Transforming communities through policy, practice & governance – research outlines

Choose a research outline for your application

Authenticity by design: Governing generative-AI vision through technical provenance tools & intellectual-property reform (RFO-25064)

This interdisciplinary project interrogates the legal, technical and governance challenges that arise when generative-AI vision models create synthetic images and videos that circulate online. We will design robust computer-vision watermarking and provenance-tracking algorithms, evaluate their reliability and bias, and map findings against copyright, trade-mark and design law to expose doctrinal gaps. Outputs include open-source detection tools, policy briefs and model legislation that will guide regulators and industry. 

The project advances digital governance under the Research Priority Area ‘Transforming communities through policy, practice and governance’. The supervisory team combines Dr Wenjie Ye’s expertise in computer vision with Dr Christina Tao’s track record in intellectual-property law. 

We invite a highly motivated PhD applicant with either technical AI skills (Python, deep-learning frameworks) or legal research experience, and an appetite to work at the frontier of policy-oriented, human-centred AI innovation.

Supervisors: Dr Wenjie Ye, Dr Christina Tao
Institute: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 4602 Artificial intelligence

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact: Dr Wenjie Ye,  [email protected]  

Centre of Excellence: Young people & disasters (RFO-25065)

This PhD sits within the Centre of Excellence: young people & disasters that takes a youth participation, strengths based approach to actively involving young people, 12 - 24 year-olds, in all aspects of disaster management. The Centre brings together academic and practitioner expertise across a range of disciplines and fields of knowledge around young people and disasters. It is anticipated that the PhD candidate will choose a specific focus within these. We encourage you to visit our Centre webpage for an overview. There is no predetermined project but the supervisors, Associate Professor Fiona MacDonald (Sociology) and Professor Tim Corney (Youth Work and Community Sector) look forward to receiving a one page overview of your research proposal.

Supervisors: Associate Professor Fiona MacDonald, Professor Tim Corney
Institute: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities 
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 4410 Sociology

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact Associate Professor Fiona MacDonald,  [email protected]   

This project is for domestic applicants only.

Digital transformation & artificial intelligence as a strategic response to China’s demographic challenge (RFO-25066)

China is experiencing a significant demographic shift marked by an ageing and shrinking working-age population, alongside persistent youth unemployment and rising demand for high-skilled labour. This research explores how digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI) can help mitigate these economic challenges. AI technologies offer potential productivity gains and labour market restructuring, but their success depends on complementary investment in human capital and education.

Using CHINAGEM – a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Chinese economy, disaggregated by age and skill –this project will assess the long-term impacts of AI and digitalisation on China’s economy from 2025 to 2100, under different policy scenarios.

Our research team – Dr Xiujian Peng, Professor Janine Dixon, and Associate Professor Jason Nassios – seeks a highly motivated PhD student with a strong background in economics, an interest in demography and technological change, and potential in research and CGE modelling to conduct this research under our supervision.

Supervisors: Dr Xiujian Peng, Associate Professor Janine Dixon, Dr Jason Nassios
Institute: Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS)
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 3801 Applied Economics

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact: Dr Xiujian Peng,  [email protected]   

Discourses of the dominant & first nations truth-telling: barriers & possibilities for Indigenous–non-Indigenous relations (RFO-25109)

Through qualitative, community-based and participatory inquiry, the Community Identity and Displacement Research Network (CIDRN) supports a dynamic and justice-oriented research agenda with one of its key research areas being coloniality and decoloniality.  

A central focus of this work is understanding how our settler colonial history continues to shape Indigenous and non-Indigenous lifeworld's, subjectivities, and intergroup relations. Given recent efforts towards First Nations truth telling, the failed Indigenous voice to parliament referendum, and booing of a Welcome to Country at Melbourne’s Anzac day Dawn service, this research will explore the discourses drawn on by differently positioned people in Australia to make sense of First Nation truth-telling and recognition of Indigenous sovereignty within the current historical moment. 

We invite scholars who want to create new critical transdisciplinary approaches to identify the interconnected material/psychosocial/discursive barriers as well as the generative openings for transforming Indigenous–non-Indigenous relations, grounded in accountability, truth, and structural change.

Supervisors: Dr Amy Quayle, Professor Chris Sonn
Institute: Institute for Health & Sport 
Course Code: UPAD
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 5205 Social and personality psychology

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact: Dr Amy Quayle, [email protected]   

Histories of race, gender & leisure in Australian popular culture (RFO-25110)

This research focus area includes projects that analyse the impacts of stereotypes on histories of racism, sexism and homophobia in leisure cultures. Popular stereotypes on page and stage depended for their success on communal understandings of defined ranges of images and words to convey complex layers of meanings which reveals past attitudes to race, ethnicity, class and gender. These stereotypes, however, remain embedded within modern Australian culture and are often barriers to efforts at change. Projects in this research focus area will analyse the deep roots of these barriers to creating modern inclusive communities.

Supervisors: Professor Dianne Hall, Associate Professor Matthew Klugman
Institute: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 4303 Historical studies

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact: Professor Dianne Hall, [email protected]  

New frontiers in evidence & policy to address structural educational inequalities (RFO-25067)

This research aims to improve our understanding of the effects of socioeconomic status and school segregation on educational outcomes at the end of schooling and beyond. It will use a system-level focus and advanced quantitative analysis to improve the evidence base of the effects of school socioeconomic segregation on a range of outcomes and propose policies to prevent or mitigate these effects. 

The research team includes experienced researchers that routinely conduct strategic research using large-scale data covering every state and territory in Australia and every sector of education and training, as well as international comparative research on education systems around the world. 

