AI ReWired: How communities are using AI to Support Social and Environmental Justice

PROJECT SUMMARY

A persons neck wearing a microship necklace

AI ReWired: How communities are using AI to Support Social and Environmental Justice

Focus Areas: News & Media, Mobilities, Health
Research Program: People
Status: Completed

The future we are being sold is an automated wonderland, a techtopia that will use algorithms to heal our ecological crisis and restore social justice. A dream world where we enjoy endless innovation and growth in sparkling smart cities, where we are liberated from the burden of work, where the future of our species lies in billionaire funded missions to Mars.

But what if this promise sounds more like a nightmare?
What are the alternatives?

The AI ReWired project uses co-creative documentary film practice to uncover how diverse communities utilise AI systems to protect the environment, support social justice and promote fairness in their communities.

RESEARCHERS

Jeni Lee

Jeni Lee

Lead Investigator,
Monash University

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Sarah Pink

Prof Sarah Pink

Chief Investigator,
Monash University

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Dr Damiano Spina

Dr Damiano Spina

Associate Investigator,
RMIT University

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Yolande Strengers

Prof Yolande Strengers

Associate Investigator,
Monash University

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Georgia Van Toorn

Dr Georgia van Toorn

Associate Investigator,
UNSW

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Thao Phan

Dr Thao Phan

Research Fellow,
Monash University

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Emma Quilty

Dr Emma Quilty

Affiliate,
Monash University

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Melissa Gregg

De Mel Gregg

Senior Industry Fellow,
RMIT

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Nonie May

Dr Nonie May

Project support,
Monash University

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Trauma-informed AI: Developing and testing a practical AI audit framework for use in social services

PROJECT SUMMARY

Woman's face with artificial intelligence graphic on right side

Trauma-informed AI: Developing and testing a practical AI audit framework for use in social services

Focus Areas: Social Services
Research Program: Machines
Status: Completed

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used in the delivery of social services. While it offers opportunities for more efficient, effective and personalised service delivery, AI can also generate greater problems, reinforcing disadvantage, generating trauma or re-traumatising service users.

Conducted by a multi-disciplinary research team with extensive expertise in the intersection of social services and digital technology, this project seeks to co-design an innovative AI trauma-informed audit framework to assess the extent to which an AI’s decisions may generate new trauma or re-traumatise.

The value of a trauma-informed AI audit framework is not simply to assess digital technologies after they are built and in operation, but also to inform designs of digital technologies and digitally enabled social services from their inception.

It will be road-tested using multiple case studies of AI use in child/family services, domestic and family violence services, and social security/welfare payments.

PUBLIC RESOURCES

Building a Trauma-Informed Algorithmic Assessment Toolkit

Target audience: Social service organisations

This Toolkit has been designed to assist organisations in their use of automation in service delivery at any stage of their automation journey: ideation; design; development; piloting; deployment or evaluation. While of particular use for social service organisations working with people who may have experienced past trauma, the tool will be beneficial for any organisation wanting to ensure safe, responsible and ethical use of automation and AI.

View toolkit

RESEARCHERS

Paul Henman

Prof Paul Henman

Lead Investigator,
University of Queensland

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ADM+S Investigator Philip Gillingham

Dr Philip Gillingham

Associate Investigator,
University of Queensland

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Lyndal Sleep profile picture

Dr Lyndal Sleep

Affiliate,
Central Queensland University

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Suzanna Fay

Dr Suzanna Fay

Senior Lecturer,
University of Queensland

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PARTNERS

University of Notre Dame-IBM Tech Ethics Lab

University of Notre Dame-IBM Tech Ethics Lab

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Mapping automated decision-making tools in administrative decision-making in NSW

PROJECT SUMMARY

In motion people walking by office building

Mapping automated decision-making tools in administrative decision-making in NSW

Focus Areas: Social Services
Research Program: Institutions
Status: Completed

The project is a partnership between ADM+S and the New South Wales Ombudsman to map and analyse the use of automated systems in state and local government sectors in New South Wales (NSW). The project follows from a ground-breaking report on the use of technology in government decision-making published by the NSW Ombudsman in 2022.

The project will first map where and how NSW state and local government agencies are using automated systems in administrative decision processes. This is the first attempt to undertake such a systematic mapping in any jurisdiction in Australia and one of the very few attempts across the world. This first stage, led by Prof Paul Henman, Chief Investigator at ADM+S, and Dr Lyndal Sleep, Research Fellow at ADM+S, will distribute questionnaires and conduct targeted interviews with NSW state and local government agencies; building on the work from the ‘Mapping ADM in Australian Social Services’ project which mapped the use of automated systems in social security settings in Australia.

The second part of the research will be led by ADM+S Chief Investigator Prof Kimberlee Weatherall, and ADM+S Research Fellow Dr José-Miguel Bello y Villarino, which will analyse the different systems planned and in use by NSW public authorities, and the key risks and issues that emerge.

Researchers from ADM+S and Macquarie University will contribute to different legal and technical elements of the project.

The NSW Ombudsman will table a report to NSW Parliament with the findings of the research by the end of 2023.

 

This project culminated in the release of ‘Automated decision-making in New South Wales: mapping and analysis of the use of ADM systems by State and Local governments’, a report published in partnership with ADM+S and the New South Wales Ombudsman.

The report findings were presented as evidence during the first hearing of the NSW Artificial Intelligence Inquiry at Parliament House in Canberra on 8 March 2024.

Listen to Chief Researcher Prof Paul Henman on the ADM+S Podcast.

RESEARCHERS

Kimberlee Weatherall

Prof Kimberlee Weatherall

Chief Researcher, University of Sydney

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Paul Henman

Prof Paul Henman

Chief Researcher, UQ

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José-Miguel Bello y Villarino

Dr José-Miguel Bello y Villarino

Principal Researcher, University of Sydney

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ADM+S Member

C. Allan

Principal Project Officer, NSW Ombudsman’s Office

ADM+S Member

K. Whitworth

Senior Project Officer, NSW Ombudsman’s Office

Lyndal Sleep profile picture

Dr Lyndal Sleep

Associate Researcher,
Central Queensland University

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Jenny van der Arend

Dr Jenny van der Arend

Senior Research Assistant, UQ

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Jeffrey Chan

Assoc Prof Jeffrey Chan

Associate Researcher

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Terry Carney

Prof Terry Carney

Senior Researcher, University of Sydney

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Scarlet Wilcock

Dr Scarlet Wilcock

Associate Researcher, University of Sydney

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Rita Matulionyte

Dr Rita Matulionyte

Associate Researcher, Macquarie University

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Distinguished Professor Julian Thomas

Dist. Prof Julian Thomas

Advisory Board Member, RMIT University

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PARTNERS

NSW Ombudsman

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Risk, Rule-setters and Rule-takers: Regulatory approaches to risk in AI-supported and AI-automated decision-making for general welfare

PROJECT SUMMARY

Crowd in motion in busy precinct

Risk, Rule-setters and Rule-takers: Regulatory approaches to risk in AI-supported and AI-automated decision-making for general welfare

Focus Areas: News and Media, Transport and Mobility, Health, and Social Services
Research Programs: Institutions
Status: Completed

This project seeks to scope several approaches to deal with Automated Decision-Making and Decision-Support Systems-Related Risks (ADM/DSS RR) through norms and provide an evaluation of those approaches for their consideration in regulatory contexts.

