College of Business, Law & Governance

Carrie Wilson

Senior Research Officer
carrie.wilson1@jcu.edu.au

Louise Floyd

Associate Professor
louise.floyd@jcu.edu.au

Skye Zhu

Lecturer, Financial Accounting/Auditing
skye.zhu@jcu.edu.au

Diana Castorina

Lecturer, Economics
diana.castorina@jcu.edu.au

Zhanming Liang

Professor, Health Systems Management & Policy
zhanming.liang@jcu.edu.au

Siggi Gudergan

Professor of Strategy
siggi.gudergan@jcu.edu.au

Eijaz Khan

Adjunct Senior Lecturer
eijaz.khan@jcu.edu.au

Arusha Cooray

Adjunct Professorial Research Fellow
arusha.cooray@jcu.edu.au

Innovative Agri-Tourism an Entrepreneurial Acumen

Jenny Panchal - Tourism

30 Jul 2025 - 30 Jan 2026

We are applying for additional funding for our project that was approved with CITBA with 50% revised budget. We have been successful in securing a competitive grant under the 2025 CITBA Small Grant Scheme. The approval of our project by CITBA serves as a strong endorsement of its methodological rigour, theoretical soundness, and practical relevance. This recognition not only affirms the quality of our research design and ethical standards but also highlights the project's potential to contribute meaningful insights and impact within our field of study. As we work through the final details of our research proposal, we have realized that the originally approved miscellaneous budget of $1000 will not be sufficient. We had initially requested $3500 under this category to accommodate several essential components of our fieldwork. Many of the agrotourism farms we plan to visit require paid entry, which significantly contributes to the overall cost. Additionally, as outlined in our proposal, we intend to offer small incentives to tourists, farm owners, and other stakeholders who participate in interviews and data collection activities. On behalf of my collaborators, I would like to respectfully request that Internal grant approval committee considers approving an additional $1150 to support this work. This funding will greatly enhance our ability to carry out more comprehensive and inclusive data collection across the field sites.

Redefining Carbon Accountability: AI Applications in Emissions Tracking and ESG Compliance

Abhijit Das - Accounting

01 Jul 2025 - 31 Dec 2025

This research proposal explores the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing carbon accounting and sustainability auditing practices. The project investigates how AI tools—particularly machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP)—can improve the accuracy, regulatory compliance, and fraud detection capacity of emissions reporting systems. The purpose is to address the limitations of traditional carbon reporting methods, which are often manual, error-prone, and lack transparency, particularly in the context of tightening global climate regulations and frameworks such as the GHG Protocol and Australia’s newly introduced AASB S1 and S2 standards.

Agrotourism and Innovation

Jenny Panchal - Tourism

01 Jul 2025 - 31 Dec 2025

This project is approved with CITBA. This project examines how Agri-tourism acts as a transformative rural development model, fostering self-reliant, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable communities. Grounded in sustainable development, endogenous growth, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and social capital theories, it aims to: 1. To investigate the impact of Agri-tourism hub on employment, income generation and sustainable development of the community. 2. To develop a sustainable business framework integrating agriculture, culture, and tourism

Quality and utilisation of primary care among older adults: Driving for holistic healthy ageing in Hong Kong

Zhanming Liang - College of Business, Law & Governance

03 Nov 2024 - 30 Oct 2026

This research employs the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) and generate evidence to guide developing a better primary care that provides high perceived service quality, and positive experience to older adults in Hong Kong. The key objectives include: (a) To assess the current state of experience and perception of primary care among older adults in Hong Kong using the PCAT (b) To explore the factors that influence the perceived service quality, satisfaction, trust, and revisit intention of primary care among older adults (c) To identify the gaps and challenges in meeting the needs and expectations of older adults for primary care service (d) To disseminate the findings of the study to relevant stakeholders, including academics and students, healthcare professionals, elderly care providers, and policy makers The multi-phase and mixed method research includes online survey and focus group discussions with both older adults who are accessing the current primary care services in Hong Kong and primary care service providers.

SEABORNE (Sustainable Use and Benefits of the GBR) Mk.2

Diane Jarvis - Economics & Marketing

31 Jul 2025 - 29 Jun 2029

Valuing GBR Ecosystem Services. SEABORNE Mk.1 (2020-2024) established a proof-of-concept method using multiple secondary datasets to calculate benefits derived from GBR ecosystem services among a subset of user groups in the Cairns and Southern GBR regions. This module will: ▪ Deliver scaled-up implementation of the SEABORNE Mk 1 proof of concept by co-designing sector-specific data prioritisation frameworks with Reef stakeholders and applying the Ecosystem Service Value Chain (ESVC) to a broader set of GBR ecosystem services, values and end users in priority spatial areas ▪ Build on existing relationships with Reef Traditional Owner groups and co-design a process to test and improve the suitability of the ESVC concept for reflecting Traditional Owner values. ▪ Fill critical valuation gaps, specifically related to GBR in-water tourism, to enable understanding of impacts on value from changes in reef condition. SEABORNE Mk.1 (2020-2024) established and tested a proof of concept to quantify benefits derived from GBR ecosystem services by end users in the Cairns and Southern GBR regions. This is called an Ecosystem Service Value Chain (ESVC). The ESVC connects human benefits with biophysical data enabling an understanding of how people use GBR ecosystems, and the extent and distribution of benefits that flow to households, Reef-dependent businesses, Traditional Owners, and Government from this use. The ESVC concept further enables existing data to be used in new ways such as generating values of total economic benefits. Working with Traditional Owner groups is an important component of this module. Based on our work with four TO groups over 2020-24 and recognising that benefit flows from ecosystem services to TOs are non-linear, we can modify the ESVC to meet the requirements of different TO groups and can apply an adapted ESVC method that utilises their own data to enable an appropriate assessment of TO use benefits. SEABORNE Mk 1. tested the ESVC concept for a limited number of prioritised chains in the Cairns Area Plan of Management (CAPOM) and Keppels Capricorn Bunkers (KCB). These were: • Provisioning service of fish & other biomass (wild caught and farmed) to commercial service users. • Cultural service of recreation and leisure (recreational & non-recreational fishing) to households. • Cultural service of education and research to Government. There is broad scope to continue the application of the ESVC concept to better understand and use existing data for measures of benefit. We propose to work with the end users of this research to apply the ESVC approach to additional priority ecosystem services within or beyond the CAPOM and Southern reef spatial focus areas. The application of the ESVC to understand existing data and gaps for existence (non-use) value in the CAPOM and KCB spatial focus areas is a suggested first extension. Refining the ESVC approach to better understand the two-way flow of value and related existing and required data for Traditional Owners is the second suggested extension. Finally, the population of the ESVCs in SEABORNE Mk. 1 highlighted a number of weaknesses in existing data. Data weaknesses occur both due to the age of primary data (e.g., >30-year-old studies of Reef users), and in some cases from retrofitting available data to new purposes. Working with end users, SEABORNE Mk. 2 will begin to address priority gaps. Enhancing the understanding of economic value associated with snorkelling and diving especially as this relates to reef quality as well as investigating equity and justice within ecosystem service flow beneficiaries is the proposed focus here.