Western Sydney University

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

The building blocks of language: Words in Central Australian languages. This project seeks to model the structure of words and phrases in three indigenous languages of of central Australia: Anmatyerr, Kaytetye, and Warumungu. The project will advance our understanding of the different ways that words and phrases function as the building blocks of language: how words vary in complexity, and the different ways that they combine to generate higher levels of linguistc structure. The project will preserve Indigenous language heritage and contribute to Indigenous cultural maintenance, a significant factor in advancing Indigenous well-being. The project will generate new insights into language structure that will advance linguistic theory, and inform language teaching and speech processing technologies. Field of research: 2004 - Linguistics This research will provide social and cultural benefits by working with speakers of Anmatyerr, Kaytetye, and Warumungu -- three endangered languages of Central Australia -- to provide new knowledge about their structures. For Indigenous students, learning their heritage language is important for well-being and achievements. Descriptions of most indigenous languages do not adequately explain the richness and complexity of structure, knowledge of which are well understood by older speakers, but might not survive as the languages are spoken less by younger members of the community. The research team will work with speakers of Anmatyerr, Kaytetye, and Warumungu to provide good quality descriptions of complex structures, relating them to Indigenous learning practices. Good quality descriptions of complex structures in these languages will serve as models for improving descriptions in other Australian languages. The increase in knowledge of Australian languages and cultures with key implications for Indigenous wellbeing and health ares a National Priority area within the Indigenous Advancement Strategy.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

The Collaborative Museum: Embedding Cultural Infrastructure in the City. In partnership with the Museum of Arts and Applied Sciences, this project analyses the developing, complex processes of collaboration needed to embed the new Powerhouse Museum within the key Western Sydney city of Parramatta. The project’s significance lies in exploring the concept of the ‘collaborative museum’ as a synergising agent, proposing an invaluable, ground-breaking framework for establishing community-embedded cultural infrastructure. Its outcomes will be beneficial across the entire cultural sector in shaping dynamic programs and encounters that resonate both locally and globally in underpinning an exciting model for conducting innovative, engaged research in large, diverse and culturally under-resourced metropolitan regions. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies The appropriate return on investment of tax-payer funds requires that public museums contribute directly to the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of their localities. This project ensures that the new Powerhouse Parramatta, the first nationally significant cultural institution in Western Sydney, will be developed as a world-class museum relevant to both the wider community and local residents, especially local Indigenous people and recent migrants from diverse cultural backgrounds. In partnership with museum staff a ‘living lab’ will be housed in the museum, where the interests and ideas of local communities will be integrated into the development of collections, exhibitions and public programs on an ongoing basis. Focused on applied arts, science, technology, culture and the environment, the lab will provide a model for how museums can be pre-eminent civic spaces for active citizen engagement with urban development in the 21st century.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

To map and enhance Australian musical improvisation as a creative industry. The project maps transforming improviser networks in Australian music since 1970, to inform how cultural innovation develops and disseminates. Application of new statistical techniques (temporal network analysis) will combine with in-depth focus groups to show how improvisation excellence depends on a mix of artistic craft, networked collaboration and institutional support. This knowledge will assist music venues and industry in nurturing improvisation as a cultural force and commercial opportunity for export and tourism attraction post Covid-19. The novel method, integrating computational network analysis with qualitative research, will also inform and build capacity for future understandings of cultural fields and industries. Field of research: 1904 - Performing Arts and Creative Writing The Australian music industry is a 1.8 billion-dollar industry, with usually more than 8 million live attendees/year, and disproportionate international representation for a nation of our size. However economically, socially and in curation Australian improvised music has been subordinated to overseas classical composed music, to the detriment of our local industry. This project focuses on Australian improvised music since 1970 and into the future in order to revivify our music scene. It will do so by providing resources and analysis to make such music more accessible, comprehensible and widely utilised, forming a springboard to enhance future improvisatory practice. Most importantly, it will research novel tools to promote musical accessibility, for example to further disseminate inter-cultural music, and to help improvised music find a place in online performance, film and television. Such approaches will potentially position Australia even more strongly in international music arenas, help the industry adapt to the post-Covid norm, and will later also be valuable around the world.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

