Stories of Social Impact

The research of members of CCS has a broader reach than just the sphere of academics. It often has significant social impact. These stories have been developed based on the criteria from the ATN  and Go8 trial for Excellence in Innovation for Australia. They are not fully elaborated case studies, but show only the category of impact and the kind of evidence that supports the claim for impact.

Improving the tourist experience
Stephen Wearing has contributed to the quality of the tourist experience through his research. He has been particularly interested in volunteer tourism and was involved in the development of the International Voluntourism Guidelines for Commercial Operators (2012). His reputation was enhanced through earlier research he had done to develop an eco-trekking strategy for the Kokoda Track in 2002. His research helped the Australian Federal Government Kokoda Unit in the Heritage Division of the Department of Environment and Water Resources in creating policy and addressing social impacts of tourism in communities on the Kokoda Track.

 

Accessible Tourism
Simon Darcy’s research on access disability tourism since 1998 has been widely cited in government and community sources. Significant industry changes resulted from Simon’s inclusion on a Federal Government Steering Committee and policy changes for government also resulted and continue to emerge from the report Accessible Tourism: Understanding an evolving aspect of Australian Tourism. Among these changes were the finalisation of a reciprocal taxi subsidy voucher recognition system in each of the states and the inclusion of accessible tourism in the strategic plans of state and federal tourism commissions. Simon’s research has seen him appointed as a member of a number of boards, including the NSW Transport Minister’s Accessible Public Transport Forum where using his expertise, he reviewed every major transport development and provided technical feedback.

 

Indigenous well-being
Heidi Norman’s ethnographic research into the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout competition has provided an understanding of the desire by Aboriginal people to reproduce ‘culture’ in a variety of settings. This work has been widely cited in the media, added to the ATSIDA repository and included in national exhibitions. Similarly, parts of her extensive research archive on Land Rights is housed in the State Library of NSW where it has contributed to displays aimed at raising awareness of Land Rights issues and where it is available for future scholarly use.

 

Multiculturalism and Segregation in Schools
Christina Ho’s early research on Muslim women, and the politics of gender, race and religion gave her a profile in the community so that when in 2011 she carried out an analysis of the Australian Government’s MySchool website and was able to show a “white flight” to private schools, her research was picked up by the media (leading to 26 media appearances) and contributed to a raising of awareness of the phenomenon and the public debate on the topic.

 

Investigating the past to explain the present
Heather Goodall’s research was a key influence for the Office of Environment and Heritage to introduce a program of recording oral histories from 1990s onwards. She has contributed to the development of the Secondary Curriculum in History. Her research on the Georges River has informed new policy directions on park management, especially strategic directions to increase cultural diversity in park attendance. This work has further influenced the work of the Murray Darling Basin Authority and the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries.

 

Changing Processes in the Not-For-Profit Sector
Bronwen Dalton’s research has led to her appointment to the Research Committee of the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profit Commission in 2012 from where she provided significant input into the development of the newly required 2014 Annual Information Statement. Research findings from an ARC Linkage grant identified performance indicators for effective outcomes in the context of Compacts and created evaluative frameworks for the future development of Compacts and through associated educational materials, permitted many stakeholders to contribute to the Compact development process. 

 

Exposing Aspects of Life in North Korea
Bronwen Dalton research on Korean sex workers in Australia informed the focus of an ABC TV Four Corners investigation into sex trafficking in 2011. Other research has drawn attention to the situation of North Koreans.

 

Changing Funding Directions
Deborah Edwards, with Carmel Foley and Katie Schlenker, has carried out research with Business Events Sydney which has changed their work practices and strategic direction and funding priorities.

 

Making Multi-Cultural Australia
In a project that has spanned many years, Andrew Jakubowicz has carried out research that has a variety of impacts. It has led to recommendations in Parliamentary reports and through extensive media covered has informed public debate on questions of multicultural policies and practices of living in diverse neighbourhoods. His research led to an award-winning documentary, Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta viewed by over 800,000 people and through his many media appearances which have show-cased his research, his research has had a significant influence on public policy debates.

 

Climate Change and International Summits
Ian McGregor’s research into the processes of climate change negotiations have involved him as an adviser to the Australian government and in some of the more recent Climate Change negotiations, as an adviser to Afghanistan.

 

Sport-for-Development in the Pacific Islands
Nico Schulenkorf’s research on sport-for-development combines social development with health promotion and capacity building in disadvantaged Pacific Island communities. His work with the WHO and Oceania Football Confederation has shaped the implementation, evaluation, and future planning of development initiatives in countries such as Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Cook Islands.

 

Young People Online
Hilary Yerbury’s work on young people’s online activism in civil society was used by the Australian House of Representatives Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety(JSCCS) in its 2011 report on the Inquiry into Cyber-Safety entitled High-Wire Act: Cyber-Safety and the Young. Her 2010 article, ‘Who to be? Generations X and Y in civil society online’, Youth Studies Australia, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 25 – 32., which was the basis for a chapter in the JSCCS report, has been added to the database of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service in the US.

 

Valuing Scholarly Knowledge
Hilary Yerbury’s work on scholarly processes, which has included references to the situation of women scholars, in particular in Africa, has been brought into the debate in Rwanda about the role of the University of Rwanda in fostering research and publication through coverage in the national newspaper, New Times of Rwanda.