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Australia Day continues to be a divisive event in Australia. The contentious public holiday currently falls on January 26, a date which marks the beginning of colonisation in Australia and the subsequent persecution of Australian First Nations peoples. Despite the date's controversial historical ties, some Australians remain in support of 'saving the date'. The current study aimed to deepen understanding of Australians' thoughts and opinions regarding Australia Day, including their reasons in support of changing or saving the January 26 date. Responses from 208 Australian citizens, collected via a national survey, were thematically examined. While analysis confirmed a division in attitudes towards Australia Day, greater support for date change was found among younger Australians. The current study applies and extends Social Identity Theory, identifying key themes which were linked to support for date change and improved intergroup relations within the Australia Day context. Themes included acknowledgement of colonisation and the damage done to First Nations peoples, participants' political views, and educational awareness. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications which may assist with breaking down the social barriers that support date‐change resistance, helping Australians move towards a more inclusive future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are facing growing levels of scrutiny to prove their identity to access Indigenous-specific government services designed to mitigate the impacts of past government policies. Yet, it is those who have been most severely impacted by past government policies of forcible removal from Country and separation of families who often face challenges obtaining evidence to prove their Indigeneity. Employing narrative inquiry and collaborative autoethnography, this article draws on the personal reflections and experiences of the Aboriginal authors to explore the health and wellbeing impacts of deficit discourses, perceptions, and judgements about Indigeneity in Australia. Our personal stories are shared to enliven discussion on how proof of Indigeneity requirements may systemically compound ongoing intergenerational trauma. These stories and perspectives are shared to stimulate review of proof of Indigeneity policies and procedures by government agencies and education institutions across Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary reflects upon the constitutional and legal foundations of management of natural resources in Australia. It is a revised version of the 2022 Annual Lecture of the Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law delivered at Melbourne Law School on 3 November 2022. Natural resources have shaped Australia’s history, economy, society and environment for almost 200 years, and continue to do so. The exploitation of these resources involves governments as both proprietors and regulators, together with private enterprise as explorers and developers. The complex relationship between governments and private enterprise provides the central theme of this paper. Australia’s federal system of government adds complexity to that relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how rising concern for animal welfare in Australia is manifested in increased media coverage of these topics, including growing coverage of animal sentience, rights, and welfare. In Australia, canine existence is often determined by their positioning within cultural frames. Dogs have been integral to Aboriginal social, family, and environmental relationships for generations; however, colonisation brought fundamental changes to these established relationships, with ramifications that have prompted welfare concerns about camp dog populations. The goal of this article is to review existing research discourses and epistemological positioning of the supposed camp dog problem. We are not assessing individual programmes or reporting on fieldwork conducted with communities. Instead, this initial paper reviews some of the current literature to identify ways forward in facilitating Aboriginal self-determining of camp dog interactions in communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how images and text have been used in the children's picture book Meet ... Captain Cook (2011) by using the Ideational, Interpersonal and Textual metafunctions developed by Clare Painter et al. (2013). The metafunctions operate simultaneously and are about something (ideational), enable communicative interaction with others (interpersonal), and make sense in relation to previous understandings (textual). An examination of the images and texts using this framework will facilitate an insight into how the author and illustrator of Meet ... Captain Cook explore Cook and his legacy, notably his first encounter with the First Nations peoples of Australia, and how it contrasts with the historical record. The metafunctions developed by Painter reveal an often-precarious balancing of a long-standing and often uninterrogated respect for Cook and the colonial legacy of white possession and Indigenous dispossession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine artificial structures provide substrates on which organisms can settle and grow. These structures facilitate establishment and spread of non-indigenous species, in part due to their distinct physical features (substrate material, movement, orientation) compared to natural habitat analogues such as rocky