The standpoint is to look at risk control of those systems beyond ethics or social principles and focus the discussion on the possible interventions from the regulator’s perspective.

The overarching questions and sub-questions guiding this project are:

  • What is risk in an ADM / DS System?
    – Is it possible to define it?
    – How is it different from technological risk?
    – How is it different from the concept of risk in
    management?
    – Are all “potential harms” risks of and ADM/DSS?
    – Is there a concept of risk usable for regulatory
    purposes?
  • What types of risks are common and which ones specific to ADM/DSS?
    – Due to the nature of the risk?
    – Due to the scale of the risk?
  • What is an acceptable risk:
    – From the point of view of society as a whole
    – From the point of view of the most vulnerable groups
    – From the point of view of the owner of the AI system
    – From the point of view of the users of the system
  • Can risk be separated from questions of liability/ responsibility or do they need to be regulated together?

PUBLICATIONS

Acceptable risks in Europe’s Proposed AI Act: Reasonableness and other principles for deciding how much risk management is enough, 2023

Bello y Villarino, J.M., Fraser, H.

Journal article

The Tale of Two Automated States: Why one-size-fits-all approach to administrative law reform to accommodate AI will fail, 2023

Bello y Villarino, J.M.

Book chapter

International Human Rights, Artificial Intelligence, and the Challenge for the Pondering State: Time to Regulate? 2022

Bello y Villarino, J.M., et al.

Journal article

Legal Issues Around Autonomous Systems – Civil Liability, Fault and System Safety, 2022

Fraser, H.

Conference paper

AI Opacity and Explainability in Tort Litigation, 2022

Snoswell, A., Fraser, H., Simcock, R.

Conference paper

Where residual risks reside: A comparative approach to art 9(4) of the EU’s Proposed AI Regulation, 2021

Bello y Villarino, J.M, Fraser, H.

Working paper

RESEARCHERS

Kimberlee Weatherall

Prof Kimberlee Weatherall

Chief Investigator,
University of Sydney

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Nic Suzor

Prof Nicolas Suzor

Chief Investigator,
QUT

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José-Miguel Bello y Villarino

Dr José-Miguel Bello Villarino

Research Fellow,
University of Sydney

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Henry Fraser

Dr Henry Fraser

Research Fellow,
QUT

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PARTNERS

Gradient Institute logo

Gradient Institute

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The Toxicity Scalpel: Prototyping and evaluating methods to remove harmful generative capability from foundation models

PROJECT SUMMARY

Person with colourful text overlay

The Toxicity Scalpel: Prototyping and evaluating methods to remove harmful generative capability from foundation models

Focus Areas: News and Media
Research Programs: Machines
Status: Completed

AI language models have made significant strides over the past few years. Computers are now capable of writing poetry and computer code, producing human-like text, summarising documents, engaging in natural conversation about a variety of topics, solving math problems, and translating between languages.

This rapid progress has been made possible by a trend in AI development where one general ‘foundational’ model is developed (usually using a large dataset from the internet) and then adapted many times to fit diverse applications, rather than beginning from scratch each time.

This method of ADM development can appear time and cost effective, but ‘bakes in’ negative tendencies like the creation of toxic content, misogyny, or hate speech at the foundational layer, which subsequently spread to each downstream application.

The goal of this project is to examine how language models used in ADM systems might be improved by making modifications at the foundation model stage, rather than at the application level, where computational interventions, social responsibility, and legal liability have historically focussed.

PUBLICATIONS

First page of Journal Article: Measuring Misogyny in Natural Language Generation: Preliminary Results from a Case Study on two Reddit Communities

Measuring Misogyny in Natural Language Generation: Preliminary Results from a Case Study on two Reddit Communities,2023

Snoswell, A., Nelson, L., Xue, H., Salim, F., Suzor, N., & Burgess, J.

Journal article

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Investigator Flora Salim

Prof Flora Salim

Chief Investigator,
UNSW

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Nic Suzor

Prof Nic Suzor

Chief Investigator,
QUT

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Dr Aaron Snoswell

Dr Aaron Snoswell

Associate Investigator,
QUT

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Hao Xue

Dr Hao Xue

Associate Investigator,
UNSW

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Lucinda Nelson

Lucinda Nelson

PhD Student,
QUT

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An AI governance framework for garbage truck-mounted machine vision systems

PROJECT SUMMARY

Brimbank City Council garbage truck

An AI governance framework for garbage truck-mounted machine vision systems

Focus Area: Mobilities
Research Program: Data
Status: Completed

This project addresses the ethical and social concerns associated with the use of AI systems in local government municipalities. The use of AI in decision-making offers great potential but also raises important issues such as privacy, transparency, and ethical considerations. To tackle these challenges, we propose an AI governance framework tailored specifically for local government municipalities. The framework prioritises human rights and values while weighing societal risks and benefits. It involves establishing guidelines and practices that align AI technologies with organisational values and objectives, promoting responsible AI development and deployment.

Through a collaborative design approach with Brimbank City Council in Australia, we have developed an AI governance framework. Drawing on insights from ethical and responsible AI research, we identify key AI management pillars, processes, and an action plan to guide responsible and ethical AI practices. This framework will be adaptable to the unique needs and concerns of municipalities, balancing general responsible AI principles with specific local government contexts.

The project makes several contributions. Firstly, it investigates the human, social, and ethical implications of AI usage in the context of local government. Secondly, it proposes an AI governance framework that combines responsible AI principles, management pillars, and an action plan, providing a significant step forward in AI governance. Lastly, it presents a participatory approach that facilitates the development and translation of the AI governance framework, making it a practical resource for policymakers, city planners and related stakeholders.

By adopting this framework, local governments can lead in promoting ethical AI use, building public trust, and transparency. To do so involves context-specific translational work, creating practical pathways for implementing high level ethical principles. Our framework and action plan enables responsible AI deployment across sectors, benefiting both the organisation and the community it serves.

PUBLICATIONS

AI Governance in the Smart City: A case study of garbage truck mounted machine vision for roadside maintenance, 2023

Kang, Y.B., McCosker, A., et al.

Report

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Chief Investigator Anthony McCosker

Prof Anthony McCosker

Lead Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Yong-Bin Kang

Dr Yong-Bin Kang

Research Fellow,
Swinburne University

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Milovan Savic

Dr Milovan Savic

Research Fellow,
Swinburne University

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Yong-Bin Kang

Thomas Graham

PhD Student,
Swinburne University

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Megan Richardson

Prof Megan Richardson

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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PARTNERS

Brimbank City Council

Brimbank City Council

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OVIC Logo

Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC)

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Assessing Prospective Harms (vs Benefits) associated with ADM

PROJECT SUMMARY

Two people looking at computer screens

Assessing Prospective Harms (vs Benefits) associated with ADM

Focus Areas: News and Media, Transport and Mobility, Health, and Social Services
Research Programs: Data, Machines, Institutions
Status: 
Completed

The project (which is now completed) was set up as a preliminary exercise in assessing prospective harms vs prospective benefits associated with ADM as a first step to amelioration. It took a two-pronged approach: firstly, focusing on individual and social harms/costs that may be associated with automated or semi-automated data processing (including collection, retention, dissemination, and other uses of data) – versus prospective benefits; and secondly, assessing the levels of risk of these harms ranging from nebulous to very significant (and acknowledging there may be
uncertain outcomes and uneven distributions). The overall aim was thus to have a fuller appreciation of harms and risks as a precursor to thinking practically about amelioration/mitigation of costs.

