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The January 2011 flood event that impacted southeast Queensland is amongst the most extensive and severe floods in terms of loss of life and property damage that the region has experienced, despite it being only the eighth highest flood on record at the Brisbane City Gauge. The spring of 2010 was the wettest on record for Queensland, New South Wales, and the Murray-Darling Basin (Bureau of Meteorology 2011a) at that time. The flood mitigation dams in the region, Somerset Dam and Wivenhoe Dam, had to be operated for flood mitigation purposes during October 2010, which was the first occasion since February 2001 that Wivenhoe Dam had been called into action due to the Millennium Drought. The wet October was followed by a very dry November which, in turn, was followed by the wettest December on record for Brisbane. Somerset Dam and Wivenhoe Dam were again pressed into action on three separate occasions during December 2010. The resultant releases ensured that only minor flooding resulted in the Lower Brisbane River during these events. However, on the 5th of January 2011, another rainfall event started to unfold across the catchments of the dams. By the 10th of January 2011, an upper-level low combined with a humid easterly flow to bring very heavy rainfall and flash flooding to southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. The heaviest falls were in the areas north and west of Brisbane, with three-day totals exceeding 200 mm over most of the Brisbane River catchment. This rainfall event resulted in a flood of record in the Upper Brisbane River and Upper Lockyer Creek catchments that sadly resulted in a substantial loss of life in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, and which required record releases from Wivenhoe Dam. The resultant downstream flooding saw some 14,000 properties impacted, principally in the Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council, Brisbane City Council, and Ipswich City Council local government regions. Flood damage was estimated to be around $2.53 billion. This paper discusses the event as it unfolded and the subsequent judicial inquiries, engineering reviews, and legal proceedings that resulted from the consequences of the operation of Somerset Dam and Wivenhoe Dam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines domestic violence. We present insights from a highly influential paper. Here are the highlights from this paper: How police respond to domestic and family violence (DFV) has important ramifications for the safety of women and their children. Despite recognition of the key role police play in responding to DFV and the importance of the perspectives of survivors in informing appropriate responses, there has been no recent exploration of survivors' experiences of the police response to DFV in Queensland. This article draws on interviews with women in Brisbane, Australia, who have experienced DFV and engaged in some way with the legal system. It explores women's reasons for calling, or not calling, the police and their experiences with police between 2014 and 2017. The article highlights the role of police culture in appropriately responding to DFV. It suggests that cultural change is needed and may be facilitated by ongoing training, addressing gender balance within the police service and introducing women-only police stations. For our overseas readers, we then present the insights from this paper in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suicide in young people is a leading cause of death. Interventions that are reflexive, tailored, and developed in concert with this at-risk population are needed. This study aimed to integrate lived-experience into the design of a suicide prevention intervention delivered by phone to young people post-discharge from an emergency department (ED) for suicide risk or self-harm. Methods: Qualitative study was conducted at the Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane Australia. Four focus groups with young people with lived-experience, parents or carers and ED mental health clinicals were conducted. In total 5 young people with lived-experience of suicidality (17–21 years, Mage = 19.20), 3 parents and carers with a lived-experience of caring for a young person with mental illness, and 10 ED mental health clinicians participated in focus groups. The first phase of qualitative analysis involved a phenomenological analysis and second phase included a deductive content analysis. The paper is following the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research. Results: First phase, a phenomenological analysis identified three foundational themes to structure future follow-up phone interventions: a person-centred focus, the phone-call dynamic, and the phone-call purpose. Second phase, a deductive content analysis found that participants preferred an intervention that was structured, consistent, and finite. Moreover, an intervention that was authentic, able to facilitate and empower growing independence, and achievable of young people after an ED presentation was desired. Conclusions: Participants expressed their desire for a responsive, structured, and clearly focused phone call that would recognise the young person and parent/carer's needs while providing tailored support to ease transition from the ED to available community and family led care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Wild Australia Show' was a travelling troupe of Aboriginal performers who, during 1892-93, performed in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne where they were photographed by leading studio portraitists of the time. The vast majority of the over 160 collected photos of the troupe are very poorly provenanced, with the performers' names and language group identities often inaccurately spelt partly due to being initially mis-heard and mis-pronounced; and in a proportion of cases photos are non-provenanced. This paper contains an introduction to the photographs, names and group identities of the 27 Aboriginal participants who were drawn from the Queensland frontiers, with a description of the methodology of how their identities were derived