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Australian Context (australian + context)
Selected AbstractsAdaptation of Sudanese Refugees in an Australian Context: Investigating Helps and HindrancesINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 1 2010Jane Shakespeare-Finch The present study investigates the experiences of Sudanese refugees by exploring the themes that characterize participants' experiences in Sudan, en route, and at their Australian destination. In particular, the research identifies several factors that may be seen as ,helps' or ,hindrances' to Sudanese refugees' adaptation. Participants were 12 Sudanese refugees aged between 19 and 40 years old who had been residing in Australia for five years or less. A qualitative phenomenological approach to data collection and analysis was employed. Examination of the interview transcripts revealed that all participants identified both ,hindrances' and ,helps' toward adaptation and indicated that positive adaptation is not only possible, but probable for Sudanese refugees in spite of their past experiences of trauma and present resettlement difficulties. Several practical implications were elicited from the research including a need for programs that actively promote refugees' adaptation by encouraging the broadening of social networks. [source] Global Problem: National Accountability: Framing Accountability in the Australian Context of Climate ChangeJOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2008Eva-Karin Olsson Climate change has been seen as a crisis looming in the future, and has therefore not reached the top of the political agenda. This no longer holds true when looking at Australia, where climate change has become high politics. In this paper we examine the Australian electoral debate in terms of accountability framing, where the Government and Opposition were involved in a ,framing contest'. We argue that theories on accountability framing in crisis need to be modified in order to capture the complex dynamics of climate change due to its inherent scientific uncertainty and global nature. After conducting an inductive analysis of Australian Broadcasting Corporation-reporting we found three themes to be of importance for accountability framing in the ,risk society': labeling, linking and coping. [source] ,It's a public, I reckon': Publicness and a Suburban Shopping Mall in Sydney's SouthwestGEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2010ADAM TYNDALL Abstract Traditionally, public space has been perceived as an integral part of fully functioning liberal democracy. Yet much research argues that public space is in decline due to regimes of neoliberal governance paralleled with a growth in quasi-public spaces such as shopping malls, casinos and gated communities. It is argued that these new spatial forms posit a commercialised, sanitised and ultimately exclusionary urban form in place of more egalitarian, engaging and ultimately democratic public spaces. Increasingly, however, urban research has questioned the veracity of the claims made about the nature of traditional public space as well as investigating the marginal and contingent nature of publicness as constituted by and enacted in a variety of places. Drawing on Foucault's concept of heterotopic space, this paper reports on a qualitative study based on focus group interviews conducted with users of a suburban shopping mall in Sydney's southwest. The research uncovers both a more complex and less overtly deterministic publicness than has previously been identified in such spaces. From these findings the paper argues for a conception of publicity which moves beyond the zero-sum game approach endemic in much work in this area to one which analyses the qualitative effect quasi-public spaces are having on the nature of publicness in the Australian context. The paper concludes by arguing that a rethinking of publicness allows room for the emergence of a more progressive public ethic. [source] ,The Sun Always Shines in Perth': a Post-Colonial Geography of Identity, Memory and PlaceGEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2000A. Taylor In this paper I explore some of the textual possibilities of post-colonial geography. Using the conceptual tool of place as a palimpsest, I trace some geographies of memory across selected colonial and post-colonial texts. By focusing on the relationship between representations of ,sunny Perth' and ,Nyungah Perth', I tease out some of the more general theoretical issues which pertain to a politics of place and space within this (post)colonial Australian context. The nexus of memory, place and cultural identity is central to my analysis. I give particular attention to the ways in which cultural memories are inscribed in some very specific and very ordinary places, and how these places become site-markers of the remembering process and of identity itself. [source] An Island of Green in the Sunburnt Country: The Rainforest of the Humid Tropics of Northeastern Australia and Their Response to Quaternary Environmental ChangeGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 6 2008Patrick T. Moss The Humid Tropics of northeastern Australia is a region of exceptional diversity and productivity that reflects many of the characteristics of similar tropical biomes. In the Australian context, it is a unique environment being a virtual ,island of green' surrounded by the more typical