The Australian National University (ANU) has extended a shared commitment to solving complex social challenges by renewing the ACT Wellbeing Framework research partnership with the ACT Government.
The research is led by Professor Tegan Cruwys and Dr Joanne Rathbone from the School of Medicine and Psychology, in collaboration with the ACT Chief Minister’s Office. Former ANU Professor Kate Reynolds, now with the University of Melbourne, is another project lead.
The findings are intended to provide a deeper understanding of multiple and entrenched disadvantage among children and young people and their families in the ACT and surrounding regions.
The partnership with ANU, established in 2024, has seen the University become a hub for wellbeing research, involving academics from eight Schools and Centres across four of the ANU Colleges.
The ACT Wellbeing Framework was developed through consultation with the community to inform government policies and investment priorities, adding another dimension to budget and cabinet decision-making.
“The partnership with ANU is a world-first,” Dr Rathbone said.
“It combines cross-government data linkage, interdisciplinary expertise, and research to build the evidence-base and tools needed to understand the impact that policy decisions have on wellbeing.
“Several countries and jurisdictions around the world have developed wellbeing frameworks, but the ACT is the only jurisdiction that has taken this next step.”
As the ACT Government’s research partner, the ANU team has had exclusive and unprecedented access to a new linked data asset delivered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics through the Life Course Data Initiative (LCDI) pilot.
The LCDI provides researchers, for the first time, linked Commonwealth and State/Territory data for over 4 million Australian children.
Working with the ACT Government, ANU is using the Life Course Dataset to investigate the characteristics and trajectories for disadvantaged youth in the ACT.
Register here for the seminar.
Focusing on children aged 5-6 across a 10-year period, the research aims to improve understanding of disadvantage by addressing two key questions:
What are the characteristics of multiple and entrenched disadvantage for children in the ACT?
What are the pathways into and, importantly, out of multiple disadvantage?
“Our project uses the administrative, population data the Australian and ACT governments collect to inform how governments can best support children,” Professor Cruwys said.
“This project is the first to model the multi-dimensional nature of disadvantage in the ACT, across childhood and adolescence, and identify potential targets for policy intervention.”
The research will help support policymakers and service providers in designing and delivering effective evidence-based interventions.
Professor Cruwys and members of the research team will share the first findings from Phase I of the LCDI ACT research at an upcoming ANU seminar on 29 October.