shores, and because following construction, they have abundant resources (space) for species to colonise. Despite the perceived importance of these habitat features, few studies have directly compared distributions of native and non-indigenous species or considered how functional identity and associated environmental preferences drive associations. We undertook a meta-analysis to investigate whether colonisation of native and non-indigenous species varies between artificial structures with features most closely resembling natural habitats (natural substrates, fixed structures, surfaces oriented upwards) and those least resembling natural habitats (artificial materials, floating structures, downfacing or vertical surfaces), or whether functional identity is the primary driver of differences. Analyses were done at global and more local (SE Australia) scales to investigate if patterns held regardless of scale. Our results suggest that functional group (i.e., algae, ascidians. barnacles, bryozoans, polychaetes) rather than species classification (i.e., native or non-indigenous) are the main drivers of differences in communities between different types of artificial structures. Specifically, there were differences in the abundance of ascidians, barnacles, and polychaetes between (1) upfacing and downfacing/vertical surfaces, and (2) floating and fixed substrates. When differences were detected, taxa were most abundant on features least resembling natural habitats. Results varied between global and SE Australian analyses, potentially due to reduced variability across studies in the SE Australian dataset. Thus, the functional group and associated preferences of the highest threat NIS in the area should be considered in design strategies (e.g., ecological engineering) to limit their establishment on newly built infrastructure. [Display omitted] • We assessed effects of habitat features on colonisation by marine biota. • Abundances did not vary between native and non-indigenous species. • Abundance of functional groups varied between features. • Ecologically informed design strategies are important to reduce invasion risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of throughcare as a means to prevent recidivism continues to attract considerable attention in Australia over the last couple of years. This is particularly the case for Indigenous peoples, as the transition to life after imprisonment proves to be particularly challenging for them, resulting in high rates of recidivism and ongoing overrepresentation in Australian prisons. In this contribution, we report on research we conducted in two Australian jurisdictions. After identifying the problems in developing effective throughcare strategies for Indigenous peoples leaving prison, we turn to Canada for examples of good practice. Canada was chosen for comparison as it is also a settler colonial state, experiencing similar problems of overrepresentation of their Indigenous population in the prison. After a critical analysis of these practices, we conclude that the reasons for a problematic re-integration of Indigenous peoples are related to a tendency to impose solutions and strategies developed in the white mainstream onto Indigenous communities without acknowledging traditional cultures and structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era where higher education institutions appear increasingly committed to what Sara Ahmed calls 'speech acts' whereby declared goodwill, through stated commitments to diversity, equity, and increasing Indigenous student enrolment and completion have been made; it is undeniable that Indigenous academics are in high demand. With fewer than 430 Indigenous academics currently employed here on the continent now commonly referred to as 'Australia', and 69% of that cohort identifying as female, what does it look like to experience this demand as an Indigenous academic woman? Drawing on data collected from a Nation-wide study in 2019 of 17 one-on-one, face-to-face interviews with Indigenous academic women, using Indigenous research methodologies and poetic transcription, this paper explores the experiences and relational aspects of Indigenous academic women's roles in Australian higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Exchange of plant lineages between Australia and Southeast Asia has had a substantial impact on the evolution of Australia's northern, tropical flora, with important ramifications for its conservation and biosecurity. Despite this, floristic exchange tracks between northern Australia and Southeast Asia remain poorly understood. To address this, we conducted a molecular phylogeographic case study to identify exchange tracks between Australia and Southeast Asia. Location: India, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific islands. Taxon: The widespread tropical monsoonal tree species Aglaia elaeagnoidea (Meliaceae). Methods: We conducted a DArTseq phylogeographic study of 141 herbarium and silica‐dried samples sourced from across the range of A. elaeagnoidea. We analysed 176,331 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across 90,456 loci using multivariate, admixture, genetic differentiation and coalescent methods to characterise phylogeographic and phylogenetic patterns. These analyses were considered in the context of an environmental niche model for the last glacial maximum. Results: Two exchange tracks were identified: one from New Guinea to Cape York Peninsula in north‐east Australia, and a second from Timor‐Leste to the Kimberley