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Lack of service data for cardiac rehabilitation limits understanding of program delivery, benchmarking and quality improvement. This study aimed to describe current practices, management, utilisation and engagement with quality indicators in Australian programs. Cardiac rehabilitation programs (n=396) were identified from national directories and networks. Program coordinators were surveyed on service data capture, management systems and adoption of published national quality indicators. Text responses were coded and classified. Logistic regression determined independent associates of the use of data for quality improvement. A total of 319 (81%) coordinators completed the survey. Annual patient enrolments/programs were >200 (31.0%), 51−200 (46%) and ≤50 (23%). Most (79%) programs used an electronic system, alongside paper (63%) and/or another electronic system (19%), with 21% completely paper. While 84% knew of the national quality indicators, only 52% used them. Supplementary to patient care, data were used for reports to managers (57%) and funders (41%), to improve quality (56%), support funding (43%) and research (31%). Using data for quality improvement was more likely when enrolments where >200 (Odds ratio [OR] 3.83, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.76−8.34) and less likely in Victoria (OR 0.24 95%, CI 0.08−0.77), New South Wales (OR 0.25 95%, CI 0.08−0.76) and Western Australia (OR 0.16 95%, CI 0.05−0.57). The collection of service data for cardiac rehabilitation patient data and its justification is diverse, limiting our capacity to benchmark and drive clinical practice. The findings strengthen the case for a national low-burden approach to data capture for quality care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Males tend to have higher levels of sensation seeking and engage in riskier driving. • Driver thrill seeking fully explains the relationship between gender and transient offending. • Driver thrill seeking partially explains the relationship between gender and fixed offending. Gender and sensation seeking are both key factors associated with risky driving and traffic offending by young people. However, there has been limited research exploring the way that gender and sensation seeking combined influence these behaviours. This paper investigates whether sensation seeking mediates the relationship between gender and traffic offending. Young drivers (n = 1,670) from Queensland and Victoria, Australia completed an online survey that included the Driver Thrill Seeking Scale and the Transient Offending and Fixed Offending sub-scales from the Behaviour of Young Novice Drivers Scale (BYNDS). The results indicate that sensation seeking fully mediates the relationship between gender and transient offending and partially mediates the relationship between fixed offending. This study highlights that sensation seeking is a key factor in explaining the relationship between gender and traffic offending which has important implications for the development of road safety interventions for teen drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many countries have experienced more than one wave of the pandemic throughout 2020, Australia has been able to contain the virus in a way that makes it a stand out (with New Zealand) in the way that it has been contained, with an exception in Victoria linked to failed quarantine procedures for travellers returning from overseas. Through descriptive analysis, this paper builds on earlier papers by the authors on the Australian response, with a focus on the changing dynamics of travel activity, concern with public transport, and attitudes surrounding activity given the perception of risk of COVID-19 and the level of public support for regulatory intervention and restrictions on movement. We find that Australia continues to suppress travel, particularly that for commuting, that comfort in completing day-to-day activities continues to rise (with the exception of Victoria where confidence feel significantly), and while support for intervention measures remains high, there has been an erosion in sentiment. As with previous work, we discuss what this might mean for future transport policy, and attempt to draw lessons from the Australian experience. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how white rural identities have been historically produced and transformed over time as a result of colonial migration regimes, the racialisation of labour, intra-distinctions of classed whiteness and projects of social mobility. White identities in settler Australia's ethnically diverse rural towns and cities are commonly depicted as reified, homogenous and fixed-in-place. In rural-focused sociological research, any recognition of whiteness is typically in response to classed stigma around "failed" whiteness, or in discussions of a white-centred "rural cosmopolitanism". Yet critical Indigenous studies and critical rural studies scholars have long shown that the very ubiquitous construction of whiteness acts as a framing device in the imagining of Australian "rurality", one which obscures ongoing legacies of power and structures of rural inequality. In this paper I further this agenda by examining how whiteness has been historically produced in one rural, inland city of south-eastern Australia. First, I discuss the colonial projects of race-making and class mobility which were embedded in the region's rural irrigation schemes of the late nineteenth century. Second, I examine how Australia's post-war migration programs, the racialisation of labour and intra-distinctions of class all redefined the boundaries of whiteness over the twentieth century, and consider how this contributed to shaping rural social geographies. Drawing on a range of historical and contemporary sources, I show how white rural identities in settler Australia, rather than being reified and immutable, have been historically created under specific social, political and economic conditions. • Examines the historical production of white rural identities in rural settler Australia. • Shows how the production of race and class have contributed to the making of rural place. • Examines how rural white identities have transformed over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Property valuation research, evolving with Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), encounters challenges in handling dynamic market conditions. While the market approach is a practical solution to complement the AVMs, it also suffers from different deficiencies, particularly in relying on subjective valuer judgment. In Australia's diverse real estate market, complete and up-to-date market data derived from recent transactions of the different property types within various suburbs can be crucial for valuers. However, accessing such data often comes at a high cost, and the availability of transaction data is limited, mainly when market analysis necessitates the consideration of property valuation across various property types and bedroom counts. Accordingly, this paper presents a novel multi-step method to estimate the median prices of different property types considering their bedroom counts at the suburban level in the Melbourne Metropolitan area to benefit valuers when adopting the market approach. Nine distinct and ensembled spatially-based imputation techniques of K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW), Weighted KNN, Weighted IDW, Weighted KNN-IDW, Random Forest (RF), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), RF-IDW-KNN and XGBoost-IDW-KNN are first employed to impute missing data on six market-related parameters obtained from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV). These parameters include median price (with no consideration of bedroom counts), price change, median rent, rental yield, clearance rate and days on market for houses and units. Next, based on these parameters, three ML algorithms—RF, Support Vector Regression (SVR) and XGBoost—are developed to estimate the median prices. Subsequently, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) technique is employed for Deep Learning (DL)-based spatiotemporal analysis, clustering suburbs based on property value fluctuations. Finally, these clusters are integrated into the ML models developed in the previous step as an auxiliary feature to assess their potential impact on enhancing price estimation accuracy. The results demonstrate promising accuracies for different property types based on different performance assessment metrics. The paper also underscores improved estimation accuracy by incorporating time series-based clustering as a supplementary parameter through transfer learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First study to examine paramedic psychological injury through EMS data linkage. • Fatality and cardiac arrest cases increase the odds of psychological injury. • Lower patient age is associated with paramedic psychological injury. • Findings may help facilitate the provision of early interventions to those at risk. Introduction : In comparison to the general population and other emergency services workers, paramedics experience high rates of work-related psychological injury. However, there is limited understanding of the case and practitioner-related factors that increase the risk of psychological injury among these workers. This paper aims to identify case and practitioner-related factors associated with paramedic work-related psychological injury in Victoria, Australia, through data linkage. Methods : Data linkage of 7,223 paramedic injury reports with electronic patient care records, and paramedic demographic data from the single state-wide ambulance service in Victoria, Australia – Ambulance Victoria. Injuries reported between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2020 were included. Factors associated with paramedic psychological injury were assessed