Student topics

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools such as chatbots and AI companions are increasingly positioned as accessible forms of mental health support. However, user engagement with these services depends heavily on trust, particularly in contexts characterised by vulnerability, stigma, and emotional risk. Trust in mental healthcare differs from trust in other service settings, raising important questions for marketing and service researchers.This project investigates how trust is formed and evaluated in GenAI‑supported mental health services from a consumer and service marketing perspective. …

Study level

Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations

This project investigates how corporate reporting is shaped by audit quality, board oversight, and emerging ESG assurance practices. With regulatory shifts like the AASB Climate Disclosure Standard and ASSA 5000, the project explores how auditors, boards, and regulators interact to deliver credible disclosures. Cross-country data, especially from Australia, Korea and China, can be used to evaluate assurance frameworks, audit judgement, or ESG strategy governance.

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Accountancy

Research centre(s)

Centre for Future Enterprise

The challenge to keep global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels has become even greater due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC, 2023). One major challenge is the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy to reduce emissions (Gholami et al., 2016). The share of renewable energy in electricity generation has increased to 28.3%, however, an acceleration of the pace of the transition is required to limit global temperature rise (REN21, 2022).Due to the contingencies and dynamics …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Information Systems

Research centre(s)

Energy Transition Centre

For a government to operate efficiently, the trust of its constituents, as well as the global community, is considered to be of substantial importance. A lack of trust could impair the government’s ability to effectively manage and fund its operations from collecting taxes and external investment. However, further research is required to understand the underlying trust mechanisms and their influence on governments’ performance. To address this research gap, the project will examine how trust in government is determined, evaluate how …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Accountancy

Research centre(s)

Centre for Future Enterprise

Many organisations have shown an increasing interest in deploying IOT systems. However, most of them and their stakeholders are new to these systems, and it is difficult for them to trust the technology. What are the technological, managerial and societal aspects that contribute to trust in IOT systems? What can we do to improve the level of trust and increase adoption of the technology?

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Information Systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are automating service delivery in many sectors. Businesses have shown interest in using these technologies for delivering complex services in a way that meet the unique needs of customers. The technology gained more popularity particularly during Covid-19 outbreak, as it helped organisations to become more efficient in service delivery and increased service availability for customers / service applicants. However, gaining managers’ and users’ trust in these systems has always been a significant challenge. Particularly, managers and …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Information Systems

In today's highly dynamic, opportunity-rich markets, the rapid manifestation of trust has become a major challenge for both established and new organisations that attempt to introduce new products and services. Previous research focused mainly on the long-term development of trust (e.g., concerning brand reputation), and the nature (and factors) of immediate trust decisions remain under-researched.

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Accountancy

Research centre(s)

Centre for Future Enterprise

The emergence of the two-way communication model and Distributed Energy Sources (DES) is transforming traditional power systems from largely centralised energy production to more decentralised and connected management systems. This is called the 'smart grid'.As the smart grid evolves, electric vehicles (EVs) are emerging as unconventional and highly-disruptive participants in the grid that can add significant benefit and flexibility. Notably, EVs are equipped with a relatively high capacity battery that stores energy to power the vehicle.EV batteries, coupled with the …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Computer Science

Blockchain is an unchangeable, distributed database that provides trust in data once it is stored on the database. However, in Internet-of-Things (IoT), the data is an observation of physical context and is susceptible to noise, drift, or malicious alterations. Sensors may even be decoupled from their intended context by an attacker, which may compromise the blockchain data and its value for guiding decisions.This project aims to develop an innovative approach for pervasive trust in IoT, underpinned by blockchain. The research …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Computer Science

Automated Vehicles (AVs) hold promise for addressing transport challenges in regional and remote Australia, including workforce shortages, road safety, and supply chain disruptions. However, community acceptance and social licence remain critical hurdles to widespread deployment. Past experiences with new technologies in rural settings have shown that top-down approaches often fail to account for local values, concerns, and lived realities. This project recognises that the successful integration of AVs into public life requires trust, transparency, and tangible community benefit. Working within …

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice

School

School of Design

Research centre(s)

Centre for Future Mobility/CARRSQ
Design Lab

Trustees have a duty to act in the best interests of beneficiaries. In particular, it has been held that “(w)hen the purpose of the trust is to provide financial benefits for the beneficiaries, as is usually the case, the best interests of the beneficiaries are normally their best financial interests.” (Cowan v Scargill [1985] 1 Ch 270 at 286 per Megarry VC) This may require consideration of not only the economic well-being of the trust fund more generally, but also …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Law

Research centre(s)

Australian Centre for Health Law Research

Existing machine learning-based intelligent systems are autonomous and opaque (often considered “black-box” systems), which has led to the lack of trust in AI adoption and, consequently, the gap between machine and human being.In 2018, the European Parliament adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which introduces a right of explanation for all human individuals to obtain “meaningful explanations of the logic involved” when a decision is made by automated systems. To this end, it is a compliance that an intelligent …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Science

School

School of Information Systems

Research centre(s)

Centre for Data Science