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NILS NewsDr Deb King has been elected Vice President of The Australian Sociological Association (TASA). TASA is the professional association of sociologists in Australia. Dr Yan Tan’s book Resettlement in the Three Gorges Project has been recently published by Hong Kong University Press. The book provides a great depth of insight into TGP resettlement issues and developmental issues of poverty, inequality, and social vulnerability. It is the first to be published on the early stages of this mega-resettlement outside China. As has been formally acknowledged in the book, Yan is especially grateful to the Faculty of Social Sciences for Research Support Grants, which enabled the most recent data and materials to be collected and incorporated into the book. The link of the book availability, with information on what the book is about and the endorsements from Michael M. Cernea (also World Bank's Senior Adviser for Sociology and Social Policy), Graeme Hugo, Thayer Scudder, and Andrew Watson, is: http://hkupress.ccnet-hk.com/Common/Reader/Products/ShowProduct.jsp?Pid=1&Version=0&Cid=16&Charset=iso-8859-1&page=-1&key=9789622098565 Dr Yan Tan at the National Institute of Labour Studies (NILS) was invited by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) to participate in a Research Workshop on Migration and the Environment: Developing a global research agendathat was held in Munich, Germany, in 16-18 April 2008. The main objectives of the Workshop were to: develop a research agenda; compare perspectives on migration, environment, and social vulnerability across regions; identify priority areas of research for policy makers; and create momentum among a core research network of experts through an expert taskforce to carry research strategy forward. An interdisciplinary group of about 25 researchers from both international organisations and academic institutions from various regions, and 11 senior officials from the IOM, the UN bodies (UNEP, UNDP), and other entities (Munich Re Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation) attended this workshop. At the workshop, as one of 12 nominated experts, Yan presented a position paper on the topic of ‘Linking Migration Responses to Environmental Degradation and Change’. The paper will be included in a synthesis report and subsequent peer-reviewed publication related to environmental migration. Ms Megan Moskos (Research Assistant/Phd Candidate NILS) was invited to give a presentation at the SA Health and Community Services Skills Board ‘Human Services at Work Conference: Developing people – Sustaining our workforce’ which was held at the Adelaide wine centre in May this year. The presentation entitled ‘Supporting Marginal Groups to Secure and Maintain Employment in the Health and Community Services Industry’, drew from qualitative research conducted last year to explore the strategies the health and community services industry can develop to engage jobless South Australians to gain employment in the industry and how to support such groups to remain in employment once there. Joanne Flavel was an invited speaker on May 7 at the Combined Conference of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine held at the Hilton hotel in Adelaide. She presented the paper: ‘The Effect of Health on Older Workers’ Employment Participation’. Click here to download a copy of the report 'Industrial Relations And Productivity In Australia' authored by E/Prof Keith Hancock and commissioned by the Chifley Research Centre. Sue Richardsons presentation to the Melbourne Business School event ‘Starting Early: should we be investing more in early childhood’, is available on the MBS website: Debra King has been awarded a Strategic Health Research Project grant ($300,000) for a 2 year project examining "Resilience and the mental health and wellbeing of farm families experiencing climate variation in South Australia". The research team includes Anna Lane (NILS), Colin MacDougall (Public Health) and Jennene Greenhill (Rural Health). NILS welcomes Llainey Smith to it's team. Llainey previously worked as a research assistant with the Individual Differences and Computer Assessment Laboratory, University of Adelaide and as a Psychology Tutor in the School of Psychology, University of Adelaide. Sue Richardson was awarded $1,060,623 by the NHMRC to research the impact of the changing forms of employment and unemployment on overall health. This multi-disciplinary study is part of the NHMRC's Preventative Healthcare and Strengthening Australia's Social and Economic Fabric program and was one of only 8 successful grants in a highly competitive arena. The project is titled, 'Changing patterns of work: impacts on physical and mental health and the mediating role of resiliency and social capital', and will provide original insights into what aspects of the employment relation help or harm health, and what enables some people to escape the harm that others experience. This will provide vital information to underpin policies designed to gain the benefits of a flexible workplace, with minimum harm to workers. Other members of the research team are Prof Fran Baum, A/Prof Anne Kavanagh, A/Prof Anthony LaMontagne, Dr Anna Ziersch, Dr Diannah Lowry (NILS), Mr Laurence Lester (NILS)and Ms Rebecca Bentley. On Monday, February 5, 2007 the Chinese party, China Population and Development Research Centre (CPDRC) (of the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China) met with NILS to discuss potential collaborative projects. Our visitors were Prof. Qian WANG, (Communist) Party Secretary of CPDRC and Deputy Director of CPDRC - a high academic and official profile (Deputy Minister of the government institution - National Population and Family Planning Commission of China), Mr. Yun-peng, WEI - Chief of the International Research and Liaison Department at CPDRC. Also joining the meeting were Dr Guangyu Zhang and Dr Lareen Newman (Dept of Public Health).