Plateau of north‐west Australia. The Cape York Peninsula track is contemporary, characterised by ongoing genetic exchange, whereas the Kimberley Plateau track is historic, facilitated by multiple past exposures of the Arafura Shelf during the Pleistocene. Overall, we suggest that phylogeographic patterns of A. elaeagnoidea have resulted from a combination of repeated range expansion and contraction cycles concurrent with Quaternary climate fluctuations and stochastic dispersal events. Main conclusions: This study provides the first molecular phylogeographic evidence for two floristic exchange tracks between northern Australia and Southeast Asia. It also highlights the influence of Quaternary climate fluctuations on the complex biogeography of the region, and supports the idea that the Kimberley Plateau and Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia have separate biogeographic histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yaama (Hello)! This article will take you on a journey, through my eyes and my experiences. I hope you are ready to hear, explore and come to understand the context that I am positioned within as a Gamilaroi yinarr (woman) from Australia. I acknowledge Elders, past, present and future. For they have forged the way before us, and they have inspired me to articulate my experiences. In this article I share my Indigenous voice within the academic space with the aim to draw attention to the issue of colonisation and enable cross-cultural understanding. Throughout this article, I have utilised my voice to reference my reflections on the challenges related to colonisation in two distinct formats: an open letter to my sons (as they are my future) and a paper for you, the reader. Within this space, I acknowledge my accountability to myself as a Gamilaroi yinarr, guni (mother) and researcher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian texts for the young run the gamut of representational approaches to the removal of Indigenous children. Early colonial texts treated child removals as benign acts designed to rescue Indigenous children from savagery, but from the 1960s Indigenous writers produced life writing and fiction that pursued strategies of decolonisation. This essay plots the history of Stolen Generation narratives in Australia, from the first Australian account for children in Charlotte Barton's A Mother's Offering to Her Children to Doris Pilkington Garimara's Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, Philip Noyce's film Rabbit-Proof Fence, and pedagogical materials that mediate the book and film to children. Garimara's book and Noyce's film expose the motivations of those responsible for child removal policies and practices: to eliminate Indigenous people and cultures and to replace them with white populations. Many pedagogical materials deploy euphemistic and self-serving narratives that seek to 'protect' non-Indigenous children from the truths of colonisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food miles is a concept developed in the 1990s as a critique of the negative social and environmental consequences of transporting foods over very long distances. While intended to draw attention to a contemporary problem, the movement of food has a long history to which the concept of food miles can be usefully applied. Drawing upon government correspondence, statistics and personal journals, this article investigates the significance of food miles in establishing the colony of New South Wales, Australia, between 1788 and 1800, with a particular emphasis on sugar. While the some of the issues noted at the end of the twentieth century were present, other factors, such as the high costs of transport, associated waste, and food security were of greater concern to those provisioning the colony and led them to seek to reduce food miles by purchasing supplies in the region. However, other priorities, including preferences for familiar foods and for restricting trade to within the British Empire, created a countervailing pressure which kept food miles very high throughout the period under consideration. This study shows that long before the terminology was coined, food miles played a role in decision making around food supplies and invites the application of the concept to other historical periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often, colonisation is considered a single, past event; in actuality, colonisation is a continual enculturating practice that galvanises historical Indigenous inequality and colonial privilege. This study deconstructs social tension surround Australia Day—the national day of celebration that for some is seen as the date marking the beginning of Australia but for others marks invasion. Given that the date of celebration marks the beginning of non‐Indigenous privilege and Indigenous disadvantage in Australia, debate exists as to whether the date should remain the same. Twelve people, self‐identified as wanting the date of Australia Day to stay the same, participated in semistructured interviews; transcripts were analysed using causal layered analysis. Findings suggest an unstable national identity centred on a denial of past and present oppression of Indigenous peoples—the past is conceptualised as having little relevance to present‐day Indigenous inequalities. Findings generated appear transferable to understanding social tensions that arise in colonised states globally, particularly relating to Indigenous inequalities and colonist privilege. Exploring Australia Day