Edith Cowan University

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-07

Elder abuse and migration: Supporting safer ageing in Australia Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-07

Elder abuse and migration: Supporting safer ageing in Australia Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Dual origins, common threats: mapping endogenous and exogenous... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Elder abuse and migration: Supporting safer ageing in Australia. This project will investigate how migration intersects with elder abuse to reduce the risk, impact and acuity of abuse for older migrants living in Australia. Using sociological qualitative methods, the project will deliver empirical evidence and theoretical understandings of how elder abuse is affected by migration policy, cultural factors, and transnational family dynamics. Expected outcomes include new knowledge about the lives of vulnerable older adults at risk of harm, and the kinds of community and service supports they need to age well. The project will deliver policy recommendations to support safer ageing in multicultural Australia and resources to inform both community members and professionals working in relevant sectors. Field of research: 4410 - Sociology Elder abuse is one of the most serious issues related to population ageing. The National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study found that 1 in 6 community-dwelling older Australians experience some form of abuse. Australia has one of the most diverse ageing populations in the world, yet older migrants experiencing abuse are less able to seek help and access formal and informal sources of support. This project will deliver new insights into elder abuse and the impact of migration, and thereby improve the lives of older migrants, including both long-term residents and more recent arrivals, to support safer ageing in Australia. The project will contribute to the Australian Science and Research Priority of ‘supporting healthy and thriving communities’ by raising awareness of this critical issue and providing a strong evidence-base for new practical approaches to effectively address elder abuse in our increasingly diverse Australian communities. The project will deliver new evidence and much needed recommendations that can inform policy at state, national and international levels, including the implementation of the National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older Adults 2024-2034.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

The Digitisation Centre of Western Australia: Phase 2. The Digitisation Centre of WA is a major piece of national research infrastructure with a prominent international profile. We will extend its digitisation capability, range and impact through adding 3D scanning capacity to the Centre. Partners hold invaluable and unique Western Australian type specimen, reference and taxonomic collections, not currently accessible to researchers due to their vulnerability and significance. Researchers must travel to Western Australia to view them. Using technology not previously available, we will build a 3D Object Scanning Laboratory with wide disciplinary reach, making collections nationally and internationally available for the first time and ensuring their preservation for future generations. Field of research: 4302 - Heritage, Archive and Museum Studies The three universities involved in this project along with the Western Australian Museum are foundation partners in the Digitisation Centre of WA, a significant laboratory for archival standard digitisation of vulnerable Western Australian research collections. Each partner holds extensive reference, taxonomic and type specimen collections, such as fossils, shells, meteorites, mammalian skulls and bones and rare instruments, that are of national and international significance. Many items are too fragile to be handled and cannot be borrowed due to vulnerability and the risk of theft. At present these unique Western Australian collections are not available online and are mostly accessible only to the small number of researchers able to visit them in person. The proposed project will extend the capabilities of the Digitisation Centre of Western Australia by establishing a dedicated 3D Object Scanning Laboratory to digitise these important objects. The Laboratory will not only preserve the collections in 3D digital format, guaranteeing that they remain a resource for future generations, but will also make the collections accessible, for the first time, to people across Australia and beyond.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

The Digitisation Centre of Western Australia: Phase 2 Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Working with teens to co-design a porn literacy program that mitigates harm. This project aims to engage teens (aged 12-17) in co-designing an age-appropriate response to online pornography. Significantly, it will use teens’ perspectives to help young people critically interrogate porn, reducing the risks porn may pose, including when minors copy what they see. Such risks can harm teens emotionally, physically, legally and/or financially. Teens' proposed responses will also be trialled with teachers and parents, helping support informed inter-generational conversations about porn. Co-design will ensure that expected outcomes are teen-led and respond to young people's existing knowledge. The project will benefit teens, families and society while also addressing current concerns about sexual and gender-based violence. Field of research: 4702 - Cultural Studies Many Australian teens access and share digital porn before turning 18, even though it is forbidden. Few raise this with adults in their lives because porn discussions can be embarrassing. Instead, teens say they want information to help them think critically about pornography, perhaps via classes at school. This project explores how teens aged 12-17 would like key adults - parents and teachers - to help them develop a questioning ‘porn literacy’. It will explore teens’ existing knowledge, what they want to know, how, and from whom. Importantly, when adults assume teens aren’t seeing - or won’t see - porn, this leaves teens open to risk and possible harm. Working with industry partners the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and Sexual Health Victoria, and with international porn literacy expert Dr Healy-Cullen, we respond to these potential risks via nine teen-based workshops and 40 individual interviews, to help teens design a response to this challenge. Two workshops with teachers, and one with parents will offer feedback on teen-led strategies while acknowledging teens as experts in their lived experience, seeking ways to talk about porn with adults. Impacting teens, their families, and their communities, porn-related risks can have financial, legal, health and/or emotional dimensions. We will work with teens to find teen-led solutions to these challenges and open up inter-generational conversations. Outcomes will be shared via partners, through the media and in policy submissions.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Working with teens to co-design a porn literacy program that mitigates... Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Using past climate change to predict future reef productivity Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Using past climate change to predict future reef productivity Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-11