sclerophyll (i.e. dry and fire prone) landscapes of Australia. This article will examine the modern ecological characteristics of the region, as well as providing historical context by discussing the response of the humid tropics communities to Quaternary environmental upheavals and the possible implications that these alterations have for understanding ecosystem response to future environmental change. [source] The History of Children in Australia: An Interdisciplinary HistoriographyHISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 10 2010Carla Pascoe Children have long been shadowy or forgotten figures within historical narratives. It was not until the second half of the twentieth century that a critical historiography of children and childhood emerged. In the Australian context, histories of young people were not published until the 1980s. Whilst the historiography of the child is now a burgeoning field, it has been haunted by two major challenges: a lack of sources authored by children themselves; and a tendency amongst adult scholars to romanticise children. This article situates the Australian historiography of children within an international context. Given the difficulties of reconstructing the lives of children in the past, it argues for an interdisciplinary approach, drawing upon the insights of folklore, material culture, geography and oral history. [source] Mental health nurse practitioners in Australia: Improving access to quality mental health careINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 4 2005Jacklin E. Fisher ABSTRACT:, Under The Nurses Amendment (Nurse Practitioners) Act 1998, New South Wales became the first state in Australia to legislate for nurse practitioners. Mental health was identified as a priority ,area of practice' for nurse practitioners. Issues surrounding the implementation of the nurse practitioner role in Australia and the potential for the role to address the current crisis in mental health nursing and the mental health sector will be discussed. The potential for partnerships with other health-care providers, in particular medical practitioners, will demonstrate how successful implementation of the role can fulfil consumer demand for primary prevention counselling, improve access to mental health services and early intervention, and provide mental health services that better reflect national priorities. This examination of the Australian context will be contrasted with a review of the overseas literature on mental health nurse practitioners. [source] Comprehensive measurement of maternal satisfaction: The modified Mason SurveyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING PRACTICE, Issue 3 2002Maree Johnson RN A three-stage process was undertaken to identify and modify a tool that was capable of measuring the many aspects of maternal satisfaction relevant to Australian women. First, the scope of maternal satisfaction to be measured was defined by summarizing available literature and surveys purporting to measure maternal satisfaction (including surveys used in maternity services in New South Wales). The multidimensional nature of maternal satisfaction was confirmed, with 16 core aspects (common to the literature and local surveys) and nine additional unique aspects of maternal satisfaction being identified. Second, these core and additional aspects were used to examine the comprehensiveness of the Mason Survey, a survey recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia for use in maternity services. Eighty-eight per cent of the core and additional aspects (22/25) were found to be present in the Mason Survey. Third, an expert panel further modified the Mason Survey by removing items not applicable to the Australian context. The modified Mason Survey is a comprehensive measure of maternal satisfaction suitable for Australian women and capable of providing valuable information on the quality of services and future planning for maternity services. [source] Microsimulation of Business PerformanceINTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2000Philip Kokic Summary Microsimulation of business performance based on sample survey data is a relatively underdeveloped field, but its application in government economic policy formulation is potentially great since it can be used to measure the distributional effects of change rather than just average change. Techniques which account for the dynamic response of businesses to macro level price expectations have recently been developed (Kokic et al., 1993). These allow individual level business performance to be forecast from sample survey data. In this paper we outline a general methodology for combining these forecasting techniques with Monte Carlo simulation in order to produce a microsimulation of business performance that accurately captures the true distributional characteristics of the underling survey data. Applying this methodology to Australian farm survey data, we show that these methods may be used to forecast the distribution of farm business production and performance within arbitrary subdomains of the surveyed population conditional on a given set of expected commodity price outcomes. The microsimulations reflect both the uncertainty due to climatic variation from one year to the next, which in the Australian context depends largely on geographic location, as well as the uncertainty of commodity prices. [source] Human rights and the trauma