More specifically, the project was geared to questions of elaborating and understanding the range of prospective harms associated with loss of control over data processing for individuals, groups and society, and indeed the entirety of the living world, as a first step to finding solutions such as changes in law, or social practices, or business methods, or technologies (or some combination of these).

The principal activity of the project was to have a series of workshops planned, organised and hosted by the coordinators CI Richardson, AI Roberts and Postdoc Jiménez (with administrator Astari.Kusumawardani providing support). The workshops featured the work of diverse ADM+S CIs, AIs, Researchers and Affiliates and adopted an intense mode of interrogation and discussion along with suggestions. The aim was to assist ADMS personnel with the preparation of reports, books and scholarly articles (as well as share insights and ideas).

Topics and presenters in the workshop series included the following:
•March: Aitor Jiménez (Megan Richardson chair), Crimes of digital capitalism
•March: Ariadna Matamoros- Fernández, Rosalie Gillett, Anjalee de Silva (Aitor Jiménez chair), •Gendered harm
•April: José-Miguel Bello Villarino, Henry Fraser (Megan Richardson chair), Where residual risks reside: a comparative approach to AI risk management under the EU’s AI Act Proposal
•April: Jake Goldenfein (Megan Richardsonchair) How competing constructions of humans legitimize online advertising
•May: Simon Coghlan, Christine Parker (Andy Roberts, chair), A preliminary framework for understanding how ADM/AI technologies can harm non-human animals
•June: Lisa Archbold (Andy Roberts chair), Children’s developmental privacy
•July: Frank Pasquale/Jeannie Paterson (Megan Richardson chair: co-hosted with CAIDE), Automated grace: toward more humane benefits administration via AI
•August: James Meese (Megan Richardson chair), Regulating news recommendation: looking beyond harm
•September: Megan Richardson (Jeannie Paterson chair – co-hosted with CAIDE), Trust norms and data rights
•October: Ariadna Matamoros- Fernández, Louisa Bartolo, Luke Troynar (Aitor Jiménez chair), Addressing harmful humour as an online safety issue
•November: Damian Clifford (Megan Richardson chair), Data protection and (in)accuracy

PUBLICATIONS

Harm to Nonhuman Animals from AI: a Systematic Account and Framework, 2023

Parker, C., Coghlan, S.

Journal article

Humour as an online safety issue: Exploring solutions to help platforms better address this form of expression, 2023

Matamoros-Fernández, A., Bartolo, L., Troynar, L.

Journal article

The Crimes of Digital Capitalism, 2022

Jiménez, A., Oleson, J.C.

Journal article

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Investigator Christine Parker

Prof Christine Parker

Lead Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Jake Goldenfein

Dr Jake Goldenfein

Chief Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Kim Weatherall

Prof Kim Weatherall

Chief Investigator,
University of Sydney

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Zofia Bednarz

Dr Zofia Bednarz

Associate Investigator,
University of Sydney

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Simon Coghlan

Dr Simon Coghlan

Associate Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Andrew Kenyon

Prof Andrew Kenyon

Associate Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Ariadna Matamoros Fernandez profile picture

Dr Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández

Associate Investigator,
QUT

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James Meese

Dr James Meese

Associate Investigator,
RMIT University

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Andrew Roberts

Prof Andrew Roberts

Associate Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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ADM+S Investigator Ivana Jurko

Ivana Jurko

Partner Investigator,
Red Cross Australia

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José-Miguel Bello y Villarino

Dr José-Miguel Bello Villarino

Research Fellow,
University of Sydney

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Anjalee de Silva

Dr Anjalee de Silva

Research Fellow,
University of Melbourne

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Henry Fraser

Dr Henry Fraser

Research Fellow,
QUT

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Dr Rosalie Gillett profile picture

Dr Rosalie Gillett

Research Fellow,
QUT

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Damian Clifford

Dr Damian Clifford

Affiliate,
ANU

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ADM+S Investigator Fiona Haines

Prof Fiona Haines

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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Aitor Jiménez

Dr Aitor Jiménez

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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Kobi Leins

Dr Kobi Leins

Affiliate,
King’s College

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Jeannie Paterson

Prof Jeannie Paterson

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Megan Richardson

Prof Megan Richardson

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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PARTNERS

OVIC Logo

Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC)

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Data for Social Good: Non-profit sector data projects

PROJECT SUMMARY

Diverse group of people using digital devices

Data for Social Good: Non-profit sector data projects

Focus Area: Social Services
Research Program: Data
Status: Completed

It is widely understood that the non-profit sector is at the frontline in addressing issues of social equity and inclusion. While the sector and the communities it serves stands to benefit greatly from the turn to data and analytics, it is often under-equipped.

This project draws on a range of social good data projects with non-profit organisations, including the Building Data Capability and Collaboration project, and provides a foundational methodology for the ADM+S Centre’s goals in reconfiguring data practices for responsible, ethical and inclusive ADM. It centres on a methodology of ‘collaborative data action’ that helps to build capability and improve data governance to produce data insights and innovation.

The open access Data for Social Good: Non-Profit Sector Data Projects book and associated workshops provide non-profit CEOs, managers, practitioners and board members with feasible strategies for getting into data analytics or assessing and building their organisation’s data capability. It also informs researchers as it reflects on where practice-embedded research has arrived and provides thoughts about future research directions.

PUBLIC RESOURCES

A Data Capability Framework for the not-for-profit sector

Target audience: Not-for-profit sector

As the NFP sector undergoes digital transformation it has great opportunity to generate social value from data through its use in analysis, decision making and social innovation. Sector-wide data capability measurement and fostering data communities of practice are essential if the sector is to maximise data for social good and minimise potential harms in the fast-approaching context of a data-driven and automated society.

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Towards Resilient Communities: Data capability and resource mapping for disaster preparedness

Target audience: Disaster management organisations, Communities

Access to quality data is vital for informing decision-making before, during and after emergency events. As more data becomes available, new artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as machine learning and generative AI are extending the possibilities for data-driven disaster resilience. To work toward this outcome, the ADM+S team worked in collaboration with experienced members of Australian Red Cross to better understand the challenges and potential of data-driven decision-making for community disaster resilience.

View Framework

PUBLICATIONS

Data for Social Good - Front Cover

Data for social good: non-profit sector data projects

27 October 2022

Read on APO

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Chief Investigator Anthony McCosker

Assoc Prof Anthony McCosker

Lead Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Kath Albury

Prof Kath Albury

Associate Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Jane Farmer

Prof Jane Farmer

Associate Investigator,
Swinburne University

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PARTNERS & COLLABORATING ORGANISATIONS

Australian Red Cross Logo

Australian Red Cross

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Bendigo Bank

Bendigo Bank

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Victorian Government

Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victorian Government

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Entertainment Assist

Entertainment Assist

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Good Cycles

Good Cycles

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Infoxchange

Infoxchange

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Enabling digital transformation and considering digital futures within the cultural sector: Evaluating ACMI’s CEO digital mentoring project

PROJECT SUMMARY

ACMI building in the evening

Enabling digital transformation and considering digital futures within the cultural sector: Evaluating ACMI’s CEO digital mentoring project

Focus Area: News & Media
Research Program: Institutions
Status: Completed

This research investigated the enablers of digital transformation and considers digital futures within the cultural sector through evaluating the outcomes of ACMI’s CEO Digital Mentoring Program.