2025 Equipment Grants Category: Health and Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-04

Breaking down the impact of structural racism on Aboriginal and/or... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-04

Koorlangka Keniny: A Music Program to Improve the Health and Development... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Teen-informed strategies to counter sexual image abuse and sextortion Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Teen-informed strategies to counter sexual image abuse and sextortion. Coming of age has never been so fraught. Many teens use sexts to consensually explore emerging sexual citizenship. Yet this is prohibited, and teens-who-sext may experience gender-linked sexual shaming and victimisation, including by adults. This cultural studies project gathers teens' perspectives upon and remedies for peer-perpetrated and peer-magnified image-based sexual harassment and abuse. Reports of sextortion, sexualised deepfakes and blackmail of teens by adult predators are rising, even as teens worry that reporting such abuse might see them, as victim, accused of creating child exploitation material. Project outcomes align with a Rights of the Child approach and will mitigate risk, reducing harm while supporting vulnerable peers. Field of research: 4702 - Cultural Studies Our project investigates teenagers’ opinions and activities around sexting, recommending improved responses that minimise harm. Unlike Australian adults, teens can face severe legal consequences for consensual sharing of sexual images. As well as legal implications, teens risk shaming, blackmail, school expulsion and psycho-emotional distress. ‘Don’t sext’ is not working: 87% of 14-18-year-old Australian school students say they receive sexts; 70% send them. We will also respond to newer threats to teens’ intimate communications - sextortion and AI-facilitated deepfake porn - collecting an evidence base for legal change and filling the evidence gap created by a reluctance to take seriously the fact that teens sext. Our UK co-investigator will share novel research methods underpinning emerging British strategies to teach teens respectful, consensual approaches to sexting. Economically, we aim to reduce direct and indirect emotional, health and legal costs to teens and families affected by the failure of current sexting policy settings. Social and cultural benefits include supporting an engaged conversation with and about teens as emerging digital and sexual citizens. We aim to impact public awareness and the law, better serving teens and sharing their views through policy submissions and media engagement. Connecting with policymakers and media, in addition to teens, will ensure our findings reach a wide audience, supporting the adoption of effective responses to teen sexting.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Using past climate change to predict future reef productivity. This project aims to understand how coral reefs can sustain their high fish productivity into the future given the immediate threats of climate change. By examining ancient reefs using fossils and molecular evidence, this project expects to generate new knowledge about how historical fish productivity responded to changes in past temperature and reef condition. This knowledge will be used to predict the areas most affected by future changes in reef fish yields. These outcomes should provide significant benefits for the sustainable management of coral reefs, boosting Australia’s position as a global leader in marine conservation. Field of research: 3103 - Ecology Coral reefs hold immense economic and environmental value, contributing over $6.4 billion annually to the Australian economy, while globally supporting the nutrition of more than 400 million people. These critical values, especially those related to fisheries, are increasingly jeopardized by the escalating impacts of climate change. Global warming threatens coral reef fisheries in two key ways: it erodes reef structure by killing corals, and encourages small, fast-growing fishes. Both changes impact fish productivity, i.e. the creation of new flesh through fish growth. This project will look into the past using fossils and molecular evidence to understand how historical changes on reefs, and in the oceans, have altered fish productivity. The outcomes of this research will inform strategic management and conservation assessments at a national level by giving us an early warning of anticipated changes to fish productivity, benefiting Australians economically, socially, and environmentally. Promotion of this research will be achieved across a wide stakeholder group, simultaneously driving collaborative impact and ensuring diverse perspectives are incorporated in fisheries planning. The effective translation and adoption of these research findings will facilitate the long-term preservation of valuable marine ecosystems, their sustainable use, and the safeguarding of their socio-economic and cultural significance in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

