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Using regional level panel data of three developed countries, comprising Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, the study investigates the response of consumption smoothing to housing capital gains. The consumption smoothing model first revisits the theory of perfect risk sharing. After rejecting a full consumption smoothing hypothesis, the results strongly indicate that the appreciation of house values smooths consumption further. For the sake of comparison, analysing three developed economies reveals the diversification in the response of consumption to long-run output shocks. Canadian residents appear to be more sensitive to permanent domestic output shocks while Australian's consumption pattern remains unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the regressive nature of tax exemptions for children compared to child allowances and estimates the decline in child poverty in several developed countries due to child allowances. The paper then estimates the decline in child poverty in the United States due to tax exemptions for children and simulates the impact of various possible child allowance programs on child poverty in the United States. It finds that a $3000 to $4000 child allowance would reduce child poverty in the United States to the level of other developed nations and, due to the costs associated with child poverty, be a cost effective policy change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most visible element of the marketing communications mix, advertising has had its critics and, given the choice, developed countries usually select a self-regulatory approach to deal with unacceptable advertising. The recent breakdown of one of the world's longest established advertising self-regulatory programs in Australia has reopened the debate that has taken place in the leading academic and business journals concerned with enhancing understanding of such regulatory systems. This paper focuses on the role of public awareness in assisting the industry and regulators concerned with advertising self-regulation to eliminate undesirable features of such systems in the future. The empirical work succeeds in making both a practical and theoretical contribution to this important area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimulating economic and population growth in northern Australia has been a long-term pursuit for the Australian Government, where the north has historically been the focus for centrally derived regional development policies. Most refer to untapping the purportedly vast opportunities of the resources and tourism sectors, and growth in the Asian middle-class in Australia's proximate north. In 2015 the Australian government detailed an ambitious policy for 'developing the north' during the period 2015-60. This includes targets to dramatically grow the population and a list of five industries with 'bright growth prospects'. However, regional develpment literature underscores there have been many impediments to generating sustained growth in northern regions of developed countries. This study is the first to evaluate baseline conditions and progress towards the aims and targets in the Australian regional growth policy. We develop key analytical indicators and provide analysis by 11 subregions within Northern Australia to ascertain the extent and implications of indicator diversity. The results highlight challenges for the policy's aims as well as regional differences in the compositions of economies and populations. In demonstrating the incorrect and implied assertion of regional homogeneity, and by demonstrating that some targets were destined to fail from inception, we underscore the importance of knowledge about localized demographic and economic conditions in policy formulation. This brings into play the important question of whether high-growth policies for northern regions is desired by the longer term resident population, and most particularly the relatively large population of Indigenous northern residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most developed countries, competent patients have the legal right to refuse any medical treatment; Advance Care Planning mechanisms extend this right to non-competent patients. However, some groups, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, risk their wishes not being respected if they lose capacity, more than others. Little is known about medical practitioners' knowledge of, or attitudes to, the law in this area, especially in relation to LGBTI people, or how the law influences their decision-making. An Australian postal survey explored knowledge and attitudes of medical specialists to legal issues relating to withdrawing/ withholding life-sustaining treatment from adults without capacity. One scenario (the focus of this paper) asked which of four plausible substitute decision-makers, including a same-sex partner, had the legal authority to make such decisions. The overall response rate was 32% (867/2702). Less than one-third of respondents correctly identified the same-sex partner as the legally authorised decision-maker. LGBTI people face multiple obstacles to having their end-of-life wishes respected. Where healthcare providers are also ignorant of the partner's legal right to make such decisions, the problem is compounded. Improved legal education for clinicians and promotion of educational resources for members of the LGBTI community is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the construction of avian influenza in Australian media and federal government policy, with a focus placed on discourses of contagion, preparedness and risk. The threat of an infectious disease outbreak, such as avian influenza, on social life is surrounded by a range of collective narratives which attempt to make it explicable. These narratives socially define the disease and provide explanations for its existence. The paper demonstrates that central to these narratives are depictions of the source of the outbreak and suggestions of appropriate responses to the threat. Methodologically, a narrative analysis of print media and government documents was conducted. This showed that conceptually both government and media discourses could be understood in terms of risk, contagion and blame. Furthermore, it was found that narratives linking the risk of avian influenza with globalised interconnectedness and contagion by the developing world underpin discourses of causation and frame the reactions to and preparation for a potential outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the experiences of young mothers are examined in the contemporary context of a heightened emphasis on individuated personhood and suggestions of a vastly changed modern femininity. Sociological preoccupation with the features of post-industrial society has emphasized the declining influence of preordained and institutionalized structures. The declining influence of such structures in turn ushers in new requirements for personal agency and decision-making. Under the influence of such posited de-traditionalization, the family is widely conceived to be constituted