A novel method to stabilise expansive soils by alkali-activation . This project aims to address durability and sustainability issues with traditional lime-based methods used to stabilize expansive soils by alternatively advancing an alkali-activation approach. It expects to generate new knowledge in using alkali-activation to suppress the swelling potential of expansive soils which have been deleterious to roads, pavements and overlying structures. Expected outcomes of this project include development of a long-term durable treatment with reduced carbon footprint and use of waste materials. This should provide significant benefits commercially and critical insights to overcome expansive soils which cover approximately one-fifth of Australia’s surface area and six out of eight of its largest cities. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering Traditional lime-based methods used to treat expansive soils are not easily replaceable despite long-term sustainability and durability issues. Alkali-activated treatment is uniquely positioned as an alternative non-lime method that addresses these concerns. Discovering the best ways to dispense alkali-activated treatment through understanding of the interactions between alkali and expansive minerals will pave the way for constructing durable pavement and light structures built on expansive soils. The socioeconomic benefits of building resilient infrastructure using sustainable methods will help to ensure an economically sustainable future for all including the community that the infrastructure serves. This project provides research training to four PhD students in a novel area directly impacting Australian infrastructure development especially in Western Sydney with a prevalence of expansive soils. This research will extend the technical capability of Australian construction industry and enable consistent application of best practices and training of human resources in a critical area of Australian economy.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Targeting chloroplasts to enhance crop salt tolerance. Yield losses in crop plants due to increasingly saline soils are linked to the effects of salt on chloroplasts. By comparing chloroplast water- and salt-transport mechanisms of closely related salt-loving and salt-sensitive plants, this Fellowships aims to discover how chloroplasts maintain function in saline conditions. Novel biophysics and molecular techniques will be used to characterise transporters in model plants, and proof-of-concept complementation experiments aim to confer salt tolerance on sensitive plants. These fundamental insights are likely to lead to rapid, step-change improvements in salt tolerance, especially in agriculturally relevant crops, to benefit Australia’s agri-industry and ensure food security in the future. Field of research: 0607 - Plant Biology Salinity causes severe yield penalties and poses a major threat to food production, as most crop plants are salt-sensitive. Australia’s annual crop losses due to salinity currently amount to $1.3bn, and salinity-affected arable land is expected to treble by 2050. Improving salt tolerance is thus a top priority to ensure food security, but the narrow genetic variability for salt tolerance within crop plants limits the success of traditional breeding methods. My research will identify mechanisms that allow naturally salt-loving plants to maintain yield in salty soils to create a fundamental breakthrough in our understanding of salt tolerance, and design new strategies to introduce target genes that confer salt tolerance into salt-sensitive crops. The expected step-change improvements in yield from saline soils will benefit plant breeders, farmers, and the broader agricultural industry by boosting Australian exports and the wealth of rural communities. Importantly, the advances will be critical to support food production in the face of increasing salinity due to climate change in our vast crop-growing areas.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Development communication, media and peace in protracted displacement. In contexts of protracted displacement such as refugee camps, cultural, religious differences, and the influence of violent extremist groups create an unstable environment for young people. There is a lack of research on the use of development communication interventions aimed at promoting peace in these contexts. This is a case study analysis of media projects in three refugee camps located in different geographical areas. The intended outcome is to generate evidence on a development communication approach that addresses humanitarian needs while simultaneously triggering mechanisms that initiate longer-term community and social development. The focus is on media use by displaced young people living in protracted situations of encampment. Field of research: 2001 - Communication and Media Studies In its 2018–2019 budget, Australia has increased its humanitarian assistance funding to $410 million, with $87.2 million allocated specifically to protracted emergencies, in response to record levels of humanitarian need and significant global displacement. Domestically, the Government has also allocated $1.9million in funding towards initiatives that combat violent ideologies and bring communities together. By studying the delivery of targeted media and communication programmes that promote development and peace among the encamped refugee population, this research will study a framework for development communication interventions that can not only facilitate humanitarian practices, but also contribute to a peace-oriented, community development process that supports young people in the complex environment of refugee camps and counteracts the influence of radicalisation. This also carries the potential to enhance public understanding of the value and benefits of the Australia Refugee Resettlement Programme.