model: Genuine partners or uneasy allies?JOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 5 2009Zachary Steel Since World War II, a comprehensive body of international law has developed to protect and promote human rights. Three generations of rights can be delineated: civil and political; economic, social and cultural; and collective rights. The convergence of a medical rights-based campaign in the late 1970s with the emergence of the new trauma model resulted in mental health professionals playing a prominent role in documenting and protecting civil and political rights. Economic, social, and cultural rights also emerged as being pivotal, particularly in the Australian context as mental health professionals began to work with excluded populations such as asylum seekers. Consideration of third-generation rights raises important questions about the responsibilities facing mental health professionals applying the trauma model to non-Western settings. [source] Re-encountering Cuban Tastes in Australia,THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2004Euridice T. Charon Cardona This paper explores the challenges presented to the everyday praxis of maintaining Cuban identity in the Australian context through an examination of the preparation and eating of Cuban food by migrants in Sydney. I argue that the very different demographic configuration of Cubans in Australia and the US is played out through the different experiences of eating. Cuban identity in the US contrasts markedly with the situation in NSW where the small population of Cubans focus on maintaining a Cuban world in their domestic space through the practice of eating Cuban food, rather than in the public domain. The struggle to find and prepare Cuban food in Australia reflects a distance and separation from homeland both spatially and temporally. The paper suggests that the eating habits of this group constitute a significant ethnic marker used by members of the group to differentiate themselves as Cubans in Australia. Additionally, I argue that the existence of a substantial multicultural and ethnic food market in Australia allows Cuban migrants to acquire the products needed for the Cuban cuisine, from shops primarily serving numerically larger ethnic groups. [source] Epidemiology of post-injury multiple organ failure in an Australian trauma systemANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 6 2009David C. Dewar Abstract Background:, The epidemiology of post-injury multiple organ failure (MOF) is reported internationally to have gone through changes over the last 15 years. The purpose of this study is to describe the epidemiology of post-injury MOF in Australia. Methods:, A 12-month prospective epidemiological study was performed at the John Hunter Hospital (Level-1 Trauma Centre). Demographics, injury severity (ISS), physiological parameters, MOF status and outcome data were prospectively collected on all trauma patients who met inclusion criteria (ICU admission; ISS > 15; age > 18, head Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) <3 and survival >48 h). MOF was prospectively defined by the Denver MOF score greater than 3 points. Data are presented as % or Mean+/,SEM. Univariate statistical comparison was performed (Student t -test, X2 test), P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results:, Twenty-nine patients met inclusion criteria (Age 40+/,4, ISS 29+/,3, Male 62%), five patients developed MOF. The incidence of MOF among trauma patients admitted to ICU was 2% (5/204) and 17% (5/29) in the high-risk cohort. The maximum average MOF score was 6.3 +/,1, with the average duration of MOF 5+/,2 days. Two patients had respiratory and cardiac failure, two patients had failure of respiratory, cardiac and hepatic systems, while one patient had failure of respiratory, hepatic and renal systems. One MOF patient died, all non MOF patients survived. MOF patients had longer ICU stays (20+/,4 versus 7+/,0.8 P= 0.01), tended to be older (60+/,11 versus 35+/,4 p=0.07). None of the previously described independent predictors (ISS, base deficit, lactate, transfusions) were different when the MOF patients were compared with the non-MOF patients. Conclusion:, The incidence of MOF in Australia is consistent with the international data. In Australia MOF continues to cause significant late mortality and morbidity in trauma patients. MOF patients have longer ICU stay than high-risk non MOF patients, and use significant resources. Our preliminary data challenges the timeliness of the 10-year-old independent predictors of post-injury MOF. The epidemiology, the clinical presentation and the independent predictors of post-injury MOF require larger scale reassessment for the Australian context. [source] A call for Australian loessAREA, Issue 2 2007David Haberlah The term ,loess' for silty terrestrial deposits of aeolian origin is widely avoided in the Australian context. This seems to be linked to a prevailing notion among Australian geoscientists that loess is an inherently periglacial late Pleistocene sediment and hence negligible on the mainland. Addressing this conception, loess is presented here as a product of both cold and hot semi-arid environments and therefore a widespread feature in Australia. The adoption of a non-prescriptive definition of loess will align the variety of local descriptions with overseas terminology. More importantly, it will relate hitherto only vaguely