Funded by the Ian Potter Foundation and delivered in conjunction with the Australia Council, ACMI’s CEO Digital Mentoring Program offered strategic technology and digital mentoring for senior decision-making staff within the Australian cultural sector.

With digital platforms fundamentally reshaping how cultural content is created, distributed, and consumed, this research considered how cultural organisations might be better equipped to, and supported in, adopting, managing, and mitigating the risks associated with increasingly advanced technologies.

PUBLICATIONS

National Cultural Policy consultation: ADM+S together with the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), 2022

Holcombe-James, I., Pappalardo, K., et al.

Submission

From the top: learning from ACMI’s CEO Digital Mentoring Program 2021-22, 2022

Holcombe-James, I., et al.

Report

Enabling digital transformation within the cultural sector? Documenting ACMI’s CEO digital mentoring pilot program: executive summary, 2022

Holcombe-James, I.

Report

RESEARCHERS

Indigo Holcombe-James

Dr Indigo Holcombe-James

Lead Investigator

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Stephanie Livingstone

Stephanie Livingstone

PhD Student

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PARTNERS

Trust in ADM: Rethinking the anticipatory modes of technological determinism

PROJECT SUMMARY

Blurred colourful walkway

Trust in ADM: Rethinking the anticipatory modes of technological determinism

Focus Area: News and Media, Transport and Mobility, Health, and Social Services
Research Program: People
Status: Completed

If we are to bring people into the process of ADM technology design then we need to ensure that the conceptual categories that frame theory and practice in innovation account for people.

This project interrogates a suite of anticipatory categories and the arrays of concepts that support them, which are commonly used in innovation narratives, amongst industry and policy stakeholders and in academic disciplines that are complicit with their agenda—such as human-computer interaction research and other computer science and engineering disciplines, and organisation studies.

It identifies the key categories and concepts, analyses how they are mobilised in narratives of innovation, their relationships to solutionist paradigms, how they structure processes of research and how they are actually implied in research and design practice.

The project unpicks the detail of the conceptual frameworks that inform ADM as well as the ways they are engaged in the everyday work practices of developers, designers, businesses and policy makers. It also asks how we might most fruitfully define and engage such categories and concepts, in order to use them to structure interdisciplinary collaboration.

The analysis will include established anticipatory categories common in technology discourses—of trust, barriers, anxiety and acceptance—as well as contemporary (and different types of) categories such as sharing, transparency and others, which are associated with new technologies and automation. Other new and emerging concepts and categories will be identified during the course of the research.

SUB-PROJECTS

PUBLICATIONS

Emerging Technologies / Life at the Edge of the Future, 2023

Pink, S.

Book

An Anthropology of Futures and Technologies, 2023

Lanzeni, D., Pink, S., et al.

Book

Trust in Automation, 2022

Pink, S., Lupton, D., et al.

Book

Digital social work: Conceptualising a hybrid anticipatory practice, 2022

Pink, S., et al.

Journal article

Sensuous futures: re-thinking the concept of trust in design anthropology, 2021

Pink, S.

Journal article

Trusting Autonomous Vehicles: an interdisciplinary approach, 2020

Raats, K., Fors, V., Pink, S.

Journal article

RESEARCHERS

Sarah Pink

Prof Sarah Pink

Chief Investigator,
Monash University

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Mark Andrejevic

Prof Mark Andrejevic

Chief Investigator,
Monash University

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Gerard Goggin

Prof Gerard Goggin

Associate Investigator,
Western Sydney University

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ADM+S partner investigator Vaike Fors

Prof Vaike Fors

Partner Investigator,
Halmstad University

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Kaspar Raats

Kaspar Raats

PhD Student,
Monash University

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Emma Quilty

Dr Emma Quilty

Affiliate,
Monash University

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PARTNERS

Halmstad University logo

Halmstad University

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Volvo Logo

Volvo Cars (Sweden)

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Highway to the Sky

PROJECT SUMMARY

Blurred vision in airplane

Highway to the Sky

Focus Area: Transport & Mobilities
Research Program: People
Status: Completed

Highway to the Sky is a short film co-created with 3 neuro-diverse artists and art therapist Isabelle Ashford from The Art to Wellbeing.

The participants in the workshops used collage, art works and dance to imagine future mobilities and explore what sensations arise from automated travel and what they would like to be automated (or not) in the future.

The creative process elicited reflection and thoughtful responses from the project participants and highlighted their sensory experiences.

Remembering the frustration they may have previously felt on the train, for instance, might create a tightness in their chest or a dizzy sensation.

By documenting experiences of the so-called 17%, the people who see the world differently, this project reveals biases and threats of automated transport mobilities and also uncovers creative opportunity and innovation.

SHORT FILM

RESEARCHERS

Jeni Lee

Jeni Lee

Lead Investigator,
Monash University

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Sarah Pink

Prof Sarah Pink

Chief Investigator,
Monash University

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Thao Phan

Dr Thao Phan

Research Fellow,
Monash University

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Emma Quilty

Dr Emma Quilty

Affiliate,
Monash University

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RELATED PROJECTS

Seeing the Road Ahead

PROJECT SUMMARY

Seeing the road ahead

Seeing the Road Ahead

Focus Area: Transport & Mobilities
Research Program: People
Status: Completed

Vision is central to the field of autonomous vehicle (AV) research. While much of the research into AVs has focused on the technical aspects of vision, such as object recognition and sensor development, this project turns instead to its social, cultural, and political dimensions.

Our goal is to counter corporate and industry visions of self-driving cars by using creative methods to explore alternate visions.

These visions are drawn from Australian popular culture as well as through interactive, creative workshops with everyday Australian people. We hope that these methods help us to develop a uniquely national case study, and to demonstrate the value of using creative methods for understanding speculative and emerging technologies.

RESEARCHERS

Thao Phan

Dr Thao Phan

Lead Investigator,
Monash University

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Sarah Pink

Prof Sarah Pink

Chief Investigator,
Monash University

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Jeni Lee

Jeni Lee

Research Fellow,
Monash University

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Emma Quilty

Dr Emma Quilty

Affiliate,
Monash University

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RELATED PROJECTS

Responsible health consumer data analysis and ADM

PROJECT SUMMARY

Lady sitting on coach talking to counsellor

Responsible health consumer data analysis and ADM

Focus Area: Health
Research Program: Data
Status: Completed

Health care service providers are increasingly seeking to use advanced data analytics and automated decision making to improving services and for predictive insights. By better understanding the everyday experiences of people living with mental ill-health, for example, services can improve the allocation of resources and enhance health outcomes. Accessing health consumer voices and experiences directly through social data sets (such as online health forums) can have an important impact on optimising decision making, but also raises ethical issues and data management and analysis challenges.

Drawing on cutting edge practices in text data mining and NLP analysis, this project develops a model for ethical and responsible mental health consumer data analysis. It operationalises data partnerships with the mental health organisations SANE Australia, Beyond Blue and ReachOut to explore and implement data analysis to improve mental health care, with a focus on community mental health support, and ethical, inclusive and participatory practices. The project builds on and extends work undertaken for the ARC Discovery Project (DP200100419), Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience, with a particular focus on data practices, analytics and ADM in digital health care services.