from a complex, contradictory, but ethnographically limited corpus of data. This research in visual anthropology represents a contribution to correcting the often ethnocentric and racist legacy of colonial Indigenous museum collections - the failure to recognise and acknowledge basic human identity and familial and social affiliations amongst First Nations peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities all over the world have activated policy support for urban consolidation in recent decades. Rationales for urban consolidation focus on its perceived ability to achieve sustainability goals, including decreased automobile dependence, increased social cohesion and greater walkability. Despite this, there are few international examples of urban consolidation policy implementation that has achieved its stated aims. This paper explores the nature and character of perceptions of urban consolidation held by urban planners, developers, architects and local politicians. The perspectives held by these ‘city shapers’ are integral to urban consolidation debates and delivery, yet the nature and character of their specific views are underexplored in urban studies literature. This paper combines the theoretical lens of Social Representations Theory with the methodological approach of Q-methodology to understand the common sense understandings of urban consolidation held by city shapers in Brisbane, Australia. It identifies, synthesises and critically discusses the social representations employed by city shapers to understand, promote and communicate about urban consolidation. Findings indicate that urban consolidation debates and justifications diverge significantly from stated policy intentions and are based on differing views on ‘good’ urban form, the role of planning and community consultation and the value of higher density housing. We conclude that there is utility and value in identifying how urban consolidation strategies are influenced by the shared beliefs, myths and perceptions held by city shapers. Understanding these narratives and their influence is fundamental to understanding the power-laden manipulation of policy definitions and development outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of Australia's Muslim population over the past three decades has presented a challenge to local governments to find ways of accommodating their needs, particularly providing spaces to build mosques. Yet in many parts of Australia, mosque applications have been opposed by local communities and consequently such applications are usually declined by local councils. Many Muslims believe that Islamophobhia and racism are behind such refusals. This paper examines the role of urban planning policies in determining the location, architectural form, and the use of mosques, and their impact on the local community, through a case study of the Masjid Al Farooq in South-East Queensland. It seeks to understand whether urban planning policy as well as urban planners can become a tool of integrating the community and, if so, how. This case study reveals that there is no provision in urban planning policies specifically for places of worship. Such applications are treated the same as all others even though they have a very different purpose. Places of worship form an integral part of community and can be crucial at a time when political leaders seem to be placing emphasis on family and social cohesion. Marginalising places of worship will continue to disenchant segments of the population and make them feel like “outsiders”. Given the contemporary global political climate, there are no easy solutions. This paper makes policy suggestions that government, planners, and community leaders can embrace so that mosques and those who worship in them are seen as part of the community. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In December 1949, the Brisbane-based musician Robert Dalley-Scarlett received a prestigious Handel Medal from the town of Halle (Germany) for his work promoting the composer's oeuvre. This paper investigates Dalley-Scarlett's pioneering role in the period between the two World Wars, during which time he was not only a key figure in the Brisbane Handel Festivals of 1933 and 1934—among the earliest in the southern hemisphere—but was also active as conductor of the Brisbane Handel Society, a choir established with the intention of ‘broadcasting all of Handel's oratorios’ via the Australian Broadcasting Commission. The specific circumstances leading to the initial award of the medal to Dalley-Scarlett on the eve of World War II are also outlined through a close reading of a series of papers held by the Händel-Haus in Halle. These shed some light on German–Australian musical relations during the late 1930s, while also providing a concrete illustration of one of the ways in which the National Socialist regime used culture in their attempts to spread their deeply disturbing nationalistic message across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports findings of an Australian study on cross-cultural communication and employment of several African birthplace groups of former refugees. The study was conducted in the greater Brisbane area in 2009–10 and collected both quantitative (based on a short questionnaire) and qualitative (based on 12 focus groups) data. Drawing on the uncertainty reduction theory (URT), the segmented labour market theory (SLMT) and Bourdieu's concepts of linguistic and cultural capital, the paper focuses on cross-cultural communication aspects of job search (particularly the job interview situation), the workplace (communication with supervisors and co-workers) and overcoming linguistic and cultural obstacles in building bridging social networks. Existing power relations that structure the communication process, especially the ‘symbolic power’ aspect of Australian ethnic relations, are the context of our analysis. We also report on gender differences that additionally structure these processes in the job search and workplace contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper looks at the work of the ARC Centre for Creative Industries and Innovation at Queensland University of