HyperGraph Classes, Robust Fitting and Clustering. Much of AI, particularly within computer vision, relies on robust fitting. More generally, clustering data (i.e., this part of the image relates to a table top, that part relates to the legs of the table) in a manner that is robust to outliers (data that arises from measurement errors, irrelevant data for the task, or interfering components). A scientific approach tries to understand what makes such tasks hard or easy (to carry out reliably). What characteristics of the data mean that a more simple approach will be successful, or what characteristics mean a more sophisticated approach is required? Indeed, when is the data too noisy to expect any approach to work reliably? This project aims to increase our understanding of these issues. Field of research: 4603 - Computer Vision and Multimedia Computation Fitting data (robustly) to models, and clustering data: these are both fundamental and ubiquitous tasks in engineering, science (even social science) and economics. This proposal has a particular inclination towards application in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Adding to the basic knowledge in these areas, and the number of people skilled in these areas, is core to Australian competitiveness and national welfare.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

HyperGraph Classes, Robust Fitting and Clustering Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-11

Co-designing and implementing a sustainable injury prevention program... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-11

2024 Equipment Grants Category: Health and Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Inclusive community planning for a just transition to net zero emissions. This project aims to understand how a just transition to net zero emissions can support First Nations peoples' self-determination with the case study of Collie on Wilman Noongar Country (WA), a community phasing out coal-fired power. The project expects to generate significant new theoretical and applied understandings about community practice for climate justice. With the support and engagement of Wilman Elders, this project expects to generate outcomes of guidance for the field of community development about just transition planning with First Nations peoples. As Australia transitions to net zero emissions by 2050, this project should provide significant benefits such as greater understanding of, and capacity in, just transition planning. Field of research: 4409 - Social Work Rapid social and economic change is required to reach net zero emissions and it is crucial that this process does not disadvantage already marginalised groups. This project will foster understanding of the self-determination of First Nations peoples in planning for a just and equitable transition from fossil-fuel based industries to renewable, sustainable economies. With the support and engagement of Wilman Noongar Elders in the case study site of Collie, Western Australia, the project will explore how First Nations peoples currently participate in transition planning and identify effective and meaningful strategies for a just transition. Outcomes, including a practical guide disseminated to community development practitioners, will advance the knowledge and practice of practitioners who are facilitating and supporting just transition planning processes. This project will benefit Australia by documenting First Nations peoples' leadership in just transition, providing an international benchmark of meaningful engagement, and contribute to strengthening Australia’s pathway to net zero emissions by 2050.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Beyond Query: Exploratory Subgraph Discovery and Search System. Exploring co-working user groups in dynamic network data is a vital challenge in many applications, for example, in online education. This project aims to discover new relationships of users and compute their co-working performance in continuous time periods. The outcomes of the project are to design effective subgraph exploratory models, three novel types of subgraph search solutions, and devise a friendly exploratory subgraph search system for supporting the real-time network data analytics. The success of the project will make a significant contribution to the scientific foundation of graph data mining and its applications in data engineering domains, as well as benefiting co-working performance of people in Australian labor markets. Field of research: 4605 - Data Management and Data Science The problem of user-to-user computing relationships that occur over different continuous time intervals has not yet been explored. This important area of study has the potential to motivate users to work together more effectively and optimise collaboration methods. The project will investigate three time-continuous subgraph query models and develop real-time query services to support dynamic attributed network data analytics. The expected outcomes of this project include a set of effective query models, efficient algorithms, maintenance techniques and strategies, and a prototype evaluation system. This project will contribute significantly to the foundation of big data analytics, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. It will also have practical benefits such as supporting end-users in making smarter decisions when collaborating, combating the spread of fake news, and optimising item recommendations based on long-term and short-term interactions between users. The prototype system developed as part of this project will be shared as an open-source tool, enhancing the visibility and commercial translation of the research outcomes. This project has the potential to make a significant impact in both the academic and practical realms and contribute to advancing the field of user-to-user computing relationships.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Improved hydrogen geological storage via zeta potential measurements. Hydrogen is a clean fuel which has the potential to revolutionize the energy supply chain by complete decarbonisation. An estimated 50-fold increase in the global hydrogen market is expected by 2050, totalling AUD$16.3 trillion. However, the key barrier to a hydrogen economy is hydrogen storage, as hydrogen is highly volatile, compressible and flammable. Underground hydrogen storage, i.e. storage of hydrogen in sedimentary geologic formations, is a potential option to solve this problem. In this project we will provide fundamental data required to establish hydrogen underground monitoring techniques, and to develop associated large-scale models with which underground hydrogen storage efficiency and security can be predicted. Field of research: 0914 - Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy This project will develop and test a comprehensive method to accurately predict the efficiency of underground hydrogen storage. A safe, cost-effective technique for assessing underground hydrogen storage options will significantly reduce the risks associated with the use of underground hydrogen storage and support its accessibility as a clean energy source. Reliable and efficient underground storage of hydrogen is a way for Australia to drastically decarbonize its energy supply chain and would contribute directly to the Government’s National Science and Research Priority “Energy - 1. low emission energy production from fossil fuels and other sources”. Additional benefits include improved understanding of the physics of Australia’s earth crust, methane production processes and carbon dioxide geo-storage, all adding to this project’s key importance to the Australian hydrogen economy, reducing Australia’s carbon footprint and contributing to meeting Australia’s Paris Climate Agreement targets.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Peculiar membrane structures for removing microplastics from water. Microplastic pollution can inflict irreparable damage to human health and the environment. This project aims to develop functional membrane structures specifically designed to remove microplastics from aquatic and wastewater treatment systems. The approach will utilise advanced techniques in material science, separation science and fluid mechanics. The expected outcomes include advanced membranes with high separation efficiency for microplastics filtration. This will have significant benefits, including the efficient removal of microplastics from water sources securing cleaner potable, irrigation and recycled water, and contributing to a safer, healthier environment for all Australians. Field of research: 0904 - Chemical Engineering Microplastic contamination of water is a growing issue for Australia, but there is a lack of microplastic-specific filtration technology to address the issue. Australia is a country with extensive coastlines that accommodate a large portion of the population, whose lifestyles rely on access to fresh water and the ocean alike. Therefore, microplastic filtration technology is beneficial to the environment, the quality of drinking water and human health. This research will also contribute to the Australian Government’s goal to control greenhouse gas emissions because microplastics disrupt the transport of carbon dioxide to the seafloor—the largest natural sink for carbon dioxide. Microplastics can also harm soil bacteria, so the agriculture sector can also suffer from microplastic contamination. Therefore, this project aims to protect the economic, health, and ecological conditions in Australia by developing advanced water filtration technology to remove microplastics from water sources. This will protect Australia’s waterways, iconic coastlines and marine environments from microplastic pollution.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2021 · 2021-01