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Can altered sugar sensing improve crop productivity? This project aims at genetically manipulating sugar sensing pathways in the model C4 grass Setaria viridis, and at replacing sugar sensors in the model C3 crop Oryza sativa (rice) with those from S. viridis. This project expects to elucidate the impact of altered sugar perception on crop photosynthesis and yield. Expected outcomes includes advancing a novel “pull” approach to improve yield in C3 crops by using C4-like sugar sensors to reduce feedback regulation of photosynthesis which in turn limits productivity. This is in contrast to previous ‘push’ approaches aimed at directly increasing photosynthesis. Hence, this project provides significant benefits by contributing to the next green revolution needed to lift agricultural yields. Field of research: 0607 - Plant Biology Climate change, water shortages and population growth are threatening food security in Australia and worldwide. Improvements in crop yield potential by traditional breeding methods have been stagnating over the past decades. Engineering enhancements in photosynthetic capacity, as a means of Improving crop productivity, has been difficult because photosynthesis is governed by multiple traits and genes, and genetic improvements of photosynthesis must integrate whole plant feedbacks. In this project, we propose to indirectly manipulate photosynthesis by altering sugar perception and feedback regulation by sink tissues. Hence, our research aligns with the National research priority of Enhanced food production. Our project focusses on a model C4 grass related to maize, sorghum and sugarcane, which are more productive and drought-tolerant than C3 crops (eg, wheat and rice), and are prominent Australian crops. We also focus on rice, a leading staple crop worldwide and important export crop for Australia. Hence, our project will contribute to the economic and environmental benefits of the Australian community.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Assessing Eucalyptus forest responses to rising CO2 and climate change. Rising atmospheric CO2 and the associated changes in rainfall regimes are rapidly reshaping how Australia’s forest ecosystems function and underpin our daily life. Whether Australia’s native Eucalyptus trees can withstand the impacts of climate extremes such as drought and heat under rising CO2 is a crucial question that this project aims to resolve. Using an innovative framework that integrates novel knowledge, data assimilation and ecosystem modelling, this project will provide critically needed evidence to disentangle the multifaceted impacts of climate change to Eucalyptus trees. This will help reduce the predictive uncertainty in assessing the vulnerability and resilience of Eucalyptus forests in the changing Australian landscape. Field of research: 0501 - Ecological Applications Using an innovative research framework that integrates novel and synthesized knowledge gathered from manipulative experiments, data assimilation, and process-based modelling, this project will provide the critically needed capacity to disentangle the interconnected and interdependent elements of climate change impacts to Australia’s native Eucalyptus trees. The output of this research will directly contribute to Australia’s national forest assessment, leading to improved predictive capacity to quantify Australia’s forest vulnerability and resilience to climate change. In turn, this research will provide a better understanding of the sustainable limits of our terrestrial ecosystems in a changing world, thereby providing options for responding and adapting to the impacts of environmental change to ensure long-term sustainability.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Invisible disability: Indigenous women living with traumatic brain injury. Domestic and family violence that leads to traumatic brain injury is a significant disability concern, yet, little is known about the intersection of the two for Indigenous Australian women. They experience unacceptably high rates of head injury, 69 times higher than other Australian women. Qualitative exploration with Indigenous Australian women with traumatic brain injury, their families and the services who support them will seek to bridge the gap between research and practice and help inform the service delivery of disability, health and family violence agencies. The research will result in a body of work that explores their daily lives to understand the cultural, geographical, psycho-social needs and nuances of their lived experiences. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology This project will explore the experiences of Indigenous women returning home from hospital after a traumatic brain injury related to family violence. The six-month period following discharge from hospital is critical after such an injury. This period is associated with a range of physical, psychosocial and participation challenges. The project aims to build a body of work examining (a) how Indigenous women re-engage with community and return to activities and responsibilities, and (b) offer insights into the challenges they experience including barriers to support. This evidence will be vital for Australia’s disability and family violence services. Through policy and agenda-setting outputs, the project will improve (a) how services can respond to the psychological, cultural, and family needs of Indigenous women with disability, (b) the resources for brain injury survivors, and (c) how government can design suitable systems for Indigenous women. This would help to provide social and community benefits by producing more efficient services, and improve the lives of Indigenous women with disability.