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This paper draws together critical learnings from diverse qualitative health research projects in Australia that sought to shift power and focus on the strengths and expertise of people with lived experience who are involved as co-researchers. These projects have included exploring and challenging identities, understanding experiences in treatment programs, critiquing and designing/re-designing services, and sharing experiences with the wider community in novel and innovative ways. Lived experiences included alcohol and other drug dependency, mental health, domestic, family or sexual violence, and living with HIV. This paper provides important learnings and actions about partnering with co-researchers with lived experience. In this paper we draw on a process of reflective discussions that occurred over six months with fortnightly online meetings between co-researchers, including co-authors with lived experience external to academia and university-based researchers, some of whom also have lived-experience that intersects with their research. From this, we distilled key learnings across seven themes: (1) the ethics of ethics, which highlights a need for constant reflection on the ethical issues in co-research; (2) recruiting co-researchers, which focuses on ensuring and integrating a diversity of voices; (3) creating safety for all, which must be a priority of engagement and support self-determination; (4) supporting different ways of partnering, which emphasises the need for diverse roles and ways to contribute on research teams; (5) capacity building and training, which requires ongoing evaluation of needs and tailored responses; (6) positioning, which highlights the need to transition from the idea of vulnerability to a strengths-based perspective of lived experience; and (7) power plays, reflecting the need to disrupt the dynamics and established hierarchies of privileging certain forms of knowledge and expertise. The paper includes recommendations for action against these seven themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries have ethnically diverse populations and marketing practitioners need to consider these diversities when undertaking research, particularly when exploring sensitive topics. In Australia, Indigenous Australians make up 3.3% of the population and are a commonly researched audience to gauge attitudes and ensure cultural offense does not occur due to unintended consequences of marketing activity. However, obtaining information from such a vulnerable group using quantitively based surveys is often inappropriate or insensitive. This paper introduces to Euro-western market researchers the concepts of flipping and yarning as a market research approach that has been used by Indigenous Australians for thousands of years. This circular market research approach demonstrates that ensuring a cultural understanding of the community can provide a foundation for a research approach that is 'considered' and respectful. It is hoped that this type of methodology can be used with other vulnerable communities as well as other diverse groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using recently declassified archival material pertaining to the Chartered Bank of India Australia and China, this article foregrounds quantitative evidence that sheds new light on the history of British banks in Asia. It shows that Hong Kong came to play a critical role in the bank's note issue strategy after the Straits Settlements had moved off the silver standard in 1906. Locally denominated notes issued on mainland China complemented the Hong Kong issue. However, their circulation volume dropped dramatically during the anti-British boycott that followed the May Thirtieth Incident (1925). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this methodological paper is to discuss the challenges of conducting fieldwork, using reflections from our experiences of accessing a research site for ethnographic data collection. The research project aimed to explore nurses' social relations in their workplace and the inequities between and within these relations among nurses of diverse social positions. Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, access to the research site posed several challenges and was further complicated by the bureaucratic ethics process that governs clinical sites in Australia. Although this study was considered a low and negligible risk research, negotiating the ethics process was full of hitches and hindrances resulting in the refusal of access. This paper offers ethnographers a reflection on challenges in accessing clinical sites to conduct research and a discussion of strategies that may be useful to navigate and counter these challenges by managing social relations in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the application of Constructivist Grounded Theory (C-GT) methodology for social work research. First, it argues that C-GT methodology is well aligned with social work as the two value the individual in the context of their environmental influences. Both also prioritise the importance of respecting and valuing the participant or individual, seeing their perspective as unique and significant. Finally, this research methodology's systematic yet flexible guidelines align with social work ethics, which also focus on the importance of professional integrity. The paper then provides an example of a C-GT PhD study in relation to an area of social work practice, that is, stability in statutory kinship care in Queensland, Australia. The paper details the specific recruitment and sampling of participants, data collection and coding analysis examples from the PhD study. The examples evidence the relevance of C-GT methodology and its application for research in the area of social work practice, specifically statutory kinship care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Doctors with a history of mental health or substance use challenges face barriers accessing treatment and are difficult to recruit for research. This makes understanding their experiences challenging, yet essential. Overcoming barriers to research participation among unwell doctors is critical to advancing their overall health and wellbeing. Methods: A qualitative interview study of 21 allegedly impaired doctors in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand who were subject to regulatory processes relating to their health. Based in an interpretative phenomenological paradigm, this paper examines participants' motivations for participation in this study and their reactions to participating. It highlights wider implications for sensitive research involving doctors and marginalised groups. Results: Participants were strongly motivated to participate in our research for their own benefit (desire to be heard, catharsis, and empowerment) and to benefit others (to change the system, and to avoid other doctors experiencing what they experienced). Careful planning and communication of unique legal risks fostered a trusting researcher-participant relationship. To assist other researchers undertaking sensitive qualitative research with vulnerable participants, we describe our research protocol, challenges, and successes in detail. Conclusions: Despite ethical concerns about research risk, researchers can and should pursue qualitative research into the experiences of under-represented groups, including allegedly impaired doctors. Without involving them in research that examines issues directly impacting on them, we may be inadvertently perpetuating the barriers and stigma that also hinder them from accessing treatment and support. This also deprives us of knowledge that can be used to improve doctors' health. This paper has broader relevance for anyone doing research with doctors, people in vulnerable positions, people disempowered by