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In 2001, a study into issues of concern to assistant-in-nursing, registered and enrolled nurse members of the Queensland Nurses Union was undertaken. Approximately equal numbers of nurses from each of the aged care, acute private and acute public sectors were surveyed. Overall, 1477 nurses responded, representing a response rate of 53%. This article focuses on one aspect of the study—the perceived adequacy of support offered to new nursing graduates as they exit university and begin their transition into the workplace. In particular, responses from nurses are compared with professional level or current role designation, age, time spent in the workplace and health sector. Considerable divergence of opinion among the respondents, particularly across designation, age and years of experience, was found within the three sectors. For example, in the public and private employment sectors, older and more experienced nurses were more likely to perceive the support for new nurses as adequate compared to younger and less experienced nurses. Additionally, in the acute private sector, the more senior the nurse the more likely the perception that there was adequate preparation for new graduates entering the workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the concept of 'place' could be integrated in the regeneration process for the industrial suburb of Salisbury in Queensland, Australia and how the three Bs can be used as a framework to study the evolution and the possible futures of the suburb. The paper draws on data collected from interviews with stakeholders as well as the outcomes of a Design Studio course as well as a panel organized for a University of Queensland event on placemaking in 2018 as a practical way of exploring potential scenarios for place-based regeneration of the suburb. The aim of the paper is both to understand the current transformation process of this suburb and to develop recommendations for a regeneration process integrating the concept of 'place' in the South East Queensland (SEQ) context where regeneration principles are not well integrated into local plans for the suburb of Salisbury. The paper highlights two conflicting views about the regeneration process and placemaking. The conclusion outlines recommendations to promote a regeneration process that could be adapted for both the Salisbury and the greyfields context for South East Queensland and would reconcile the two visions of what the regeneration of Salisbury should be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of language education in Australia has long been described as paradoxical. Oscillating between periods of increased attention and seeming invisibility, over the last thirty years, the language learning sector has been punctuated by a succession of aspirational declarations and funding injections with little long-term impact on its overall standing. Despite the increasingly multilingual makeup of Australian society, language education at all levels has largely remained stuck amidst monolingualising education policies and alarmist discourses. The latest instance of this paradoxical condition is a fee-reduction incentive for university students to study a language, which, in practice, stands to further weaken the language offerings in many Higher Education institutions. In this paper, we use the imagery of circularities and ripples to explore the challenges facing language education across sectors in Australia. Through data collected in Queensland secondary schools, we discuss how these challenges transcend the traditional delineation of macro-, meso-, and micro-levels of language policy and planning. We argue that challenges go both in circles within the same level (circularity) and flow outwards to other levels (ripples), which include Higher Education. For this reason, siloed approaches to funding and scholarly research contribute to a wicked state of inertia and, ultimately, diminish opportunities to break free from these cycles in the future. We conclude by acknowledging our complicit roles and ethical responsibilities as Higher Education scholars in the perpetuation of these cycles, as but a first step in engaging productively with the possibilities of leveraging these rippling circularities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this guest editor's introduction to this thematic volume on the historical archaeology of Queensland, Australia, I briefly discuss some of the history and archaeology of Queensland in light of some of the major themes currently being investigated. The papers presented in this volume are also introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many parts of the world, policymakers, legislators, marine managers, and indigenous peoples have attempted to reconcile marine protected area (MPA) governance and management with indigenous peoples' ancient and ongoing traditional ownership of coastal and marine environments. This paper describes a novel approach in Australia to addressing this challenge through indigenous‐led planning and collaborative governance of holistic coastal land and sea indigenous protected areas (IPAs) based on the indigenous concept of "Country"—traditional land and sea estates and their associated cultural, environmental, and other values.To provide context to this approach, the paper explains the concept of "Sea Country" and provides an overview of the relationship between indigenous peoples and Australia's coastal and marine environments, the legal and policy recognition of Indigenous Sea Country rights and interests, and the engagement of indigenous people in the governance and management of government‐led, legislated MPAs in Australia.The paper then describes the evolution of IPAs from being specifically based on indigenous land tenure to being based more generally on Indigenous Country, across multiple tenures, including marine areas. In recent years, IPAs based on Country have enabled indigenous people to lead planning and governance of land and sea areas over which they have limited legal rights, including over existing national parks and marine parks. Using this approach, some IPAs complement existing protected area governance and management arrangements, whereas elsewhere Country‐based IPAs are adding significantly to Australia's MPA estate. The Dhimurru IPA in the Northern Territory and Girringun Region IPAs in Queensland are presented as examples of this Country‐based approach.This indigenous‐driven, collaborative, nonlegislative approach to dedicating, governing and managing coastal areas and MPAs may serve as a model in other nation states for indigenous people wishing to use a protected area governance framework to support the contemporary management of their traditional marine and coastal estates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many nineteenth-century Chinese migrants to Pacific Rim countries died far from their home villages. Diverse approaches were adopted to mark graves, possibly anticipating the subsequent, culturally important, repatriation of their bones. This paper evaluates the morphology of grave markers from eight northeast Australian sites and considers reasons for the variations. Physical appraisal of each site was undertaken and, where they exist, cemetery records and allied documentation examined. In an unusual departure from the norm the inscriptions on most identified grave markers rarely indicate date of death. The seemingly meticulous attention to grave identification in some areas contrasts with others where markers are absent. This study indicates divergent approaches to identification and recording of individual graves over time and place. Rather than indicating full-fledged ethnogenesis, wherein Australian Chinese developed new cultural practices, these behaviors suggest that ca.1870–1930 was a transitional period, during which extant cultural processes were adapted to meet immediate needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the results of research into the trends and nature of coverage of climate change issues in the Australian print media over the past ten years. Studies were undertaken at national, state and local levels, with a focus on Queensland (state) and the Townsville region (local) in northeastern Australia. At a national level there has been an almost exponential increase in coverage, with a decrease in the past year. Issues which have caused media coverage levels to surge are identified, showing a shift from international events/meetings to domestic policy issues as triggers. Interviews were conducted with decision-makers in print media to explore publication mechanisms. This is part of a wider study examining media coverage, public perception, and political/policy activities to inform judgement as to the likelihood of sustained levels of discussion and action on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper examines the exclusion of public health from social license narratives within an increasingly