Search

Existing methods of quantifying agricultural employment mask the changing profile of agricultural employment occurring in response to the pressures of competitive productivism, general progress in scientific and technical knowledge, an increasingly complex value chain and changing consumer expectations. This article critically reviews the traditional sources of data used to inform the quantification of the agricultural labor force data and presents a method, the Professional Agricultural Services Sector (PASS) Trident, which measures employment in the agriculture sector more fully, by including employment in professional services and capturing key demographic characteristics. Applying the PASS Trident, our analysis of the industry and occupation level data indicates that the existing method of measuring agricultural employment under-counts the contribution of agribusiness professionals. Moreover, people employed in the professional agricultural services sector are highly educated, younger than the traditional on-farm workforce and reside in urban areas. The methodology proposed in this paper provides a framework for future studies for monitoring shifts in agricultural employment. • Agricultural producers are increasingly seeking professional services. • This is in response to economic pressures, scientific progress, value chain complexity, and changing consumer expectations. • Existing methods of measuring agricultural employment under-count the contribution ofagribusiness professionals. • Those employed in professional agricultural services sector are highly educated, young, and reside in urban areas. • The methodology proposed in this paper provides a framework formonitoring shifts in agricultural employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a narrative review of existing academic and grey literature on the roles of Australian First Nations' Knowledges and the arts in regional and remote development. We do so to examine the degree to which current mainstream approaches to development are actualising international calls for "inclusive" development that accentuate "Indigenous" local and knowledges and strengths. The paper discusses existing regional and remote development literature through a lens of holistic, strength-based, and inclusive development. This incorporates many forms of valuing and developing including: cultural, social, environmental, and economic forms of value and activity. We conclude by offering recommendations for future research, policy, and practice that can draw on the strengths of First Nations' Knowledges and the arts to achieve inclusive and holistic development. This artwork was commissioned for this project from Tartakula artist Lindy Brodie. The article authors hold a license to use the artwork for this research. [Display omitted] • Mainstream government-led development approaches are not substantively including the arts and First Nations' Knowledges. • Inclusive development seeks to respond to the failure of top-down regional development initiatives and policies. • To achieve inclusive development, stakeholders must examine power relations and governance. • Further research into the value of arts and First Nations' Knowledges in rural, regional, and remote regions is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines three sites where diplomacy interacts with geoscience, international law, and military capabilities. These sites, invisible to the general public due to their subterranean character, are undersea long-distance telecommunications cables; submarine operations; and espionage operations. The paper uses these subterranean sites to shed light on the hidden dimensions of Australian statecraft. Taken as a whole, they illustrate the influence of elite economic interests in Australia's national security objectives. The covert instruments of statecraft are devoted not just to military security but to the power and interests of the private sector. These interests heavily influence the concept of "national interest" in Australia's external relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the strategies that speakers employ in response to children's crying in the remote Aboriginal community of Wadeye, in northern Australia. Drawing on spontaneous interactions amongst Murrinhpatha speaking families, we analyse instances of crying by children aged 0;6 to 8;11 years, and the ways in which they are responded to. Results indicate that adult Murrinhpatha speakers manage children's distress through a variety of verbal and non-verbal strategies, and multimodal combinations thereof. The selection of strategies directly relates to the developmental stage of the crier. Adult caregivers respond differently to the crying of infants, of children who can walk unaided but are producing little if any language, of children who can talk intelligibly, and children more advanced again who have a degree of social independence. In the particular strategies that caregivers apply, they guide children towards a developmentally appropriate self-sufficiency. Caregivers encourage autonomy in ways that reflect a child's current abilities, be it physical, linguistic, emotional, or social. By exploring responses to crying in an under-researched cultural and linguistic context, this paper offers a unique perspective on the pragmatics of managing distress and what this reveals about local constructions of personhood within the context of carer-child interaction. • Analysis examines responses to children's crying in a remote Australian Aboriginal community. • Methods utilize multimodal analysis of spontaneous crying events in early childhood. • Findings show how caregiver responses are situated in relation to local expectations of children across developmental stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Climate change and dynamic government policy is compounding pressure on water resources in farming landscapes creating water scarcity. Successful adaptation to a more sustainable farming system in the face of water scarcity is not a foregone conclusion and requires choosing between short-term incremental change or more transformational options. In this paper, we propose a framework 'unpacking' four pathways that farmers might use to achieve sustainability: absorb, exploit, adapt and transform. Each pathway has specific attributes that relate to the type of farming system change undertaken. The framework is applied to 28 irrigation farmers from southern Murry Darling Basin, Australia, all facing water scarcity from drought and water policy. Using semi-structured interviews, we test the attributes and found they help understand farmers' pathway choices. We show that farmers use all four pathways, either singularly or simultaneously, to achieve a range of sustainability outcomes when facing a water crisis, although some are maladapted, and result in less sustainable outcomes. The study adds to the literature on pathways to sustainability by illustrating the need to clarify attributes that describe what each pathway means to farmers' decision-making and to consider multiple pathways, not just one, e.g. transformation. Policy implications are clear: there are various pathways to, or away from, farm sustainability. Therefore, policy interventions must be 'fit for purpose' and appropriately consider the diversity of farmer capacities and contexts. A focus on a single pathway or single technological fix will fail to deliver farm sustainability. This paper starts to develop a more specific and nuanced understanding of pathways to farm sustainability that reflect real life farming experiences with insight for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing a thriving hydrogen industry will depend on public and community support. Past research, mainly focusing on the acceptance of hydrogen fuelling stations and cars, suggests that people generally support hydrogen energy technology (HET). Few studies have, however, considered how people think about other components of the hydrogen supply chain (i.e., technologies required to make, store, transport and use hydrogen). Moreover, there has been limited research investigating how people interpret and develop beliefs about HET after being presented with technical information. This paper attempts to address these research gaps by presenting the findings from four face-to-face focus group discussions conducted in Australia. The findings suggest that people have differing views about HET, which depends on the type of technology, and these views influence levels of support. The study also revealed concerns about a range of other factors that have yet to be considered in hydrogen acceptance research (e.g., perceived water use, efficiency and indirect benefits). The findings highlight the value of qualitative research for identifying salient beliefs that shape attitudes towards HET and provide recommendations for future research and how to effectively communicate with the public and communities about an emerging hydrogen industry. • Focus group discussions with Australians about whole hydrogen supply chain. • Generally positive, but tentative, attitudes toward hydrogen overall. • Stronger support for industrial applications over domestic/household applications. • Concerns raised about hydrogen's efficiency and its conflict with other technologies. • Support for more research and pilot projects to provide tangible evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen supplying to industrial users is currently the major hydrogen business worldwide and the demand for hydrogen is almost entirely supplied from fossil fuels. In the last years a widespread interest on hydrogen has grown as energy vector for the decarbonization of multiple sectors, including industry, transport and buildings. Nevertheless, the impact of natural gas and other fossil fuels substitution with hydrogen is highly affected by the mix of different technologies and energy sources applied for hydrogen generation. The paper aims to investigate current CO 2 emissions related with hydrogen generation in Australia and Italy by means of PEM and alkaline technologies; and to evaluate the potential impact considering cell characteristics variation and 3 scenarios based on energy mix. A sensitivity analysis is performed to identify the critical parameters. Based on experimental data, the energy consumption for hydrogen production using PEM technology is more sensitive to cell voltage compared to current density, which indicates the importance of cell manufacturing and electrolyte resistance. In addition, by performing sensitivity analysis regarding energy sources scenarios it is found that carbon dioxide emission in Australia is more sensitive to renewable energy sources rather than Italy. [Display omitted] • Importance of manufacturing and electrolyte resistance because of high PEM energy consumption sensitivity to cell voltage. • Predicted emission in 2030 is 5–10 kg CO 2 using PEM/alkaline technology in Italy. • 18% reduction of national electricity grid CO 2 emission in Australia is predicted. (In 2030 in comparison to 2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Qualitative study with participants in