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Dam failures that cause significant adverse downstream impacts continue to occur globally. Hence, effective, adequately resourced dam safety regulation is critical for the safety of dams and downstream communities. This paper explores options for regulatory funding and resourcing according to a selected set of relevant key factors along a continuum of dam safety assurance. An international comparative analysis of 15 jurisdictional case studies against the key factors identifies trends representing indicative precedents. A procedure is developed to help identify increasingly relevant precedents for guiding target jurisdictions on potentially suitable options. Illustrative application to a real case in Australia is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is currently part of the mission of art museums to actively involve children in learning experiences and empower them through a variety of programmes – including developing text panels specialized for children. To date, we have only a limited understanding of the semiotic resources in audience-sensitive exhibition text panels. Drawing upon Systemic Functional Linguistics, this paper analyses and compares 56 text panels in an exhibition from the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia. They are comprised of two versions of text panels for 28 artworks, targeting different groups of audiences, respectively (children and adults). It is found that the children's texts have been recontextualized to evoke interest in learning to paint, while the adults' texts focus on aesthetic appreciation. The comparative analysis shows that audience-sensitive text writing is interrelated with its social context in view of field, tenor, mode, and genre. This paper further explores how the production of audience-sensitive text panels contributes to the pedagogic, commercial, and community value of art museums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency situations such as pandemics typically widen inequities, and Australian children and young people with disability already face significant inequities in the education system. In this paper we draw on survey data from over 700 respondents exploring education experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many families reported being left behind, finding it difficult to access education remotely, and that this was having a significant impact on wellbeing and mental health. We find that of all support offered by schools, social supports have a stronger association with learner engagement than educational interventions. This finding indicates the importance of social and emotional supports in learning. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted education for most learners; There is good evidence to suggest this impact is felt more keenly by students with disability, because there is disability discrimination in the Australian education system; This paper reports survey responses from over 700 families of students with disability exploring the impact of COVID-19 on education; Many families report being left behind and that students found it difficult to learn away from the school campus, which for many students and families led to poorer wellbeing and mental health; Our results suggest that supporting students to have social contact with peers made the biggest impact on students with disability feeling engaged with learning during this time. This shows it is important for teachers and schools to pay attention to social as well as educational aspects of school life when thinking about how to educate students with disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to report the adherence of clinician prescription to the evidence-based herpes simplex keratitis (HSK) guideline at the Sydney Eye Hospital, Australia, in order to assess the sustainability of guideline implementation. A retrospective review was conducted of patients, aged 18 years and above, receiving anti-viral treatment for HSK at the Sydney Eye Hospital from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019. Patients were identified from pharmacy records, viral swab results, and hospital coding data. Three hundred and thirty-six eyes of 335 patients, median age 58 years (range 18–103); 61% males were included. Anti-viral therapy was given for therapeutic and prophylactic indications at presentation in 287 (86%) and 48 (14%) patients, respectively. The dose of prescribed antivirals was in alignment with the guidelines in 69% (231/335) of eyes compared to 75% (64/85) in 2017 (P = 0.254) in our prior study. For the type of HSK, alignment with the guidelines was found in 80/112 eyes (71%) with epithelial, 43/68 (63%) with stromal, 13/17 (76%) with endothelial, 52/90 (58%) with keratouveitis, and 43/48 (90%) on prophylaxis. Clinicians were similarly adherent to a HSK treatment guideline 2 years after its implementation. Regular activities are needed to sustain knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate determinants of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, core affect regarding using telerehabilitation, and digital competencies in rehabilitation professionals in Austria and Germany before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional paper-based and online survey was conducted before and during COVID-19, respectively, with three cohorts of rehabilitation professionals. Outcomes were the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation evaluated using the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology; willingness of technology use using the short scale for assessing the willingness of technology use; digital competencies and core affect using the Digital Competence Framework and semantic differential, respectively. Multivariate ordinal regression analysis was performed to determine predictors. Included were 603 rehabilitation professionals. Analysis revealed differences between Austria and Germany and before and during the pandemic for most outcomes. German residency, the pandemic, and a higher educational level were most important predictors of higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. The pandemic increased most aspects of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. Results confirm that rehabilitation professionals with higher degrees are more prone to adopt innovations in healthcare.Registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00021464) The willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is associated with external factors increasing the need for alternative rehabilitation delivery, such as COVID-19, and with financial facilitators, such as reimbursement. As the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is higher among speech and language therapists and dietitians, efforts are necessary to enhance its use in physiotherapists and occupational therapists. As a higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation was observed in younger rehabilitation professionals and those with higher education, increasing the importance of telerehabilitation in education curricula and further knowledge transfer into practice for those already working in the field seems necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian nature-based tourism and ecotourism have become popular forms of recreational activity. Tasmania attracts twice the Australian national average number of nature-based tourists and ecotourists (thirty per cent). The growth of this tourism sector has prompted measures to ensure that experiences are of high quality, and that environmental impacts are adequately managed. ISO 14000 is an environmental management and certification system often utilized as an environmental management system standard within various industries, but has not been widely applied to the Australian tourism industry. The Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program (NEAP) represents the most significant accreditation measure within Australia at present. This paper assesses the relevance of NEAP in the Tasmanian nature-based tourism and ecotourism industry through in-depth interviews with a key informant group and a comparative analysis of interview data. The paper introduces nature-based tourism and ecotourism definitions and