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Small but bold: harnessing microbes to boost drought tolerance in grasses . Drought threats grasslands worldwide, and new adaptation and resilience building approaches are required to protect the wealth of ecosystem services provided by grasslands. Soil microbes offer an untapped opportunity to enhance drought survival in grasses. Yet, to harness this potential, we first need to identify the key microbial functions that contribute to plant tolerance to drought. This project aims to determine the microbe-mediated ecological and functional mechanisms that underpin grass performance under drought. This knowledge will lay the foundation to accelerate the design and implementation of effective microbial manipulations and management strategies, and thus increase our success in protecting this important ecosystem. Field of research: 0501 - Ecological Applications Grasslands, one of the spatially and economically most important biomes of Australia, is under threat from climate change. This project will provide major socio-environmental and economic benefits to the primary and environmental sectors by providing critical knowledge for the development of improved microbe-based tools that sustainably increase the resilience of grasses to climate change. These benefits will be relevant to: (i) seed and bioinoculant industries, who get precise information on microbial functions to be targeted for improved plant performance; (ii) pasture and livestock farmers, who will increase the resilience of their grass supplies under climate change; (iii) policymakers, who get better theoretical frameworks and models to monitor and predict particular grasses/ecosystems that are more vulnerable to drought stress due to loss of beneficial microbes; Key stakeholders will be engaged through policy briefs, input to expert groups via workshops, and media and press releases.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Discovering the most extreme pulsars with the next generation radio surveys. Finding radio pulsars has always been an extremely rewarding challenge and has led to Nobel Prize winning science. We are now entering a new era of radio astronomy and have new game changers, sensitive, wide-field-of-view imaging telescopes and massive compute resources, to search for extreme pulsars. Such pulsars, including pulsar-blackhole systems and sub-millisecond pulsars, cannot be found with traditional pulsar surveys, but provide us unique laboratories to test gravity theories at ultra-strong gravitational fields and probe the state of matter at supra-nuclear densities. In this project I will leverage the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) to discover the most extreme pulsars in deep all-sky continuum surveys. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences This project will leverage significant benefit from the Government's multimillion dollar investment in the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) operation and strengthen the impact of the Australian Space Agency project on the lives of all Australians. Radio astronomy has a distinguished track record of pushing technology beyond the boundaries and has produced spin-offs such as Wi-Fi, aircraft landing systems and imaging algorithms used in medical CT and MRI scanners. This project will progress a vital section of ASKAP’s mission and tread the same path as these earlier successes to develop innovative techniques for deep space exploration. The techniques are destined to uncover significant new knowledge and contribute to the economic development of Australia through downstream application of newly generated intellectual property and the initiation of commercial spinoff opportunities. This project will enhance Australia’s global reputation as a leading investor and capacity builder in the future civil space workforce.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Reusable Fire-Resistant Column Rehabilitation with Fibre Reinforced Polymer. The application of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites in structural rehabilitation is sometimes challenged or opposed due to the limitation of its fire resistance. This project aims to solve the fire resistance problem of FRP in column jacketing work using innovative approaches. The proposed scheme will be developed by using advanced materials and mechanical fastening technology. It can ensure structural serviceability of FRP jackets during a fire. And after the fire, the proposed jacketing scheme is reusable by applying a new layer of epoxy. The project is expected to advance the theory and technologies in structural rehabilitation. It will also provide significant benefits to the construction industry via sustainable construction. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering Infrastructure in Australia has long suffered from deteriorations due to steel corrosion. In Australia, corrosion costs over $32 billion a year -- about 2.1% of GDP in the country. The use of noncorrosive fibre reinforced polymer composite materials will offer more sustainable infrastructure through improved durability and the reduced need for maintenance, thereby contributing the structural longevity. Based on the research in this project, the decreased required insulation thickness, the post-fire reusability, and the reduction of column jacketing region of this proposed rehabilitation scheme will lead to savings in construction materials and labour costs. This can help to reduce material usage in construction projects and conserve natural resources, which indirectly reduces greenhouse gas emissions by the construction industry. This new technology would create new business opportunities and commercial benefits, and would also require additional skilled labour and trained professionals thus producing many new job opportunities, with economic benefits for Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Shadow care infrastructures: sustaining life in the post-welfare city. Mounting evidence points to difficulties faced by Australians reliant on government income support in meeting market costs of essential needs. This project investigates whether and how ‘shadow care infrastructures’ – a wide range of formal and informal material and social supports – enable the survival, well-being and flourishing of income support recipients. Focusing on people with disabilities, unemployed and asylum seekers, the study evaluates the benefits and harms such infrastructures