practice and second to explore issues for existing child and family practitioners in rural commun ....Attracting and Retaining Practitioners in Child and Family Services in Rural Queensland: Generating a Model for Improved Practice. This study examines the problem of recruitment and retention of practitioners working in child and family welfare in rural Queensland. The study has two phases: first to determine the views and experiences of final year social work and human services students about rural practice and second to explore issues for existing child and family practitioners in rural communities. The study seeks to generate strategies to increase recruitment and retention rates to these positions and to develop a theory of child and family rural practice.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101104
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$335,700.00
Summary
Dual child protection and youth justice clients: expanding the evidence base. This project investigates the phenomenon of children who cross over from statutory child protection systems into youth justice systems. The analysis will be draw data from Children’s Court files and international policy. It expects to generate new knowledge regarding the characteristics and trajectories of crossover children, and to improve understandings of how this group differs from children only involved with child ....Dual child protection and youth justice clients: expanding the evidence base. This project investigates the phenomenon of children who cross over from statutory child protection systems into youth justice systems. The analysis will be draw data from Children’s Court files and international policy. It expects to generate new knowledge regarding the characteristics and trajectories of crossover children, and to improve understandings of how this group differs from children only involved with child protection or youth justice systems. The findings will inform novel and effective approaches to preventing and responding to the drift of children from child protection into youth justice systems which will improve social and economic outcomes for young people and the broader community.Read moreRead less
Too close for comfort? Adoption and management of professional and personal roles in rural welfare practice. Stressors such as maintaining role boundaries, dual and multiple relationships, professional practice, personal and family safety exist for rural welfare professionals who live and work in the same communities. Rural social welfare practice presents dilemmas due to potential conflicts between personal and work roles. The study examines individual attributes for coping and resilience, and ....Too close for comfort? Adoption and management of professional and personal roles in rural welfare practice. Stressors such as maintaining role boundaries, dual and multiple relationships, professional practice, personal and family safety exist for rural welfare professionals who live and work in the same communities. Rural social welfare practice presents dilemmas due to potential conflicts between personal and work roles. The study examines individual attributes for coping and resilience, and contextual issues. Implications for employing agencies, and educational and training institutions regarding recruiting, retention and training welfare professionals, as well as management of occupational health and safety concerns will be highlighted. The study will provide recommendations for employing agencies, professional associations, and educational institutions.Read moreRead less
Transforming information systems design and use in social welfare agencies. This project aims to examine how electronic information systems (IS) can be redesigned to improve social welfare service delivery and support direct social work practice with those most in need. Using a proven ethnographic research design, this project aims to generate new knowledge and theory in the field of social informatics that is relevant to agencies across the sector. Expected outcomes of this project are practiti ....Transforming information systems design and use in social welfare agencies. This project aims to examine how electronic information systems (IS) can be redesigned to improve social welfare service delivery and support direct social work practice with those most in need. Using a proven ethnographic research design, this project aims to generate new knowledge and theory in the field of social informatics that is relevant to agencies across the sector. Expected outcomes of this project are practitioner-led and theoretically informed designs of IS and innovative ways to use them. Transforming the design and use of IS will enhance information about service activity and the needs of service users, thereby providing important benefits to the most vulnerable members of society.Read moreRead less