using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results : A total of 4,641 (64%) injury reports were successfully linked, of which, 244 (5%) were psychological injuries. Shift hours between 0401 and 0800 (AOR 1.83; 95%CI: 1.12–2.97), cardiac arrest or deceased patient attendances (AOR 2.15; 95%CI: 1.06–4.34), hospital or medical center case locations (AOR 2.44; 95%CI: 1.22–4.91), and Priority 0 (AOR 2.27; 95%CI: 1.26–4.09), Priority 2 (AOR 1.56; 95%CI: 1.04–2.33), and Priority 3 (AOR 1.95; 95%CI: 1.15–3.32) dispatch codes were associated with increased odds of psychological injury. Increasing patient age (AOR 0.98; 95%CI: 0.97–0.99), and the absence of other emergency services on scene (AOR 0.50; 95%CI: 0.34–0.72) were associated with decreased odds of paramedic psychological injury. Conclusions: This is the first study to collectively examine and identify EMS case and practitioner-related characteristics associated with paramedic psychological injury through data linkage of EMS agency-level data sources. Practical application: The findings of this study highlight the dispatch case characteristics that may increase the risk of a paramedic sustaining a work-related psychological injury, and consequently facilitate the early identification, intervention, and support of the individuals most at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility has been a prominent target for proponents of the hydrogen economy. Given the complexities involved in the mobility value chain, actors hoping to participate in this nascent market must overcome a range of challenges relating to the availability of vehicles, the co-procurement of supporting infrastructure, a favourable regulatory environment, and a supportive community, among others. In this paper, we present a state-of-play account of the nascent hydrogen mobility market in Victoria, Australia drawing on data from a workshop (N = 15) and follow-up interviews (n = 10). We interpret findings through a socio-technical framework to understand the ways in which fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs)—and hydrogen technologies more generally—are conceptualised by different stakeholder groups, and how these conceptualisations mediate engagement in this unfolding market. Findings reveal prevailing efforts to make sense of the FCEV market during a period of considerable institutional ambiguity. Discourses embed particular worldviews of FCEV technologies themselves, in addition to the envisioned roles the resultant products and services will play in broader environmental and energy transition narratives. Efforts to bring together stakeholders representing different areas of the FCEV market should be seen as important enablers of success for market participants. • This study provides a snapshot of the hydrogen mobility market in Victoria, Australia. • The hydrogen mobility market requires cooperation across many industries. • Interviewees acknowledge the need for strong coordination to enable success. • The ideological promise of FCEVs is a guiding beacon for industry players. • Available products and services do not yet sufficiently enable the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of new technologies, such as photovoltaic (PV) solar systems, household Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and electric vehicles (EVs), has introduced challenges for the Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) in the operation of power distribution networks. Uncontrolled renewable energy generation and storage, and EV charging can cause over/under voltage problems. Recently, there has been much effort, from control and scheduling of BESSs and EVs to PV curtailment, to address these issues. However, the knowledge about how much penetration of these technologies can be well-tolerated by the grid when all charging/discharging are uncontrolled, would still be of interest to DNOs. There are many depending factors such as customer consumption profiles, grid conditions and network constraints. In this paper, we propose a framework to determine the critical balance between PV, BESS and EV in a distribution grid. Using real data from 4000 customers in Victoria, Australia, we find that in the absence of advanced control and scheduling algorithms, the best approach to prevent voltage violation in the grid is to keep the installation of PV and BESS balanced with the EV penetration. We also show that power export to the grid by EVs using the vehicle-to-home (V2H) technology may contribute to keeping the grid voltage in the standard range if 40%–80% of EVs are in the discharge mode in critical peak times. While complete coordination of PV, EV and BESS has not yet been fully realized in many networks, our methodology provides a framework for DNOs to perform optimised planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a wide variety of Land-use Regulation (LuR) restrictions, ranging from those that need simple 2D spatial analyses to be verified (e.g., area calculation), to those that need complex 3D analyses (e.g., overshadowing and overlooking). Assessing LuR restrictions to automatically detect LuRs' potential conflicts with physical objects, such as building elements, could be a challenging task in 2D land administration systems relying on 2D drawings and 2D representations, especially when 3D/vertical analyses are required. Land administration systems can include 3D representations of LuR restrictions to identify their impacts on land parcels and vice versa since the LuRs contain legally binding restrictions for all parties including governments and citizens. As part of the transition from the 2D representation of LuR restrictions and manual conflict detection between LuR restrictions and physical objects such as building elements towards a 3D digital representation and automatic conflict detection, this paper proposes a three-stage conceptual framework for automatic 3D modelling and conflict detection of 3D LuR restrictions. The three-stage conceptual framework, as a generic approach, proposes required principles and procedures to automatically (1) model 3D LuR restrictions (called 3D CityLuR), (2) combine them with other sources of information (e.g., zoning maps, 3D city models, and BIM), and (3) detect LuRs' potential conflicts between the modelled LuRs and physical objects (i.e., proposed/existing building elements). For modelling and verifying 3D LuRs automatically, the framework organises all the required information for IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) as the proposed building, CityGML as the existing buildings, and most importantly, the planning and zoning requirements. It proposes two categories of required information as "level of information need" for (1) modelling and combing 3D CityLuR with other sources of information automatically and (2) automatically detecting potential spatio-semantic conflicts between LuR restrictions and physical objects such as proposed/existing building elements. Based on a case study in Victoria, Australia, 3D LuR restrictions subject to planning approvals and building subdivisions are investigated. The paper concludes with a discussion arguing the feasibility of automating the verification of LuR restrictions to support decision-making in planning permit applications and building subdivisions. • A Three-Stage Conceptual Framework for Automatic 3D Modelling and Conflict Detection of Land-use Regulation Restrictions. • Transitioning from Manual 2D Verification to Automatic 3D Modelling and Verification of Land-use Regulation Restrictions. • Modelling 3D City Land-use Regulations Automatically (Called 3D CityLuR) and Combining it with 3D City Models and BIM. • Required Information as "Level of Information Need" to Combine 3D CityLuR with Other Sources of Information Automatically. • Required Information as "Level of Information Need" to Detect 3D CityLuR's Potential Spatio-Semantic Conflicts Automatically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Examines the extent and nature of student food insecurity in Victoria, Australia. • Discusses students' active responses to food insecurity. • Develops the theme of students' 'multi-relational' approach to food insecurity. • Highlights the need for more research on food insecurity in educational settings. Student food insecurity has been a major social problem across the world. Building on interview-based research, this paper examines students' experiences of food insecurity in Melbourne during the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns. It places particular emphasis on young people's agency and students' 'relational' understanding of food insecurity. Students experienced food insecurity in relation to other domains of life, such as work and health. In addition, students understood food insecurity in relation to how they are positioned with respect to axes of social inequality and in relation to a wider food system. In developing these points, we offer reflection on ground-level social action and relationality relevant to geographical and wider social science understanding of progressive food activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A BCR analysis of a biometric interlock to prevent unlicensed driving is conducted. • Unlicensed driving costs $480 million per year in QLD and VIC. • Fingerprints and vascular patterns-based interlocks are the best technologies. • Deployment should be mandated to all banned drivers. • Previous recommendations to target all young drivers are not substantiated. Abstract Unlicensed driving is a serious problem in many Australian states, with unlicensed driving-related crashes (UDC) costing up to $304 million per year in Queensland, and $176 million in Victoria. In this paper, we present a Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) analysis of a set of Intelligent Transportation Systems technologies aimed at preventing unlicensed driving by verifying the driver's identity through biometric technology, as well as the validity of