School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemSecurity Through Sustainable Peace: Australian International Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding(The University of Melbourne, 2020)Review of the Australian Department of foreign Affairs and Trade's experience with conflict prevention and peacebuilding and recommendations for policy development and strengthening capacity.
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ItemThe effectiveness of minimum non-parole period schemes for serious violent, sexual and drug offenders and evidence-based approaches to community protection, deterrence, and rehabilitation(Sentencing Advisory Council QLD, 2021)Purpose: This review presents a summary of research that is relevant to the implementation of the serious violent offences (SVO) scheme in Queensland. This scheme requires a person declared convicted of a serious violent offence1 to serve 80 per cent of their sentence (or 15 years, whichever is less) in prison before being eligible to apply for parole. Three separate but related questions are considered. The first relates to conceptualisations and stakeholder (i.e., community, victim and professional) perceptions of crime seriousness, risk, and harm - and how these influence determinations about the appropriate length of imprisonment and setting of non-parole periods. The second concerns current empirical evidence about the effectiveness of mandatory or presumptive minimum non-parole period schemes; and the final question considers what is known about the impact a range of other sentencing or programmatic approaches that might also be used to achieve community protection, deterrence, rehabilitation, punishment, and denunciation. These questions are answered with specific reference to those who have been convicted of Schedule 1 offences and who therefore may be subject to the SVO scheme, including those convicted of sexual violence, non-sexual violence, and serious drug offences.
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ItemShocks and safety nets: financial wellbeing during the COVID-19 crisis(Brotherhood of St Laurence, 2021)We use ANZ's Financial Wellbeing Indicator, which draws on multiple questions in the continuous Roy Morgan Single Source survey. The Indicator brings together three dimensions based on Kempson and colleagues’ (2017) model of financial wellbeing. These include the ability to meet everyday commitments, feeling comfortable about one’s financial situation and resilience to financial shocks. For most people, the COVID crisis led to a decline in financial wellbeing, driven by a sharp fall in the Feeling Comfortable dimension. People with low incomes, particularly those in the workforce, faced more serious declines. For example, low-income workers showed a 21% decline in ability to Meet Commitments from the pre-COVID period to the September 2020 quarter. On the other hand, COVID-19 responses made it easier for those relying on income support to buy essentials and pay bills on time: Our findings suggest that harmful impacts from the crisis were less severe where people had access to government support as well as their own savings or other resources. Real, widespread recovery will require not only adequate social security that allows resilience but also investment in full employment and social infrastructure such as affordable housing. This report is part of the Financial Lives in Uncertain Times project. The research was made possible by the generous support of ANZ through the ANZ Tony Nicholson Fellowship and the provision under licence of Roy Morgan Single Source Survey data.
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ItemEconomic security and dignity: a financial wellbeing framework(Brotherhood of St Laurence, 2020)This paper proposes a financial wellbeing framework that recognises the drivers, impacts and experience of economic insecurity and is based on the concept of economic dignity. The framework builds on BSL research into economic insecurity and financial stress. It was developed through a series of workshops with BSL staff, informed by the conceptual thinking undertaken as part of the ANZ Tony Nicholson Fellowship. It will be used to guide the development of programs that directly address financial hardship among those experiencing disadvantage, and to support advocacy for government and institutional policies that create the conditions for the financial wellbeing of all Australians.
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ItemEveryone counts: uncovering patterns of Newstart Allowance(Brotherhood of St Laurence, 2020-12-10)Our analysis of administrative social security data aimed to gain a clearer understanding of income volatility in Australia. The focus is on unemployed and underemployed Australians who received Newstart Allowance (NSA1)—a group of individuals highly exposed to the risks of financial insecurity. Our findings highlight some significant misunderstandings about the scale, scope and conditionality of Newstart Allowance receipt. While longer-term reliance on NSA is an important policy issue, short-term reliance is underestimated. An increasing share of recipients—especially women—are facing irregular payments due to suspensions. Our analysis raises questions about the extent to which the Australian social security system is fulfilling its mission to improve the lifetime wellbeing of individuals and families. The study drew on DOMINO (Data Over Multiple Individual Occurrences), a Department of Social Services database that records all interactions with Centrelink since 2001. This daily, event-based data provides an important opportunity to track individual patterns of NSA receipt over a 16-year period (2001–2016). This baseline study is part of a larger research program investigating the relationship between income volatility and social security payments. The program involves researchers from the Australian National University, the Brotherhood of St. Laurence and RMIT University.
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ItemThe Social License: Insights from Australia(The University of Melbourne, 2020)This report summarises a multi-year research project into the concept of a social license to operate and Australia’s coal seam gas (CSG) industry. The project was completed by researchers at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University and was funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Program (DP 140102779).
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ItemThe Role of International Organizations in WMD Compliance and Enforcement: Autonomy, Agency and Influence(United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), 2020-12-14)The paper considers the challenges and dilemmas facing international organizations in ensuring compliance with and enforcement of the three major weapons of mass destruction treaties by treaty parties. It draws on international organizations theory, especially principal-agent theory, in identifying potential pathways to enhanced compliance.
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ItemThe Scope-University of Melbourne Partnership Submission to the Senate Select Committee on Autism(The University of Melbourne, 2020-07-02)This submission is a collaboration between one of Australia’s leading disability service providers and leading academics from the University of Melbourne on key issues relating to the services, support and life outcomes experienced by Autistic people in Australia and the associated need for a National Autism Strategy. The submission is grounded in research evidence and contains both policy and practice recommendations. Importantly, several of the contributors to this submission identify as Autistic, and in addition to their academic and professional experience bring to the submission the expertise of their lived experience. The Scope-University of Melbourne Partnership submission to this inquiry will focus on key issues relating to the services, support and life outcomes experienced by Autistic people in Australia, specifically focusing on the areas of advocacy, education, employment, health and mental health and the NDIS.
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ItemJalan Perubahan melalui Aksi Kolektif Perempuan: Upaya Perempuan dalam Menantang Arus untuk Memengaruhi Pembangunan Perdesaan di Indonesia [Pathways of Change through Women’s Collective Action: How Women are Overcoming Barriers and Bucking Trends to Influence Rural Development in Indonesia](The Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Gender Equality (MAMPU), The University of Melbourne and Universitas Gadjah Mada, 2020-12-23)Available in English and Bahasa Indonesia, this extensive analysis piece provides the overview to a peer-reviewed edited volume of case studies, drawing on detailed ethnographic research of how village women have influenced village development in Indonesia's multi-level governance structure under the new Village Law in Indonesia. The analysis in the overview identifies different types and degrees of constraints on gender-inclusive development in Indonesia, and draws out the main forms change that have taken place in the past six years, as well as the main types of impacts from women's collective action on the ground. The analysis also explains the main forms of individual, community and institutional changes underway in Indonesia under Indonesia's decentralised governance structure and its new Village Law. The comparative analysis draws from the detailed case studies provided in the volume and other extensive research conducted for the larger study. Overall, the study draws from detailed qualitative research, including in-depth interviews, focus group discussion, observations, and long village stays in a variety of villages in Indonesia to illustrate the complex processes by which women exercise voice and influence in village development and how they navigate the constraints on gender inclusion and women’s empowerment. Through the analysis we see how change can happen in Indonesia, despite patriarchal norms and limited women’s representation in governance institutions and other structures of power and decision making.