produce for those receiving and providing care, and the wider community. It examines risks and opportunities to scale up emerging care infrastructures identified as critical to making ends meet for income support recipients in contemporary cities. Field of research: 1604 - Human Geography This research will produce economic and social benefits for Australia by helping to develop more effective, efficient and comprehensive welfare interventions. Current budget estimates of Australia’s income support system do not encompass the full extent of support for low-income earners. This pioneering research will investigate the range of ‘shadow care’ infrastructures that help low income earners to make ends meet. This will promote knowledge sharing about care infrastructures that are practical, innovative and beneficial and which could be bolstered and scaled-up. The research will inform more beneficial and caring welfare policies that will enable improved social, educational, health and workforce participation outcomes for all Australians.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Multitrophic interactions drive diversity-ecosystem function relationships. Soil communities, among the most abundant and diverse in nature are responsible for many critical ecosystem functions, including nutrient cycling and climate regulation. This project will determine whether consideration and quantification of interactions between different biotic communities – specifically among plants, soil microbes and animals, within and across trophic levels - can address underlying shortcomings in predictions from classical biodiversity-ecosystem function theory. By advancing understanding of biological complexity and its impacts on ecosystem functions, the project will provide a unifying framework for understanding variation in ecosystem functions across scales, ecosystem types and multiple environmental disturbances. Field of research: 0501 - Ecological Applications Natural and managed ecosystems are critically important to Australia and are a significant part of our heritage. This project will provide new insights regarding the multiple dimensions of soil biodiversity essential for productive and resilient ecosystems. With this new knowledge, managers will be better able to identify elements of our soil biodiversity meriting conservation. The outcomes of the project will help protect vulnerable ecosystems of Australia, including our dryland ecosystems, via improving sustainability of biodiversity, soil health and ecosystem functions. Our goal is to provide scientific support for key stakeholders including land-managers and government agencies to help advance and improve natural resource management and conservation policies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Investigating Innovative Waste Economies: redrawing the circular economy . Australia is facing a waste crisis and government and industry are promoting the Circular Economy as a solution. This project investigates innovative cultural and economic practices in three waste streams: single use plastics, organics and bulky household waste, to understand how they realise or redraw the circle. The project develops empirical evidence to advance thinking about how novel waste economies are organised and the cultural and social innovations they generate. Outcomes include national and international case studies of innovative waste economies, social learning events with industry stakeholders and academic publications. Key benefits provide evidence of how different waste practices enable more sustainable ways of living. Field of research: 2002 - Cultural Studies Australia is facing a waste crisis and the Circular Economy has emerged as a key strategy for reform. This represents a significant national opportunity to shift waste policy away from trucks, landfill and recycling towards a focus on how economies can be organised in more sustainable ways and how everyday waste practices can be changed. This project contributes to the current push for reform by investigating innovative waste economies in three problematic waste streams: single use plastics, organics and bulky household waste. Selected case studies focus on national and international best practice and cover both rural and urban settings. Economic, socio-cultural and environmental innovations in these waste economies will be examined. Project findings will give practical solutions for reconfiguring waste economies to make them more circular or sustainable, while addressing the social and cultural benefits and challenges involved. Improving environmental management via more sustainable waste economies and practices will contribute to the government's environmental research priority.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Feast or famine: how Australian plants stay productive under low phosphorus. Phosphorus (P) is in low supply in soils around the nation, and limits plant production in the Australian landscape, as well as for many tropical forests worldwide. How scarce P restricts photosynthetic capacity has remained elusive. We will determine how Australian plants achieve high phosphorus-use efficiency despite low P concentrations in leaves and soils. We will synthesise knowledge of how plants maintain productivity with low P availability, and inform global models how to represent P biogeochemistry and photosynthesis to improve C-cycle estimates. The understanding of plant photosynthetic and P-saving mechanisms that emerge should provide benefits through improved ecological models and enhanced management of primary production. