Working wounded or engaged? Australian work conditions and consequences through the lens of the Job Demands- Resources Model. Australian researchers will participate in high quality theory driven longitudinal research of crucial practical importance nationally and of theoretical importance internationally. Specifically the study will assist in understanding workplace health and productivity in terms of job conditions, demands and resources. It will underscore costly consequences of stressful j ....Working wounded or engaged? Australian work conditions and consequences through the lens of the Job Demands- Resources Model. Australian researchers will participate in high quality theory driven longitudinal research of crucial practical importance nationally and of theoretical importance internationally. Specifically the study will assist in understanding workplace health and productivity in terms of job conditions, demands and resources. It will underscore costly consequences of stressful jobs e.g. depression related workplace productivity loss in dollar terms. Australian governments, unions, and OHS organisations will have access to high quality evidence to: design and evaluate OHS interventions; inform prevention campaigns, policies and practice; benchmark progress at national levels; monitor changing trends; and develop national standards.Read moreRead less
The Great Disruption of COVID-19: Re-imagining the work-family interface. This project aims to highlight new possibilities to re-imagine and reduce parents’ work-family conflicts. Covid-19 brought an unprecedented disruption to Australian parents' work-care routines, with different effects for women, and those working ‘at work’ versus at home. Using mixed-methods approaches and multiple Australian datasets collected pre- and post-pandemic, this unique project intends to identify families who are ....The Great Disruption of COVID-19: Re-imagining the work-family interface. This project aims to highlight new possibilities to re-imagine and reduce parents’ work-family conflicts. Covid-19 brought an unprecedented disruption to Australian parents' work-care routines, with different effects for women, and those working ‘at work’ versus at home. Using mixed-methods approaches and multiple Australian datasets collected pre- and post-pandemic, this unique project intends to identify families who are at risk of longer-term scarring to family wellbeing from work-care conflicts; and critical workplace supports which may prevent this. Together, this urgently-needed evidence contributes to family-friendly work for diverse parents, employers and policy, protecting social and economic participation for Australian parents.Read moreRead less
A theoretical framework for elder abuse to guide social work practice. This project aims to develop a theoretical framework to assist health social workers to effectively assess and intervene in elder abuse. Social workers have responsibility in health settings to respond when abuse is noticed. Elder abuse damages trust, increases health costs and hastens death. Improving practice to assist older people who are abused relies on the knowledge, experiences and wishes of older people, social worker ....A theoretical framework for elder abuse to guide social work practice. This project aims to develop a theoretical framework to assist health social workers to effectively assess and intervene in elder abuse. Social workers have responsibility in health settings to respond when abuse is noticed. Elder abuse damages trust, increases health costs and hastens death. Improving practice to assist older people who are abused relies on the knowledge, experiences and wishes of older people, social workers and international experts to provide an effective and efficient theoretical model to address elder abuse.
A new framework will allow practitioners to assist vulnerable older people and improve the quality of their lives. Further, this information will assist the government to address elder abuse in Australia.Read moreRead less
Virtuous Practitioners: Empowering Social Workers. The project aims to analyse and develop core virtues of social workers to strengthen the social fabric of individuals, families and communities. The increasing demand for sound judgement and appropriate decision making, often in the unpredictable and uncertain contexts, necessitates a focus on virtue-led social workers’ action. The interdisciplinary and mixed method analysis will demonstrate the largely neglected role of virtues and or character ....Virtuous Practitioners: Empowering Social Workers. The project aims to analyse and develop core virtues of social workers to strengthen the social fabric of individuals, families and communities. The increasing demand for sound judgement and appropriate decision making, often in the unpredictable and uncertain contexts, necessitates a focus on virtue-led social workers’ action. The interdisciplinary and mixed method analysis will demonstrate the largely neglected role of virtues and or character dispositions in facilitating improved social services and in building stronger communities. The research will have both theoretical and practical implications for virtue-led social work practice that will result in communities living healthy, productive and fulfilling lives. Read moreRead less
Workplace death: assessing and improving institutional responses to the needs of surviving families. The impact of workplace death and institutional responses on surviving families is seldom examined. Pilot research revealed enduring consequences not addressed by institutional responses. The project will use novel methods to advance scientific knowledge of how workplace death affects families and provide guidance to improved policy interventions.
