Our Vision
To deliver transformative research and translation to break the cycle of deep and persistent disadvantage and improve outcomes for all Australians.
Mission
To produce new knowledge, precision methods, transformative social interventions, enduring infrastructure and new capacity that supports all Australians to achieve their potential over their life course.
Goals
- Increase commitment in Australia to reducing deep and persistent disadvantage.
- Research, design, implement and evaluate policy and practice that address factors associated with social and economic disadvantage, informed by life course theory and enabled through diverse disciplines.
- Demonstrate international leadership in advanced research and social interventions to address disadvantage in ways that are truly responsive to individuals and communities.
- Show leadership in evidence-based research to improve measurement and understanding of disadvantage.
- Collaborate with policy makers, service providers and communities to support transmission of research findings, evidence-informed policy and practice to address disadvantage.
- Build Australian capacity and capability through training in life course approaches for early- and mid-career researchers, supported by leading international scholars and cross-sector external partnerships.
Leadership and Governance
The Centre’s leadership will ensure that the Centre’s focus remains strongly on its research mission, that Centre activities are benchmarked against world’s best practice, and that the Centre’s values are reflected in its decisions and actions. The Centre’s governance structure is designed to deliver inclusive and transparent decision making across the Centre’s partnerships, nodes, research teams and participating disciplines.
Objective 1.1
To forge effective working relationships with the Centre’s participating organisations, partner organisations, key stakeholders and communities that deliver mutual benefits and make use of the unique skills and capabilities of the parties.
Objective 1.2
To ensure strong performance for the Centre and effective use of Centre resources through regular reporting and evaluation against agreed timeframes and measures.
Objective 1.3
To pursue strategic growth for the Life Course Centre by balancing the Centre’s core research program, vision and mission with emerging areas of importance and need.
Objective 1.4
To ensure the sustainability of the Life Course Centre throughout its funding period and beyond through leadership training and careful succession planning.
Research
Research excellence and impact are primary goals of the Life Course Centre. The Centre’s leadership is responsible for ensuring the research programs achieve these goals and that the research conducted in the Centre is of the highest standard, benchmarked internationally, responsive to emerging international trends and scientific developments, and of value to the Australian people.
Objective 2.1
To develop highly strategic and innovative research and capabilities for Australia in research areas relevant to understanding and reducing the level and transmission of social disadvantage over the life course and across generations.
Objective 2.2
To firmly establish the Centre’s core research agenda, as outlined in the Centre Proposal, as a baseline for future research growth and development.
Objective 2.3
To establish and promote the Centre’s Flagship Research as models of collaborative, codesigned and multi-disciplinary applied research.
Objective 2.4
To identify critical areas in research development, and demonstrate leadership and best practice in these areas by working with national and international experts.
Capacity Building
The Capacity Building Portfolio focuses on training and mentoring for students and ECRs. The committee is highly representative, with student and ECR members playing a strong role. The committee also regularly solicits feedback and input from the broader Centre in the development and delivery of training.
Major Areas of Activity:
Capacity Building Award
Grant applicants are able to identify opportunities for training, networking and mentoring that are specific to their educational and professional needs. This allows the Portfolio to deliver highly tailored capacity building with maximum impact at an individual level.
Diverse Advisory Grant Scheme
The funding scheme aims to incentivise HDRs to incorporate greater diversity into their advisory teams, by taking on a cross-nodal, interdisciplinary or industry mentor as an informal advisor.
Centre School
Face-to-face schools for ECRs and HDRs are delivered in opposite years, providing highly targeted and specialised training in a supportive and collegial atmosphere.
Other Training
Training requests from Centre members includes leadership, science communication, writing for The Conversation, and building engagement with end users. Where these activities are not offered by the partner universities, the Capacity Building Portfolio has budgeted for a series of small-group workshops delivered by external experts.
Data for Policy
The Centre has delivered Data for Policy workshops since 2014, with a highly successful workshop in Canberra in August 2023. A number of potential events and projects have arisen from this, and the work has now been consolidated into a formal portfolio with dedicated staff and a dedicated budget.