financialised food system, through a case study of foreign ownership in the Australian sugar industry. As finance actors such as asset management firms, pension funds, private equity funds, state owned enterprises and sovereign wealth funds engage in speculative farmland investment, commodity futures trading, and the conversion of farmland into a financial asset, power within agro-industrial food supply chains becomes increasingly concentrated. This has been associated with increased food prices and more processed food, contributing to obesogenic diets, hunger, and poorer health outcomes for many. The potential for negative social and environmental impacts has prompted awareness of the need for financial actors to demonstrate sustainability, responsibility and accountability in their farmland investments. Methods: This paper uses thematic analysis of qualitative interviews and key documents to assess four recent acquisitions of sugarcane land in North Queensland. We consider how companies' efforts to establish or maintain a social license to operate (SLO) intersect with their capital accumulation strategies. Results: Our findings demonstrate that the link between the commodification of 'unhealthy' food inputs (such as sugar) and financialisation remains outside the purview of financiers. Instead, agribusiness firms use narratives centred on biofuels investment and energy/food security to justify their legitimacy in the sugar sector. We organise our findings according to two 'narratives:' constructing trust and credibility through ethical compliance; and, biofuels expansion as a legitimate response to climate change. The concept of social license is much stronger in the second narrative, but health is largely missing. Conclusion: The 'distancing' between responsibility and health outcomes highlights the limits to principles of responsible financial investment, and to the legitimacy of finance to claim an SLO -- the ongoing approval and acceptance by society to conduct its activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism Geographies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper analyses the strategic interests that inform deforestation policies in Australia, and the variance in policy selections over time. A theory of deliberate policy disproportionality is used to analyse 20 years of regulatory reform in Queensland, focusing on the Vegetation Management Act (VMA) 1999. Application of the framework to this case suggests that political executives were prone to deliberately adopt (dis)proportionate policies as a strategic response to either manage or capitalise on stakeholder support or opposition to any proposed legislative change. The high variance in (dis)proportionate deforestation policies is attributed to how political executives respond to claims made by competing constituencies regarding the costs versus benefits of successive reforms. During key reform phases, policy under‐reaction was the norm, and political executives intentionally limited the scope and effectiveness of the VMA 1999 due to perceived impacts on the agricultural sector. Political executives were highly responsive to the emotional investment of rural constituents and averse to introducing policies that required difficult trade‐offs. Elections offered strategic opportunities for delivering more proportionate policies that balanced public environmental benefits with economic impacts, as evidenced by a conditional deforestation ban introduced between 2004 and 2012 and reinstated in 2018. Points for practitioners: Variance in Queensland's deforestation policy over time can be attributed to the intentional decisions by political executives to limit or expand the scope of regulations as a strategic response to stakeholder expectations.Political executives were responsive to the costs versus environmental impacts/benefits of any deforestation reforms, but prone to policy under‐reaction when the priority was managing the emotive reactions from rural constituencies.More proportionate regulations, such as the partial deforestation ban of 2004, aimed to balance environmental benefits with compensation for landholders but were only implemented when electorally beneficial.Stakeholders have a significant influence on disproportionate deforestation policy design and governments will need to manage competing claims to deliver more durable policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platform‐mediated short‐term rentals (STRs) are a relatively new addition to the housing landscape, providing accommodation on a temporal scale that falls between hotel stays and long‐term rentals (LTRs). Given the potential for STR hosts to charge significantly higher nightly rates for the same property than they might through an LTR lease enumerated in months or years, many have asked whether a 'gap' exists between the two, and how persistent this may be over space and time. In this paper, we modify and validate classical bid–rent theory to investigate spatial variation in the rent gap between STRs and LTRs over time in two distinct contexts in Queensland, Australia. We conduct statistical analyses on STR data against LTR data from local property records in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, identifying a significant rent gap, particularly close to high‐amenity areas. We find strong evidence of distance decay in the rent gap, with rents converging with increasing distance in most cases, indicating that STRs only 'outcompete' LTRs near high‐amenity areas, which in this analysis are the central business districts (Brisbane) and the beach (Sunshine Coast). We also find that the rent gap increases as properties get larger in size, and over time. These findings carry implications for policy aiming to balance the needs of multiple stakeholders and political agendas against planning frameworks prescribing where short‐term accommodation is best situated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The harmful use of alcohol is a global issue. This study aimed to describe and compare the profiles, emergency department (ED) clinical characteristics, and outcomes of alcohol-related ED presentations (ARPs) and non-alcohol-related ED presentations (NARPs). Methods: A multi-site observational study of all presentations to four EDs between 4 April 2016 and 31 August 2017, was conducted. Routinely collected ED clinical, administrative and costings data were used. Classification of ARPs were prospectively recorded by clinicians. Analysis was performed at the presentation, rather than person level. Univariate tests were undertaken to compare demographics, ED clinical characteristics and outcomes between ARPs and NARPs. Results: A total of 418 051 ED presentations occurred within the 17-month study period; 5% (n = 19 875) were ARPs. Presentations made by people classified as ARPs were younger, more likely to be male, present on weekends or at night, and arrive by ambulance or police compared to NARPs. Compared with NARPs, ARPs had a longer median ED length of stay of over 20 min (95% CI 18–22, median 196 min vs 177 min, P < 0.001), a 5.5% (95% CI 4.9–5.3) lower admission rate (36% vs 42%, P < 0.001), and a AUD69 (95% CI 64–75) more expensive ED episode-of-care (AUD689 vs AUD622, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Clinically meaningful differences were noted between alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related ED presentations. The higher cost of care for ARPs likely reflects their longer time in the ED. The healthcare and economic implications of incidents of alcohol-related harm extend beyond the ED, with ARPs having higher rates of ambulance and police use than NARPs. What is known about the topic? The harmful use of alcohol is a major health issue globally contributing to morbidity and mortality. What does this paper add? The demographic profile, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of people presenting to emergency departments with alcohol-related harm differ to people arriving for other reasons. What are the implications for practitioners? Indicating alcohol as a cause of an ED presentation, as standard practice, may foster quality assurance/improvement activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death in Australia. Longitudinal record linkage studies have the potency to influence clinical decision making to improve cardiac health. This paper describes the baseline characteristics of the Queensland Cardiac Record Linkage Cohort study (QCard). Methods: International Classification of Disease, 10th Revision Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) diagnosis codes were used to identify CVD and comorbidities. Cost and adverse health outcomes (e.g., comorbidities, hospital-acquired complications) were compared between first-time and recurrent admissions. Descriptive statistics and standard tests were used to analyse the baseline data. Results: There were 132,343 patients with hospitalisations in 2010, of which 47% were recurrent admissions, and 53% were males. There were systematic differences between characteristics of recurrent and first-time hospitalisations. Patients with recurrent episodes were nine years older (70 vs. 61; p < 0.001) and experienced a twice higher risk of multiple comorbidities (3.17 vs. 1.59; p < 0.001). CVD index hospitalisations were concentrated in large metropolitan hospitals. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that linked administrative health data provide an effective tool to investigate factors determining the progress of heart disease. Our main finding suggests that recurrent admissions were associated with higher hospital costs and a higher risk of having adverse outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of interstitial space and everyday housing practices at the domestic scale. Interstitial space is often framed as “empty” or “in-between” space located in the shadows of conventional built form and everyday practices. In this paper, we focus on interstitial space as a site of often undervalued or taken-for-granted housing possibility. We begin the paper by outlining the contours of interstitial space as a theoretical concept before highlighting two cross-cultural examples of domestic housing storage practices within the Australian context: (1) “under the house” in the Queensland vernacular and (2) “close to the wind-break” in a remote Aboriginal community in the centre of Australia. We conclude by drawing attention to the importance of interstitial spatial practices for housing theory and practice and offer suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dwellings become home through the social, emotional and psychological meanings that dwellers attach to them. These meanings often revolve around home as a haven, a site of autonomy and a vehicle for the expression of social status. Yet, homes can also be unmade, not only through external acts of 'domicide', but also through networks of local social relations in which homes are embedded, such as those with neighbours. This paper explores the role of "unneighbourliness" in home unmaking as recounted by clients of neighbourhood mediation services in Queensland, Australia. It shows that disputes with neighbours can undermine one's sense of home as haven, autonomy and status. But it also reveals how home (un)making occurs as a dialectic in the context of physical proximity and shared boundaries between residential dwellings where the homemaking practices of one neighbour spill over into, and impede, the sense of home of another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With long colonial histories, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Australia experience lower life expectancy and a higher burden of illness. To this day, Indigenous Peoples experience interpersonal, systemic, and institutional racism in the mainstream public health system of Australia, leading to the underuse of mainstream health services and resulting in many Indigenous Australians living in a state of persistent crisis. Extreme and unacceptable levels of institutional racism have been identified in the hospitals and health services of Queensland, Australia, using the Marrie Institutional Racism Matrix (MIRM), an evidence-based assessment tool for identifying, measuring, and monitoring racism in institutional settings. This paper aims to identify ways to address institutional racism against Indigenous Peoples in the health care sector. Specifically, using publicly available documents, a case study analysis of the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH), a network of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, is conducted using the MIRM as a guide. The conclusion is that the IUIH actively works to address institutional racism by (a) including Indigenous people in key decision-making processes and structures; (b) undertaking numerous community engagement strategies; (c) building partnerships within and outside the health sector to address the social determinants of health; and (d) working in ways that align with Indigenous ways of being and doing. It is argued that mainstream health services need to be aware of institutional racism and learn from the approaches of Indigenous-led organizations to create institutions that are inclusive of Indigenous members of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent paper, community-held archival material was used to evaluate the palaeo-biology of dinosaur track-makers from the 'fireclay caverns' of Mount Morgan. With the ensuing interest, community members disclosed additional photographic documentation of Mount Morgan dinosaur tracks. The described theropodan and ornithischian tracks are consistent with the known Mount Morgan ichnofaunal record, while evidence of Anomoepus track-makers walking with the atypical plantigrade pedal posture has not been previously documented in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Vehicle crashes in work zones are significantly underreported in official crash datasets of many countries, including Australia. This leads to underestimations of work zone crash frequencies and limited understanding of crash causation factors. To address this important gap in the literature, this paper examines historical data from two different sources - police-reported crash data and organizational Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) records - to understand work zone crashes and their characteristics in Queensland, Australia.Methods: WHS data including text fields were cleaned and coded to match police-reported crash data variables for comparative descriptive analysis of a 45-month period. involvement of a moving vehicle that collided with another vehicle, pedestrian, object, or overturned, at a work zone accessible to public traffic.Results: There were more work zone crashes in the WHS data (N = 820) than the police-reported data (N = 128) and the WHS data offered a deeper understanding of incident causes due to the greater breadth of information available. The two data sets varied in terms of the patterns of crash type, the mixes of road users and vehicles involved, and the contributing factors that were identified, highlighting dangers of relying on single sources for understanding crash characteristics. The WHS data appear relatively consistent with the overall work zone safety literature, but their use has limitations regarding processing and reliability. Conversely, police-reported crash data can be analyzed efficiently but they suffer from underreporting and selective reporting.Conclusions: The WHS dataset is a valuable alternative to police-reported crash data for understanding vehicle crash characteristics in work zones, particularly where restrictive reporting criteria lead to inability to identify these crashes in police data. Reliability and utility of WHS data could be improved through advanced reporting systems and procedures, potentially including development of an app-based system for use on mobile electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is seen as a transition from mobility being satisfied by a dominant car ownership model to a service model where mobility needs are met by a multimodal suite of services. The research environment of MaaS is heavily driven by the younger generation's travel behaviour which appears to be less dominated by car ownership (following the peak car literature) and by their interest in all things technological, particularly their smart phones. However, this paper is looking at a different but very specific segment of the population in Australia that have their accessibility provided by Community Transport (CT), focusing specifically on New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD). Arguably, this population segment is the complete antithesis of the younger generation in terms of chasing technological change but in other ways, for example, a lack of access to private cars, shows some similarities. This paper is motivated by likely changes in funding for CT providers. Currently CT providers receive a supply side subsidy but there are plans to introduce funding to be placed directly with clients, in the form of person centred funding (PCF). Clients will then have a single budget to purchase mobility along with other services they require. The paper investigates the mobility services which comprise bundles that CT clients would be willing to pay in the new era of PCF. Five participating CT providers from a cross section of operating areas recruited clients to take part in a stated choice experiment, processed by a computer assisted personal interview (CAPI). Advanced choice models are used to develop models using the behavioural data collected by the CAPI and estimates of a CT client's willingness to pay (WTP) for the MaaS bundle are presented. WTP provides a ceiling for pricing the elements within a MaaS bundle which is an important part of the CT providers' future strategy. The WTP estimates were much smaller than the CT providers' unit costs of providing the service. This poses