Both parties have discussed a range of collaborative areas. Some important achievements can be drawn as follows: 1. NILS and CPDRC have formally established long-term academic collaboration relationships. 2. NILS was invited by the CPDRC to make invaluable contributions to the forthcoming national longitudinal survey into Chinese health. It is likely that the Chinese party will organise a workshop, discussing international experiences in the design of survey instruments and management of large-scale panel surveys. 3. Both institutions would like to collaboratively undertake research projects which are interesting and beneficial to both sides.
Dr Yan Tan, as one of the seven experts invited by the UNESCAP, participated in the Regional Seminar on ‘Strengthening the Capacity of National Machineries for Gender Equality to Shape Migration Policies and Protect Migrant Women’ that was held in Bangkok in 22-24 November 2006. The participants include twenty-four senior government officials from 17 nations in Asia and the Pacific region, and 22 representatives from the United Nations bodies (UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIFEM), specialized agencies and related organizations (ILO, WHO), intergovernmental organizations (IOM), and other entities. (e.g., The Asia Foundation, GAATTW, JICA, MIF) The purpose of the meeting was to enable representatives of national machineries to better understand the gendered aspects of both irregular and regular, international and national-level migration, including migration associated with conflicts and adopt recommendations on ways to ensure the policies, laws and initiatives have a gender dimension. Topics covered included:
Dr Tan prepared a technical paper on the topic of gender dimensions of population displacement caused by development projects. The paper was entitled ‘Issues of Women Migrants and a Gendered ‘Lens’ Towards Developmental Resettlement in the Three Gorges Project, China’. The Seminar resulted in the following outputs:
The policy recommendations made by NILS (in conjunction with Monash University and the University of Melbourne) to improve the way in which Australia selects its skilled migrants were accepted in full by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Dr Martin O'Brien, a lecturer in Economics and Information Systems at the University of Wollongong, NSW visited NILS from March 15 - April 3 and gave a seminar on older male workers and job mobility in Australia. NILS welcomes Darcy Fitzpatrick to it's team of Research Assistants. Darcy has an Honours Degree in Economics and Finance from Adelaide University and was NILS Summer Scholar in 2006. Julius Mollet, PhD student with NILS, had a paper accepted by the International Education Journal (IEJ). The title of the article is “Educational Investment in Conflict Areas of Indonesia: The Case of West Papua,” and will be published in June. Global Policy Network (GPN)NILS prepares a twice-yearly report for the Global Policy Network (GPN), which is co-ordinated from Washington, DC by the progressive think-tank, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The GPN was established in order to build an online community of labour market research organisations which share information about their specific countries' experiences, and examine global directions in economic and institutional change. Our latest report, posted to the GPN on 24 June 2006, is available for download. Other country reports can be accessed via the GPN website. For more about the Australian experience, please contact Josh Healy. Click here to read this report. Children of the Lucky Country? How Australian Society has turned it's back on children and why children matter.This newly published book written by Fiona Stanley, Sue Richardson and Margot Prior incisively examines how we treat our children and sets out the ways that our society can fully realise their potential. Informed, timely and stimulating, it is a book for anyone who cares about the future of young people. For more information contact Pan Macmillan Australia. No Time to Lose
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