Professor Alison Ritter has been awarded $300,134 for the project 'Designing illicit drug policy solutions: the role of participation'. This project aims to study whether the design of illicit drug policies can be enhanced with participation. As a complex social problem, the development of new policy design solutions requires participatory processes which engage multiple stakeholders and make explicit the underlying values and goals. The project aims to study the effects of participatory policy design and generate new innovative technologies of participation. The expected outcomes are new knowledge and practices for policy design, including policy design solutions for three current policy dilemmas for Australian governments. The benefits of more effective and participatory illicit drug policies include the economic, social and health gains accrued when policy works.

Alison is also a member of another $300,515 project team led by the UNSW Faculty of Medicine on 'Realising big data’s potential to address social and health inequities'.

In addition to leading these projects, the following SPRC academics are members of other multi-university teams that were successful during this latest round of ARC funding:

  • Associate Professor kylie valentine is a member of a $560,286 project team led by Monash University on 'Addressing hepatitis C-related discrimination in a post-cure world'.
  • Scientia Professor Carla Treloar is a member of a $355,501 project team led by Curtin University on 'Lived experiences of treatment for hepatitis C in Australia'.
  • Dr Jennifer Skattebol is a member of a $308,303 project team led by the UNSW Centre for Social Research in Health on ‘Aftercare for young people: A sociological study of resource opportunities’.