a challenge for CT providers in the creation of mobiltiy bundles which cover costs, suggesting that the possible transition to PCF using MaaS bundles will not be an easy process and will require significant education as to the cost of provision. The paper concludes with some suggestions as to how CT providers could make the transition to PCF building on the evidence of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voluntary assisted dying laws have now been enacted in all six Australian States with reform being considered in the remaining two. While there is an emerging body of literature examining various aspects of regulation, there has been scant consideration of what these reforms mean for First Nations peoples, and to what extent their experiences have been considered in the process of developing legislation. This article provides a critical analysis of how Indigenous perspectives both contributed to, and were engaged with, during the law reform processes in Victoria and Western Australia, the first two States to grapple with this topic. Findings reveal the sophistication in how Indigenous organisations and individuals engaged with this issue and highlight the critical importance of not universalising Indigenous perspectives. Significantly, there was much greater engagement with Indigenous views in Western Australia than in Victoria. We conclude by considering how Indigenous voices can meaningfully influence Australian law reform processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present paper represented the third installment on the monogenoidean parasites collected during a workshop exploring the diversity of the parasites of fishes in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Previous reports on monogenoids collected during the workshop included species parasitizing beloniform and gerreid fishes. Purpose: During January 2016, the author, having responsibility for the identification and description of monogenoids, participated in a workshop supported by an Australian Biological Resources Study Grant to Drs. Thomas Cribb and Scott Cutmore, University of Queensland, to explore the diversity of parasites infecting the fishes of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Methods: Approximately 100 species of marine fishes were necropsied for parasites. Standard procedures for collecting, mounting, drawing, and measuring of monogenoids were employed. Results: A new species of Euryhaliotrema was collected and described from the silver moony Monodactylus argenteus (Monodactylidae) and the first recording of Euryhaliotrema spirotubiforum on the dory snapper Lutjanus fulviflamma and Russell's snapper Lutjanus russellii (both Lutjanidae) in Moreton Bay was reported. Conclusion: The results suggested that the diversity of dactylogyrids off eastern Australia is under estimated in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We investigate factors affecting Australian general practitioners' decisions to adopt novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) for the prevention of stroke/systemic embolism among patients with atrial fibrillation. Australia has a national homogeneous review and coverage system, which enables us to distinguish physician level factors while maintaining system level factors and patient coverage information constant.Methods: We conduct a cohort analyses by using longitudinal physician survey data from the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life panel survey of Australian physicians (MABEL). MABEL data contain rich physician-level information such as age, gender, education, risk preferences, personality, physicians' communications with other medical professionals, and other practice characteristics. Importantly, the survey data were linked, with physician's consent, to actual utilization data from the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the Medicare Benefits Schedule between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2015. We measure speed (days until first time prescribing) of adopting NOACs. We estimate a Cox proportional hazard model to estimate factors affecting the adoption speed.Results: Several factors predict earlier adoption of NOACs: being male, more likely to take clinical risk, higher prescribing volume, being a principal or partner in the practice instead of an employee, spending less time in a typical consultation, and practicing in more affluent areas or areas with a higher proportion of older patients. GPs in Queensland are more likely to adopt NOACs and more likely to be extensive early adopters compared to other GPs. Other characteristics including physician personality, family circumstances, their involvement with public hospitals and teaching activities, and the distance between physician practice location to other clinics in the area are not statistically associated with earlier adoption.Conclusions: Our paper is one of the first to study the relationship between GPs' risk preferences, personality and their decisions to adopt new prescription drugs. Because NOACs are commonly prescribed and considered more cost-effective than their older counterpart, understanding factors affecting physicians' decisions to adopt NOACs has direct policy implications. Our results also highlight that even with universal coverage for prescription drugs, access to new drugs is different among patients, partially because who their doctors are and where they practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Organisational health literacy is a promising area of research that enables a focus on how systems and services can be designed in ways that are responsive to populations with varying states and levels of health literacy, knowledge, and practices, including African refugees. The challenge is how organisations and professionals do this in practice, and research in this area is in its early stages. This qualitative study examined barriers to implementing health literacy responsive care practices in primary health care settings in Australia. It also offered suggestions to potentially address the barriers to improving organisational health literacy. Methods: Refugees (n = 19), primary health care professionals (n = 14), and other key stakeholders (n = 19) were recruited through convenience and snowball strategies from three states in Australia: New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. All but one participant was interviewed face-to-face via Zoom. Semi-structured interview guides were used to guide the conversations. Transcriptions from audio recordings were analysed using directed content analysis. Results: Thirteen themes were extracted from the data. Themes were organised into the following categories: structural and systemic, organisational context, individual professional level, individual patient level, and socio-community level. Major structural and system-level factors affecting organisational health literacy included rigid systems and structures and limited time. Key organisation-level factors included inflexible organisational processes and policies, institutionalised othering, discrimination and racism, and lack of interpreters. Individual professional factors were poor communication with patients and cultural knowledge gaps. Linguistic issues and service mistrust were key individual patient-level factors. Socio-community factors included limited community engagement. Participants identified potential solutions to help services navigate out of the barriers and improve their response to health literacy. Conclusion: The findings suggest that mainstream services and organisations could improve timely and appropriate health care access and utilisation for refugees through strategies such as designing services and health literacy programs with refugee communities, promoting health literacy champions in the workforce, integrating health literacy and culturally responsive care plans and strategies into organisational priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnographic practice in contentious and high-risk spaces raises important ethical and methodological questions. When working with grassroots activists who actively avoid forms of surveillance, the boundary between consensual observation and potentially harmful documentation becomes difficult to discern. This article aims not only to identify the gaps in qualitative research methodologies for scholars working with grassroots activists, but also to think of practical ways in which researchers should mitigate concerns both for participants and themselves. Based on fieldwork in Australia, the author explores the ethical, methodological, and emotional dilemmas of conducting research with activists as a militant ethnographer. The article argues that activist-centred project designs must consider the challenges between the researcher's mandate to collect data and their responsibility to uphold security culture both in and outside activist spaces. Reflexive research ethics, further, should be a part of ongoing research