PUBLICATIONS

Resilience in Web-Based Mental Health Communities: Building a Resilience Dictionary With Semiautomatic Text Analysis, 2022

McCosker, A., Farmer, J., Kang, Y.B., Kamstra, P.

Research paper

A Novel Mixed Methods Approach for Integrating Not-for-Profit Service Data via Qualitative Geographic Information System to Explore Authentic Experiences of Ill-Health: A Case Study of Rural Mental Health, 2022

Kamstra, P., Farmer, J. et al.

Journal article

Moderating mental health: Addressing the human-machine alignment problem through an adaptive logic of care, 2023

McCosker, A., Farmer, J., Kamstra, P.

Journal article

Moderating Mental Health: Are Automated Systems too Risk Averse? 2023

McCosker, A.

Conference paper

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Chief Investigator Anthony McCosker

Prof Anthony McCosker

Lead Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Daniel Angus

Prof Daniel Angus

Chief Investigator,
QUT

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Kath Albury

Prof Kath Albury

Associate Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Jane Farmer

Prof Jane Farmer

Associate Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Yong-Bin Kang

Dr Yong-Bin Kang

Research Fellow,
Swinburne University

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PARTNERS

Beyond Blue logo

Beyond Blue

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Infoxchange

Infoxchange

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Reach Out logo

Reach Out

Visit website

SANE Australia_1200x600

SANE Australia

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Platform governance of and by bots

PROJECT SUMMARY

Phone with chatbot

Platform governance of and by bots

Focus Area(s): News & Media
Research Program: Data
Status: Completed

This project brings together expertise in digital media, platform studies, and law with data science and machine learning to study the roles and data operations of bots – pre-programmed automated agents – on social media platforms. It aims to map, describe and evaluate the ways that platforms and their users make use of automated agents in governance and community management, and the competing norms and values associated with these practices.

It also examines how platforms and their communities engage in the governance of bots, including through automated moderation and technical limitations. We expect to develop new methods for the public oversight and evaluation of platform governance; as well as to understand why and how bots are understood, valued, and managed in online communities, and to suggest the implications for the benefits of bots for transparent platform governance, including by user communities.

The objectives of this project include:
Undertake a detailed empirical investigation of the role of ‘official’, sanctioned, and user-created bots in governing and managing platform cultures, and the implications of these uses of bots for equality, transparency, and user experience.

Through the data-driven analysis of a particular bot-related controversy, conduct a detailed case study of the norms attached to ‘coordination’ and ‘bot-like’ (or ‘inauthentic’) behaviour on Reddit, and how these norms are enacted and contested through community-led platform governance.
Develop new and updated frameworks for identifying and promoting the pro-social and beneficial uses of bots by platforms and their user communities.

PUBLICATIONS

Dadbot and what ‘He’ reveals about Reddit’s everyday platform culture, 2023

Carlon, D.

Conference paper

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Investigator Timothy Graham

Dr Timothy Graham

Lead Investigator,
QUT

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ADM+S Associate Director Jean Burgess

Prof Jean Burgess

Lead Investigator,
QUT

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Daniel Angus

Prof Daniel Angus

Chief Investigator,
QUT

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Axel Bruns

Prof Axel Bruns

Chief Investigator,
QUT

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Nic Suzor

Prof Nicolas Suzor

Chief Investigator,
QUT

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Governing ADM Use

PROJECT SUMMARY

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Governing ADM Use

Focus Areas: News and Media, Transport and Mobility, Health, and Social Services
Research Program: Institutions
Status: Completed

The Governing ADM Use Project was an ‘umbrella’ project designed to seed the work of the ADM+S Institutions program in the rapidly evolving area of ADM and AI regulation. The project conceives the challenge of governing ADM use as a multi layered network incorporating the regulation of the use of ADM by government authorities, the regulation by government of ADM use in the commercial and private sector, and the interaction of ADM-specific regulation and governance with a range of other areas of law, regulation and governance that impinge and interact (more or less directly) with the specific governance of ADM/AI.

This latter category extends from data and privacy regulation to competition and consumer protection and beyond to sector and problem specific areas of regulation such as energy regulation, worker health and safety, labour force regulation and importantly environmental and planning laws. This program of work has sought to understand the special role of law as well as broader influences on public and private sector ADM use, and how these change – or need to change – to respond to the impacts of automation. A particular feature of this program of work has been to expand our understanding of the eco-system of law and governance properly concerned with regulating ADM/AI to include how we govern the ecological impact of ADM/AI use.

PUBLICATIONS

Harm to Nonhuman Animals from AI: a Systematic Account and Framework, 2023

Coghlan, S., Parker, C.

Journal article

Data problems and legal solutions – some thoughts beyond privacy, 2023

Weatherall, K., et al.

Book chapter

Reconstituting the Contemporary Corporation Through Ecologically Responsive Regulation, 2022

Parker, C., Haines, F.

Journal article

From ‘Corporate Governance’ to Ecological Regulation: Flipping the Regulatory Story on Climate Change, 2022

Parker, C.

Journal article

Algorithms as Figures. Towards a post-digital ethnography of algorithmic contexts, 2022

Cellard, L.

Journal article

The crimes of digital capitalism, 2022

Jiménez, A.

Journal article

Just Transitions in Australia: Moving Towards Low Carbon Lives Across Policy, Industry and Practice, 2022

Parker, C., Haines, F., et al.

Submission

More on Convening Technology: Blockchain, Fashion, and the Right to Know, 2022

Richardson, M., et al.

Journal article

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Digital Platform Services Inquiry Discussion Paper for Interim Report No 5: Updating competition and consumer law for digital platform services, 2022

Weatherall, K., et al.

Submission

Online Privacy Bill Consultation Submission, 2022

Goldenfein, J., Weatherall, K., Parker, C.

Submission

Submission in response to the Privacy Act Review, 2022

Weatherall, K., Trezise, M.

Submission

Submission to the Statutory Reviewer on the Consumer Data Right, 2022

Weatherall, K., Bednarz, Z., Dolman, C.

Submission

Submission on the Commonwealth Government Trusted Digital Identity Framework Position Paper, 2021

Weatherall, K.

Submission

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Investigator Christine Parker

Prof Christine Parker

Lead Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Megan Richardson

Prof Megan Richardson

Lead Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Jake Goldenfein

Dr Jake Goldenfein

Chief Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Kim Weatherall

Prof Kim Weatherall

Chief Investigator,
University of Sydney

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ADM+S Investigator Karen Yeung

Prof Karen Yeung

Partner Investigator,
University of Birmingham

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José-Miguel Bello y Villarino

Dr José-Miguel Bello y Villarino

Research Fellow,
University of Sydney

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Henry Fraser

Dr Henry Fraser

Research Fellow,
QUT

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Loup Cellard

Dr Loup Cellard

Affiliate,
Datactivist Coop

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ADM+S Investigator Fiona Haines

Prof Fiona Haines

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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Aitor Jiménez

Dr Aitor Jiménez

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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Democratic Practices of Governance Given ADM

PROJECT SUMMARY

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Democratic Practices of Governance Given ADM

Focus Areas: News and Media, Transport and Mobility, Health, and Social Services
Research Program: Institutions
Status: Completed

This project examines possibilities for democratic practice, institutions and governance given automated decision-making (ADM). It focuses on challenges to and opportunities for liberal and democratic institutions and governance presented by ADM. The project aims to bridge analysis of ADM’s deployment across different domains with scholarly literature on republican and positive freedom, the rule of law and liberal democratic rights.