discusses the growing relevance of ecotourism accreditation. The paper argues that NEAP is relevant to the Tasmanian nature-based tourism and ecotourism industry, where the quality of the natural environment forms the central focus for such experiences. Furthermore, the paper argues that NEAP can assist in supporting the State's nature-based tourism and ecotourism industry through means such as branding and promotion. However, problems exist in relation to financial issues between NEAP and operators, and the perceived overlap of NEAP with the widely implemented Tourism Council Tasmania Accreditation Program. Thus, financial issues need to be addressed by the Ecotourism Association of Australia in association with Australian Commonwealth Government subsidization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiculturalism as ideology and policy has been criticised for over-focusing on cultural identities and differences and a lack of focus on the structural inequality of ethno-cultural groups. This paper focuses on the latter issue through a comparative analysis of the workforce integration of immigrants to Australia. Past research has shown that non-English-speaking-background (NESB) immigrants were worse off than both the Australia-born and English-speaking-background (ESB) immigrants in achieving a job status and income corresponding to their educational qualifications. The paper compares 2006 Census data on education level, type of job, length of residence and English proficiency for eight NESB groups, one ESB group (UK) and the Australia-born. The investigation focuses on how well different birthplace groups are able to translate their skills into appropriate jobs, when controlling for English proficiency and length of residence. The main finding confirms that NESB immigrants still have worse employment outcomes than the Australia-born and UK-born overall, but some NESB groups match the success of the Anglophone groups in vocational sector employment. Among the tertiary educated, the employment outcomes of the Australia-born are better than those of all immigrant groups, closely followed by the UK-born and two other European groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses whether, in an age of social and cultural globalisation, place-specific cultural differences continue to exist between domestic Australian and international Asian university students, resulting in divergent leisure patterns among these populations. The paper is based on a survey of the leisure behaviour of Australian, Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Korean, and Singaporean students enrolled at the University of Queensland, Australia. A total of 126 domestic students and 191 international students took part in the study. Analysis of the data shows there are some significant differences and similarities in the leisure behaviour of the students from the seven nationalities selected. These results indicate the existence of place-specific, nationally based cultures that influence leisure behaviour even when people are away from their home country. In addition, a student culture that cuts across national boundaries, creating behavioural similarities between different nationalities in the process, appears to exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the findings from a study exploring the efficacy of a training program for child protection practitioners. The training aimed to improve understanding of the sociohistorical context that underpins interactions between the welfare system and Aboriginal communities, the impact of past and present child protection laws, and the importance of trauma theory to guide practice when working with Aboriginal families. A pre–post survey design study was conducted. Findings demonstrated the preferred theoretical approach to practice was guided by attachment theory. No participant listed trauma theory as guiding their work with Aboriginal families. The study found the lack of skills and knowledge deficit of trauma-informed principles and the limited understanding of trauma theories can be and should be addressed in vocational training. As a result of the training, participants' knowledge about trauma significantly improved, as did their understanding of key concepts such as the difference between past and current welfare laws, assimilation, intergenerational trauma and trauma-related behaviours. Findings point to the need for high quality training in entry-level and professional development for welfare practitioners to support best practice in working with Aboriginal families, and the importance of rigorous evaluation of training to ensure that it is impactful. IMPLICATIONS Welfare practitioners do not necessarily understand trauma theory and trauma-informed practice and do not understand the impact of trauma on Indigenous Australians. Mandatory in-service training about the past and ongoing traumatic impact of previous child welfare system laws, must be provided to welfare practitioners. Trauma theory needs to guide child protection practice when working with Aboriginal families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group-based parenting programs can effectively improve parenting and child wellbeing; however, these programs are predominantly attended by mothers. Actively involving both parents has the potential to maximize program outcomes, as it allows the coparenting relationship to be targeted alongside parenting practices. Researchers suggest that one way of achieving this is to integrate coparenting content into existing, evidence-based parenting programs. Tuning in to Kids is an emotion-focused parenting program that provides an effective foundation for adaptation, given the benefits of the program and the nature of the content (i.e., parents learn the skill of emotion coaching that may also benefit the coparenting relationship). This paper outlines the process of adapting Tuning in to Kids through the integration of coparenting content and increased focus on the family system. The process was guided by the Medical Research Council framework for complex intervention development (i.e., identifying the evidence, developing a theoretical model, modeling the intervention process) and resulted in the development of Tuning in to Kids Together (TIK-Together). The program adaptation was designed to target Australian coparents and was informed by Australian evidence. TIK-Together aims to improve the coparenting relationship, in addition to supporting parenting practices and child emotional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian government is constructing a National Broadband Network (NBN), which at an estimated cost of $43 billion will be Australia's largest ever infrastructure project. The NBN, if its full benefits are to be realized, raises a number of important, but largely unexplored, questions for planning. This paper investigates the implications of the NBN for Australian metropolitan planning focusing on the question of how these plans will exploit the NBN to improve urban outcomes. The paper examines the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane metropolitan areas and analyses the strategies shaping the future of these regions during the rollout and implementation of the NBN. This comparative analysis reveals similarities across these three metropolitan areas in their weak stance towards the NBN. Some key findings include: (1) a segregation of infrastructure planning and metropolitan planning; (2) a lack of consistency between different policies within each metropolitan area and (3) policy gaps regarding the role of telecommunications at the metropolitan level. Considering the number of governments worldwide that are making large investments in high-speed broadband, this paper addresses policy issues that will impact upon metropolitan planning well beyond the borders of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current international targets aim for 90% of people diagnosed with HIV to be on antiretroviral treatment (ART). This paper aims to identify sociodemographic and attitudinal factors associated with ART non-use over time in three samples of Australian people living with HIV (PLHIV). Data for this paper were derived from an Australian cross-sectional survey of PLHIV that was repeated at three different time points: 1997, 2003, and 2012. There were approximately 1000 respondents to each survey (n = 3042 in total). The survey included approximately 250 items related broadly to health and well-being, ART use, and attitudes towards ART use. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used. While the proportion of participants using ART increased between 1997 and 2012 (78.8–87.6%,p < .001), there was a decrease between 1997 and 2003 to 70.6% (p < .001). Factors linked to ART non-use remained steady over those 15 years. In all cohorts, people less likely to be using ART were younger and had a more recent diagnosis of HIV. In 2003 and 2012, people in full-time employment were less likely to be using ART, while those whose main source of income was a pension or social security were more likely to be using ART. Multivariate models showed that, at each time point, a belief in the health benefits of delayed ART uptake was associated with non-use. These findings suggest that there may be barriers to ART uptake that have persisted over time despite changes to clinical guidelines that now encourage early uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Local government reform in Australia's sparsely settled Northern Territory resulted in the emergence of large, remote area, regional shires in 2008. This paper outlines the history of remote area local government in the Northern Territory since ‘self-government’ in 1978 and compares these new large supershires with the more dispersed system of local government which preceded them. It argues that the large remote area shires are struggling to be accepted by their predominantly Aboriginal constituencies due to two significant changes in ideas. The first is a loss of the ideas of localism and self-determination, which sustained the previous generation of smaller, dispersed local governments. The second is the rise of the idea that the roles of elected councillors in local government should be constrained and those of appointed staff enhanced. The paper questions the wisdom of both these changes in the particular context of remote area, predominantly Indigenous, local government. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As part of a policy assemblage, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is representative of a new mode of governance for Australia's schooling systems, indicative of international trends in educational accountability based on testing. The policy assumption was that the introduction of a national performance measurement system would tightly couple school practices to national agendas targeted at improving learning outcomes. This paper presents a comparative case study of two primary schools within a single Queensland region to interrogate how coupling and decoupling strategies are enacted in respect of the policy usage of NAPLAN data. The granular analysis of the governance relationship between the school principals and their supervisors is set against the politics, policies and pressures of NAPLAN that recast the initiative as high stakes for systems, schools and their leadership. Specifically, we argue that Queensland's choice and enactment of policy instruments have produced a new mode of governance of principal conduct, but one mediated by the specific contexts of the two schools. The analysis shows how this mode has precipitated two types of decoupling. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: To examine whether differences in access to specialist disability services by people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds when compared with those born in Australia represent a service gap or the healthy migrant effect.Method: To use the latest disability statistics to measure the different rates of people with disability, and the rates of people with profound and severe disability, of people born in Australia and those born abroad; to compare the difference between those who mainly speak English with those who primarily speak a language other than English at home (LOTE); and examine the age-specific and standardised disability rates of these subgroups.Results: The rate of access of specialist disability services by people with disability who were from CALD backgrounds is highly disproportionate to their presence in the community. As a whole, people from CALD backgrounds have a similar level of disability as Australia-born people. They have a greater rate of profound and severe disability and a higher level of need for assistance in undertaking core activities. For younger age cohorts targeted by specialist disability services, there is little difference in the level of need for assistance between people from CALD backgrounds and the rest of community. Those people who mainly speak LOTE at home have a relatively higher level of need for assistance than those who speak mainly English at home.Conclusions: The paper reveals a substantial gap in specialist disability services between people from CALD and the broader community. This cannot be explained by the difference in the level of need for assistance between Australia-born and overseas-born populations, therefore raises some policy questions as to the barriers to the use of such services and how to effectively narrow the service access gap and improve utilisation rates.Implications for RehabilitationThe paper reveals a substantial accessibility gap in specialist disability services between people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and the broader community in Australia.Rehabilitation is a large component of disability services. Therefore, understanding the gap, promoting the awareness of the services, developing appropriate and effective services to respond the need of people with disability from CALD backgrounds, are critically important to rehabilitation services and related research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The global middle class (GMC) is a theoretical construct that seeks to globalise a set of attributes identified in studies of school choice in the global north, and to a lesser extent in developing nations in Asia. As theorised by Ball a mobile middle class with cosmopolitan sensibilities drives international education options in global cities. This proposition is challenged through analysis of the histories of curriculum and class relations in two national settings (Australia and Brazil) and examination of contemporary class profiles (i.e. economic and cultural properties) in expanding forms of international education in these countries. The paper argues that the forms of cosmopolitanism associated with the educational practices of the GMC must be examined within broader historical relationships of cultural domination. We conclude by arguing that broadening the historical horizon is an important exercise to challenge the claim of the GMC to be a novel category involving exceptional forms of cultural contact generated by the dynamics of the 'global city'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Life expectancy for both sexes in Australia exceeds 80 years, with individuals with intellectual disability also increasingly living into older age. This research aimed to comparatively examine perceptions of staff supporting either older adults or age peers with lifelong intellectual disability. Methods: This project asked 420 medical, health, and support workers about training adequacy, health services access, and trigger points for premature institutionalisation. This paper is based on a subsample of 196 respondents who provided quantitative and qualitative responses. Results: There was considerable variation in confidence in supporting ageing individuals, while only 23.7% of doctors reported their training was adequate to support adults ageing with intellectual disability. A lack of services and poor carer health were identified as triggers for premature institutionalisation. Conclusions: The study revealed key differences in staff perceptions of support provision and training adequacy when comparing ageing individuals with intellectual disability to the general ageing population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Undergraduate preparation is important in ensuring health care professionals are prepared to identify and respond to intimate partner violence (IPV). Previous studies confirm this education is highly variable and IPV-related content remains marginalised in undergraduate nursing, midwifery and paramedicine curricula. Aim: To investigate frontline academics' attitudes and beliefs in relation to the inclusion of IPV-related content in the aforementioned degrees. Design: A large multi-phase mixed methods Australian case study of Australian undergraduate nursing, midwifery and paramedicine degrees. In this paper, components of the survey and interviews from this study will be reported on. Methods: Quantitative comparative analysis of a 51-item on-line survey and qualitative thematic analysis of guided conversational interviews. Results: Across Australian universities IPV remains poorly embedded in nursing, midwifery and paramedicine programmes. Academics report a range of barriers to such inclusion, including an already overcrowded curriculum, a lack of confident and competent academics to teach this content area and a lack of support for this content inclusion. One factor statistically significant in its association with non-inclusion of IPV-related content was academic attitudes of professional role resistance. Gender was also identified as a significant factor associated with non-inclusion and resistant professional attitudes. Qualitative interviews revealed that only six of the 18 participants identified IPV-related care as within their scope of practice, with professional role resistance a common theme identified. Conclusion: Though professional organisation and policy makers now advocate for the inclusion of IPV-related content in the undergraduate preparation of nurses and midwives, work remains to address gendered and resistant attitudes amongst academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, public health has increasingly addressed what has been called the children's obesity 'epidemic', most notably through large-scale initiatives promoting physical activity. Through a discourse analysis the current paper critically examines such efforts in Canadian and Australian public health. Public health websites in Canada and Australia were examined for information concerning children's health, physical activity and obesity and explored for how these issues were represented in the discourse. Bacchi's (2009) 'What's the problem represented to be?' approach to discourse analysis guided our interrogation of the taken-for-granted assumptions underlying Canadian and Australian public health discourse, the ideological and political influences involved in its construction, and the knowledge base upon which it rests. The article calls for critical reflection on how children's physical and leisure activities are being advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role and function of supervision, a neglected topic in research on social work with refugees and asylum seekers. Using semi-structured interviews with health and social workers, supervision arrangements in non-government organisations (NGOs) in Australia and the UK are examined in the context of entitlement reductions and restricted access to services and support for service users. The comparative research highlights the demanding and ethically challenging nature of the work, and the impact on health and social workers of exposure to the narratives of refugees and asylum seekers subject to human rights abuses. Overall, there was found to be an inconsistent approach to supervision across the NGOs in the study, which failed to adequately address the demanding nature of the work. Where supervision was not provided, it placed the well-being of health and social workers at risk and reduced the effectiveness of their interventions. In conclusion, the paper develops an agenda for improving the support of health and social workers working with refugees and asylum seekers in NGOs in Australia and the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on a paper by K. Healy and colleague on comparative child welfare and children in out-of-home-care (OOHC). The author states that although there is a great deal of evidence about high levels of investment in early childhood services in Sweden, it is not necessarily borne out by figures offered in the paper.

A response by Karen Healy and colleague to a letter to the editor about their article on comparison of out-of-home care for children in Australia and Sweden published in previous issue of the journal is presented.

In this paper we present a comparative analysis of out-of-home care in Australia and Sweden. We compare the age structure of the out-of-home care population and the types of out-of-home care services provided to children and young people in both countries. Our analysis reveals that in Australia the out-of-home care service system is focused mainly on children who are deemed to be abused or neglected within their families, while in Sweden the majority of the out-of-home care population are teenagers who cannot live with their families for emotional or behavioural reasons. These population differences intersect with variations in the forms of service provision in both countries, with a much greater reliance on home-based care in Australia than in Sweden, while there is more extensive use of residential care in Sweden. We envisage that this paper will demonstrate how the age structure of the out-of-home care population, though rarely considered in international comparative child welfare research, reveals much about the assumptions on which State intervention with children and young people is based. We intend that this analysis will assist social workers to better understand and address the gaps in the quality and comprehensiveness of out-of-home care service provision to children and young people in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Australia and Bangladesh are two opposite countries with regards to cultural and geographical settings. But sometimes, their visions regarding women's identity come closer when a woman is treated as a sex object. This paper considers women's representation in television commercials in Australia and Bangladesh. A total of 400 advertisements were recorded from various television channels of Australia and Bangladesh in 2005 and 2006. Bringing an interdisciplinary but empirical approach to a broad range of recently screened advertisements, this paper examines how femininities are stereotypically represented in these two countries' television commercials. The study suggests that women are produced and reproduced as sexual objects. The representations of women's bodies circulate around the binary of purity and pollution. The interesting finding of this study is the extension of the "malegaze" concept where women come under the gaze from (hetero) sexual perspectives. This constructs women's secondary position and creates instability in societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), one of the German states, catchment areas for part-time vocational schools were abolished in 2008. With the intention to foster competition between schools in order to improve school quality, training companies now may freely choose the school of their choice. NRW is the first German state to take this step. In this paper, the principle of part-time vocational school choice, as it has recently been introduced in the NRW dual system, is compared to the principle of User Choice which has been applied to Australian New Apprenticeships from 1998. A three-step approach is used: First, the country specific VET policy backgrounds are depicted. Secondly, a synoptical comparison is drawn between the two principles of choice. Thirdly, existing research studies and findings on the Australian User Choice principle are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the extent to which party law influences the internal organisation of parties in four Commonwealth common law states: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The research engages with recent comparative party literature that emphasises the increasingly close relationship between political parties and the state, in particular the cartel party thesis. My findings indicate that over the last few decades parties have become subject to greater legal regulation, which supports the claim that parties are now managed more closely