The Social Policy Research Services (SPRS) Contract

The Social Policy Research contract was originally a five-year contract with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to undertake a range of projects investigating labour market and social policy issues. Commenced in 2005, it follows a similar four-year contract with the Department of Family and Community Services which concluded in 2004. The SPRS Contract was extended in 2010 for a further three years. Below is a list of projects undertaken or commenced under these research contracts.

For a quick overview of research from 2005-2009 under this contract, a set of information sheets has been produced and can be found here.

Projects commenced under the current contract (2010-2012)

Projects commencing in 2012

• 1/12 Graduate Employment Outcomes for International Students
• 2/12 Early Impacts on Course Choice and Completion of Moving to Student Demand-driven VET in Victoria
• 3/12 The Outcomes of Early School Leaving for Disadvantaged Students: The Role of Non-cognitive Skills
• 4/12 Outcomes for Teenage Mothers in the First Years after Birth
• 5/12 Update of the Synthesis of Melbourne Institute Research under the SPRS Contract 2005-2009 with 2010 Projects

Projects commencing in 2011

• 1/11 The Effects of Schools in Retaining Disadvantaged Youth in Education Final Report
• 2/11 The Role of VET-in-schools in School Completion and Post-school Outcomes Final Report
• 3/11 Synthesis of Melbourne Institute Research under the SPRS Contract 2005-2009 Information Sheets
• 4/11 Decomposing Differences in Labour Force Status between Indigenous Australians and the General Population
• 5/11 Longitudinal Analysis of Employment Outcomes for Vulnerable and Other Migrants
• 6/11 How does "Poor" Middle-years Experience Impact on Youth Outcomes?

Projects commenced in 2010

• 1/10 The Effects of Childcare and Preschool on Child Development
• 2/10 Second Chance Education: Re-Engagement in Education of Early School Leavers Final Report
• 3/10 Activation and Welfare Dependency Final Report
• 4/10 Employment Retention in an Economic Downturn Final Report
• 5/10 Dynamics of Future Mature Age Workforce Participation Final Report

Projects commenced under the 2005-2009 contract

Projects commenced in 2009

• 1/09 Transitions of Income Support Recipients with Incapacity Exemptions Final Report
• 2/09 Impact of Education and Training on Income Support Recipients Final Report
• 3/09 Successful and Unsuccessful Pathways to Employment Final Report
• 4/09 The Re-engagement in Education of Early School Leavers Final Report

Projects commenced in 2008

• 1/08 The education and employment outcomes of youth in school-to-work transition Final Report
• 2/08 Wage transitions of apprentices Final Report
• 3/08 Location economics of income support recipients - extension project Final Report
• 4/08 Combining income support and earnings Final Report
• 5/08 Mental health of the Australian working population Final Report
• 6/08 Experience of income support recipients with a mental illness Final Report
• 7/08 Dynamics of household joblessness in Australia 2001-2006 Final Report

Projects commenced in 2007

• 1/07 Incidence of work related injury and illness and outcomes for specific groups of workers Final Report
• 2/07 Intergenerational correlation of labour market outcomes Final Report
• 3/07 The factors that influence wage progression Final Report
• 4/07 Wage transitions of apprentices (Project Deferred to 2008)
• 5/07 What determines how long women spend out of the labour force after the birth of a child Final Report
• 6/07 Full time work and sole parents Final Report
• 7/07 Teenage mothers' income support, education and paid work Final Report
• 8/07 Human Capital and the Patterns of Employment and Welfare Receipt Final Report
• 9/07 Pathways to higher pay Final Report

Projects commenced in 2006

• 1/06 Use of informal childcare and decisions on work by income support recipients Final Report
• 2/06 Stepping stones - do low paid jobs lead to increased earnings and lower welfare dependency over time? Final Report
• 3/06 Disability and employment in the Australian labour market Final Report
• 4/06 Mature age employment and workplace strategy Final Report
• 5/06 Location economics of income support recipients Final Report
• 6/06 Skill shortages and the absence of wage pressures Final Report
• 7/06 Working credits - a low cost alternative to universal income tax credits? Final Report
• 8/06 Link between changes in employment and changes in income support Final Report