Australia's largest Connected Intelligent Transportation Systems field trial. • Participants were generally positive towards the system and expressed interest in future adoption of the technology. • Participants expressed desire for increased personalisation of system settings. • Participants expressed some concerns about timing and accuracy of some information provided. • Participants expressed desire for appropriate data privacy and confidentiality controls and use of the data. The Ipswich Connected Vehicle Pilot (ICVP) was the largest on-road trial of connected vehicle technology in Australia. In the ICVP, 355 privately-owned vehicles were outfitted with connected vehicle technology and driven for 9 months with 326 participant vehicles remaining in the study until completion. User acceptance is as a key determinant of the future effectiveness of connected and co-operative Intelligent Transport systems (C-ITS) given it impacts likely uptake of these vehicles and the optimal functioning of such systems is contingent on widespread uptake by the public. This paper presents the findings of two qualitative studies conducted as part of the ICVP, comprising 53 individual interviews and 14 focus groups/interviews with 47 participants. The purpose of the qualitative studies was to understand users' perceptions of the system as well as their acceptance of C-ITS in general. Overall, participants were generally positive towards the system, could appreciate the safety benefits it offers, and expressed interest in adopting the technology presuming future systems would be refined. Some participants reported that they missed the warnings provided by the system once the technology had been removed. Participants wanted the system to be seamlessly integrated in their vehicle and have features that enabled personalisation. Participants identified that some of the warnings, most notably the advanced red light warning, were presented too late or at inaccurate times indicating that these issues must be remedied to ensure successful future implementation of C-ITS. Participants appreciated that data sharing would optimise the system but wanted controls to be put in place to guard against misuse; participants did not want their data to be used for sales or marketing purposes. Users' experience and perceptions are key to ensuring wider-spread adoption of C-ITS. The findings thus have important implications for future C-ITS implementation to ensure that the benefits of C-ITS are optimised to facilitate wide-spread penetration of the technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1980s, Australia has resettled thousands of African refugees. This paper focuses on the racialization of youth violence and the damage it sustains on refugee-background young Africans. The discussion proceeds in two interrelated stages. In the first stage, to understand the representation of African youth in the public sphere, the paper reviews the relevant literature, media headlines, and political commentaries. In so doing, it establishes that the continual framing of African youth as dangerous and violence-prone by conservative politicians and media outlets amounts to racial moral panic. In the second stage, guided by narrative research methodology, a small group of young Africans were invited to reflect on their everyday life under racialized frames. Accounts of the youth are presented under four themes: the presumption of guilt, emotional ill-being, opportunity hoarding, and the permanence of otherness. It is argued that, if left unaddressed, the racialization of youth violence can diminish the integration outcomes of African youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As research has shown, the interactional practice of getting acquainted in initial encounters can play a crucial role in the construction of interpersonal relationships. This exploratory paper focusses on one aspect of the getting acquainted discourse, i.e. how conversational openings are constructed in dyadic and multi-party interactions between previously unacquainted interlocutors. These interactions are examined in a specific context – the launch night episode of the reality television gameshow Big Brother Australia 2012. The findings indicate that, while some conversational openings follow the canonical structure, including preference for self-identification, in most conversational openings in our data, the interactants tend to request other-identification, which, importantly, is not treated as problematic. In addition, this study further confirms that introducing sequences are discursively constructed as essential in conversational openings. This becomes visible when the lack of identification at an early stage is treated as problematic by the interlocutors who orient to resuming or initiating introducing, whether prompted or unprompted, while engaging in the first instances of getting acquainted. • This paper explores how conversational openings are constructed in interaction. • This paper analyses dyadic and multi-party interactions in a reality television gameshow. • Interactants tend to request other-identification, not offer self-identification. • Introducing sequences are essential in conversational openings while getting acquainted. • Lack of self-identification is treated as problematic by interlocutors, and if missing, is resumed at a later stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the fourth in a series of papers that provides an historical record in this journal of contributions made by the most influential figures in the field of stuttering. Ann Packman is an Australian researcher who will retire shortly. This paper reflects on her long and productive career, and her contributions to the field. With a background in literature, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and the brain and language, she became well equipped to contribute to understanding stuttering causality. That work, and an accompanying collection of basic and applied clinical research, was constantly grounded with the thoughts and feelings of those who stutter in the community. • Ann Packman is an Australian researcher who will retire shortly. • This paper reflects on her career and her contributions to the field. • Her work was grounded with the thoughts and feelings of those who stutter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding of the stratigraphic evolution of marine rift basins is important for both "pure" scientific and economic reasons. From a hydrocarbon exploration point of view the main goal is to develop tools to predict reservoir location, quality, and extent. Stratigraphic models try to do that, and only historical cases can be used to test those models. On the other hand, depositional model cannot precisely predict reservoir location as factors unique to the specific basin under analysis affect sediment distribution (basin physiography, type of flows, among others). This aspect can be assessed only on a case-by-case basis and can be used for initial hypothesis generation based on analogues. This paper shows a case history study based on the integration of well logs, and 3D seismic data across the Eastern Dampier sub-basin, Northwester Shelf of Australia. Advanced seismic interpretation techniques, calibrated to well data, enable the definition of a chrono-stratigraphic framework of the late syn-rift sequence (Late Jurassic) of the Lewis Trough, and the description of the sediment distribution through the interpretation of geomorphological features. During the Late Jurassic three different channel systems deliver sandstones to the deep-water part of the basin through multiple entry points. The timing of the sediment input seems to be linked to variation of sediment input as during that time relative sea-level was slowly rising. The location of the entry points is related to local physiography and defies any attempt of prediction based on general "rules." From a stratigraphic point view, the findings of the study support the idea that, in rift basin, mechanical subsidence is the primary control for accommodation space, with episodic pulses of extension followed by longer periods of tectonic quiescence. It is during these episodic movements along the basin's bounding faults that space for sedimentation is created. This interpretation is in striking contrast with the basic assumptions of the conventional sequence stratigraphy model. • Understanding the stratigraphic evolution of marine rift basins allows to predict reservoir location and extent. • The present paper analyzes the late syn-rift succession of the Lewis Trough to reconstruct the stratigraphic evolution of the basin infill. • Accommodation space in the Lewis Trough is primarily controlled by mechanical subsidence related to asymmetrical fault movement. • Turbiditic sedimentation occurs during sea-level rise, and it is related to an Increase in sediment supply. • IConventional sequence stratigraphic modeling cannot be applied to rift-basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia has significant offshore wind resources that can support ever-increasing power demand and hence provide a long-term contribution to the net-zero target by 2050. Although some offshore wind farm projects are proposed in Australia, the industry is not mature enough to justify the benefits and display economic opportunities. More specifically, the techno-economic analysis of offshore wind energy has not been systematically mapped in Australia. Therefore, the investigation of the spatial variation of technical feasibility and economic potential of offshore wind is vital to identify the potential regions and to develop strategies for future offshore wind farm developments in Australia. This paper presents detailed mappings of the techno-economic potential of offshore wind energy in Victoria-Tasmania's exclusive economic zone. Offshore wind energy resources are assessed in the paper in terms of energy availability and variability and the feasibility of various offshore wind technologies is investigated, including turbines, foundation types and transmission topologies. In addition, the high-fidelity life-cycle cost models and two innovative evaluation matrices are developed to assess the economic potential of offshore energy farms in South-eastern Australia. The impact of local power system regulation costs and future carbon prices on the viability of offshore wind is also investigated in this paper. It is concluded that the detailed mapping approach and analysis in the paper can provide a systematic tool for industry partners, investors and policymakers at the pre-planning stage of developing offshore renewable energy systems. • The technical feasibility of offshore wind is mapped under various constraints. • The novel LACE and high-fidelity LCC assessment models are developed. • The techno-economic potential is systemically mapped in South-eastern Australia. • The impacts of electricity market regulation and future carbon prices are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper presents a review on the state-of-the-art electric vehicle charging technologies i.e., fast, super-fast, and ultra-super-fast charging stations that are