Mr Robert Urquhart

Overview

Robert Urquhart is a highly experienced applied social and economic researcher, social policy analyst and research program manager, who is completing his PhD in gifted education. As GERRIC’s Centre Manager from 2006-2010 he has direct experience and knowledge of developing and evaluating programs for intellectually gifted children, parents and their teachers. He has a particular expertise in social R&D start-ups. Before he came to GERRIC, Robert was inaugural Research Program Co-ordinator at the Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, University of Western Sydney launched by former Prime Minister the Hon. Gough Whitlam AC QC in 2002; and Principal Research Officer at UnitingCare Burnside, a large child welfare agency, where he oversaw the development of the agency’s in-house R&D wing. As Senior Research Officer at the Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW, he presented the key findings for Australia to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s National Expert Meeting on Household Income Distribution in Paris in 1997. He brings a wealth of high-level quantitative and qualitative data management, collection and analysis techniques and experience to GERRIC’s research programs and partnerships.

Research Summary

Research interests include friendships of intellectually gifted children, effective interventions to foster the social and emotional development of intellectually gifted children, participatory research approaches with children, and young people, service user and service provider perceptions of gifted education policy interventions and programs, teacher and community attitudes towards academic acceleration, social and economic disadvantage and gifted students at risk of underachievement, understanding and enhancing the nexus between research, policy and practice in working with gifted and talented children and families.

For information on current projects, click here

Publications

Publications & Presentations

Books/Monographs:

(with Adam Jamrozik and Cathy Boland), Social Change and Cultural Transformation in Australia, Cambridge University Press, 1995.

(with Phil Raskall), Inequality, Living Standards and the Social Wage During the 1980s, SSEI Monograph No. 3, Study for Social and Economic Inequality, Social Policy Research Centre/Centre for Applied Economic Research, University of New South Wales, Kensington, 1994.

(with Phil Raskall and Judy McHutchison), Decomposing Inequality Change in Australia 1984-1989: The Relative Contribution of Demographic and Economic Factors, SSEI Monograph No. 4, Study for Social and Economic Inequality, Social Policy Research Centre/Centre for Applied Economic Research, University of New South Wales, Kensington, 1994.

Consultancy Reports:

(with Peter Saunders) Main Features of the Household Surveys: Australia, Household Income Distribution Project Experts Meeting, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Headquarters, Paris 28 April 1997.

(with Peter Saunders) Main (Preliminary) Results of the Analysis: Australia, Household Income Distribution Project Experts Meeting, OECD Headquarters, Paris 28 April 1997.

(with Peter Saunders), The Budgetary Impact of Ageing in New South Wales: An Exploratory Study. A Report Commissioned by the New South Wales Office of Ageing, New South Wales Office of Ageing, Sydney, 1995.

(with Adam Jamrozik and Michael Wearing), The Contribution of Immigration to Skills Development and Occupational Structure, Bureau of Immigration Research, Melbourne, 1990.

The Australian Small Passenger Car Market. Report prepared for the Government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Developing Countries Export Enhancement Program, Sydney, 1989.

Articles/Reports:

(with Jan Mason and Natalie Bolzan) “Defining Children’s Needs In Out-Of-Home Care; Methods And Challenges Of A Collaborative Research Project”, Children Australia , No. 2, Vol. 28, 32-38, 2003.

(with Rose Melville), Partners in Ethical Dilemmas? A Collaborative Affair Between Academics and Practitioners in Establishing a Research Advisory Group, UnitingCare Burnside Working Paper No. 1, UnitingCare Burnside, Sydney, 2003.

(with George Matheson and Jon O’Brien) Young Homeless People’s Experience of the Youth Allowance System: An Exploratory Study, UnitingCare Burnside Research Report No. 1 – Summary, UnitingCare Burnside, Sydney, 2002.

(with Rhonda Stien and Dianne Nixon), “Learning Backwards, Thinking Forwards: An Attempt to Understand the Perspectives of Both Government and Non-Government Participants in a Service Contract Arrangement”, Law in Context, No. 18, Vol. 2, 154-168, 2001.

(with Jan Mason), “Developing a Model for Participation by Children in Research on Decision Making”, Children Australia, No. 4, Vol. 26, 16-21, 2001.

(with Peter Saunders), “Australian Spending Patterns”, Lead Article, SPRC Newsletter, No. 62, August 1996.

(with Judy McHutchison), “Trends in the Social Wage: The Social Wage Project”, in Phil Raskall and Peter Saunders, eds, Economic Inequality in Australia, Vol. 1: Government and Redistribution, SSEI Monograph No. 1, Study for Social and Economic Inequality, Social Policy Research Centre/Centre for Applied Economic Research, University of New South Wales, Kensington, 1992, 109-122.

Conference Papers:

(with Michael Wearing), “Is Child Abuse Prevention in the Front-line Possible? A Qualitative Study of Family Support Work with Disadvantaged Families”, 2001 National Social Policy Conference “Competing Visions”, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, July 2001.

