RCGS current research projects
People, pumps and pipes: a social study of change in the collaborative
supply of irrigation services
Dr Lia Bryant, Dr Matthew Rofe and Prof Guy Robinson
ARC Linkage Grant 2010–2012
As a result of climate change, water legislation and agricultural
adjustment, the Renmark Irrigation Trust (RIT), Australia's oldest trust, is
facing unprecedented change. Water management for RIT has moved from a
collective enterprise to devolution of licences to individuals. This
movement may divide existing social networks. Using participatory research,
community and individual perceptions and responses to change will be traced over
3 years. Social dynamics within RIT's multicultural community will be examined
as well as community identity, noting the significance of the trust and water as
fundamental to working and living for irrigators. Results will inform
policies to enable better integration of social dynamics with water trading.
Taste and place: the transglobal production and consumption of food and drink
Prof Elspeth Probyn
ARC Discovery Grant 2009–2011
Best practice in peer-based mentoring in elite sport
Prof Elspeth Probyn, Kath Albury (University of Sydney), A/Prof Catharine
Lumby (University of Sydney), and Dr Clifton Evers (University of Sydney)
ARC Linkage Grant with the National Rugby League of Australia 2007–2010
Legislation and registration: citizenship, family and Japan's future
Dr Laura Dales (associate investigator) with Dr David Chapman and Prof
Kent Anderson (chief investigators)
Divisional Research Performance Funds project
Low birth rates and a rapidly ageing population have made Japan a world
leader in population decline. In addressing this problem, increased
migration and incentives for childbirth are presenting enormous social
challenges, forcing Japanese officials to consider alternative approaches to
legislation and policy. This project investigates legislation that posits
family as the fundamental social unit of Japanese society and examines the
inadequacies of such legislation in dealing with social change. Research
results will have significance for social researchers, policy makers and
educators in multicultural societies including Australia and contribute to
scholarship on the interplay between legislation, gender and
marginalisation.
Epistemologies of workplace change: transforming gender relations in engineering
Suzanne Franzway, Julie Mills, Rhonda Sharp and Judy Gill
ARC Discovery Grant 2009–2011.
Rapid economic and social changes have restructured workplaces and the workforce participation of men and women. Engineering exemplifies the benefits of globalisation through the expansion of markets and increased demands for highly paid, skilled workers. Paradoxically, women remain marginal to this workforce, despite many campaigns to improve equity and diversity. We propose a fundamental rethinking of the epistemological underpinnings of prior approaches by using an innovative taxonomy to investigate the production of ignorance of sexual politics of workplace change. This missing dimension of knowledge is critical to the development of successful gender equity campaigns and policies.
The severe shortage of engineers threatens sustainable development in rich
and poor countries alike. The situation is exacerbated in Australia by
global warming and the mining boom, ultimately constraining the national
capacity for future economic development and long-term prosperity. Women are
potentially an important source of future engineers, but they are currently
neither attracted to nor retained within the profession in significant
numbers. This project, involving international collaboration, will generate
a new conceptual model designed to redress this problem. A key outcome will
be more efficient and effective gender equity policies in engineering and
related industries.
Preventing the financial abuse of older people by a family member: designing and evaluating older-person-centred models of family mediation
Dale Bagshaw, Lana Zannettino and Sarah Wendt
ARC Linkage Grant 2009–2010
Industry partners: Department for Families and Communities, Office for the
Public Advocate, Relationships Australia, Alzheimer's Australia SA, Guardianship
Board
The financial abuse of older people is a significant social
problem that is likely to intensify as Australia's ageing population continues
to rise exponentially over the next twenty years. This project engages a broad
range of stakeholders, including older people and their families, in the process
of developing specialised models of family mediation to reduce the incidence and
severity of financial abuse within a framework that promotes social
sustainability and family cohesion. The outcomes of the project, therefore, will
have a direct and positive impact on policy and practice in the social and economic care of older people.