less through obligation and more through negotiation. Understandings of the regulatory dimensions of neo-liberalism and the post-feminist sensibility are drawn on to consider how young women are implicated in this landscape of de-traditionalization and individualism. This paper reports on Australian empirical research with young women who are mothers that reveals the continuation of supposedly outmoded but evidently enduring features of traditional motherhood. Significantly, though, these supposedly superseded gendered features of family life are now encountered amidst the requirements of reflexive modernity, and it is argued that they are responded to in ways that reflect transformations in the experience of the personal; particularly the construction of individualized biographies of reinvention through motherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recognition of prior learning (RPL) is a cornerstone of the lifelong learning policies of most developed nations. Yet the scholarly view in Australia has been that, unlike other post-compulsory education sectors, universities have erected barriers to limit the development of RPL. This paper re-examines the current policy environment and finds evidence that universities are now more active in developing and promoting RPL, as evidenced by the rich detail of information contained in recent policies, as well as the accessibility of this information on the web. Recognition of prior learning policies are examined in detail to shed light further on the state of play of RPL in the Australian higher education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is a significant problem for most industrialised nations and an emerging one for developing nations (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2005). Childhood obesity is of particular concern. This paper, using systematic review procedures, has analysed the intervention strategies used to fight the obesity battle over the past twenty years. For a number of reasons the effectiveness of many intervention strategies was found wanting whilst a minority of cases studied were sound. These cases were analysed and a set of principles developed that could deliver improved processes and outcomes to the problems encountered by planners in the complex obesogenic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International development agencies and charities often have a major focus on highlighting and attempting to alleviate health problems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In these objectives, they rely strongly on news media reporting of these problems and their solutions. This paper examines the experiences of communication staff from eight large non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of trying to secure coverage of LMIC health stories in the Australian news media. It reports on how these NGOs perceive current Australian news coverage of LMIC health, how they negotiate its “media logic” and their attempts to work within and beyond it for better coverage of LMIC health news. Their impressions of LMIC health reporting are broadly consistent with existing literature on the coverage of humanitarian and foreign news. In endeavouring to maximise exposure for their work, the agencies also sought to benefit journalists and news outlets by providing content that matched with existing notions of mainstream news. However, these NGOs are also in the process of working out how to move beyond these outlets and create news content on their own terms. Possible new avenues for the creation of such content are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The complexity and diversity of populations in contemporary Western societies is becoming a significant public policy issue. The concept of ‘diversity’ has come to represent cultural, ethnic, racial and religious differences between the ‘dominant group’ and immigrant and indigenous populations. ‘Diversity training’ is amongst many strategies being implemented to address social and economic objectives in complex societies. This paper discusses and critically evaluates a professional education programme, ‘Diverse Bodies, Diverse Identities’, that is offered to human service practitioners and social work students in Victoria, Australia. It is concluded that a range of approaches is needed to address ‘diversity’ in contemporary societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using OECD input/output tables at current and constant prices, this paper analyses the performance of the construction sector of eight highly industrialized countries -- Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Japan and the USA -- in the 1970s and 1980s. First, the main characteristics of the data set with country and time coverage are briefly introduced. Then, a set of simple indicators is used for comparative purposes, namely to assess the construction sector's diminishing role in terms of share in gross output, value added and GNP. Analysis focuses also on technologies, with emphasis on the relative role of manufacturing and services inputs. Lastly, standard measures of linkages are used to determine the main sources of induced output that are created by the push and pull effects of the construction sector on the rest of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is paucity of research investigating oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD) in young children with cerebral palsy (CP), and most studies explore OPD in high-resource countries. This study aimed at determining the proportion and severity of OPD in preschool children with CP in Bangladesh, compared to Australia. Method: Cross-sectional, comparison of two cohorts. Two hundred and eleven children with CP aged 18-36 months, 81 in Bangladesh (mean = 27.6 months, 61.7% males), and 130 in Australia (mean = 27.4 months, 62.3% males). The Dysphagia Disorders Survey (DDS) - Part 2 was the primary OPD outcome for proportion and severity of OPD. Gross motor skills were classified using the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), motor type/distribution. Results: (i) Bangladesh sample: proportion OPD = 68.1%;severity = 10.4 SD = 7.9. Australia sample: proportion OPD = 55.7%; severity = 7.0 SD = 7.5. (ii) There were no differences in the proportion or severity of OPD between samples when stratified for GMFCS (OR = 2.4, p = 0.051 and β = 1.2, p = 0.08, respectively). Conclusions: Despite overall differences in patterns of OPD between Bangladesh and Australia, proportion and severity of OPD (when adjusted for the functional gross motor severity of the samples) were equivalent. This provides support for the robust association between functional motor severity and OPD proportion/severity in children with CP, regardless of the resource context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic farming has risen in popularity with both farmers and consumers, with Australia having the largest area of certified organic land in the world. Australian governments have traditionally ignored the organic farming sector, while making policies that have hampered its further development. Although policies have become more favorable over