POLICY CENTRE - Arts & Social Sciences - UNSW Sydney · 2019. 10. 24. · DSARI Disability Studies and Research Institute DVA Department of Veterans’ Affairs ... building project

SOCIALPOLICY

RESEARCHCENTRE

SPRC SPRC SPRC SPRC SPRC







SPRC

SPRC

SPRC SPRC

SPRC SPRC





AnnualReport

2003

AnnualReport2003

ii

Copies of this and any other SPRC publication may be obtained by contacting:

Social Policy Research CentreLevel 3 Rupert Myers Building (South Wing)University of New South WalesSydney NSW 2052AustraliaPh: +61 (0)2 9385-7800Fax: +61 (0)2 9385-7838Email: [email protected]: www.sprc.unsw.edu.au

© Social Policy Research Centre 2004ISSN: 1322-0772

Printed by PLT Print Solutions

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Abbreviations iv

THE CENTRE 1

Director’s Report 2

SPRC Management Committee 4

SPRC Advisory Committee 4

SPRC Staff (as at December 31, 2003) 5

RESEARCH PROGRAM 6

Income, poverty and the social distribution of need 6

Employment, family and the care of dependent others 8

Community services outcomes and evaluations 12

Community service development and service delivery models 16

International and comparative studies in social policy 18

Research infrastructure development 19

Australian Research Council grants awarded during 2003 20

Research fellowships in time use studies awarded in 2003 21

RESEARCH TRAINING 22

DISSEMINATION 26

SPRC Newsletter 26

SPRC Discussion Papers 26

SPRC Research Reports 26

Book chapters 27

Refereed journal articles 27

External publications 28

DEBATE 29

Australian Social Policy Conference 29

Social Policy Research Centre Seminar Series 30

Social Policy in the City 31

Conference and seminar presentations 32

LINKS 36

Academic committees and workgroups 36

Conference organising committees 36

Community, government and industry committees and workgroups 37

Visiting appointments 37

Membership of editorial boards 37

Reviewing and refereeing 38

PhD thesis examination 38

Visitors to the Centre 38

FUNDING 40

CONTENTS

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ABBREVIATIONS

ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics

ACOSS Australian Council of Social Service

ACWA Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies

ACTU Australian Council of Trade Unions

ACU Australian Catholic University

APAI Australian Postgraduate Award - Industry

ARC Australian Research Council

ASFA Association of Superannuation Funds Australia

CEDA Committee for the Economic Development of Australia

CDEP Community Development Employment Projects

CGPIS Centre for General Practice Integration Studies

CSIS Children’s Services Information System

CSDA Commonwealth State Disability Agreement

CRCA China Research Centre on Ageing

DEWRSB Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business

DHAC Department of Health and Aged Care

DoCS Department of Community Services (NSW)

DSP Disability Support Pension

DSQ Disability Services Queensland

DSARI Disability Studies and Research Institute

DVA Department of Veterans’ Affairs

FaCS Department of Family and Community Services

FISS Foundation of International Studies on Social Security

FYRST Follow-on Youth Recovery Support Team

HACC Home and Community Care

HILDA Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey

ISA International Sociological Association

LIS Luxembourg Income Study

MHIP Mental Health Integration Project

NCHSR National Centre in HIV Social Research

NHMRC National Health and Medical Research Council

NGOs Non-government Organisations

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PLWHA-NSW People Living With HIV AIDS New South Wales

SESAHS South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service

SPIRT Strategic Partnerships with Industry – Research and Training Scheme

SPITC Social Policy in the City

TAFE Technical and Further Education

UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund

UNSW University of New South Wales

VHC Veterans’ Home Care

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The Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) conducts research, provides postgraduateresearch training, and fosters discussion of nature and consequences of social policy and

of the social needs and processes which give rise to it. The primary focus of SPRC research isAustralia, with concern also for comparative international study of social policy, includingsocial policy development in Asia. The Centre’s main areas of research are poverty, socialinequality and standards of living; the role of households and families in meeting social need;work, employment and welfare reform; the organisation and delivery of human services;locality and geography in social needs, support services and community well-being; thepolitics of social policy and its institutions; and theory and methodology in social policyresearch. The Centre was established in 1980 under an Agreement between theCommonwealth Government (through the Department of Social Security) and the Universityof New South Wales. The initial five-year Agreement was extended in 1985, 1990, 1995before being terminated in 2000. The Centre currently attracts funding from a range of sourcesincluding the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS), a rangeof other Commonwealth and State Departments, research funding bodies like the AustralianResearch Council and a variety of non-government agencies. Financial and in-kind support isalso provided by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), where the SPRC is located inthe Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales.

Social Policy Research CentreLevel 3 Rupert Myers Building (South Wing)University of New South WalesSydney NSW 2052AustraliaPh: +61 (0) 2 9385 7800 Fax: +61 (0) 2 9385 7838Email: [email protected]: www.sprc.unsw.edu.au

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Last year was another period of significantchange and development for the SPRC,

with the achievement of a number ofsignificant milestones that will shape ourfuture development. As foreshadowed in lastyear’s Annual Report, SPRC formally joinedthe Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences atUNSW in 2003. Although the administrativeimplications of this change are still beingfinalised, the Centre is already increasing itsengagement with other Faculty units. Inparticular, increased collaboration with theNational Centre for HIV Social Research hasalready resulted in a joint research capacitybuilding project funded by the NSWDepartment of Health. I am sure that moreopportunities of this type will emerge as webecome more embedded in, and familiarwith, the Faculty structures andopportunities.

Much missed by all associated with SPRCwill be our Deputy Director, Professor SheilaShaver, who left at the end of March to takeup the position of Pro Vice-Chancellor(Research) at the University of WesternSydney. Sheila joined the SPRC in 1990, andplayed a major role in the setting ourresearch direction and in developing thePhD program. She has made a tremendouscontribution to SPRC at many levels, andwas always a source of wise advice andsupport for those of us who needed herguidance and calm reflection. She played aparticularly important role in helping us toadjust to new funding arrangements after2000 and was instrumental in buildingstronger links with other researchers fromwithin the tertiary sector and fromcommunity sector non-governmentagencies. Her own research on the genderdimensions of welfare has achievedinternational acclaim and been influential inthe national policy debate.

In total, work during 2003 took place on fiftyseparate projects, ranging in size frommodestly small to very large in terms of theirbudgets. Several of the Centre’s majorprojects drew to a close during the year,including the Veterans’ Home CareEvaluation undertaken for theCommonwealth Department of Veterans’Affairs and the Evaluation of the NSW YouthDrug Court Pilot Program prepared for theNSW Attorney General’s Department. Inaddition, much of the work on the FamiliesFirst Evaluation, undertaken for the NSWCabinet Office was completed during 2003.

A large number of SPRC staff have beeninvolved in these projects, and I would like toexpress my appreciation for their contributionto what has been a series of multi-facetedand complex evaluation projects.

The largest research contract held by theCentre is our Social Policy Research Services(SPRS) contract with the Department ofFamily and Community Services (FaCS). Thiscontract has served as an umbrellaarrangement under which the Centre hasundertaken a wide range of projects for theDepartment and is the principal vehiclethrough which SPRC can gain access to theincreasing number of FaCS data sets and,through its research, play a role in providingan evidence base that can shape policy.Projects undertaken under the SPRS contractin 2003 addressed issues relating to theimpact of breaching, the nature, role andimpact of participation, child poverty andchildren’s well-being, and how parentingaffects the transition from income supportinto paid work. The Centre was also selectedto join the evaluation panels set up by FaCsand by Centrelink that will provideopportunities for SPRC to contribute to theon-going processes of review that are animportant part of the policy process.

Another important source of researchfunding is the Australian Research Council(ARC) and it is again pleasing to report that2003 was another successful year in thisextremely competitive environment. Threenew ARC grants were awarded in 2003 forcommencement in 2004, to study issuesassociated with the conceptualisation andmeasurement of poverty in Australia, theextent of foster care in rural China, and howwomen’s interest are promoted in statepolicy making structures in Korea andAustralia. The topics speak loudly of theCentre’s increasingly diverse range ofexpertise in the social policy field.

Income in 2003, at $2.49 million was onlyslightly below last year’s record high of$2.55 million. More significantly it was wellabove the figure of just over $2 millionrecorded in 2000 – the last year for whichSPRC received core funding from theCommonwealth Government. This is aremarkable achievement and reflects severalyears of sustained effort from everyoneassociated with the Centre. It also suggeststhat we are able to maintain a strongpresence in the very competitiveenvironment that currently surroundsAustralian social policy research funding,and this augurs very well for the future.

It is also very pleasing to report that twoSPRC postgraduate scholars – Lyn Craig and

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Trish Hill – were awarded Time UseResearch Fellowships by the Office of theStatus of Women to conduct research ontime use data from a gender perspective. Aspecial word of congratulation is also inorder for SPRC Research Fellow XiaoyuanShang who was the recipient of theinaugural Alice Tay Human Rights Award,which will fund a study on promoting socialinclusion of children in Sinkiang in China.Finally, congratulations to two of ourpostgraduate students – Amanda Elliot andJudy Schneider – who were awarded theirdoctoral degrees in 2003.

The 2003 Australian Social PolicyConference - the 8th biennial conferenceorganised by the SPRC - was widelyexperienced as one of the best, both interms of the range and quality of debate anddiscussion, its smooth organisation andconvivial atmosphere. The conferencetheme of Social Inclusion clearly struck achord in the social policy community,attracting more than 600 participants overthe three days and stimulating a recordnumber of submitted abstracts. Even afterexpanding the number of streams to take in140 papers, many papers could still not beaccommodated.

Keynote and Plenary speakers wereEmeritus Professor Hugh Stretton, fromAdelaide University, Associate ProfessorKathy Edin, from Northwestern University inthe US and Professor Jonathan Bradshawfrom the University of York in the UK. The2003 Australian of the Year Professor FionaStanley also presented a special plenaryaddress on Bringing Australia together forchildren and youth.

For the first time, a number of externalindividuals and organisations assisted theSPRC in the selection of papers and theconvening of some conference streams. Weare grateful for their help and involvement,and hope to build on this kind ofcollaboration in future conferences. I wouldalso like to acknowledge the financialassistance provided by a number ofsponsors, including the AustralianDepartment of Family and CommunityServices, the NSW Department ofCommunity Services, the Australian Bureauof Statistics, Mission Australia, The SmithFamily and AusAid. Their willingness tosupport the conference provided theplatform for an event that is now wellestablished on the social policy calendar.The obvious success of the conferencewould not be possible without thededicated commitment and sheer hard workof a small army of SPRC volunteers whoworked behind the scenes for many months

before, during and after the event itself. Aspecial vote of thanks is due to Tony Eardleywho (again!) took on overall responsibilityfor the conference, ably assisted by DuncanAldridge, Bruce Bradbury and MelissaRoughley.

The next Australian Social PolicyConference (ASPC), scheduled to take placein July 2005, will coincide with the Centre's25th birthday year, and we look forward toa very special occasion.

As in previous years, this Annual Reportdocuments a range of activity other than theASPC undertaken to disseminate researchfindings and contribute to debate on socialpolicy research issues. Publication throughthe Centre and in professional journals andbooks is an important aspect of this, but sotoo is providing a vehicle for SPRC andother researchers to report their findings andsubject them to external scrutiny. The extentof such dissemination activity, reported indetail in this Report represents a majorcontribution to the body of social policyknowledge in Australia and is testimony tothe range and quality of SPRC skills.

