News

7.8.08

Social Science of the Internet - New Masters Degree Specialisation Approved

The Internet has transformed the way we work, collaborate, engage in commerce, participate in the political process and interact socially.  Researchers and analysts in both the academy and industry are increasingly using Internet data for empirical research into social, economic and political behaviour.  By undertaking the “Social Science of the Internet” specialisation in the Master of Social Research, students gain a thorough understanding of the relevant theory and methods for conducting social science Internet research. 

Students will:

(1) gain an understanding of the fundamental changes to society, politics and the economy that have resulted from the introduction of new information and communication technologies such as the Web;

(2) learn how core social science concepts and methodological approaches can facilitate an understanding of life in the Internet Age;

(3) learn about relevant online research methods that can be used for collecting and analysing data from the Internet.  

The new specialisation emphasises empirical social science research and thus complements the existing specialisations in the Master of Social Research.

More infomation about the Master of Social Research (Social Science of the Internet).

23.6.08

Social policy case studies in public lecture series

ADSRI has announced a series of public lectures in which experts will look at Australian social policies such as family payments, early childhood education and care, indigenous housing, Australian welfare reform, private health insurance, retirement incomes, child support and the Higher Education Contribution Scheme. Each lecture will trace the history of the policy, assess it against various social policy principles and discuss its current operation.

Details of the program.

9.6.08

ADSRI Director, Professor Peter McDonald, awarded an Order of Australia

The Governor General of Australia has approved the appointment of ADSRI Director, Peter McDonald, as a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia. The citation for the award made on 9 June 2008 states "for service in the fields of demography and social research, particularly relating to population dynamics and future studies, through the exploration of related policy options and through education". Peter expresses his thanks to all of his ADSRI colleagues who have contributed significantly to this award. 'If awards were provided to institutes rather than to individuals, this award would have been made to ADSRI'.

6.6.08

$4 million for Australian Social Science Data Archive

The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research will provide substantial funding for the activities of the Australian Social Science Data Archive (ASSDA). The total funding is $4 million. In informing the University of its decision, the Department stated: 'ASSDA is a key data federating community, and is an exemplar of what the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) will ultimately be aiming to achieve'.

ASSDA is a national collaboration with nodes in the the University of Queensland, the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia. ADSRI is its central node. The money will be applied across all nodes of ASSDA.

Congratulations are due to Deborah Mitchell (ASSDA Director and Deputy Director of ADSRI), Sophie Holloway (Manager of ASSDA) and Ben Evans (Head of the ANU Supercomputer Facility) and our associates at other Australian universities for their exceptionally hard work in obtaining this result.

26.5.08
News has come of the death of Pat Caldwell (12 January 1922 – 24 May 2008).

Pat has been an important presence in ANU Demography for almost 50 years. She made a very substantial contribution in the field to the development and promotion of anthropological demoraphy. Our thoughts are with Jack, Bruce and family.

A celebration of her life will be held at the Norwood Park Crematorium in Canberra on Thursday 29 May 2008 at 1:30 pm.

The IUSSP have placed an obituary for Pat on their website and members are able to leave messages.

23.5.08
Julia Gillard to open the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute

Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister, will officially open the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute at Parliament House, Canberra, on 19 June.

29.4.08
Thomas Schindlmayr passes away

11.4.08
Borrie Prize Winners - Brian Opeskin and Madeleine Rowland

The Borrie Prize is awarded by the Australian Population Association each year to students for the best paper on a population-related topic. For 2007 the prize in the undergraduate category was won by Madeleine Rowland and the postgraduate category was won by Brian Opeskin. Both wrote papers for courses taught by staff in ADSRI.

6.2.08
Higher Levels of Immigration are Inevitable: Report

Australia’s future requirements for labour will drive increases in demand for sustained and growing immigration. In an Occasional Paper, 'Population and Australia's Future Labour Force', released by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, two of Australia’s leading experts on immigration and labour supply argue that strong demand for labour will be driven by rising living standards, the growth of the healthy aged population, the resources boom, construction of new infrastructure and changes in the ways we live our lives because of environmental and technological demands.

Between 1980 and 2005, Australia’s labour force grew by an average of 1.9% per annum, current growth is 1.2% per annum and, given demographic trends, the rate of growth would fall to 0.7% by 2021 and 0.5% by 2051 even if annual net migration remained at its present high level. The paper’s authors, Peter McDonald of the Australian National University’s Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute (ADSRI) and Glenn Withers, Head of the Economic Planning Advisory Commission in the previous Labor Government argue that future labour demand cannot be met without increased immigration. They go on to say that Australia is not well prepared for this new direction.

They recommend that the Australian Government should establish an independent inquiry to determine the best planning and policy approaches to the role of immigration in meeting future labour force needs for both skilled and unskilled labour. This should be part of, and extend, the skill planning for education and training recommended above with domestic population needs and opportunities being met as a co-condition for immigration policy. Among other recommendations, McDonald and Withers call for a forward-looking population policy that incorporates both domestic population growth and migration, acknowledges their impact on Australia’s economic, social and environmental goals, and design population and complementary strategies accordingly. Complementary polices should include education and training, infrastructure and housing, and energy and the environment. Strict limits on general unskilled worker entry to Australia should be maintained, whether on a temporary or permanent entry basis, but a tightly administered and pro-development Pacific Compact for small island nations should be developed that facilitates movement into Australia along with essential complementary labour and business development policies.

Press Release

Paper - 'Population and Australia's Future Labour Force'

26.1.08
Australia Day Honour for Fadwa Al-Yaman

Fadwa Al-Yaman, a graduate of the Master of Population Studies Program, was awarded a Public Service Medal in the Australia Day honour list announced by the Governor-General. The award is for outstanding public service in improving the accuracy and reliability of the data on Indigenous Australians contained in information collections for health, housing and community services.

18.1.08
New ADSRI Working Paper Released

Mortality Modelling and Forecasting: A Review of Methods, ADSRI Working Paper No.3,
by Heather Booth and Leonie Tickle

With increasing life expectancy, mortality forecasting has become critically important. In this paper Heather Booth and Leonie Tickle review significant developments in mortality forecasting since 1980.

Download paper.

26.10.07
Deborah Mitchell and Robert Ackland to Speak at "eResearch" Forum

On 31 October the ANU Supercomputer Facility is hosting a full-day "eResearch" forum. The brave new world of advanced technologies, open access to specialised data repositories, powerful computing systems and networked research infrastructure augments and extends the traditional environment for University research projects. This new "e-Research" environment will allow researchers from all disciplines to access new and faster ways of undertaking research - while also highlighting both the new challenges and new opportunities.

Two of the twelve presentations will be made by ADSRI researchers. ADSRI was the only area of the ANU to secure two time slots in the forum.

Deborah Mitchell - From Numbers to Knowledge: eResearch and the Australian Social Science Data Archive

Robert Ackland - VOSON: Developing a web service for social science network research

Further information can be found on the forum website.

13.9.07
PhD Awarded
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy has been awarded by the University to Meimanat Hosseini-Chavoshi. Congratulations Dr Hosseini!

23.7.07
Dr Rebecca Kippen Awarded a 2007 Carrick Institute Award
The University has announced that Dr Rebecca Kippen from the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute has been awarded a 2007 Carrick Institute Award for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Congratulations Rebecca.