institutional or social systems, people who are stigmatised or shamed, and people who have experienced trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rapid increases in the utility of vascular ultrasound combined with increasing expectations from reporting physicians have required a shift to a more defined professional role for the vascular sonographer in Australia. This has created increasing pressure on newly qualified sonographers to be more job-ready and better able to navigate the challenges of the clinical workplace early in their career. Topic Description: There is a distinct lack of structured strategies that newly qualified sonographers can utilise to assist their transition from student to employee. In our paper, we aimed to answer the question of 'What makes a sonographer a Professional?' with the view to extending understanding of how a structured framework can assist the development of a professional identity and can encourage participating in Continuing Professional Development by the newly qualified sonographer. Discussion: The authors reviewed their own clinical experiences and the current literature to source tangible and practical strategies that can be easily enacted by newly qualified sonographers to motivate their continuing growth. Through this review, the 'Domains of Professionalism in the role of the sonographer' framework was developed. In this framework, we describe the various domains of professionalism and their associated dimensions, making it specific to the discipline of sonography and to the point of view of a newly qualified sonographer. Conclusion: Our paper contributes to the discussion on Continuing Professional Development using a purposeful and targeted approach to support newly qualified sonographers across all discipline areas of ultrasound specialisation to navigate the often challenging pathway to becoming a professional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide has a devasting and far-reaching effect on our communities. In developed countries, most people who die by suicide are male. Understanding men's mental health and what they experience in a suicidal state is key to preventing future attempts. Our paper explores how a group of 37 men in Australia describe the leadup to their suicidality. Underpinned by interpretive phenomenological analysis, interview transcripts were examined for phrases that the investigative team subjectively identified as profound. Our approach considered language and expression that evoke reactions to the sometimes contradictory nature of suicide. The process enabled our team to identify the emotions, rationales, and motivations for and against suicide that give rise to and arise during suicidal states. One man's source of strength may be another's cause of anguish, so any single, one-size-fits-all pathway to suicide prevention is unlikely to succeed, signaling the need for a tailored approach to suicide prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have found that many post-secondary music students suffer from physical and mental health issues. However, researchers have mainly studied these problems at the individual level, with little investigation of how music students' work is shaped by the coordinating effects of policies, texts, and discourses at and beyond their local site. This paper describes a protocol for an international project that will explore the health of music students in the context of their daily work. Using an institutional ethnography approach, we will examine the social organization of music students' work at three universities: two in Canada and one in Australia. This will be the first set of studies that use institutional ethnography specifically for the purpose of understanding how the social organization of music students' work shapes their health. Data will be collected using several methods common to institutional ethnography: interviews, focus groups, observations, and collecting texts. Data analysis will begin during the data collection process and proceed in two fluid stages. The first stage will involve a detailed investigation of the pertinent work activities at each music school. The second will involve linking that work to specific social relations within and beyond the institution. After data analysis has been completed at all three sites, findings will be compared to one another to identify commonalities and differences in how students' work is organized. Findings of the entire project may inform policy-making and lead to positive change at the institutions studied, as well as others where similar social organization may occur. The novel approach described here will provide opportunities to expand current knowledge about music students' work and health beyond what has been learned through approaches that focus on students' individual behaviours and attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with a series of COVID-19 related lockdowns in Australia across 2020 and 2021, and anxious about the safety of our research participants, we developed a novel approach to body mapping, an arts-based research method typically undertaken in-person. We produced a facilitated body mapping workshop hosted via an online videoconferencing platform. Workshops brought together 29 participants with disability, mental distress and/or refugee background who used body mapping to represent their embodied experiences of stigma and discrimination. These workshops generated rich data, and participants reported a high level of satisfaction with the process. In this paper we describe our novel approach to body mapping, and share practical tips for others who wish to undertake body mapping remotely. We outline strengths associated with this method: increased accessibility, enhanced connection between participants, the formation of a space to explore challenging subject matter, the production of rich data, and the creation of diverse body maps. We also discuss shortcomings and challenges which those considering the method should be aware of: increased logistical burden, demands related to space, IT difficulties, the danger of over-sharing, and diminished cohort sizes. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to report on body mapping facilitated via web-based workshops. Here, we seek to provide practical advice and useful insights for others hoping to utilise body mapping online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports part of a doctoral study which investigated the resettlement experiences of African migrants in Australia (N= 115), and focuses upon the findings of those who participated in individual face-to-face interviews (N= 30). It examines the resettlement challenges facing African migrants in Western Australia (WA), such migration having increased in recent years. Although migrating to relatively wealthy countries such as Australia may be a cause for optimism among African migrants, the challenges associated with resettlement may have a negative effect on their well-being. The findings indicate that participants experienced a variety of resettlement challenges including separation experiences, language difficulties, parenting and cultural issues, under-employment and unemployment, financial problems, and racial discrimination. The study confirms the limited existing research, contributes to a better understanding of the major challenges affecting African migrants in Australia, and has implications for the formulation of effective policies and practices aimed at mitigating resettlement challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Participatory research involves academic partners working together with the community that is affected by research to make decisions about that research. Such approaches often result in research that is more respectful of, and responsive to, community preferences – and is vital in the context of autism research