engagement to address the emotional tensions overlooked in standardized ethical protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skeletal remains of sauropod dinosaurs have been known from Australia for over 100 years. Unfortunately, the classification of the majority of these specimens to species level has historically been impeded by their incompleteness. This has begun to change in the last 15 years, primarily through the discovery and description of several partial skeletons from the Cenomanian-lower Turonian (lower Upper Cretaceous) Winton Formation in central Queensland, with four species erected to date: Australotitan cooperensis, Diamantinasaurus matildae, Savannasaurus elliottorum, and Wintonotitan wattsi. The first three of these appear to form a clade (Diamantinasauria) of early diverging titanosaurs (or close relatives of titanosaurs), whereas Wintonotitan wattsi is typically recovered as a distantly related non-titanosaurian somphospondylan. Through the use of 3D scanning, we digitised numerous specimens of Winton Formation sauropods, facilitating enhanced comparison between type and referred specimens, and heretofore undescribed specimens. We present new anatomical information on the holotype specimen of Diamantinasaurus matildae, and describe new remains pertaining to twelve sauropod individuals. Firsthand observations and digital analysis enabled previously proposed autapomorphic features of all four named Winton Formation sauropod species to be identified in the newly described specimens, with some specimens exhibiting putative autapomorphies of more than one species, prompting a reassessment of their taxonomic validity. Supported by a specimen-level phylogenetic analysis, we suggest that Australotitan cooperensis is probably a junior synonym of Diamantinasaurus matildae, but conservatively regard it herein as an indeterminate diamantinasaurian, meaning that the Winton Formation sauropod fauna now comprises three (rather than four) valid diamantinasaurian species: Diamantinasaurus matildae, Savannasaurus elliottorum, and Wintonotitan wattsi, with the latter robustly supported as a member of the clade for the first time. We refer some of the newly described specimens to these three species and provide revised diagnoses, with some previously proposed autapomorphies now regarded as diamantinasaurian synapomorphies. Our newly presented anatomical data and critical reappraisal of the Winton Formation sauropods facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the mid-Cretaceous sauropod palaeobiota of central Queensland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes changes in the number of residents and admissions to public psychiatric hospitals in Australia, and in the state of Queensland in particular, from 1883 to 2003. It identifies when the deinstitutionalisation of dedicated psychiatric institutions began in Queensland and finds that the policy described as ‘opening the back door’ (discharging residents) began around 1952–53, while the policy of ‘closing the front door’ (reducing admissions) began in 1962–63. Deinstitutionalisation in Queensland thus began earlier than most contemporary writers suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Up to a half of motor vehicle suicides may be unreported. • Unreported and confirmed cases of motor vehicle suicide share many common factors. • Unreported cases of motor vehicle suicide had a higher prevalence of females and multiple vehicle truck impacts compared to confirmed cases. • Information pertaining to the driver's psychosocial history is missing or unavailable in many coroners reports of driver fatalities. • A standardised procedure for conducting a psychological autopsy for motor vehicle suicide, may increase the accuracy of reporting the cause of such crashes. While suicide is recognised as one of the leading causes of death in Australia, it is often presumed that fatal road crashes are primarily accidental in nature. However, international research has indicated that deliberate attempts at self-harm while driving may account for between 1.1% and 7.4% of road crashes. Despite the personal and financial costs associated with such events, few studies have examined the extent of motor vehicle suicides (MVS) or the circumstances surrounding such incidents in Australia. Given this, the current study reviewed coronial, police and toxicology findings of 762 motor vehicle fatalities in Queensland (Australia) during the period 2011 to 2015 to determine the frequency of confirmed cases and explore the prevalence (and characteristics) of possible MVS that remain undetected. In total, 22 confirmed cases were identified, and such events shared significant similarities with 14 possible events, including evidence of recent emotional upset, adversity and mental health diagnoses. In contrast, differences between the groups were limited to confirmed cases being more likely to involve males and contain a suicide note or evidence of past suicidality, while possible cases were more likely to involve a multiple vehicle impact with a truck. Importantly, crucial information regarding the deceased's psychological state and life circumstances (e.g., psychological autopsy) was not reported in many cases. Corresponding qualitative analysis of the coroners final determination (between the two groups) revealed the occurrence of the word suicide to occur seven times (31.8%) among confirmed cases and five times (35.7%) for possible casers. Furthermore, the coroners final determination of intent to suicide was open or undetermined in six of the possible cases (43%), which further suggests a reluctance (or procedural uncertainty) to categorically identify MVS. The paper further reviews the main findings, illuminates core challenges associated with identifying MVS and proposes a need for future investigations to incorporate a more standardised and evidence-based approach in order to effectively identify such events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population health data, collected worldwide in an effort to monitor mortality and morbidity of mothers and babies, namely, perinatal data, are mandated at a federal level within Australia. The data are used to monitor patterns in midwifery, obstetric and neonatal practice, health outcomes, used for research purposes, funding allocation and education. Accuracy in perinatal data is most often reported via quantitative validation studies of perinatal data collections both internationally and in Australia. These studies report varying levels of accuracy and suggest researchers need to be more aware of the quality of data they use. This article presents findings regarding issues of concern identified by midwives relating to their perceptions of how technology affects the accuracy of perinatal data records. Perinatal data records are perceived to be more complete when completed electronically. However, issues regarding system functionality, the inconsistent use of terminology, lack of data standards and the absence of clear, written records contribute to midwives’ perceptions of the negative influence of technology on the quality of perinatal data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Facilities in retirement villages form a supportive environment for older residents. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the provision of these facilities in retirement villages, which are regarded as a viable accommodation option for the increasing ageing population in Australia. Methods A content analysis of facilities in 124 retirement villages operated by 22 developers in Queensland and South Australia was conducted. Results The most widely provided facilities are community centres, libraries, barbeque facilities, hairdressers/salons and billiards/snooker/pool tables. Commercial operators provide more facilities than not-for-profit organisations, and larger retirement villages normally have more facilities due to the economies of scale involved. Conclusions The results of the study provide a useful reference for providing facilities within retirement villages that may support the quality lifestyles of older residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated tropical cyclone (TC)-induced flooding in coastal regions of Australia due to the impact of TC Debbie in 2017 utilising a differential evolution-optimised random forest to model flood susceptibility in the region of Bowen, Airlie Beach, and Mackay in North Queensland. Model performance was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve, which showed an area under the curve of 0.925 and an overall accuracy score of 80%. The important flood-influencing factors (FIFs) were investigated using both feature importance scores and the SHapely Additive exPlanations method (SHAP), creating a flood hazard map of the region and a map of SHAP contributions. It was found that the elevation, slope, and normalised difference vegetation index were the most important FIFs overall. However, in some regions, the distance to the