Sustainable fiscal federalism and reform of the GST distribution system. The primary source of funds for Australian States and Territories is GST revenue distributed by the Commonwealth using an equalisation formula that has proved to be politically unsustainable and in recent times manifestly inadequate to provide the revenue needed in response to crises and natural disasters. A tipping point has been reached and reform is urgently needed. Drawing on international experience with GST distributi ....Sustainable fiscal federalism and reform of the GST distribution system. The primary source of funds for Australian States and Territories is GST revenue distributed by the Commonwealth using an equalisation formula that has proved to be politically unsustainable and in recent times manifestly inadequate to provide the revenue needed in response to crises and natural disasters. A tipping point has been reached and reform is urgently needed. Drawing on international experience with GST distributions specifically and fiscal federalism more generally, the project aims to develop a reform blueprint for a sustainable and equitable fiscal federalism regime in Australia that best aligns with Australia’s current and long-term fiscal needs.Read moreRead less
How do Changes in Institutional Memory Affect Public Policy Processes? . This project will analyse how changes in institutional memory inside government impact on the effectiveness of public policy processes. Institutional memory changes as ministers, public servants and public agencies come and go, but we don’t know what effect these changes have over the quality of public policy. This project will therefore analyse how changes to institutional memory have influenced public services and polici ....How do Changes in Institutional Memory Affect Public Policy Processes? . This project will analyse how changes in institutional memory inside government impact on the effectiveness of public policy processes. Institutional memory changes as ministers, public servants and public agencies come and go, but we don’t know what effect these changes have over the quality of public policy. This project will therefore analyse how changes to institutional memory have influenced public services and policies in Australia and the UK. Expected outcomes include best practice recommendations for government - about how to address memory loss to improve public policy - and novel academic findings about how institutional memory influences the character of public service delivery, lesson-learning and long-term reform.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100784
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,728.00
Summary
The nexus between organisational trust and collaboration in disasters . This project will use empirical investigation to develop a multidimensional model depicting the organisational practices that are vital for quickly establishing and maintaining trusting relationships in emergency management collaboration. Trust is the crucial but often neglected element that determines the success of collaboration. Expected outcomes include the creation of the first rigorously established knowledge base for ....The nexus between organisational trust and collaboration in disasters . This project will use empirical investigation to develop a multidimensional model depicting the organisational practices that are vital for quickly establishing and maintaining trusting relationships in emergency management collaboration. Trust is the crucial but often neglected element that determines the success of collaboration. Expected outcomes include the creation of the first rigorously established knowledge base for understanding what mechanisms are effective to overcome conflicting cultures in Australian emergency management arrangements and successfully build trusting relationships. This should provide significant benefits for all organisations when collaborating in the response to, and recovery from, disasters.Read moreRead less
Creating new stochastic models to understand the evolution of gene families. This project aims to extend stochastic modelling techniques in order to develop mathematically rigorous and biologically relevant models for the evolution of gene families. The project expects to model evolutionary processes such as gene retention, duplication and loss, and the generation of new gene functions. The duplication and subsequent re-purposing of genes is thought to be a key mechanism for generating evolution ....Creating new stochastic models to understand the evolution of gene families. This project aims to extend stochastic modelling techniques in order to develop mathematically rigorous and biologically relevant models for the evolution of gene families. The project expects to model evolutionary processes such as gene retention, duplication and loss, and the generation of new gene functions. The duplication and subsequent re-purposing of genes is thought to be a key mechanism for generating evolutionary novelty. By applying these models to genome data, the project expects to be able to quantify the importance of these different evolutionary mechanisms. The project will strengthen collaborative links between researchers in stochastic modelling and molecular evolutionary biology.Read moreRead less
Quantitative psychological theories for a dynamic world. . The dynamic world around us means we need to constantly adjust our decisions in light of ever-changing influences, both external (weather, traffic ...) and internal (fatigue, learning ...). This project aims to understand how these changes affect performance. This will have significance for basic science, and also practical benefits for applied psychology. This project will examine the dynamic nature of psychological processes in a range ....Quantitative psychological theories for a dynamic world. . The dynamic world around us means we need to constantly adjust our decisions in light of ever-changing influences, both external (weather, traffic ...) and internal (fatigue, learning ...). This project aims to understand how these changes affect performance. This will have significance for basic science, and also practical benefits for applied psychology. This project will examine the dynamic nature of psychological processes in a range of settings: simple decisions, consumer decisions, human-machine interactions, and team performance. Theory development will lead to improved understanding of underlying cognitive processes, and transforms the measurement of decisions, which is important for applied psychological investigations. Read moreRead less