Parents, Time Pressure and Earnings. Parents of young children are time poor. They struggle to find the time to provide both income security and care for young children and themselves. This has become a pressing public policy issue, because an ageing society faces a critical labour shortage unless it mobilizes the underutilized capacity of mothers. The project has the potential to improve the well-being of all family members. Promoting the conditions for good parenting ensures that children have ....Parents, Time Pressure and Earnings. Parents of young children are time poor. They struggle to find the time to provide both income security and care for young children and themselves. This has become a pressing public policy issue, because an ageing society faces a critical labour shortage unless it mobilizes the underutilized capacity of mothers. The project has the potential to improve the well-being of all family members. Promoting the conditions for good parenting ensures that children have a healthy start to life in their early years. Facilitating parents' continuing employment promotes self esteem, self-reliance and the ability to save for a comfortable retirement.Read moreRead less
The Quality of Part-Time Employment in Australia: Dimensions, Prospects and Policy. Part-time employment is an important and growing phenomenon in Australia, as in most OECD countries. While research has focused on the quantity of part-time employment, the key dimension of quality has been neglected. This project will develop a sophisticated conceptual framework for assessing the quality of part-time employment, drawing on cross-national comparisons and using a gender systems approach. It will ....The Quality of Part-Time Employment in Australia: Dimensions, Prospects and Policy. Part-time employment is an important and growing phenomenon in Australia, as in most OECD countries. While research has focused on the quantity of part-time employment, the key dimension of quality has been neglected. This project will develop a sophisticated conceptual framework for assessing the quality of part-time employment, drawing on cross-national comparisons and using a gender systems approach. It will produce a comprehensive and practical assessment of the quality of part-time employment in Australia, including two detailed industry case studies. Finally, the project will evaluate the main policy paths for improving the quality of part-time employment.Read moreRead less
The production, use and effect of social work research. This project aims to reform social work research to improve the quality and effectiveness of human services. The human services industry is vital to many people’s quality of life, but lacks innovation and struggles to demonstrate its effectiveness. Crucially for social work, research expands thinking about how to respond to social disadvantage. This project intends to examine the scope and quality of Australian social work research in child ....The production, use and effect of social work research. This project aims to reform social work research to improve the quality and effectiveness of human services. The human services industry is vital to many people’s quality of life, but lacks innovation and struggles to demonstrate its effectiveness. Crucially for social work, research expands thinking about how to respond to social disadvantage. This project intends to examine the scope and quality of Australian social work research in child protection, disability services, and aged care; assess the use of this research to the human services sector and its effect on generating innovation; and develop strategies to advance the production, uptake, and effect of social work research.Read moreRead less
Next-gen accident prevention: a new theory and toolkit for safer systems. This project aims to address limitations associated with existing accident causation theory and methodologies. Accident prevention across high risk industries is constrained by limitations in accident theory and methodologies. As a result, reductions in injuries and fatalities in most domains are plateauing. The expected outputs of the project include a new theory of accident causation, a new proactive risk assessment meth ....Next-gen accident prevention: a new theory and toolkit for safer systems. This project aims to address limitations associated with existing accident causation theory and methodologies. Accident prevention across high risk industries is constrained by limitations in accident theory and methodologies. As a result, reductions in injuries and fatalities in most domains are plateauing. The expected outputs of the project include a new theory of accident causation, a new proactive risk assessment methodology and a new methodology for analysing accidents. This will provide organisations and researchers with a powerful framework for enhanced accident analysis and prevention activities. This will provide significant benefits, associated with reductions in accidents, injuries and fatalities.Read moreRead less
Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: Factors that Influence the Use of Research Evidence by Human Service Professionals. Implementing research evidence in human services is vitally important in providing more effective and accountable provision. It promotes an innovation culture by maximizing technological capability by understanding factors conducive to change. Nationally, it is significant in three key respects: (1) it is the first Australian research project to examine the implementation of ....Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: Factors that Influence the Use of Research Evidence by Human Service Professionals. Implementing research evidence in human services is vitally important in providing more effective and accountable provision. It promotes an innovation culture by maximizing technological capability by understanding factors conducive to change. Nationally, it is significant in three key respects: (1) it is the first Australian research project to examine the implementation of research evidence in the human services; (2) it is the first project to conduct a systematic review in this field; (3) it develops a national policy framework for guiding implementation and identify attainment outcomes in human services. A multifaceted strategy for policy formation based on audit and feedback will be proposed.
Read moreRead less