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This paper examines the relationship between policy compliance, the emergence of alternate epistemes and authorities in online spaces, and the decline of trust and legitimacy in democratic institutions. Drawing on insights from public policy, regulation theory, and political theory, the paper critically engages with scholarship on "policy-takers" to illuminate the tensions of compliance and legitimacy in liberal states. It proposes a compliance--legitimacy matrix that identifies the features of policy compliance--including consent, legitimacy, expertise, and trust--and their relationship to the disaggregation of policy knowledge. The article applies this framework to a case study of social media posts that respond to policy information during the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia. Through analysis of these posts, the study reveals the distrust in "the science" and experts advocated by government and the calls from skeptic groups for noncompliance with public health measures. The paper argues that public policy faces an epistemic crisis of public confidence, with significant downstream consequences for compliance with public policy initiatives that has been brought on both by the failures of states to cultivate trust in science and the government. The compliance--legitimacy matrix offers a useful tool for policymakers to anticipate and address objections from policy-takers and to preempt and diffuse their fears. [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]

Abstract Recent coastal legislative and policy reform in Australia reflects the changing focus of coastal management studies in the international scientific literature indicating a move towards systems perspectives, cross-boundary management strategies and an integration of marine and terrestrial environments. Significant global and national reports on integrated coastal management and climate change set the stage for a 21st Century wave of coastal reform in Australia. Given the absence of Australian national coastal legislation or coastal policy the reforms were initiated by a number of state governments such as in New South Wales and Victoria where new pieces of state-based coastal legislation came into law in 2018. This paper examines new coastal legislation, policies, manuals, and government documents and the rationale and triggers behind these reforms. These are discussed in the context of Australian governance structures and the international coastal management literature. The paper concludes that the latest wave of coastal reform in Australia represents a non-uniform stateled push for a more integrated approach to coastal management including, adaptation to climate change, sustainable development, a systems-based approach to coastal processes and inclusion of both marine and terrestrial environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ways in which economic regulation accommodates uncertainty through an examination of experience of regulation in Australia against a background discussion of literature on regulatory risk and principles for good regulation. Regulation, typically in the form of incentive based price caps, often applies to aviation infrastructure, such as major airports and air navigation services. At the same time, the demand for aviation infrastructure services is uncertain and subject to external shocks. Two case studies in economic regulation of aviation infrastructure are examined. They cover a period of volatile demand associated with the collapse of a major domestic airline which coincided with the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US. One case study involves the application of price caps to newly privatized airports during 1997–2002. The other case study examines the development of a long term price path for air navigation services over 2002 to 2004. The case studies illustrate the important role played by regulatory design. The paper concludes that the design of the regulatory framework has an important role in ameliorating the risks associated with uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents preliminary findings of a recent research project on the barriers that lower-income households in four Australian cities – Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, and Darwin – face in reducing their carbon consumption, and the impact of programs implemented by federal and state governments and support organisations to assist such reductions. Following a brief explanation of the methodology (policy reviews, focus group discussions with lower-income households, and interviews with support service providers and advocacy groups), it outlines issues that underlie the complexity of carbon reduction among lower income households. These include housing quality and tenure; health conditions; and user understanding and perspectives on low carbon living and environmental decision-making. This is followed by a review of the types of carbon reduction programs currently available to households living in different Australian jurisdictions. The paper will then reflect on focus group participants’ views of their access to these programs, their perceived effectiveness in achieving genuine carbon reduction, and how these programs fit in (or not) to the less formal carbon reduction techniques already employed by lower income households. It also highlights the challenges and limitations support service providers and advocacy groups face in connecting lower-income households to carbon reduction programs. It concludes with a discussion of potential policy avenues to address the barriers to low carbon living and ensure the intended outcomes of these carbon reduction programs are met in the longer term for those on lower incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is a wealthy country; however, available evidence suggests that food security among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has not yet been achieved. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in remote, regional, and urban parts of Australia experience food insecurity for a number of reasons that usually include low income and a lack of access to affordable and healthy food. The much higher rate of illness and disease that this population experiences compared to non-indigenous Australians is directly related to food insecurity. This paper examines the food insecurity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recent Australian government efforts to combat this problem. The paper first considers what constitutes a human rights-based approach to achieving food security. Second, it describes the food insecurity that currently exists among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the three pillars of food access, food availability, and food use. Third, the paper critically examines recent and current Australian government policy aimed at improving food security. The paper concludes with some reflections regarding how the Australian government can improve its [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of effective competition and systemic misconduct in the Australian financial system has been the subject of recent examination