under development. These have the potential to cause power quality issues such as charging transients, rapid voltage fluctuations, and harmonics in the power grids. • EVs can participate as mobile storage to provide vehicle-to-grid (V2G) support and ancillary services. There are still some barriers to the wide implementation of V2G systems. This paper has highlighted these issues and their impacts to power grids. • This paper investigates the impacts of random and fluctuating EV fast-charging loads on the electric power grids, mainly considering the random connection of EVs to the power grids through DC fast-charging stations as the principal source of fluctuating EV loads. • The charging stations are modeled for three different commercial DC fast charger connections (CHAdeMO, SAE CCS, and Chargepoint Express 20), with separate CC-CV charging modes of the DC fast chargers incorporated. To quantify the impacts, case studies are conducted on the simulation platform for two different scenarios. • The impact on the electric power grid is evaluated in terms of voltage drops, maximum power demand, current, and voltage total harmonic distortion (THD) experienced by the corresponding transformer connected to the charging stations. • The results have revealed that random and fluctuating EV fast-charging loads pose much more intense impacts on the power systems than the normal EV slow charging loads. The era of the electrified transportation system is fast approaching. Although the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of electric vehicles (EVs) have contributed to their large-scale utilization, it has also created a huge load demand on the existing power grids throughout the world. Moreover, fast, super-fast, and ultra-super-fast charging stations are under development, some of which are now in the markets. These have the potential to cause power quality issues such as charging transients, rapid voltage fluctuations, and harmonics in the power grids. Moreover, EVs can participate as mobile storage to provide vehicle-to-grid (V2G) support and ancillary services. There are still some barriers to the wide implementation of V2G systems. This paper addresses these issues and provides a review of the state-of-the-art EV technologies and their impacts on power grids. This paper also investigates the impacts of random and fluctuating EV fast-charging loads on the electric power grids, mainly considering the random connection of EVs to the power grids through DC fast-charging stations as the principal source of fluctuating EV loads. A practical electrical grid of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia has been considered in this work to separately analyze the impacts of constant current (CC) and constant voltage (CV) charging modes upon the grid. Furthermore, design and modeling of three different commercial DC fast charger connections (CHAdeMO, SAE CCS, and ChargePoint Express 200), with separate CC-CV charging modes of the DC fast chargers have been incorporated. To quantify the impacts, two separate scenarios were examined using a simulation platform, with case studies conducted to determine the impacts on the power grid. The first scenario involved three fast charging stations, while the second scenario featured ten stations that were able to charge six and twenty electric vehicles respectively, with various load combinations considered. Each of these scenarios was analyzed under different conditions to evaluate their impact on the grid, using factors such as voltage drops, maximum power demand, current, and voltage total harmonic distortion (THD) for the transformer that was connected to the charging stations. The study results indicated that the power systems were affected more significantly by random and fluctuating EV fast-charging loads, compared to normal EV slow-charging loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nonlinear relationships between oil and inflation for twelve major global economies in the presence of important macroeconomic variables. Using the nonparametric quantile causality approach, we show strong evidence of causality-in-variance from inflation to changes in oil prices for all economies across different quantiles with the exception of Australia. On the other hand, evidence of a causality-in-mean from oil to inflation is identified for Australia, Canada, Greece, the UK, and the US and a causality-in-variance in the same direction for almost all economies, exhibiting a hump-shaped pattern across the quantiles. Results for partial and multivariate wavelet approaches show that the macroeconomic factors drive and accentuate the oil-inflation co-movements under all frequencies and over time. These results have significant implications for investors and policy makers. • We examine nonlinear relationships between oil and inflation for twelve major global economies. • Our work also considers important macroeconomic variables. • Evidence of causality-in-variance from inflation to changes in oil prices for all economies except Australia. • Evidence of a causality-in-mean and variance from oil to inflation for Australia, Canada, Greece, the UK, and the US. • Macroeconomic factors drive the oil-inflation co-movements across frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residential building sector & transportation sector has received significant attention in recent years due to carbon emissions affecting the livelihoods of humans. Electric vehicles (EVs) are poised to play a vital role in reducing dependency on non-renewable fuels and the transportation sector's environmental implications. Building integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), on the other hand, will be able to cut down the energy requirements and contribute to building sustainability. This paper evaluates the energy, economic, and environmental performances of BIPV with EV charging system systems for a building in Canberra, Australia. BIPV with EV charging can assist in fulfilling building energy needs, charging electric vehicles, and reducing grid reliance. Different load scenarios were studied to optimize system size. Different panel layouts with orientation have been studied for the 5.0kWp BIPV system, each module rating 355kWp. The annual energy output of the BIPV system was found to vary between 8.56 MWh for layout one and 7.08MWh for layout 3. It was found that the payback back of the proposed BIPV system is 4.46 years, LCOE of 0.074AUD/kWh and EV charging cost of 0.95AUD/100 km. The BIPV with EV charging system could save approximately 160,198 kgCO 2 e in GHG emissions over its lifespan. • The estimated annual energy for the BIPV system with Layout 1 is 8.56MWh. • The energy supplied to the grid was found to be positive in the BIPV system. • The performance ratio of the proposed layouts for the BIPV system is 81.7 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has legislated and aims to be net zero emissions by 2045. Such ambitious targets have implications for the contribution of hydrogen and its storage in gas distribution networks Therefore, we need to understand now the impacts on the gas distribution network of the transition to 100% hydrogen. Assessment of the viability of decarbonising the ACT gas network will be partly based on the cost of reusing the gas network for the safe and reliable distribution of hydrogen. That task requires each element of the natural gas safety management system to be evaluated. This article describes the construction of a test facility in Canberra, Australia used to identify issues raised by 100% hydrogen use in the medium pressure distribution network, consisting of nylon and polyethylene (PE) as a means of identifying measures necessary to ensure ongoing validity of the network's regulatory safety case. Evoenergy (the ACT's gas distribution company) have constructed a Test Facility, incorporating an electrolyser, a gas supply pressure reduction and mixing skid a replica gas network and a domestic installation with gas appliances. Jointly with Australian National University (ANU) and Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) the Company has commenced a program of "bench testing", initially with 100% hydrogen to identify gaps in the safety case specifically focusing on the materials, work practices and safety systems in the ACT. The facility is designed to assess: • Materials in use including aged network materials and components • Construction and installation techniques both greenfield and live gas work • Purging and filling techniques • Leak detection both underground and above ground • Emergency response and make safe techniques • Issues associated with use of hydrogen in light commercial and domestic appliances. To educate and train: • Technicians and gas fitters on infrastructure installation and management • Emergency response services on responding to hydrogen related emergencies in a network environment; and • manage public perceptions of hydrogen in a network environment. Australia has an enviable safety record for the safe and reliable transport, distribution and use of natural gas. The ACT natural gas network owned and operated by Evoenergy is one of the newest in Australia and has leveraged off the best materials and practices in Australia to build its network. The paper addresses major safety issues relating to the production/storage, distribution and consumer end use of hydrogen injected into existing gas distribution networks. The analysis is guided by the Safety Management System. The Hydrogen Testing Facility described in the paper provide tools for evaluation of hydrogen safety matters in the ACT and Australia-wide. Testing to date has confirmed that polyethylene and nylon pipe and their respective jointing techniques can contain 100% hydrogen at pressures used for the distribution of natural gas. Testing has also confirmed that current installation work practices on polyethylene and nylon pipe and joints are suitable for hydrogen service. This finding is subject to variation attributable to staff training and skill levels and further testing has been programmed as outlined in this paper. Testing of gas isolation by clamping and simulated repair on the hydrogen network has established that standard natural gas isolation techniques work with 100% hydrogen at natural gas pressures. • World first leak testing of hydrogen impact on nylon distribution pipe. • Leak testing of hydrogen on nylon and polyethylene pipe under real world conditions. • Testing of existing gas distribution work practices for safe use with hydrogen. • Testing each element of a gas Safety Management System for safe use with hydrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia's first Mobility as a Service (MaaS) trial commenced in April 2019 in Sydney, running for two years. The objective of the trial is at least twofold – to assess interest in various MaaS subscription plans through bundling public transport, rideshare, car share and car rental with varying financial discounts and monthly subscription fees, in contrast to pay as you go (PAYG); and to assess the extent to which the use of the private car might change following a subscription to a monthly mobility