their licence. Utilised together, the technology would essentially take the form of a licence interlock. The goal of this program of research (from which this paper stems) was to provide preliminary recommendations as to which technology is the most beneficial and should be implemented as part of a government-led program increasing the functionalities of electronic driving licences (EDL). The corresponding BCR analysis revealed that fingerprints and finger vascular patterns recognition technologies were found to systematically have the best BCRs. In regard to the most effective manner to implement the technology, a corresponding investigation with five scenarios revealed that the greatest benefits would be achieved with: (a) a mandatory system for all banned drivers (e.g., suspensions & disqualifications), and (b) a mandatory system for banned drivers under the age of 21 only. Scenario (b) performs extremely well, with returns of up to 16 times the investment with a simple fingerprint-based interlock. Although often more modest, all systems were found to have BCRs above 1 in all of the implementation scenarios except one. This paper further outlines the findings in regard to addressing the significant problem of unlicensed driving via emerging technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how distinctions between 'intended' and 'side' effects are troubled in personal narratives of taking psychotropic medications. Grounded in interviews with 29 participants diagnosed with mental illness in Victoria, Australia between February and December 2014, we consider how people interpret pharmaceutical compounds beyond their desired or intended effects, and how such effects shape and transform subjectivity and their relationship with their bodies. This paper contributes to recent discussions of mental illness and medication effects, informed by feminist science studies. It emphasises the co-constitution of social, affective and material relations in the context of 'taking' psychotropic medication. This paper discusses three key themes as important to the phenomenology of the nexus of illness and psychotropic medication: movement, ambivalence, and sociality. Our analysis demonstrates how psychotropic drugs are productive of subjectivity through their promises and potential, their unexpected harms and the institutions from which they are inseparable. • Analyses accounts of mental illness using feminist science and technology studies. • Focus on experiences of taking psychotropic drugs and impact on subjectivity. • Moves beyond distinctions between 'therapeutic' and 'side' effects of drugs. • Unique contribution to understandings of experiences of taking psychotropic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Examination of 3D PLRs defined in Victorian Planning Provisions. • Classification on explicit 3D, non-geometrical and implied 3D PLRs. • Possible contribution of current 3D spatial models to 3D PLRs' modelling. The urban environment is characterised by increasingly complex relations driven by the needs of modern societies, such as multi-purpose buildings and composite infrastructures. However, the capabilities for extensive vertical exploitation of land provided by construction technology are related to the expansion of public utilities. This results in administrative restrictions on land and developments, known as Public Law Restrictions (PLRs). PLRs impose explicit and implied 3D restrictions, as well as restrictions of non-geometrical characteristics such as noise or groundwater pollution. This paper investigates if and how 3D modelling may contribute to better manage and enforce PLRs in a 3D framework. To this end, the 3D PLRs required for the urban planning approval process in Victoria, Australia are examined. Requirements and guidelines were analysed in order to identify explicit, non-geometrical and implied 3D PLRs. To accomplish this, the spatial structure of two well-known 3D data models, CityGML and Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), were investigated, highlighting the advantages and drawbacks of these models in the management of 3D PLRs. The paper concludes that the implementation of a 3D PLR system requires addressing issues of scale differentiations (building scale or city scale of 3D data models in contrast to extensive, non-parcel-based PLRs), "translation" of qualitative characteristics to specific height, depth or volumetric restrictions, and modelling of invisible, non-material legal spaces. [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]

The aim of this paper is to identify possible regulatory, policy and program measures to address gambling harm to bingo players and their communities, and in doing so extend existing public health approaches to gambling to better include bingo. This was a qualitative case study of three populations in Victoria, Australia where bingo was popular and structural disadvantage common: Indigenous people in the state's east, Pacific people in the north and older people on low or fixed incomes in the capital, Melbourne. Our study investigated experiences of bingo, including gambling harm and recommendations for change. Data were generated through interviews with 53 bingo players and 13 stakeholders as well as 12 participant observations of bingo sessions. Five broad drivers of and influences on harm to bingo players are identified: technological, regulatory and commercial changes eroding bingo's protective factors; bingo being used to bolster other forms of gambling; promotion of gambling interests over people's wellbeing; not recognising experiences of different communities and; external structural influences such as racialised poverty. We identify recommendations from bingo players and stakeholders to address harm arising from bingo involving wagering. Based on these recommendations and available evidence, we propose five sets of measures to mitigate against gambling harm to bingo players and their communities, and so extend existing public health approaches to gambling to better encompass bingo. These sets of measures are: safeguarding bingo's protective features; delinking bingo from the gambling eco-system; dismantling political protection of the gambling industry; tailoring strategies for sub-populations and preventing oppression and abuse. In the face of significant regulatory, commercial and technological changes to bingo that risk increasing and intensifying harm, a public health approach to bingo could help mitigate gambling harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Applying systems science in public health trials is a recent innovation in childhood obesity prevention. This paper aims to use systems science conventions to propose a theory of change for community-based interventions aiming to build capacity and use exemplars from systems science for obesity prevention to describe how this approach works.Methods: Participants were community-based researchers. A dynamic hypothesis was created in workshops conducted in 2020 and 2021 by identifying variables critical to building community capacity for systems thinking. These were used to develop stock and flow diagrams representing individual causal relationships, feedback loops, and the overall theory of change.Results: The resultant model identified 9 stocks and 4 pairs of central balancing and reinforcing feedback loops. These represented building commitment through relationships, mutual learning, strengthening collaboration, and embedding capacity. The model is described using examples from 3 trials involving 25 communities across Victoria, Australia.Conclusions: This nonlinear and practice-based model illustrates the process of community-based obesity prevention. The model integrates >20 years of community-based intervention implementation experience, providing an overarching theory of how such interventions work to create change and prevent obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the wellbeing effects of the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires, the deadliest wildfire event in Australia's known history. Using subjective wellbeing data from a nationally representative longitudinal study and adopting an individual fixed-effects approach, our results identify a significant reduction in life satisfaction for individuals residing in close proximity of the wildfires. The negative wellbeing effect is valued at A$52,300. This corresponds to 80% of the average annual income of a full-time employed adult in the state of Victoria. The satisfaction domain most negatively affected is how safe the person feels, and the group most affected are people with low social support. A delayed adverse mental health effect is also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many rural Australians are at risk of social exclusion and lower wellbeing due to poor accessibility options. This paper notes how rural transport disadvantage can increase a person's risk of social exclusion and points to the high costs associated therewith. It argues for a coordinated and shared response to local rural transport, using the example of wider use being made of dedicated school bus services to improve rural mobility choices and associated social inclusion. Barriers to opening up the school bus to a broader range of passengers are reviewed and expected benefits are identified, supporting wider use. • Transport disadvantage adversely impacts personal wellbeing in rural Victoria, Australia. • Rural transport disadvantage often co-exists alongside resources that could ease disadvantage. • Wider use of dedicated school buses can improve rural mobility opportunities. • Arguments of risks of child abuse from such wider use of school buses are unfounded. • The presence of others on school buses may reduce bullying on the bus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends knowledge on the emotional and social labour of coworking founders. It does so from a cultural geographical perspective by asking how this labour