The visitor program is an important vehiclefor keeping in touch with overseas researchdevelopments, and for making sure thatother researchers keep abreast of Australianresearch and policy developments. SPRCvisitors during 2003 included LauraAdelman from the UK and Jøergen ElmLarsen from Denmark who are both workingat the cutting edge of research on socialexclusion in Europe. Four researchers forthe China Research Centre on Ageing(CRCA) – Zhang Kaiti, Sun Lujun, Guo Pingand Chen Gang – visited the Centre to workwith the Director and Dr Shang on the ARCproject on the well-being of the aged inChina. Finally, Carina Mood Roman fromSweden and Mikko Niemela from Finlandspent time at SPRC while pursuing their PhDstudies.

The activities undertaken in 2003 –particularly the research grant and thesissuccesses – provide a strong indication thatthe research capacity of the SPRC is highlyregarded by our peers, by government andby the community at large. In conjunctionwith on-going efforts to promote awarenessof social policy issues and the role thatresearch can play, they provide the basis foran optimistic view of the Centre’s futureprospects.

Peter Saunders Director

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SPRC Management Committee

Professor Elspeth McLachlan, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research), UNSW (Presiding Member)

Dr Michael Bittman, SPRC

Professor Richard Hugman, School of Social Work, UNSW

Ms Helen Lapsley, School of Health Services Management, UNSW

Professor Peter Saunders, SPRC Director

SPRC Advisory Committee

Professor Elspeth McLachlan, Pro-vice-Chancellor (Research), UNSW (Presiding Member)

Professor Mark Considine, Department of Political Science, University of Melbourne

Associate Professor Peter Kriesler, School of Economics, UNSW

Mr Michael Raper, Welfare Rights Centre

Professor Peter Saunders, SPRC

Mr Peter Siminski, Elected Staff Member, SPRC

Ms Philippa Smith, The Association of Superannuation Funds Australia

Associate Professor Peter Travers, School of Social Policy and Administration, Flinders University

Professor June Wangmann, New South Wales Department of Community Services

Ms Serena Wilson, Department of Family and Community Services

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SPRC Staff (as at December 31, 2003)

Director and ProfessorPeter Saunders BSc DipEc S’ton, PhD Syd., FASSA

Senior Research FellowsMichael BittmanBA UNSW, PhD RMIT

Bruce BradburyBSocSc MCom PhD UNSW

Tony EardleyBA Oxon, DipSocAdmin Bristol, DPhil York

Karen FisherBA LLB Auck., MEc Macq.

Research FellowsJenny ChalmersBEc Tas., MEc PhD ANU

Robyn DolbyBA UNE, PhD Qld

Gerry Redmond (on leave)BSocSci Dublin, GradDipComp MA Bath

Xiaoyuan ShangBA Nankai, MA Renmin, PhD Sussex

Cathy Thomson BA Syd., MA UNSW

Honorary Research AssociatesEmeritus Professor Peter BaumeAO, MD Syd., Hon LittD. USQ, FRACPFRACGP FAFPHM

Judy CashmoreBA Dip Ed Adel., MEd N’cle, PhD Macq.

Emeritus Professor Sol EncelMA PhD Melb.

Sara GrahamBSc London, PhD West Indies

Research OfficersDavid AbellóBASocSc UTS

Judy BrownBSc DipEd BA Macq.

Sonia HoffmannBSW UNSW

Marilyn McHughBSW Syd.

Justin McNabBSc Can., MPhil Auck.

Kate Norris (on leave)BEc UNSW

Margot RawsthorneBA Macq., PhD Syd.

Peter SiminskiBMathEcon UOW, BA Syd.

Ciara SmythBA, MSc Applied Social Research, Dublin

Denise Thompson BA PhD UNSW

Kylie valentineBA PhD, Syd.

LibrarianKatherine CummingsBA Syd., BLS Tor AALA

Business ManagerMelissa RoughleyBSocSci UNSW

Office ManagerRoslyn BakerBA Syd.

Events and Promotions CoordinatorDuncan AldridgeBA DipEd UOW

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During 2003 there were 48 research projects underway in the Centre, funded from academicgrants or contracts, mainly with government departments. These projects are described

below grouped into broad areas of social policy. In addition, the Centre contributed to oneinternational project involved in developing infrastructure for social policy research, andanother project to develop infrastructure for HIV-related policy research, and supportedresearch towards 11 PhD degrees.

Income, poverty and the social distribution of need

Household income, livingstandards and economicinequality in Australia and itsregions

Peter Saunders, Bruce Bradbury,Michael Bittman, Peter Siminski andSaba Waseem

Principal Funder: Australian ResearchCouncil SPIRT Grant with AustralianBureau of Statistics as industry partner

The project is undertaking a detailed analysis of thedata used to measure poverty and inequality inAustralia, with a view to providing a systematic studyof trends over the last two decades. In addition, theproject involves the development of alternativemeasures of household living standards thatincorporate non-cash income sources includingimputed rental income, domestic production and time,and employee non-wage benefits. Both trends overtime and the regional distribution of living standardsare being examined.

The impact of breaches onincome support recipients

Tony Eardley, Margot Rawsthorne, JudeBrown, Kate Norris and Elisabeth Emrys

Principal Funder: Department ofFamily and Community Services

Activity requirements and penalties for non-compliance play an important role in encouragingparticipation among unemployed income supportrecipients. Recent years, however, have seen asubstantial and controversial increase in the number ofbreaches imposed. This study was the first to examinesystematically the impacts of breaching, usingcustomer and agency surveys and in-depth qualitativeinterviews. It found that while breaching does notappear to fall disproportionately on the mostvulnerable recipients, they are more likely toexperience the most adverse effects. A majority ofrespondents indicated that being breached had madethem try harder to look for work and to meet their otherrequirements. The findings from the study will feed intothe work of the new Taskforce on Breaching.

OECD comparative study ofincome distribution and poverty –Australian report

Peter Saunders and Peter Siminski

Principal Funder: Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development

The OECD has recently undertaken an analysis oftrends in the distribution of household’s disposableincome across ten OECD countries over the last 20years. The project provided the OECD with estimates ofthe distribution of household income and poverty inAustralia. The analysis focused on three populationgroups, the whole population; the working-agepopulation (18-65), and the population of retirees.Results from the full study will be published by theOECD.

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The impact of the within-household income distribution onchildren’s well being

Bruce Bradbury and Saba Waseem

Principal Funder: Department of Familyand Community Services

Are some income support payment methods morelikely than others to increase children’s consumption ofgoods and services? A common assumption is thatmoney paid to mothers is more likely to be directedtowards expenditure that benefits children. Over thelast three decades, there have been several policychanges in Australia where money was redirected‘from the wallet to the purse’. This project examines theimpact of these policy changes on householdexpenditure patterns, and the living standards ofchildren in particular, as well as reviewing the widerliterature on intra-household allocation patterns andtheir relevance to income support policy.

Social security and olderworkforce age migrants

Bruce Bradbury and Jenny Chalmers


This project is examining income support dependencyrates among overseas-born Australians aged 45-64.ABS Census data and FaCS administrative data arebeing used to estimate income support dependencyand labour force participation rates for people ofdifferent birthplaces and migration dates. These resultswill be interpreted in the context of previous researchon the labour market impediments facing overseas-born Australians - together with the policy responses tothese impediments.

Retirees’ use of superannuationlump-sum payments

Tony Eardley and Ciara Smyth


Available data does not give a clear picture of howretirees who receive substantial payouts use theirsuperannuation. The research will assist in gaining aclearer picture of how retirees use superannuationlump-sum payments. The project is examining thereasons why some retirees choose to take their moneyout of the superannuation system, and investigates whyother retirees choose to keep their payouts in thesystem by rolling savings over into othersuperannuation products.

Updated budget standardestimates for Australian workingfamilies in September 2003

Peter Saunders and Roger Patulny

Principal Funder: Australian Council ofTrade Unions (ACTU)

The project is updating the indicative budget standardsoriginally developed by SPRC during 1995-98 to reflect2003 prices and is also examining the methodologyused to develop and validate the budget standards. The2003 budget standards will be validated using datafrom the 1998-99 ABS Household Expenditure Survey.The research was used by the ACTU in its submissionto the 2004 Wages Safety Net Review.

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Updating and extendingindicative budget standards forolder Australians

Peter Saunders, Adeline Lee and RogerPatulny

Principal Funder: Association ofSuperannuation Funds Australia (ASFA)

The project updates and extends the existing SPRCbudget standards for older Australians to reflect pricemovements and has developed a new ComfortablySustainable Affluent (CAS) Standard for modestly welloff retirees. The new standard has been tested againstABS expenditure data and discussed by a series offocus groups. It is being used by ASFA in its on-goinganalysis of superannuation reform in Australia.

Employment, family and the care of dependent others

The role of family-friendlypolicies in explaining inter-statedifferences in fertility

Michael Bittman, Jenny Chalmers,Ciara Smyth and Peter Siminski

Principal Funder: Department ofFamily and Community Services

Policy makers are currently coming to grips with thehigher dependency ratios projected to accompany thetrend towards low fertility. In recent years, it has beenthe countries with the highest female labour forceparticipation rates that have the highest rates of fertility.This project explores the association between socialand economic factors and fertility. Using interstatedifferences in fertility trends as the basis for a quasi‘natural experiment’, the project will assess thesalience of various influences on fertility. A special-purpose database has been developed to test thesignificance of the relationships between the fertilityrate and the costs of accommodating and raising achild; the supply of affordable, quality childcareplaces; the family-friendliness of workplaces; andgender norms.

A review of Work for the Doleas a labour market program

John Nevile (School of Economics) andTony Eardley

Principal Funder: Australian ResearchCouncil - Linkage Grant

The project reviewed the Work for the Dole program interms of its stated objective of instilling work habits inyoung people, and in the wider context of giving youngunemployed people the skills and confidence that willincrease their chances of finding employment. Theprincipal research tools used were sample surveys andin-depth interviews. This project was undertaken withAnglicare Australia and the Committee for EconomicDevelopment of Australia (CEDA) as industry partners.The project concluded during 2003 and the Centre forApplied Economic Research published a researchmonograph, Work for the Dole: Obligation orOpportunity, based on the findings.

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Carers and service non-use

Cathy Thomson and Kate Norris

Principal Funder: UNSW UniversityResearch Support Program

Formal services such as respite care can assist carers tocontinue to support care recipients at home. However,many carers do not take up these services. To date,studies examining the issue of service non-use havehad to extrapolate from data about small numbers ofservice users. This project investigates thecharacteristics of informal carers who do not use formalservices, as well as the reasons they give for non-use. Itis especially concerned with those carers who have anevident need for such services. Using data from theABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, measuresof association and regression analysis are beingconducted to identify variables that significantlypredict service non-use.

Domestic technology and themanagement of time

Michael Bittman, Judy Wajcman(Australian National University) andKimberly Fisher

Principal Funder: Australian ResearchCouncil - Discovery Grant

This project will make a significant contribution tocontemporary debates about time poverty and work-family balance. It is analysing under-utilised datasources to investigate whether time pressure can bealleviated through the application of information andcommunications technology, such as personalcomputers, mobile phones and programmabledomestic equipment. It is a widespread assumption thatdomestic technologies simply save time. This projectexplores the extent to which technologies in the homeinstead facilitate ‘time-shifting’ or the re-scheduling oftasks, in a way that may reduce feelings of timepressure and enhance the quality of leisure time.

Reaching isolated carers:contacting carers with unmetneeds for information andsupport

Michael Bittman, Cathy Thomson, TrishHill and Kimberly Fisher

Principal Funder: Australian ResearchCouncil - Linkage Grant

This study is an extensive collaboration between theSPRC, a consortium of the relevant NSW governmentdepartments and Carers NSW. The project aims to usean innovative method for recognising isolated carers(i.e. carers who do not self-identify) and their needs forsupport. It proposes evidence-based strategies todevelop an effective policy for reducing the isolation ofthese carers. Informing isolated carers about supportservices would lead to significant improvements incarers’ lives.

