University student volunteering is prevalent in Western countries, but has rarely been critically evaluated by researchers. Little is known about the different ways in which student volunteer programmes are organised. Using a matrix constructed from the publicly available websites of all Australian universities, and 60 interviews with key…

The growing prevalence and severity of mental health difficulties across university student populations is a critical issue for universities and their wider communities. Yet little is known about student perspectives on the stressors in university environments and the steps that universities could take to better support student mental wellbeing.…

For those receiving funding from the UK HEFCE-funded Open Educational Resource Programme (2009-2012), the sustainability of project outputs was one of a number of essential goals. Our approach for the hosting and distribution of health and life science open educational resources (OER) was based on the utilisation of the WordPress.org blogging…

Established in 1940, Lady Gowrie Child Centres in Australia provide integrated early childhood programs and develop and share project work, information, resources and training at local and national levels. While changes in social policy compromised their provision of integrated programs, the centre in Adelaide has made real strides towards moving…

These discussant papers from an International Committee on Family Research (CFR) seminar explore eight topics, seven of which are presented in Part 3. Topics addressed include (1) the worth of supporting the family and pressures, conflicts, and expectations of family life; (2) major demographic trends affecting family policy; (3) families with…

A report on the language services and language education needs of women in Australia, particularly those whose native language is other than English, is presented. First, it reviews the need for language services such as translation and interpreting in the large, diverse, and growing population of women of non-English-speaking backgrounds.…

This document contains final papers presented at an International Committee on Family Research (CFR) seminar; included are key, discussant, and free papers as well as closing and farewell addresses. Key papers covered (1) worldwide trends in administrating family policy and (2) work, economic policies, and welfare consequences and…

Four Priority Country Area overviews, one State overview and one Project Profile are included in this report from the Priority Country Area Program (PCAP), designed to improve the educational opportunities of rural Queensland children. The program resulted from a 1977-79 Schools Commission report suggesting that rural students may be disadvantaged…

The impact of research and development (R&D) on decision making and managers in vocational education and training (VET) was examined through a review of recent Australian studies in VET and health care. The framework adopted to analyze the relationships between R&D and decision making distinguished between the decision-making domain, the…

How institutional research can improve the quality of institutional performance of colleges and universities in the face of funding constraints is discussed. An example of the use of instructional research to assist in documenting institutional quality in Australia is noted. Institutional research uses data collection, analysis, and interpretation…