bundle. This paper assesses the second objective by investigating the potential for changes in monthly car use in the presence of a MaaS program. There is no previous research that we are aware of that has tested the relationship between MaaS bundle uptake and private car use. The paper develops a joint discrete-continuous model system to explain the choice between monthly bundles and PAYG, and subsequently, the total monthly car kilometres. Controlling for monthly differences due to other influences such as seasonal travel activity, the findings suggest that the offered bundles do have an encouraging impact on private car use. Within the limits of what was tested under the Sydney MaaS trial, indicative evidence suggests that MaaS has the potential to change travel behaviour in a way aligned with sustainability objectives, although this evidence should not be taken as suggesting that MaaS is a commercially viable mobility strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper is dedicated to vehicle-bicycle crash severity modeling. • The class-imbalanced issue in vehicle-bicycle crash severity analysis is handled with the imbalanced data resampling process. • To address the complexity of crash dataset, the learning-based feature extraction process is adopted in an iterative manner, such that the the most significant contributing factors to the severity of vehicle-bicycle crashes are determined and the trade-off between computation time and model performance is catered for. • The vehicle-bicycle crash dataset in this paper contains a large number of discrete variables. The gradient boosting algorithm is applied to handle the large number of categories and does not rely on strict statistical assumptions. • The impact of the most significant contributing factors on the severity of vehiclebicycle crashes are explained with the marginal effect analysis. • The result can provide some implications for policies and counter-measures for fatal and serious vehicle-bicycle crashes. Introduction: Although cycling is increasingly being promoted for transportation, the safety concern of bicyclists is one of the major impediments to their adoption. A thorough investigation on the contributing factors to fatalities and injuries involving bicyclist. Method: This paper designs an integrated data mining framework to determine the significant factors that contribute to the severity of vehicle-bicycle crashes based on the crash dataset of Victorian, Australia (2013–2018). The framework integrates imbalanced data resampling, learning-based feature extraction with gradient boosting algorithm and marginal effect analysis. The top 10 significant predictors of the severity of vehicle-bicycle crashes are extracted, which gives an area under ROC curve (AUC) value of 0.8236 and computing time as 37.8 s. Results: The findings provide insights for understanding and developing countermeasures or policy initiatives to reduce severe vehicle-bicycle crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is based on research conducted with support from the German Academic Exchange (DAAD) Research Stays for Academics funding. While German cities vary in their transport patterns and mobility cultures (Klinger et al. 2013; Scheiner 2012); they have in common federal laws including those defining the purpose of public streets and the basis of rights to them. This paper examines how such higher-level legal norms and rights relating to public streets shape and constrain parking management across heterogenous German cities. Following Treib et al. 's (2007) typology of modes of governance, the paper argues that certain binding or 'hard' federal policy dimensions frame competing claims to curb space. They do so in ways that privilege parked cars as traffic ; and that constrain the limited political frameworks within which German cities may vary their approaches to parking. They also define the conditions through which emerging forms of mobility are able to be established (Marsden et al. 2020). The paper draws on interviews, primarily with transport planners, undertaken to compare car parking approaches across 8 German cities with different transport mode shares; and on a desktop review of parking and related laws mentioned in these interviews. • Examines how higher-level legal norms and rights shape parking management in German cities of varying transport and mobility cultures. • German road laws restrict parking fines and use of revenue, define the purpose of streets as traffic , and define car parking as traffic. • Following Treib et al's (2007) typology of modes of governance, argues 'hard' federal policy dimensions frame competing claims to curb space. • Implications include high rates of illegal parking; limits to pricing or conversion of street space; and uneven take-up. • Road rights privileging parked cars encode 20th century automobility, and define conditions through which new forms of mobility may emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 disease continues to cause unparalleled disruption to life and the economy world over. This paper is the second in what will be an ongoing series of analyses of a longitudinal travel and activity survey. In this paper we examine data collected over a period of late May to early June in Australia, following four-to-six weeks of relatively flat new cases in COVID-19 after the initial nationwide outbreak, as many state jurisdictions have begun to slowly ease restrictions designed to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We find that during this period, travel activity has started to slowly return, in particular by private car, and in particular for the purposes of shopping and social or recreational activities. Respondents indicate comfort with the idea of meeting friends or returning to shops, so authorities need to be aware of potential erosion of social distancing and appropriate COVID-safe behaviour in this regard. There is still a concern about using public transport, though it has diminished noticeably since the first wave of data collection. We see that working from home continues to be an important strategy in reducing travel and pressure on constrained transport networks, and a policy measure that if carried over to a post-pandemic world, will be an important step towards a more sustainable transport future. We find that work from home has been a generally positive experience with a significant number of respondents liking to work from home moving forward, with varying degrees of employer support, at a level above those seen before COVID-19. Thus, any investment to capitalise on current levels of work from home should be viewed as an investment in transport. • Aggregate travel has increased by 50% but is still less than two-thirds of that which occurred prior to COVID-19. • Motor vehicle travel rebounding more than other modes, those planning a return to train and bus intended to do so strongly. • Large increases in activity planned for shopping and social and recreation purposes. • People feel most comfortable with meeting with friends, going to the shops and visiting restaurants. • Working from home continues, and has been largely positive for those who have been able to do so.. • Concern about the risk of COVID-19 has decreased significantly since the initial outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Qualitative study of Greek diaspora in Australia focusing on nation-building. • Explores linkages between diaspora and national identity through example of language. • Demonstrates tensions in Greek language usage in relation to identity negotiations. • Advocates flexible, inclusive notions of diasporic belonging to multiple nations. This paper uses a qualitative case study of the Greek diaspora in Australia in order to add to debates on the geographies of diaspora and diasporic identity in relation to nation-building and nationalism through an exploration of Greek language usage. Specifically, it contributes to ongoing research in geography, diaspora studies and beyond, which stresses the need to examine and tensions and disunities within diasporic 'communities' through a focus on the materialities and emotionalities of diasporic lives and identities. The paper stresses that although more fluid and in-between diasporic identity negotiations are important, it is also necessary to examine the ways in which those in diaspora attempt to 'hold onto' times and spaces of homeland national identity in order to perform more static, bounded and inflexible notions of diasporic identity. The paper uses the example of language to demonstrate how tensions over the role and importance of homeland language in diaspora reveal different imaginations and emotions around what it means to be, feel and belong in diaspora. The paper contributes to debates over the roots and routes of diaspora, as well as the need for boundary (re)making. In doing so, it stresses the need for geographical research on diaspora, and the important role that geographers can play in critical interpretations of the lives and identities of those in diaspora, 'on the move', within and across borders. It therefore adds to ongoing geographical debates about the need to envisage diasporas in flexible and inclusive ways, but also account for the ways in which nation-building and nationalism continue to form part of diasporic identity articulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Climate adaptation policy in a large river basin is explored. • Empirical study of science and policy interactions during actual reforms. • Interviews with senior research policy professionals reveal dynamics of policy formulation. • Proposes legally prescribed procedures for utilising science in environmental policy formulation. Climate change has many disruptive consequences, particularly in large river basins experiencing drying trends and declining water availability. With pressure for more adaptive policies, understanding how institutions governing water are adapting to climate risks has broad international relevance. This paper examines the challenges of climate risk assessments in Australia's Murray Darling Basin, an economically and culturally important basin where national legislation mandates a Basin Plan based on the best available science. However, despite repeated scientific warnings about a drying climate, the current Basin Plan does not reduce estimates of water resources available, and its climate risk management relies on a bricolage of policy mechanisms, which appear insufficient for the magnitude of predicted changes. This paper outlines the findings of original research exploring why this occurred. It draws on interviews with 30 senior public policy professionals and researchers with deep experience in climate and water policy. The interview data indicate that minimising political risks were the principal reasons for abandoning proposed reductions in entitlements and for relying on historical averages for estimating water availability. As the reform process evolved, decisions about water-planning techniques became increasingly politicised, and the adoption of explicit climate adaptation measures became problematic. As a result, the Basin Plan