Technology. They have attempted to deal with some of the definitional and policy ambiguities surrounding the DCMS's re-branding of 'cultural industries' as 'creative industries'. The paper focuses on three central claims. First, that Art falls outside the creative industries; second, that the creative industries moves beyond a cultural policy paradigm towards that of innovation systems; third, that the notion of 'social network markets' represents the central defining characteristic of the creative industries. The paper suggests that the attempt to separate out art and culture from the creative industries is misplaced and represents a significant shift away from a longer trajectory of 'cultural industries' policies with some damaging consequences for cultural policy and creative businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some researchers in the field of ageing claim that significant extension of the human lifespan will be possible in the near future. While many of these researchers have assumed that the community will welcome this technology, there has been very little research on community attitudes to life extension. This paper presents the results of an in-depth qualitative study of community attitudes to life extension across age groups and religious boundaries. There were 57 individual interviews, and 8 focus groups (totalling 72 focus group participants) conducted with community members in Brisbane, Australia. Community attitudes to life extension were more varied and complex than have been assumed by some biogerontologists and bioethicists. While some participants would welcome the opportunity to extend their lives others would not even entertain the possibility. This paper details these differences of opinion and reveals contrasting positions that reflect individualism or social concern among community members. The findings also highlight the relationship between Christianity, in particular belief in an afterlife, and attitudes to life extension technology. Overall, the study raises questions about the relationship between interest in life extension, the medicalisation of ageing and the increasing acceptability of enhancement technologies that need to be addressed in more representative samples of the community. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Brisbane's queer scene is relatively obscure; outside those who actively participate in it, little is known of it and practically nothing is written about it. Broadly speaking, queer culture works in direct contrast to the coherent and commodified culture of the gay mainstream and collectively rejects conventional 'gay music', favouring instead a multiplicity of musical styles and performances. This is particularly evident in the local context where queer clubs and events were born to facilitate the musical desires of those dissatisfied with the music spun weekly at mainstream gay venues. The present paper demonstrates how the local queer scene's musical eclecticism corresponds to its multifarious performances of queer sexuality, suggesting that queer musical performances and events produce a musico-sexual synergy that accommodates an array of sexual perversities and musical tastes. The paper looks at both the musical performances and related identity performances that occur in Brisbane's queer club scene and queer social events, focusing particularly on the scene's accommodation of 'alternative' musical tastes. Supporting material gathered from interviews with scene participants provides the basis for a critical examination of Brisbane's queer music scene and is placed in the context of contemporary discourse on both queer and musical identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an evaluation of the inverted pendulum experiment in control engineering from a statistical and pedagogical point of view. Student usage statistics and success rates were collected over a period of three years at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. The results in the paper show that an online experiment can both increase student satisfaction and success rate while decreasing the costs to the university associated with a traditional laboratory setup. In particular, the number of laboratory benches has been reduced from seven to one. At the same time the number of laboratory contact hours for the course administrator was more than halved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the high levels of social connectedness and civic engagement between the [North] Brisbane School of Arts and the local metropolitan newspapers in their eagerness to establish and promote a reading club that would curb what they felt was the local community's preoccupation with reading popular novels. The Brisbane Literary Circle was charged with placing 'the best thoughts of the best minds in the way of everybody' and achieving the ambitious Arnoldian quest of `universal culture'. The paper also examines why the Circle failed to attract the interest of the working-classes, which had always been the primary target audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of a university-wide deposit mandate on the self-archiving practices of academics and to show how a mandate can make a positive difference. Design/methodology/approach — The paper explains the genesis of the eprints mandate at QUT and outlines the response of the academics to the endorsement of the policy. The implementation of the mandate is then examined in detail, including discussion and evaluation of specific implementation strategies and practices. Findings — The experience of Queensland University of Technology suggests that a university-wide eprints mandate definitely increases the rate of self-archiving. Cultural and organisation change takes time, even with a mandate. Advocacy initiatives and implementation strategies have to be aligned with current skills and needs of the researchers. For a self-deposit system to be successful, the barriers need to be as low as possible. Originality/value — Institutional repository administrators should consider creating a scaffolded deposit system that is fast, intuitive and requires only basic technology skills. The efforts of early adopters should be recognised