acts as a conduit for understanding how social psychological barriers occur to deny historical and present social injustices and positively constructs oppression within colonist states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The questions of when and how humans reached Sahul, the Pleistocene continent of Australia and New Guinea, has remained a central issue of Australian archaeology since its development as an academic discipline in the mid‐twentieth century. Modelling this event has persistently appealed to minimal assumptions – the simplest watercraft, the shortest routes, the smallest viable colonising groups. This paper argues that Australian archaeology can no longer ignore the way our understanding of this initial colonisation is being reshaped by current genomic research. It reviews this evidence and concludes that a colonising wave of hundreds or perhaps low thousands of people was involved. If correct, it suggests that we need to rethink our models, modify or discard the minimalist assumptions that have so far driven them and consider how this different paradigm affects our understanding of early settlement in Sahul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate factors informing burns care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.Design: In-depth qualitative study with semi-structured interview questions.Setting and Participants: Multidisciplinary team members who provide care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in six tertiary burn units across five Australian jurisdictions.Results: Results from 76 interviews suggest that burns care in Australia is informed by a web of complex factors including evidence, resources and resourcing, individual clinician decision making processes and beliefs, and models of care. A Western biomedical health paradigm governs healthcare system policy for burns care, that participants report is not always aligned with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families' concepts of health and healing. Within this paradigm, allocation of resources informs the provision (or not) of care; as does expert information and direction from senior clinicians. Participants reported that jurisdictional specific models of burns care developed using service and team experience, population data and other evidence derived in a scientific paradigm also influence delivery of care.Conclusion: There is a need for changes in the way evidence informs policy and practice in burns care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families so that it incorporates Indigenous constructs of health and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pudjinuk Rockshelter No. 1 is one of two small, adjacent shelters located in the limestone cliffs of the River Murray Gorge, South Australia. While both rockshelters represent a crucial node in the cultural landscape of the region, Pudjinuk Rockshelter No. 1 is significant for its remnant pre-contact rock art and the body of historical inscriptions it contains. Site surveys recorded 188 motifs, only one of which was a pre-contact engraving, indicating that the 'graffiti' has almost entirely obliterated a body of Aboriginal petroglyphs. Historical research to ascertain the identities of those represented in the post-contact corpus shows the inscriptions to be the work of members of frontier conflict/punitive expeditions, local European settlers and a non-local Aboriginal man. Of the motifs that can be confidently attributed to German/European settlers from villages in nearby districts, one incorporates a swastika, probably engraved in 1932. Pudjinuk Rockshelter No. 1 reveals deep Aboriginal connection as well as interpenetrating tensions and social histories as a result of European invasion, colonisation and global events. However, even where inscriptions serve to desecrate the site they nevertheless co-exist with the Aboriginal motif, creating a new 'dependency'—entangled for as long as they endure together on the rockshelter walls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental epigenetics is increasingly employed to understand the health outcomes of communities who have experienced historical trauma and structural violence. Epigenetics provides a way to think about traumatic events and sustained deprivation as biological "exposures" that contribute to ill-health across generations. In Australia, some Indigenous researchers and clinicians are embracing epigenetic science as a framework for theorising the slow violence of colonialism as it plays out in intergenerational legacies of trauma and illness. However, there is dispute, contention, and caution as well as enthusiasm among these research communities.In this article, we trace strategies of "refusal" (Simpson, 2014) in response to epigenetics in Indigenous contexts. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Australia with researchers and clinicians in Indigenous health, we explore how some construct epigenetics as useless knowledge and a distraction from implementing anti-colonial change, rather than a tool with which to enact change. Secondly, we explore how epigenetics narrows definitions of colonial harm through the optic of molecular trauma, reproducing conditions in which Indigenous people are made intelligible through a lens of "damaged" bodies. Faced with these two concerns, many turn away from epigenetics altogether, refusing its novelty and supposed benefit for Indigenous health equity and resisting the pull of postgenomics., (© 2023. Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