defined wind-blown dust occurrences to a broader palaeoenvironmental concept. [source] Why rehabilitate urban river systems?AREA, Issue 3 2006Sophia Jane Findlay This paper addresses the philosophical question: ,why rehabilitate urban river systems?' within an Australian context. Rehabilitation of river systems has become an important objective of many local, state and national governments around the world, who allocate substantial investment into various river projects. An understanding of the various factors influencing stream condition and potential rehabilitation options is essential in order to determine how the process is undertaken, and how success is measured. This paper examines the triple bottom line (economic, social and environmental) factors that influence decisionmaking with respect to urban stream rehabilitation and management and considers their relative value and importance. [source] The Eden model: Innovation in Australian aged care?AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL ON AGEING, Issue 3 2010Maree Petersen Aim:, The Eden model of care is part of discourse associated with innovation in aged care. There is, however, limited rigorous research to identify its essential claims. This paper examines the implementation of the Eden model in one integrated health service in rural Australia. Methods:, Data are derived from a small qualitative study that explored the views of staff. Results:, Findings highlight that while the discourse of the Eden model is accessible to all staff within aged care and is linked to person-centred care, there is tension with this practice of aged care within the Australian context. Conclusion:, It is appropriate to ask if this form of care is innovative; what constitutes innovation and the importance of accounting for wider contextual factors. There is a need to build on this exploratory study with dialogue and research of not only the Eden model, but innovation in aged care within Australia. [source] Executive Remuneration in AustraliaAUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Allan Fels A fierce debate is raging about the legitimacy of executive pay rises. Australia's chief executive salaries are not as high as in the United States and the big European economies, but between 1993 and 2007 there was a sharp rise in remuneration. Most of the rise came in the form of incentive payments. In the Australian context, the size of the executive salary is closely linked with the size of the company. The evidence is mixed about how efficient executive remuneration has been, but what is clear is that the responsibility to ensure it is appropriate resides with boards, and that there is a need for greater shareholder participation. Accordingly, it is recommended that shareholders have a greater ,say on pay', and that two successive ,no' votes on remuneration by shareholders will have formal consequences for boards. The challenge is to improve agency between shareholders and management, and between shareholders and boards. An evolutionary approach is proposed. [source] Informing policy for the Australian context , Costs, outcomes and cost savings of prenatal carrier screening for cystic fibrosisAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Susannah MAXWELL Aims:, To examine the costs, outcomes and cost savings of three models of prenatal cystic fibrosis (CF) carrier screening compared to no screening from a public health sector perspective. Methods:, A decision tree was generated to estimate costs and outcomes for each screening model for a hypothetical cohort of 38 000 pregnancies. Sensitivity analysis assessed the impact of model parameter variation. Results:, Under baseline assumptions, the initial annual cost to provide a prenatal CF carrier-screening programme is Au$5.32 million, Au$3.35 million and $2.93 million for one-step, two-step simultaneous and two-step sequential screening respectively. Annual costs are significantly lower for an established programme. No screening model provides a net saving over a lifetime horizon; however, the results were sensitive to variation in lifetime cost of care, screening test costs and number of pregnancies per carrier couple. Conclusions:, Under some scenarios, prenatal CF carrier screening is cost saving to the health system; however, this is not conclusive and depends on several factors. Cost remains a potential barrier due to the substantial level of funding required in the short term. Feasibility and psychosocial, ethical and legal implications of screening need to be considered. Additionally, consultation is required with the Australian community on the acceptability and/or desire for prenatal CF carrier screening. [source] Contraception and pregnancy then and now: Examining the experiences of a cohort of mid-age Australian womenAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Christine READ Background: More than 50% of women who have an unplanned pregnancy report using a contraceptive method. Since the launch of the pill 50 years ago, a number of cross-sectional surveys have examined contraceptive use in the Australian context. There is, however, little data on contraceptive use and efficacy over a woman's reproductive years. Aim: To determine the pattern of contraceptive use of Australian women over their reproductive lifespan, with particular emphasis on the relationship between contraceptive use and pregnancy. Method: One thousand women from the