intimately affects coworking founders' everyday lives and introducing feminist care ethics to reflect on it. The paper shows how this conceptual framework helps to shed light on the effects, the temporality, and the ambivalence of this labour. The everyday practices of two coworking founders, Paul and Rachel, are understood through ethnographic fieldwork based on feminist geographical methodologies and conducted in a small regional town in Victoria, Australia. From these understandings, the paper argues that the everyday coworking practices of regional coworking founders are caring practices, aimed to maintain, continue, and repair a hospitable atmosphere in the space. Furthermore, it argues that these caring practices are ambivalent and limited, as they can have negative effects on the wellbeing of the coworking founders. Three impressionistic vignettes trace these effects, including exhaustion, discomfort, and resentment. The paper concludes with three suggestions for policy on regional innovation, for coworking research, and for research on feminist care ethics. These include the need for 1) more attention to the effects of care and coworking practices; 2) more focus on the temporality of such practices to better understand their sustainability; 3) increasing research on the intersection between regionality and care, thus inviting research on "cities of care" to also direct its attention to regional areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing variability of the illicit drug market has imposed serious health risks for people who use drugs (PWUD), particularly due to the increasing co-occurrence of opioids and etizolam (or other benzodiazepines) in some jurisdictions. A miniature mass spectrometer (MS) equipped with paper capillary spray ionization was evaluated for its ability to quantify fentanyl, fluorofentanyl, carfentanil, and etizolam in illicit drug samples. Prior to testing actual drug samples, inter- and intra-day reproducibility, calibration linearity, and analytical sensitivity were assessed. The development of a continuous spray solvent delivery system improved MS/MS quantitation by prolonging ionization stability. A simple, rapid and quantitative tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and employed for the analysis of real-world illicit drug samples provided by PWUD at a harm reduction site in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Limits of detection ranged from 0.001 to 0.24% w/w of illicit analyte in the original solid drug samples. Target analytes were detected and quantified via the miniature MS system for samples where conventional on-site drug checking technologies were not always effective. These promising results demonstrate the potential role for miniature mass spectrometer systems for on-site drug checking services that can be both sensitive to trace, toxic levels as well as adaptable/selective for new drug threats as they appear in the illicit drug supply. [Display omitted] • The increased variability of the illicit drug market has imposed serious health risks for people who use drugs (PWUD). • A rapid & quantitative miniature MS method was developed and employed for the analysis of real-world illicit drug samples. • Target analytes were quantified via miniature MS, where other on-site drug checking technologies were not always effective. • Miniature MS systems for on-site drug checking services are sensitive, adaptable and selective for new drug threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, major landscape wildfires (or ‘bushfires’ in Australia) in fire-prone countries have illustrated the seriousness of this global environmental problem. This natural hazard presents a complex mesh of dynamic factors for those seeking to reduce or manage its costs, as ignitions, hazard behaviour, and the reactions of different human and ecological communities during and after hazard events are all extremely uncertain. But while those at risk of wildfire have been subject to significant research, the social dimensions of its management, including the role of science, have received little attention. This paper reports on a case study of the Barwon-Otway area of Victoria in Australia, a high wildfire risk area that has recently been a pilot site for a new risk mitigation strategy utilising the wildfire simulation model PHOENIX RapidFire. Against simple equations between ‘more science’ and ‘less uncertainty,’ this paper presents results from interviews and a workshop with practitioners to investigate how scientific research interacts with and informs both wildfire policy and practice. We suggest that attending to cultural and social specificities of the application of any technical innovation—such as next generation modelling—raises questions for future research about the roles of narrative, performance, and other knowledges in the sedimentation of science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal and marine management are facing one of the greatest threats to practical application and relevance ever due to the need for meaningful adaptation to the impacts from climate change. There is genuine long-term and large-scale change locked into our coastal systems regardless of the pace of emissions control. There are grave practical realities currently faced by coastal and marine managers and planners that will increase in the coming one to two decades. Recently, the State of Victoria in Australia reformed the coastal and marine governance structures, in part designed to prepare for impacts due to climate change. This provides an opportunity via a case study approach to review the current application of coastal governance to enable adaptation. This paper does so from a privileged vantage point – that of a crucial actor embedded in the legislative and governance structure – the Chair of a Ministerial Advisory Council appointed to provide advice to decision-makers regarding coastal and marine planning and management in the jurisdiction. The paper takes a multi-disciplinary and reflexive approach and from a practitioner's perspective the paper tests the robustness of the governance system against three pointed challenges to implementing the system. The three challenges are 1/how to meaningfully collaborate with communities for transformational change; 2/are hard questions about adaptation being asked; and 3/understanding what levers (e.g., policy, governance, societal) can be pulled to drive adaptation within the available time horizons. Drawing on frameworks from various disciplines, reflexive experience, and analysis of secondary data, this perspectives paper makes three conclusions: 1/that transformational change is needed which requires alignment in the perception of risk by different rights-holders and stakeholders; 2/that collaboration is required with an urgent focus needed to challenge current practices which likely do not enable decision-makers, and finally 3/that leadership is specifically required to tackle the hard questions about coastal adaptation (like to retreat or not). With a governance approach that shares elements (e.g., objectives, links to catchment management, planning tools) with other international jurisdictions in Europe and the Americas, there may be lessons learned from this maturing system that are applicable to other jurisdictions. [Display omitted] • Aligned risk perception by rights-holders and stakeholders. • Collaboration and urgent focus are needed to challenge decision-making practices. • Leadership is required to tackle the hardest questions for successful adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes are two of the most important public health problems. Outcomes for patients with these disorders vary considerably, likely due to the added influence of a range of interacting clinical, metabolic, environmental, lifestyle, genetic and psychosocial risk factors associated with these diseases. The Baker Biobank study was designed to characterise these factors to inform better risk prediction, earlier diagnosis and better treatment of CVDs and diabetes.Methods: This paper describes the detailed methods for the establishment of the Baker Biobank. The study collected extensive phenotypic detail about the participants recruited from Victoria, Australia. Data and samples were collected at the Departments of Cardiology and Respiratory Medicine at the Alfred Hospital and Healthy Hearts Program at the Baker Institute.Results: A total of 6,530 adults with age 18-69 years were recruited into the Biobank. The majority of these participants (63%) were male. The mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of the Biobank Cohort at the time of data collection was 57(15) years. The study collected data on socio-demographic characteristics, behavioural and lifestyle factors, anthropometric measurements, medical and medication history, and blood levels of various biomarkers. The study also collected and stored Guthrie cards, serum, plasma, buffy coat, whole blood collected in Tempus tubes (for RNA extraction). For some samples extracted DNA and RNA is stored. The Biobank data is also linked to echocardiogram, hospital admission, pathology and mortality datasets. The Baker Biobank data and samples are available for health researchers with approval of Biobank Steering Group and Human Research Ethics Committee.Conclusion: The Baker Biobank provides valuable data and samples into the study of the interplay among cardiovascular diseases risk factors and their impact on morbidity and mortality in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines cream skimming behaviour by studying hospital transfers in a mixed public-private hospital system. A key innovation is the use of capacity utilization to identify cream skimming. We develop a dynamic model with uncertain patient arrivals and hospital capacity constraints to clarify the conditions under which a profit maximizing hospital will engage in patient selection by transferring 'hard' patients—those with severe/complex