Applicants should have a strong background and interest in quantitative methods or data analysis, and interest in a systemic understanding of inequality and educational policy.

Supervisors: Dr Beatriz Gallo Cordoba, Dr Andres Molina
Institute: Mitchell Institute
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 3902 Education policy, sociology and philosophy

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact Dr Beatriz Gallo Cordoba,  [email protected]   

Post-retirement engagement & socio-economic status of retirees (RFO-25068)

This PhD project explores the socio-economic challenges faced by an ageing population, focusing on social isolation and financial vulnerability in post-retirement life. It aims to examine how re-engagement in social and economic activities can enhance wellbeing and mitigate these issues. The study will also evaluate existing retirement policies and propose strategies for more inclusive ageing.

The research team brings expertise in wellbeing, ageing, and the hospitality and tourism context. We are seeking a highly motivated PhD applicant with a background in social sciences, public policy, gerontology, or HRM, and a strong interest in ageing, wellbeing, and inclusive workforce participation.

Supervisors: Dr Dharshani Thennakoon, Dr Thu-Huong Nguyen
Institute: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact Dr Dharshani Thennakoon,  [email protected]

Reclaiming human creativity: Can law & tech together protect writers from big tech’s use of generative AI (RFO-25069)

This interdisciplinary project interrogates the legal, technical and governance challenges that arise when generative-AI vision models create synthetic images and videos that circulate online. We will design robust computer-vision watermarking and provenance-tracking algorithms, evaluate their reliability and bias, and map findings against copyright, trade-mark and design law to expose doctrinal gaps. Outputs include open-source detection tools, policy briefs and model legislation that will guide regulators and industry. The project advances digital governance under the Research Priority Area ‘Transforming communities through policy, practice and governance’. 

The supervisory team combines Dr Wenjie Ye’s expertise in computer vision with Dr Christina Tao’s track record in intellectual-property law. 

We invite a highly motivated PhD applicant with either technical AI skills (Python, deep-learning frameworks) or legal research experience, and an appetite to work at the frontier of policy-oriented, human-centred AI innovation.

Supervisors: Dr Christina Tao, Dr Wenjie Ye
Institute: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 4602 Artificial Intelligence

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact Dr Christina Tao,  [email protected]   

Social security fund investment, external attention & corporate social responsibility fulfillment (RFO-25111)

Enterprises are subject to scrutiny by regulatory authorities, institutional investors and other external parties. This scrutiny may enhance the transparency of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance by these enterprises and strengthen the supervision exerted by external stakeholders. Therefore, this scrutiny may play a moderating role in the relationship between National Social Security Fund (NSSF) investment and CSR performance. Therefore, the first research objective is does external attention moderate the impact of NSSF investment on corporate CSR fulfillment? In practice, external scrutiny of enterprises may come from capital markets, the media, regulatory bodies, and consumers. Therefore, a second research objective is does the moderating effect of these different types of external attention on the relationship between NSSF investment and CSR fulfillment differ?

Based on the above analysis, this study will further explore the following questions: 

1. As an important institutional investor, does the NSSF’s investment behavior influence overall corporate CSR fulfillment and its various dimensions (such as environmental responsibility, social responsibility, governance structure, etc.)?
2. If such an influence exists, what is its underlying mechanism?
3. Is there heterogeneity in the relationship between NSSF investment and CSR performance?
4. What moderating role does external attention play in this process? 

These questions will be explored in depth in this project.

Supervisors: Dr Chitra De Silva Lokuwaduge, Dr David R Moore
Institute: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities 
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 3501 Accounting, auditing and accountability

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact: Dr Chitra De Silva Lokuwaduge, [email protected]  

Terrorist rehabilitation & desistance from violent extremism (RFO-25070)

The objectives of this research are to generate a better understanding of the drivers, effectiveness, challenges, and opportunities of terrorist rehabilitation and reintegration (tertiary prevention) and/or diversionary programs for individuals at risk of radicalising to violence (secondary prevention). The research will enhance the knowledge base and inform the development of tailored resources that support practitioners involved in the management and delivery of tertiary and secondary prevention programs. Stopping individuals from wanting to engage or re-engage in terrorist behaviour has become a key pillar of counter-terrorism efforts in Australia and throughout the world. These prevention efforts seem to offer the best strategic solution to the threat of terrorism, whilst also serving to minimise the broad impact on communities of violent extremism and more traditional forms of counter terrorism.       

Supervisors: Professor Ramon Spaaij, Professor Debra Smith, Dr Muhammad Iqbal
Institute: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 4402 Criminology

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact Professor Ramon Spaaij,  [email protected]   

Warehouse digital transformation: An investigation of technology practices & challenges (RFO-25071)

This research aims to investigate the impact of digitalisation in warehousing within the frameworks of Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0, and Supply Chain 4.0, with a focus on sustainable supply chain practices in Australia. The primary objective is to assess how digital technologies enhance operational efficiency, human-centric technological integration, and sustainability.

This study will involve in-depth interviews with logistics and operations managers in food and grocery sector in Victoria to gather rich insights into the practical challenges and benefits of digitalisation. Data analysis is conducted using NVivo software to systematically code and identify key themes and patterns. The findings will likely to contribute to theory by advancing our understanding of digitalisation, highlighting its role in enhancing efficiency and sustainability.

Practically, it will demonstrate how digitalisation can optimise resource use, reduce waste, and support compliance with environmental regulations. 

Supervisors: Associate Professor Himanshu Shee, Dr Tharaka De Vass
Institute: Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities             
Course Code: UPAF
Field of Research (FoR) Code: 4609 Information Systems

To indicate your interest and discuss your suitability, please contact: Associate Professor Himanshu Shee,  [email protected]