Projects commenced in 2005

• 1/05 Income support reliance in Australia Final Report
• 2/05 Previous income support experience of people granted DSP Final Report
• 3/05 An examination of welfare transitions using the first three waves of the HILDA Survey Final Report
• 4/05 The dynamics of jobless households: using waves 1-3 to assess causes and consequences of persistent joblessness Final Report
• 5/05 Labour force outcomes for the mature age population Final Report
• 6/05 Synthesis of Melbourne Institute research Final Report
• 7/05 The dynamics of income support receipt among 'new' income support customers Final Report
• 8/05 Income support spells initiated by unemployment: Commonalities and heterogeneities across population groups in duration and determination of duration Final Report
• 9/05 Transitions from casual employment in Australia Final Report

Projects completed under the 2001-2004 contract

• 1. Reliance on income support in Australia - Final Report
• 2. Effect of changes to activity test arrangements on exit from payments - A: Mutual Obligation - Working Paper
• 3. Effect of changes to activity test arrangements on exit from payments - B: Intensive Review - Final Report, Working Paper
• 4. Movements between benefit types - Final Report, Working Paper
• 5. The impact of social policy initiatives on labour supply incentives: A review of the literature - Report, Working Paper
• 6. Effect of changes to activity test arrangements on exit from payments - D: Work for the Dole - Final Report, Working Paper
• 7. Effect of changes to activity test arrangements on exit from payments - C: Job Seeker Diary - Final Report, Working Paper
• 8. Economic Analyses of Families: Existing Research Findings - Final Report, Working Paper
• 9. Economic and sociolgical analyses of communities: Existing research findings - Final Report, Working Paper
• 10. Effect of family structure on life satisfaction: Australian evidence - Final Report, Working Paper
• 11. Neighbourhood and family effects on employment - Final Report
• 12. Attitudes to provision for old age - Final Report, Working Paper
• 13. Work and family directions in the US and Australia: A policy research agenda - Final Report, Working Paper
• 14. Understanding and improving data quality relating to low income households - Final Report
• 15. The Economics of Marriage and Divorce
• 16. Effects of the new tax system: A policy simulation using the Melbourne Institute Tax and Transfer Simulator - Final Report, Working Paper
• 16a. Estimation of Wage Equations in Australia: Allowing for censored observation of labour supply - Final Report, Working Paper 1, Working Paper 2, Working Paper 3, Working Paper 4
• 17. Effects of the Working Nation social security reforms: A policy simulation using MITTS - Final Report, Working Paper
• 18. The Growth of Jobless Households and the Polarisation of Employment in Australia - Final Report, Working Paper 9/2002
• 19. Comparison of alternative specifications for the labour supply models in MITTS - Final Report Part 1, Part 2, Part 4
• 21. Structural analyses of duration dependence and persistence in job-offer arrival rates and wages - Final Report
• 22. Labour market outcomes and welfare dependence of persons with disabilities in Australia - Final Report
• 23. Jobless households (HILDA) - Final Report
• 24. Effect of family composition and worklessness on the distribution of income and expenditure - Final Report, Working Paper 19/2003
• 25. Effects of divorce on childrens' education and whether they are accounted for by moving house - Final Report, Working Paper 22/2004
• 26. Effects of education, fertility and divorce on married women's employment: Patterns past, present and future - Final Report, Working Paper 23/2004
• 27. Working time preferences in couple households (HILDA)
• 28. The importance of where people live for subjective welfare - Final Report, Working Paper 24/2003
• 29. International comparison of trends in the polarisation of employment - Final Report
• 30. The effect of childcare costs on labour supply - Final Report
• 31. Extending the range of distributional measures in MITTS - Final Report, Working Paper 21/2003
• 32. MITTS - GAUSS for Windows - Final Report
• 33. Use of HILDA in MITTS - Final Report
• 34. Transitions to retirement - Final Report
• 35. Underemployment in Australia - Final Report
• 36. Job search of the unemployed - Descriptions and determinants - Final Report
• 37. DSP Outflows - Final Report
• 38. Extending output of MITTS (project a) - Final Report
• 39. Validation of MITTS-A - Final Report
• 40. Dynamic properties of income support - Final Report
• 41. Cohort and distributional analysis of wealthy Australians - Final Report
• 42. Financial stress, wealth, poverty and indebtedness - Final Report
• 43. Who uses childcare? - Final Report
• 44. Long term unemployment - Final Report
• 45. Incentives of the current system for single and married mothers - Final Report
• 46. Reweighting of SIHC for use in MITTS - Final Report, Working Paper 26/2004
• 47. Living arrangements of young people