We present Bayesian modelling on a long sequence of radiocarbon ages from the archaeological site of Nawarla Gabarnmang, central Arnhem Land plateau, northern Australia. A horizon of wind-borne sediments containing flaked stone artefacts and charcoal commencing >45,610 cal BP (the young end of the modelled boundary age range, which extends beyond the limit of the calibration curve), with a median modelled age of 48,500 cal BP, signals the onset of aeolian mobilisation of fine sands and silts across the landscape, and re-deposition within the site at a time synchronous with the first evidence of people. This earliest cultural horizon (Stratigraphic Unit 4) contains 509 stone artefacts, and is marked by a contemporaneous sedimentary break, from underlying culturally sterile sediments consisting of disintegrating roof-fall and in situ sandstone and quartzite to overlying culturally-rich wind-blown sand. The new radiocarbon ages and wind-blown sediments together provide evidence for the commencement of noticeable landscape burning on the Arnhem Land plateau c. 48,500 cal BP, suggesting an intensification of landscape management practices at the summit of the Arnhem Land plateau some 10,000–15,000 years after the lowest dense band of artefacts (Phase 2) at Madjedbebe on the floodplains 90 km to the north. These results have ramifications for the structure and timing of the spread of people across Australia, and the extinction of megafauna in Sahul. • Radiocarbon ages spanning the past c. 48,500 years of human occupation are presented for Nawarla Gabarnmang, north Australia. • Earliest flaked stone artefacts and in situ charcoal appear in tandem. • The first stone artefacts and charcoal appear within the site with the onset of aeolian sediments. • The earliest artefacts, in situ charcoal and aeolian sediments overlie soft sediments originating from roof-fall. • The onset of aeolian sediments with artefacts and charcoal in the site suggest anthropic landscape modifications 45,610–52,160 years ago. • These results suggest permanent occupation of the rugged Arnhem Land plateau > 10,000 years after the northern floodplains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The jumping spider fauna of 99 Australian islands of coral, volcanic, continental and mixed origin was investigated in terms of taxonomic diversity, origin (source), dispersal and habitat preferences. A total of 110 taxa were recorded; with 18 taxa found on at least five islands. Barrow, Horn, Fitzroy, Fraser, Murray and Moa Islands appeared the most diverse, each with at least 10 species. On all islands combined the most speciose genera were Cytaea (16 species), Cosmophasis (8), 'Lycidas'/Jotus (5), Simaetha (4) and Holoplatys (4). The island faunas appeared to be a less diverse version of the mainland (mostly eastern coast) and showed no evidence of local radiation and endemism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research presented in this article is based on a four-year place-based qualitative case study of Aboriginal success in addressing Aboriginal disadvantage in the Australian city of Newcastle. The article presents extracts from in-depth interviews with Aboriginal people working on a day-to-day basis with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people experiencing disadvantage in this city. Interviewees define Indigenous disadvantage in a way that differs considerably from how it is defined in mainstream policy circles. They describe Indigenous disadvantage as being grounded in the histories of social exclusion from Australian society, rather than merely a contemporary phenomenon related socio-economic factors (i.e., lack of educational and employment opportunities). They indicated that it was (a) closely tied to Aboriginal experiences of displacement and trauma; (b) not just a material problem but a historical and social structural problem; and (c) unique to each community. For instance, urban Indigenous disadvantage is distinct from Indigenous disadvantage in remote areas. This supports the claims of Indigenous sociologist Maggie Walter (2009). In doing so, the article more strongly aligns with a critique of a neo-liberal racial project, which defines Indigenous disadvantage within an individualistic framework of individual rights and in terms of socioeconomic gaps, from the voices of Aboriginal representatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australians of European descent reconstruct Australian history to silence the mistreatment of Indigenous Australians and to favour the coloniser perspective. Literature suggests that although this reconstructed history is typically accepted uncritically, in recent times, young people may have become more critical of this historical account. Exploring young people's conceptualisations of Australian history may provide insight into emerging perspectives of Australian history, and ultimately young people's understanding of Australian identity. A qualitative research design with a social constructionist approach was adopted. Twelve young people aged 18 to 25 who self‐identified as having an interest in Australian history were recruited and participated in a semistructured interview. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically. Three major themes emerged: "learning and 'relearning' Australian history," "making sense of what is happening," and "who is an Australian?" Viewed through a Freirean lens, some young Australians of European descent appear to be undergoing a conceptual shift from holding perspectives associated with the oppressor to adopting a more critical stance of Australian history. Despite this, understandings of oppression were at times paradoxical. Further research is required to understand the phenomena of this proposed shift and to facilitate and encourage this process of siding with the oppressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Candida albicans is the most prevalent human fungal commensal organism and is reported to be the most frequent aetiological organism responsible for infection associated with incontinence-associated dermatitis. However, it remains unclear whether incontinence predisposes a patient to increased Candida colonisation or whether incontinence acts as a trigger for Candida infection in those already colonised. The purpose of this observational cross-sectional study was to estimate colonisation rates of C. albicans in continent, compared to incontinent patients, and patients with incontinence-associated dermatitis. Data were collected on 81 inpatients of a major Australian hospital and included a pelvic skin inspection and microbiological specimens to detect C. Albicans at hospital admission. The mean age of the sample was 76 years ( SD = 12.22) with 53% being male. Incontinent participants ( n = 53) had a non-significant trend towards greater Candida colonisation rates at the perianal site (43% versus 28%) χ2(1, N = 81) = 4·453, p = ·638 and the inguinal site (24% versus 14%) χ2(1, N = 81) = 6·868, p = ·258 compared to continent patients ( n = 28). The incontinent subgroup with incontinence-associated dermatitis ( n = 22) showed no difference in colonisation rates compared to those without incontinence-associated dermatitis. Understanding the epidemiology of colonisation may have implications for the prevention of Candida infection in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Captain Charles Sturt followed the course of the Murray River beyond the colonial settlements in 1830 he regularly met with Aboriginal groups. In many cases these meetings were the first between European colonists and the Aborigines living along the inland river corridor. During these meetings Sturt recorded the visible signs of severe pathological reactions among many of the males and females he met. This paper argues that the disease Sturt saw was an epidemic of sexually transmitted syphilis active among populations with no previous immunological exposure to the causative pathogen. The origin of this disease was not a result of its spread from the established colonial settlements but was separately introduced by sealing and whaling ships on the south coast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing use of environmental flows in rivers and wetlands around the world, aimed at maintaining ecological health by allocating water to the environment, arguably also provides space for recognition of Indigenous water values. Theoretically, if environmental water values, which nominally determine what water is made available for restoring river health through environmental flows, do coincide with Indigenous water values, then this mutual benefit is conceivable. However, in contexts such as the Ord in northern Australia, where environmental water values are defined as post-dam construction, then further marginalisation of Indigenous interests likely ensues. This paper looks at the history of two key industries in the Ord, pastoralism and irrigation, to examine the origins of its current geography of environmental water values. A geography of water emerges that unpacks postcolonial relations as manifest in society-water relations. I examine how particular colonial values that reinforce the status quo of industry in the Ord also dominate water management, effectively sidelining Indigenous water values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of his account of original appropriation, John Locke famously argued that uncultivated land was open to acquisition. Historically, this account has played a large role in justifying the seizure of indigenous land. In this article, I contend that despite the past acts of dispossession Locke's account seemingly justified, a complete rejection of Locke's idea of original appropriation would be a mistake since a generalised account can be constructed that does not subvert indigenous ownership. I also contend that the revised account can be used to critique the current legal and political situation regarding native title in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding succession of fish communities associated with artificial structures is required to assess the potential of these initiatives as part of fisheries enhancement strategies and determine possible impacts on the broader ecological community. Artificial reef systems constructed in three south-eastern Australian estuaries were monitored over a four-year period. Recruitment of fish to the artificial reefs was rapid, with significantly greater species richness observed on artificial reefs than on natural habitats for the majority of locations and times. The rate of community change varied between estuaries and appeared to be related to the quality and amount of existing habitat and the distance of the artificial reef from sources of recruitment. General patterns were also identified among estuaries driven by strong recruitment, followed by a rapid reduction in several mobile schooling species. By contrast, there was early and sustained recruitment of a variety of sparid species, which are of importance