river and the stream power index dominated for a similar flood hazard susceptibility outcome. Validation using SHAP to test the physical reasoning of the model confirmed the reliability of the flood hazard map. This study shows that explainable artificial intelligence allows for improved interpretation of model predictions, assisting decision-makers in better understanding machine learning-based flood hazard assessments and ultimately aiding in mitigating adverse impacts of flooding in coastal regions affected by TCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an historical archaeological examination of the socioeconomic relations of the Chinese and European communities of Cooktown in north Queensland during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It looks at the social landscape and production, exchange and consumption of material culture to show that the Chinese were not a disengaged group, as depicted in conventional understandings of colonial life, but integral to the town's socioeconomic fabric. This close relationship arose out of a process of negotiation between Chinese and Europeans which responded to the strengths, weaknesses and resources of their individual business networks, and the particular conditions of Cooktown's frontier environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mount Shamrock township was one of the earliest gold mining towns in the Upper Burnett district of Queensland, Australia. A study of the township and associated industrial area demonstrates the integration of town and mine in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This paper examines the relative permanence of the mining settlement and reveals a multifaceted landscape influenced not only by miners but by the women, children and other non-mining residents operating within distinct social and administrative frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, informed by more-than-human and biosecurity literatures, I attend a neglected nonhuman considered a serious agricultural pest: the fruit fly. In addressing what it takes to live without fruit flies, biosecurity is theorised as ongoing, enacted achievement sustained (or not) by everyday and eventful interactions of heterogeneous spaces, strategies, and participants--human and nonhuman. Relations of fruits, flies, and people are explored through one vital attempt to biosecure life: Australia's Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone (FFEZ), a tristate pest-free area established to protect commercial horticulture from the fruit fly. Fruit flies become problematised as their appetites and mobilities confound fruit production and marketing, and affdiated biosecurity controls. Making fruit safe enrolls policy and agricultural sectors, but also more dispersed agents (travellers, residents, trees) and management sites (primarily off-farm). Since its introduction, the FFEZ's ongoing biosecuring normalised, with only occasional outbreak events. However, recent unprecedented outbreaks evoke questions about the FFEZ's future status. In such eventful times, it is worth reflecting on what kinds of living are possible in biosecurity zones--for flies, for resident human communities, and for agrifood networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research is a major driver of health care improvement and evidence-based practice is becoming the foundation of health care delivery. For health professions to develop within emerging models of health care delivery, it would seem imperative to develop and monitor the research capacity and evidence-based literacy of the health care workforce. This observational paper aims to report the research capacity levels of statewide populations of public-sector podiatrists at two different time points twelve-months apart. Methods: The Research Capacity & Culture (RCC) survey was electronically distributed to all Queensland Health (Australia) employed podiatrists in January 2011 (n = 58) and January 2012 (n = 60). The RCC is a validated tool designed to measure indicators of research skill in health professionals. Participants rate skill levels against each individual, team and organisation statement on a 10-point scale (one = lowest, ten = highest). Chi-squared and Mann Whitney U tests were used to determine any differences between the results of the two survey samples. A minimum significance of p < 0.05 was used throughout. Results: Thirty-seven (64%) podiatrists responded to the 2011 survey and 33 (55%) the 2012 survey. The 2011 survey respondents reported low skill levels (Median < 4) on most aspects of individual research aspects, except for their ability to locate and critically review research literature (Median > 6). Whereas, most reported their organisation's skills to perform and support research at much higher levels (Median > 6). The 2012 survey respondents reported significantly higher skill ratings compared to the 2011 survey in individuals' ability to secure research funding, submit ethics applications, and provide research advice, plus, in their organisation's skills to support, fund, monitor, mentor and engage universities to partner their research (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study appears to report the research capacity levels of the largest populations of podiatrists published. The 2011 survey findings indicate podiatrists have similarly low research capacity skill levels to those reported in the allied health literature. The 2012 survey, compared to the 2011 survey, suggests podiatrists perceived higher skills and support to initiate research in 2012. This improvement coincided with the implementation of research capacity building strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is state-run in Australia, and within each of the eight states and territories there are both government and independent schooling systems. This paper details the position of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) students within Australian education policy documents nationally, focusing on the three largest states and educational sectors in Australia. Survey data are used to report on the schooling experiences of over 3000 Australian GLBTIQ young people aged 14–21 years. Data from interviews with key policy informants identify both the obstacles to implementing policies, and how such obstacles have been overcome. Much official policy sees sexuality education as promoting inclusive, protective and affirming messages around GLBTIQ students. There exist significant correlations between policy and a variety of well-being and psycho-social outcomes for GLBTIQ students, including lowered incidence of homophobic abuse and suicide, and the creation of supportive school environments. Ideal policy visions are outlined, along with practical recommendations of relevance to a variety of stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• Presents a typology of emergent risk that highlights the iterative and inter-related nature of climate change risk, and propensity for impacts, such as legal action and reduced debt access, to emerge subsequent to, yet far removed from, initial physical impacts. • Highlights current practice and gaps in local government risk management concerning emergent risk. • Highlights the potential and need for local government to consider, the application of risk transfer mechanisms such as catastrophe bonds in the face of historical and conceivable climate change-perpetuated reduced access to, and increased cost of, traditional mechanisms such as insurance. • Provides insight into barriers and enablers to local government agencies gaining an appreciation of the potential application of alternative risk transfer mechanisms. Insurance represents an integral part of local government risk management strategy. As climate change progresses, increased loss and risk related to extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, could motivate insurers to withdraw from certain markets. In some regions, such a withdrawal represents an emergent risk that, when coupled with increasing populations and other climate change impacts, could leave local governments and ratepayers particularly vulnerable. This paper investigates such a scenario and its ramifications in the context of a region particularly vulnerable to climate change, through an exploration of the degree that consideration of emergent risks, such as loss of insurance, and the potential application of insurance alternatives influence Queensland local government risk management. The study finds little appreciation amongst government officials of emergent risk implicit in extreme weather events such as cyclones, little understanding of the nuances of risk transfer mechanisms beyond familiar traditional insurance and disaster funding mechanisms, and by default, a lack of appreciation of the relationship between the two. A lack of resource and leadership with respect to emergent risk, and an absence of dialogue between insurance brokers and local government concerning climate