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The Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM), based in the North of England, recently celebrated its 40th birthday. Arising from an evaluation project at Newcastle University, and a subsequent move to Durham University, it rapidly grew in scope and influence, developing a series of highly regarded school assessments. For a relatively small organisation, its influence was seen across the world, resulting in outreach centres in New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong. Since being acquired by Cambridge University Press & Assessment in 2019, it has established itself in a unique role within the wider Cambridge organisation due mainly to its development of computer adaptive assessments for use in schools. This article documents the rise of CEM, from its early successes to its adoption of new ideas in educational assessment and supporting technology until the present day. However, CEM's development was not without its controversies, and these too make fascinating reading when set against the background of 40 years of ever changing educational policies.

Intercultural education in Australia has been positioned in State-based official curriculum and education policy as developing understanding between diverse cultural groups. However, cultivating such understanding far more complex in practice than policy and curriculum directives can capture. In Australia, eruptions of intercultural tensions has an ongoing and complex history. This paper examines the challenges for teachers' intercultural practice in one Australian public school setting. Reporting on a single-site ethnography drawing on Lefebvre's production of space. I conceptualise teachers' intercultural work as a praxis of difference, this paper problematises the way intercultural education is often taken up in tokenistic ways and advocates for reimagining intercultural education as a challenge of practice. I argue that an examination of the conditions that produce complex relations between diverse cultural groups in particular spaces is a productive starting point for developing intercultural understanding as a rational praxis of difference .

The discovery of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) was an important finding in Australian science, involving a self-educated field naturalist and a small team of plant pathologists who had to work in relative academic isolation and with inadequate glasshouse facilities. After its discovery in Melbourne in 1915, TSWV rapidly spread throughout Australia and by 1929, it posed an existential threat to the tomato industry. To address this problem, a joint project between the Waite Agricultural Research Institute and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research was initiated in 1926. This collaboration, led by University of Adelaide plant pathologist Geoffrey Samuel, was initially turbulent but ultimately highly productive. Within an eight-year period, significant advances were made in understanding the aetiology of the disease, particularly by establishing that it was caused by a thrips-transmitted virus. Aspects of the epidemiology and control of the virus were also elucidated such as investigating alternative hosts of the virus. This research was made possible through substantial improvements in mechanical inoculation techniques. Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is one of the most economically important viruses in the world. Before it became a global problem, it devastated tomato crops in Australia. This paper describes how TSWV was identified and biologically characterised by Australian scientists at a time when few techniques existed to detect the virus. It is a remarkable story of human endeavour by a small team of people working in academic isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biography is one of the most potent arts of democracy because it links the individual to the body politic and to history. It stands in parallel with independent long-form journalism. Whereas independent journalism is under threat, biography is currently one of the most popular and productive genres of publishing, breaking down the stratification of readership associated with almost every other category of writing. In the academy, the status of biography has transformed over the last few decades, with historians embracing the genre, literary studies scholars experimenting with form, and a wealth of new infrastructure embedding biographical inquiry in Australia. The biographical turn in Australia has brought the two disciplines of history and literary studies closer together and enriched their scholarship. David Marr's Patrick White, Fiona Capp's My Blood's Country, Mark McKenna's Return to Uluru and Alexis Wright's Tracker are just some examples of the field over the last 30 years. This article considers the principles underpinning contemporary biography and its practice. It reflects on the particular challenges of writing about living subjects, negotiating intimacy and privacy, and the uses of empathic listening in biographical interviews. It also explores the value of collective biography as a genre of current significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian higher education system has its origins in the "Oxbridge" model, and while traces of its Eurocentric heritage persist, the system has evolved through a blend of continuity and change. To grasp the trajectory of Australian higher education, it is essential to delve into its historical development and the pivotal events that have shaped its current form. This article explores significant milestones in the establishment of Australian higher education, all within the backdrop of Australia's history as a colonized nation transitioning to Federation in the 20th century. Embedded within this commentary is a recognition of the intricate challenges faced by academics within the realm of higher education. Historically, academia has remained an exclusive and elitist sphere, marked by imperial and patriarchal norms that have favored white, heterosexual men. These norms have perpetuated the perception of their superiority, consequently influencing how minority groups have navigated academia, both as students and academics. The institutionalization of political, economic, and symbolic ideologies has further exacerbated the obstacles encountered within academia. Therefore, it becomes paramount to consider the impact of the higher education system's operations on academics and how it has perpetuated the influence of colonialism and imperialism on the shaping of scientific knowledge and practices throughout history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People with a disability continue to experience barriers to service engagement such as mistrust of government services, lack of culturally appropriate support, marginalisation and disempowerment. This meta-synthesis reviews current literature regarding these experiences to explain why services are underutilised. Methods: The meta-synthesis was conducted using a meta-ethnographic approach to synthesise existing studies into new interpretive knowledge. The approach was supported by a search using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Results: Ten original research papers utilising a qualitative methodology were extracted. Synthesis of the articles revealed four concepts that were developed into a conceptual model. These include:1) History Matters; 2) Cultural Understanding of Disability Care; 3) Limitations to Current Service Provision; and 4) Delivery of Effective Services. Conclusions: Disability services do not adequately consider the cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People or communicate in a culturally appropriate manner. There are expectations that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People acknowledge their disability in alignment with western definitions of disability in order to access services. More work is needed to align disability services with culturally appropriate support to provide better health outcomes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a disability continue to experience barriers to service engagement which must be addressed. An essential gap that must be filled in providing disability services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is the acknowledgment of culture as a resolute influence on all client interactions with providers. A cultural model of disability may better align with the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than current medical and social models used in healthcare. Disability services need to align better with culturally appropriate support to provide better health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To provide a brief biography of Dr Richard Greenup and to explore the legacy he has left to one of Australia's longest operating psychiatric services. Methods: This history was obtained by consulting staff working within Cumberland Hospital, New South Wales and by examining primary and secondary sources. Results: Greenup was the second surgeon superintendent of 'The Parramatta Lunatic Asylum' from 1852 until 1866 when he was fatally stabbed with a pair of scissors by a patient. Greenup was involved in establishing The University of Sydney and advocated for expanded and improved services for people diagnosed with mental disorders. Conclusions: Greenup recognised the needs of the mentally ill and sought to address similar social and demographic determinants of health to those that we face today. The challenges he faced, and his tragic end remind us of the importance of delivering patient-centred care whilst being mindful of associated risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we review the research undertaken since the 1950s in Australia's grain cropping regions on seed-borne virus diseases of cool-season pulses caused by alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). We present brief background information about the continent's pulse industry, virus epidemiology, management principles and future threats to virus disease management. We then take a historical approach towards all past investigations with these two seed-borne pulse viruses in the principal cool-season pulse crops grown: chickpea, faba bean, field pea, lentil, narrow-leafed lupin and white lupin. With each pathosystem, the main focus is on its biology, epidemiology and management, placing particular emphasis on describing field and glasshouse experimentation that enabled the development of effective phytosanitary, cultural and host resistance control strategies. Past Australian cool-season pulse investigations with AMV and CMV in the less commonly grown species (vetches, narbon bean, fenugreek, yellow and pearl lupin, grass pea and other Lathyrus species) and those with the five less important seed-borne pulse viruses also found (broad bean stain virus, broad bean true mosaic virus, broad bean wilt virus, cowpea mild mottle virus and peanut mottle virus) are also summarized. The need for future research is emphasized, and recommendations are made regarding what is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Commentary article reviews the history of veterinary immunology in Australia from the 1980s and discusses the key people and areas of research during this period., (© 2023 The Authors. Immunology & Cell Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology, Inc.)