and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry and the Productivity Commission's two inquiries into the efficiency and competitiveness of the superannuation system and competition in the Australian financial system. This is at a time when the Australian financial and superannuation systems represent $7.6 trillion in assets and account for over 9 per cent of the Australian economy, whilst their services and products impact the wellbeing of all Australians. In this paper three public policy areas are examined: why Australia's financial system is today characterised by ineffective competition and unfair consumer outcomes, reflections on the institutional failures and system wide shortcomings revealed by the respective Commissions of inquiry, and considerations for how to arrive at the right future policy settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrinking cities can be considered as one of the most critical challenges of contemporary urban societies. Recently, this phenomenon has been the subject of growing interest both in terms of research and from an urban policy point of view. In this paper we argue that urban shrinkage and policy responses depend on the combination of global processes and local configurations. Based on a study of shrinking cities in Australia, Japan, Germany, the UK, France and the USA, this paper first aims to explore the global process of urban shrinkage in different contexts. While the phenomenon is global it is anchored at the local level and subject to particular manifestations. After analyzing the general trends of urban shrinkage in the six countries considered, the second aim of this paper is to study the way in which policies implemented in shrinking cities differ in the various national contexts. This symposium argues that policy responses need to consider both the global forces behind shrinkage and the local context where particular characteristics are found. There are however three common areas where local actors in shrinking cities tend to focus their strategies and programs: community resilience; urban regeneration strategies; and tackling the social effects of urban shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People seeking asylum in Australia face complex and significant barriers accessing higher education. Due to the temporary nature of their visa, their only pathway to university is being granted admission as an international student, which is financially prohibitive. This paper focuses on the lived experience of people seeking asylum with regard to accessing higher education, and identifies six major themes: the importance of accessing studies; the stress of struggling to meet living expenses while studying; mental health issues; support for people with disabilities, health challenges, and family responsibilities; the importance of language support and navigational brokers; and the role of higher education in the settlement of people seeking asylum. The research indicates that more university and community support is needed to foster access and participation, but the priority should be on addressing the Australian Federal Government policies that underpin the most significant barriers facing people seeking asylum in accessing higher education. This recommendation is most pressing in light of the re-election of the Coalition Government in May 2019, which has committed to continue these restrictive policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper details Australian research that developed tools to assist fisheries managers and government agencies in engaging with the social dimension of industry and community welfare in fisheries management. These tools are in the form of objectives and indicators. These highlight the social dimensions and the effects of management plans and policy implementation on fishing industries and associated communities, while also taking into account the primacy of ecological imperatives. The deployment of these objectives and indicators initially provides a benchmark and, over the life of a management plan, can subsequently be used to identify trends in effects on a variety of social and economic elements that may be objectives in the management of a fishery. It is acknowledged that the degree to which factors can be monitored will be dependent upon resources of management agencies, however these frameworks provide a method for effectively monitoring and measuring change in the social dimension of fisheries management. Essentially, the work discussed in this paper provides fisheries management with the means to both track and begin to understand the effects of government policy and management plans on the social dimension of the fishing industry and its associated communities. Such tools allow the consideration of these elements, within an evidence base, into policy arrangements, and consequently provide an invaluable contribution to the ability to address resilience and sustainability of fishing industries and associated communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2011, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and United States (U.S.) have been collaborating to conduct inter- and intra-governmental exercises to jointly respond to biological events in Korea. These exercises highlight U.S. interest in increasing its global biosurveillance capability and the ROK's interest in improving cooperation among ministries to respond to crises. With Able Response (AR) exercises, the ROK and U.S. have improved coordination among US and ROK government and defense agencies responding to potential bio-threats and identified additional areas on which to apply refinements in policies and practices. In 2014, the AR exercise employed a Biosurveillance Portal (BSP) to facilitate more effective communication among participating agencies and countries including Australia. In the present paper, we seek to provide a comprehensive assessment of the AR 2014 (AR14) exercise and make recommendations for future improvements. Incorporating a more realistic response in future scenarios by integrating a tactical response episode in the exercise is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on concepts from contemporary education policy sociology to explore the prospective interpretation, contextualisation and enactment of Health and Physical Education in the Australian Curriculum. Analysis examines the dynamic between characteristics of official texts and the contexts in which responses will be made. The paper identifies the consultation draft curriculum as highly flexible, such that multiple aspects of past and current policy contexts can be expected to strongly frame its reading and enactment. Exploration of contexts points to the critical role that policy actors, agencies and artefacts will all play in determining the ways in which the new curriculum will be expressed and experienced in schools across Australia. Discussion raises issues for Health and Physical Education teachers, teacher educators and members of professional associations to consider in looking forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The United States and Australia confront the challenge of meeting multi-faceted Indigenous water