neither reflects the broad scientific consensus about climate change nor makes specific allowances for declining water availability. Climate risks are downplayed while concerns about levels of scientific uncertainties appear overstated. Importantly, lessons emerge from this examination that could contribute to the revisions of the Plan, scheduled for 2026. More generally, the research finds that proactive climate adaptation policies for large river basins require sustained and well-designed institutional reforms, particularly the adoption of legally prescribed procedures for utilising science - and accounting for its use - in controversial environmental reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fair representation of different communities of interest is a central tenet of democracy. In Australia, governments at all levels historically employed rural weightings to maintain the representation of sparsely-populated regions. However, these have fallen out of favor as demands for one-person, one-vote equality have become the norm. This nominal equality can create other forms of bias in areas of uneven population which have distinct communities of interest, as is the case in many rural local governments. This paper explores this bias by unpacking findings of a ward boundary review in the rural local government Shire of Dandaragan in Western Australia. Drawing on interviews with councilors and community stakeholders, it examines different proposals for fair representation via ward and non-ward based structures. It finds that fair representation of all communities is challenged by inherent biases in the criteria for drawing ward boundaries that are often not well understood by those involved. It shows how a 'no ward' system which allows smaller communities to coordinate behind a single reputable candidate can generate fairer representation than a system of wards whose boundaries may or may not align with communities of interest. • Local governments in Australia can be based around a system of wards or elected 'at-large' in a no-ward district. • Ward boundaries must by law be based around communities of interest and also reflect equality in councilor-to-elector ratios. • These criteria are in tension in many rural areas. • The findings of this paper highlight the perceived and actual bias which emerged in a ward boundary review of the Shire of Dandaragan, a rural local government area in Western Australia. • Fair representation under various boundary options was challenged by inherent and structural biases often not well-understood by community stakeholders and decision-makers. • We conclude that a no ward system can produce fairer representation than a system of wards which may not align with communities of interest given equality requirements when populations are unevenly distributed across wards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investment in the hydrogen economy is increasing at unprecedented rates. To ensure a swift transition, understanding the diverse perspectives of and how to work collaboratively with all sectors of society is needed. In doing so, how industry stakeholders understand community perceptions and view their role in mediating perceived issues needs to be better understood. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how industry assumptions of community perspectives of hydrogen technologies compare and contrast with those in an Australian context. Using inductive thematic analysis, this exploratory project analysed 45 publicly-available submissions received in 2019 for the National Hydrogen Strategy from the industry perspective, and 62 public submissions received in 2019–2020 for the Victorian Green Hydrogen Discussion Paper from the community perspective. Results show that industry stakeholder assumptions about community concerns tended to reflect specific technical issues as opposed to those reported by the community: moral obligations to climate, environment, and future generations. Findings indicate that further work is needed to better align industry understandings and characterisations of the broader public. Several practical implications for the energy sector are noted. First, hydrogen is unlikely to be immune to community concerns faced by other energy projects; therefore, a robust plan for community inclusion that considers a range of complex, contextual factors is required. Second, there is an opportunity for the formation of a more collaborative approach, which integrates industry and community goals and values. Third, industry and government may benefit from viewing the community as an under-utilised, valuable partnership or resource rather than an object to be managed as part of a development process. We contend that a collaborative framework, including approaches such as co-design and shared identity formation may be critical to furthering the hydrogen agenda. • This study explores community and industry perspectives to advance hydrogen economy. • Worldviews and values informed perspectives of industry and community stakeholders. • Community perspectives were driven by future and greenhouse gas emission concerns. • Industry assumed community would be most concerned about the safety of hydrogen. • Results indicate that community and industry should be involved in unison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) is a non-invasive diagnostic modality that provides a comprehensive anatomical assessment of the coronary arteries and coronary atherosclerosis, including plaque burden, composition and morphology. The past decade has witnessed an increase in the role of CTCA for evaluating patients with both stable and acute chest pain, and recent international guidelines have provided increasing support for a first line CTCA diagnostic strategy in select patients. CTCA offers some advantages over current functional tests in the detection of obstructive and non-obstructive coronary artery disease, as well as for ruling out obstructive coronary artery disease. Recent randomised trials have also shown that CTCA improves prognostication and guides the use of guideline-directed preventive therapies, leading to improved clinical outcomes. CTCA technology advances such as fractional flow reserve, plaque quantification and perivascular fat inflammation potentially allow for more personalised risk assessment and targeted therapies. Further studies evaluating demand, supply, and cost-effectiveness of CTCA for evaluating chest pain are required in Australia. This discussion paper revisits the evidence supporting the use of CTCA, provides an overview of its implications and limitations, and considers its potential role for chest pain evaluation pathways in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Droughts are significant catalysts of financial and emotional hardship for farming communities. However, does the extent of time an area has been in drought impact upon the rate at which agricultural land changes hands? Does it encourage more land to change ownership, as stressed farmers depart at faster rates, or does its negative impacts on farm production dampen demand for rural land? This study addresses this question through a unique, longitudinal (2004–2020) dataset of property transactions in 96 rural Local Government Areas (LGAs) in New South Wales, Australia. We measure the proportion of time each LGA has been in drought during the previous 1, 2, 5 and 10 years, and correlate this against the rate of agricultural land ownership change. Results indicate that in the short-term (<5 years), the proportion of time in drought is not a major influence on the extent of agricultural land ownership change. However, over a 10-year timespan, there is a statistically significant negative correlation between the two for non-irrigated agricultural land, grazing land and land owned by individuals (as opposed to companies). These findings suggest these agricultural land markets are sensitive to the long-term effects of drought. The take-home message seems to be that the persistence of drought saps the vitality of these agricultural land markets, leaving farmers with reduced prospects to capitalise on their land assets. This finding has resonance given that climate change models suggest an intensification of the frequency and severity of drought in much of rural NSW. • First study to correlate large-scale land registry data with historical Combined Drought Indicator data in Australia. • The correlation between time in drought and the rate at which agricultural land changes hands is not significant in the short-term (<5 years). • However, over a 10-year period, there is a statistically significant negative relationship between the proportion of time that a LGA has been in drought and the annual extent of agricultural land ownership change. • The paper concludes that drought has a modest, long-term inhibiting effect on the vitality of agricultural land markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is expected to seriously affect agricultural livelihoods and food security in all Pacific Island countries. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation contends that, to adapt, both 'modern' and Indigenous agricultural practices and knowledge are needed. A challenge lies in combining agricultural knowledge systems and enabling adaptive knowledge to be shared amongst Pacific Islanders. Opportunities to integrate different types of agricultural knowledge (including 'modern' and Indigenous) are needed. This paper argues that international labour mobility programmes provide an avenue for knowledge exchange that can support climate change adaptation in agriculture. It presents empirical evidence from research with 33 Pacific Islanders who grow crops in their home countries and were employed in Australia's Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP). We demonstrate how SWP participation opened new possibilities for climate change adaptation in agriculture in the Pacific Islands. Adaptive knowledge stems from SWP workers' exposure to different agricultural skills and ideas in Australia, combined with their knowledge and experience of crop production in their countries of origin. SWP participation created opportunities for workers to draw on different agricultural skills and knowledge on return to the Pacific Islands. The ability for SWP workers to then exchange adaptive knowledge with other Pacific Islanders is enabled by their social relationships, the likes of which an official agricultural extension officer might not have to the same degree. So far, such adaptive agricultural knowledge and skills exchanges are serendipitous. There is scope to explicitly build climate change knowledge exchange into agriculture-focused international labour mobility schemes. • International labour mobility schemes facilitate agricultural knowledge exchange. • Labour mobility migrants adapt acquired agricultural knowledge to their countries. • International labour mobility schemes can build adaptive capacity in agriculture. • Adaptive capacity from labour mobility can spread via agricultural extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Funding of new public transport infrastructure is challenging