mid-age cohort of the Australian Women's Longitudinal Study were invited to participate in the Family Planning survey by completing a questionnaire about their reproductive histories. Results: Completed questionnaires were received for 812 women. The contraceptive pill was the most commonly ever used contraceptive method at 94% and also the most commonly used method prior to all pregnancies. Contraceptive failure increased with increasing gravidity; 11.4% with the first pregnancy to 23.0% with the fourth pregnancy, while 28.8% of the respondents reported an ,accidental' pregnancy due to stopping contraception for reasons such as concern about long-term effects and media stories. Conclusions: While surveys indicate that 66,70% of Australian women use a contraceptive method, more than half of unplanned pregnancies apparently occur in women using contraception. The modern Australian woman, in common with her predecessors, still faces significant challenges in her fertility management. This survey provides a longitudinal perspective on contraceptive use in relation to pregnancy and highlights the issue of efficacy of contraceptives in real-life situations. [source] EFFECTS OF A CHILD'S DISABILITY ON AFFECTED FEMALE'S LABOUR SUPPLY IN AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 3 2010ZENG-HUA LU Australia has experienced a growing rate of child disability, with the rate of 3.7 per cent in 1998 increasing to 4.3 per cent in 2003 for children aged under four years and from 9.5 per cent to 10 per cent for children aged five to 14 years in the same period. However, surprisingly no study has examined the economic effects of child disability in the Australian context. This paper attempts to quantify the link between a child's disability and the work behaviour of the female in the affected family. Our findings provide empirical justifications for the current policy linking the severity level of child disability to the assessment of eligibility for Carer Payment (Child). We also found that child disability has different impacts on the labour market activities of married women and non-married women. It appears that child disability imposes a greater hardship on non-married women than on married women in terms of work choice decision. Once non-married women manage to enter the labour force, they may have to stay on to work as usual even if they have a disabled child, because they may not have other family members to turn to for help as married women do. [source] ESTIMATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMMIGRANT AND NATIVE WORKERS IN AUSTRALIA: A PRODUCTION THEORY APPROACHAUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 1 2010JAAI PARASNIS The impact of immigration on labour markets depends, among other factors, on the substitutability or complementarity between immigrants and natives. This relationship is examined by treating migrant and native labour, along with capital, as inputs in production process. Estimated price elasticities of substitution between immigrants and native labour suggest that in Australian context, an increase in the wage rate of one group of workers leads to an increased demand for the other. The estimated elasticities of substitution between immigrant and native workers and the complementary relationship between immigrants and capital provide an insight into the complex effects of immigration. [source] State Socialism in Australian Political Thought: A ReconsiderationAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 1 2006Tod Moore In understanding the origins of conventional tenets in political thought, we should attend to cross-spectrum analysis of usage. Taking state socialism as an instance, this paper argues that the practice of treating it historically either as an element within a radical tradition (by Labour historians) or as a discredited part of a socialist agenda (by liberals) ignores the ways in which it was it was deployed across the political spectrum. Outsiders (such as the Webbs and Métin) skewed the record, describing the pragmatic accommodations they saw as "socialism without doctrines", unconscious of the debates amongst Australian political elites. We need to explore anew where ideas came from, how they were taken up and adapted in the Australian context (by all sides) and the circumstances that determined their duration within everyday discourse. [source] Unpacking a Wicked Problem: Enablers/Impediments to Regional EngagementAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2009Michael J. Christie A case study approach is applied to review Local Government Authorities (LGA) regional engagement in the Australian context. We address the question ,What are the key LGA enablers/impediments to regional engagement?' by applying Leydesdorff's (2000) proposition that triple helix type network systems exhibit patterns of complex behaviour if the interaction factors that trigger enablers are reflexively declared. The three strands of the LGA triple helix network system are institutions, industry and government. In this case study the LGA's overall management of its regional stakeholder relationships resulted in impediments that limit strong regional engagement. Importantly, the findings inform practitioners, policy-makers and research audiences of the nature of impediments and, by inference, the nature of enablers in LGA triple helix network systems. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||