with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Whilst participatory approaches are becoming more commonplace within CALD autism research, no studies have explored the experiences of being involved in autism research from the perspectives of CALD community partners over the course of a study. This paper intended to address this gap by reporting on the experiences of CALD parents of autistic children who were community partners in a 1-year Australian research project exploring home–school partnerships for CALD parents of autistic children. We aimed to: (1) report on how parents' involvement in the research process shaped the home–school partnerships study over time and (2) understand their experiences of being community partners on the home–school partnerships project. Methods: Using key principles of participatory approaches, we established Chinese and Vietnamese parent advisory groups to contribute to a project exploring home–school partnerships for parents of autistic children from CALD backgrounds in Australia. Advisory groups included parents of autistic children from Chinese/Vietnamese backgrounds, as well as interpreters, professionals and researchers. We documented how parents' participation as community partners shaped the home–school partnerships study over the course of the project. We also elicited parents' own views and experiences of being community partners through informal, open-ended questions at the beginning and end of the study. Results: We found that parents' input fundamentally shaped the broader home–school partnership study, from meaningful, accurate translation of interview schedules through to making decisions regarding community-specific recommendations and dissemination plans. Parents themselves reported being keen to collaborate and to hear and share opinions for the purpose of the home–school partnership study – although they noted how emotionally difficult sharing their stories could be. While they initially had some concerns about combining being involved as a community partner with their existing responsibilities, ultimately, parents were surprised by the scope of the home–school partnership study and their level of involvement as community partners. Through hearing others' stories and sharing their own in advisory group meetings, parents reported ancillary benefits of their involvement, including increased self-advocacy and well-being. Conclusions: These findings show how research that is conducted in partnership with diverse members of the autism community has the capacity to improve the quality of the research and benefit community partners. Implications: This study clearly documents the benefits and potential challenges of participatory approaches with CALD communities. These findings emphasise to researchers and funders the importance of including extra time and money within budgets in order to produce meaningful research that is respectful and responsive to communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When researching with or about families in home-based research, there are numerous unexpected ethical issues that can emerge, particularly in qualitative research. This paper is based on reflective accounts of four homed-based research projects, two in the UK and two Australia, which examined ethical dilemmas identified when engaged in home-based research with young children. Using a synergy of ecocultural theory and Foucauldian ideas of Heterotopia as theoretical conceptualisations, the authors employed reflective lenses to guide their approach, and examine dilemmas and complexities when conducting research in the home. We argue that, to address ethical dilemmas, researchers need to problematise and reflect upon the nature of respectful approaches and the ethical implications of their behaviours. We conclude that, although ethical codes are valuable when researching families at home, researchers should plan for and forefront their methodological approaches in ways that are family-centred, whilst also framed by practices that are ethical, respectful and reflective to the situated contexts of family's ecologies and heterotopias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patient safety has been an undervalued component of quality healthcare but is a challenging area of research. Ultrasound is the most common imaging modality in the world. Research on patient safety in ultrasound is generally focused on bioeffects and safe operation of ultrasound equipment. However, other safety issues exist in practice that warrant consideration. This paper forms the first part of a PhD study exploring patient safety in medical diagnostic ultrasound, beyond the notion of bioeffects. The ultimate aim of the study is to inform the final phase of the research study which will consider the next steps in improving the quality and safety of healthcare experienced by patients. Methods: A qualitative study using semi-structured, one-on-one interviews. A thematic analysis categorised data into codes and generated final themes. Results: A heterogeneous mix of 31 sonographers, who reflected the profile of the profession in Australia, were interviewed between September 2019 and January 2020. Seven themes emerged from the analysis. These were bioeffects, physical safety, workload, reporting, professionalism, intimate examinations and infection control. Conclusion: This study presents a comprehensive analysis of sonographers' perceptions of patient safety in ultrasound imaging, not previously available in the literature. Consistent with the literature, patient safety in ultrasound tends to be viewed in technical terms through the potential for bioeffects of tissue damage or physical harm to the patient. However, other patient safety issues have emerged, and while not as well recognised, have the potential to negatively impact on patient safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper contributes to studies of Indigenous organizing and organizations. We draw on Indigenous knowledge which recognizes that everything is connected within networks of relationships to extend post-colonial theory on hybridity. Our case study research with Australia's only Indigenous-owned credit union identifies how hybridity is co-constituted through 'friction' in the 'contact zone' where local kinship relations and audit practices meet and grapple. Focusing on the 'contact zone' allows us to better understand the everyday organizing that produces hybridity. We build on existing work on hybridities in organizations which predominately focus on issues of language and knowledge by focusing on the organizational interactions themselves, especially the embedded interactions between humans and objects. Seeing these interactions as 'friction' means not trying to solve or dissolve them – but to acknowledge them as lived realities of an Indigenous organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of methamphetamine or amphetamine stimulant drugs has been identified by authoritative public health bodies as a global health issue, with a worrying trend towards production and consumption of a higher purity crystalline form methamphetamine (ice) over the past decade. This trend has been well documented within Australia, resulting in a public perception of there being an 'ice' epidemic in regional/rural areas. Considering the illicit nature of ice, monitoring it is challenging and as such little information is available regarding the actual extent of methamphetamine use, harms and patterns in regional/remote Australia. Aim: To collate the available literature regarding methamphetamine use in regional/rural Australia and identify gaps in the literature. Methods: A literature search was conducted by searching 6 databases (PUBMED, Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO and SCOPUS) following which exclusion/inclusion criteria were applied. Included papers were appraised with