The costs of foster care inAustralia

Peter Saunders, Judy Cashmore andMarilyn McHugh

Principal Funder: Australian ResearchCouncil, Australian Postgraduate AwardIndustry Grant with the Association ofChildren’s Welfare Agencies as industrypartner

The grant funds PhD research on the costs of foster carein Australia. The project is described in more detail in thesection on Research Training. (See Page 25)

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How does parenting affectcouples’ transition from incomesupport into the paid labourmarket?

Jenny Chalmers


The project documents the patterns of paidemployment and caring responsibilities among joblesscouples with children as they exit the income supportsystem and move into sustainable employment. Theproject aims to show how the paths taken vary with thecharacteristics of the couple, and investigates howincome support policy might impinge on these paths.The research will be useful to policy makers inhighlighting ways to facilitate successful transitionsfrom joblessness to sustained employment.

Returning to work afterunemployment: is casual work asgood as it gets?

Jenny Chalmers

Principal Funder: UNSW FacultyResearch Grant

This project is examining the ability of casual work (anincreasingly significant part of the Australian labourmarket) to facilitate entry to stable employment. Theresearch looks for differences in outcomes based on thetype of casual job (industry and occupation), thecharacteristics of the job seeker (gender, age andethnicity) and what precipitated unemployment(retrenchment, etc). The research will make asignificant contribution to policy debates since currentCommonwealth Government policy is to encourageunemployed income support recipients to take upcasual work on the basis that it leads to more stableemployment.

When usual child carearrangements breakdown:emergency arrangements madeby solo parents

Cathy Thomson and Jacqueline Tudball

Principal Funder: University ResearchSupport Program

The study explores the arrangements working soloparents make in unanticipated situations when usualchild care arrangements break down. ‘Unanticipated’refers to situations where parents have less than oneday to organise an alternative. In-depth interviews arebeing conducted with sole parents who have pre-school aged children and who work more than 25hours per week. Parents who usually use formalservices will be compared with those who usually useinformal services. The study is particularly relevant inlight of increasing female labour force participation.

Impact of the AustralianCatholic University (ACU)maternity leave provisions

Peter Saunders, Michael Bittman andDenise Thompson

Principal Funder: Australian CatholicUniversity

The project examines how the ACU paid maternityleave provisions have been covered in the media sinceits announcement, and how this has been incorporatedinto the broader policy debate on parental leave andother aspects of family-friendly workplace policies. Theresearch questions include: In what ways have theACU provisions affected the scope and content of thepublic debate in terms of questions such as universal ortargeted access to paid or unpaid maternity leave,length of paid leave, the level of payment and sourcesof funding?

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Housing, location and employment

Bruce Bradbury and Jenny Chalmers

Principal Funder: Australian Housingand Urban Research Institute (AHURI

Do housing markets and housing policies provideincentives for people to live in areas of lowemployment opportunities? Does living in such an areadirectly impede employment prospects? Though theassociation between location and employmentoutcomes is well established, the causal relationshipsunderlying this are not. Existing research does notidentify whether it is the characteristics of the localitythat influence employment outcomes, or whether it issimply that people with poor labour market prospectscan only afford to live in certain regions (or whetherboth factors are at work). This study used the Censusdata as well as longitudinal data in the FaCSLongitudinal Data Set to estimate these relationships,focusing on the labour market outcomes of people whomove between localities.

Availability of foster carers

Marilyn McHugh, Jenny Chalmers,Justin McNab, Ciara Symth, PeterSiminksi and Peter Saunders

Principal Funder: Department ofCommunity Services, NSW

The demand for people, usually mothers, willing tofoster is increasing as the number of children in out-of-home care rises. However, with the growing propensityof women to participate in paid employ-ment, there aredecreasing numbers of women available to becomefoster carers. This study examines the current (andprojected future) socio-demographic characteristics offoster carers in NSW through interviews and focusgroups with key stakeholders and through secondarydata analysis. It also identifies the factors that attractpeople to become carers and tests the premise thatcertain communities are more likely to provide carersthan others. Based on these findings, the study forecaststhe future supply of carers in NSW and identifiesoptions for the government to facilitate widerinvolvement in foster caring.

Exploring the determinants andimpact of participation amongFaCS customers: Stage II

Peter Saunders and Jude Brown


This project builds on two recently completed SPRCresearch projects on economic and social participationwhich provided valuable information detailing thenature and impact of different types of participation.The current project is interviewing a sample of peoplewho recently made the transition from unemploymentbenefit into paid work in order better understand whichforms of participation are most closely associated withexit from the welfare system.

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Community services outcomes and evaluations

Evaluation of the NSW YouthDrug Court pilot program

Tony Eardley, Peter Saunders, KarenFisher, Justin McNab, Janet Chan(School of Social Science and Policy)and Lisa Maher (School of CommunityMedicine)

Principal Funder: Attorney General’sDepartment of NSW

The study evaluates a pilot Youth Drug Court set up intwo Children’s Court areas of western Sydney, as aresult of the NSW Drug Summit. The evaluationinvolves several studies employing both quantitativeand qualitative methods. These include:implementation reviews, an outcomes study, ananalysis of program costs, and a legal issues review.The research will assist the NSW Government to setfuture directions for the YDC in the context of drugspolicy more generally.

Follow-up to the longitudinalstudy of wards leaving care

Judy Cashmore


This study gathers information about the experiences ofthe cohort of young people who were interviewed forthe earlier SPRC project, Longitudinal Study of WardsLeaving Care, conducted in the early 1990s. Itprovides, for the first time, a continuous record of whathappens to young people over an extended period oftime beyond their time in care. The project alsoprovides a basis for the development of practice in thisarea, at a time when leaving care/after care services arejust being established.

Outcome study of the use ofchildren’s services as a strategyin child protection

Karen Fisher, Peter Saunders, JudyCashmore, Robyn Dolby, MarilynMcHugh, Cathy Thomson, ElizabethFernandez (School of Social Work),Kathy Gray and Amanda Coulston(Office of Childcare)

Principal Funder: Australian ResearchCouncil SPIRT Grant with the NSWDepartment of Community Services asindustry partner

Children’s services have been used to protect childrenat risk of harm. However, there is little empiricalevidence to indicate whether this is an effectivestrategy for preventing children from moving furtherinto the child protection system. The research covers athree-year period of following a cohort of children atrisk. The longitudinal data collected is being used tomeasure the effectiveness of using children’s servicesas a preventive child protection strategy. The projectaims to identify the factors leading to successfuloutcomes for children within different service types.

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Families First evaluation

Karen Fisher, Cathy Thomson, SoniaHoffmann, Kylie valentine, PeterSaunders, Michael Bittman, JudyCashmore, Richard Henry (School ofWomen’s and Children’s Health),Gawaine Powell Davies (Centre forGeneral Practice Integration Studies),Elizabeth Harris, Lyn Kemp (Centre forHealth Equity Training, Research andEvaluation); and Cynthia a’Beckett(University of New England)

Principal Funder: NSW Cabinet Office

Families First is an initiative developed by the NSWGovernment which aims to increase the effectivenessof early intervention and prevention services in helpingfamilies to raise healthy, well-adjusted children.Drawing primarily on existing services and resources,the initiative is concerned with developing linkagesbetween specialised health, community service,education and other services to ensure a coordinatedand prevention-focused approach to providing supportto families. The evaluation involved two major tasks.The first was to review the implementation of theFamilies First strategy; the second was to develop aframework to measure the longer-term outcomes of theintervention.

Early childhood teachers andqualified staff

Karen Fisher, Jacqueline Tudball,Katherine Cummings, Peter Saunders,Prue Warrilow (Families At Work),Jennifer Sumsion (MacquarieUniversity) and Cynthia a’Beckett(University of New England)

Principal Funder: NSW Department ofCommunity Services

The project examined the apparent shortage of teacherswith specialist early childhood qualifications and ofTAFE-qualified child care staff. The purpose of thestudy was to investigate the extent of the shortage andthe reasons for it, and to make recommendations to theMinister for Community Services to address theproblem.

Veterans’ Home Care evaluation

Natasha Posner, Peter Saunders, SharonBurke, Karen Fisher, Justin McNab,Saba Waseem, Bruce Bradbury andJude Brown, together with ElizabethComino, Mark Harris and GawainePowell Davies (all at the Centre forGeneral Practice Integration Studies)

Principal Funder: Department ofVeterans’ Affairs

This evaluation assessed the impact and immediateoutcomes of the Veterans’ Home Care programintroduced in January 2001. Customer surveys,interviews and focus groups with stakeholders wereused to monitor the health status, functioning,satisfaction and quality of life outcomes of VHCrecipients over the initial years of the program. DVAAdministrative data were analysed to examine effectson mortality, health services use and the costeffectiveness of the program. The evaluation identifieda number of important contributions of the VHCprogram to veterans and war widow(er)s whoexperienced difficulty with activities of daily living. Interms of outcomes, VHC users expressed high levels ofsatisfaction with services, although detailed analysis ofthe cost effectiveness of the program is continuing.

The FaCS evaluation panel

Peter Saunders, Michael Bittman, BruceBradbury, Jenny Chalmers, TonyEardley, Karen Fisher and CathyThomson


FaCS is concerned with the well-being of Australians asindividuals, families and communities, and its focus ison broad social policy objectives and outcomes. Alongwith other institutions, companies and individuals, theSPRC is a member of an evaluation panel established toprovide advice to and carry out evaluation services forFaCS. No specific projects were undertaken by SPRCunder this arrangement during 2003.

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Volunteering: incidence,motivations and barriers

Michael Bittman, Kimberly Fisher andDenise Thompson


The project outlined methods for estimating the valueof services provided by volunteers. It compared the twomajor sources of information about volunteering – theABS Survey of Voluntary Work and the ABS Time UseSurvey. These sources reveal slightly different picturesof the factors promoting and inhibiting participation involuntary work. In general, living in a capital city tendsto lower the likelihood of volunteering, as doesmembership of culturally and linguistically diversegroups. Volunteering occurs across all social classes.The research also examined the volunteering rateamong groups who are more likely to be FaCScustomers, and compared it with rates found in theAustralian community at large.

Evaluation of NSW MentalHealth Integration Project(MHIP), Illawarra

Natasha Posner and David Abelló

Principal Funder: Department of Healthand Aged Care, Mental Health andSpecial Programs Branch

This evaluation used the National EvaluationFramework for integrated mental health caredemonstration projects to assess outcomes forconsumers and providers of mental health care, and toassess integration at the levels of service provision, thehealth system and between sectors. The main aims ofthe Illawarra MHIP are to improve consumer access toa range of mental health services, to collaborate withand support GPs in their role as primary carers, and todevelop collaborative partnerships between public andprivate mental health services and non-governmentorganisations. The evaluation used a range ofinvestigative tools with consumers and carers, healthprofessionals and other service providers to obtain theirviews and experiences at different stages of the project

Service delivery costs forspecialist disability services(Queensland)

Karen Fisher, Bruce Bradbury, PeterSaunders, Peter Siminski, MelissaRoughley, John Walsh(PriceWaterhouseCoopers), SallyRobinson (Disability Studies andResearch Institute); David Abelló andNatasha Posner (Project Advisers)

Principal Funder: Disability ServicesQueensland

Disability Services Queensland reviewed the demandfor and supply of disability services in that State, inorder to inform the Department’s Strategic BudgetSubmission. As part of this Strategy, the researchdeveloped costing and pricing models for disabilityservices in Queensland. Issues covered included theanalysis and comparison of the costs of internal and ofexternal service provision; the development ofalternative service mix options; the identification ofNGO revenue streams; the development of pricingmodels; and the identification and analysis of theadvantages, disadvantages, risks and costs of options.