Overall, the project seeks to develop a theoretically rich analysis of democracy and freedom given ADM and apply the analysis to specific examples of current regulatory and democratic challenge.

PUBLICATIONS

Just Transitions in Australia: Moving Towards Low Carbon Lives Across Policy, Industry and Practice, 2022

Parker, C., Haines, F.

Submission

Privacy in the Republic, 2022

Kenyon, A.

Book

Countering hate speech in context: positive freedom of speech, 2022

de Silva, A., Kenyon, A.

Journal article

Law as Counterspeech, 2022

de Silva, A., et al.

Journal article

A Platformed Response to Hate Speech Against Women, 2022

de Silva, A.

Journal article

Introduction: Conceptualisations of Violence, 2022

de Silva, A., et al.

Book Chapter

The Crimes of Digital Capitalism, 2022

Jiménez, A.

Journal article

Law, Code and Exploitation: How Corporations Regulate the Working Conditions of the Digital Proletariat, 2022

Jiménez, A.

Journal article

The Australian News Media Bargaining Code, 2021

Goldenfein, J.

Analysis brief

Democracy of ExpressionPositive Free Speech and Law, 2021

Kenyon, A.

Book

Hate Speech Against Women: Addressing a Democratic Crisis, 2021

de Silva, A.

Policy brief

Positive Free Speech: A Democratic Freedom, 2021

Kenyon, A.

Book chapter

Surveillance Punitivism: Colonialism, Racism, and State Terrorism in Spain, 2021

Jiménez, A.

Journal article

Privacy, Punishment and Private Law, 2021

Roberts, A., Richardson, M.

Book chapter

Digital capitalism, what are the possible alternatives? 2021

Jiménez, A., et al.

Journal article

Adtech and children’s data rights, 2021

Archbold, L., Clifford, D., et al.

Journal article

Children’s Privacy in Lockdown: Intersections between Privacy, Participation and Protection Rights in a Pandemic, 2021

Archbold, L., Clifford, D., et al.

Journal article

Esports and the Platforming of Children’s During COVID-19, 2021

Fordyce, R., Archbold, L., et al.

Journal article

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Investigator Christine Parker

Prof Christine Parker

Lead Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Mark Andrejevic

Prof Mark Andrejevic

Chief Investigator,
Monash University

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Jake Goldenfein

Dr Jake Goldenfein

Chief Investigator,
Melbourne University

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Distinguished Professor Julian Thomas

Prof Julian Thomas

Chief Investigator,
RMIT University

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ADM+S Investigator Sarah Erfani

Dr Sarah Erfani

Associate Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Andrew Roberts

Prof Andrew Roberts

Associate Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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ADM+S Investigator Ivana Jurko

Ivana Jurko

Partner Investigator,
Red Cross Australia

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Anjalee de Silva

Dr Anjalee de Silva

Research Fellow,
University of Melbourne

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Chathurika Akurugoda

Chathurika Akurugoda

PhD Student,
University of Melbourne

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Lisa Archbold

Lisa Archbald

PhD Student,
University of Melbourne

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Phoebe Galbally

Phoebe Galbally

PhD Student,
University of Melbourne

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Avantik Tamta

Avantik Tamta

PhD Student,
University of Melbourne

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Aitor Jiménez

Dr Aitor Jiménez

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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ADM+S Investigator Fiona Haines

Prof Fiona Haines

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Megan Richardson

Prof Megan Richardson

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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The Coronavirus Impact

PROJECT SUMMARY

COVID19 Stay safe on mobile device

The Coronavirus Impact

Focus Areas: News and Media, Transport and Mobility, Health, and Social Services
Research Program: Data
Status:
Completed

This project focused on a publication output: a themed issue of the journal New Media & Society. Our theme proposal was accepted and the theme issue is in its final stages pre-publication. We are still waiting for comments on one article, but 10 articles have been accepted for publication by the journal and the introduction has been written. We are only waiting for the decision on the last outstanding article before submitting the complete package to the editors for final review. The entire issue ended up being written by Centre members.

The focus of the issue is on the range of roles played by automated decision making systems in the pandemic response. These range from the automated curation of news content to automated contact tracing and air quality management. Contributions came from all four focus areas of the Centre. The timeframe for the issue enabled the inclusion of articles that tracked the shift from pandemic to endemic and an analysis of the ways in which systems developed in response to the pandemic persisted or faded away.

RESEARCHERS

Mark Andrejevic

Prof Mark Andrejevic

Lead Investigator,
Monash University

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ADM+S Associate Director Jean Burgess

Prof Jean Burgess

Chief Investigator,
QUT

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Heather Horst

Prof Heather Horst

Chief Investigator,
Western Sydney University

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Sarah Pink

Prof Sarah Pink

Chief Investigator,
Monash University

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Gerard Goggin

Prof Gerard Goggin

Associate Investigator,
Western Sydney University

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Ariadna Matamoros Fernandez profile picture

Prof Ariadna Matamoros-Fernandez

Associate Investigator,
QUT

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Michael Richardson

Assoc Prof Michael Richardson

Associate Investigator,
UNSW

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Georgia Van Toorn

Dr Georgia van Toorn

Associate Investigator,
UNSW

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Rowan Wilken

Assoc Prof Rowan Wilken

Associate Investigator,
RMIT University

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Christopher O'Neill

Dr Christopher O’Neil

Research Fellow,
Monash University

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Dr Silvia Montaña-Niño

Affiliate,
University of Melbourne

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PARTNERS

Australian Red Cross Logo

Australian Red Cross

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OVIC Logo

Victorian Information Commissioner

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Data & Society Research Institute (US)

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Data mapping and ADM to advance humanitarian action and preparedness

PROJECT SUMMARY

Volunteer charity workers

Data mapping and ADM to advance humanitarian action and preparedness

Focus Areas: News & Media, Social Services
Research Program: Data
Status: Completed

Humanitarian organisations and other NGOs are undergoing significant digital transformation. In a complicated digital media environment, new analytics capabilities can improve the role and effectiveness of organisations like Australian Red Cross in building community resilience, expanding volunteer networks, and informing rapid response. New models are needed for building data capability within communities prone to disaster and emergency. This includes community-driven practices for gathering useful open access data and local knowledge to aid and automate decision-making in disaster preparedness.

This project aimed to explore the potential of data partnerships and local community data capability for improving humanitarian preparedness and response to emergency situations. It contributes to developing new techniques for improving data-driven mapping of community strengths, knowledge and resilience. The work will improve advocacy and preparedness and enhance Red Cross’s data analytics capability as the organisation seeks to work with and empower local communities.

The project’s interim report, Mapping Community Resources for Disaster Preparedness: Humanitarian Data Capability and Automated Futures, sets out background knowledge about open data and mapping practices for disaster response, prediction and preparedness. Building on stakeholder workshops and international collaboration, the Mapping Community Resources report presents a model for community-oriented, open access and strengths-based data mapping capability.

PUBLIC RESOURCES

Volunteers packing boxes into a van

Open Source Software: Community Resource Mapping Platform

Target audience: Researchers, Software Developers
Content type: Dataset

View on Github

PUBLICATIONS

Towards resilient communities: data capability and resource mapping for disaster preparedness, 2023

McCosker, A., Shaw, F., Kang, Y.B.