because of the typically large up front costs. Funding bodies are keen to find new ways of delivering new infrastructure and several funding schemes have been implemented which are based on the way in which better public transport from new infrastructure improves accessibility and raises land values have been implemented. Value capture, the term for a funding mechanism whereby the increase in land value following new infrastructure, has been widely viewed as an alternative funding tool for future public transport infrastructure and has been practiced in a number of forms (e.g., Tax increment financing (TIF)). However, few studies have addressed the equity implications in relation to value capture funding schemes. This study investigates the equity implications using Gold Coast Light Rail Transit (GCLRT) stage one in Gold Coast, Australia as the case study. This case study is used to evaluate four different funding schemes based on previous and existing value capture strategies, such as land value tax, value capture strategies (e.g., TIF and special assessments), and a public transport levy. The paper considers vertical and horizontal equity. There is some evidence of high levy for low income households in the GCLRT catchment areas for value uplift based schemes. The conclusions of the paper contribute to implementation of value capture scheme for many cities in Australia and elsewhere wanting to implement similar funding schemes to fund transport infrastructure. • This paper explores the equity implications of different value capture funding alternatives. • This study investigates the equity implications using Gold Coast Light Rail Transit (GCLRT) stage one in Gold Coast, Australia as the case study. • Four schemes are considered (i.e., land value based, household based, value uplift based and combined land value and value uplift based scheme). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers' resilience is routinely named as an agricultural policy objective in Australia and internationally. However, uncritical use of the resilience concept, as well as the disparity observed between policy intentions and outcomes, invites careful analysis of resilience in agricultural policy. Public policy development processes vary internationally; in Australia, governments issue White Papers to articulate public policy. In this paper we examine the resilience language in the Australian government's 2015 Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper and an associated funding initiative, the Managing Farm Risk Program (MFRP). One underpinning assumption in these policy documents is that grain farmers' access to crop insurance for climate-implicated production risks, including drought, would enhance grain farmers' resilience. We argue that the engagement of the White Paper and MFRP documents with resilience is superficial and substitutes a flawed faux resilience through: (i) articulating particular 'uncontrollable' threats to which farmers must be resilient; (ii) unburdening government from any substantive responsibility to mitigate these same threats, and; (iii) specifying normative prescriptions for how farmers should enact resilience. Rather than discarding the resilience concept entirely, we look again to foundational theoretical scholarship and bring attention anew to the critical role productive novelty plays in resilience. We suggest that in agricultural contexts, productive novelty is analogous to on-farm tinkering; we further argue that policy frameworks which support farmers' own generative capacity for productive novelty, i.e. creating space for farmers to tinker, may prove a more promising way to foster farmers' resilience. • 'Resilience', when named as a policy objective, requires critical analysis. • Faux resilience in policy language can further entrench maladaptation. • Resilience can be undesirable, even perverse and is enmeshed with power. • Productive novelty is a generative practice foundational to resilience. • Claims that crop insurance will enhance resilience for farmers are oversimplified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Requirements Engineering (RE) is a critical process in the development of any software. It requires intensive communication among many stakeholders in order to identify software requirements accurately. As RE activities require intensive communication, cultural influences might need to be considered to improve these activities and to avoid issues that might affect the software project outcomes. In our work, we explored the influence of national culture on RE activities. We conducted an empirical study in two countries that have different cultural profiles: Saudi Arabia and Australia. To explore this issue, we conducted 41 face-to-face interviews. To consolidate the collected data, we conducted also 30 follow-up interviews with the same practitioners. The aim of our study was to empirically identify the set of cultural influences affecting RE activities, and analyse their implication on RE activities. This paper reports the results of the analysis of participants' responses with respect to their industrial profiles, in terms of three factors: the type of software methodology applied by the participants (Traditional vs. Agile), the size of their company/organisation (small, medium, and large), and its type (private vs. government). The results showed a number of significant differences in the cultural influences that determine the type of software development methodology, i.e., Traditional or Agile, being applied within the corresponding company. In this paper, we discuss the identified differences and the factors that determine them. This in-depth analysis provides a broader examination of the influence of culture on RE activities, which might assist RE practitioners to select the most suitable RE practices/methodology to overcome any negative effects of these influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, in light of unexpected death and disappearance rates, pollinators (especially honey bees) have received increasing attention. This attention includes what Anderson (2010) refers to as anticipatory actions: efforts to predict, prepare for, and even preempt future threats. Research on anticipatory actions has tended to focus on regulatory and macro-political concerns; however, in this paper, how anticipatory actions are experienced by those involved provides orientation. Drawing on ethnographic and policy work on beekeeping biosecurity in Australia, the paper explores how beekeeping is being reconfigured in anticipation of the arrival of a particular agricultural pest: Varroa destructor. Australia is one of the few places that remains free of this parasite. Its impacts are expected to be catastrophic, and the anticipatory actions undertaken are extensive. Exploring how beekeepers are participating in and responding to Varroa's influence (even in its absence) adds depth to consideration of anticipatory action, as well as offering insights into how honey bee biosecurity efforts are not simply technical matters but world-making. • Focus falls on how anticipatory action is lived and experienced, rather than the macro-politics of such action. • Details responses to Varroa destructor through biosecurity reconfiguration in Australia, and implications of this reordering. • TAnalyses the co-constitution of beekeeping and biosecurity, highlighting the roles and affects of mites, bees and beekeepers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Four spheres of confluence are found between the modern market economy and diverse economies. • Ecovillages may be places where speheres of confluence between economic approaches may be incubated, experienced and experimented. • Mixed methods research is used to study a recently formed Australian ecovillage. • Community is identified as the principle motivation for living in an ecovillage, this is reflected in the social economic transactions enacted. The practices of ecologically-minded alternative communities illuminate differing perspectives on what might constitute an economy. This paper explores the extant literature and presents a framework for considering four spheres of confluence between the modern market economy and diverse economies: economic production practices, attitudes towards growth, environmental responsiveness and the socialrelational context of transactions. Drawing on evidence from an Australian ecovillage, the paper adopts the framework presented as a means of understanding the experiences of cooperatively negotiating various practices necessary to establish an intentionally sustainable community economy. Through this analysis, the paper provides insights into ways ecovillages may operate in the context of the modern market economy without adopting all of its practices. Ecovillages may indeed be places where convergence between economic approaches may be incubated, experienced and experimented, and through closer trading with the local external communities opportunities for the diffusion of such practices may ensue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal nutrition care is important in the management of cystic fibrosis (CF). This paper summarises the '2017 Nutrition Guidelines for Cystic Fibrosis in Australia and New Zealand (NZ)'. CF dietitians formulated 68 practice questions which were used to guide a systematic literature search and review of the evidence for nutrition in CF. Identified papers underwent quality and evidence assessment using the American Dietetic Association quality criteria checklist and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) rankings. Evidence statements, graded recommendations and practice points were developed covering core nutrition topics (assessment and nutrition interventions including oral, enteral and micronutrient supplementation); nutrition-related co-morbidities (including pancreatic insufficiency, CF-related diabetes, bone health and distal intestinal obstruction syndrome); and key new topic areas (genetic modulator therapies, overweight/obesity and complementary therapies). This paper showcases highlights from the guidelines, focussing on new topic areas and geographic and climate considerations for vitamin D, salt and hydration. • This paper summarises the 2017 Nutrition guidelines for CF for Australia and NZ • A systematic approach to evidence appraisal and guideline development was used • Nutrition assessment, nutrition support and micronutrient supplementation are covered • Nutrition-related topics including CF-related co-morbidities and PERT are covered • Novel topic areas include genetic modulators, overweight/obesity and probiotics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