Supporting families who have achild with a disability

Karen Fisher, Jacqueline Tudbull,Katherine Cummings together withPhillip French, Leanne Dowse andTherese Sands (Disability Studies andResearch Institute)

Principal Funder: Families First InnerWest

This project investigated what happens to families whohave a child with a disability, at the point of assessmentand identification of the child’s disability. The researchexamined this experience from the perspective of boththe families themselves and the staff of serviceproviders who assess children. The methodologyincluded a literature review, review of documentation,and case studies and interviews with families andservice providers.

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Parent support strategies

Karen Fisher, kylie valentine, NicoleAggett together with Prue Warrilowand Fay Bennett (Families At Work)

Principal Funder: Families FirstCumberland Prospect

Parent Support Program Strategies aims to understandthe support and information parents need and todevelop, implement and evaluate systems that improvethe coordination between existing parent supportgroups so that families have increased access to thesegroups. Parent support in this context means services toassist parents with parenting, such as parent educationand skills groups, information services and supportgroups for parents. The project documented existingservices and family needs, identified strategies toimprove sustainability and appropriateness,implemented and evaluated short-term strategies anddocumented longer-term options.

Early learning strategies

Karen Fisher and kylie valentinetogether with Prue Warrilow and FayBenett (Families At Work)

Principal Funder: Families FirstCumberland Prospect

This project aims to increase formal early learningopportunities for children aged 0-5 years in theFamilies First Cumberland/Prospect Area. Formal earlylearning opportunities include structured early learningprograms or activities beyond the family home. Theproject documents issues about groups who do notaccess formal early learning opportunities in the area;developing early learning models and strategies thatwould increase early learning opportunities forchildren aged 0-5 years from the identified groups; anddeveloping a plan outlining priority strategies toincrease early learning opportunities to beimplemented over the next three-year period in eachLGA.

Evaluation of the ResidentSupport Program

Karen Fisher, David Abelló, BruceBradbury, Peter Siminski, SallyRobinson (Disability Studies andResearch Institute) and LesleyChenoweth (University of Queensland)

Principal Funder: Disability ServicesQueensland

The Resident Support Program aims to enhance thecommunity involvement of people with disability livingin privately owned boarding houses and hostels inQueensland. The evaluation researches the process ofimplementation of the program, the services providedto residents by the contracted support providers,residents’ perceptions of the appropriateness of theseservices and their impact on their quality of life, health,wellbeing and social participation and the impact onresidential facility operators and staff and other humanservices providers and Departments. The evaluationalso reviews the cost effectiveness of the program.

Low intensity coordinated care inchild disability assessment

Karen Fisher and Sonia Hoffmann


This project is examining whether low intensitycoordinated care improve the quality of families’experiences during child disability assessment.Research has identified that parents want ongoingsupport to improve their understanding about theirexperience. Case management can be costly, however,and the effectiveness of low intensity coordinated carefor these families has not been examined. This projectmeasures outcomes for children, families andgovernment in two locations, with and without lowintensity coordinated care, using qualitative interviewswith families.

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Early childhood teachers interimpolicy review

Karen Fisher, Christiane Purcal, andSonia Hoffmann


The Early Childhood Teacher Interim Policy assistschild care providers that are experiencing difficultyattracting a qualified teacher. This research hasreviewed the policy’s effectiveness; barriers in itsimplementation; the relationship of the policy toindustrial and vocational training; future options inregard to continuation, amendment or cessation of thepolicy; and other possible policy options. The reviewincluded analysis of Children’s Services InformationSystem (CSIS) data and interviews with Children’sServices Advisers, services using the policy and otherstakeholders.

Preschool funding models

Karen Fisher and Christiane Purcal


The NSW Department of Community Services isreviewing the policy criteria for pre-school fee relieffunding. A literature review of international fee reliefmodels for early childhood services that targetdisadvantaged families was conducted to enable theDepartment to formulate recommendations to theMinister. The review included an analysis of the easewith which they could be applied in NSW.

Cost savings of preventivecoordinated care

Karen Fisher, Kate Norris and PeterSaunders

Principal Funder: University ResearchSupport Program

This cross-disciplinary project in public policy andeconomics. It tests the argument that decisions to fundpreventive human service programs can be made interms of cost savings. It is important to make adistinction between the net benefits to society and thefinancial savings made from cutting back on particularprograms, in order to avoid policy decisions that resultin under-funding programs. Cost benefit analysis isbeing applied to longitudinal service usage data from acoordinated care trial to measure cost savings. Theoutcomes will inform Commonwealth and Stateresource decisions about preventive human services.

Community service development and service delivery models

Partnerships with FaCS and theimpact of reporting andaccountability requirements onservice providers

Sheila Shaver and Margot Rawsthorne


FaCS uses many non-government organisations todeliver community services and to provide policy andservice delivery advice. NGOs in turn rely on FaCS toprovide an efficient and effective policy and serviceframework. The project examines concepts ofpartnership in the relations between government andNGOs, and the possible impacts of increasingreporting/accountability requirements for NGOs.

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The provision of human services:funding models and outcomes

Sheila Shaver, Tony Eardley and KimJamieson

Principal Funder: Australian ResearchCouncil SPIRT Grant with NSWDepartment of Community Services asindustry partner

This grant funds PhD research into the nature and roleof the funding models used by government to fundcommunity organisations to provide human services,and the linkages between these models and theoutcomes for both organisations and their clients. Theproject is described further in the section on ResearchTraining. (See page 24).

The Smith Family VIEW Clubs ofAustralia: from philanthropy tosocial enterprise

Sheila Shaver, Michael Bittman andChristie Robertson

Principal Funder: Australian ResearchCouncil SPIRT Grant with The SmithFamily as Industry Partner

This grant funds PhD research investigating The SmithFamily VIEW Clubs’ response to the plan for them toplay a new role in social development and socialchange. The project is described further in the sectionon Research Training. (See page 26).

Evaluation of follow-on youthrecovery support team (FYRST)services

Tony Eardley

Principal Funder: Salvation Army –Youth link

The Follow-on Youth Recovery Services Team (FYRST)in Fairfield and Parramatta provide post detoxificationcase management services for young people aged 16-25 with drug use problems. The SPRC is conducting anevaluation from December 2002, through toSeptember 2005. The evaluation focuses ondetermining how the FYRST project meets its aims ofcontacting young people completing detoxification orrehabilitation; providing practical assistance toalleviate immediate crises; providing ongoing caresupport using a holistic client-focused model; andassisting people with their ongoing recovery.

Provision of evaluation servicesfor Centrelink

Peter Saunders, Michael Bittman, BruceBradbury, Jenny Chalmers, TonyEardley, Karen Fisher and CathyThomson

Principal Funder: Centrelink

Centrelink is a government agency delivering a rangeof Commonwealth services to the Australiancommunity. Centrelink has established a three-yearprogram to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness and/orresponsiveness of its service delivery functions. Alongwith other institutions, companies and individuals, theSPRC is a member of an evaluation panel established toprovide advice to and carry out evaluation services forCentrelink.

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International and comparative studies in social policy

The role and impact of the socialsupport system on the well beingof the elderly in China

Peter Saunders and Xiaoyuan Shangtogether with Kaiti Zhang, Sun Lujun,Chen Gang, Guo Ping (China ResearchCentre on Ageing, CRCA)

Principal Funder: Australian ResearchCouncil - Discovery Grant

This research is examining how recent changes to thesystem of formal and informal support for the elderly inChina has affected their well-being. The project willanalyse two unique data sets that provide a wealth ofinformation on the economic and social circumstancesof the elderly in China in 1992 and 2000. Thecollaboration with CRCA researchers is generating newinsights into how the circumstances of the elderly arechanging in the context of economic transformationand social change. The results will have implicationsfor social policy development in China and shed lighton the theoretical debate over the role of Confucianismin China’s version of ‘welfare orientalism’.

Fighting for social inclusion andde-institutionalisation inNanchang City

Xiaoyuan Shang


The project will investigate a recent policydevelopment, de-institutionalisation of alternative care,in a Chinese city, Nanchang, and examine how thischange affects the well-being of the most vulnerablechildren in Chinese society from the perspective ofsocial exclusion and inclusion. It will also explore if anew type of welfare regime, based on the newlyestablished capitalist market economy, is emerging inChina.

Alice Tay Human Rights Award -Creating a humane inclusive socialenvironment for vulnerablechildren: child protection in theSinkiang Uighar autonomousregion China

Xiaoyuan Shang

Principal Funder: Australian/ChinaCouncil

This research will identify the main focus and causes ofsocial exclusion among vulnerable children inSinkiang, analyse the impact of social change on themand examine the effectiveness of the child protectionprograms provided to them. The main aim of theresearch is to achieve a better undertaking of children'srights of Sinkiang by analysing it against the theoreticalframework of social exclusion used in westerncountries and at the same time enrich and develop thetheory of social exclusion by providing new analyticalperspectives and empirical evidence from a developingand transitional East Asian society.

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Collaborative youth services –international experience

Tony Eardley and Margot Rawsthorne


This project builds on the previous SPRC/FaCS projectexploring government/non-government relations,which has identified the strengths and limitations offrameworks such as the social coalition, compacts andcapacity building. The objectives of this project are to:document international policy and service deliveryinitiatives aimed at facilitating collaboration andintegration; document the success or otherwise of theseinitiatives; discuss and test the applicability of theseinitiatives to the Australian context; explore the role ofgovernment and other partners (such as the non-government sector, business and communities) inintegrated youth services and make recommendationsabout future policy and service delivery initiatives.

Research infrastructure development

The Luxembourg Income Study

Peter Saunders and Bruce Bradbury

Australian Funders: Australian Bureau ofStatistics, ANU Centre for SocialResearch and SPRC

The Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) was established in1983 under a grant from the Luxembourg government.Its main aim is to assemble in one location a series ofmicrodata files for a range of advanced countries, andto render the data comparable by the adoption ofstandardised concepts and definitions. The data arethen made available to researchers in each membercountry and are used for comparative analysis ofaspects of poverty, inequality, redistribution andeconomic well-being in those countries. The Centre’sparticipation in this project has ensured that itmaintains close and continuing links with theinternational social policy research community.

Consortium for social policyresearch on HIV, Hepatitis C andrelated diseases

Karen Fisher, Justin McNab and PeterSaunders, with the National Centre forHIV Social Research (UNSW), AIDSCouncil NSW and People living withHIV and AIDS, NSW

Principal Funder: Department of Health,NSW

The SPRC is part of a consortium with National Centrein HIV Social Research, the AIDS Council of NewSouth Wales and People Living with HIV and AIDS,New South Wales (PLWHA-NSW) to build andstrengthen research capacity at the intersectionbetween academic and health service organisations inthe area of HIV and Hepatitis C in NSW, and toencourage collaborative research, the formation ofhealthy public policy in these fields.

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Australian Research Council grants awarded during 2003

An integrated framework fordeveloping credible indicators ofdeprivation and other dimensionsof inequality

Peter Saunders

Discovery Grant and ProfessorialFellowship awarded over five years

The existing instruments for measuring poverty havebecome disconnected from the life events that causepoverty and the deprivation experienced by those withlow income. A new approach is needed that is focusedon how low-income, deprivation and joblessnessproduce unacceptable outcomes, particularly forchildren. Community concern over the growing rich-poor divide suggests that poverty research must also bebetter integrated with issues of affluence andinequality. This innovative program will develop anintegrated conceptual and empirical framework foridentifying poverty, deprivation and other dimensionsof inequality, and use it to derive new socialmonitoring instruments and policy evaluation tools.