Report

Mapping Community Resources for Disaster Preparedness: Humanitarian Data Capability and Automated Futures, 2022

McCosker, A., Shaw, F., Calyx, C., Kang, Y.B.

Report

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Chief Investigator Anthony McCosker

Assoc Prof Anthony McCosker

Lead Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Daniel Angus

Prof Daniel Angus

Chief Investigator,
QUT

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Kath Albury

Prof Kath Albury

Associate Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Jane Farmer

Prof Jane Farmer

Associate Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Rowan Wilken

Assoc Prof Rowan Wilken

Associate Investigator,
RMIT University

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ADM+S Investigator Ivana Jurko

Ivana Jurko

Partner Investigator,
Red Cross Australia

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PARTNERS

Australian Red Cross Logo

Australian Red
Cross

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Everyday Data Cultures

PROJECT SUMMARY

Businessman using cell phone on subway train

Everyday Data Cultures

Focus Areas: News and Media, Transport and Mobility, Health, and Social Services
Research Program: Data
Status: Completed

This project explored the role of everyday data practices and literacies in automated decision-making. Its primary contribution is the novel conceptual framework of everyday data cultures, which is based on the cultural studies of everyday life. As well as a number of papers and public talks, it produced a co-authored monograph: Everyday Data Cultures (Polity Press, 2022).

Members of this team used this framework in subsequent research that sought to integrate everyday community experience into data projects with our partners in a variety of sectors across aspects of all four of the Centre’s focus areas. It will be used in future work within the Centre seeking to make sense of the impact and take-up of Generative AI in daily life – at home, at work, and in intimate relationships.

PUBLICATIONS

Everyday Data Cultures, 2022

Burgess, J., Wilken, R., McCosker, A., Albury, K.

Book

Everyday data cultures: beyond Big Critique and the technological sublime, 2022

Burgess, J.

Journal article

Everyday Data Cultures and USB Portable Flash Drives, 2022

Kennedy, J., Wilken, R.

Journal article

Making sense of deepfakes: Socializing AI and building data literacy on GitHub and YouTube, 2022

McCosker, A.

Journal article

Liminoid Media: On the Enduring Significance of USB Portable Flash Drives, 2021

Kennedy, J., Wilken, R.

Journal article

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Associate Director Jean Burgess

Prof Jean Burgess

Lead Investigator,
QUT

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Anthony McCosker

Assoc Prof Anthony McCosker

Chief Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Rowan Wilken

Assoc Prof Rowan Wilken

Associate Investigator,
RMIT University

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Kath Albury

Prof Kath Albury

Associate Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Mapping ADM Machines in Australia and Asia-Pacific

PROJECT SUMMARY

People walking in city centre

Mapping ADM Machines in Australia and Asia-Pacific

Focus Area: Social Services
Research Program: Machines
Status: Completed

This project aimed to map ADM machines in Social Services in Australia and the Asia Pacific to provide foundational empirical and conceptual knowledge of ADM in social services beyond Europe and North America, and into the Asia-Pacific region. Viewing ADM as an assemblage of data systems and decision-making in social-political context, this project built a knowledge base about what ADM systems are being used in social services delivery in Australia and the Asia Pacific, and how they are used, and who is affected by this.

Based on a conceptual definitions and framework of ADM systems, this project provided a detailed mapping of ADM systems used in social services in Australia, worked with academics across the Asia-Pacific to map ADM systems used in social services in their countries, and conducted a countermapping of ADM in social services in Australia. Data was collected via webscraping of government websites and reports and major and specialist IT media outlets to build a detailed history and understanding of each ADM system identified, supplemented by interviews with developers and user stakeholders.

Major outputs included the Mapping ADM systems in Australian Social Services report, as well as presentations in national and international conferences, webinars, and journal articles in leading journals, including Qualitative Inquiry.

Major benefits of this project include:
• Improved public understanding of what ADM systems are being used in social services in Australia and the Asia Pacific
• Increased focus by public institutions, like the NSW Ombudsman, to monitor and map what ADMs are being used in governmental decision-making to improve transparency
• Attention by major players, like IBM, on the way ADM systems are used in social services delivery, its impacts on service users’ wellbeing and different ways to think about the roll out of new technologies in the sector (e.g, using trauma informed practice principles).

PUBLICATIONS

Submission by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (AMD+S). Royal commission into the Robodebt Scheme, 2023

ADM+S

Submission

Female dependents, individual customers and promiscuous digital personas: The multiple governing of women through the Australian social security couple rule, 2023

Sleep, L.

Journal article

ADM in child and family services: mapping what is happening and what we know, 2022

Henman, P., Coco, B., Sleep, L.

Working paper

Mapping ADM in Australian Social Services, 2022

Sleep, L., Coco, B., Henman, P.

Report

From Making Automated Decision Making Visible to Mapping the Unknowable Human: Counter-Mapping Automated Decision Making in Social Services in Australia, 2022

Sleep, L.

Journal article

Digital Inclusion and Social Services Delivery – Special Edition Journal of Social Inclusion, 2022

Sleep, L., Harris, P.

Journal special ed.

The importance of digital inclusion in accessing care and support in our increasingly digitised world, 2021

Sleep, L., Harris, P.

Journal article

RESEARCHERS

Paul Henman

Prof Paul Henman

Lead Investigator,
University of Queensland

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Brooke Coco

Brooke Ann Coco

PhD Student,
RMIT University

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Dr Lyndal Sleep

Affiliate,
Central Queensland University

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PARTNERS

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Algorithm Watch (Germany)

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Automated Content Regulation (Sexuality Education and Health Information)

PROJECT SUMMARY

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Automated Content Regulation (Sexuality Education and Health Information)

Focus Area: Health
Research Program: Data
Status: Completed

This project involved a series of informal dialogues between ADM&S researchers, UNESCO staff and researchers in the fields of sexual justice and international development in 2021. These meetings discussed the multiple anecdotal accounts by sexual health promotion organisations worldwide of the chilling effect of existing content moderation practices, primarily in relation to Facebook and Instagram.

It was concluded that a large-scale global survey would be the most effective and actionable means of generating data that UNESCO and other NGOs could use within training and advocacy activities.
The participating researchers and practitioners co-designed a draft survey framework that could be used to assess the impacts of content moderation on sexuality educators and health promoters globally.

While the survey did not proceed as an ADM&S activity, UNESCO representatives were able to build on these discussions to inform the development of an internal community of practice for global content developers.

Key findings from these dialogues were shared at the 2021 Youth Tech Health Conference, hosted by the US-based not-for-profit health promotion organisation ETR, and HDR Williams has since presented at Australian health promotion conferences.

Other key outputs included submissions by HDR Williams and Research Fellow Stardust that informed Meta Oversight Board’s 2023 Decision on Gender Identity and Nudity on Instagram. Both submissions were cited in the Oversight Board’s report, informing recommendations to overturn existing bans, and revise and clarify existing guidelines relating to nudity and ‘sexual solicitation’.