requirements within the wider context of intensified competition for freshwater supplies and expiation of historic inequality of access. Fulfilment of Indigenous water claims requires acceptance of currently unrecognised uses that may be in conflict with water planning in irrigation-dominated basins. Adaptive governance regimes have been applied to deal with uncertainly and change in water planning and allocation decisions, including changes related to the recognition of Indigenous water claims, values, and knowledge. This paper examines the prospects of adaptive governance regimes to combine: (a) insights into decision-making and policy learning in contexts of high levels of uncertainty over the information base and legal and policy arrangements; with (b) institutional arrangements to coordinate decision-making and accountability across multiple decision-making units, values and jurisdictions, to accommodate Indigenous water claims. In both countries, efforts have involved (re)allocation of water entitlements and greater participation in multi-stakeholder basin planning. In this paper we find that a mix of these adaptive governance mechanisms shows greatest promise for overcoming resistance to the recognition of Indigenous water claims. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Australia is currently facing a serious water crisis. Saving water is not the government''s solo effort, it also requires support from individual households. The use of rainwater tanks for rainwater storage has been highly recommended for both outdoor and indoor uses. This paper investigates cost effectiveness on the use of rainwater tanks for Australian residential environment. Seven cities are examined in this paper, including Gold Coast, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra. Cost for installing and operating rainwater tanks and cost from alternative water sources including building additional dams and desalination plants are compared. It is found that using rainwater is an economical option for households in Gold Coast, Brisbane, and Sydney. Recommendations of suitable tank sizes for different household environments are also proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Australian and international governments are increasingly adopting social marketing as a social change management tool to deal with complex social problems. Government decision makers typically need to balance the use of business models and management theories whilst maintaining the integrity of government policy. In taking this approach, decision makers experience management tensions between a social mission to equitably deliver social services and the accountability and affordability of providing quality social and health services to citizens. This is a significant challenge as the nature of the ‘social product’ in government is often more service-oriented than goods-based. In this paper the authors examine value creation in government social marketing services. The contribution of this paper is a value creation process model, which considers the nature of governments to create social good. This is particularly important for governments where consumers still expect value and quality in the service delivered, despite that offering being ‘free’. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper discusses the development of tourism and tourism-related degrees in Australia in relation to Commonwealth government higher education policies. The deregulation of the higher education sector, government policies, and decreases in government funding, have resulted in increased competition for niche market degrees. The oversupply of study places has led to quick economic returns, but saturated the market and led to the decline and subsequent abolition of many degrees. Based on data from Australian tertiary admission centre handbooks, this paper argues that the increased competition for students between institutions is not in the long-term interest of the Australian tourism tertiary sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in 2002 released Position Statement, No. 3, Terrestrial Biological Surveys as an Element of Biodiversity Protection outlining how terrestrial fauna survey data are to be used and interpreted in the preparation of environmental impact assessments (EIA). In 2004, the EPA released its Guidance for the Assessment of Environmental Factors, Terrestrial Fauna Surveys for Environmental Impact Assessment in Western Australia, No. 56. This paper briefly assesses the adequacy of recent terrestrial fauna surveys undertaken to support publicly released EIAs and indicates that the EPA is not always adhering to its own position and guidance statements. This paper argues that the current fauna survey guidelines are in need of improvement. The approach and requirements of some other Australian states are briefly assessed to identify similarities and where improvements can be made to the Western Australian (WA) guidelines. This paper concludes with suggestions on how the process and the guidelines in WA can be revised to more adequately assess the impact of developments on terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity and ecosystem function. These suggestions may have relevance for other areas where fauna surveys are undertaken to support EIAs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper evaluates legal protections and social support systems for victims of trafficking and slavery in Australia within a human rights framework based on the United Nations Protocol to Prevent and Suppress Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the UN Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking. A major focus of the paper is the evaluation of a system of visas offered by the Australian government to victims of trafficking and slavery. The paper argues that the visa system and social support program is restricted to the assistance of victims who participate in the criminal justice process, thereby limiting state protection of victims of trafficking and slavery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses whether the Australian Landcare movement complies with notions of ‘post-productivist rural governance’. The paper argues that Landcare has been a vast improvement on previous approaches to the management of the countryside in Australia, and that it has managed to mobilise a large cross-section of stakeholders. However, the Landcare movement only depicts certain characteristics of post-productivist rural governance. Although Landcare has some elements that fit in with theorisations of social movements, it still depicts many characteristics that show its close affiliation with the state and its agencies (in particular budgetary shackles). Landcare cannot be conceptualised as a fully inclusive movement, and there is little evidence that Landcare has been able to actively shape government policy. However, Landcare has contributed towards changing environmental attitudes, which can be seen as a key precondition for the successful implementation of post-productivist rural governance structures. In particular, Landcare''s innovative approach of mutual farm visits, and its emphasis on the demonstration of ‘best practice’, has led to both an increased awareness of land degradation problems and the creation of grassroots ‘information networks’. There has also been some success with regard to Landcare''s ability to change attitudes of the wider Australian public. Two important lessons with regard to conceptualisations of post-productivist rural governance emerge. First, individual components of post-productivist rural governance may change at different times, with the attitudinal level most influenced by Landcare, while underlying socio-political productivist structures will take much longer to change. Second, the problem in being able to label Landcare (the most innovative rural programme in advanced economies) as an expression of post-productivist rural governance shows how far away rural programmes in advanced economies still may be from such new forms of governance. The results, therefore, support those advocating that post-productivism may only be a theoretical construct in the minds of academics, rather than an expression of reality on the ground. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Geographers have become increasingly engaged with the notion of policy mobility. It is argued that in a globalised world policies have become more internationally mobile: we now live in an era of ‘fast policy’. Drawing on core concepts of mobility, neoliberalisation, and globalisation - and with a background primarily in geography and urban studies - policy mobility scholars have developed new ideas about how policies circulate internationally. In the process, however, theories of policy change developed within political science have been rather overlooked. In this paper it is shown how a political science theory with a shared interest in flows – the Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) – is complementary to policy mobilities scholarship. Two issues in particular are illuminated by the MSA: first, what constitutes policy, and, second, the role of the nation state in structuring the possibilities for, and timing of, policy change. In turn, policy mobilities scholarship highlights the different geographies of the multitude of objects, ideas, problems, processes, organisations, and regulations that constitute policy. It also raises questions about the validity of analytically separating politics from policy proposals, as advocated by the MSA. These issues are considered using the empirical case of smart electricity metering policy in Australia, in the period 2000–2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010/2011 changes to the national construction code require newly constructed houses to perform at a minimum Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) energy rating of 6 stars (or BASIX equivalent in NSW), which determines the predicted thermal energy a house requires to maintain thermal comfort, given its location. This initiative aims to improve the energy performance of new housing stock in the residential sector, however, many existing houses were built before the introduction of these regulations. These houses account for the vast bulk of the nation's housing stock and are shown by studies to achieve low star ratings and can require significantly higher amounts of thermal energy to maintain occupant thermal comfort. This paper investigates the likely impact of various renovations for six existing houses in South Australia mainly within the Adelaide climate zone representing a range of typical housing stock constructed before the adoption of NatHERS based energy regulations. These houses were built between the 1930's to 1990's, are sited on individual allotments, and are modelled in NatHERS rating software from an existing base case and then for a variety of both minor and more significant building shell and fabric upgrades; extensions to floor areas or major structural modifications are not considered. The costs associated with the upgrades is presented together with the thermal energy improvements, which bring older houses up from star ratings of 1-3 to the current minimum performance of 6, which reduces the demand for and greenhouse gas emissions of heating and cooling devices, for material and labour costs of $15-25k. Further analysis identifies the types of renovations that are the most cost effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of our paper is to analyse the effects of government-supported farm-investment activities on structural change in agriculture. Our method comprises combining direct covariate matching with a difference-in-difference (DiD) estimator . In order to capture the dynamics and the heterogeneity of structural effects, we have developed time and farm-group specific models. We apply our model in Austria, where we analyse the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) data of 98,000 farms within the time period of 2000–2011. Our results show that farms adapt their numbers of livestock very quickly, whereas, the increase in agricultural area seems to be fairly decoupled from the investment activity itself. Effects tend to be farm-group specific; e.g. farm size initially increases (and drops) on pig farms to a greater extent than on cattle farms. Furthermore, government-supported farm-investment activities not only influence structural change but also tend to increase production intensity and reduce diversification on arable land – perhaps counteracting, therefore, the goals of agri-environmental schemes. However, our results indicate that investing (cattle) farmers are more likely to enter the organic farming programme and tend rather to remain in animal husbandry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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International commercial flights (with the exception of flights between countries in European Union including Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) are currently not subject to greenhouse gas emission reduction regulation. To formulate effective and efficiency policy to manage greenhouse gas emissions from air transport, policy makers need to determine the emissions profiles of all airlines currently flying into their country or region. In this paper, we use 2012 data on airlines' aircraft characteristics, passenger load and cargo load (obtained from statistics reported by Australian Government Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics) to estimate the volume and carbon efficiency on each international route flying to and from Australia. This is the first study to use actual passenger and cargo load data to determine the greenhouse gas (specifically CO 2 ) efficiency of airlines operating in the Australian international aviation market. Airlines' CO 2 emission profile is dependent on many factors including but not limited to the aircraft used, payload, route taken, weather conditions. Our results reveal that the airlines’ CO 2 emission profile is not only dependent on the aircraft used and the number of passengers but also the amount of cargo on each flight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Crude petroleum remains the single most imported commodity into Australia and is sourced from a number of countries around the world (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), 2011a). While interest in crude petroleum is widespread, in recent years Australia's focus has been drawn to the continent of Africa, where increased political stability, economic recovery and an improved investment climate has made one of the largest oil reserves in the world increasingly more attractive. Despite improvement across the continent, there remain a number of risks which have the potential to significantly damage Australia's economic interests in the petroleum sector, including government policies and legislation, corruption and conflict. The longest exporters of crude petroleum products to Australia – Nigeria and Libya – have been subject to these factors in recent years and, accordingly, are the focus of this paper. Once identified, the impact of political instability, conflict, government corruption and other risk factors to Australia's mining interests within these countries is examined, and efforts to manage such risks are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In highly urbanised Australia many cities and towns demand may have exceeded existing water supply. In peri-urban areas this can lead to conflict over access to supplies with priority often given to urban users. In an effort to resolve potential conflicts, water management planning often seeks to engage ‘community stakeholders’ in an attempt to produce a ‘harmonised’ strategic plan. In this paper we focus on the process of developing one such plan for sustainable water management in a peri-urban area with complex and conflicting stakeholder interests. We subject data from a series of planning meetings and ‘stakeholder’ workshops to a critical review and analysis against the project''s stated aims for this stage of the process of: engaging key stakeholders, developing a common vision, and deciding research priorities. We conclude that the approach was unable to achieve these strategic outcomes. In discussion we explore how this analysis reflects barriers in the engagement process, which highlight more general concerns about this widely accepted model for stakeholder engagement in resource issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Neighborhood sustainability assessment tools have become widespread since the turn of 21st century and many communities, mainly in the developed world, are utilizing these tools to measure their success in approaching sustainable development goals. In this study, seven tools from Australia, Europe, Japan, and the United States are selected and analyzed with the aim of providing insights into the current situations; highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures; and making recommendations for future improvements. Using a content analysis, the issues of sustainability coverage, pre-requisites, local adaptability, scoring and weighting, participation, reporting, and applicability are discussed in this paper. The results of this study indicate that most of the tools are not doing well regarding the coverage of social, economic, and institutional aspects of sustainability; there are ambiguities and shortcomings in the weighting, scoring, and rating; in most cases, there is no mechanism for local adaptability and participation; and, only those tools which are embedded within the broader planning framework are doing well with regard to applicability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The field of adult language, literacy and numeracy in Australia is a site of struggle as policy changes, new learner groups and new economic imperatives challenge teachers' expertise and beliefs about good teaching practice. This article examines the ways in which experienced adult language, literacy and numeracy teachers shape and reshape their practices within this tricky and treacherous terrain. Using Bourdieu's analytical tools of field and habitus as a theoretical framework, and Kumaravadivelu's notion of postmethod pedagogy as a lens for observation and interpretation, the paper analyses the ways in which four experienced teachers shape and reshape their classroom practice to create transformative learning for their learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Despite a variety of long-standing tobacco control policies in most countries, smoking remains a source of considerable economic and health costs, resulting in ongoing discussion of potential policy changes. The contribution of retail tobacco distribution to prompting, facilitating and normalising smoking has received increasing attention, but the effect of retail outlets on tobacco consumption is relatively under-researched. In particular, there has been almost no empirical research on whether different retail outlets types have different effects on tobacco consumption by different types of smokers. This paper reports on two large studies examining the purchase behaviour of independent samples of smokers. The results provide the first evidence on the frequency of exposure of adult smokers to tobacco outlets, and show differences in tobacco purchase size across different retailers, and differences in the use of tobacco retailers by different smoker types. Implications for public health and tobacco control policy are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper argues for the applicability of utilising the State of the Future Index to forecast the future of small developing nations across a range of areas that are considered important determinants of the type of future a developing country is likely to experience. This analysis provides an insight into the benefits of using such a tool for creating more effective policy towards Official Development Assistance (ODA) and its impact on Stabilisation Operations, in addition to measuring the success and effectiveness of previous policies. Timor-Leste was chosen as a case study because of its contemporary policy significance to Australia and the considerable amount of resources that the Australian government has committed, both directly and indirectly, to its reconstruction. Outputs from the State of the Future Index (SOFI) are used to track some of the key variables that will be significant drivers of future change in Timor-Leste. Hence, Timor''s progress at a national level can be monitored. Moreover, individual economic, societal and demographic forecasts provide a more in-depth perspective of the drivers of change and future challenges that Timor-Leste will face. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In recent years newly arrived refugees from Africa, Burma and Middle Eastern nations have dominated the refugee intake to Australia. Coming from war torn nations, extremely poor economies and rural areas, their transition into Australia has not been easy. This paper is based on the evaluation of the Integrated Services Centre Pilot Project (ISC) which assessed co-location as an alternative service delivery model. The evaluation focused on project staff, service providers and a small sample of the refugees themselves. The objectives of the research did not warrant a greater focus on the clients as the evaluation centered on co-location as an alternate service delivery model. Data gathered from the evaluation indicated that the basic support needs of African refugees were not being met by traditional refugee services, but that the ISC Project was meeting these needs. Data also showed that African refugees had a higher level of need than other refugee groups. The article concludes with some recommendations on how current service provision can be more responsive to the needs of African refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Farming has been the basis to work, culture and social forces for millennia. It still dominates the lives of most of the world''s poorer people, but in post-industrial western countries agriculture''s contribution to national economies is now minor. Nevertheless, most OECD countries’ agricultural policies are aimed at maintaining the size of this sector even where this conflicts with its economic significance or adversely affects the environment. Australia has a first world economy, but a third world export profile, with 20% of its export value derived from agriculture. Although it is efficient in agricultural man-power, this sector consumes 70% of the water and 60% of the land resources of the continent to produce food for an estimated 55 million people. Agricultural policies maintain the productivity of the sector, but are ineffective in stemming the associated environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and rural population decline. As in other post-industrial societies, Australia needs to re-define what its agriculture sector represents, environmentally and socially. This will require greater reappraisal of property rights, public and private benefits and legal structures supporting both. More effective alternative policies are needed for large tracts of unproductive farmland where environmental and social decline are endemic. This paper explores alternative options that offer more balanced prospects in the face of current paradoxes, including paying farmers directly for stewardship services, providing better incentives for retiring non-productive areas from agricultural land use, and retiring watersheds, streamlines and other areas of essential environmental function from agricultural production for better biodiversity conservation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: One of the most powerful and enduring aspects of publicly projected Anglo-Australian national identities is part of what [Howitt, R., 2001. Frontiers borders, edges: liminal challenges to the hegemony of exclusion. Australian Geographical Studies 39, 233–245.] has referred to as frontier imaginings: the carving out of the Australian physical and socio-cultural landscape into familiar, settled, and productive spaces. These frontier imaginaries have been leveraged to exact social control and ‘zealously order rural space’ [Philo, C., 1992. Neglected rural geographies: a review. Journal of Rural Studies 8, 193–207, 197]. Government policy has historically been imbued with frontier imaginaries, privileging population movements that are constructed as appropriately bounded, and disciplining those which are not. Much Indigenous mobility falls into the latter category. This paper tells a story of competing rationalities about the purpose and nature of rural ‘settlement’, both past and present, and the implications of these rationalities for contemporary Indigenous population dynamics. In so doing, it creates a discursive space for examining the cultural content and hidden assumptions in constructions of appropriate ‘settlement patterns’. Ultimately, it speaks of spatial struggles across the Australian geographical and temporal landscape. It also opens windows onto the fragile geographies of co-existence that need to be engaged with to shift the discourses of rural livelihood and well being toward discourses of accommodation, recognition and sustainable ways of being together. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The development of the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for the Land Transport of Livestock (known as Land Transport Standards and Guidelines) is the first in a series of projects to develop consistent animal welfare standards and guidelines in Australia. The project represents an evolution in the way in which animal welfare policy is developed in Australia. The standards will be the animal welfare requirements that must be met under law for livestock welfare purposes, and the guidelines are the recommended practices to achieve desirable animal welfare outcomes. The development work has been carried out under the auspices of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS). The project is part of the AAWS vision for national standards that are maintained and enforced in a consistent, cost-effective manner and that reflect contemporary scientific knowledge, competent livestock husbandry, and mainstream community expectations. The development process for the standards and guidelines is laid out in a business plan that provides for effective and transparent stakeholder consultation and a public consultation period before final recommendations on the standards and guidelines are made to the government. This paper discusses the process and philosophies for development of the standards and guidelines and gives an overview of the content. After 6 reference group meetings, the Land Transport Standards and Guidelines went to public consultation on March 29, 2008 for a 60-day period. After revision, complete consensus was not achieved in 2 additional meetings; the major unresolved issue is the measures relating to the transport of bobby calves. An agreement has been reached to further examine the bobby calf situation, and the standards and guidelines have been recommended for government endorsement, which was expected in April 2009. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Environmental groups seek to educate and change people, yet there is little discussion and debate about the various theories and practices they use. One has only to think about the big, national environment groups like Australian Conservation Foundation, Wilderness Society, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and World Wildlife Foundation to note that they go about their educational and change practices in distinct ways. And then there are new groups like Climate Action, GetUp and Climate Camp who are seeking to educate and change people in more contemporary ways. We think that adult educators could play a helpful role in fostering more critical and participant-directed interrogation among environmental groups about aspects of their practices that focus on change and education. In this paper, we report on focus groups, case studies and a literature review we conducted for a coalition of three environmental non-government organisations and a state government agency to do just that. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 2008 Australian Federal Budget, Treasurer Wayne Swan announced a comprehensive 'root and branch' review of the Australian tax system to help create the foundation for Australia's future tax system. This Review is now underway. This article argues that a pivotal part of the review is clarifying and outlining how a tax will be evaluated because this functions as the context for the evaluation and can significantly influence the overall conclusion that is reached. The central proposition advanced in this article is that a multi-staged, integrated evaluative framework should be created to evaluate tax reform measures. The first part of this article examines the criteria endorsed in the Consultation Paper for the Review as potential design principles that can be used to evaluate a taxation measure and suggests a further key criterion that should be used -- the rule of law. The second part of this article examines some of the potential interactions and trade-offs between the criteria to provide the framework for prioritising each principle in establishing the framework. The third part of the article suggests an integrated evaluation framework, by defining the three stages at which a tax can be evaluated: policy, drafting and administration and specifying which of the criteria should be considered at each stage and attributing a priority to each of the criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal learning has often been seen as formal learning's 'poor cousin'. Our paper explores and discusses new and different ways of thinking about defining, valuing and researching the breadth and importance of informal learning in diverse national and cultural contexts. This includes a consideration of the power relations that can act to devalue informal learning. It is underpinned by a recognition that not only do a relatively small proportion of adults currently engage in formal learning, but those who do tend already to be dedicated and successful lifelong learners. It leads to a discussion about how informal learning might be framed as part of the solution to adult exclusion, seen to be aggravated by unnecessary adult educational hierarchies, accreditation, assessment and formality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult and continuing education practitioners are the core group of staff that enable the lifelong learning enterprise. However, there are few studies that look into the domain of practice of these practitioners, which is shaped by the organisation and its wider external milieux. Research on this topic naturally calls for the elucidation of practitioners' values and practice-related orientations that have structuring properties on practice. This paper argues that the theorising of practice must pay attention to the issue of 'duality of structure' for the values of practice. It also suggests drawing from a range of theories to help establish the practice-to-milieu connection. Theories may also assist in bridging the abstract-toreality gap when translating from values to actions. Whilst theories can offer explicative potential for practice, their use is facilitated only through availability of analytical frameworks to organise the practice of teaching adults and program planning into a logical series of components and processes. In this connection, a teaching practice model and a program planning practice model, based on systems theory, are proposed to guide future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers telling differences that have emerged in participation rates in languages other than English study in the States of Victoria and New South Wales since the introduction and completion of the NALSAS program. It explores the role that language planning, policy and funding, both at a State and Federal level, have played in this outcome. The prominent focus of the paper is the Government education systems in Victoria and NSW, but findings from the Catholic and Independent systems are also utilised. The article argues that Federal language planning and policy must take into account the complex and varying local linguistic ecologies of each State and Territory in Australia, while languagein- education planning and policy at the State level must be seriously challenged to provide adequate support and funding for language programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we show how ideas from a longstanding but little recognised literature on adaptive governance can be used to rethink the way science supports Australian drought policy. We compare and contrast alternative ways of using science to support policy in order to critique traditional commentary on Australian drought policy. We find that criticism from narrow disciplinary and institutional perspectives has provided few practical options for policy makers managing these complex and interacting goals. In contrast, ideas from a longstanding but little recognised literature on adaptive governance have potential to create innovative policy options for addressing the multiple interacting goals of Australian drought policy. From an adaptive governance perspective, the deep concern held by Australian society for rural communities affected by drought can be viewed as a common property resource that can be sustainably managed by governments in cooperation with rural communities. Managing drought assistance as a common property resource can be facilitated through nested and polycentric systems of governance similar to those that have already evolved in other arenas of natural resource management in Australia, such as Landcare groups and Catchment Management Authorities. Essential to delivering these options is the creation of flexible, regionally distributed scientific support for drought policy capable of integrating local knowledge and informing the livelihood outcomes of critical importance to governments and rural communities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The educational research and policy scene in Australia over the past decade has featured a number of contradictory developments. National policy has sponsored more interdisciplinary and applied research, while moving down a Research Quality Framework pathway which prioritises measurable quality and impact measures. At the same time, recent international and national policies in literacy education have been dominated by a psychological (rather than socio-cultural) view of literacy, wrapped within a discourse that valorises "evidence-based" practice. As literacy researchers coming from an ethnographic, collaborative and critical tradition, we have had to be strategic to secure funding to continue our research agenda in innovative, ethical and scholarly ways. This paper uses the case of a recent research project to explore some of the ways in which our approaches have been contradictorily positioned within this policy context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the development of the Keating Government's national statements and profiles, during the early to mid 90s, all Australian states and territories, to a greater or lesser degree, have adopted an outcomes-based education approach to school curriculum. Drawing on the writings of the US academic, William Spady, and in opposition to the more traditional, academic and competitive model of curriculum, OBE promotes a new-age and progressive approach to teaching and learning. OBE is based on a developmental and constructivist philosophy of education and, as a result, more formal methods of teaching, competitive assessment and placing the disciplines centre