as publicly as possible. Evidence of success is the best form of persuasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the introduction of case method of teaching on student perceptions of teaching effectiveness. The context for this paper is a tourism policy and planning course taught to third year students at the School of Tourism and Leisure Management at the The University of Queensland, Australia. Cases were used as a teaching and an assessment method. The results indicate an overall improvement in student course evaluations over the previous year related to the case study teaching method. Problems in implementation of case method are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Chinese society, traditional postnatal practices and family support protect the health and well-being of women after childbirth. The absence of support for these practices for Chinese migrants in Western societies can have negative implications for their health. Recent studies reveal that postnatal stress is a growing concern among Chinese migrant women in Brisbane, Australia. There is a need to investigate the experiences of these women in order to understand factors affecting their postnatal health and to identify gaps in, and ways to improve, existing services and support identified needs. This paper examines postnatal experience and health needs of Chinese migrant women in Brisbane from three different places of origin: Taiwan, Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Previous studies on reproductive health beliefs and practices of Chinese women have found that a relationship exists between postnatal maternal health and postnatal cultural practices, appropriate family and community support and social circumstances, particularly pressures relating to employment. This study further tests and confirms these findings by comparing the experience of the three Chinese groups who have different migration circumstances, socio-economic and employment status, and support networks. The study reveals that among the three groups, PRC migrants are more likely to have encountered downward social mobility, economic hardship, social isolation, employment and language problems. While all three groups believe in the necessity of traditional postnatal practices, the PRC group has less support and is also more likely to have experienced postnatal health problems than the other two groups. This paper concludes with two sets of recommendations: one for community organisations with a focus on empowerment and cooperation; and one for service providers concerning improvement of multi-sectoral partnership, cross-cultural communication and the development of a postnatal care service model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is committed to providing outstanding learning environments and programs that lead to excellent outcomes for students. This paper will discuss how the Faculty of Information Technology is helping to meet this commitment by using information and communication technology to transform teaching and learning in ways in which engage and challenge students. The paper will provide a case study explore how e-learning is being implemented within the Bachelor of Information Technology. The paper will discuss the practical implications of incorporating e-learning into the teaching curriculum and how it impacts on the teaching and learning process. Student attitudes and expectations towards e-learning will be explored. The paper concludes that e-learning should be a part of a 'whole of learning' approach in which technology is not just an add on to traditional teaching, nor is it the central focus of teaching, but rather, it is one of many tools that is integrated into the curriculum to foster learning. The current project suggests that students appreciate and prefer a mix of e-learning and face-to-face classes and that e-learning is most successful when a holistic approach to teaching and learning is taken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible and efficient service are vital features of well-utilized public transit systems. Modeling approaches to support the evaluation of transit operations for management and planning are essential for continued improvement. A hybrid coverage model is developed in this paper for simultaneously expanding service access and increasing accessibility. This paper discusses the use and integration of this model in a geographic information system environment for strategic planning. Analysis is presented for public transit service in Brisbane, Australia. The structured model provides flexibility in developing viable policies for addressing system improvements and service expansion, all of which are likely to promote increased utilization of public transit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an emerging genre of psychedelic event known as doof is investigated and a definition is offered. The paper is based on fieldwork with psychedelic enthusiasts in Brisbane, Australia. An ethnographic description of a specific doof (‘Stomping Monster Doof #3') is presented from an emic perspective, and the ritual techniques, processes and structures of doofs are discussed. The possible location of doof within a rich matrix of other religious, intellectual, and aesthetic/stylistic movements is explored, and a paradigm for a ‘psychedelic morality' is outlined. The importance of ‘earth-connection' and collective ecstasy as a source of meaning in the lives of ‘post-seekers' is emphasised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines home renovators’ decision in choosing do-it-yourself (DIY) or hiring contractors. DIY may reduce financial pressure but may lead to potential domestic discord and perils of incompetence; hiring contractors may alleviate time pressures but may require more financial resource. This choice is modelled as analogous to Williamson’s corporate strategic decision between ‘outsourcing’ and ‘internalisation’ in the context of vertical integration, and extended via Richardson’s capabilities-based theory, with social reputation effect taken into account. Based on a survey of Brisbane home renovators, it is found that the Richardson’s thesis seems stronger than