by the state. However, it is important to distinguish between legislative and common law (judicial) regulation, as each has a different impact on the organisational autonomy of the cartel party. I argue that parties (as autonomous actors and the authors of parliamentary decrees) have been able to shape legislative regulation to their advantage by eliciting significant financial support from the state, yet minimising the corresponding degree of legislative intrusion into their internal activities. However, cartel parties have not been able to prevent judicial scrutiny of their internal workings, and have lost a significant degree of organisational independence as principles of administrative law (usually reserved for state bodies) are being increasingly applied to their structure and behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children have been made a priority in Australian government obesity interventions, with programmes tending to focus on promoting behaviour change in food and exercise practices. This paper reports findings from ethnographic research with a group of Australian children aged 10–14 years living in a low socio-economic suburban setting. We propose that central to these children’s experiences of food and eating is the negotiation and management of hunger. Historically, disadvantage has been embodied and inscribed on children’s bodies in very visible ways, and the coexistence of hunger and obesity is part of this continuum. Despite considerable evidence of food insecurity in our research site, issues of hunger were absent in an obesity intervention underway at the time. We examine how hunger was felt in children’s lives, how it was managed and the ways in which messages about eating less, while eating more ‘healthy foods’, were at odds with the children’s experiences of hunger. Moreover, we argue that hunger and obesity in this context were doubly stigmatised, as children were very aware of how their hunger and their bodies marked them as different and disadvantaged. Attention to both the embodied and social impacts of hunger on children and their everyday relationships is key in formulating more sensitive, contextualised public health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent changes to clinical psychology training and supervision in Australia have been driven by a deliberate endeavour by regulatory authorities and professional bodies to align education and training with competency-based models of training, a development that is apparent internationally across health disciplines. A critical question is: how do reforms in Clinical Psychology training standards match international benchmarks for competency-based pedagogies? Objective: To outline key principles of competency-based pedagogies and to critically examine whether Australia's new standards and guidelines for accreditation of coursework, practicum requirements, and supervision are consistent with competency principles, and match similar guidelines proposed in the U.K. and the U.S.A. Method: Following a critical analysis of the extant literature, the authors highlight progress achieved, discuss major gaps and challenges, and examine the extent to which current accreditation changes constitute a reliable blueprint for the development of a competent psychology workforce for the country. Results and Conclusions: The current review indicates that in an overall sense, practitioner training in Australia is tracking well in comparison to international developments. Specifically, the decreased emphasis on the regulation of inputs (e.g., nature and type of coursework and practicum) is pedagogically sound and has the potential to promote training innovation and efficiencies. However, a revision of the current competency framework is required to underpin future progress. Also, the lack of reliable and valid competence instruments in combination with less than rigorous adherence to systematic, timely, and ecologically valid assessments constitute a major challenge and a serious threat to ensuring safe and competent psychology practice. What is already known about this topic: (1) Competency-based education and clinical training play important coordinated roles in ensuring the competence of clinical psychologists, consistent with the accreditation standards and registration requirements of the Psychology Board of Australia. (2) The Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC, 2019) have recently published new accreditation standards for psychology programs that are based on competency principles. (3) The shift to the new paradigm is both exciting and challenging. It is exciting because it provides opportunities for innovation; it is challenging because it demands systemic change. What this topic adds: (1) The current paper compares and contrasts current standards and guidelines for accreditation in Australia with their counterparts in the U.K. and the U.S.A. (2) Although significant progress has been made in Australia, additional implementation efforts should be taken to establish a comprehensive and authoritative competency framework, incorporating empirically-supported means of assessment. Such a framework should be fit-for-purpose providing a grid that maps shared and unique aspects of competencies across registration levels and specialised endorsements. (3) The progressive relaxing of input criteria has the potential to seriously compromise the commitment to safe and competent psychological practice if training institutions do not adopt a re-designed system of ecologically valid assessments both during training and at the point of entry to the profession. (4) The need to ensure competence is maintained throughout a psychologist's career will remain a major challenge, given the ongoing and rapid advance of science. A commitment to the competency-based approach provides the necessary scaffolding for ongoing professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore the limitations associated with a most similar case research design. It argues that by adopting a most similar case research design, comparative work on industrial relations reform in Australia and New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s has systematically ignored important historical differences between the two countries, underestimated the similarities in recent reforms and privileged organizational and institutional explanations for changes in industrial relations systems, at the expense of those which are based on systemic factors and material interests. More generally, this paper argues that methodological choices have significant consequences for the types of explanations generated by comparative research and that more serious attention needs be given to the epistemological assumptions embedded in research designs that are taken up by industrial relations researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent discussions on state rescaling have pointed towards the need for a greater focus on how and why state activity may change over time in order to generate insights into the provenance, trajectories and outcomes of rescaling in different global regions and national state spaces. Consequently, this paper explores the dialectical and recursive relationship between the concepts of “statecraft” and “scalecraft” to explore the evolving sites, objects and mechanisms for urban planning within two key urban centres in different parts of the world—Birmingham, UK, and Brisbane, Australia. It is illustrated how a range of actors—from the national to the local level—have sought to craft and reshape the strategies and structures for urban planning according to different imperatives. In turn, the implications for a tighter specifying of the process of state rescaling are considered, as well as the subsequent nature of urban planning arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the emergence of ‘knowledge economies’ across the industrialised world, transitions from school to work have generally become more complex and uncertain. Nonetheless, such developments vary between countries, as young people form aspirations which align with their individual preferences, academic abilities and the economic, cultural and social capital to which they have access. Previous research emphasises the positive influence social