stage give way to a situation where teachers 'facilitate', students are described as 'knowledge navigators' and dispositions and attitudes take priority over received knowledge. The paper offers an outline of Australia's adoption of OBE and argues that OBE is conceptually flawed, difficult to implement and substandard when compared to either what is termed a syllabus or a standards model of curriculum development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influencing government policy in adult learning areas requires consistent efforts in having findings noticed by educational policymakers. Submissions by Adult Learning Australia and researchers have called for unified educational policies and practices across Australia. This paper argues that, whilst it is important to address macro issues of policy formation, research into micro issues can also be valuable in assisting policy formation. Using information technology and communication teaching in a community centre, it considers analysis of informal daily policies and practices and what is working at the everyday level is important. Student experience examples at one centre teaching these skills to older adult are reported to show the types of policies and practices which maximised the long-term running of the centre and long periods of student retention. Like researchers addressing macro adult learning issues, it requires consistent reporting of results to educational policy-makers to remind them of what practices and policies do work for older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This statement of design philosophy by American designers Charles and Ray Eames is relevant to current issues in the conceptualisation of historic heritage and the management of protected areas in New South Wales. Despite considerable Australian and international literature promoting the idea of cultural landscape as a management category, historic heritage within the NSW reserve system continues to focus on objects, sites and places rather than on broader landscapes. Consequently, historic heritage is often viewed as separate to, and disconnected from, nature and biodiversity conservation, as well as Aboriginal cultural heritage. The paper will map out the initial work of a project being undertaken by the Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW). At its heart, the project seeks to understand the context of historic heritage management within the NSW reserve system and to develop a cultural landscape-based conceptual framework for historic heritage conservation that sees all landscape as historic. Such a conceptual change is required if the integrity and 'legibility' of the material record contained within reserve landscapes is to be conserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

if schools are looking to make opportunities real for gifted and talented students, implementation of policy needs to be prioritised and made routine on a system-wide and a school-wide basis. This paper analyses implementation initiatives as they have occurred over the time span of twenty years from the inception of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training policy for gifted education through the first revision and now through the second revision. It considers the correspondence of policy recommendations with actual school provisions. Such information is of assistance in further policy (re)formulation and in further implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in Australia government policy, demands for cost cutting and funding initiatives, and promoting the use of the Internet have resulted in Australian local governments considering electronic service provision. Funding to support local e-Government developments however has been modest with only limited uptake of e-Commerce amongst local government agencies. Unlike higher levels of government framing an e-Government strategy, local government has other pressures that impact on the direction it takes with electronic service delivery. Research is needed to better understand the factors impacting on the move by local councils to electronic service delivery. This paper presents the findings from an ethnographic case study describing the decision making and development process of one local council's move to e-Government, particularly electronic service delivery, and highlights the factors that have influenced the decisions made to implement e-Government initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 2001, it was alleged that asylum seekers had thrown their children overboard in order to manipulate the Australian Navy to pick them up and take them to Australian territory. In response to this incident, Prime Minister John Howard announced on radio 3LO: "I certainly don't want people like that here." (Mares, 2002: 135) A discursive approach is adopted in this paper to examine how asylum seekers have been constructed to be "people like that" in the print media. The analysis demonstrates that asylum seekers have been represented as illegal, non-genuine and threatening in these texts. These representations were employed within nationalist discourse to legitimate the government's actions and public opinion concerning asylum seekers and to manage the delicate issue of national identity. The discursive management of the collective identity of asylum seekers by the dominant culture to construct a specific social reality is discussed and illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role within many major economies throughout the world, their ability to successfully adopt and utilize the Internet and electronic commerce is of prime importance in ensuring their stability and future survival. This paper highlights some of the important issues identified by SME managers relating to the adoption of Internet related technology that government policy makers will have to address if their initiatives aimed at increasing adoption among SMEs are to succeed. Initial findings will be reported of a study carried out by the authors into the use made of the Internet and electronic commerce and key issues influencing its use by SMEs among a sample of 484 businesses within West Central Scotland. The study has drawn upon a number of data collection techniques such as questionnaires sent to 2,500 small businesses, in-depth face-to-face interviews and telephone interviews. With a base response rate of 20% the data reveals interesting details relating to actual connectivity levels, attitudes with regard to how small businesses perceive the Internet and electronic commerce, as well as the impact of government policy on Internet connectivity and adoption. The results gained from the study will be compared with figures relating to businesses in the rest of Scotland and the UK, as well as the US, Canada and Japan, and European countries that include Sweden, Germany, France and Italy. The issues raised from this study will be compared with similar studies carried out in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand and British Columbia, as well as countries within the European Union in order to provide a wider international context for the results of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]