the Williamson’s when applied to housing renovation and that ‘trust’ issues in respect of contractors are paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Master planned estates (MPEs) are marketed, sold and purchased on the basis of powerful symbols of security and aesthetics, as well as shared aspirations, values and lifestyle patterns. Living in an MPE not only represents a significant economic investment, but also provides residents with symbolic capital that comes with living in a new, secure, and high status community. Drawing on a case study of an MPE in Brisbane, Queensland, this paper examines the discursive strategies used by residents when the symbolic representation of their suburb is challenged by an ongoing problem of delinquency. By reviewing resident ‘blogs’ on community forums, it examines how the dissonance between the representation and the experience of the MPE is collectively managed, through the medium of talk, to rationalise and neutralise the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban consolidation involving increasing densification around existing nodes of urban infrastructure is a strategy pursued by all levels of government for addressing rapid population growth in urban regions. This has both positive and negative impacts on the everyday lives of residents (or their urban liveability as perceived by them), even though urban consolidation is commonly resisted by residents. This paper aims to better understand impacts of urban consolidation on liveability by comparing similarities and differences in impacts between two Brisbane suburbs: an outer fringe suburb (Wynnum) and an inner city suburb (West End). Wynnum residents generally expressed less resistance to urban consolidation, with some residents willing to trade additional densification for additional amenities. Two issues concerning residents in both suburbs were aesthetics of high-rise development and traffic congestion. Building heights more than a few storeys above surrounding buildings were commonly seen as detracting from urban liveability, though buildings up to 30 stories were accepted by some if close to the Commercial Business District. Traffic congestion was seen as a problem in both suburbs reflecting widespread car dependency. Other impacts differed between suburbs, reflecting their different values and ways of living. For example, most West End residents were concerned about losing social diversity with declining housing affordability while many Wynnum residents were concerned about gaining more public or social housing and disadvantaged residents. The impacts of urban consolidation on liveability differ between suburbs, and local neighbourhood plans should be sensitive to local notions of urban liveability because residents often stay after urban consolidation, even if they perceive negative impacts on their liveability. These interviews reinforce liveability as primary focus for urban planning, and thus urban consolidation at the expense of liveability is a poor outcome for both local residents and urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contributors to the housing field broadly agree that home is a multi-dimensional concept. Indeed, informed by the proposition that home and housing should not be conflated, the social, psychological and emotional elements of home have been well documented. Home is thought to be subjectively experienced. As such, some have shown that people defined as homeless may not actually feel homeless, but rather experience their accommodation or situation as home. This paper is based on ethnographic research with a group of people sleeping rough in Brisbane, Australia. It argues that their problematic experiences residing in public places, together with their biographies of feeling disconnected from society, underpinned their ideas of home. For people in this study, housing and home were synonymous. The physical structure of a house was important to assume control over their day-to-day lives. Home, however, stood for something beyond housing. Home was constructed as a signifier of normality, and as a commitment to participation in Australian society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information on several papers discussed during the international conference on powder processing, metallurgy, and titanium processing in Brisbane, Queensland on December 5-7, 2011 is presented. Topics include new technologies for new powder manufacturing, alloy creation, and sintering technology development. The conference featured several professionals in the industry including Lin Zhang, Xuanhui Qu, and Xiangdong Wang.

During the past decade, the application of vacuum preloading for stabilizing soft coastal clay and other low-lying estuarine soils has become popular in Australia. The cost-effectiveness is a major factor in most projects in view of the significantly reduced time for achieving a relatively high degree of consolidation. Resulting from an increase in trade activities at the Port of Brisbane, new facilities on Fisherman Islands at the mouth of the Brisbane River will be constructed on the new outer area (235 ha) adjacent to the existing port facilities through land reclamation. A vacuum-assisted surcharge load and conventional surcharge scheme in conjunction with prefabricated vertical drains was selected to reduce the required consolidation time through the deeper subsoil layers. The design of the combined vacuum and surcharge fill system and the construction of the embankment are described in this paper. A comparison of the performance of the vacuum combined surcharge loading system with a standard surcharge fill highlights the clear benefits of vacuum consolidation. Field monitoring data are presented to demonstrate how the embankment performed during construction. An analytical solution for radial consolidation considering both time-dependent surcharge loading and vacuum pressure is proposed to predict the settlements and associated excess pore pressures of the soft Holocene clay deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a research project designed to find out what happens when process drama strategies are applied to an advanced level of additional