The latest recipients of the Australian Human Rights Institute's seed funding grants have been announced, with three research projects benefiting from up to $10,000 to support human rights research.
The 2022 projects include research on:
- The right to clean air in Pacific low- and middle-income countries. Chief Investigator Dr Andrew Dansie.
- The impact of family separation on mental health and resettlement outcomes of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia. Chief Investigator Dr Yulisha Byrow.
- Addressing implicit bias in the healthcare of older people. Chief Investigator Dr Meghan Ambrens.
Each year Australian Human Rights Institute Associates are eligible to apply to the Institute for seed funding grants in the range of $5,000-$10,000 to support research projects with a human rights focus. Five research projects received funding in 2021.
All of those projects are currently underway, with recent news on their progress below.
From blackbirding to the Seasonal Workers’ Programme: Tracking inter-generational vulnerability
In this inter-disciplinary project, seed funding was used to help create a searchable, useable, mappable prototype database that will eventually allow academics, human rights specialists, Pacific Islanders and their descendants abroad, students, and members of the broader community to access data about Australian South Sea Islander [ASSI] labour, 1863-1901. Later this year, project researcher and Institute Associate, Scientia Associate Professor Emma Christopher, will be presenting conference papers in Australia and Bonn, Germany demonstrating the database. Emma is also the first named researcher and instigator of a successful ARC Discovery Project Grant that relates to this project.
The impact of human rights-related stressors during the refugee determination process on mental health in the context of sustained displacement
Led by Institute Associate Dr Joel Hoffman, the key aim of this project is to identify human rights related stressors amongst refugees living in Indonesia and how these stressors related to mental health and wellbeing. Seed funding was used to facilitate and conduct a series of Focus Group Discussions with Indonesia-based refugee leaders and representatives. Data analysis is underway and once completed will be used to write a paper to be submitted and published later in the year.
The Art of Human Rights: A Knowledge Translation Project By, With, and For Women Living with HIV in Australia
This project was developed to make women's lived experiences of HIV visible, and to document the impacts of creative methods in changing stigmatising and discriminatory attitudes in the general public. The research team, which includes Institute Associate Dr Allison Carter, hosted virtual tours and discussions of the 'Positively Women' art exhibition and conducted an evaluation survey of the exhibition website, examining the experiences of the website audience and assessing the exhibition’s impact. There are two publications in development related to this project that will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals and conferences in 2022.
Human rights implications of COVID-19 vaccine passports
This empirical ethics research project is examining the potential impacts of a ‘vaccine passport’ using a human rights lens. Researchers include Institute Associates Dr Bridget Haire and Professor Jackie Leach Scully. Qualitative interviews are underway with key stakeholders from populations who experience vulnerability and/or marginalisation in the health context, and analysis and discussion of completed interviews has commenced. Among other planned outputs, findings will be written up into a paper that will be submitted to a human rights-related peer reviewed journal.
Let’s talk about tax – Identifying and supporting women experiencing economic abuse
In addition to providing free, confidential and independent tax advice to financially vulnerable women experiencing economic abuse, this research is exploring the use of pro bono tax advice as a mechanism to screen for domestic and family violence. Since there is currently no publicly available data quantifying the otherwise unmet need for independent tax advice among financially vulnerable women experiencing domestic and family violence, this research will be the first to address this literature gap. The research will present the first empirical analysis exploring whether mental health and financial wellbeing outcomes are improved among women experiencing economic abuse who are otherwise unable to access free independent tax advice and support and referral to external organisations.
More information on the Institute's 2021 seed funding grant recipients is available here.