• This paper studies the effect of varying the timing of reminder letters on the tax payment behavior of small businesses. • We provide an overview of the theoretical and empirical literature on tax compliance and reminders. • A field experiment reveals that a simple reminder letter increases the probability of payment by about 25 percentage points. • Variation over a three-week period in the timing of the reminder letter has no effect on the probability of payment. • Sending reminders early results in faster payment of debts with no effect on the ultimate probability of payment. This paper provides empirical evidence on the implications of the timing of reminders by studying the effect of varying the timing of reminder letters to taxpayers on their payment behavior. The collection of unpaid tax debts constitutes a considerable challenge for tax authorities. We discuss potential mechanisms through which reminders may affect taxpayers' behavior and study the payment behavior of business taxpayers in a field experiment in Australia. We find that a simple reminder letter increases the probability of payment by about 25 percentage points relative to a control group that does not receive a letter from the tax authority. However, variation over a three-week period in the timing of the reminder letter has no effect on the probability of payment within seven weeks of the due date. Our findings indicate that sending reminders early results in faster payment of debts with no effect on the ultimate probability of payment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is almost unique in the developed world for the fulsomeness of its Keynesian fiscal stimulus during the global recession of 2008–2009 and for the subsequent strength of its macroeconomic performance. This paper draws some lessons for discretionary fiscal policy from the Australian experience during that period. When the crisis hit, policymakers around world were faced with three practical fiscal questions: when to stimulate, what to stimulate and how to withdraw stimulus? This paper describes the Australian government's answers to these questions and what we learned along the way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes lessons for macroeconomic policy stemming from the monetary and fiscal responses to the 2008–09 Global Financial Crisis, with an emphasis on Australia's experience. After canvassing hitherto underemphasised global factors leading up to the crisis, including China's rise and its effect on global saving, external imbalances and world interest rates, the paper critically evaluates the G20's macroeconomic policy response to the crisis and its public debt legacy, especially for advanced economies. It then revisits Australia's GFC performance, highlighting its macroeconomic behaviour at the time and the effectiveness of the monetary and fiscal responses. Lastly, it summarises what the episode implies for any future macroeconomic policy response to a crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Elevation sensitive Oblique Incidence Sounder Experiment (ELOISE) was an extensive experiment undertaken by the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group that focused on collecting ionospheric sensor data from multiple overlapping ionospheric paths in the Australian region in order to improve understanding of the characteristics of ionospheric variability and its effect on HF radio propagation. The experiment ran from July to October 2015 and included a period of three weeks of increased sample density and three days of dedicated over-the-horizon (OTH) radar operations. It was anticipated that ELOISE would sample a wide range of environmental conditions and present an opportunity to characterise periods of "normal variability" and periods of "exceptional variability" in the ionosphere. This report is a general description of the aims of this experiment and the types of data collected. Particular interest focused on observing and measuring variability in ionospheric electron density gradients and their effect on oblique HF propagation. To this end, ELOISE established a pair of two dimensional HF receiver arrays to directly measure the oblique angle of arrival (AoA) on many overlapping oblique paths. ELOISE also established a dense sub-network of spatially separated quasi-vertical incidence soundings in the vicinity of Alice Springs in central Australia. This enabled a comparison of gradients observed in a dense network of vertical sounders with gradient effects observed in oblique propagation passing overhead. Several additional ionospheric observing systems were also used to give complementary pictures of the fine scale characteristics of ionospheric variability in the region. This paper is an overview of the 2015 Elevation sensitive Oblique Incidence Sounder Experiment (ELOISE), an experiment designed to observe and characterise mid-latitude ionospheric disturbances in the Australian region and understand their impact on high frequency (HF) signal propagation. ELOISE involved the simultaneous operation of a large collection of ionospheric sounders enabling ionospheric variability to be characterised on a finely sampled large scale. Particular efforts were made to provide direct high fidelity measurements of the angle of arrival (AoA) on many oblique HF propagation paths. These direct AoA measurements imply horizontal electron density gradients that can be compared to ionospheric gradients estimated from conventional models of the ionosphere derived from the spatial network of sounder sites. The size and scope of the experiment are detailed in this paper and some preliminary results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates how the atmospheres of place act upon bodies, provoking thought and mediating the emergence of a more-than- human politics for living in the urban Anthropocene. Taking-place in a remote urban town, it explores the conditioning geographies of Indigenous-led activisms that harness the potential of place in recent political projects. Central to this is a thinking-with Indigenous felt approaches to place, specifically the work of Country as: a concept that maps geographies of belonging, co-existence and reciprocity; a living body that has the capacity to affect and be affected; and, an force that is felt as a diffuse-yet-palpable atmosphere. Through the narratives of Indigenous activists, this paper describes spacetimes of being-with- Country that dwell in the atmospheres and apprehend capacities to act upon and imagine other present-futures. To think of an environmental agent animated by the force of liveliness, is to work through the political status of the non-human, all the while experimenting and making a call for attention to the felt reality of human connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Develops a deep Bayesian survival model that integrates deep neural network and Bayesian inference into the survival analysis for rail useful lifetime modelling. • Demonstrates survival analysis is an effective way to handle censored data problems in rail useful lifetime modelling. • Conducts extensive evaluation to verify the effectiveness of this model, using Concordance index, root mean square error, and a proposed CW-index. • The estimated lifetimes obtained by this model are the closest to real lifetimes compared to other commonly used models. • This model can provide the confidence interval of the estimated lifetime, which is more useful than point estimates in decision-making and maintenance planning of railroad systems. Reliable estimation of rail useful lifetime can provide valuable information for predictive maintenance in railway systems. However, in most cases, lifetime data is incomplete because not all pieces of rail experience failure by the end of the study horizon, a problem known as censoring. Ignoring or otherwise mistreating the censored cases might lead to false conclusions. Survival approach is particularly designed to handle censored data for analysing the expected duration of time until one event occurs, which is rail failure in this paper. This paper proposes a deep Bayesian survival approach named BNN-Surv to properly handle censored data for rail useful lifetime modelling. The proposed BNN-Surv model applies the deep neural network in the survival approach to capture the non-linear relationship between covariates and rail useful lifetime. To consider and quantify uncertainty in the model, Monte Carlo dropout, regarded as the approximate Bayesian inference, is incorporated into the deep neural network to provide the confidence interval of the estimated lifetime. The proposed approach is implemented on a four-year dataset including track geometry monitoring data, track characteristics data, various types of defect data, and maintenance and replacement (M&R) data collected from a section of railway tracks in Australia. Through extensive evaluation, including Concordance index (C-index) and root mean square error (RMSE) for evaluating model performance, as well as a proposed CW-index for evaluating uncertainty estimations, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is confirmed. The results show that, compared with other commonly used models, the proposed approach can achieve the best concordance index (C-index) of 0.80, and the estimated rail useful lifetimes are closer to real lifetimes. In addition, the proposed approach can provide the confidence interval of the estimated lifetime, with a correct coverage of 81% of the actual lifetime when the confidence interval is 1.38, which is more useful than point estimates in decision-making and maintenance planning of railroad systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new energy-as-a-service business model for aggregators of prosumers. • A new techno-economic simulation framework to compute business model benefits. • The new business model increases the average profitability of the aggregator by 438%. • The new business model provides free electricity to prosumers. Traditional retail business models price electricity using volumetric tariffs, which charge customers for the unit of energy consumed. These tariffs were designed for passive consumers with low flexibility. In this paper, we argue that these volumetric tariffs are unsuitable for prosumers with high flexibility since they are unable to adequately value the flexibility of their distributed energy resources in multiple electricity markets. This reduces the interest of prosumers participating in aggregators' business models. To address this issue, we propose a new business model for aggregators of prosumers, based on the concept of energy-as-a-service. In this business model, prosumers pay a monthly fee for aggregators to represent and optimize them in multiple wholesale electricity markets, including in energy and ancillary service markets. The monthly fee is computed by a new techno-economic simulation framework proposed in this paper, which can also be used to estimate the profitability of the new business model from the perspectives of both the aggregator and prosumers. Our experiments on a portfolio of real prosumers from Australia show that the new business model maximizes the economic benefits of both the aggregator and prosumers by increasing the average profit of the aggregator by 438% and reducing the average electricity cost of prosumers from $583/year to $0 when compared to two of the most common retail business models available in the Australian market. In other words, the economic benefit for prosumers is free electricity. In addition to this benefit, the new business model also provides simplicity and predictability