The extent and cost of kinshipfoster care of orphans in ruralChina

Peter Saunders, Xiaoyuan Shang,together with Andrew West (Save theChildren Fund, UK)

Linkage Grant awarded over two years,with Save the Children, UK, as industrypartner

This project will explore the extent of kinship fostercare provided to orphaned children in rural China. Itwill also, for the first time, estimate the costs of kinshipcare, by modifying Australian budget standardsresearch to suit conditions in rural China. The projectwill combine a strong research team with a leadinginternational non-government agency working inChina and will draw on support from governmentofficials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The resultswill be used to estimate child poverty among the targetgroup and will provide a knowledge base for futureresearch in the area.

A comparative study on women’spolicy machinery in Korea andAustralia

Peter Saunders, Kyungja Jung

International Discovery Fellowshipawarded for one year

The project aims to contribute to the betterunderstanding of women's policy machinery in Koreaand Australia in order to develop more effectivepolicymaking and implementation. The research willinvestigate the relevance of national machineries forthe advancement of women. It will examine theappropriate mechanisms through which themainstreaming of gender can take place, the levels ofgovernance involved, the relationship between gendermainstreaming and state structures, and the effect ofthis relationship on policy implementation.

During 2003 the following applications to the Australian Research Council were successful.These grants will commence during 2004.

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Research fellowships in time use studies awarded in 2003

The time costs of children

Lyn Craig

The project will explore the impact of children on thetotal paid and unpaid workload of families and genderdifferences in the allocation of that time. This is anissue of profound significance in the lives of women,who continue to shoulder the major burden ofdomestic responsibility and upon whom the timedemands concomitant with life course changesincluding childbirth disproportionately fall. There is asignificant body of research that addresses the domesticdivision of labour and another that addresses themoney cost of children, but little that directly addressesthe time cost of children and variation by gender.

Valuing time for a ‘full income’measure

Trish Hill

The project proposes to use time use data to develop abroader picture of the differences in the livingstandards of Australian women and men. Theproposed analysis will build upon the current doctoralresearch to address feminist criticism of traditionalincome-based measures of living standards, economicinequality and poverty. Income measures describe alevel of income but not the sources, circumstances,costs or time taken to earn the income. Two specificissues that will be addressed through the project are:the valuation of the contribution of non-market time toa measure of the standard of living and the calculationof measures of income and other resources at the levelof the individual in addition to the household.

During 2003, two PhD students studying at the SPRC were awarded one-year Post-doctoralFellowships from the Office for the Status of Women. The Time Use Research Fellowships arean opportunity to undertake research utilising ABS Time Use Survey Data from a gender analysisperspective. Both fellowships will commence during 2004.

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SPRC offers research training at PhD level, providing research supervision, accommodation andfacilities, and access to research literature, data and skills training. Students in the Centre areenrolled in an appropriate School of the University, and are jointly supervised from the Centreand their School of enrolment. Their study is funded through a variety of scholarships.

Welfare reform as ‘riskmanagement’: young adults andmutual obligation

Linda Arnold

Supervisors: Tony Eardley and MichaelPusey

School: SociologyScholarship: Australian Postgraduate

Award

The thesis explores recent changes to the Australianwelfare system and the introduction of mutualobligation. A number of concepts underpin thesechanges, particularly ideas of community,participation, the work ethic and the individual.However, these concepts may be seen as problematicand contradictory in relation to the experiences ofpeople who, for various reasons, have a precarious linkto the labour market. Questions being addressedinclude: what are the effects of these changes onpeople who rely on welfare benefits as their mainsource of income? How may the inability to realise thenorms that underpin welfare reform be linked to thechanging nature of the labour market, competition, andthe increasingly unequal distribution of social andeconomic resources in Australian society?

The birth rate and the socialdistribution of the time cost ofchildren

Lyn Craig

Supervisors: Michael Bittman andDeborah Oxley

School: Social Science and PolicyScholarship: Australian Postgraduate

Award

This project uses the Australian Bureau of StatisticsTime Use Survey 1997 to investigate the time cost ofchildren. It compares the welfare of parents and peoplewithout children, using as a measure daily workload,including both paid and unpaid work. It investigateshow the amount of time households devote to childrenvaries with age and number of children, and how childcare time is divided by gender, both in total, and in thetype of activities performed and the social context ofthat time. It also looks at whether amount and intra-household distribution of child care varies withpersonal parental attributes including education,income, childcare use and workforce participation. Itexamines how lone parents’ time with childrencompares to that of partnered parents. Finally it willinvestigate whether the time cost of children can berelated to variation in national birth rates.

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Contracting democracy: a casestudy of women’s health centresin a restructuring welfare state

Amanda Elliot

Supervisors: Sheila Shaverand Jocelyn Pixley

School: Sociology Scholarship: SPRC Postgraduate

Scholarship 1995-1998

Since 1974, women’s health centres in South Australiahave received government funding for the provision ofalternative, feminist-informed health services. Inaddition, their funding arrangements have providedthem with the opportunity to identify and define newneeds and offer criticism of existing interpretations ofwomen’s health needs. However, changes in the widerpolicy environment (e.g. restructuring and the adventof new public management theories) have threatenedthese opportunities, forcing women’s health services toenter into a new phase of negotiation of the terms oftheir funding and operations. The thesis discusses theimplications of these developments for socialmovement theory generally, and in particular for theconceptualisation of relations between socialmovements and the state.

Gender, poverty and human capital

Trish Hill

Supervisors: Sheila Shaver and Peter Kriesler

School: EconomicsScholarship: SPRC Postgraduate

Scholarship

This research considers whether the impact of povertyvaries between women and men, and the efficacy ofpoverty alleviation through individual investment inhuman capital. The question is addressed using atheoretical and empirical analysis. Theoretically, itexamines the gender implications ofconceptualisations of poverty and human capitaltheory. The thesis conducts a gender-sensitiveempirical analysis of Australian data from the 1990s toidentify the characteristics of men and women inpoverty. It deploys a human capital framework toidentify the gender differences in earnings differentialsfor education qualifications. and aims to evaluate theefficacy of human capital investment as a strategy forpoverty alleviation for women and men.

The provision of human services:funding models and outcomes

Kim Jamieson

Supervisors: Sheila Shaver, Tony Eardleyand Sue Keen


Award – Industry

This project examines the nature and role of thefunding models used by government to fundcommunity organisations to provide human services.The linkages between these models and the outcomesof funding for funded organisations and their clients arealso examined. The project focuses on funding byDoCS, the industry partner for the project.

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The cost of foster care inAustralia

Marilyn McHugh

Supervisor: Peter Saunders,Judy Cashmore andDeborah Oxley

School: Social Science and PolicyScholarship Australian Postgraduate

Award – Industry

This project examines the economic and social costsfor carers of fostering. It uses methodology on itemisedcosting for children to estimate the direct costs of afoster child, in conjunction with empirical data toderive conclusions about whether current levels ofallowances are adequate to meet the needs of a fosterchild. The principal aim of the study is to determineappropriate levels of reimbursement for carers byundertaking empirical research on direct and indirectcosts associated with fostering.

Social capital, trust andvolunteering

Roger Patulny

Supervisors: Michael Bittman andJocelyn Pixley

School: SociologyScholarship: UNSW Postgraduate

Research Scholarship

Although broad consensus has been reached on thecentrality of such aspects as trust, networks ofreciprocity and volunteering/joining action, the trendsof and the dynamics between these aspects are under-explored. This thesis examines these issues using twomain datasets, the World Values Survey (to incorporatevalues and emotional motivations such as trust andconfidence) – and the ABS Time Use Survey (toevaluate practical outcomes such as volunteering).Related issues, such as the effects of TV watching, trustas emotion versus rational construct, and social capitalas reciprocity versus altruism, will also be addressed.The focus will be on Australia, although the thesis willalso incorporate a comparison with a number of yet tobe determined countries (time use data pending).

Mid-life women envisage theirincome security and caring in oldage

Ping Feng

Supervisor: Peter Saundersand Alan Morris

School: Social Science and PolicyScholarship: UNSW International

Postgraduate ResearchScholarship

This research aims to explore middle aged women’sexpectations, preparations, and aspirations aboutincome security and caring in urban China against abackground of rapid demographic change andeconomic transformation. Three social groups basedon their current pension/ welfare entitlements inNanjing city will be included in this study. Theresearch will be useful for policy development and toaddress risks and improve women’s well being in oldage.

The Smith Family VIEW Clubs ofAustralia: from philanthropy tosocial enterprise

Christie Robertson

Supervisor: Michael Bittman and SueKeen


Award – Industry

The research investigates The Smith Family VIEWClubs’ response to a new role in social developmentand social change, particularly the question of whetherthis response differs between rural, regional andmetropolitan areas. The research is addressing keyquestions concerning which members and clubs takeup the new role in social development and socialchange envisaged by the Smith Family; whatdistinguishes them from those who seek to maintain thetraditional orientation of club activity; and whether andin what way these responses differ across rural,regional and metropolitan areas.

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Income sharing between youngpeople and their parents

Judy Schneider

Supervisor: Peter Saunders andJocelyn Pixley

School: SociologyScholarship: SPRC Postgraduate

Scholarship and RonaldHenderson ResearchScholarship, 1997-2000

The thesis examines income sharing between parentsand young people aged 15 to 24 years, and particularlythe extent to which public policy can rely on parents tosupport financially dependent young people aged 15 to24 years. It brings together literature from sociology,economics and social policy in order to identify, buildand evaluate models of family income sharing. It alsodemonstrates that government policies havecontributed to the situation in which more youngpeople are reliant on sharing with parents, because theadequacy of their personal incomes has been reduced.Finally, it presents results showing how young peopleand parents share income and the likely effects ofreductions in young peoples’ incomes on their well-being.

Children’s view of their healthand applications to the policyprocess

Jacqueline Tudball

Supervisor: Michael Bittman, LynnKemp, Richard Henry

School: Public Health andCommunity Medicine,Faculty of Medicine

Scholarship: Australian PostgraduateAward

The thesis involves a sociological analysis of children’sconstructions of health and illness from a rights-basedperspective. Childhood sociologists tend to separatethe ‘biological immaturity’ of childhood from its socialconstruction. Thus, the health sciences that focus onthis biological immaturity regard social aspects ofchildren as outside their remit. Consequently, healthpolicy is lagging behind the socially orienteddisciplines in operationalising the UN Convention ofthe Rights of the Child, which prioritises considerationof children’s views. The thesis will demonstrate thenexus of children’s biological experience of asthmaand their social location in their constructions of healthand illness, and develop methodological techniques toelicit these for application to health policy.

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SPRC Newsletter

The SPRC publishes a regular newsletter containing articles about current issues in social policy,reports from research in progress in the Centre, information about forthcoming and recentseminars and conferences, and other information of interest to the social policy community. TheSPRC Newsletter is available free of charge by post or through the Centre’s website(www.sprc.unsw.edu.au). The three SPRC Newsletters published during 2003 were edited byKaren Fisher, Cathy Thomson and Duncan Aldridge.

No. 83, Lead article by Peter Siminski and Peter Saunders, ‘How reliable are our incomedistribution statistics’.

No. 84, Lead article by Bruce Bradbury and Jenny Chalmers, ‘Moving to work?’

No. 85, Lead article by Laura Adelman, ‘Role reversal: child poverty in Australia and Britain’.