Major Areas of Activity:
Data for Policy Portfolio Committee
This is a multi-sector committee with representatives from state and federal government and NGOs. It plays a valuable role in bringing multiple sectors together to discuss common data interests in a neutral space.
National and International Workshops
These workshops aim to bring together Life Course Centre members with partners and other relevant organisations and interest groups to discuss issues and opportunities around the use of data for policy.
Consolidation of Data for Policy initiatives
This includes coordinating the publication of Data for Policy related outputs and fostering new and continuing stakeholder relationships. It also includes support for significant data projects.
First Nations Research
The First Nations Portfolio promotes best practice in the Centre in research involving First Nations people, and promotes increased engagement of First Nations people with the Centre’s research. The Co-Leader of the portfolio, Brendan Kennedy, is a Tati Tati man whose major project with the Centre, Kulingi kaiejin ruwe, is looking at water rights on the Milloo, the Murray River, near Robinvale in Victoria.
Major Areas of Activity:
Review of Indigenous data governance and sovereignty in Australia and internationally
Identifying principles, protocols, institutional arrangements, case studies and best practice
Indigenous data governance model for the Life Course Centre
Identify key principles and strategies to embed in a Life Course Centre-specific framework. Provide seminars and training to develop a shared understanding of what Indigenous data governance and sovereignty might mean in the Centre.
Support for Centre projects
Profiling First Nations-centred projects in the Life Course Centre, providing funding for First Nations research and engagement, and providing Cultural Awareness training for Centre researchers.
Developing First Nations researchers
Develop agenda on alternative pathways into research for First Nations researchers, including through visiting centres with a First Nations focus to share knowledge.
Knowledge Transfer
The portfolio is responsible for identifying and promoting innovative ways to ensure the Centre’s research is disseminated and translated for policy and practice to the broader public and key stakeholder groups such as government, business, not-for-profit organisations, and those experiencing deep and persistent disadvantage. It enables Centre members to engage with consumers and stakeholders to inform and drive research questions that are policy and practice relevant and to inform the effective translation of findings into policy and practice.
Major Areas of Activity:
Centre-wide implementation of Knowledge Transfer best practice guides and training.
Promote and disseminate existing resources and training, establish additional shorter training resources. Supported by a suite of Knowledge Transfer Awards or all levels.
Centre-wide implementation of Community Involvement Program.
Establish and provide ongoing support to the Centre-wide national Community Advisory Committee. Manage the community involvement bank that will provide small grants to Centre members to enable them to undertake initial community involvement activities. Developing and undertaking a priority setting process with Community Advisory Committee members, and additional community members if required, to seek community priorities for future research to guide the Centre’s strategic planning.
Our Values
| Value | Within Society | Within the Centre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excellence | We promote excellence through the rigour, depth and quality of our research and across all aspects of our mission and operations. | We provide opportunities for Centre members to achieve excellence in their research and their careers. | |
| Respect | The Centre endeavours to understand the unique needs of Centre partners, stakeholders and communities, and to work productively to deliver meaningful outcomes for them. | Members feel supported to share their unique contributions and genuine constructive feedback is given. | |
| Collaboration | The Centre creates opportunities for collaboration with Centre partners, stakeholders and community members, and is open to approaches for collaboration on projects aligned with the Centre’s mission and vision. | Members actively seek to break down research silos, and collaborate across nodes, disciplines, and sectors. | |
| Communication | The Centre provides regular insights into Centre research for partners, stakeholders and the broader community, in formats that are meaningful and useful for them. | Decisions are made with transparency, building a sense of cohesion, trust, respect and community. | |
| Integrity | The Centre is an impartial research organisation, but considers the impact of its research on others and is responsive to the concerns of partners, stakeholders and the community about the conduct of research. | High quality research is produced that is open, honest, maintaining confidentiality, and with appropriate credit given to all contributors. | |
| Community | The Centre seeks to obtain community input into research design and delivery, and endeavours to report research findings in a way that is meaningful to the community. | Members are kind, generous and respectful, and are mindful of how their actions affect others. | |
| Growth | The Centre is responsive to the changing needs of Australia and seeks to increase its capacity to deliver value to the Australian public. | Supporting all members to continually develop their skills and abilities. |