language learning. In order to answer this question, the author designed and facilitated six process drama workshops as part of a third-year course of Italian at a university in Brisbane, Australia. Results indicated that through the medium of role, authentic contexts and dramatic tension, participants in the study were able to engage in the target language producing more spontaneous communication. Results also revealed that the affective space generated by process drama was beneficial in reducing a degree of language anxiety in some of the participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper proposes a practical job grouping approach, which aims to enhance the time related performance metrics of container transfers in the Patrick AutoStrad container terminal, located in Brisbane, Australia. It first formulates a mathematical model of the automated container transfers in a relatively complex environment. Apart from the consideration on collision avoidance of a fleet of large vehicles in a confined area, it also deals with many other difficult practical challenges such as the presence of multiple levels of container stacking and sequencing, variable container orientations, and vehicular dynamics that require finite acceleration and deceleration times. The proposed job grouping approach aims to improve the makespan of the schedule for yard jobs, while reducing straddle carrier waiting time by grouping jobs using a guiding function. The performance of the current sequential job allocation method and the proposed job grouping approach are evaluated and compared statistically using a pooled t-test for 30 randomly generated yard configurations. The experimental results show that the job grouping approach can effectively improve the schedule makespan and reduce the total straddle carrier waiting time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes a teaching model, The Teaching Artist, developed to address the pedagogical and cultural divide between the traditional dance teacher and the dance artist who teaches: traditionally, one teaching about dance and the other, teaching through dance. The Teaching Artist model was developed through the Q150 Project. The Q150 Project provided an opportunity to meld these cultural idioms. It involved pre-service secondary dance teachers in their second year of teacher training at the Queensland University of Technology. The Project's design involved three components: artistic development, pedagogic development and implementation. The participants researched social and artistic dance histories and practices across Queensland towns. From their research, they created dance works specific to those local communities. The works created formed the basis for primary and secondary school workshops taught by the participants. By their participation in the Project, the pre-service teachers created tangible links with the schools in which they will practise and experienced the nexus between artist and teacher in an authentic teaching and learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cherbourg State School is approximately 300 km northwest of Brisbane. It is situated in an Aboriginal community at Cherbourg with approximately 250 students. At the Cherbourg State School, the aim was to generate good academic outcomes for all students from kindergarten to Year 7 and to nurture a strong and positive sense of what it means to be Aboriginal in today's society. In this paper, I will discuss modernism and postmodernism in indigenous studies and how this has impacted on the design and development of the Indigenous Studies Programme at the Cherbourg State School. The programme was designed to provide students with the opportunity to learn about the history of Indigenous people from Indigenous voices and provide an understanding of the impact of invasion and the consequences on the lives of Indigenous people, in the past and present. The stories from the elders and members of their own community provided knowledge that allowed students to challenge Aboriginal identity by taking on existing perceptions so that they could be better processed and understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a summary of the Munro Oration delivered in Brisbane on 29 June 2011. It presents water as an extraordinary substance that is critical to our very existence and therefore demands of us both respect and commitment to its protection and wise management. It argues for a balanced approach to establishing water programs in which research, teaching, practical application, funding and governance all have a role to play. It outlines the value of personal contacts within the freshwater community and calls for the Australian members of that community to be active at both national and international level in promoting Australian expertise and in learning from that of other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought in the earliest years of the twentieth century stimulated much discussion in Brisbane about the quality of the water supplied to the rapidly growing city. One of the various schemes developed by the Board of Waterworks to obtain better water was the Stradbroke Island Scheme. Although not adopted, its consideration required the close examination of the island's topographic and hydrological features, including an exhaustive survey of the island by Herbert W. Lethem, completed early in 1903. His detailed map and report, together with reports by others such as Board engineers H. G. Foster-Barham (1901) and J. Kemp (1906), and American expert A. Hazen (1907), provide a signifi cant body of scientifi c knowledge of Stradbroke Island. These records portray the island long before the beginning of mineral sand mining (1940s) and municipal water extraction (1990s). This paper is an historical account of the Stradbroke Island Scheme and an assessment of its legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In our previous research we applied spatial statistics and regression analysis to explore the relationships between the types of socio-economic factors that are associated with different fire incident types for an area of South Wales, UK. In this paper, we extend this analysis by using a