SPRC Discussion Papers

The SPRC Discussion Paper series is a forum for discussing research in progress at the Centre.SPRC Discussion Papers are available free of charge through the Centre’s website. During 2003,the SPRC Discussion Paper Series was edited by: Bruce Bradbury, Jenny Chalmers, PeterSaunders and Saba Waseem. The following Discussion Papers were published in 2003.

No. 123, Siminski, P., P. Saunders B. Bradbury and S. Waseem, ‘Assessing the Quality and Inter-temporal Comparability of ABS Household Income Distribution Survey Data’.

No. 124, Schneider, J., ‘Income Sharing Between Parents and Young People Living at Home’.

No. 125, Wilkinson, J., and M. Bittman, ‘Relatives, Friends and Strangers: The Links BetweenVoluntary Activity, Sociability and Care’.

No. 126, Bradbury, B., ‘Consumption and the Within-Household Income Distribution:Outcomes from an Australian "Natural Experiment"’.

No. 127, Saunders, P., ‘Can Social Exclusion Provide a New Framework for Measuring Poverty?’

No. 128, Saunders, P., ‘Reviewing the Role and Structure of Pensions in their National Context’.

No. 129, Bittman, M., J.M. Rice and J. Wajcman, ‘Appliances and their Impact: The Ownershipof Domestic Technology and Time Spent on Household Work’.

No. 130, Saunders P., ‘Examining Recent Changes in Income Distribution in Australia.’

SPRC Research Reports

(+ Available on the SPRC website: www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/reports/)

Bittman, M. and K. Fisher, Exploring Patterns of Volunteering and Participation, report preparedfor the Department of Family and Community Services.

+ Bradbury, B., Child Poverty: A Review, SPRC Report 3/03, report prepared for the Departmentof Family and Community Services. Also published as Policy Research Paper 20, Department ofFamily and Community Services, Canberra.

Bradbury B. and J. Chalmers, Housing, Location and Employment, report prepared for theAustralian Housing and Urban Research Institute.

Chalmers, J. and P. Siminski, Flows onto the Disability Support Pension: An analysis of the ABSSurvey of Disability, Ageing and Carers and the FaCS Longitudinal Administrative Data, reportprepared for the Department of Family and Community Services, revised April 2003.

Eardley, T., J. Brown, M. Rawsthorne, K. Norris and E. Emrys, The Impact of Breaching onIncome Support Customers, report prepared for the Department of Family and CommunityServices.

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Fisher, K., Expectations for International Association for Time Use Research Conferences:Results from a Survey of IATUR Members, Participants at the 2002 IATUR Meeting in Portugal,and People on the IATUR Time Use E-Mail List, [www.iser.essex.ac.uk/mtus/pubs/survey-results.doc]

Posner, T.N., G. Powell-Davies, P. Saunders, S. Burke, and S. Waseem, Veterans’ Home CareFinal Evaluation Report, report prepared for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Posner T.N., and D. Abelló, Illawarra Mental Health Integration Project Final Evaluation Report,report prepared for Department of Health and Ageing.

Rawsthorne, M. and S. Shaver, Partnerships with FaCS and the Impact of Reporting andAccountability Requirements on Service, report prepared for the Department of Family andCommunity Services.

+Thomson, C.T., K.R. Fisher and J. Tudball, Families First Area Review Methodology, SPRCReport 2/03, report prepared for Families First.

+Tudball, J., K.R. Fisher, T. Sands and L. Dowse, Supporting Families Who Have A Child WithA Disability, SPRC Report 1/03, report prepared for Families First Inner West.

+Warrilow, P., K.R. Fisher, K. Cummings, J. Sumsion and C. a’Beckett, Early ChildhoodTeachers and Qualified Staff, report prepared for New South Wales Department of CommunityServices and the Office of Child Care.

Waseem, S., Chicken Feed: Household Monies and Decision Making The within householdincome distribution and child consumption patterns, Module 1, report prepared for theDepartment of Family and Community Services.

Book chapters

Abello, D. and T. Eardley, 'Australiëe', in J. van Genabeek, A.M. Hazelzet, W.S. Zwinkels,'Werkgelegenheidsvoorzieningen voor de Wsw-doelgroep: buitenlandse ervaringen' (Shelteredemployment provisions: foreign practices), TNO Arbeid (TNO Work and Employment),Hoofddorp, The Netherlands. http://www.rwi.nl/images/pdf/rapportTNO.pdf

Saunders, P., ‘Income distribution and redistribution’, in I. McAllister, S. Dorwick and R.Hassan, (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Social Sciences, Cambridge University Press,118-37.

Shang, X. and G. White, ‘State entrepreneurship and community welfare services in urbanChina, in R Benewick, M. Blecher and S. Cook (eds.), Asian Politics in Development, LondonFrank CASS and CO, 173-94.

Siminski, P. and K. Norris, ‘The geography of income distribution’, in Australian Bureau ofStatistics (ABS), Australian Social Trends 2003, ABS Catalogue No. 4102.0, ABS, Canberra, 153-157.

Refereed journal articles

Bittman, M. and J. Wilkinson, ‘Beyond the radius of love: the civil approach to care’, AustralianJournal on Volunteering, 8(2), 64-74.

Bittman, M., P. England, L. Sayer, N. Folbre and G. Matheson, ‘When does gender trumpmoney? Bargaining and time in household work’, American Journal of Sociology, 109, 186–214.

Boyle, F.M., T.N. Posner C.B. Del Mar, J. McLean R.A. Bush, ‘Self-help organisations: Aqualitative study of successful collaboration with general practice’, Australian Journal of PrimaryHealth, 9(2 and 3), 75-79.

Bradbury, B., ‘The welfare interpretation of consumer equivalence scales’, International Journalof Social Economics, 30(7), 770-87.

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Catalano, T., P. Dickson, E. Kendall, P. Kuipers and T.N. Posner, ‘The perceived benefits of thechronic disease self-management program, among participants with stroke: A qualitative study’,Australian Journal of Primary Health, 9(2 and 3), 80-89

Eardley, T., ‘Non-economic perspectives on the Job Network: a commentary’, Australian Journalof Labour Economics, 6(2), 317-329.

Eardley, T., ‘Battlers or bludgers? Who are the poor in Australia?’, Overland, 170, 88-91.

Gray, M. and J. Tudball, ‘Family-friendly work practices: differences within and betweenworkplaces’, The Journal of Industrial Relations, 45(3), 269-291.

McHugh, M., ‘A further perspective on kinship care: indigenous foster care’, DevelopingPractice, 8, 14-24.

Momenzadeh S. and T.N. Posner, ‘Iranian migrants’ discourses of health and the implicationsfor using standardised health measures with minority groups’, Journal of Immigrant Health, 5(4),173-180.

Saunders, P., ‘It’s official: inequality is increasing again’, Impact, October, 4.

Saunders, P., ‘Stability and change in community perceptions of poverty: evidence fromAustralia’, Journal of Poverty. 7(4), 1-20.

Shang, X. and X. Wu, ‘Under the combined influence of Confucianism and Communism: childprotection in Datong city’, Journal of Social Policy, 32(4), 549-570.

Shang, X. and X. Wu, ‘The changing role of the state in child protection: the case of Nanchang’,Social Service Review, 77(4), 523-540

Shang, X., X. Wu and H. Li, ‘An analysis on models of protecting orphaned and disabledchildren in China’, Social Welfare, 10, 38-41

Siminski, P., ‘Patterns of disability and norms of participation through the life course: empiricalsupport for a social model of disability’, Disability and Society, 18(6), 707-718.

Siminski, P., P. Saunders and B. Bradbury, ‘Reviewing the inter-temporal consistency of ABShousehold income data through comparisons with external aggregates’, Australian EconomicReview, 36(3), 333-349.

Swan, B. and R. Dolby, ‘The first five years’, Developing Practice, 6, Autumn, 18-23.

External publications

+ available from www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/nonsprc.

+Bradbury B., Child Poverty: a Review, Policy Research Paper 20, Department of Family andCommunity Services, Canberra.

Dolby, R., ‘On being emotionally available: Reflections’, National Gowrie RAP Publication,12, August, 4-6.

Redmond, G., Social Monitor 2003, Florence, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre

+Saunders, P., J. Brown and T. Eardley, Analysis of Economic and Social Participation AmongFaCS Customers, Policy Research Paper 19, Department of Family and Community Services,Canberra.

Warrilow, P. and K.R. Fisher, ‘Early childhood teachers and qualified staff shortage, Rattler,Autumn, 65: 7-10.

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Australian Social Policy Conference

The 2003 Australian Social Policy Conference, Social Inclusion, took place at the University ofNew South Wales from 9-11 July. This was the 8th biennial national conference organised bythe Social Policy Research Centre.The conference attracted more than 600 participants over the three days – more than ever before– with the usual mix of representatives of government departments, academia and non-governmental welfare organisations. There was also a record number of paper abstracts offered.

Keynote address

New and old conditions for inclusion

Emeritus Professor Hugh Stretton (University of Adelaide)

Plenary address

Work is not enough

Associate Professor Kathryn Edin (Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, USA)

Plenary address

How has the notion of social exclusion developed in the European discourse?

Professor Jonathan Bradshaw (University of York)

Special Address

Bringing Australia together for children and youth

Professor Fiona Stanley AC (Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth)

Forums

Relaxed and Comfortable? Middle Australia in the Millennium

Consumer-governed Care in Aged and Disability Services

Going Public: Getting the Media Interested in Social Issues

What does Poverty Mean for Rich Countries Today?

New Social Settlement and Transitional Labour Markets

Combating Indigenous Exclusion

Contributed Papers

Over 130 contributed papers were presented at the conference. Of these, 72 are available fordownload from the conference website, www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/ASPC2003.

Sponsors

Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, the NSW Department ofCommunity Services, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Mission Australia, The Smith Familyand AusAid.

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Social Policy Research Centre Seminar Series

These in-house seminars are held approximately fortnightly in or near the SPRC’s campuspremises and are open to the public. The program and selected seminar papers are availableon the Centre’s website at www.sprc.unsw.edu.au. The 2003 Seminar Program was arranged byJustin McNab and Peter Siminski.

Laura Adelman (Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, Leicestershire,UK), ‘Dimensions of severe child poverty and social exclusion’, 18 March.

Sol Encel (Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales), ‘Older workers:international trends and policies’, 25 March.

Tess Ridge (Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, UK), ‘Childhood poverty andsocial exclusion: developing a child-centred approach’, 1 April.

Mark Wooden (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research), ‘The importanceof where you live for life satisfaction: evidence from the Household Income and LabourDynamics in Australia survey’, 15 April.

Kirk Mann (Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK),‘Unpopular culture? Ideology, discourse, politics, economics but no culture in the study ofcomparative welfare “regimes”’, 29 April.

Eileen Baldry (School of Social Work, University of New South Wales), ‘Ex-prisoners andaccommodation: what bearing do different forms of housing have on social re-integration?’, 20May.

Jørgen Elm Larsen (Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark), ‘The politicsof marginal space’, 10 June.

Don Weatherburn (Director, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research Adjunct Professor,School of Social Science and Policy, University of New South Wales), ‘Informal social controlsand crime’, 17 June. (Special Joint Seminar with the School of Social Science and Policy and theSchool of Law).

Bruce Western (Princeton), ‘American exceptionalism and the prison boom’, 15 July.

Clive Hamilton (The Australia Institute), ‘Growth fetishism and the politics of happiness’, 22July.

Peter Saunders (Social Policy Research Centre) and Zhang Kaiti (China Research Centre onAgeing), ‘Growing old in a rapidly changing world: researching the circumstances and attitudesof the aged in China’, 12 August.

Bill Randolph (Urban Frontiers, UWS), ‘Social mix and community renewal: can we buildstronger communities by breaking them up?’, 19 August.