conditions—to free up capacity to accommodate 'easy' patients with few severe/complex conditions. Given finite capacity, public hospitals are strictly less likely to transfer patients than profit-motivated private hospitals at the same level of capacity. We test implications of the model using hospital administrative data from Victoria, Australia, and find empirical support for the cream skimming predictions of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) commonly affects people of working age, yet there is limited data regarding the return-to-work experience in this cohort. This study aimed to investigate the proportion of survivors currently working after completion of radiation therapy and to explore potential facilitators and barriers to working after treatment.Methods: A cross-sectional, single-institutional study was undertaken at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, a comprehensive cancer center in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Eligible participants were 18 to 65 years old at diagnosis, were employed at or within the 3 months before diagnosis, and had completed curative treatment for HPV-associated OPC ≥4 months before enrollment. Participants completed a paper-based survey to assess baseline demographics, employment status, and quality of life (QOL; Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Head and Neck). Open-ended questions explored factors affecting return to work. Associations between current employment status and various disease, treatment, and demographic variables and with QOL were examined. Free-text items were analyzed by summarizing content analysis.Results: Of 93 participants approached, 68 responded (73.1%). Mean age was 54.1 years (range, 39-64 years), and 89.7% were male. Most participants (67.6%) had stage II disease and were treated with chemoradiation (85.3%). Mean time after treatment was 2.6 years (range, 0.3-9.1 years). Fifty-eight of 68 participants (85.3%) were working at enrollment; median time to return to work was 6.0 months (interquartile range, 4-10 months); 45 (77.6%) were in the same role and 35 (60.3%) worked the same number of hours. Ten participants were not working, 3 had retired, 5 reported persistent and significant treatment toxicity preventing employment. Survivors currently working reported higher physical, functional, and global QOL scores. Access to leave and support from treating doctors were facilitators for return to work, whereas fatigue was frequently reported as a barrier to returning to work.Conclusion: With time, the majority of participants with HPV-associated OPC will return to work after radiation therapy. Attention to symptom management and support from the workplace may enable more successful return to work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Emerging Drugs Network of Australia – Victoria (EDNAV) project is a newly established toxicosurveillance network that collates clinical and toxicological data from patients presenting to emergency departments with illicit drug related toxicity in a centralised clinical registry. Data are obtained from a network of sixteen public hospital emergency departments across Victoria, Australia (13 metropolitan and three regional). Comprehensive toxicological analysis of a purposive sample of 22 patients is conducted each week, with reporting of results to key alcohol and other drug stakeholders. This paper describes the overarching framework and risk-based approach developed within Victoria to assess drug intelligence from EDNAV toxicosurveillance. Risk management principles from other spheres of public health surveillance and healthcare clinical governance have been adapted to the EDNAV framework with the aim of facilitating a consistent and evidence-based approach to assessing weekly drug intelligence. The EDNAV Risk Register was reviewed over the first two years of EDNAV project operation (September 2020 – August 2022), with examples of eight risk assessments detailed to demonstrate the process from signal detection to public health intervention. A total of 1112 patient presentations were documented in the EDNAV Clinical Registry, with 95 signals of concern entered into the EDNAV Risk Register over the two-year study period. The eight examples examined in further detail included suspected drug adulteration (novel opioid adulterated heroin, para-methoxymethamphetamine adulterated 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)), drug substitution (25B-NBOH sold as lysergic acid diethylamide, five benzodiazepine-type new psychoactive substances in a single tablet, protonitazene sold as ketamine), new drug detection (N,N-dimethylpentylone), contamination (unreported acetylfentanyl) and a fatality subsequent to MDMA use. A total of four public Drug Alerts were issued over this period. Continued toxicosurveillance efforts are paramount to characterising the changing landscape of illicit drug use. This work demonstrates a functional model for risk assessment of illicit drug toxicosurveillance, underpinned by analytical confirmation and evidence-based decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Property disputes in multi-owned buildings (MOB) should be effectively managed to ensure harmonious land use in urban areas. Many studies indicate that a well-planned governance structure of MOBs relying on ownership systems could mitigate property disputes by eliminating their causes contrary to owner needs. However, issues in MOB use and management, stemming from the ownership systems and its relevant architectural systems, are hardly addressed in 2D-based building subdivision practices and frequently result in property disputes. To proactively address these issues, this paper proposes an approach based on Building Information Modeling (BIM) to minimize disputes in MOBs at planning stages in the context of Victoria, Australia. The paper argues that BIM is a suitable data environment to represent and detect dispute triggers interpreted in the spatial context. We first modeled a MOB governance structure as a sociotechnical system (STS) to provide a consistent view for characterizing dispute triggers. We then developed a BIM-based framework for identifying dispute triggers in the MOB governance STS. We implemented the framework and tested its feasibility using a real-world complex building. The results confirmed that the proposedframework would help developers, surveyors, and architects recognize dispute triggers and make better decisions to minimize disputes in planning MOBs. • An approach to property ownership of multi-owned buildings (MOBs) from governance aspects is proposed to minimize disputes. • A view on dispute triggers is established as sociotechnical elements of MOB governance systems founded on property ownership. • BIM appears as a suitable data environment to represent and manage dispute triggers interpreted in the spatial context. • A BIM-based framework is constructed to automatically detect dispute triggers in MOB sociotechnical governance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Drug checking uses analytical chemistry technologies to report on the composition of drugs from the unregulated market to reduce substance use-related risks, while additionally allowing for monitoring and reporting of the supply. In the context of an overdose crisis linked to fentanyl, we used drug checking data to examine variability within the illicit opioid supply.Methods: In this time-series analysis, data was collected from a drug checking service in Victoria, Canada from November 2020 to July 2021. Drugs reported as opioids by participants of the service (N = 454) were analyzed to determine sample composition and paper spray mass spectroscopy was used to quantify low-concentration actives. Interquartile and statistical process control (SPC) analysis, namely standard deviation control charts, were used to examine the degree of variability among samples.Results: Fentanyl was found in 96% of samples reported to be opioids, with a median concentration of 9%. Concentrations varied significantly, with a standard deviation of 7% for fentanyl and where nearly 20% of data points fell outside the control limits. Over half of the samples contained an additional and unexpected active, most commonly etizolam (43% of samples). Etizolam also showed a large level of variability, uncorrelated to that of fentanyl.Conclusions: Based on our chemical quantification and SPC analysis, a high degree of variability was found in opioid samples from the unregulated market in both the drugs detected and the concentrations of those drugs. This demonstrated the opioid crisis to be less attributable to a bad batch of drugs but rather the general variability found in the unregulated market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a 3D geomechanical modelling study of the Iona gas storage facility in the state of Victoria, Australia. The results provide important information pertaining to gas storage, which can then be used to understand certain geomechanical aspects of CO2 storage. A key finding in this paper is that significant changes to the horizontal stress magnitudes are imparted by changes to the fluid pressure due to gas injection or withdrawal. This effect, known as the reservoir stress path, significantly influences fault stability by counteracting the changes to effective stress. In the case of Iona, pressurisation of the field results in a stress path which is parallel to the failure criterion rather than towards it, as would be expected in a classical treatment which does not incorporate complex poro-elastic effects. Another output of interest relates to reservoir deformation, which would be manifested at the ground surface as heave or subsidence. During periods of peak gas withdrawal and injection, surface ground movement is predicted to be on the order of −9mm and +2.5mm, respectively. These numbers are similar to the surface deformation observed at the In Salah CO2 injection project, but much smaller than the subsidence observed in some producing hydrocarbon fields. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As urban water systems become increasingly stressed from climate change impacts, population growth and resource limitations, there is growing acceptance by scholars and practitioners of the need to transform practices towards more sustainable urban water management. However, insights into how strategic planning should be made operational to enable this transformation are limited; there is a need for a reliable diagnostic procedure that could assist planners, policy analysts and decision-makers in selecting and designing strategic action initiatives that best fit an urban water system''s current conditions to enable desired system changes. This paper is the first step in the development of such a diagnostic approach by proposing a scope for an operational procedure that maps a system''s current conditions and identifies its potential transformative capacity. It then reviews five existing analytic frameworks, which are influenced by transitions theory and resilience theory, and applies them each to a common empirical case study of successful transformative change in the stormwater management system of Melbourne, Australia. In this way, the paper explores how existing frameworks could potentially contribute to a diagnostic procedure for selecting and designing strategic action initiatives from the perspective of dynamic transformative change. The paper found that such a procedure should guide an analyst through steps that develop descriptive, explanatory and predictive insights to inform which strategic action initiatives best fit the current system conditions. The types of insights offered by different analytic frameworks vary, so a diagnostic procedure should be designed with a particular aim, problem or question in mind and the underpinning framework(s) selected accordingly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Building adaptive reuse plays a critical role in emissions reduction and supports global climate protection. Thus, the designing of future buildings with embedded adaptive reuse potential is a useful criterion for sustainability. This paper describes the development of a new rating tool known as adaptSTAR, which offers holistic and unified design criteria suitable for assessing the adaptive reuse potential of future buildings. The findings show that criteria can be identified and weighted according to physical, economic, functional, technological, social, legal and political categories to calculate an adaptive reuse star rating. In addition, this paper reports on the first stage of the research methodology used in the initial development of the rating tool and concludes with some preliminary observations from 12 selected successful case studies in New South Wales (NSW) and Melbourne, Australia. The use of adaptSTAR in designing future buildings will lead and help promote low carbon built environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates the nature and causes of vulnerability to bushfires in the Wulgulmerang district of East Gippsland, Victoria, in south-eastern Australia. In 2003 bushfires devastated the small population of this isolated farming district, destroying homes, agricultural assets and public infrastructure. The fires also adversely affected the health, livelihoods and social lives of many local people. The paper examines: (i) how and why people were exposed to hazards during the bushfires; and (ii) how and why people were differentially capable of coping and adapting to the fires'' impacts. Qualitative methods were primarily used to investigate these questions, including semi-structured interviews with residents and landholders of the district and others who responded to the fires in an official or unofficial capacity. Vulnerability is shown to arise from the circumstances of people''s everyday lives, which are shaped by factors both within and beyond their control. Local pressures and challenges – such as drought, declining farm incomes, depopulation, and the inaccessibility of essential services – are shown to increase people''s exposure to hazards and reduce their capacities to cope and adapt. The paper demonstrates the fundamental importance of sustainable livelihoods and regional economic vitality to the long-term goal of vulnerability reduction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper draws on a multi-year Australian collaborative study of mental health review tribunals (‘MHTs’) in three jurisdictions (Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory) undertaken in conjunction with the NSW Law and Justice Foundation, using qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the role of MHTs in advancing goals such as fairness, legality and access to treatment. Study findings regarding stakeholder and client concerns – about access to quality treatment and associated support services, review of treatment adequacy and drug regimes, and their ‘participation’ or dignity of engagement in review processes – are presented as variants of the need for adequate hearing ‘space’: temporal, jurisdictional, cognate/relational, physical and symbolic, and ‘connective’. Building on earlier arguments for MHTs to engage not only legal, but also clinical and social domains, and for adopting some processes more characteristic of case-conferencing, this paper examines the implications of tribunal ‘flexibility’ and a wider overall ‘governance’ jurisdiction in mental health. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Experimental and observational research suggests hyperoxia following resuscitation from cardiac arrest is associated with neurological injury and worse clinical outcomes. This paper describes the rationale and design of the EXACT trial. EXACT aims to determine whether reducing oxygen in the acute phase of post-resuscitation care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) improves survival.Methods: EXACT is a multi-centre, randomised (1:1), single-blind, parallel trial. Presumed cardiac OHCA cases who achieve a return of spontaneous circulation will be eligible if they are comatose, with an advanced airway and have an oxygen saturation (SpO2) ≥95% on >10 L/min (or 100% oxygen). Paramedics will randomise 1416 eligible cases to receive oxygen therapy targeting an SpO2 of 90-94% (intervention) or 98-100% (control). Study treatment will continue until admission to an intensive care unit or hospital ward. The primary outcome is survival to hospital discharge. Secondary outcomes include 12-month survival and quality of life.Results: The study has commenced in the Australian states of Victoria and South Australia, and has enrolled 167 eligible cases to date (80 intervention and 87 control). Further sites are due to commence in 2019, recruitment is expected to take three years.Conclusion: This study will determine if early reduction of oxygen leads to improved outcomes in OHCA. Such a finding may potentially change clinical practice with implications on future OHCA survival outcomes.Trial Registration Number: NCT03138005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Young people with complex support needs who live outside metropolitan areas face unique challenges. Issues such as poor educational and employment opportunities, homelessness, racism, problematic substance use, challenging behaviour, disability and mental illness can be magnified and lead to judgment and marginalisation in small communities such as those in rural and regional areas. As a result of poor resourcing of services in these areas, young people may be forced to transition from place to place, service to service as a way of coping with life challenges. This paper presents findings from interviews and focus groups with service providers who support such young people in regional and rural Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. Service providers reported similar challenges to professionals working in urban areas, such as navigating inter-agency and inter-professional work and dealing with funding shortages. However, these issues were amplified by the need to work across broad geographical areas, to recruit and retain skilled workers and to respond to the many structural and resource inadequacies in smaller communities. While services aimed to be responsive to young people, the challenges of providing support in a non-metropolitan context could create a context in which young people either disengaged from services or poor response resulted in systemic escalation to crisis. The implications for policy and practice are explored. Highlights • Supports to young people with complex support needs in non-metropolitan areas in Australia are poorly resourced. • Non-metropolitan services work best when they are based on relationship-based practice and local community needs. • Interagency collaboration is essential when working across broad geographical areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The sale of raw cow milk for human consumption is banned in Australia due to regulatory requirements that all milk must be pasteurised for safety reasons. However, some dairy farmers produce raw milk for sale as 'bath milk', a product labelled 'for cosmetic purposes only' but which is often bought for drinking. This situation is mirrored in other countries where raw milk is banned, and it is highly contentious, yet while there is significant literature examining why people drink raw milk, there has been little analysis exploring the views and practices of these farmers. Drawing notably on the theoretical work of Annemarie Mol and John Law around ontological multiplicity, this paper explores the accounts of a number of such farmers in Victoria, Australia. It finds that these farmers explicitly rejected the normative definition of raw milk as inherently dangerous, along with the associated regulatory framework. Instead, they developed their own structured practices that were designed to produce a version of raw