What is the state of our State?

Social Research

South Australians can look forward to a bipartisan overview of the State thanks to a group of respected academic researchers and commentators, including many from the University of Adelaide.

The recently published State of South Australia is the first and most comprehensive independent State-based overview of key trends and analysis of policy directions at a State level.

Edited by Associate Professor John Spoehr, Executive Director, Australian Institute for Social Research (AISR) at the University of Adelaide, and published by Wakefield Press, State of South Australia has been written for a wide audience including students, teachers, researchers, policy- and decision-makers.

It brings together a group of respected academic researchers and expert commentators to identify key trends, analyse existing policy settings and outline policy initiatives.

Among the 21 contributors, 10 are from the University of Adelaide. They are (with their respective subject title in brackets):

Associate Professor John Spoehr (State of Employment);

Dr Ray Broomhill (State of Gender Issues) is Adjunct Professor of Labour Studies within the AISR;

Ms Keri Chiveralls (State of Community Services) is a PhD student in the School of Social Sciences;

Ms Jenny Czernezkyj (State of Education) is completing her PhD within the Discipline of
Gender and Labour Studies;

Dr Diana Hetzel (State of Health) is the Senior Researcher at the Public Health Information Development Unit;

Professor Graeme Hugo (State of the Population) is a Federation Fellow, Professor of the Discipline of Geographical and Environmental Studies, and Director of the National Centre for Social Applications of Geographical Information Systems;

Dr Clem Macintyre (State of Politics) is a Senior Lecturer in Politics;

Dr John Williams (State of Law), currently on leave from his position of Associate Dean (Research) with the University's Law School;

Dr Lou Wilson (State of Community Services) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the AISR's Centre for Labour Research;

and Mr Pat Wright (State of Education), is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in Labour Studies and Director of the Centre for Labour Research.

"This will be an excellent educational resource for students and those interested in current affairs.

"It will also be a useful tool for policymakers seeking to better assess the impact of policies," Associate Professor Spoehr said.

"It aims to provide inspiration for the development of new policies and strategies designed to improve the lives of South Australians and the environment we live in."

The publication of State of South Australia has been made possible through the support of the University's Australian Institute of Social Research and the Don Dunstan Foundation, and took around 12 months to complete.

A fully revised edition of State of South Australia will be published every two years. Updates of selected chapters will be available on the Internet through the AISR website.

Story by Howard Salkow