the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical appraisal tools and synthesised in light of the sociocultural, ethnic and geographic differences in methamphetamine use in Australia. Results: Regarding rural/regional Australia there is a significant lack of research into methamphetamine use, patterns and epidemiology since the rise of crystalline methamphetamine in 2013. The existing literature available suggests great variability in methamphetamine harms in rural communities. This can be a double-edged sword however, as the introduction of ice into a remote/rural community may result in greater harms if it becomes ingrained in local customs. Similarly, there is a lack of research into the specific factors within Indigenous communities leading to an increased rate of methamphetamine use amongst members. Recommendation: Future research should address the causes of variance in methamphetamine harms in rural/remote regions. Although the scope of this paper was the Australian context, a wider international approach may yield useful information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Even before COVID-19, enrolments in online postgraduate nursing and midwifery courses were growing globally. Teaching into planned online courses requires pedagogical considerations unique to the context. Objective: The objective of this descriptive mixed methods study was to understand the experiences and needs of Australian online educators who taught into planned online postgraduate nursing or midwifery courses. Methods: A 55-item online survey captured the experiences and needs of participants. This paper reports on the analysis of participants' qualitative responses in this survey, analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Forty-nine postgraduate educators participated in this study. Results: Five core themes were identified: time is precious; redefining the educator role; understanding the pedagogical shift; online and alone; and learning to teach online. Many educators report lacking the skills and confidence to deliver high-quality education to postgraduate students through their fingertips. Conclusion: This research highlighted that online educators need support through resources, education, and professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the urgent need for our profession to agree on and articulate the taxonomy of skills and signals of competency for those conducting qualitative market research focus groups. It argues that this is required due to five factors: groups are used for strategic advice; they are high cost; people other than market researchers are offering them; the explanations of the skills seem to range from myth/magic through to experience and hard work; and for training and accreditation there has to be an agreed taxonomy. The paper describes recent research into the views of 19 SQMRs (strategic qualitative market researchers) in Australia on this theme and related literature. It proposes a model of the taxonomy of skills, a summary of a model of competency, a model of how SQMRs describe their analytical thinking in and outside of focus groups and an attempt to demythologise the skill and identify the cause of competency. It concludes by posing 15 questions for our profession.** [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of games for social skill development in the classroom is accelerating at a tremendous rate. At the same time, the research surrounding games designed for teaching social skills remains fragmented. This systematic review summarizes the current existing literature on social skill serious games for young people ages 5 to 19 and is the first review of serious games to note the demographic and geographic component of these studies. Method: This review included papers that: evaluated a game designed to teach social skills ; included measurable, quantitative outcomes; have a translation or be published in English; were peer-reviewed; date from January 2010 to May 2020; and have a nonclinical study population between ages of 5 to 19. Keywords were obtained from the CASEL 5 framework. Results: Our findings are mixed but suggest that serious games may improve social skills when used alongside in-person discussion. We also found potential effects of the length of time of gameplay, intervention, and follow-up on social skill serious game effectiveness. Although this review found promising research conducted in East Asian countries and with minority samples in the United States, the majority of social skill serious game research takes place in the United States and Australia, with unreported demographic information and white-majority samples. Conclusions: Due to the limited number of published studies in this area and studies lacking methodological rigor, the effectiveness of using games to teach social skills and the impact of background on social skill learning require further discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia responded to the emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020 by initiating a border and bio-security zone lockdown and policies emphasising social distancing and hand hygiene. To understand the public response to this, Southern Queensland Rural Health commenced a two-phase research project exploring attitudes and practices towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. An initial online survey foreshadowed 90 qualitative interviews with respondents to explore what the pandemic meant for everyday life. This paper details use of a qualitative approach by a national collaborative of investigators from 9 rural university departments in Australia who came together to research the qualitative phase of the project. Our methodological approach aligned with extant literature describing the management of large-scale interviewing and coding in the context of unfolding and dynamic contexts. The 'RITA' model (Rapid Identification of Themes from Audio recordings) entails a five-step process designed to progress from identifying research foci, through deductive and iterative coding to identify key concepts. We used a combination of coding templates, organisation and tagging of field notes and real-time sharing through a secure cloud drive to create a data set for immersive analysis and generation of ideas. Use of this method has added to the collective knowledge about successful rapid research investigations, recognising the inherent tension between speed and rigour. This is not a binary but a dialectic; trustworthiness is integral to qualitative research. However, use of fresh approaches is accommodated by new technologies and can preserve adequate rigour while enabling collaboration, research capacity building and increasing the pace of data collection and analysis. This project has presented methodological challenges and highlights some strengths of such an approach. It is hoped that reporting our approach and experiences is useful for the broader health and research community considering large-scale qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: To determine the prevalence of epileptic seizures in multiple sclerosis (MS) at an Australian tertiary hospital and to define their clinical features. Methods: We retrospectively analysed adult patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital electronically identified to have ICD codes for MS and seizures and/or epilepsy between 1996 to 2019, utilising paper and electronic-based records. Results: Of the 2,125 MS patients identified, 16 (0.75%) experienced epileptic seizures during a mean follow-up period of 12.9 years. Median age of MS diagnosis (SD) was 38 (9.3) years. Four patients had relapsing remitting MS (25%), 10 secondary progressive MS (63.5%), and 2 primary progressive MS (12.5%). More than two-thirds of patients had seizure onset following the diagnosis of MS, and the majority of these had advanced disease (approximate EDSS >6) at the time of seizure onset. Focal onset-seizures occurred in 87.5% of patients with seizures. Conclusion: The estimated prevalence of seizures in our cohort was lower than in previous studies (0.75 vs 2–4%). In most cases, seizures occurred after the diagnosis of MS in the context of advanced disease. Further studies are required to determine if MS disease modifying treatments reduce the risk of seizures in this cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small stocks tend to reverse, whereas large stocks tend to trend over a one-month horizon, which explains the lack of short-term reversals in the Australian market as a whole. However, large stocks exhibit intra-industry reversals, in which industry winners underperform industry losers in the subsequent month, when controlling for price momentum. Conversely, once this intra-industry reversal is neutralised, large stocks display momentum behaviour, in which market winners outperform market losers. These conditional strategies generate positive, significant risk-adjusted returns on large stocks in Australia. This paper documents significant industry momentum, as winning industries outperform losing industries in the following month. This industry momentum effect dominates the intra-industry reversal. The paper also finds evidence that conditional reversals are driven by illiquidity and are inhibited by stock prices under-reacting to earnings announcements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home telemonitoring has been used as a solution to support the care of individuals living with chronic disease. While effectiveness of telemonitoring have been widely studied, more research is needed to understand the perceptions among patients and clinicians in incorporating telemonitoring into their daily routine and practices. This paper presents an investigation of patients’ and clinicians’ experiences in a care augmenting telemonitoring service, their perceived impact delivered through the service, and clinicians’ perceptions on how the service was introduced in their organizations. This work was embedded in a large multi-site trial of home telemonitoring using a mixed method approach for evaluation. Interviews with clinicians involved in the study were conducted at multiple time points during the trial. Questionnaires were administered to clinicians and patients at the end of the trial. Results showed that both patients and clinicians recognized the benefits of patient empowerment through telemonitoring, and patient-clinician interactions. Results identified the needs of a dedicated telemonitoring clinical care coordinator role, guidelines that translate telemonitoring services into clinical pathways and engagement of different healthcare providers, especially general practitioners, to support the integration of telemonitoring into chronic disease management programs and long-term organizational strategic plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012, the Australian Commonwealth Government introduced a series of reforms for the aged care sector including the implementation of the National Prioritisation System for a flexible, accessible and demand-driven approach to home care services for older people. Nevertheless, an increasing number of older people continue to wait for months to be assigned home care packages on the national prioritisation queue, a component of the National Prioritisation System. There is limited evidence on the impact of the national prioritisation queue on discharge planning practices of social workers in supporting older people returning home from hospital admission. The aim of the research described in this paper is to explore the perceptions of social workers from rural and urban health services areas on how the introduction of the national prioritisation queue has influenced discharge planning of older people who are still waiting assignment of home care packages. This study protocol establishes the need for this qualitative study and provides an overview of the theoretical framework underpinning the research; discusses and describes the methods for sampling/recruitment and data collection, the approach to be utilised for qualitative analysis and the planned dissemination strategy. Understanding how social workers respond to the perceived challenges to discharge planning posed by the national prioritisation queue and the implications arising from the research have the potential to inform the development of best practice approaches and further enhance social work response to identified issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we ask how interpersonal connectivity can be achieved at a geographic distance. This is in contrast with extant literature that focuses on states of connectivity rather than the work needed to achieve it. We draw on phenomenological ideas of embodiment, presence and distance, in combination with empirical material from an extreme remote work context – telenursing in Australia. The nurses we interviewed triage patients entirely by telephone. We argue that even with low social and technical connectivity, interpersonal connectivity is achievable through skilful work with technology. We explore the work that goes into 'being there with and for distant others' by combining the phenomenological concepts of 'maximal grip' and 'intentional arc' with empirical examples. We propose that interpersonal connectivity is oriented empathetically towards both the other person and agentically towards the joint situation. We thereby develop a conceptual model of interpersonal connectivity work, which argues that distributed workers need to skilfully balance the dualities of freedom/control and nearness/farness to achieve interpersonal connectivity. Achieving and maintaining interpersonal connectivity is an important skill, particularly for leaders who operate in work contexts that are increasingly distributed, flexible and temporary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to explain the relationship between high frequency electricity demand, intra-day temperature variation and time. Using the Generalised Additive Model (GAM) framework we link high frequency (5-minute) aggregate electricity demand in Australia to the time of the day, time of the year and intra-day temperature. We document a strong relationship between high frequency electricity demand and intra-day temperature. We show a superior model fit when using Daylight Saving Time (DST), or clock time, instead of the standard (solar) time. We introduce the time weighted temperature model that captures instantaneous electricity demand sensitivity to temperature as a function of the human daily activity cycle, by assigning different temperature signal weighting based on the DST time. The results on DST and time weighted temperature modelling are novel in the literature and are important innovations in high frequency electricity demand forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the role and influence of contingent employment among short-haul truckers, an occupational group that has been little studied to date. A 2003 survey of Australian short-haul drivers examined the predictors of health and safety outcomes for all drivers and provided comparative information on the working hours, occupational safety and health, and work-life conflict of permanent employees, temporary (casual) employees, and owner-drivers. The main predictor of both illness and injury for all drivers was work-life conflict. The results show that contingent work is characteristic of short-haul trucking in Australia, especially among owner-drivers and casual employees. Contingent-work drivers differ from other drivers on a range of organizational characteristics, but not on safety and health outcomes. Contingent employment can take different forms, each of which is associated with a somewhat different set of effects on workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates determinants of the earnings distribution for native-born workers and immigrant workers in two countries. The authors, using data from the 2000 U.S. Census and 2001 Australian Census, employ a methodology (quantile regression) that facilitates measurement of the native-born/immigrant earnings differential and the partial effect of explanatory variables such as schooling and experience at each decile of the earnings distribution. They find evidence that schooling and labor market experience had stronger earnings effects at higher deciles. The native/immigrant earnings gap varied by decile, and in particular increased in the United States at higher deciles. The results suggest that in the United States minimum wages compressed earnings at low deciles, whereas in Australia the minimum (administered) wage system compressed earnings across the entire distribution. A pattern of higher earnings for immigrants than for the native-born at the lowest earnings decile in Australia may reflect favorable selectivity in migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing attempts are being made to determine whether corporate social responsibility leads to commercial benefits. Research to date has demonstrated that corporate social responsibility is associated with attracting job-seekers and enhancing the engagement of employees. However, much of this research focuses on the impact of corporate social responsibility on employee outcomes independent of the impact of traditional human resource practices (e.g. training, rewards). Using a variation of an existing employee opinion survey, and applying Carroll’s (1979) model of corporate social responsibility, this paper assesses the relationship between employee engagement, traditional human resource practices, and corporate social responsibility. Data collected from 3147 employees showed a significant positive correlation between corporate social responsibility and employee engagement. However, corporate social responsibility explained little additional variance in engagement beyond that explained by traditional human resource practices. This paper concludes that allocating attention and resources to corporate social responsibility may not be as advantageous as investing in the improvement of core human resource practices, when the goal is to improve employee engagement. Future research needs to examine why corporate social responsibility explains little additional variance in employee engagement, specifically examining the manner in which employees perceive corporate social responsibility and the extent to which corporate social responsibility encompasses traditional human resource practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent Global Financial Crisis has focused our attention on the integrity of rating agencies. Often condemned for being too slow to act, rating agencies have been blamed during many financial crises. This impression opens some research questions addressed in this paper. What are the determinants of banks ratings? How do they differ across ratings agencies? This paper analyses the quantitative determinants of bank ratings, provided by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch in the United Kingdom and Australia. The main finding is that quantitative factors that reflect asset quality, liquidity risk, capital adequacy and operating performance are the key determinants of bank ratings across the rating agencies. However, macroeconomic variables and market risk factors do not seem to be contributing factors in explaining bank ratings in either country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides evidence that highly skilled migrants continue to remain connected with and deeply committed to their home country. These connections challenge the notion of knowledge and skills loss from high-skilled migration. Highly skilled migrants are also involved in remittance giving, which, although of the noneconomic type, offers new possibilities for building wealth. These are the so-called 'knowledge transfers' which consist of the flows of knowledge, skills and ideas to the home country. This paper analyses these knowledge transfers through the highly skilled Filipino migrants in New Zealand and Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the influence of rural social determinants on health can contribute to alleviating disparities between the health of urban and rural populations. Qualitative methodologies have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of rural health issues. However, there are few published case studies of the process of designing qualitative studies which can contribute to a better understanding of how to conduct and evaluate qualitative research. This paper adds to the methodological literature by describing the process of developing a methodology for a study of how women in remote areas achieve health and well-being. In the paper the author documents the process and illustrates an individual's search for a method that would suit her research problem and her personal and professional ideology. Metaethnography, constructivist grounded theory, and dialogic/performance narrative methods are identified as a qualitative methods particularly suited to health and other areas of rural social research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the association between migration and gender roles measured by women’s paid work. The main migrant group of this study, its context and the method of analysis provide opportunity to meet this objective appropriately. The paper focuses on female migrants from the Middle East and North Africa region, who are often characterized by traditional gender roles including women’s low rates of paid work. The residing country of this migrant group is Australia, which holds different gender roles including women’s high work participation rate. Accordingly, the multivariate results of this paper provide empirical evidence to examine the effects of migration on gender roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the differences associated with the patterns and determinants of women's market employment by migration status and ethnic origin. Considering “ethnic employment” as an important issue in the immigrant labor market assimilation approach and migrants’ success in the labor market as a key indication of their settlement in the host country, the results of this paper provide a basis to reassess the patterns and determinants associated with the settlement of female migrants in the multiethnic and multicultural labor market of Australia as “a particularly interesting society in which to examine how immigrant women adapt to [a] new labour market” ( Evans, 1984 :1063). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to identify the basis of regional competence in industry sectors that are not key performers at the national level. The paper examines the ICT sector in two regions: Dresden (Germany) and Adelaide (Australia). The performance of Australia and Germany in ICT is not high by OECD standards. However, both Dresden and Adelaide have some competence in parts of the ICT sector that departs from national patterns. In Dresden the development of the ICT sector is more advanced than in Adelaide. In both regions, there are distinctive institutional features and policies that explain the development of the ICT sector. Further, in Dresden, the state has coordinated the ICT sector within the regional space, giving focus to institutional strengths in research and training, such that it is possible to describe the institutional environment as 'thick and coherent'. As such, the regional space of Dresden has experienced an agglomeration of ICT and can be regarded as more successful than Adelaide, where institutions and state initiatives are fragmented and incoherent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The colonial origins of museums have often influenced the ways in which they depict the past. In Australia, portrayals of the Indigenous past have focussed exclusively on ‘traditional life’ or the prehistoric period of history, to the detriment of post-contact history. This paper examines ways in which museums around Australia are beginning to counter this trend. Museum exhibits that relate to Australia's shared, post-contact past are analyzed in the context of recent developments in museology. This analysis is combined with feedback generated from interviews with heritage professionals. The results suggest that in order to move towards inclusive interpretation of Australian history, multiple voices and perspectives of the past must be incorporated into interpretive programs. This paper argues that there are a variety of ways in which heritage interpreters can attempt to incorporate pluralist perspectives of the past into museum exhibits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest in, and the appeal of, fiscal federalism and fiscal decentralization have been increasing in recent years. At the same time many mature federations continue to evolve towards greater centralization. The reasons for the evolution of fiscal federalism towards greater centralization remain unclear, and the traditional theories of fiscal federalism shed little light on the reasons for such evolution. This paper explores the evolution of federalism in the case of Australia, in an overall framework provided by the new institutional economics -- that the motivations and incentives of economic agents, and the options available to them, are influenced by the incompleteness of contracts. The paper shows how, within the context of an incomplete contract, certain key agreements about taxing powers, the attitudes of the High Court and the political strength of the Commonwealth relative to the States have driven a continuing process of centralization in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how immigrants' proficiency in speaking English, and preference for retaining their native tongue as the language of the home, affect their occupational attainment in the Australian labour market. In particular, it investigates how well three approaches - an assimilationist approach, a Neo-Marxist approach, and an ethnic enclaves approach - account for differences among groups in how important language usage and skill are in occupational mobility. The data are drawn from the 1981 Census public use sample. The findings show that monolingual English usage is of no benefit in the labour market and that weak English skills harm the occupational opportunities of some groups much more than others, a finding that is fully consistent with the ethnic enclaves approach. Generalising from the differences among Australian immigrant groups, the paper provides some hypotheses about language effects among immigrants to industrialised societies more generally, and develops some hypotheses about conditions fostering development of ethnic enclaves in such societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of working class or subordinate consciousness and its relation to the dominant value system has been a central component of the research into actors' 'images of society'. This paper offers an empirical contribution to this topic via an examination of the conceptions of the economic system held by samples of Australian managers and shop stewards. Previous research has suggested that the consciousness of members of subordinate groups is inconsistent or contradictory in that lower class actors provide a mixture of support for and rejection of dominant values. The evidence reviewed here lends support to this finding but by focusing more closely upon the categories, vocabularies and frameworks which make up the actors' images of the economy, the paper attempts to offer a more satisfactory explanation of how such inconsistencies can appear, one which highlights the role of language as a mechanism in ideological incorporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electricity industry in Australia has recently undergone significant restructuring. Generation, transmission and distribution have been unbundled and placed under private or public corporate ownership. Industry restructuring, together with concerns about the environment, have resulted in a noticeable increase in distributed electricity generation, especially small-scale generation. This development has important ramifications for the electricity industry and the wider economy. This paper provides an empirical analysis of the recent growth in distributed electricity generation in Australia, and analyzes the factors driving this resurgence of interest. The paper also attempts to identify the underlying factors contributing to the development of distributed generation. Past and current distributed generation projects are classified according to which technical or institutional factor was dominant in the realization of each project. This enables us to identify changes over time in the rationale for distributed generation. A comparative analysis of the developments in the different Australian states provides additional insights into the roles played by factors such as geography, the availability of low-cost industrial by-products for fuel, and the introduction of competitive markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data gathered as part of a study of young people's early career attainments, this paper examines factors that influence Australian high school seniors' plans to attend college and their actual entry into college. The paper applies the Fishbein-Ajzen (1975) model of attitude-behavior relations to the particular issue of the link between intentions to continue school and the realization of those intentions. Results show that the Fishbein-Ajzen model provides a useful, but incomplete, representation of the educational attainment process. In accord with the Fishbein-Ajzen model, favorable attitudes toward higher education, parental encouragement, and Friends' college plans all lead to the formation of intentions to enter college. Intentions, in turn, predict actual college attendance. Other results, however, suggest revisions in the Fishbein-Ajzen model. In particular, college entry was affected by attitudes toward college, academic achievement, and parental encouragement, over and above the effect of intentions. Moreover, behavioral intentions were shaped by academic achievement and by perceived academic ability, in addition to attitudes and perceived social norms. Finally, evidence was obtained that several variables in the model, such as gender and perceived parental encouragement, have interactive effects on college plans and college attendance. The results lend support to Liska's (1984) argument that social-structural opportunities and resources must be considered when applying the Fishbein-Ajzen model to behaviors such as entry into higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaining accurate information on illicit drug use and policing in real-world settings is a challenge. This study examines the utility of a smartphone app ('Going Out In Sydney') to prospectively follow up illicit drug use and policing encounters at music festivals and licensed entertainment precincts in Sydney, Australia. In all, 38 regular festival and licensed entertainment venue attendees used the app to log nights out over a 3-month period, including (1) where they went (eg, festival, nightclub), (2) the prevalence of illicit drug use, and (3) the incidence and nature of police encounters. A survey and interview were then conducted about the utility of the app. The app enabled rich data collection (n = 353 entries) about illicit drug use and policing at both target settings. Follow-up surveys indicated that most participants were extremely satisfied with