Testing a new model for addressing covert racism faced by Indigenous youth . Racism is associated with poor mental health among Indigenous youth (14-25 years). Previous research has examined overt forms of racism but overlooked subtle and covert forms. This project is designed to provide crucial new knowledge on the forms, impacts, and interpersonal context of covert racism among Indigenous youth. We will adapt, to an Indigenous youth context, an international model of microaggressions (brief, daily acts of covert racism) which focuses on the impacts of racism on targets and the roles of non-Indigenous peoples in either sustaining or ameliorating racism. Expected outcomes will be a new model of covert racism to inform future racism research and interventions in Australia and among other First Nations peoples. Field of research: 1117 - Public Health and Health Services Society benefits from reducing and eradicating all forms of racism. This project tests a new model for assessing covert racism experienced by Indigenous youth. Findings will benefit the social emotional well being and mental health of Indigenous youth by not only understanding their experiences, the impacts of, and responses to covert racism, but understanding the roles of those around them in eradicating this form of racism. The project will identify modifiable behaviours which non-Indigenous Australians can adopt to reduce the interpersonal, systemic and societal causes of covert racism directed at Indigenous youth. Outcomes of the project will be establishment of a new paradigm for racism research in Australia. Benefits of the project will be new knowledge which can utilized to inform interventions to assist Indigenous youth to develop adaptive responses to covert racism, and interventions to build capacity of non-Indigenous Australians to drastically reduces instances of covert racism.