Posts tagged Research
Tracking Intimate Partner Homicide Risk Escalation: The Homicide Timeline

Intimate Partner Homicide (IPH) is a serious social and criminal justice issue and statistics suggest the problem is increasing. This puts serious pressure on those who respond to domestic abuse, coercive control, and intimate partner stalking, to be able to confidently assess the risk, or spot risk escalation. In this blog Dr Jane Monckton Smith discusses her research tracking intimate partner homicide risk escalation.

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New empirical research reveals the distinctive experiences of women in bankruptcy

Recent research published by Melbourne Law School offers new insight into the contrasting circumstances of men and women in bankruptcy. In it,  Lucinda O’Brien, Professor Ian Ramsay and Associate Professor Paul Ali, each from Melbourne Law School find that public data does not fully reflect the differences between men and women in the bankruptcy system, or the extent to which women’s bankruptcies are caused by gender-specific factors.

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Will the Coalition’s approach to gender equality actually improve women’s lives?

The Coalition’s purported ‘woman problem’ haunted this year’s federal election campaign, despite the party’s ultimate electoral success. Sue Williamson (@SWilliamsonUNSW) from the Public Service Research Group, UNSW Canberra argues the Coalition adopts a neoliberal or individualised approach to gender equality – while some positive initiatives have been introduced, these do not address the systemic issues that cause women’s disadvantage. (Reposted from The Conversation)

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Different problems, same solutions: Using a social determinants of health approach to work cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorally

Bridging the evidence-policy gap is a recognised challenge for researchers and policy makers alike. In today’s blog post Hannah Badland, a Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, talks about the value of inter-sectoral partnerships to solve complex problems. Using the example of a new global framework, The New Urban Agenda, she discusses how agendas that draw on cross-sectoral collaborations can help advance policy action in complex policy areas such as the social determinants of health.

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Loneliness and living with mental health problems

December being a difficult month for many people who feel under pressure to socialise and be merry whilst feeling lonely, was an apt time to launch UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) cross-disciplinary Loneliness and Social Isolation Mental Health Network, of which the University of Birmingham is a part. Dr Sarah Carr explores the theme of loneliness and living with mental health problems in a re-posted blog originally hosted on the Institute for Mental Health website.

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Islamophobia: The elephant in the research

Research on marginalised communities has a history of being weaponised against those very communities, marginalising them even further. This weaponisation, and the fear of it, can silence discussion on important social issues. Here, Sandra Elhelw Wright reflects on how this plays out in the context of research on domestic violence in Australian Muslim communities. 

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Happy holidays from the editors (and a bit of reading you may have missed in 2018)

As the year winds down and the editorial team for the Power to Persuade and the Women’s Policy Action Tank take a little breather, we wanted to keep you in reading material over the holidays. Below are collected the most-read pieces from the year under both monikers. Additionally, we have thrown in a few pieces that we felt deserved a wider readership than they received.

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To drive innovation, Australia must boost rather than curb investment in humanities and social science research

During the Senate Estimates on 25th October 2018, Labor Senator for Victoria, Kim Carr, revealed on Twitter that then minister for education and training, Simon Birmingham, rejected 11 funding grants recommended by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in 2017 and 2018. The grants, all for funding in the humanities, amounted to a combined total of A$4.2 million, including A$1.4m in discovery grants. The decision has been widely condemned in Australia and overseas as undermining confidence in Australia’s highly competitive and rigorous peer-review system.

In the post below, social science researcher and Power to Persuade moderator, Dr. Brigid Trenerry, summaries key reports in Australia and overseas and reflects on how the recent ministerial veto could harm innovation and technological change, where Australia must boost rather than curb investment in social science and humanities research.

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An evidence-informed framework for high-value program procurement by Primary Health Networks

Models of commissioning health and social services have been implemented across Australia and internationally. Thirty-one Primary Health Networks (PHNs) across Australia have responsibility for the commissioning of services across a geographical catchment, involving a phased process of needs assessment and insight; planning and delivery; and monitoring and evaluation. Professor Jon Karnon, Professor Gill Harvey, Professor Suzanne Robinson, Jade Hart and Kenneth Lo explore the considerations for what evidence-informed procurement means in practice, and current efforts underway to develop a framework to optimise high-value program procurement.

A summary of this research will be presented at a symposium at the Primary Health Care Research Conference, to be held at the Pullman Melbourne on the Park from 1-3 August 2018.

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