milk that could be drunk, but which existed outside of the food regulation system. This situation highlights how practices can enact different versions of a food and, at the same time, the challenge for food safety regulation in being able to engage with, and account for, alternative and more complex versions of food and risk. Highlights • Production of bath milk occurs in a number of countries where raw drinking milk is prohibited. • Accounts of bath milk producers, who reject the definition of raw milk as inherently dangerous, are underexplored. •.These producers have developed their own structured practices to produce an alternative versions of raw milk and risk. •.Food safety regulation has been unable to engage with such alternative, and more complex, versions of food and risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores the spatial differences in measures of transport disadvantage, social exclusion and well-being in a survey of inner metropolitan, outer suburban, urban fringe and regional areas of Victoria, Australia. Its aim is to understand how geographic context may influence transport disadvantage which may in turn influence social exclusion and well-being. There were very clear differences in mobility and car reliance between geographic locations. Car reliance peaked in fringe Melbourne with regional areas showing slightly less car reliance. Mobility and kilometres travelled also increased with distance from central Melbourne, which in turn resulted in greater sensitivity to fuel price increases. Again these factors were greatest in fringe Melbourne. Links between transport disadvantage and social exclusion were small and inconsistent in this paper although they have been demonstrated in other research. Links between transport disadvantage and well-being were strongest in the regional sample. The implications of these findings and their connection to the transport literature are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores the separate and combined effects of transport disadvantage and social exclusion on well-being using an empirical analysis of data from a travel and disadvantage survey in Victoria, Australia. Previous research explores the impact of transport on social exclusion but does not study the downstream impacts on well-being. To explore this relationship measures of subjective well-being are compared across four groups: (i) people who are neither transport disadvantaged nor socially excluded, (ii) transport disadvantaged only, (iii) socially excluded only and (iv) both transport disadvantaged and socially excluded. The paper explores which component aspects of social exclusion and transport disadvantage have the greatest impact on well-being and which social groups are most likely to face transport disadvantage and social exclusion together. The paper concludes with a commentary on how the findings might be used to better target policy interventions meant to improve well-being. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper briefly describes Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) and reviews the history of the use of forensic anthropology in the identification process. The potential contributions made by forensic anthropology are illustrated through the presentation of a case study. In February 2009 the state of Victoria in south-eastern Australia experienced the most devastating bushfires in its history, resulting in catastrophic loss of life and public and private property. Within 48h of the disaster, forensic teams including pathologists, odontologists and anthropologists assembled at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Melbourne to begin the task of identifying the deceased. This paper reviews the part played by forensic anthropologists in the identification process and outlines the important contribution anthropologists can make to DVI, especially at the scene, in the mortuary and in the reconciliation process. The anthropologist''s experience with differentially preserved human remains meant they played an important role identifying and recovering heavily fragmentary human skeletal remains, differentiating human from non-human remains, establishing basic biological information such as the sex and age of the individuals and confirming or denying the possibility of re-associating body parts for release to families. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Regional-scale ecological restoration priorities such as increasing the extent and quality of native vegetation are generally planned at catchment scales, while on-ground restoration actions are generally implemented at paddock or farm scales. This paper describes the use of spatial multi-criteria assessment methodologies to construct maps of regional conservation priorities and assesses how these maps map influence farm-scale actions in Western Victoria, Australia (e.g. farm-scale revegetation for salinity, wind erosion, stock shelter, etc). The study also incorporates agricultural production in the decision analysis through the use of historical yield mapping data obtained from harvest logs from precision agriculture equipment. Via a stakeholder workshop, farmer land use priorities were elicited with and without access to maps of regional conservation priorities. Results highlight that production imperatives drive farmer-led conservation actions and that regional conservation priorities have only limited impact on actions. The paper also identifies limitations of applying MCA methods across multiple decision-making scales such as the need to generalise priorities where domain knowledge is relatively high, and the challenges associated with MCA criteria definition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: For young people with refugee backgrounds, establishing a sense of belonging to their family and community, and to their country of resettlement is essential for wellbeing. This paper describes the psychosocial factors associated with subjective health and wellbeing outcomes among a cohort of 97 refugee youth (aged 11–19) during their first three years in Melbourne, Australia. The findings reported here are drawn from the Good Starts Study, a longitudinal investigation of settlement and wellbeing among refugee youth conducted between 2004 and 2008. The overall aim of Good Starts was to identify the psychosocial factors that assist youth with refugee backgrounds in making a good start in their new country. A particular focus was on key transitions: from pre-arrival to Australia, from the language school to mainstream school, and from mainstream school to higher education or to the workforce. Good Starts used a mix of both method and theory from anthropology and social epidemiology. Using standardized measures of wellbeing and generalised estimating equations to model the predictors of wellbeing over time, this paper reports that key factors strongly associated with wellbeing outcomes are those that can be described as indicators of belonging – the most important being subjective social status in the broader Australian community, perceived discrimination and bullying. We argue that settlement specific policies and programs can ultimately be effective if embedded within a broader socially inclusive society – one that offers real opportunities for youth with refugee backgrounds to flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the implications of mentoring for the discursive formation of professional identities of newly graduated teachers. The site for this analysis is the Teacher Mentoring and Induction Program, in Victoria, Australia. The paper draws attention to the effects of mentoring as conceived in this context on the construction of new teacher identities, the close relationship between professional standards and mentoring, the relationship between mentoring and the performative culture of schools, and what it means to be ‘a good teacher’ within this culture. The aim is to reposition mentoring as a product of its contexts and times, and in so doing contribute to the development of a more theoretically informed and critical platform from which to conduct research into its effects and benefits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Road safety programmes consisting of a large number of road safety measures have been developed in many countries. To estimate the effects of such programmes on the number of accidents, models for estimating the combined effects of road safety measures are needed. This paper presents an exploratory analysis of such models. There is very little empirical evidence to support model building. Based on a few studies that have evaluated the effects of multiple road safety measures introduced at the same locations, the paper compares two models. One of the models, the common residuals model, assumes that the (percentage) effect of a road safety measure remains unchanged when it is combined with other road safety measures. The other model, the dominant common residuals model, assumes that the most effective measure in a set of measures has a dominant effect that weakens the effects of other road safety measures it is combined with. Evidence from the few studies that were found is consistent with both these models. A study of the effects of a road safety programme implemented in Victoria, Australia between 1990 and 1996 indicated that the effects of safety measures are weakened when these measures are combined with other road safety measures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