to prosumers, as they are offered a guaranteed outcome before providing the services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between locus of control (LOC) and the demand for supplementary health insurance (SUPP). Drawing on longitudinal data from Germany, we document robust evidence that individuals internal LOC increases the take up of supplementary private health insurance (SUPP). We find that the effect of one standard deviation increase in the measure of internal LOC on the probability of SUPP purchase is equivalent to a 14 percent increase in household income. Second, we find that the positive association between self-reported health and SUPP becomes small and insignificant when we control for LOC. These results suggest that LOC might be an unobserved individual trait that can partly explain previously documented evidence of advantageous selection into SUPP. Third, we find comparable results using data from Australia, which enhances the external validity of our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evaluate the effect of uncertain operating and market conditions on dispatch planning. • Apply Model Predictive Control (MPC) for dispatch scheduling of CSP plants. • Monte-Carlo simulation is to evaluate the MPC performance for a case-study in Australia. • The plant profitability from electricity sales under spot prices is assessed. The aim at dispatch scheduling for concentrating solar power plants is to utilize thermal storage to maximize profit from electricity generation. The dispatching plan, however, must contend with significant uncertainty in both weather forecasts (particularly solar irradiation) and, in some locations, real-time electricity prices governed by potentially volatile markets. This paper proposes a Model-Predictive Control (MPC) which employs a novel similarity-based forecast for weather variables and exploits the predictions of electricity prices provided by the market operator. A Monte-Carlo simulation is developed to evaluate true performance of the proposed MPC against two benchmarks, with perfect knowledge (PK) forecasts and day-ahead optimized using prototypical weather (DAPW). A case study is performed on a 115 MW Solar Tower plant with 8-hour storage, hypothetically located in South Australia, and operates under either a fixed-price or a real-time spot price scenario. A Monte-Carlo simulation is conducted for 150 tests for January (summer) and August (winter). The results show in fixed-price scenario MPC achieves 82.4 % of optimal profit (i.e. obtained via PK) in January and 72.4 % in August whereas that in DAPW falls to 71.5 % and 56.9 % of optimal, respectively. In the spot market scenario, MPC reaches 71.3 % and 63.6 % of optimal profit in January and August, whereas that for DAPW reaches 61.4 % and 55.1 %, respectively. In conclusion, PK forecast assumption in dispatch planning over-estimates the achievable profit by ∼ 28–40 % particularly in spot market scenario. Moreover, MPC can mitigate the influence of uncertainties on the plant economic performance by 8.5 %–15.5 % compared to DAPW benchmarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, regulators and investors have shown an increasing interest in the promotion of diversity in the corporate boards of directors. In this paper, we employ data from the Australian bank boards to provide new insights on the diversity-risk nexus, based on a dataset of the Australian banks for the period of 2004 to 2019. We examine board gender diversity from two perspectives across the board and among board leaders. Our results support the context-dependent impact of gender diversity on the board of directors and highlight the beneficial impact on the risk of banks when considering gender diversity and the presence of a dominant gender group in the boardroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the relationship between interest rates, inflation expectations and inflation rates in Australia using the approach suggested by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) to test for Granger causality. The empirical evidence reported here suggests that uni-directional Granger causality is running from medium- and long-term government bond yields to short-term inflation expectations as measured by a survey among consumers. Moreover, there is bidirectional Granger causality among short-term interest rates and short-term inflation expectations among consumers. Additionally, interest rates and the sentiment data measuring inflation expectations can help to predict inflation rates. These findings are supportive for the Fisher effect and also seem to indicate that the bond market is quite efficient predicting inflation rates. Furthermore, some problems of more traditional tests of the Fisher hypothesis are discussed. In this context the role of financial deregulation in Australia is examined. Thus, the Lucas critique seems to be of some relevance testing the Fisher effect (see Lucas, 1976). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Features, factors, and facets of solar pond design and construction. • El Paso Solar Pond experience as the basis for design specifications. • Design and planning ensure solar pond reliable and sustainable operation. • Purpose of solar ponds provides focus for design and configuration. Over the last four decades, salinity gradient solar pond (SGSP) science and technologies have advanced in practical projects. In this work, we show that understanding a salinity gradient solar pond's purpose provides the focus for preparing a preliminary design and physical configuration. This paper aims to share lessons learned in designing and constructing the El Paso Solar Pond. Features, factors, and facets of solar pond design and construction are presented straightforwardly to inform and guide planning for future work. Emphasis is on sodium chloride-based ponds, the base salt used for the El Paso Solar Pond. However, lessons learned are pertinent to additional salt source configurations. Reference to solar ponds operating in Australia and Israel provides design and construction insights. Careful design and planning prior to construction ensure the solar pond operates reliably and sustainably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major metropolitan airports in Australia have become increasingly congested, resulting in substantial increases in operational costs and waiting time at these airports. This paper assesses the effectiveness of subsidy programs in shifting airfreight from metropolitan airports to regional airports assuming the vehicle routing problem approach is used to optimise the downstream (i.e., road) logistics. We analyse the freight distribution network structure and logistics decisions under two (government) subsidy scenarios. We develop a mixed integer linear programming model incorporating the time-window and release-time constraints. A case study in Australia is used to illustrate the application of the proposed framework. The results show that introducing subsidies can effectively reduce the total costs from the prospective of industries involved in the airfreight distribution. The subsidy program under a non-linear subsidy provides a better performance from the economic and delivery time perspectives. However, if the primary goal is to reduce the volume of cargo traffic at the metropolitan airport, a linear subsidy program is preferred. • Subsidy programs are proposed to shift airfreights from metropolitan airports to regional airports. • The vehicle routing problem model is used to evaluate the effects of the subsidy schemes. • A case study of Australia is presented. • A non-linear subsidy provides a better performance from the economic and delivery time perspectives. • A linear subsidy is preferred to reduce cargo traffic at metropolitan airports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Insurantial imaginaries' describes the shared structures of comprehension and action that establishes the social value of insurance and its practical influence. As insurance is a bricolage of economic, legal, political, cultural and moral elements that vary across time and space, for insurance to be intelligible and functional, these imaginaries render this dynamic complexity into stable and discrete forms. In this paper, we explore one such imaginary constituted through the intersection of housing and insurance norms, vis a vis house and contents insurance, in home-owning democracies. Drawing on the cases of Australia and the United Kingdom, we observe how a rise in renting in these countries is resulting in an increase in underinsurance, with renters less likely to insure their assets. This is refashioning a long-standing insurantial imaginary shaped by socio-cultural aspirations for home-ownership, liberal norms of individual autonomy, and links between home-ownership and democracy, including participation in voting. In observing that this imaginary valorises home-ownership and insurance, and problematises renting and underinsurance, we draw attention to the covert power of insurance in co-constituting everyday practices and identify a novel spatialised insurantial imaginary. In grounding our analysis within home-owning democracies, we also make a broader contribution to economic and financial geography by extending understanding of the complex spatial nature of financial mechanisms and processes, and how market-based economies appear to be reconfiguring democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This single-centre retrospective study aimed to characterise the epidemiology, management, and outcomes of mandibular trauma presenting to the same tertiary trauma centre 30 years apart, including key paradigm shifts in management and techniques. A total of 393 patients presenting with 665 mandibular fractures were managed by the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department at The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), Australia, between 2011 and 2016. Data from a previous RMH paper of 205 patients presenting with 376 mandibular fractures between January 1985 and April 1990 were compared. Results showed an increase in presentations (205 to 393 patients) with an increase in the incidence of mandibular trauma (p = 0.0001), females (12% to 14%), and mean age (29 to 31.1) years. Young males remained the dominant cohort (86%) and interpersonal violence (IPV) the most common aetiology (46% to 43%). Mandibular fractures remained commonly associated with other systemic injuries (49% to 42%), occurring most frequently on the left (49%), and at the angle (29.8%), with most occurring at two sites (53%). Significant paradigm shifts in the management of mandibular trauma saw a reduced need for intermaxillary fixation (76% to 30%, p = 0.0001), increased use of extraoral approaches to the fracture, and the use of semi-rigid internal fixation along ideal lines of osteosynthesis (29% to 87%, p = 0.0001). This demonstrated decreased complications including malocclusion, non-union and delayed union, and permanent nerve injury. There was no significant change in infection, dehiscence rates, and temporary nerve damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]