(with Jan Mason), “Researching with Children in Their Social Context”, National Conference “Children and Young People: Their Environments”, Children’s Issues Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, June 2001.

(with Rhonda Stien), “Learning Backwards, Thinking Forwards: Experiences Of Non-Government Welfare Agencies in the Contracting of Out-of-Home Care Services For Young People With High Support Needs”, Contractualism, Citizenship and the Human Services Workshop, University of Sydney, October 2000 (Convenors: Professor Anna Yeatman, Professor Terry Carney, and Dr Gaby Ramia).

(with Jan Mason), “Confronting the Dilemmas of Involving Children as Partners: A Collaborative Research Project Around Decision Making”, International Forum for Child Welfare Annual World Congress, World Forum 2000 - Children First Conference, Sydney Australia, August 2000.

(with Peter Saunders) “Exploring Trends in the Living Standards of Older Australians”, 1997 National Social Policy Conference, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, July 1997.

(with Peter Saunders) “Analysing the Living Standards of Australian Families Using Expenditure Data: Preliminary Results for the Period 1975-76 to 1993-94”, Fifth Australian Family Research Conference, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Brisbane, November 1996.

(with Phil Raskall) “Who Gets What Where? An Exploratory Analysis of Differences in the Distribution of Income and Wealth Between Australian Cities”, 1995 National Social Policy Conference, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, July 1995.

(with Phil Raskall), “Inequality, Living Standards and the Social Wage During the 1980s”, Fourth Australian Family Research Conference, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Sydney, February 1993.

(with Judy McHutchison), “Trends in the Social Wage”, Study of Social and Economic Inequalities Conference, University of New South Wales, July 1991.

(with Adam Jamrozik), ‘The Skills Contribution of Immigrants and Cultural Transformation’, The Australian Sociological Association Conference, University of Queensland, December 1990.

Internal Seminars/Guest Lectures:

Expert Witness: Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Participation Requirements and Penalties, Sydney Public Hearing, August 2002.

Guest Lecturer, “Doing Applied Social Policy Research With Marginalized Children & Young People” School of Social Work, University of New South Wales, Second Year Research Methods students; Third Year Youth Elective students, 2002.

Panelist, Expert Panel - Research Implications, “Financial Disadvantage in Australia - 1999: The Unlucky Australians”, Research And Advocacy Seminar for The Council of Governing Members and Guests, The Smith Family/National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) University of Canberra, November 2000.

Guest Lecturer, “Careers in Research and Policy”, Career Workshop for Final Year Students, School of Social Work, University of New South Wales, September 2002; September 2000 and September 1997.

(with Peter Saunders), “Stretched to the Limit? Low Incomes and the Australian Social Safety Net”, Social Policy Research Centre Seminar, University of New South Wales, November 1993.

(with Phil Raskall and Judy McHutchison), “The Study for Social and Economic Inequality: A Progress Report”, Social Policy Research Centre Seminar, University of New South Wales, May 1991.

(with Adam Jamrozik and Cathy Boland), “The Welfare State Research Team (Work in Progress)”, Social Policy Research Centre Seminar, University of New South Wales, April 1990.

Technical Reports:

Contributed the Australian data (with Professor Peter Saunders) to the following corporately authored technical reports:

Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Income Distribution and Poverty in Selected Countries, Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Economic Policy Committee, OECD, Paris, 1997.

Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Income Distribution and Poverty in Selected Countries. Annex 1. Tables and Figures, Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Economic Policy Committee, OECD, Paris, 1997.

Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Income Distribution and Poverty in Selected Countries. Annex 2. Data, Concepts and Methods, Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Economic Policy Committee, OECD, Paris, 1997.

Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Income Distribution and Poverty in Selected Countries. Annex 3. Sensitivity of Results to Equivalence Scales, Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Economic Policy Committee, OECD, Paris, 1997.

Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Income Distribution and Poverty in Selected Countries. Annex 4. Main Trends in Income Distribution and Poverty: Evidence from Recent Studies, Working Party No. 1 on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Analysis, Economic Policy Committee, OECD, Paris, 1997.

Research Policy Documents:

Initiated and managed the development and public release of the following key research policy documents for UnitingCare Burnside:

UnitingCare Burnside, Intellectual Property and Knowledge Policy, UnitingCare Burnside, Parramatta, 2002.

UnitingCare Burnside, Guidelines for Evaluators, UnitingCare Burnside, Parramatta, 2002.

UnitingCare Burnside, Research Code of Ethics, UnitingCare Burnside, Parramatta, 2000.

Contributions

Contributions

2010: Panellist, Youth Summit, 11th Asia Pacific Conference on Giftedness, Sydney.

2010- present: Member, Asia-Pacific Federation of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (APF-WCGTC).

1986-present: Secretary, Management Committee, The Karuna Foundation Children’s Fund, North Sydney.

2007-2010: Member, Faculty Management Team, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW

1997-2002: Founding Member, Research Advisory Group, UnitingCare Burnside

1999-2000: Member, Board of Directors, Streetwize Comics.