COSMOS (Campaign for validating the Operation of Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), and NAFE (National Airborne Field Experiment) were two airborne campaigns held in the Goulburn River catchment (Australia) at the end of 2005. These airborne measurements are being used as benchmark data sets for validating the SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) ground segment processor over prairies and crops. This paper presents results of soil moisture inversions and brightness temperature simulations at different resolutions from dual-polarisation and multi-angular L-band (1.4 GHz) measurements obtained from two independent radiometers. The aim of the paper is to provide a method that could overcome the limitations of unknown surface roughness for soil moisture retrievals from L-band data. For that purpose, a two-step approach is proposed for areas with low to moderate vegetation. Firstly, a two-parameter inversion of surface roughness and optical depth is used to obtain a roughness correction dependent on land use only. This step is conducted over small areas with known soil moisture. Such roughness correction is then used in the second step, where soil moisture and optical depth are retrieved over larger areas including mixed pixels. This approach produces soil moisture retrievals with root mean square errors between 0.034 m3 m−3 and 0.054 m3 m−3 over crops, prairies, and mixtures of these two land uses at different resolutions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many urban and regional areas of Australia have been facing severe drought over the past decade. This is particularly the case for most areas in the state of Victoria (located in the south east of the country). The management response to this situation has often been reactive with little thought about subsequent and long-term impacts. This paper reviews the water cartage industry in regional Victoria Australia which has developed in response to drought, suppling water in drought affected areas of the state. The review involved the survey of six water cartage businesses, and interviews with local government and water authority officers. The review found that the cost of the carted water is up to thirty-four times higher than the cost of the delivery of mains water in Australian cities and towns. Formal review of the water cartage industry and associated regulations is recommended to assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of water cartage. Secondly, and the paper benchmarks willingness to pay values for recycled water in a specific market segment of regional Victoria—Bendigo office workers (n =305). The contingent valuation method was used to elicit maximum willingness to pay for recycled water. The study found that participants were willing to pay on average A$7.66/kL for recycled water delivered to their homes (on January 18 2009, A$1.00=€0.50.US$0.68). This was an amount significantly greater than the A$1.33/kL charged to Bendigo residents for the delivery of potable mains water which is subject to water use restrictions. The results of this study indicate that individuals facing prolonged restrictions to the use of water may be willing to pay a higher price for recycled water than policy makers may anticipate. The established water cartage industry which services the Bendigo area may have influenced the high willingness to pay for recycled water which was evident in the particular segment of the population surveyed. Lessons learnt from this research will be beneficial for catchment (watershed) management globally. An important component of sustainable water management is consideration of impacts across catchments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Temporary water trading is an established and growing phenomenon in the Australian irrigation sector. However, decision support and planning tools that incorporate economic and biophysical factors associated with temporary water trading are lacking. In this paper the integration of an economic trading model with a hydrologic water allocation model is discussed. The integrated model is used to estimate the impacts of temporary water trading and physical water transfers. The model can incorporate economic and biophysical drivers of water trading. The economic model incorporates the key trade drivers of commodity prices, seasonal water allocations and irrigation deliveries. The hydrologic model is based on the Resource Allocation Model (REALM) framework, which facilitates hydrologic network simulation modelling. It incorporates water delivery system properties and operating rules for the main irrigation and urban centres in a study area. The proposed integration method has been applied to a case study area in northern Victoria, Australia. Simulations were conducted for wet and dry spells, a range of commodity prices and different irrigation distribution system configurations. Some example analyses of scenarios incorporating water trading were undertaken. From these analyses potential bottlenecks to trade that constrain the economic benefits from temporary water trading were identified. Furthermore, it was found that in certain areas of the system, trading can make impacts of long drought spells worse for water users, e.g. irrigators. Thus, the integrated model can be used to quantify short-term and long-term third party impacts arising from temporary water trading. These findings also highlight the need to link “paper trades” (estimated by economic models) to physical water transfers (estimated by biophysical models). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper explores knowledge city and knowledge-based urban development concepts, discusses the principles of a knowledge city, and portrays its distinguishing characteristics and processes. It analyses Melbourne’s knowledge-based urban development experience by scrutinising its initiatives on culture, science, technology and innovation, and policies in urban, economic and social development. The paper also illustrates how the city administration played a key role in developing Melbourne as a globally recognised, entrepreneurial and competitive city. It concludes with arguing Melbourne as an emerging knowledge city, identifying its key success factors, and providing some insights for policy makers of other cities in designing their knowledge-based urban development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Mechanical Thermal Expression (MTE) dewatering of Latrobe Valley brown coals produces water that contains both organic and inorganic impurities at levels that require some remediation before it can be used or released to the environment. Purification of this water may be a problem for future operations due to the economic and engineering difficulties associated with the treatment of large volumes of acidic, salty and organic-rich waters. This study investigates the ability of Latrobe Valley brown coal itself to adsorb organic and inorganic components from MTE product water. The adsorbent/water contact mechanism used in this paper is the physical mixing of MTE water with brown coal. The ability of the coals to remove Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) and cations increased with the concentration of these components in the MTE water. Approximately 5–6% of the feed coal to the MTE drying process would be required to remediate the water produced to the levels established in this paper. Potential for the use of a lower proportion of feed coal is possible by increasing the water to coal ratio, however it may be that increasing the amount of feed coal used to remediate MTE water results in a higher quality water postremediation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite abortion being decriminalised in Victoria, Australia, access remains difficult, especially at later gestations. Institutions (i.e. health services) place restrictions on the availability of late abortions and/or require additional requirements to be satisfied (e.g. Hospital Termination Review Committee approval), as a consequence of local regulation (i.e. policies and processes determined at the institutional level). This paper reports on the results of 27 interviews with Victorian health professionals about late abortion processes and the operation of Termination Review Committees in Victorian health services, which were analysed thematically. The results reveal the operation of an 'institutional lottery' whereby patients' experiences in seeking late abortion services were variable and largely shaped by the institution(s) they found themselves in. • Patients seeking late abortions face many access barriers. • The availability of late abortion in Victoria (Australia) is largely determined at the institutional level. • There is a lack of transparency around institutional policies and processes with respect to late abortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how personalized disability support interacts with the uneven and incomplete neoliberalization of community organizations and how this affects access and inclusion for people with intellectual disability. In many countries, the introduction of individual budgets for disability support has shifted some responsibility for community inclusion onto individuals with disability and their carers. Concurrently, geographers have shown that community organizations have adopted commercial and bureaucratic qualities while continuing to facilitate opportunities for active citizenship and participation. This paper highlights how personalized disability support funding interacts with community organizations that have adopted some neoliberal ideas about responsibility and entrepreneurialism. Drawing on in-depth interviews with people with intellectual disability and the managers of community centres in the state of Victoria, Australia, the paper analyzes how the resultant community spaces shape the terms on which people with intellectual disability participate. The paper demonstrates that individual support packages issued by the federal government turn people with disability into entrepreneurial employers and that this comes up against a branch of community organizations that has come to understand its responsibility for inclusion in entrepreneurial terms. The paper offers avenues for future geographical work on disability inclusion and for understanding neoliberalization that go beyond direct state interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]