comparative approach applying regression analysis to examine intra-urban trends in fire incidence using the case studies of Brisbane (Australia) and Cardiff (United Kingdom). Whilst drawing attention to the problems faced by researchers using spatial data in comparative contexts, this has revealed some important similarities and differences in associations, for example in relation to the residential patterns of the two cities which is reflective of their respective wider urban geography. We conclude by demonstrating the differences in trends between Cardiff and Brisbane and by highlighting outcomes from this research that are of relevance to policy makers in urban contexts. The latter could include for example those charged with identifying high risk communities, designing possible intervention strategies such as safety campaigns or with implementing educational programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant level of convective storm activity occurred in southeast Queensland during the period 16 to 20 November 2008. The various storm systems caused widespread damage to housing in many parts of Brisbane, although the peak gust wind speeds were estimated to be less than the current design wind speed for the city. Surveys of damage indicated that housing built post-1980 performed better than older housing, when building regulations were less stringent. Detailed inspections of damage showed that failures could be attributed to inadequate construction details, either built poorly or, for contemporary housing, not built in accordance with current requirements. The paper summarises some anomalies, and recommends improvement in design standards, codes and procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities are important players in the global development of knowledge economy, alongside being significant contributors to the economic development of their host cities. They are both significant knowledge enterprises and the suppliers of the human and intellectual capital on which the knowledge-based economy depends. What seems under-explored is how deliberative partnerships between universities and city authorities can develop around projects of mutual benefit, especially based on campus development. In this paper, with the help of five case studies (QUT, MIT, Harvard, Twente and Newcastle universities), we investigate how the spatial development of universities can be one of the main meeting points between the city and university and how it can be used for stimulating economic development and managing growth. These cases show that university—city collaborative initiatives focused on the university properties represent a desire to produce creative and competitive new urban spaces, which reinforce the position of the university and the city in global economy. They also show that these developments need to be jointly managed to avoid undesirable impacts on either side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007 the film-maker Michael Noonan embarked on a project initially entitled 'Laughing at the Disabled' (a title then changed to 'Laughing with the Disabled'), a collaboration between himself and three people with intellectual disabilities. A doctoral candidate in the Creative Industries at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Noonan's film was the subject of a furious attack by two QUT academics - and then became a cause celebre not only in Australia but around the world. The 'Laughing at/with the Disabled' project became a touchstone for the futility and contempt inherent in much contemporary academic research and teaching - but especially was viewed by many as proof of the troubling status of disability in Australian universities. While it has been widely discussed in the press, and with the furore continued online via blogs, YouTube, and email lists, there has been an absence of critical discussion of the case. Accordingly, in this paper, I analyze the public record covering the criticisms of this research project, disciplinary action by QUT, and responses by those involved in the research. Rather than making judgments on the project, I explore this case for the light it sheds on the place of disability in Australian culture, the role of power, questions of ethics - and, perhaps most importantly, the cultural politics of disability in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines whether there was an excess of deaths and the relative role of temperature and ozone in a heatwave during 7–26 February 2004 in Brisbane, Australia, a subtropical city accustomed to warm weather. The data on daily counts of deaths from cardiovascular disease and non-external causes, meteorological conditions, and air pollution in Brisbane from 1 January 2001 to 31 October 2004 were supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, respectively. The relationship between temperature and mortality was analysed using a Poisson time series regression model with smoothing splines to control for nonlinear effects of confounding factors. The highest temperature recorded in the 2004 heatwave was 42°C compared with the highest recorded temperature of 34°C during the same periods of 2001–2003. There was a significant relationship between exposure to heat and excess deaths in the 2004 heatwave [estimated increase in non-external deaths: 75 ([95% confidence interval, CI: 11–138; cardiovascular deaths: 41 (95% CI: −2 to 84)]. There was no apparent evidence of substantial short-term mortality displacement. The excess deaths were mainly attributed to temperature but exposure to ozone also contributed to these deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A graduate destination survey can provide a snap shot in time of a graduate's career progression and outcome. This paper will present the results of a Queensland University of Technology study exploring the employment outcomes of students who had completed a library and information science course from the Faculty of Information Technology between 2000 and 2008. Seventy-four graduates completed an online questionnaire administered in July 2009. The study found that 90% of the graduates surveyed were working and living in Queensland, with over three