RESEARCHERS

Kath Albury

Prof Kath Albury

Lead Investigator,
Swinburne University

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Anthony McCosker

Assoc Prof Anthony McCosker

Chief Investigator,
Swinburne University

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Nic Suzor

Prof Nicolas Suzor

Chief Investigator,
QUT

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Zahra Stardust profile picture

Dr Zahra Stardust

Research Fellow,
QUT

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Joanna Williams

Joanna Williams

PhD Student,
Swinburne University

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COLLABORATORS AND PROJECT ADVISORS

  • Sally Beadle
    Programme Specialist, UNESCO
  • Pauline Oosterhof
    Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies (UK)
  • Susie Jolly
    Independent Scholar and Associate, Institute of Development Studies (UK)

Data capacity and collaboration for ADM in the community sector

PROJECT SUMMARY

Group of people in huddle

Data capacity and collaboration for ADM in the community sector

Focus Area: Social Services
Research Program: Data
Status: Active

The project works toward a replicable framework for building capacity (expertise, literacy, data partnerships and data governance) to unlock the social value and impact of advanced data analytics, AI and ADM across the not-for-profit sector. The aim is to develop models for responsible data practices suitable for addressing the goals and challenges faced by the NFP sector, and assess and advance data literacy and expertise to improve ADM outcomes.

This project takes an innovative approach to addressing challenges in data collaboration and developing data capability across the not-for-profit (NFP) sector. Through participatory methods, it integrates technical approaches to responsible data management in computer science, legal approaches to data sharing, and social science approaches to data capability building and ‘data and AI for social good’.

The project works toward a replicable framework for building capacity (expertise, literacy, data partnerships and data governance) to unlock the social value and impact of advanced data analytics, AI and ADM across the not-for-profit sector. The aim is to develop models for responsible data practices suitable for addressing the goals and challenges faced by the NFP sector and assess and advance data literacy and expertise to improve ADM outcomes.

Phase One of the project worked with a range of not-for-profit organisations to establish the key challenges and opportunities in the sector for using data and ADM to address disadvantage in the community.

This research phase resulted in an Interim report: ‘Building Data Capacity in the Not-for-Profit Sector’. Our research has shown that data capability involves fostering effective and responsible data practices across three integrated dimensions: data access and infrastructure, data skills and data governance. Insights from Phase One were used to co-design a NFP specific Data Capability Framework and test the Framework through three participatory workshops throughout Phase Two.

Phase Two of the project applied participatory methods to generate a Data Capability Framework designed to support the Not-for-Profit sector.

As social and community services rapidly digitise, they are generating more data than ever before. Co-designed with organisations from across the sector, the Data Capability Framework for the Not-for-Profit Sector sets out a pathway for developing effective and responsible data practices across three integrated dimensions: data access and infrastructure, data skills and data governance. This work lays the foundations for safe, responsible and inclusive automated decision-making and AI use across the sector.

The Framework distils the challenges and successes of organisations we have worked with. It represents both the factors that underpin effective data capability and the pathways to achieving it. In other words, as technologies and data science techniques continue to change, data capability is both an outcome to aspire to, and a dynamic, ongoing process of experimentation and adaption.

PUBLICATIONS

Developing data capability with non-profit organisations using participatory methods, 2022

McCosker, A., Yao, X., Stoyanovich, J.

Journal article

A Data Capability Framework for the not-for-profit sector, 2022

McCosker, A. Shaw, F., Yao, X., Albury, K.

Report

 Building Data Capacity in the Not-For-Profit Sector, 2021

McCosker, A., Yao, X., Albury, K. Farmer, J., Maddox, A.

Report

RESEARCHERS

ADM+S Chief Investigator Anthony McCosker

Assoc Prof Anthony McCosker

Lead Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Jake Goldenfein

Dr Jake Goldenfein

Chief Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Kimberlee Weatherall

Prof Kimberlee Weatherall

Chief Investigator,
University of Sydney

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Kath Albury

Prof Kath Albury

Associate Investigator,
Swinburne University

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Jane Farmer

Prof Jane Farmer

Associate Investigator,
Swinburne University

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ADM+S Investigator Julia Stoyanovich

Assistant Prof Julia Stoyanovich

Partner Investigator,
New York University

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Yong-Bin Kang

Dr Yong-Bin Kang

Research Fellow,
Swinburne University

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Xiaofang Yao

Dr Xiaofang Yao

Affiliate,
Federation University

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PARTNERS

Infoxchange

Infoxchange

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Australian Red Cross Logo

Australian Red Cross

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Civic Automated Decision-Making

PROJECT SUMMARY

Person on wheelchair moving past city building

Civic Automated Decision-Making

Focus Areas: News and Media, Transport and Mobility, Health, and Social Services
Research Program: Data
Status:
Completed

As part of the ARC Centre’s mandate to create the knowledge and strategies necessary for responsible, ethical, and inclusive automated decision-making, this project engages with the role played by such systems in democracy and civic life. The impetus for this project is to supplement discussions of AI ethics with those of AI civics – and, in particular to consider the practices, policies, technologies, and social-political arrangements of automated decision making systems that are most compatible with a vibrant democracy.

Recent developments render such a conversation increasingly pressing. The institutions that to which we have entrusted the development of some of the most powerful automated contemporary information and communication technologies available do not necessarily have civic or democratic concerns as top priority – this is not what they are built to do. Our steering mechanisms are having a difficult time keeping up – and it is crucially important to consider alternative possible arrangements for storing and processing the data upon which society relies. These questions lie at the heart of what it means to formulate world-leading policy and practice, as envisioned by the Centre.

This project draws upon expertise from across the Centre’s programs and Focus Areas to develop conceptual and practical interventions designed to align automated systems with civic and democratic imperatives. The initial phase of the project was an agenda setting workshop to consider key issues and approaches. The next step will be a themed issue or edited collection that develops approaches to Civic ADM. The final stage will include integration of these approaches with practical initiatives in the Centre, including observability and accountability projects.

RESEARCHERS

Mark Andrejevic

Prof Mark Andrejevic

Lead Investigator,
Monash University

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Jake Goldenfein

Dr Jake Goldenfein

Chief Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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ADM+S Investigator Christine Parker

Prof Christine Parker

Chief Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Distinguished Professor Julian Thomas

Prof Julian Thomas

Chief Investigator,
RMIT University

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Kimberlee Weatherall

Prof Kimberlee Weatherall

Chief Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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ADM+S Investigator James Meese

Assoc Prof James Meese

Associate Investigator,
RMIT University

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ADM+S Chief Investigator Andrew Kenyon

Prof Andrew Kenyon

Associate Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Kylie Pappalardo profile picture

Dr Kylie Pappalardo

Associate Investigator,
QUT

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Michael Richardson

Assoc Prof Michael Richardson

Associate Investigator,
UNSW

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Andrew Roberts

Prof Andrew Roberts

Associate Investigator,
University of Melbourne

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Dr Aaron Snoswell

Dr Aaron Snoswell

Associate Investigator,
QUT

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ADM+S Investigator Robert Sparrow

Prof Robert Sparrow

Associate Investigator,
Monash University

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Georgia Van Toorn

Dr Georgia van Toorn

Associate Investigator,
UNSW

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ADM+S Investigator Frank Pasquale

Prof Frank Pasquale

Partner Investigator,
Cornell Tech

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Kelly Lewis

Dr Kelly Lewis

Research Fellow,
Monash University

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Jathan Sadowski

Dr Jathan Sadowski

Research Fellow,
Monash University

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Zoe Horn

Zoe Horn

PhD Student,
Western Sydney University

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Lucinda Nelson

Lucinda Nelson

PhD Student,
QUT

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Christopher O'Neill

Dr Christopher O’Neil

Affiliate,
Deakin University

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PARTNERS

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Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner

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Data & Society Research Institute (US)

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