Title
PhD Scholarship – Social Policy - ARC Discovery Grant: Young People with Disability & Young Carers: Opportunities & Contributions
College
College of Medicine and Public Health
Opening date
06-02-2024
Closing date
04-03-2024
Scholarship value
$33,000 per annum
Scholarship duration
Payment term
Level of Study
Higher Degrees Research
Outstanding candidates are sought for a three-year PhD scholarship for full-time research on an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research project “Young People with Disability & Young Carers: Opportunities & Contributions". This ground-breaking project in social policy is a partnership between Flinders University and Lancaster University, UK. It is co-designed with young people as community researchers and advisors.
Disability and chronic illness impact the lives of both young people with disability and young carers, who comprise a large proportion of all young Australians: about a fifth of school-aged Australians access disability-related support and just under one in ten under 25s provide care for a family member with disability. In recent decades, Australia has sought to recognise the rights of young people with disability and young carers, as evident in the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (2008) and the passing of the Carer Recognition Act (2010). Australia has also made substantial investments in social policy initiatives through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (2013) and interventions to support young carers at school. Despite these policy efforts, young people with disability and young carers continue to experience material disadvantage, poor educational outcomes, unemployment and social exclusion.
However, our understanding of the circumstances of young people with disability and young carers and how social policy supports them is greatly limited by a lack of knowledge of opportunities that young people with disability and young carers value (e.g., with respect to education or employment) or contributions they regard as important (e.g., in terms of caregiving, family formation, or active citizenship), or the role of policy in supporting their contributions.
The PhD project should aim to address this gap in knowledge by examining an aspect of social policy as it impacts on young people with disability and young carers (aged 15–24 years). The project could take advantage of existing large scale survey data or engage in in-depth qualitative research to produce evidence on young people’s interactions with policy interventions and how these support their aspirations and access to opportunities they value. There will be opportunities for developing skills in both qualitative and quantitative research, and policy analysis. Project leaders will welcome applications from a broad range of disciplines (eg., social sciences, public health, education, disability studies) that contribute to debates in social policy.
The PhD candidate will receive supervision from Professor Gerry Redmond (College of Business, Government & Law); and Professors Sally Robinson and Joanne Arciuli (both of College of Nursing and Health Sciences); with support of emeritus Professor Eric Emerson, Lancaster University.
The scholarship includes:
The scholarship will be awarded for a maximum of three years. Recipients may be eligible for one six-month extension subject to application and consideration by the Scholarships Committee.
People with lived experience as a young person with disability and/or young carer are encouraged to apply.
To be eligible for the award of this scholarship a student must:
Prescribed Conditions
How to Apply
Applicants must first contact Prof. Gerry Redmond (gerry.redmond@flinders.edu.au).
For full details of the Flinders application procedure, see https://www.flinders.edu.au/study/apply/apply-research-degree/how-to-apply
Successful candidates will be able to apply for a $5,000 per year scholarship top-up.
Applications close Monday 4 March 2024 at 5:00pm.
At Flinders we embrace and celebrate diversity and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people of all ages, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities.
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