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology As a nation with rich natural mineral resources but where phosphorus-scarce soils predominate, we seek to provide Australia-specific knowledge of how phosphorus constrains plant production. We aim to achieve phosphorus-use efficiency through informing species selection and management best-practices in forestry, bioremediation and ecological management. The project is expected to improve knowledge about phosphorus limitations for incorporation into land surface and earth systems models. This will help the development of effective management strategies for sustaining productivity in the face of rising atmospheric CO2, and enhancing carbon-mitigation efforts involving afforestation and bioremediation plantings. Maintaining the productive capacity of Australian woodlands, plantations and paddocks should provide social and economic benefits while aiding environmental quality.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Restoring diverse native vegetation using drone-based precision seeding . This project aims to make drone technology a viable solution for scaling up the restoration of native vegetation on degraded land. By integrating new research in plant ecology, microbiology and environmental economics the project aims to fill key knowledge gaps about the viability and application of drones in restoration. Expected outcomes are world-first research into the delivery of beneficial soil microbes using drones and the first assessment globally of the cost-effectiveness of drone restoration utilizing data from spatial analysis and extensive field trials. This should provide wide-ranging benefits for local land managers restoring remote degraded land and aid in reversing the cumulative effects of habitat loss on biodiversity. Field of research: 0602 - Ecology The aim of this project is use cutting-edge interdisciplinary research to create new solutions for landholders looking to cost-effectively restore their land using drone technology. Drones have now emerged as a powerful tool for accessing remote and difficult landscapes, including those affected by bushfires. This project will equip drones with soil-encased pods containing seeds and their essential microbes and be the first to trial this innovative method for re-establishing bushland in degraded areas. Economic expertise will be used to assess the cost-effectiveness of drone seeding and community masterclasses held to introduce this exciting new research to landholders and national environmental programs, such as LandCare. This project aims to simultaneously benefit Australia’s environment, society, and economy through research which can enhance biodiversity, improve the livelihoods of landholders and underpin new market opportunities in carbon farming and sequestration.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

A major upgrade to the Australia Telescope Compact Array. This project aims to upgrade the $150m CSIRO Australia Telescope Compact Array ("the telescope"), by replacing the signal processing electronics and doubling the bandwidth. This will significantly enhance the performance of the telescope, enabling more ambitious science by the 450 researchers and students who use it each year. For example, it will enable the telescope to study radio counterparts to Gravitational Wave sources, and it will enable it to make detailed observations of initial discoveries made with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and other Australian telescopes. In short, it will enable Australian researchers to do more ambitious research, and make more discoveries, across broad areas of astrophysics. Field of research: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences This proposal will deliver a major upgrade to CSIRO's $150m Australia Telescope Compact Array (a National Facility available to all researchers), enabling better and more ambitious science to be done by the many researchers and students who use the telescope each year. It will also provide tools, training, and expertise to maximise the return from other Australian telescopes. This upgrade will increase the value of the telescope, grow Australia's knowledge base and develop technologies in signal processing, and raise Australia's ability to contribute to international astronomy projects. The scientific outcomes of this project will be highly visible in the national press, and will advance the international standing of Australian science and technology, and attract the next generation of domestic and international students towards a career in science and technology. This project will increase the return on Australia's $150m investment in the Australia Telescope Compact Array radio telescope, and enable Australian scientists to bid for other international contracts to construct or upgrade radio telescopes.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Curating Museum Collections for Climate Change Mitigation. The Project aims to investigate how museum collections, many of which have histories entangled in Australia’s high emission sectors that supported the nation’s economic growth, can be curated to support climate change mitigation. Drawing together the disciplines of biogeochemistry, museology, environmental humanities, Indigenous knowledge and education, the Project anticipates enhancing the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences' capacity for climate action through innovative programs. Its benefits include developing new collections-based climate research which incorporate the perspectives of multi-stakeholders, including Indigenous Australians, and builds museums' capacity to grow public climate literacy. Field of research: 2102 - Curatorial and Related Studies The Project will bring substantial social and cultural benefits to the Australian community by seeking to scale up Australia’s mitigation ambition by developing novel types of mitigation instruments and strategies for climate action. Using an interdisciplinary approach, it achieves this by excavating the yet-to-be-told climate story of the Museum of Applied Arts and Science's (MAAS) science, technology and social history collections. The Project investigates how these objects, displayed as exemplars of Australia’s modern achievement, are also entangled in the history of climate change and are themselves indices of rising C02 atmospheric concentrations. Articulating the climate story of MAAS’s collections, the Project will extend MAAS’s pedagogical initiatives on climate change to broad publics. This is all the more significant as the Museum finds itself in a moment of institutional transition and revision as it relocates to western Sydney, and for the museum sector, which receives 3.6 million visitors per year, concerned with formulating novel responses for climate action.