Projects

 

  • AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL (ARC) DISCOVERY PROJECT SUCCESS

Professor Mel Gray and Professor Stephen Webb were successful in being awarded two ARC Discovery Projects as Selection Report for Funding Commencing in 2009. Professors Gray and Webb were particularly delighted with the two out of two at first strike for the Institute successfully obtaining these research awards. The total amount awarded over a three year period is $380,000.

Below is an outline of the two successful ARC Discovery Projects:-

Changing modes: A study of the knowledge economy of human service research in Australia (2009-11) - $140,000 

Received by : Prof Mel Gray; Prof Stephen A Webb & Dr Nadine Kavanagh 
 
Significant national benefits will accrue through this study of the human services knowledge economy. The creation of human services employing knowledge-based interventions will address the real needs of Australians in the current socio-political environment. In investigating how current systems of knowledge production contribute to the creation of relevant and effective human services, the research will identify the restraints to innovation in human services and the structures in which knowledge production is articulated. In modelling an 'ideal-type' of knowledge transfer conducive to the development of socially accountable research, it will inform changes needed for effective human service delivery.

Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: Factors that Influence the Use of Research Evidence by Human Service Professionals (2009-11) - $240,000

Received by : Prof Mel Gray; Prof Stephen A Webb & Dr Debbie Plath 

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.

 

The "Learning, Place and Identity: an investigation into the affordances of 'a pedagogy of place' amongst indigenous Australian students" project, led by Ruth Deakin Crick (University of Bristol, UK) represents important cutting-edge research in education. In 2008, TAISIW co-ordinated a major symposium in the area of values, quality of teaching and life long learning.

 

Making Modern Institutions Work (MMIW) is a large scale, long term research program being established by The Australian Institute of Social Inclusion and Wellbeing (TAISIW) with the purpose of examining ways and means of improving the effectiveness of government and non-government institutions in the delivery of policies and programs around social inclusion and justice. 

 

The Institute will focus core research activity on examining the huge variety of shades of Muslim culture and community and concentrate on a number of important issues that concern the average Australian. Whilst the media spotlight on Muslim has a tendency to cast Islam and Muslim culture as a homogenous group our efforts will underline the diversity and range of beliefs, life styles and persuasions. The Institute is currently researching a number of projects in this area including a Department of Immigration and Citizenship study on 'Job Readiness of Muslim Jobseekers and the Relative Effectiveness of Employment Support Services in Australia'

 

The Values Education project represents both a profoundly conceptual re-positioning on the part of the service professions, as well as highly applied changes in their practice. The work of TIASIW is directed especially at the service professions, with special though not exclusive attention to social work and teaching and the intersections and mutually beneficial conversations between them.

 

The international Study of Society Academy (Asia-Pacific) (TiSSA.AP) is a sister organisation to the European 'international Social Work and Society Academy' (TiSSA). It is an interdisciplinary forum for innovative discussion on topical social issues, and seeks to foster communication between academics, postgraduate students, and professionals across nations and institutions.

 

The political impact of Australian encyclopaedias is the focus of current Faculty research. Encyclopaedias have often been described as mirrors of the societies they are produced in. This metaphor reveals a lack of understanding of the complex politics embedded in the genre. Encyclopaedias are not passive mirrors, but have the power, along with other cultural, artistic and educational products, to subtly control and, paradoxically, to change the societies which produced them. Nadine Kavanagh has uncovered convincing evidence that Australian encyclopaedias played a significant role in the construction of an Australian national identity.

 

Members of the Institute are engaged in an exciting new international edited book collection on Values Perspectives in Social Work. This has been commissioned by Palgrave and will be published in 2009.