Research
projects
The Hawke Research Institute's collaborative and innovative research covers a wide range of topics. Here are some highlights of current research. To find out more, please see the research concentration web pages.
Work–life balance, well-being and health: theory, practice and policy
Centre for Work + Life (more CWL
projects)
Prof Barbara Pocock
ARC Linkage project 2008–2010
Partner organisations: State Health Advisory Committee on Work Life:
Creating Family Friendly Workplaces, and SafeWork SA.
This project links to the national research priority of promoting and
maintaining good health in two ways. It establishes a new annual national
measure of work–life balance, a critical element of good health and
well-being, assisting understanding about work–life conflict and informing
workplace and government policy responses to it, strengthening Australia's
social and economic fabric. Deep study of work–life issues in the health
sector will also inform recruitment, retention and well-being in the health
workforce, with flow-on to the health system more broadly. The project
includes analysis of 'pre-retirement' work–life issues, also linking to the
'ageing well, ageing productively' priority.
Low-paid workers and VET: increasing VET participation amongst lower paid workers over the life cycle
Centre for Work + Life
Prof Barbara Pocock and Dr Natalie Skinner
NCVER project 2008–2010
This project focuses on how changing conditions at work, at home and in the
wider community affect the participation of lower educated and lower paid
workers in Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector. It
examines ways in which lower paid and lower educated workers can be motivated to
increase their participation in VET in the context of these changing patterns of
work, home and community life, and how their capacity to reconcile their work
and non-work commitments can be increased.
Early school intervention as a means to improve higher education outcomes for disadvantaged students
National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education
Di Bills, Barbara Comber, Trevor Gale, Robert Hattam and Deborah Tranter
Funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) 2008–2009
An investigation of early interventions in schooling aimed at increasing students' participation in higher education after completing school. 'Early' refers to the school years prior to Years 11 and 12, before the last two years of post-compulsory or senior secondary schooling. 'Interventions' refers to organised and strategic programs 'purposely designed to manoeuvre a population in particular directions'.
Restructuring the male breadwinner model? New challenges for a rapidly changing Australia
Research Centre for Gender Studies (more
RCGS projects)
Prof Rhonda Sharp (with Assoc Prof Ray Broomhill, University of Adelaide,
and
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.
Indigenous mental health in remote communities: applying a contextual model of community research and intervention
Social Policy Research Group (more
SPRG projects)
Deirdre Tedmanson (with Prof B Guerin, Dr PB Guerin and Ms YL Clark)
ARC Discovery project 2008–2010
This project will make an international advance in understanding
Indigenous mental health that will be of interest to many groups around the
world. The main specifically national benefit will flow from contextual
knowledge on how to improve mental health for remote Indigenous communities
that also allows strengthening of communities and their economic and social
enterprises. We will also build capacity in the communities for research
skills, documentation skills, and writing skills. The types of contextual
information collected will provide recommendations to mental health service
providers about how to incorporate local forms of knowledge when dealing
with issues of well‑being.
Parents' networks: the circulation of knowledge about children's literacy learning
Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures (more
CSLPLC projects)
Sue Nichols and Helen Nixon (with Jennifer Rowsell, Rutgers University)
ARC Discovery project 2007–2009
This international and longitudinal study will investigate the networks accessed by parents in different socio-cultural locations searching for knowledge and resources about children's literacy learning, the roles of organisations in these networks, and the ideas about literacy, pedagogy and parents' roles circulating through these networks. It is significant in using an innovative methodology to study texts, images, objects, accounts and practices as they flow through family, community and broader national and global networks. It will inform policy and practice in public community service provision and family literacy, enabling social programs to engage all parents more effectively.
Teaching reading in Australia: an historical investigation of early reading pedagogy, the figure of the teacher and literacy education
Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures
Phil Cormack (with Bill Green and Annette Patterson)
ARC Discovery project 2009–2010
Debates about the best approaches to teaching reading, especially in the
early years, have a long history. The territory is marked by an overemphasis
on 'method' without a deep, historically informed analysis of the role of
the teacher and the nature of early reading pedagogy. This study will
provide new understandings about the history of early reading pedagogy, the
nature of the relationship between teacher, pupil and text, and the role of
the teacher of reading. This historical perspective will be used to shed new
light on present-day literacy policy and practice in teacher preparation and
professional learning.
Addressing the teacher exodus: enhancing early career teacher resilience and retention in changing times
Centre for Research in Education, Equity and Work (more
CREEW projects)
Prof Bruce Johnson (with Prof B Down; Dr R Le Cornu; Dr JH Peters; Dr AM
Sullivan; Dr JM Pearce; Ms J Hunter)
ARC Linkage project 2007–2009
Partner organisations: Department of Education and Training,
Australian Education Union South Australian Branch, State School Teachers
Union of Western Australia, Association of Independent Schools of South
Australia, Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia, Catholic
Education Office of Western Australia
This research will produce new knowledge, strategies,
models and recommendations that will help to keep early career teachers in
the profession in regional, rural and remote areas. In doing so it will
address the problem of teacher shortage that is currently threatening the
nation's educational, economic and social outcomes. The research outcomes
will have particular credibility at the national level because they will be
the result of dialogue and collaboration across three universities and six
industry partners who are the key stakeholders in teacher employment in two
states. In addition, the collaborative approach will facilitate
implementation of recommendations at the local, state and national levels.
Education investment in Australian schooling: serving public purposes
Centre for Research in Education, Equity and Work
Prof Alan Reid (with Assoc Prof NC Cranston, Prof JP Keating and Prof WR
Mulford)
ARC Linkage project 2007–2009
Partner organisations: Australian Government Primary Principals Association
and Education Foundation
The public purposes of schooling are central to the social and economic
health of Australian society, since they provide a basis for realising the
goals and aspirations of that society. This project will use the insights
and current practices of many school communities to establish how the
purposes of schooling are currently understood and enacted. This
clarification will be used as the basis for (a) a reassessment and
refinement of such policy statements as the National Goals of Schooling; (b)
professional development activities and resources and sharing of good
practice; and (c) the development of instruments for assessing the
achievement of public purposes.
Developing and testing a best practice model of enterprise bargaining in the retail sector
Group for Research in Integrity and Governance (more
GIG projects)
Assoc Prof Chris Provis
ARC Linkage project 2008–2010
Partner organisation: Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association
Recently, the Australian
labour market has seen a decrease in the manufacturing sector and an
increase in the retail sector. The SDA with over 230,000 members is the
largest trade and industrial union in Australia. It negotiates EB agreements
on behalf of employees. This research will assess improved job satisfaction
and job conditions, a key EB goal, which will have tangible benefits in
reducing turnover of retail sector employees, recognised as a major problem
for employers. This research will enhance effectiveness for unions and
employers in the implementation of agreements commensurate with the needs of
employees, the findings of which will have broad applicability across
Australian industry.