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Vulnerability of Australian bats to white-nose syndrome. Australia's unique wildlife is inherently at risk from invasive novel pathogens. White-nose syndrome is an emerging fungal disease that has decimated bat populations across North America. This fungal disease is likely to soon jump continents and also seriously threaten Australia's bat fauna. This project aims to quantify the risk of exposure to this fungus and understand the sensitivity of Australian bat populations to white-nose syndrome mortality. Expected outcomes include spatially-explicit, species-specific models of vulnerability to white-nose syndrome for bat populations across south-eastern Australia, essential for directing actions to prevent, detect and mitigate the impacts of this potentially catastrophic wildlife disease. Field of research: 0502 - Environmental Science and Management This project addresses the serious risk posed by a new fungal disease to an important component of Australia's unique fauna. The bat disease called white-nose syndrome was ranked in the top five of 'Priority native animal diseases and their pathogens' in the 'Interim list of priority exotic environmental pests, weeds and diseases' released by the Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer. The information provided by this research will enable the most effective and efficient responses to the anticipated invasion into Australia by this fungal pathogen. Reductions in populations of insectivorous bats because of white-nose syndrome could negatively impact the quantifiable insect control services they provide to the agricultural industry, as well their important ecological functions to natural ecosystems. Moreover, the potential for very large negative impacts on bat populations would be of widespread concern to the Australian Public, who place intrinsic value in the health of our native wildlife.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Upholding the right to cultural connection for children in care. A positive sense of cultural identity is critical to wellbeing, yet children in out-of-home care often lose their cultural identities and connections. There is little evidence to guide out-of-home care agencies to support a culturally meaningful foster care placement for non-Indigenous culturally and linguistically diverse children. This project tests promising practices identified by the partner organisations and research literature to produce an exemplary model of cultural care, with input from children, carers and birth families. Trial implementation in the partner organisations will inform guidelines and recommendations so that the model can inform policy and practice in out-of-home care across Australia. Field of research: 1607 - Social Work Investing in the wellbeing of children in care is of critical national importance. These children are amongst the most marginalised and are at risk of poor life outcomes. Cultural disconnection further compounds this vulnerability. Cultural connection is crucial to supporting positive outcomes, and is a human right. There is a dearth of research to guide culturally supportive practice in OOHC. This study aligns with the National Science and Research Priority of Health: Practical Research Challenge 1 which speaks to the importance of developing better service models that improve outcomes and reduce disparities for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. Australian OOHC services are currently in an era of significant reform. It is essential that high quality research is available to inform the national conversation. This study will be the first in Australia to include the voices of all stakeholders as this relates to culturally safe care environments, including young children and birth family members. It will also be the first to address the barriers for culturally diverse families to becoming foster carers.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Seeing yourself in Australian digital cultural heritage. To ensure that Australia's museums, galleries and archives reflect what is important to all of us as we move into the digital age, we need to increase accessibility, participation and ownership for all Australians. We therefore aim to discover and test best practices for engaging diverse members of the general public in the creation of digital cultural heritage. Outcomes will include engagement of new visitor groups and increased accessibility to collections. Cultural institutions will gain access to new digital practices for telling a wide range of lesser-known stories. This will bring cultural and social benefits as well as economic benefits by putting our cultural sector at the forefront of cutting edge international digital practice. Field of research: 1203 - Design Practice and Management This project will create economic benefit for the multi-billion dollar cultural sector of Australian museums, galleries and archives. The cultural sector’s online presence will be enhanced by collaborative production of high-impact digital outputs. This higher international profile along with more active engagement with Australians, will increase visitor numbers to these institutions. The project will positively impact employment within this industry by upskilling current and future workforce through developing guidelines and best practices and other training for digital engagement. Further cultural and social benefits include the engagement of new visitor groups, increased accessibility to collections, and opportunities for cultural institutions to develop new practices for telling a wider range of lesser-known stories. This will maximise the institutions’ relevance and appeal, ensuring the sector continues to grow in a more digital, more connected future. For visitors and participants the project will enhance wellbeing through active participation, connectedness to heritage, and digital capacity building.