capital received from parents and school networks has on young people's developing aspirations. Meanwhile, the social capital young people generate for themselves through ‘out-of-school’ activities is often construed as either irrelevant or problematic. In this paper, we examine the relationship between this latter dimension of social capital and the educational aspirations of young people in Australia (aged 14/15;n= 3586) and Germany (aged 14/15;n= 2517). Both countries have distinct institutional settings with varied school-to-work transition regimes. Our results show that youth-derived social capital, generated through participation in out-of school extra-curricular activities, mediates the association between parental background and educational aspirations in both countries. We suggest that, by exposing young people to broader sets of values, skills and resources not accessible within the family and the school context, such involvement may be important for promoting educational aspirations and attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work discusses the results of a pilot project performed in 2013–14 within the framework of the Asian Leadership Project international comparative study, which continues research of school leadership in Europe and America since years 2006–2008. Alongside with Russia, the pilot project also included Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. After analyzing statistical reports on the Russian Federation as a whole, as well as on Moscow and Krasnoyarsk Krai in particular, we created a profile of an average school principal and identified their specific features across regions (age, sex, years of experience, competencies, etc.). Upon investigation of decision-making styles (A. Rowe's Decision Style Inventory) applied by school principals in Moscow and Krasnoiarsk and by award winners in the School Principal professional competition, we found that contextual factors and personal and professional attitudes of school principals have considerable effects on school leadership style. This paper also discusses changes in school leadership styles over recent decades, managerial methods used by Russian school principals, and similarities and differences between school leadership practices in Russia and Canada. The report describes the concept and design of a future large-scale study of these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Unhealthy food environments are known to be major drivers of diet-related non-communicable diseases globally, and there is an imperative for major food companies to be publicly accountable for their actions to improve the healthiness of food environments. This paper examines the prevalence of publicly available policies and commitments of major packaged food and soft drink manufacturers, and fast-food restaurants in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji with respect to reducing food marketing to children and product (re)formulation. In each country, the most prominent companies in each sector were selected. Company policies, commitments and relevant industry initiatives were gleaned from company and industry association websites. In Australia and New Zealand, there are a higher proportion of companies with publicly available marketing and formulation policies than in Fiji. However, even in Australia, a large proportion of the most prominent food companies do not have publicly available policies. Where they exist, policies on food marketing to children generally focus on those aged less than 12, do not apply to all types of media, marketing channels and techniques, and do not provide transparency with respect to the products to which the policies apply. Product formulation policies, where they exist, focus mostly on salt reduction and changes to the make-up of overall product portfolios, and do not generally address saturated fat, added sugar and energy reduction. In the absence of strong policies and corresponding actions by the private sector, it is likely that government action (e.g. through co-regulation or legislation) will be needed to drive improved company performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prefabricated housing is a disruptive innovation struggling to take hold in a traditional complex product system (CoPS). It is quicker to produce and has improved environmental performance compared to traditional housing. CoPS have more dense and complex network connections than commodity industries, making disruptive innovation more difficult. Effective relational capabilities can achieve the coordination necessary to address this challenge. The prefabricated housing industry needs to develop a structure that drives these capabilities. Using a case study methodology, the structure of the industry is examined in two contrasting countries, namely Australia and Sweden, as they represent an early and late stage of industry emergence, respectively. A new framework is proposed for this purpose, enabling a repeatable, orderly and comprehensive disaggregation of industry structure to examine the latent drivers of relational capability. The main empirical contribution is to (1) describe an industry that is yet to be formally recognized by national statistical agencies and (2) show how the adoption of prefabricated housing can be accelerated. The study found that younger industries need a focused industry association with diverse membership to act as an effective system integrator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to self-determination theory competence is a basic psychological need that is crucial for wellbeing. Social contexts strongly influence whether competence is supported or thwarted. Given that social media is a pervasive social context within adolescents' lives, it can play a crucial role in competence development. Three qualitative methods were used to investigate mid-adolescents' perspectives of how their social media use impacts competence. Participants included 36 students aged 15 years from four Australian schools. All participants completed a rich picture mapping activity and focus group discussions. A sub-sample of 11 students participated in follow-up interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis generated two overarching themes. The first theme cultivating competence includes sub-themes; enhancing social competencies, mastery experiences and goal accomplishment, and social media expertise. The second theme constraining competence includes sub-themes; ineffectance within the social media environment, interfering with sleep, and hindering learning. Findings demonstrated that social media contributes to today's adolescents encountering unique experiences with regards to competence development. Furthermore, adolescents' interactions on social media have broad implications for competence within online and offline realms. This study identifies aspects of social media use that can be targeted to help adolescents engage with social media in ways that cultivate rather than constrain competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines a proposed model for assessing Sub Minimum Wage (SMW) for persons with disabilities in Israel, with reference to the committee of experts of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. The article uses a “quasi benchmarking approach”, comparing SMW the year mentioned in the abstract is not a note or reference, it is the year that the committee described in the article, was held. It can be however, removed from the abstract as long as it is mentioned in the text assessment practices in Israel, the United States and Australia. The paper discusses the merit of using such an approach and whether the proposed model, which has been accepted by the government, reflects a significant change in SMW assessment practices in Israel, and concludes that the model introduces an incremental rather than a meaningful change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, various forms of group work have been introduced in university courses across various subject domains, including construction management courses. Although the use of group work in higher education has sound pedagogical reasons and advantages, group work has its own drawbacks. Therefore, the acceptance by students and the success of group