quarters living and working in Brisbane. Nearly 70% were working full-time, while only 1.4% indicating that they were unemployed and looking for work. Over 80% of the graduates identified themselves as working in "librarianship". This study is the first step in understanding the progression and destination of QUT's library and information science graduates. It is recommended that this survey becomes an ongoing initiative so that the results can be analysed and compared over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'neighbourhood' holds an iconic position in planning, yet there has been longstanding empirical criticism and debates about both the use and intellectual underpinnings of the concept. Despite this, it continues to provide a focus for local area planning, local policy interventions and urban design approaches, including in new urbanism. Neighbourhoods may be given physical dimensions so the boundaries that distinguish what is within and what is outside each neighbourhood can be defined. This paper asks what we can learn about such localities through a better understanding of how residents themselves actually identify these boundaries. It derives a series of questions that are addressed through analysis of resident perceptions of neighbourhood boundaries in an inner-city fringe suburb in Brisbane, Australia. The research confirmed many previous concerns about defining neighbourhood boundaries and that many residents were uncertain of the physical boundaries of their neighbourhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1960s and 70s were testing times for Australian pharmacy schools and were characterised by poor resources and infrastructure, and political and academic intransigence, which varied in intensity across the country. The South Australian and Victorian stories were the most complicated, followed by Tasmania and Western Australia. In New South Wales, the pharmacy school was in the university while in Queensland, the upgrading and transfer of the course from a technical college to the University of Queensland was at the university's behest. This paper chronicles the events leading up to the granting of pharmacy degrees in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the stereotype of libraries as peaceful retreats, unacceptable behaviour is a reality that desk staff have to deal with. This paper outlines the results of two surveys conducted at Charles Darwin University Library to investigate the extent to which this is a problem in Australian academic libraries. The first survey went to CAUL (Council of Australian University Librarians) and the results made available via the CAUL website. As this survey was completed only by management, a second survey was conducted with front desk staff and via the Lending and Document Delivery Group of the Queensland University Libraries Office of Cooperation (QULOC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper details a methodology for the design of a model predictive controller for a continuous granulation plant. The work is based on a non-linear one-dimensional population balance model (1D-PBM), which was parameterized using experimental step test data generated at a continuous granulation pilot plant installed at the University of Queensland, Australia. The main objective was to operate the granulator under optimal conditions while off-specification material was fed back into the granulator to increase the economy of the process. The final algorithm design combines elements of model predictive control (MPC) with gain scheduling to cancel non-linearities in the recycle flow. A model directly identified from the step test data was the basis for testing a model predictive controller. Simulations show that the efficiency and robustness of this granulation process can be improved by applying the proposed control strategy. Ongoing work focuses on the implementation of the proposed control strategy on a full scale industrial plant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The benefits of a strong proximal social network for people as they advance in age are well documented, but the continuation or development of social networks may be challenged when people relocate to a new home on retirement. This paper explores the personal network development of older residents who have moved to a new suburban (but not age-specific) residential development in a general urban setting. Drawing on a case study of a new outer-suburban 'master planned estate ' in Brisbane, Queensland, the findings from interviews with 51 older residents and participant observations of a community group are presented. The study suggests that a traditional ideal of unreflexive community of place was an unreliable source of durable social bonds in contemporary fragmented and mobile social conditions, where the proximity of family members, durability of tenure and strong neighbourly ties are not inevitable. One successful resolution was found in a group of older residents who through exercising agency had joined a group the sole focus of which was social companionship. The theoretical bases of this type of group are discussed and its relevance is examined for retirees who have chosen to live in a residential environment for lifestyle and amenity reasons, away from their lifelong social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning both facilitates the activities of the market and addresses areas of market failure. It can also remain aloof from intervention in either direction. There are potential tensions inherent in these various roles and their expectations, which are exacerbated by the fact that many planning policies rely on the market for their actual implementation. The provision of housing, especially low-cost housing, is a case in point. This paper reports on research in Brisbane, Australia that explored the role of privately-owned caravan parks as providers of low-cost housing. Their vulnerability to redevelopment pressures, partly through market forces and partly as a consequence of public policies, is used to explore the tensions that can arise in urban governance between public goals and private interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]