change risk arise as the main reasons for this result. This research is significant because it challenges current local government risk management practice through an exploration of the risks inherent in the process itself. This has potential social, economic and ecological ramifications in drawing attention to aspects of possible "uninsurability" and prospects of alleviation thereto. Further research is recommended to consider the insurance industry's part in this study's findings in order to inform current industry practice and thinking and further enlighten the causes of local government disengagement in this critical area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sports sponsorship increasingly provides organisations with the opportunity to reach their target audiences in a manner that facilitates engagement and encourages relationship development. This paper provides an Australian perspective of the value of sports sponsorship using a case study of WOW Sight and Sound's long-term sponsorship of the Brisbane Broncos rugby league team. The case study investigates WOW's marketing objectives which centre generating brand awareness using sponsorship with the Brisbane Broncos as an integrated marketing communications tool. WOW believes that the integration of its sponsorship of the Broncos with the team's total marketing plan is integral to its success. This integration requires the facilitation of two-way communications between WOW, its advertising agency, the Brisbane Broncos and customers to ensure that all parties' needs are met. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The north-east Australian margin is the largest modern example of a tropical mixed siliciclastic/carbonate depositional system, with an outer shelf hosting the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and an inner shelf dominated by fluvially sourced siliciclastic sediment wedges. The long-term interplay between these sediment components and sea level is recorded in the Queensland Trough, a 1–2 km deep N–S elongate basin situated between the GBR platform and the Queensland Plateau. In this paper, 154 samples from 45 surface grabs and six well-dated piston cores were analysed for total carbonate content, carbonate mineralogy and Sr concentration to establish spatial and temporal patterns of carbonate accumulation in the Queensland Trough over the last 300 kyr. Surface carbonate contents are lowest on the inner-shelf (<5%) and in the trough axis (<60%) because of siliciclastic dilution. Carbonate on the shelf is mostly Sr-rich aragonite and high-Mg calcite (HMC), whereas that in the basin is mostly low-Mg calcite. Once normalized to remove the effects of siliciclastic dilution, surface Sr-rich aragonite and HMC abundances decrease linearly to background levels ≈ 100 km seaward of the shelf edge. Core samples show that, over time, normalized aragonite and Sr abundances are greatest during periods of shelf flooding and lowest when sea level drops below the shelf edge. This is consistent with changes in the production of coral and calcareous algae, and the shedding of their debris from the shelf. Interestingly, normalized HMC concentrations on the slope peak during periods of major transgression, perhaps because of maximum off-shelf transport from inter-reef areas or intermediate water dissolution. After accounting for siliciclastic dilution, there are strong similarities in both spatial and temporal patterns of carbonate minerals between slopes and basins of the north-east Australian margin and those of pure carbonate margins such as the Bahamas. A limited set of basic processes, including the formation and breakdown of carbonate on the shelf, the transport of carbonate off the shelf and eustatic sea level, probably controls carbonate accumulation in slope and basin settings of tropical environments, irrespective of proximal siliciclastic sediment sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral cavity cancer is a lethal and deforming disease of rising global significance. We have previously highlighted limitations in contemporary awareness regarding sociodemographic influence on the prognosis and management of patients in Australia. Patients' marital status has been proposed as an independent prognostic factor for various cancers but few data exist in relation to oral cancer outcomes. This study, a retrospective analysis of 21,858 Queensland oral cancer patients diagnosed over a 31-year period, confirmed a protective effect for marriage on survival, after adjustment for age and tumour characterisation. The benefits of marriage, however, were significantly greater for men than women, implying an important differential effect. Clinicians should be cognisant of the psychosocial influences on patient outcome following cancer treatment, and should consider the use of all available social support mechanisms to optimise patient survival and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective. This study aimed to map the geographic distribution of tertiary hospitals in Australia’s most populous cities. Good access to hospital facilities improves the health and welfare of a community. The use of geographic information system (GIS) technology can assist in understanding spacial accessibility to services. Methods. Using Quantum GIS, a geodatabase was constructed to incorporate hospital locations and demographic distribution data throughout Australia’s 20 most populous cities. Data on the population’s age groups were integrated into the geodatabase to investigate the distribution of age groups and their utilisation of access to emergency departments in tertiary public health care. Overall this study reported the geospatial distribution of 89 tertiary hospitals and the demographics of the population in areas around these hospitals. Results. The majority of hospitals were located in the three most populated cities of New South Wales (NSW), Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle, which contain a total of 32 hospitals, with 23 (72%) of the hospitals in Sydney. There were 7.8, 24.0, 53.4 and 81.0% of the population in NSW within 1.5, 3, 6 and 50 km of the hospitals, respectively. The second-highest number of hospitals was in Victoria (n = 22), with 18 (82%) hospitals located in Melbourne. This was followed by Queensland (n = 14), with eight (57%) hospitals located in Brisbane. Conclusions. The results indicate that 82.2% of the Australian population lives within a 50 km radius of a tertiary hospital, with NSW having higher age distribution percentages than the other states. The results of this study could be used to locate and improve areas of need with a high burden of disease and low accessibility to healthcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volunteers play a key role in the conservation of many threatened species, yet volunteer motivations for participating in conservation and strategies used for attracting and retaining volunteers remain little studied. Iconic and charismatic megafauna species, such as marine turtles, attract the attention of conservation volunteers worldwide, making this species an ideal case study to explore volunteer motivations. We developed a novel values-based framework that examines the motivations and values of people volunteering with turtles in Queensland, Australia by harmonizing insights from Values Belief Norm (VBN) theory and intrinsic, instrumental, and relational values. We found that although motivations for these volunteers are multi-faceted, common factors underpinning volunteering decisions included values alignment with the organization, social influence, the ability to learn, and optimism. Awareness of these characteristics can assist organizations with designing more effective voluntary programs and further scholarly understanding of drivers of pro-environmental behaviors among a key group of environmental stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Host specificity in an Australian species of processionary moth was studied over three years in the eastern Australia states of Queensland and New South Wales. The processionary moth Ochrogaster lunifer is known as a species complex, characterised by several nesting forms coexisting in the same geographical area. The canopy nesting forms associated with acacias (Acacia spp.) and eucalypts (Eucalyptus spp. and Corymbia spp.) were recently shown to be genetically distinct, and they were here tested for host specificity by reciprocal transplant experiments. Egg masses and subsequent offspring were moved within and among putative hosts in field settings. Early larval colonies performed significantly better on their natal hosts than on the transplanted ones, with no difference observed for mature larval colonies. The genetic separation identified in previous work is, thus, confirmed by these ecological observations on host specificity, stressing the importance of host specialization in the ongoing speciation process. The 'mother knows best' hypothesis is tested in a species of processionary