work critically depend on a fair and credible assessment of the group process. In this paper, the implementation of different approaches to peer assessment (PA) of individuals’ contributions to group projects in two core units in an undergraduate construction management course in an Australian university is reported. The effectiveness of the adopted PA approaches have been evaluated and validated by students. It has been found that contrary to doubts of the sufficiency of a simplistic approach to PAs, the fairness of a PA approach does not necessarily depend on its complexity. Besides, voluntary group discussions, learning and collaboration are found to aid in improving each of the group’s camaraderie. Hence, it is recommended that academics should develop both a structured methodology to progressively encourage group members to work cohesively in teams and effective PA approaches that measure individual member’s contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper develops four novel measures of a residential property's view using purely topographical data, evaluates each measure's contribution to property prices, and compares the efficacy of these new variables with manually-generated measures of view used in the literature. Using a set of semi-logarithmic and spatial autoregressive hedonic regression models for Sydney, Australia, this paper finds that water views contribute 2.30%-216.2% to property prices and land views contribute -5.94%-69.7%. These new measures confer an improvement in out-of-sample prediction accuracy of up to 6.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports comparative research comparing the relationship between supervisor-subordinate relationships, teamwork, role ambiguity and discretionary power for nurses working in public and private sector hospitals in Australia and the UK. The findings indicate that the four factors accounted for approximately a quarter of the variance for nurses in the UK and almost a fifth of the variance for nurses working in public sector hospitals. Moreover, the findings identify a significant difference across all variables for nurses working in public sector hospitals compared with private sector with nurses in the private sector having higher satisfaction levels and perceiving lower levels of role ambiguity. There were fewer differences for nurses working in Australian hospitals compared with UK hospitals with nurses in Australia perceiving a better supervisor-subordinate relationship and nurses in the UK perceiving greater satisfaction with teamwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the results of the world's largest ever survey of international relations (IR) scholars with an eye to establishing the particularities of the discipline in Australia and New Zealand. The survey covered the areas of teaching, research, the structure of the profession and scholars' views on foreign policy. From these results, this paper compares IR in New Zealand and Australia, and discusses the extent to which the discipline in these two countries is distinctive from its overseas counterparts, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. The particular areas of focus include the degree to which the field in Australasia conforms to or differs from US or Commonwealth identities; epistemological and gender divides; the distinctive foci of what IR scholars in both countries teach and research; which publications are favoured and disfavoured; and the contrasting linkages between academia and the world of government and policy. We conclude with some suggestions about how the field in both countries might be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared parenting has been advocated to be a better arrangement for children than sole residence and access arrangements after parental separation. Although there is some research on this issue, studies have been restricted in their reliance on the reports of others. In this paper, we report on a study in Australia, in which children in each of these arrangements were compared with children in intact families on a range of adjustment measures and with each other in relation to their responses to their parents' separation, using both self- and parent-reporting. We found that there was little difference between children in the three family configurations, suggesting that shared parenting is not necessarily associated with better outcomes for the child. On other aspects of adjustment, the children in shared parenting and sole residence/access families did not differ. We also found that parents in all groups underestimated the emotional problems reported by children. In separated families, they also overestimated the children's desire for parents to re-unite. Finally, we found that parents in shared parenting families are more satisfied with their situation than are their children, and fathers are particularly so. The findings suggest that the promotion of shared parenting as the best post-separation family structure is contestable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paucity of literature in the field of visitor attractions, combined with the virtual vacuum of literature on international comparative research methodologies in tourism generally, and more specifically within the visitor attractions sector, together serve as the catalytic focus for this paper. Where studies have been completed on visitor attractions in the international arena, they have often been practitioner-led and lack the depth of analysis and rigour required for academic scrutiny. This paper will begin to fill this gap, by evaluating the methodological options available to academics when researching visitor attractions in different countries. Reference will be made throughout the paper to an international comparative Study undertaken by the authors at visitor attractions in Scotland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The paper concludes with a synthesis of those methodological issues deemed to be of benefit to future researchers wishing to advance their understanding of the management of-visitor attractions in different countries around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differences in internal mobility between national populations are large and complex in origin. In studying them we must use comparable indicators. This paper discusses how measures of migration intensity at the national level should be constructed, drawing on analyses of residential mobility in Australia and Britain. We argue for the tailoring of intensity measures to observation plan and to age-time plan, and for removing the effects of mortality and external migration on census-based measures. We propose simple estimation of infant migrants, a standard stopping-age in calculating gross measures of migration, and argue for the use of a common population for computing age-standardized measures of migration and a common mortality schedule for computing migration expectancies. We conclude with recommendations for developing comparable cross-national measures of migration intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to analyse the composition of national sport federation (NSF) boards in Australia, India, South Africa, the UK and the USA. Specifically, this research assessed board size, occupational diversity and gender diversity, which are theorised to influence board performance. This study employed a positivist descriptive research approach and gathered data from online secondary sources. In total, board composition data was collected on 253 NSFs across five countries, which equated to 2937 directors. The results showed that the average board size in Indian NSFs (19.5 directors) is larger than in the sampled Western countries (on average between 7.2 and 14.2 directors). The occupational background of directors in Australia and the UK is similar, with a strong degree of business involvement (61% and 67%, respectively). Compared to Australia and the UK, India, South Africa and the USA have a larger proportion of directors from sporting backgrounds. Indian NSFs have a relatively significant number of politicians (16%) and few (7%) women on their boards compared to the Western countries. This study provides empirical evidence to support sport governance policy processes. This research contributes