2026 Research Opportunities

• FOR MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS: 

• Pilot supervisors: Prof Sandie Wong, Dr Sheila Degotardi Student opportunity: PGRF/MRes research component (independent research credit) 

• Pilot data: 12-week quasi-experimental design pre-post, control sites, mixed-methods

•  Publication pathway: Peer-reviewed journal articles 

• Tier 1 targets: Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Early Childhood Development and Care

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•  Contact: Research Coordinator | Sandie Wong, sandie.wong@mq.edu.au

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•  Public Health and Infection Control Research 

1 CCS implementation offers robust platforms for hygiene systems effectiveness studies, 

2 Behavioural health research, and antimicrobial resistance mitigation.

3  Comparative infection‑rate data can establish measurable public health gains. 

•  Workforce and Human Factors Research

4. Research can examine how role separation and governance redesign affect educator wellbeing, workload balance, and retention. 

5. Further exploration includes training innovation, gender, and equity impacts within the cleaning workforce. 

• Governance and Regulatory Systems Research 

6. CCS enables policy‑implementation science and governance maturity analysis, identifying metrics for accountability traceability and compliance benchmarking across state and national regulatory ecosystems. 

• Data and Digital Governance Research 

7. Research opportunities include API and interoperability design for real‑time compliance dashboards, 

8. AI anomaly detection in audit logs, and digital privacy

9. Frameworks balancing transparency with regulatory confidentiality. 

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•  Economic and Social Impact Research 

10. Studies can model measurable ROI, cost‑of‑compliance efficiencies, and workforce productivity outcomes. 

11. Broader research may assess socio‑economic equity, particularly impacts on rural and low‑SES centres. 

Education and Child Development Research 

20. ECEC health‑environment research can investigate how improved hygiene affects learning readiness, focus, and developmental outcomes, linking CCS adoption to longer‑term educational performance metrics.

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• Standardisation and Quality Systems

21. Researchers can advance CCS toward ISO‑compatible standards by testing its alignment with ISO 45001 (OHS) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), building an evidence base for international recognition. 

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•  Longitudinal Evaluation and Systems Science 

22. Systems researchers may explore how CCS functions as a complex adaptive system, analysing feedback loops between policy layers and operational effectiveness over multi‑year pilots.

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•  Meta‑Research and Translational Science 

23. This area focuses on CCS as a model for evidence‑based policy translation — mapping pathways from pilot research to regulatory adoption and exploring cross‑sector transferability to aged care or health facilities. 

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•  Institutional and Collaborative Research 

24. Potential Partnership opportunities span universities, CRCs, government health divisions, and private industry (e.g., cleaning technology, AI governance tools). 

25. CCS provides a ready architecture for NHMRC or ARC linkage projects and ISO working groups. 

Environmental Health & Indoor Air Quality Research 

26. CCS creates opportunities to study environmental microbiology, surface contamination dynamics, ventilation effectiveness, and environmental health interactions in childcare settings. 

27. This includes research into pathogen persistence, environmental load reduction, and indoor air quality improvements linked to cleaning protocols. 

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• Cleaning Science & Methods Research

Because CCS introduces standardised cleaning methods, researchers can investigate: 

28. Dwell time effectiveness ● soil load reduction 

29. Cross‑contamination pathways 

30. Product efficacy in childcare environments 

31. Environmental sustainability of cleaning products 

32. Microbiological outcomes of different cleaning techniques This domain is foundational to validating CCS as an evidence‑based standard. 

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• Technology‑Enabled Cleaning & Automation Research

• CCS provides a platform for evaluating: 

33. Robotics and automation in ECEC cleaning 

34. Sensor‑based hygiene monitoring 

35. UV‑C, ozone, or steam‑based disinfection 

36. IoT‑enabled compliance tracking 

37. AI‑supported cleaning optimisation This aligns with the document’s digital governance themes but extends them into cleaning‑specific innovation.

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•  Implementation Science in Diverse Settings 

Research can examine CCS implementation across: 

38. Rural and remote communities 

39. Culturally diverse centres

40. Mixed‑model and multi‑site providers 

41.  Low‑resource environments 

• This supports equity‑focused policy design and national scalability.
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 Organisational Behaviour & Change Management Research 

CCS introduces new governance structures and role delineations, enabling research into: 

42. Behaviour adoption 

43. Organisational culture 

44. Leadership models 

45. Resistance to change 

46. workforce identity and professionalisation 

This complements the workforce research domain but focuses on organisational dynamics. 

Summary and Outlook 

The CCS suite establishes a research ecosystem bridging health, education, governance, digital technology, environmental science, and organisational behaviour. It positions Australia as a global leader in childcare hygiene governance and offers long‑term opportunities for academic, industry, and cross‑government collaboration. Each research domain supports measurable national benefits across public health

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