moth feeding on acacias and eucalypts in Australia. The processionary moth Ochrogaster lunifer (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae; Thaumetopoeinae) is a social caterpillar living in large colonies on a number of tree and shrub species. Five nesting types—canopy, trunk, tree-hugger, hanging, and ground—have been described, and this study deals with canopy nesters on various species of acacias (Acacia spp.) and eucalypts (Eucalyptus spp. and Corymbia spp.). Reciprocal transplant experiments conducted over three years confirm the 'mother knows best' hypothesis, as colonies performed better on the natal host plant than on the recipient ones. Young first instar larvae were less likely to establish on a non-natal host than the mature larvae, and all acacia-sourced canopy egg masses failed to establish on eucalypts. Large larvae were able to establish on transplant hosts. This suggests a strong preference–performance link at what is likely a species level, confirming preliminary results recently published on genetic divergence. Canopy nesting forms also have a lower realised fecundity than the ground nesting form on acacias from the same geographic area, but higher than another canopy nesting form from western Australia. Further observations on ecological and genetic traits are required to draw conclusions about the separation of lineages in the canopy nesting form of O. lunifer, by including populations from other parts of the range for both the herbivore and the host plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are dangerous and destructive natural hazards that impact population, infrastructure, and the environment. TCs are multi-hazardous severe weather phenomena; they produce damaging winds, storm surges, and torrential rain that can lead to flooding. Identifying regions most at risk to TC impacts assists with improving preparedness and resilience of communities. This study presents results of TC multi-hazard risk assessment and mapping for Queensland (QLD), Australia. Datasets from Global Assessment Report (GAR) Atlas were used to evaluate TC hazards. Data for exposure and vulnerability of population, infrastructure and the environment were sourced from agencies such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics. TC hazards of storm surges, floods, and winds were analysed individually. Combining risk indices for TC hazards, exposure and vulnerability, overall TC risk index was derived. TC multi-hazard risk maps were produced at the Local Government Area level using ArcGIS, and regions with higher risk of being impacted by TCs were identified. The developed TC multi-hazard risk maps provide disaster risk management offices with comprehensive comparative TC risk profile of QLD that can be used to proactively manage TC risk at the subnational scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visitor dispersal is critical in spreading tourism benefits to peripheral regions, with imbalances of visitors a problem for many tourism organisations that warrants better tools for analysis. Gini decomposition of the length of stay and expenditures was used to measure visitor dispersal based on survey data of international visitors (n = 819) departing from Brisbane International Airport. Biplot visualisation and stacked contribution bar charts revealed multiple dimensions of visitor traits influencing dispersal across eight subregions in Queensland and their complex offsetting or compounding dispersion/concentration effects. Our results suggest that including expenditure provides a more comprehensive understanding of dispersal, highlighting "high spend, short stay" visitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess seasonally varying impacts of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) on Australian maximum and minimum temperature anomalies and extremes, and their modulation by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), for the period June 1974–May 2022. Our composite-based approach uses observed temperatures from the Australian Gridded Climate Data, and 850-hPa wind data from the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis, to show how relationships to temperature and circulation evolve over the eight-phase life cycle of the MJO, which we derive from the real-time multivariate MJO index. The MJO has significant impacts on Australian temperatures and winds in all parts of the country at various times throughout the year, and to varying degrees. Two of the most pronounced impacts are 1) daytime warming across southeastern Australia in MJO phase 3 during spring associated with a strong anomalous anticyclone and 2) nighttime cooling over Queensland in MJO phase 7 during winter associated with anomalous advection of cool dry continental air. La Niña acts to significantly lessen both of these impacts, while El Niño enhances both the phase 3 warming over southern Australia in spring and the phase 7 overnight cooling over southern Queensland in winter. We show how the MJO can combine with El Niño and La Niña to have strong compounding influences, thus highlighting the importance of understanding interactions between multiple modes of climate variability and how they relate to Australian temperatures and extremes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and widespread monitoring of inland and coastal water quality occurs through the use of remote sensing and near-surface water quality sensors. A new addition is the development of smartphone applications (Apps) to measure and record surface reflectance, water color and water quality parameters. In this paper, we present a field study of the HydroColor (HC, measures RGB reflectance and suspended particulate matter (SPM)) and EyeOnWater (EoW, determines the Forel–Ule scale—an indication to the visual appearance of the water surface) smartphone Apps to evaluate water quality for inland waters in Eastern Australia. The Brisbane river, multiple lakes and reservoirs and lagoons in Queensland and New South Wales were visited; hyperspectral reflection spectra were collected and water samples were analysed in the laboratory as reference. Based on detailed measurements at 32 sites, covering inland waters with a large range in sediment and algal concentrations, we find that both water quality Apps are close, but not quite on par with scientific spectrometers. EoW is a robust application that manages to capture the color of water with accuracy and precision. HC has great potential, but is influenced by errors in the observational procedure and errors in the processing of images in the iPhone. The results show that repeated observations help to reduce the effects of outliers, while implementation of camera response functions and processing should help to reduce systematic errors. For both Apps, no universal conversion to water quality composition is established, and we conclude that: (1) replicated measurements are useful; (2) color is a reliable monitoring parameter in its own right but it should not be used for other water quality variables, and; (3) tailored algorithms to convert reflectance and color to composition could be developed for lakes individually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between dietary intake and educational outcomes (EO) in Australian first-year university students. Design: This cross-sectional and longitudinal study measured outcomes of interest at three points over 1 year. Measures included self-reported dietary patterns and dietary intake via a three-day estimated food record. Objective EO (corresponding semester grade point average (GPA), overall GPA and graduation status) variables were extracted from academic records. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were examined using regression models and generalised estimating equations, respectively. Setting: A large university in Queensland, Australia. Participants: Participants (n 80) were first-year students who had completed high school in the previous year. Results: Some significant associations were found with semester GPA, including: (a) moderate positive associations between serves of vegetables and semester GPA at time point 2 and over time; and (b) a weak negative association between Na intake and semester GPA at time point 2. Although insignificant, meaningful negative associations were found between alcohol consumption and semester GPA at time point 1 and over time. Some significant associations were also found with graduation status, including: (a) a positive association between meeting Australian carbohydrate recommendations and graduation status; and (b) a negative association between Fe intake and graduation status, both at time point 1. Conclusions: Both cross-sectional and longitudinal findings highlight positive associations between vegetable intake and EO and negative associations between alcohol consumption and EO. Further relevant work is needed with larger, more variable samples in demographic, dietary and EO characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]