the ease of use of the app and privacy afforded, and compared with other data collection modes, such as paper-based logs and online surveys, rated the app the most desirable method of data collection. This suggests smartphone apps may be a viable option for future studies on illicit drug use and policing of drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effect of a carbon price on wholesale electricity prices and carbon-pass-through rates in the states comprising the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM). The methodology utilize an agent-based model, which contains many features salient to the NEM including intra-state and inter-state transmission branches, regional location of generators and load centres and accommodation of unit commitment features. The model uses a Direct Current Optimal Power Flow (DC OPF) algorithm to determine optimal dispatch of generation plant, power flows on transmission branches and wholesale prices. The results include sensitivity analysis of carbon prices on wholesale prices and carbon pass-through rates for different states within the NEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a large multi-country multi-industry sample of over 158,000 companies, the early-stage company sector is documented to have sizable destruction of revenues and jobs and as well as sizable gross creation of revenues and jobs. The creation aspect has captured the dominant attention of researchers, commentators, and policy makers. Destruction, despite its large magnitude, has long been a backwater of research and most commentary on this sector. Destruction is not simply non-growth but rather prior growth that is subsequently reversed. This paper analyzes creation and destruction evidence across 10 different countries and across eight different major industry groups. Yearly growth/decline rates using revenues and headcount for Years 2 to 5 are analyzed. In each of the three growth years examined there are large amounts of destruction as well as creation simultaneously occurring. For example, in Year 5 gross revenue destruction is 34% of gross revenue creation whilst gross job destruction is 65% of gross job creation. A small percentage of companies accounts for a large percentage of the total job and revenue destruction each year. This small percentage of large destroyers is especially interesting because they had to have had, by necessity, prior sizable creation. This rapid rise and subsequent rapid fall has been very much ignored in the research literature. Regression analysis highlights this aspect for the sample of destroyers. The diverse sources of revenue and job destruction are discussed and potential fruitful research directions highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the impact of Australian firms’ warranty policies on capital structure. The sample consists of 378 firms and 1727 firm-years for Australian public firms for the period 2006–2010. The results suggest that warranty policies impact on Australian firms’ capital structures. Firms offering product warranties to customers have less leverage than those firms that do not. Firms commit to honour warranty contracts, whether explicit or implicit, by selecting lower leverage levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether customer order flow conveys information about future foreign exchange (FX) prices. We use a unique data set from a leading Australian commercial bank that records every FX trade made by the bank in the spot Australian dollar/US dollar market between 2005 and 2010. We find little evidence in support of a cointegrating relation or a statistically significant correlation between customer order flow and FX returns. However, consistent with the liquidity provision role of non-financial customers in Evans and Lyons ((2002) Order flow and exchange rate dynamics. Journal of Political Economy 110: 170–180), we find a statistically significant negative correlation between order flow from the diversified economic sector and FX returns. A dynamic analysis suggests that order flow has little or no price impact on FX returns. These results suggest that the non-financial customer order flow of a commercial bank does not carry information about FX prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study intends to analyze the relationship between military culture, masculine norms, attitude toward women, and workplace aggression. By using a paper-pencil survey in the Austrian Armed Forces, we show that overall 6.5 percent of all soldiers in the sample suffer from severe, long-term collective aggression (bullying). The detailed analysis suggests that systematic workplace aggression is associated with a culture with high power orientation and adherence to traditional (masculine) military norms. It occurs most often within socialization processes in training centers as well as in combat units. Conversely, culture in support units has high levels of task orientation with a comparably positive attitude toward female soldiers and less reported workplace aggression. The data reveal the gender dimension of workplace aggression in the Austrian Armed Forces: women are significantly more vulnerable to bullying. Almost every second soldier declares to have observed and every tenth soldier admits to have conducted aggressive acts against women. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the timing abilities of Australian managed fund managers. To examine timing abilities, the cross-sectional bootstrap approach is adopted to determine whether timing ability is due to skill or luck. Based on three alternative timing measures, we find that top-ranked Australian fund managers have genuine timing abilities. In addition, the poor timing ability with bottom-ranked funds is not likely to be due to luck either, implying that the market exposure of some Australian managed funds is mistakenly adjusted when the stock market improves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we set out to verify the existence of Miles and Snow strategy types in Australian small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) through objective classification. Australian SMEs, in particular, are interesting as they are reported to have some unique characteristics, with as many as 70% following a low growth or life-style pathway. While numerous empirical studies have been conducted to validate the existence and characteristics of the Miles and Snow strategy types in different domains for both larger and smaller enterprises, these studies typically rely on a subjective, ‘self-typing’ approach. In this study we employ a more objective approach by identifying measures from existing survey data that capture the strategic dimensions proposed by Miles and Snow. We use these objective measures in a K-means cluster analysis to identify four different strategic groups. Three of the groups correspond to the three ‘viable’ Miles and Snow strategy types of Defender, Prospector and Analyser; however, we also identify a ‘Static’ strategy type that constitutes 42% of SMEs in the sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the short-run and long-run performance of Australian cross-listed firms relative to their industry rivals. The role of share trading liquidity and firm visibility in explaining abnormal returns is also investigated. In the short run, an abnormal return of 1.91% for cross-listed firms is found at announcement, while no significant abnormal returns is found for rivals on the event day. For the long-run analysis, only rival firms (especially for rivals of the non-market leaders) experience significant abnormal returns, which are negative. Cross listing into NEW ZEALAND and other countries induces a more negative impact on rivals than the UK. Lastly, liquidity is found to be a determinant of the short- and long-run abnormal returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]