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Articulating value in housing cooperatives. Australia has a persistent shortage of affordable, quality housing. Housing cooperatives are member-based organisations providing rental and owner-occupied homes to members. They are associated with benefits for member-residents, including improved housing, improved senses of belonging and community, and employment and education outcomes. However, evidence for those benefits has gaps, so this study aims to develop a framework for assessing housing cooperative benefits and to develop a typology to identify the factors shaping those benefits. The project outcome will be an evidence base of what works in cooperative housing, which can benefit the country by providing a rationale for growth of and policy support for socially beneficial housing. Field of research: 1604 - Human Geography Housing in Australia continues to be unaffordable for many people. As a result, growing numbers of Australians are trying to make a long-term home in a rental system that is geared towards short-term tenancies, or are becoming homeless. Further, as our population ages, we face increasing risks of homelessness and isolation among older people. Currently, Australians have a basic choice between increasingly expensive homeownership or insecure renting. Housing cooperatives can offer an additional, stable, and affordable housing option. In other countries, housing cooperatives have been associated with a range of benefits for their residents due to their focus on community involvement - including better quality housing, greater social networks, improved senses of belonging, and improved employment and education outcomes. Australia has a very small housing cooperative sector and this project will work with the sector peak bodies to demonstrate the values it creates. This will provide justification for expanding the sector as a way to provide more affordable, accessible, and socially beneficial housing.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Enabling Disability? Autonomous Technologies & CaLD persons with disability. Over 1 million disabled Australians are from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities, the majority of whom are ineligible for disability and multicultural services. CaLD persons with disability significantly rely on digital information systems, devices and platforms to secure their economic, social and cultural inclusion. Evidence to date documents the continual exclusionary impact of artificial intelligence (AI) behind such technologies in addition to its inaccessibility to complex end-users. Yet, AI is now central to socio-economic well being and inclusion. In partnership with community and industry, this project will inform future AI developments and policy increasing its adaptability, accessibility and affordability. Field of research: 1608 - Sociology For migrants, young and old, with disability, AI offers pathways for inclusion in everyday life. The project will examine how this group of more than a million Australians are using AI systems on their phones and in their homes. In so doing, it will build the first national database of how migrants with disability experience these systems. This evidence will be vital as Australia’s health services seek to provide for an ageing and more diverse population efficiently and equitably. Through policy, media and agenda-setting outputs, the project will improve (a) how these groups can participate and be included; (b) how organisations can optimise critical service delivery; and (c) how technology providers and government can better design AI-driven employment, health and education systems. These outputs will help Australia stay at the forefront of innovation, produce more efficient and targeted support services, and improve the lives of people with disability and their carers.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2020 · 2020-01

Forecasting live fuel moisture content, the on/off switch for forest fire. Dry forest fuels are a precursor of large bushfires. This research aims to develop, for the first time, a model to reliably forecast the moisture content of live fuels (e.g. the foliage and fine branches of shrubs and trees). This will be achieved by combining (i) satellite-derived estimates of live fuel moisture content, (ii) forecasts of soil moisture, and (iii) plant physiological responses to soil dryness. Forecasts of live fuel moisture content will deliver an early warning system of the risk of bushfires. These forecasts will also facilitate improved planning of prescribed burns: if fuels are too dry there is a risk of burns escaping, conversely, if fuels are too wet there is a risk that burns will fail to meet objectives. Field of research: 0501 - Ecological Applications Bushfires have a large social and economic impact on Australia. For example, the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires were Australia’s worst natural disaster, with 173 lives lost, over 2000 homes destroyed, and the economic damage estimated at over $4.4B. In 2013 bushfires again destroyed 203 homes, this time in the Blue Mountains. Bushfires also significantly impact on water resources, biodiversity and the capacity of forests to sequester carbon. Our research aims to develop, for the first time, physically based forecasts of the dryness of live forest fuels. These forecasts will provide an early warning system of the risk of bushfires, and facilitate improved outcomes for prescribed burning programs. These outcomes will ultimately aid fire managers in protecting lives and assets. Our fuel dryness model can also be applied to assessing long term changes in the likelihood of bushfires, which is critically important for understanding the risks posed by climate change to forests.