Restructuring the male breadwinner model? New challenges for a rapidly changing Australia
Prof Rhonda Sharp (with A/Prof Ray Broomhill, University of Adelaide &
Prof Janine Brodie, University of Alberta, Canada)
ARC Discovery Grant 2008–2010
This project investigates changes to the Australian male breadwinner
gender order in the key spheres of the labour market, household and policy
by combining quantitative and qualitative research methods with theoretical
and policy analysis. Australia's postwar prosperity was underpinned by a
male breadwinner model that, though problematic, provided social stability.
These gender arrangements have undergone dramatic changes, raising concerns
about work–life balance, care provisioning, fertility rates and social
cohesiveness. The impact of these changes are vital policy issues. This
international collaboration will develop a conceptual framework for
identifying policy reform to strengthen Australia's social and economic
sustainability.
Budgeting for women's economic empowerment: the practices and potential for gender-responsive budgeting in the Asia-Pacific region
Prof Rhonda Sharp (with A/Prof Siobhan Austen, Curtin University of
Technology and Professor Diane Elson, Essex University, UK)
AusAid Australian Development Research Award 2008–2009
This two-year research project seeks to fill a gap in existing knowledge by investigating the experiences of Asia-Pacific countries in integrating a gender perspective into budgetary processes, the factors that enable and constrain the implementation of these initiatives, and the potential of different gender-responsive budget (GRB) approaches for progressing women's economic empowerment. By identifying and investigating factors that are most crucial in enabling and constraining the potential development of Asia-Pacific GRB initiatives, the project will help inform governments, researchers, NGOs and donors to assist in developing GRB approaches that will contribute to women's economic empowerment in the region. The research also will be useful to stakeholders in the development process by increasing their understanding of how public expenditure can contribute to women's empowerment.
Initially a conceptual framework will be developed to interrogate the
relation between government revenues and expenditures and women's economic
empowerment. This framework will recognise that women's gains from
waged employment and self-employment are affected by policies that shape
their contributions (paid and unpaid) to the market, public, community,
subsistence and household sectors. This framing will inform a critical
review of the theoretical literature on GRB. Evidence on the GRB practices
of several countries in the Asia Pacific region (e.g. India, Malaysia, Sri
Lanka, Philippines, Pakistan, Samoa, RMI, Indonesia, South Korea) will be
identified (including official reports and statistics and 'gray'
literatures) utilising desk audit strategies of electronic correspondence
and teleconferencing with stakeholders. This will be reviewed in the light
of the conceptual framework. The conceptual framework will be extended using
a detailed case study of the Indonesian national initiative and the
potential for an initiative in Timor Leste or Papua New Guinea.
Recently completed projects
Alison Mackinnon & Patrick O'Leary (with Peter
Bishop and Simon Robb)
Doing sustainability: the utopian
imagination of youth on the margins
Suzanne Franzway & Donna Chung
Sustainable economic futures: women, work and domestic violence
Rhonda Sharp (with Jennifer McKay & Janine Pierce)
Social sustainability of emerging environmentally sensitive industries: a
case study of oyster aquaculture on the South Australian Eyre Peninsula
Alison Mackinon (with E Ramsay & M Brennan)
Pathways or cul-de-sacs: the causes, impact and implications of part-time
senior secondary study
Lana Zannettino, Sarah Wendt and Dale Bagshaw
SA elder abuse prevention action plan
Lia Bryant
Riverland socioeconomic study
Lia Bryant & Lana Zannettino
Women's safety in the West End
Margaret Peters
Corporate communication: trust management
Judy Gill, Suzanne Franzway, Julie Mills and Rhonda Sharp
Gender, workplace and change
Rhonda Sharp, Judy Gill, Julie Mills and Suzanne Franzway
Engineering compared to other male-dominated areas
Suzanne Franzway, Judy Gill, Julie Mills and Rhonda Sharp
Engineering diversity project
Rhonda Sharp
ISTAP gender training of senior Indonesian government officials
Patrick O'Leary
THD Albania consultancy
Donna Chung and Patrick O'Leary (with Tammy Hand)
People's attitudes to abusive relationships