time, recently, there has been a slight reversal in approach. Such a reversal in policy makes Australia unique when compared to the pro-organic policy developments in nearly all other developed countries. This article reviews Australian government organic farm policy and outlines key areas where policy changes are necessary in property rights, public extension, research, market based instruments and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Australia is the only developed country in the world that still has endemic levels of blinding trachoma. The SAFE (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, Environmental improvement) strategy is an effective public health intervention that has been successfully used to eliminate blinding trachoma in some of the poorest countries of the world. Yet the SAFE strategy has not been systematically implemented in Australia. We undertook semi-structured interviews to identify some of barriers to the implementation of the SAFE strategy within remote indigenous communities of Australia. Methods: Health care professionals who were responsible for delivering trachoma control programs throughout the Northern Territory were asked to participate in a semi-structured interview. Quantitative analysis was performed using an existing strategic management framework. Results: Fourteen individuals were interviewed. Responses were grouped into 19 categories; 12 from the existing strategic management framework and 7 additional categories that were created for ideas unique to the trachoma control program in Australia. Conclusions: A number of key themes emerged from the interview and are presented in a literary style. From these key themes critical success factors for the implementation of a sustainable trachoma control program were identified. With the election of the Rudd government there has been a renewed interest in 'closing the gap' between the health of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. A federal government funding package of $58 million over four years has just been announced to tackle trachoma. It is hoped that the findings of this research can assist in making sure that money achieves its goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early labour force exit is a significant challenge associated with the ageing workforce in Australia and many other developed countries. A reduction and increased flexibility of work hours has been suggested to improve labour force participation of the mature aged cohort. However, little is known about mature aged workers' aspirations for transitional employment, and how demographic variables of mature aged workers influence these aspirations. In the current study, 1027 mature workers aged over 50 years and employed in regional areas of Australia were surveyed on their interest in transitional employment following retirement, and their aspirations for work conditions, training and development, employer/employee roles and responsibilities, and incentives and benefits regarding transitional employment. A series of Chi square tests were conducted to identify demographic group differences according to timeframe until retirement, education level and occupation level. The majority of participants was interested in transitional employment, and were prepared to undergo training and development and work with management staff in order to achieve this end. Two general perceptions of transitional employment emerged. The first was transitional employment as an opportunity for learning and career development or change, which was most commonly aspired to amongst respondents with more than six years until retirement, a university education, or a professional/managerial role. The second was transitional employment as it is more traditionally viewed: as a chance to continue on in one's current role at reduced hours post retirement. The remaining groups represented variations on this theme. Implications of the current study include the divergence of transitional employment and training and development aspirations amongst a mature aged cohort, as well as mature aged workers' perceptions of organisational management's roles in supporting transitional employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the strategies and its effect to the industrial development in Australia. Strategies have a purpose which is to close the gap between the advanced and what Gerschenkron called backward countries. The situation facing countries and firms that come late on the industrial scene is one that combines manifestly hopeless drawbacks difficulties and inadequacies with advantages. Global value chains are being formed through leading firms in advanced countries.

The article presents a discussion on the inequality in a knowledge based economy. The concept of the knowledge economy has increasingly been used to underpin education policy in developed countries. In the case of Australia, it has been applied to post-compulsory education policy, with efforts to increase education retention in senior secondary education and reform of vocational education in the senior years. The article draws on two research projects with senior secondary schools. Many students and their teachers and parents perceived qualifications not so much as providing the knowledge considered necessary by government policy for the contemporary economy, but rather as a screen used by employers to sort and select. Knowledge of opportunity structures and access to resources while not only defined by social class, operated to create differential access to available choices in the educational market place. Despite ongoing inequality the article argues that the hope many students expressed in relation to education could be fulfilled in practice.

ABSTRACT The dramatic rise in asylum applications in industrialized countries during the lust decade has resulted in the development of an increasingly restrictive asylum regime. The tools these countries have devised for containing and deterring asylum claims--the concepts of Safe Countries of Origin and Safe Third Countries, Manifestly Unfounded Applications, and numerous administrative measures which act us barriers to entry--are targeted specifically at nationals of countries most likely to produce refugees. Additional pre-entry measures attempt to make the asylum route as difficult as possible through the use of visa requirements and carrier sanctions. For those asylum seekers who manage to make the journey despite these obstacles, the administrative evaluation of their claims is accelerated, the legal procedures shortened, and the opportunities for appeal reduced. In addition, governments are increasingly resorting to bilateral agreements to ensure the readmission of rejected asylum seekers into the countries from or through which they came. The implementation of these measures in many European countries--but also in North America and Australia--are already well on their way, and the trend toward harmonizing these restrictionist responses is likely to continue. Policy makers need to be reminded of the risks of their policies for the basic tenets of asylum and refugee protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]