PAIR research examines themes of education, health, safety, gender equality, disability, and social inclusion

New research being conducted by the Partnership for Australia-Indonesia Research (PAIR) examines important themes of education, health, and safety in the family setting.

These projects will build on, and further complement, previous work done by PAIR and support DFAT’s Partnerships for Recovery strategy, examining issues of gender equality, disability and social inclusion.

PAIR researchers from Indonesia and Australia will gather evidence and make recommendations that can be used to inform public policy.

Click the name of the research project below for further information:

University codes:

  • Universitas Hasanuddin (Unhas)
  • Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM)
  • University of Melbourne (UoM)
  • Monash University (Monash)
  • University of Western Australia (UWA)

 

Digital health and supporting healthcare for people with a disability

People with a disability account for almost a quarter of the Indonesian population but they face significant barriers to accessing resources and services.

This situation was exacerbated by the global pandemic.

Digital health applications and services can help with information and consultation however many applications are not designed with inclusive practice in mind.

This project addresses the challenges faced by people with a disability in health care access by developing a framework for inclusive practices in development of digital health information and services.

It will also help government, the private sector and non-government organisations in designing digital health programs and services for people with a disability as well as for policy makers.

Research team

  • Co-leads: Associate Professor Intan Sari Areni (Unhas), Dr Misita Anwar (Monash)
  • Partner investigators: Assistant Professor Nur Fadilah (Unhas), Associate Professor Indrabayu (Unhas), Associate Professor Kadek Ayu Erika (Unhas)

 

Services for women in Makassar experiencing family violence

This project aims to map the support services available for women in Makassar who experience family violence.

It will also evaluate these services from the provider perspective and outline best practice and develop recommendations to improve services.

A key theme of this research is providing support for women who are experience family violence and the project aligns with the Partnership for Recovery strategy given its focus on experiences during COVID-19.

The recommendations of this project will help provide support to women who seek assistance when experiencing family violence as well as helping service providers in their roles.

Research team

  • Co-leads: Associate Professor Sharyn Graham Davies (Monash), Professor Rabina Yunus (Unhas)
  • Partner investigators: Associate Professor Becky Batagol (Monash), Associate Professor Andi Masyitha Irwan (Unhas), Dr Andi Ahmad Yani (Unhas), Dr Andi Imam Arundhana (Unhas)

 

Building stronger university to industry relations

This project addresses the need for a rigorous, locally specific university-industry development strategy at Universitas Hasanuddin to ensure the university is supporting industry innovation in Sulawesi.

It seeks to achieve this by analysing current capability, strategies and existing industry relationships at the university.

This will be compared against equivalent practices at two partnering universities – Universitas Gadjah Mada and the University of Melbourne – to inform the creation of a new industry-university engagement strategy at Universitas Hasanuddin.

Research team

  • Co-leads: Professor Mark Considine (UoM) and Associate Professor Mahatma Lanuru (Unhas)
  • Partner investigators: Dr Jamaluddin Fitrah Alam (Unhas) and Dr Muhammad Agung Ady Mangilep (Unhas)

 

Improving teacher quality in South Sulawesi vocational schools

A proportion of Indonesian young people will attend vocational education secondary schools (SMKs) where they will study a trade.

The aim of this research is to identify strategies to improve teaching quality (and subsequently student success) in fishery and seaweed vocational education schools in the province of South Sulawesi.

Three groups of stakeholders (teachers, school principals, and provisional government representatives) will be interviewed to provide context on the characteristics of exemplary teachers and challenges to improving teacher quality.

In addition, an extensive literature review will be conducted to identify best practice to improve teacher quality.

The outcomes will be a series of recommendations and an action plan to improve teacher quality.

Research team

  • Co-leads: Professor Vaille Dawson (UWA), Dr Novi Candra (UGM)
  • Partner investigators: Dr Mohammed Nur Rizal (UGM)

 

Commodity price increases and impacts on South Sulawesi household welfare

This research examines the impact of recent food price increases on household welfare in South Sulawesi.

At the start of 2022, Indonesia experienced a cooking oil crisis, leading to commodity price rises and affecting the purchasing power of households.

The effect of the food price increases could potentially be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among poor and vulnerable households.

Drawing from South Sulawesi household data, this project estimates the impact of price increases on household food consumption with a focus on essential commodities.

The research is to be provided to alleviate the impact of food price increases compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research team

  • Co-leads: Associate Professor Ram Pandit (UWA) and Associate Professor Anas Iswanto Anwar (Unhas)
  • Partner investigators: Dr Rakhmat Nurul Prima Nugraha (Unhas)

 

Improving accessibility for women and people with disabilities at Universitas Hasanuddin

This project seeks to provide a framework for Universitas Hasanuddin (Unhas) to create an inclusive campus supporting the social, emotional, and physical needs of students and staff.

The project has a specific target of gender equity and social and educational inclusion for people with disabilities and will also support the general wellbeing of the Unhas student and staff community.

An additional aim is to aid in building the capacity of local researchers and students in design and policy making around diversity and inclusion.

The project will comprise of:

  • A literature review of attitudes to inclusion and diversity in Australia and Indonesia.
  • An audit of the services provided to students and staff concerning diversity and inclusion offered by UoM and Unhas.
  • A pilot physical accessibility survey of part of Unhas’s campus using a survey tool developed in Melbourne.
  • A survey of university, government and community organisations around accessibility and inclusion at Unhas.
  • An assessment of options for inclusive interventions at Unhas.

Research team

  • Co-leads: Dr Andrew Martel (UoM), Dr Ria Wikantari (Unhas)
  • Partner investigators: Dr Sudirman Nasir (Unhas), Dr Ishak Salim (PerDIK Foundation), Dr Nurhaya Nurdin (Unhas), Associate Professor Iderlina Mateo-Babiano (UoM), Dr Kirsten Day (UoM), Associate Professor Peter Raisbeck (UoM)

Feature image by Unsplash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture of David Sexton

Digital Communications Coordinator,
the Australia-Indonesia Centre