Researcher awarded prestigious national fellowship to tackle fatigue risk in on-call workforce
CQUniversity sleep scientist Dr Madeline Sprajcer has been awarded a highly competitive Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) – the University’s only DECRA recipient in this round – securing $529,993 to investigate the hidden safety risks facing Australia’s on-call workers.
On-call staff play a critical role in emergency response, infrastructure maintenance, utilities, healthcare, aviation and other essential services, yet this workforce is disproportionately exposed to fatigue-related injuries and incidents, representing an estimated $2.25 billion annual cost to the Australian economy.
Despite the scale of the issue, limited evidence exists on how repeated overnight callouts impact sleep, cognitive performance, fatigue and safety.
Dr Sprajcer’s project will explore the acute effects of overnight disruptions on on-call workers, generating new insights into how interrupted sleep impacts workplace health and safety outcomes.
The research will help shape improved fatigue-management guidelines, strengthen workplace policy, and support safer working environments for thousands of Australians.
“This funding gives us a critical opportunity to understand what on-call workers are actually experiencing during repeated overnight waking,” Dr Sprajcer said.
“By building this evidence base, we can better protect the people who keep our essential services running around the clock.”
CQUniversity Vice-President of Research Professor Grant Stanley said the recognition highlighted both the national importance of Dr Sprajcer’s research and the University’s world-leading strengths in sleep and fatigue science.
“On-call workers are the backbone of essential services across the country, yet the safety impacts of their disrupted sleep have not been fully understood,” Prof Stanley said.
“Dr Sprajcer’s work will deliver insights that can improve lives, reduce injuries and support safer communities.”
The DECRA scheme supports outstanding early career researchers to build their research leadership and deliver high-impact outcomes for Australia.
Dr Sprajcer’s project will commence in 2026.