to the sport governance literature by showing the extent to which NSFs are adopting good governance standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores adverse childhood experiences and problematic psychosocial functioning for youths who exhibit harmful sexual behaviours (HSBs) against siblings in comparison to those that sexually harm non-siblings. In a sample of Australian male adolescents referred to a specialised sexual offending treatment service, greater prevalence of all adverse experiences investigated, except for caregiver incarceration, was found for youths who harmed siblings. Youths whose sexual behaviours harmed siblings were differentiated from other youths with HSBs in regard to characteristics of caregivers, including caregiver mental health issues, caregiver sexual victimisation experiences, and instability in caregivers during childhood. In addition, youths who exhibited HSBs against siblings experienced a greater total number of adversities in their lives and were characterised by poorer psychosocial functioning, such as social exclusion and internalising problems. Implications of these findings for clinical treatment is discussed. This research identifies developmental risk factors of youths who exhibit HSBs against siblings and examines if and how these differ from characteristics of youths who sexually harm non-siblings. Greater understanding of youths who sexually harm siblings allows treatment and prevention strategies to be tailored to their specific needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work programs in the Global North are increasingly engaged in international student exchange with countries in the Indo-Pacific that belong to the Global South. However, there is a paucity of literature exploring the experiences of the institutions that host these exchanges. This article reports on the findings of a qualitative project that sought host institutions' perspectives on the value of student exchanges. The findings indicate a perception that some mutual benefit and reciprocity can be established in international exchange but that disparity in resourcing, absence of opportunities for hosts to travel to Australia, and the privileged status of knowledge produced in the Global North maintains an inequity between exchange partners. These findings highlight the need for steps that can be taken toward reciprocity while demonstrating the impact power imbalance can have on the nature of Global South–North student exchange programs. IMPLICATIONS Research has shown that student exchange programs between the Global North and the Global South are often underpinned and shaped by a significant power imbalance in favour of the Global North. Findings show that Australian (Global North) knowledge is privileged over knowledge that is Indigenous to the host country and that financial constraints prevent host organisations from equal participation in programs. A form of reciprocity can be established whereby organisations in the Global South can access benefits associated with the programs, without sending their own students on exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflective practice and critical reflection are considered crucial to learning and practising social work. Based on qualitative analysis of interviews with Australian social work practitioners, students, and academics this article offers a description of the strong normative role reflective practice plays in contemporary social work practice. The research was conducted as part of a larger interpretive study into how reflective practice is understood in social work education and practice in Australia. The research found that reflective practice is considered as central to the development of practice wisdom, accountability, and the development of self-awareness. The article discusses the normative role reflective practice plays for social worker agency. The article also outlines the formative role social theory plays in the development of critical reflection. IMPLICATIONS Reflective practice and critical reflection can be viewed as important and distinct capabilities in professional social work practice. Reflective practice is an important foundation for the emergence of practitioner agency. As critical reflection is more likely to develop in social workers who have had the opportunity to learn social theory, it is important to ensure social theory is included in foundational social work curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older people experience bereavements more often than any other age group. National survey data collected across Australia from 633 bereaved adults aged 65+ years showed that 21% met the criteria for prolonged grief. Their quality of life was significantly lower and loneliness significantly higher compared to older people in the general population. Risk factors for the low quality of life and high loneliness post-bereavement included being female, experiencing the death of a partner, and being the full-time carer of the deceased. Time since bereavement, expectedness, and cause of death were not significantly associated with quality of life and loneliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Communication difficulties are more common in children or young people (CYP) who have lived in out-of-home care (OOHC) compared to the general population. Principles of family-centred practice (FCP) are frequently utilised by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) when working with CYP with communication difficulties. The aim of this scoping review was to describe how the principles of FCP are applied in the literature to speech-language pathology practice with CYP aged 0–18 in OOHC in Australia. Method: A scoping review protocol was applied to identify published literature related to Australian speech-language pathology practice with CYP in OOHC. Four databases were searched with no date limitations and five publications were included after quality appraisal. Result: Data extraction and thematic analysis identified several major themes: sharing information, liaison and working together, and responding to the CYP's behaviour as non-verbal communication to inform decision making. However, only one study referenced FCP explicitly. Conclusion: The review found that Australian SLPs are implementing FCP when working with CYP with communication difficulties in OOHC. However, scope for potential improvement was identified in the application of FCP principles with respect to the CYPs' birth parents and cultural representatives, as well as the goal setting and evaluation phases of the clinical cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This unique study investigated the educational and service delivery impacts of a team-based, innovative model of interprofessional education (IPE) namely the Rural Interprofessional Education and Supervision (RIPES) model on participating students, clinical educators, and their workplaces, in rural Australian healthcare settings. Participating professions included dietetics, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech pathology. Outcomes from the RIPES model were compared with regular uni-professional placement models. A multi-site, pre-post, comparative design was used. The main data collection measures included were the Students Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education – Revised scale, the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale, and time-usage data. The RIPES model resulted in significant improvement in students' beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes that underpin interprofessional socialization and collaborative practice in healthcare settings. Importantly, students were able to benefit from the RIPES learning activities without compromising their contact time with patients. Clinical educators spent significantly more time in non-patient contact activities than the uni-professional group. This important work was undertaken in response to previous calls to address a gap in IPE models in rural areas. It involved students from multiple professions and universities, measured impacts on multiple stakeholders, and followed international best practice interprofessional education research recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]