Cabinet Government in comparative perspective. This project explores how cabinet government is, or is not, able to develop a collective will. Cabinets lie at the heart of parliamentary systems, but public and academic analyses question whether they work effectively. Using examples of majoritarian and consensus democratic regimes, this project plans to examine how cabinets work and identify the different functions cabinet plays in developing collective views of policy or political situations. The ....Cabinet Government in comparative perspective. This project explores how cabinet government is, or is not, able to develop a collective will. Cabinets lie at the heart of parliamentary systems, but public and academic analyses question whether they work effectively. Using examples of majoritarian and consensus democratic regimes, this project plans to examine how cabinets work and identify the different functions cabinet plays in developing collective views of policy or political situations. The project expects to illustrates how the different appreciations of cabinet, whether seen as constitutional or operational, or in terms of policy analysis or political contests, help define the values of cabinet and can allow us to understand in what circumstances cabinet government is important in terms of stability and sensible policy. It asks if collective cabinets like Australia's can survive in the 21st century.Read moreRead less
Novel isotope techniques to explore the Centralian Superbasin, Australia. This project will leverage new advances in analytical instrumentation and isotope techniques to generate improved geochronological and stratigraphic framework for the Centralian Superbasin, a vast ancient depositional system covering much of central Australia. The project aims to apply novel laser-based dating of sedimentary rocks, coupled with metal isotope proxy reconstructions of the basin’s palaeogeography, hydrologica ....Novel isotope techniques to explore the Centralian Superbasin, Australia. This project will leverage new advances in analytical instrumentation and isotope techniques to generate improved geochronological and stratigraphic framework for the Centralian Superbasin, a vast ancient depositional system covering much of central Australia. The project aims to apply novel laser-based dating of sedimentary rocks, coupled with metal isotope proxy reconstructions of the basin’s palaeogeography, hydrological connectivity and past redox conditions, which are all critical parameters to guide and de-risk future exploration of sediment-hosted resources in this frontier basin. Anticipated outcomes will benefit Australia's resources economy, while providing insights into the evolution of Earth’s surface environment in deep time.Read moreRead less
Smart Irrigation: integrating UAV soil moisture maps & variable rate sprays. This project will develop a state-of-the-art precision irrigation system for optimising water use and crop yield. Specifically, a novel UAV soil moisture mapping system based on passive microwave satellite remote sensing technology at L-band will be developed for near-surface soil moisture mapping at accuracies and spatial scales currently not attainable. These soil moisture maps will then be merged with irrigation wate ....Smart Irrigation: integrating UAV soil moisture maps & variable rate sprays. This project will develop a state-of-the-art precision irrigation system for optimising water use and crop yield. Specifically, a novel UAV soil moisture mapping system based on passive microwave satellite remote sensing technology at L-band will be developed for near-surface soil moisture mapping at accuracies and spatial scales currently not attainable. These soil moisture maps will then be merged with irrigation water delivery models to calibrate for spatial variation in soil properties and/or correct errors in spatial variation of rainfall and evapotranspiration inputs. Ultimately the water balance predictions will be used for implementation of variable rate irrigation control at scales hitherto unattainable.Read moreRead less
3D printed microchemical devices and systems. This project aims to address the barriers faced by 3D printing in chemistry. 3D printing can create bespoke 3D structures within a fraction of time and cost compared to traditional fabrication. However, its scope in chemistry has been limited by the poor chemical robustness, biotoxicity and low resolution of the 3D printed components. Hence, this project will develop novel gold coating techniques and explore high-resolution 3D printing to overcome th ....3D printed microchemical devices and systems. This project aims to address the barriers faced by 3D printing in chemistry. 3D printing can create bespoke 3D structures within a fraction of time and cost compared to traditional fabrication. However, its scope in chemistry has been limited by the poor chemical robustness, biotoxicity and low resolution of the 3D printed components. Hence, this project will develop novel gold coating techniques and explore high-resolution 3D printing to overcome these challenges. The project should generate commercially significant products (analytical platforms), technology (gold coating) and patents. The developed systems and technologies will address Australian research challenges in advanced manufacturing and enable on-site environmental monitoring.Read moreRead less
Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse cons ....Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse consumers' priorities and gaps. Social media could offer latent insights, but ethical methodology producing useful de-identified policy insights has been lacking. This study exemplifies applying social media data analytics at scale to address policy problems and will produce up-to-date co-designed data use guidelines.Read moreRead less