Phuchong Senanuch and Sue Goodwin (Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney),‘Capacity building and urban poverty alleviation in Thailand: policies in practice in Bangkokslum communities, 23 September.

Deirdre McCloskey (Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago), ‘Bourgeois virtuesand the feminine’, 25 September.

Gaby Ramia (Department of Management, Monash University), ‘Where social policy meetsinternational business: Global governance and the management of international NGOs’, 30September.

Jenny Onyx (School of Management, UTS), ‘A second look at bonding and bridging socialcapital’, 7 October.

Natasha Posner (Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales), ‘Why healthis central to social policy’, 21 October.

Matthew Gray (Australian Institute of Family Studies), ‘Australian children’s experience ofdisruptions in family living arrangements, 1946-2000’, 11 November.

Marcel Lauzière (Canadian Council on Social Development), ‘Putting social development backon the public agenda in Canada’, 18 November.

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Social Policy in the City

Social Policy in the City is a seminar series jointly sponsored by SPRC, The Smith Family andMission Australia. This series takes discussion of current developments in social policy to thecity centre and the practitioners and policy makers that work there. The seminars are held atlunch time in the Mission Australia auditorium and are open to the public without charge.

Miles Lowndes-McGregor (Director of the Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies QUT),‘Public/private accountability and the tax exempt status of charitable organisations’, 13February.

Peter Saunders (Director, Social Policy Research Centre), ‘Gateway or treadmill? Patterns ofparticipation among income support recipients’, 17 April.

Wendy Stone (Australian Institute of Family Studies), ‘Social capital poor? Reflections on themeaning and relevance of social capital for understanding disadvantage in Australia’, 5 June.

Mark Considine (Department of Political Science, University of Melbourne), ‘Enterprising statesand the new welfare agenda’, 7 August.

Mark Peel (Department of Historical Studies, Monash University), ‘The lowest rung: voices ofAustralian poverty’, 25 September.

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Conference and seminar presentations

SPRC staff contribute to the dissemination of research and its contribution to policy through theirinvolvement in seminars, workshops and conferences organised by other organisations. Thefollowing list of presentations illustrates the breadth and extent of such activity during 2003.

(+ Invited)

+ Abelló, D., ‘Snakes and not many ladders: reflections of a mad scientist’, Guest speaker, NewSouth Wales Council of Social Services Annual General Meeting, Sydney, 28 May

Abelló, D., ‘Towards a social action/social model of disability methodology for studying mentalhealth services’, Social Inclusion, Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New SouthWales, 9-11 July

+ Abelló, D., ‘Social exclusion and poverty, the consumer perspective’, Keynote address, NewSouth Wales Council of Social Services conference, Working Together for Mental Health,Sydney, 7 August

+ Abelló, D., ‘Wading in - mental health issues in the community’, Local Community ServicesAssociation State Conference 2003, It’s a Shore Thing! Neighbourhood and CommunityCentres, Bondi Beach, 18-19 September

+ Abelló, D., ‘Integration between Mental Health Services, their NGO partners and OpenEmployment Services for people with disability’, ACE National Network National Conference,Hobart, 22-24 September

+ Abelló, D., ‘Watching social movement: observations on the emergence of a Mad Pridemovement’, Keynote address to People with Disability Australia Annual General Meeting,Hornsby, 29 November

Bittman, M., ‘Sunday working and family time’, Health for Life: A forum on Work, Health andFamilies, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian NationalUniversity, Canberra, 25-26 August

Bittman, M., ‘Official Time Use Surveys - Still searching for policy applications?’ The 25thInternational Association for Time Use Research Conference on Time Use Research, Brussels,Belgium, 17-19 September

Bittman, M., ‘Fertility: the role of family-friendly policies’, Social Policy Research Workshop,Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra, 25 November

Bittman, M., K. Fisher, T. Hill and C. Thomson, ‘Using time diaries to locate hidden carers ofthe elderly and people with disabilities’, Comparing Time, 25th Conference of the InternationalAssociation of Time Use Research, Brussels, 19 September

Bradbury, B., ‘Does it matter which parent receives income support payments?’, Department ofFamily and Community Services Research Seminar, Canberra, 25 June

Bradbury, B., ‘The impact of changes to the within-household distribution of income support onhousehold consumption patterns’, Poster paper, Social Inclusion, Australian Social PolicyConference, University of New South Wales, 9-11 July

Bradbury, B., ‘Consumption and the within-household income distribution: outcomes from anAustralian 'natural experiment', Paper presented at the CESifo Venice Summer Workshop onTaxation and the Family, Venice, 24 July

Bradbury, B., ‘Consumption and the within-household income distribution: outcomes from anAustralian ‘natural experiment’’, Paper presented at the Australia Labour EconometricsWorkshop, Melbourne, 8 August

Bradbury, B., Presentation to Senate Economics References Committee Taxation Roundtable.Canberra, 2 December

Bradbury, B., ‘Social security and older workforce-age migrants’, Social Policy ResearchWorkshop, Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra, 24 November

Bradbury, B. and J. Chalmers, ‘Housing location and employment’, Social Inclusion, AustralianSocial Policy Conference, University of New South Wales, 9-11 July.

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Bradbury, B. and P. Saunders, ‘Children’s Consumption of Market and State-provided Goodsand Services in Australia’ presentation at the seminar Rethinking Expenditures on Children:Towards an International Research Agenda Australian National University, Canberra, 15-16January.

Bradshaw, J., N. Finch and T. Eardley, ‘How does Australia’s child benefit package compareinternationally?’, Social Inclusion, Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New SouthWales, 9-11 July

Craig, L., ‘Where do they find the time? A time-diary analysis of how working parents preservetheir time with children’, Social Inclusion, Australian Social Policy Conference, University ofNew South Wales, 9-11 July

Craig, L., ‘Do Australians share parenting? Time diary evidence on fathers' and mothers' timewith children’, presented to the Australian Institute on Family Studies, 8th Annual Conference,Melbourne, 12-14 February

Craig, L., and M. Bittman, ‘The time costs of children in Australia’, Presented at RethinkingExpenditures on Children: Towards an international Research Agenda, Australian NationalUniversity, Canberra, 15-16 January

Eardley, T., 'Is there an Australian road to welfare reform?', Staff and postgraduate seminarpresentation, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, UK, 14 October. (Also presentedto Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, UK, 28 October)

Eardley, T., ‘The impact of breaches on income support recipients’, Social Policy ResearchWorkshop, Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra, 24 November

+ Eardley, T., ‘Outsourcing employment services: what have we learned from the JobNetwork?’, Conference on the Economic and Social Impacts of Outsourcing, Centre for AppliedEconomic Research, University of New South Wales, 4 December

Encel, S., ‘Employment, unemployment and the extension of working life’, 36th AnnualConference of the Australian Association of Gerontology, Hobart, 12-14 November

Fisher, K., M. Bittman, A. Sanson, and M. Wake, ‘Monitoring activity patterns of young children- recent experience with “growing up in Australia”’, Annual Meeting of the InternationalAssociation of Time Use Research, Brussels, Belgium, 17-19 September

Fisher, K., M. Bittman, C. Thomson and P. Hill, ‘Why we should care about the daily activityschedules of adult carers’, Social Inclusion, Australian Social Policy Conference, University ofNew South Wales, 9-11 July

Fisher, K., ‘Planning future International Association of Time Use Research (IATUR)conferences: the results of the 2003 membership survey’, Annual Meeting of the InternationalAssociation of Time Use Research, Brussels, Belgium, 17-19 September

Fisher, K., ‘Volunteering: incidence, motivation and barriers’, Social Policy Research Workshop,Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra, 24 November

Fisher, K.R. ‘Framework for analysing social policy accountability mechanisms: the Australiancoordinated care trials’, Public Policy Network Conference, Wellington, 30-31 January

+ Fisher, K.R., ‘Early childhood teachers and qualified staff’, Think Tank on Child CareWorkforce Issues, Families and Community Services, Canberra, 8 April

Fisher, K.R., C. Thomson and S. Hoffmann, ‘Area reviews of Families First: preliminary findings’,Social Inclusion, Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New South Wales, 9-11 July

Fisher, K.R. ‘Economic evaluation of community services: the Australian coordinated care trials’,Australasian Evaluation Society International Conference, Auckland, 16-18 September

Fisher, K.R., C. Thomson and S. Hoffmann, ‘Evaluating development of service networks: earlyintervention for families with young children’, Australasian Evaluation Society InternationalConference, 16-18 September

Hill, P., ‘Gender, poverty and sharing within households’, Social Inclusion, Australian SocialPolicy Conference, University of New South Wales, 9-11 July

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Hill, P., C. Thomson, M. Bittman, and K. Fisher, ‘Carers and community service non-use’,Caring Matters: A National Debate, hosted by Carers Australia, Rydges, Canberra, 18-19September

McHugh, M., ‘Paying for care: the state of affairs in fostering’, Paper presented at the 8thAustralian Institute of Family Studies Conference, Steps Forward for Families: Research, Practiceand Policy, Melbourne, 12-14 February

McHugh, M., 'Indigenous foster care: differences and difficulties in providing care', paperpresented at the National Indigenous Child Welfare and Development Seminar: Our FutureGenerations, Hotel Y, Melbourne, 22-24 July

McHugh, M., ‘Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family andCommunity Affairs’, Inquiry into Child Custody arrangements in the event of family separation,Sydney, 25 November

Patulny, R., ‘From family to fellowship: defining multiple forms of bonding social capital andpathways through values and time use analysis’, Social Inclusion, Australian Social PolicyConference, University of New South Wales, 9-11 July.

Patulny, R., K. Fisher and M. Bittman, ‘Trust and volunteering- contrasting time diaries withvalues data’, Annual Meeting of the International Association of Time Use Research, Brussels,Belgium, 18 September.

Rawsthorne, M., ‘Contracting: the impact on non-government organisations’, Social Inclusion,Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New South Wales, 9-11 July.

+ Saunders, P., ‘Preparing discovery grant applications to the Australian Research Council’,presented to the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, University of Newcastle, 29 January

Saunders, P., ‘Overview of the SPRC/ABS collaborative research on data comparability’,presented to the Workshop on Household Income Data Validation and Comparability, UNSW,21 February

+ Saunders, P., ‘Opening remarks: The growth in jobless families’, presented to the GovernorGeneral’s Roundtable on Jobless Families, Government House, Sydney, 7 March

+ Saunders, P., ‘Researching the nature and extent of economic and social participation amongFaCS customers’, presented to the Workshop on Measuring Social Outcomes, Department ofFamily and Community Services, Canberra, 9 April

+ Saunders, P., ‘Towards a new framework for poverty measurement in Australia’, presented tothe Workshop on Poverty, Australian National University, Canberra, 16 April

+ Saunders, P., ‘Reviewing the role and structure of pensions in their national context’, PlenaryAddress to the 4th International Research Conference on Social Security, Social Security in aLong Life Society, Antwerp, 5-7 May 2003

Saunders, P., ‘The structure and impact of formal and informal social support mechanisms forolder people in China’, presented to the 4th International Research Conference on SocialSecurity, Social Security in a Long Life Society, Antwerp, 5-7 May 2003

+ Saunders, P., ‘The meaning and measurement of poverty: towards an agenda for action’,presented to the Public Hearings of the Senate Community Affairs References CommitteeInquiry into Poverty and Financial Hardship, Sydney, 27 May

+ Saunders, P., ‘Economic and social participation among income support recipients inAustralia’, presented to the Forsakringskasseforbundet (Swedish Pension Funds) National DayResearch Seminar, Sigtuna, Sweden, 13 June

+ Saunders, P., ‘Bridging the welfare to work divide: economic and social participation amongincome support recipients in Australia’, Plenary Address to the International Research Seminaron Social Security organized by the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security(FISS), Sigtuna, Sweden, 15 June

