An ambitious new social research project is being undertaken by academics at the University of Tasmania, seeking to plot a course through and beyond the coronavirus crisis in the state.
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The Tasmania Project will collect data through interviews and surveys, with the aim of learning how 2000 Tasmanians are experiencing, and adjusting to, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Led by Institute for Social Change director Libby Lester, it's hoped the data gleaned from the project will serve to inform policy decisions into the future.
Coronavirus: All the latest updates on COVID-19 for Tasmania
"In part, the Tasmania Project is an acknowledgement that we do experience things differently [in Tasmania]," Professor Lester said.
"And in this time of crisis, it's vital that the people ... who have to make critical decisions to get us through the crisis, but also through recovery and beyond, that those differences are voiced and understood so that they can help inform what we do and how we respond.
"This is one of the key university responses to COVID-19. We've got whole-of-university support and we're working with researchers from across humanities, social sciences, education, law, business and economics, health and medicine."
Stories, images, audiovisual materials, diaries and other artefacts will be gathered as part of the Tasmania Project and all data will remain anonymous and will only be published with an individual's consent.
Government, business and the community sector will have the opportunity to access the data to assist them in their decision-making in the areas of social, economic, public health and cultural policy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professor Lester said the research team was hoping to get a significant response to the project from a diversity of demographics so that the data would represent a broad cross-section of the community.
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The team will begin collecting data next week and Professor Lester believes there's potential for the Tasmania Project to remain active indefinitely "to keep it going as a format for Tasmanians to have a voice in the long-term".
"We're hoping that it will have immediate, short-term usefulness for informing decisions now," she said. "But also we would expect to generate some long-term research findings that will be of interest internationally."
"Tasmania has a lot to teach the rest of the world, I think."
To register your interest in contributing to the Tasmania Project, visit https://www.utas.edu.au/tasmania-project or, alternatively, call (03) 6226 7542.
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Rob Inglis
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