Saunders, P., ‘The distributional impact of housing ownership and costs in Australia’, SocialInclusion, Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New South Wales, 9-11 July

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+ Saunders, P., ‘Can social exclusion provide a new framework for measuring poverty?’,presented to the Policy Forum on Measuring Social Inclusion and Exclusion: Dilemmas andDirections, University of Queensland, 25 July

Saunders, P., ‘How well does Australia treat Its children? International evidence on the extentand impact of child poverty’, Keynote Address to the Anglicare National Conference, Adelaide8 September

+ Saunders, P., ‘Building research capacity: reflections on the Social Policy Research Centreexperience’, presented to the National Symposium on Ageing Research, ANU, Canberra, 24September

+ Saunders, P., ‘Economic inequality in a market economy: is there a future for social justice?’,Plenary Address to the 28th Australian Association of Social Workers National Conference,Canberra, 29 September

+ Saunders, P., ‘Reviewing recent developments in poverty research’, Institute of Sociology,National Centre for the Social Sciences in Vietnam, Hanoi, 8 October

+ Saunders, P., ‘Welfare reform in Australia: encouraging participation’, Institute of Sociology,National Centre for the Social Sciences in Vietnam, Hanoi, 10 October

+ Saunders, P., ‘Pension reform in China: imperatives, constraints and outcomes’, Plenaryaddress to the Conference on Institutional Challenges for the Global China, Monash University,13-14 November

+ Saunders, P., ‘Preparing a successful ARC application’, Research Office Workshop, UNSW,20 November

+ Saunders, P., ‘From poverty to social exclusion’, presented at the Seminar on Ending Povertyand Promoting Social Inclusion, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, 3 December

Saunders, P. and J. Brown, ‘Determinants and impact of participation among FaCS customers’,Social Policy Research Workshop, Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra,25 November

Saunders, P. and P. Siminski, ‘Re-defining economic disadvantage and inequality as indicatorsof progress: exploring the implications for Australian families’, Australian Institute of FamilyStudies Conference, Melbourne, 12-14 February

+ Saunders, P. P. Guo, G. Chen, L. Sun, K. Zhang and X. Shang, ‘Patterns of poverty andpolitical participation among the aged in China’ Research Seminar, School of Social science andPolicy, UNSW, 11 August

Saunders P. and J. Brown, ‘Exploring the determinants and impact of participation among FaCScustomers – Preliminary Survey Results’, Workshop on Social Policy Research Services,Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra, 24 November

Siminski, P. and P. Saunders, ‘Low-income before and after housing costs: comparing Australia’sregions’, Social Inclusion, Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New South Wales,9-11 July

Warrilow, P. and K.R. Fisher, ‘Early childhood teachers and qualified staff shortage’, EighthAustralian Institute of Family Studies Conference, Melbourne, 12-14 February

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The Centre and its researchers participate in a wide range of scholarly, developmental andpolicymaking activities elsewhere. These activities range from peer review of manuscripts forpublication, research grant applications and the performance of other research centres, tocontributions to the work of community and industry groups in the wider social policy arena.While much of this work is unpaid, the cost of staff time involved is borne by the Centre andthe University.Visitors to the Centre include academics from Australia and overseas, often on sabbatical fromtheir own institutions. Increasingly, the Centre is also receiving visits from government officialsand policymakers from other countries, mainly in East and Southeast Asia.

Academic committees and workgroups

ABS Household Income and Expenditure Statistics User Advisory Group (Peter Saunders, BruceBradbury, Peter Siminski)

ABS Reference Group for the General Social Survey (Tony Eardley)

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, Chair of Panel B (Economics) Committee, (PeterSaunders)

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, Chair of Workshop Committee, (Peter Saunders)

Advisory Board, Institute for Social Development and Public Policy, Beijing Normal University(Peter Saunders)

Disability Studies and Research Institute Board (Karen Fisher)

Expert Advisory Committee, Economic, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Australian ResearchCouncil (Peter Saunders)

International Association for Time Use Research Secretary-Treasurer (Kimberly Fisher)

Project Steering Committee, Building Ageing Research Capacity, National Strategy for an AgeingAustralia (Peter Saunders)

Project Selection Committee, Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements, MonashUniversity (Peter Saunders)

Research Agenda Working Group Committee, Australian Research Alliance on Children andYouth (Peter Saunders)

Research Advisory Council, NSW Department of Community Services, Member (PeterSaunders)

Research Committee, NSW Department of Community Services, External Advisor (PeterSaunders)

Review Committee, Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology (PeterSaunders)

Social Relations of Disability Research Network Committee (Karen Fisher)

UNSW Social Justice Network Steering Committee (Tony Eardley)

Conference organising committees

Australian Social Policy Conference 2003, Social Inclusion (Tony Eardley)

International Association for Time Use Research, Annual meetings, 2003 and 2004, Organisingcommittee member (Kimberly Fisher)

Women’s World Conference, Seoul 2005, Promoting in the Australia-New Zealand region(Kyungja Jung)

Conference Committee, 10th International Research Seminar on Social Security, Foundation forInternational Studies on Social Security, 2003 (Peter Saunders)

Scientific Committee, 4th International Research Conference on Social Security, InternationalSocial Security Association, Brussels, 2003 (Peter Saunders)

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Community, government and industry committeesand workgroups

Access Plus Spanning Identities, Co-President, Committee of Management (David Abelló)

Active Job Services Inc., President, Board of Directors (David Abelló)

Association of Children Welfare Agencies (ACWA), Member (Marilyn McHugh)

Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) Working Group on Wages, Work and Welfare(Tony Eardley)

Australian Council of Child Welfare Agencies (ACWA) Research Forum (Marilyn McHugh)

Australasian Evaluation Society (Karen Fisher)

Council on the Ageing, Policy Advisory Committee (Sol Encel)

Erskinevilla Youth Housing Inc., Committee of Management, Chairperson (David Abelló)

Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association, Treasurer, Committee of Management(David Abelló)

NSW Health Promotion Demonstration Research Grant Scheme Expert Review Panel(Karen Fisher)

Welfare Rights and Legal Centre, Board of Directors (Tony Eardley)

UNSW Human Research Ethics Organising Committee (Cathy Thomson)

Visiting appointments

Honorary Professor, Institute for Social Development and Public Policy, Beijing NormalUniversity (Peter Saunders)

Membership of editorial boards

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Australia's Welfare (Marilyn McHugh)

Australian Journal of Labour Economics (Bruce Bradbury)

Australian Journal of Social Issues (Bruce Bradbury)

ANZ Journal of Third Sector Research (Sol Encel)

International Encyclopaedia of Social Policy, Routledge, UK, Consultant Editors (Tony Eardley,Xiaoyuan Shang)

Polare (Katherine Cummings)

Social Policy & Administration, Editorial Advisory Board (Peter Saunders)

Social Research and Social Change (Sol Encel)

Review of Income and Wealth (Peter Saunders)

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Reviewing and refereeing

During 2003 SPRC staff refereed manuscripts for the following Australian and internationaljournals and publishers.

Agenda

ANZ Journal of Third Sector Research

Australasian Journal on Ageing

Australian Economic Review

Australian Evaluation Society Conference Papers

Australian Journal of Anthropology (TAJA)

Australian Journal of Labour Economics

Australian Journal of Political Science

Australian Journal of Social Issues

Australian Social Policy Conference Papers

Benefits (UK)

Cambridge University Press

The Drawing Board

Economic Record

European Societies

FaCS Policy Research Papers Series

Feminist Economics

International Journal of Time Use Research

Journal of Australian Political Economy

Journal of Sociology

Journal of European Social Policy

Journal of Social Policy

NHMRC Project Grants

NSW Council of Civil Liberties Newsletter

Review of Income and Wealth

Social Politics

Sociology of Health and Illness

Work and Occupations

UnitingCare Burnside Working Papers

PhD thesis examination

University of Melbourne (Sol Encel)

University of Queensland (Peter Saunders)

Victoria University of Technology (Peter Saunders)

Links

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Visitors to the Centre

Laura Adelman

Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University

September 2002 to September 2003

Laura during her time at the Centre worked on two projects. The first looked at severe childpoverty in the UK, and the second analysed access to, and exclusion from, minimum income,social security and employment in all European Union countries.

Yasmin Hadi

School of Public Health and Community Medicine

October 2002 to February 2003

Yasmin worked with Peter Baume on his project entitled, ‘Methods of Measurement of Socio-economic Status in the Elderly’.

Jørgen Elm Larsen

Department of Sociology at the University of Copenhagen

October 2003 – February 2004

Jørgen’s current area of research is the integration of marginal groups. His work is using apopulation-wide framework that defines exclusion in several dimensions, including thehousehold economy and deprivation, social relations, leisure activities, political participationand health conditions.

Byungsik Lee

Korean National Statistics Office

December 2002 to June 2003

Byungsik Lee visited the Centre to familiarise himself with Australia data and researchtechniques.

Carina Mood Roman

Phd Candidate, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, Sweden

October 2003 – September 2004

Carina's areas of interest include Social assistance receipt in Sweden, and in particular the issueof stigma and non-take-up.

MIKKO NIEMELA

Phd Candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences, Turku University, Finland

November 2003-May 2004

Mikko’s areas of interest include the methodological aspects of the measurement of poverty,intergenerational transmission of poverty and links between labour market status and well-being. During Mikko’s time at the Centre he is working on two articles relating to Income,expenditure and livelihood in Finland.

Kaiti Zhang, Guo Ping, Chen Gang and Sun Lujun

China Research Centre on Ageing, Beijing China

May-September 2003

Four researchers from the China Research Centre on Ageing (listed above) visited the Centre towork with Xiaoyuan Shang and Peter Saunders on the ARC Discovery Grant project ‘The roleand impact of the social support system on the well being of the elderly in China’.

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Statement of Receipts and Payments

For the period of 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003

2003 2003 2002

INCOME Budget Actuals Actuals

Grants received from the Australian Government 1,228,700 1,158,258 1,531,837

Grants received from State Governments 225,100 489,557 591,171

Other grants and miscellaneous income 786,300 576,898 106,713

UNSW Research Quantum (RTS/IGS) 200,000 189,038 240,000

UNSW Research Infrastructure Block Grant 27,000 80,000 80,000

TOTAL INCOME 2,467,100 2,493,751 (a) 2,549,721

EXPENDITURE

Salaries and Associated costs 1,557,800 1,716,926 (b) 1,724,962

Postgraduate Scholarships 50,400 52,569 50,392

Materials and Other running expenses 497,800 727,599 (c) 681,461

UNSW Research Infrastructure Levy 123,400 4,229 82,650

Travel 87,000 143,103 86,137

Equipment 35,000 15,288 48,129

TOTAL EXPENDITURE 2,351,400 2,659,714 2,673,730

OPERATING RESULT 115,700 (165,962) (124,009)

Add retained earning at beginning of year, 218,124 218,124 342,133

Surplus/(Deficit)

ACCUMULATED EARNINGS AT YEAR END 333,824 52,162 218,124

(a) Total 2003 income represents income received and invoices raised for the period. The totalinvoices outstanding as at 31 December 2003 was $463,367 ($421,242 excluding GST).

(b) Salaries higher than budget as additional staff required to fulfil contractual obligations onnew contracts awarded in 2003

(c) Increase due to travel costs associated with new contracts awarded in 2003. Also Includesrent of premises paid to UNSW of $164,700 in 2003

The financial statement has been prepared on a receipts, debtors and payments basis inaccordance with historical cost accounting. There is no charge for depreciation in the accountsand no accruals of income and expenses have been accounted for.

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