to recreational and commercial fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated two questions: Why did most historical releases of rabbits on the Australian mainland fail? And why did many releases of rabbits on islands around Australia persist? We reviewed historical sources and present here nearly 300 records of the importation, sale, transportation and release of rabbits in the period 1788-1900, with >90 records before the popularly cited 1859 Barwon Park (near Geelong, Victoria) release by Thomas Austin. Similarly, we present records of localised impact of quolls (especially Dasyurus viverrinus) on rabbits and poultry, indicative of the great abundance of quolls. Rabbits were often imported and traded and releases were frequent and widespread. This evidence implicates native predators, particularly quolls (Dasyurus spp.) as responsible for the widespread and early failure of rabbits to establish on mainland Australia. In contrast, rabbits thrived on many islands, nearly all of which lacked cursorial natural enemies. We suggest that these accounts support the establishment of rabbits from several locations, with Barwon Park being a primary location and rabbit source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Before colonisation Australia was fully named by its Indigenous population, but that complex network of naming was largely overlooked as Europeans introduced their own names for features and settlements. Each of Australia's states and territories now has a nomenclature authority, whose activities are coordinated through the Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia. Recently there has been a focus on increasing the number of placenames of Indigenous origin within the Introduced system through assigning Indigenous names to places hitherto lacking official names; using dual names; and replacing Introduced names regarded as offensive by members of Indigenous communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until 50 years ago the purpose of publishers in Australia was to act as distributors for overseas companies, mainly British. From 1970 onwards a local publishing industry began to develop, taking advantage of the greatly increased investment by publishers in distribution systems to service the “closed market.” In 1991 the “30-day rule” was introduced, leading to an increased amount of local printing of overseas titles, and a growing number of rights purchases of overseas-published books. The pros and cons of “separating out” Australian rights are addressed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mitochondrial DNA sequences were used to investigate phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships among Australian freshwater shrimp from the genus Caridina H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Atyidae) and congeners from potential source populations throughout the Indo-West Pacific region. Numerous Australian taxa have close evolutionary relationships with non-Australian taxa from locations throughout the region, indicating a diverse origin of the Australian freshwater fauna. This implies many colonisations to or from Australia over a long period, and thus highlights the surprising adeptness of freshwater shrimp in dispersal across ocean barriers and the unity of much of the region’s freshwater biota. Interestingly, a study on Australia’s other main genus of atyid shrimp, Paratya Miers, 1882, inferred only a single colonisation. A number of potential species radiations within Australia were also identified. This agrees with patterns detected for a large number of Australian freshwater taxa, and so implies a vicariant explanation due to the development of colder, dryer climates during the late Miocene/early Pliocene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Reforestation has been suggested as a way to mitigate the effects of tropical rain forest loss. However, factors influencing the successful colonisation of biota into newly created rainforest are poorly understood. We assessed beetle species assemblages with flight interception traps, in sites undergoing rainforest restoration across the largely cleared landscape of the Atherton Tablelands in north-eastern Queensland, Australia. There were two levels of site age (2–4 years and 6–17 years) and two distances from intact rainforest (adjacent and>0.9km), with six sites in each treatment, together with six reference sites in each of pasture and small rainforest remnants (n =36 sites). Multivariate metrics were used to assess the restored sites’ relative similarity to pasture and rainforest, in terms of both physical habitat structure and beetle species composition within ten family groups. Older restoration sites were structurally most similar to rainforest. Older sites and those adjacent to rainforest had a more rainforest-like beetle species composition (without significant interaction). However, even the closer and older sites had a substantially lower abundance and richness of rainforest-associated beetles than did rainforest. Age effects were generally stronger than distance effects, with the latter appearing to be entirely driven by rare rainforest species. Beetle assemblage similarity to rainforest was more strongly correlated with structural similarity to rainforest than with age, except within older sites. The use of revegetation techniques which lead to more rainforest-like structural conditions appears to be of over-riding importance in catalysing the rapid acquisition of volant rainforest beetle assemblages in the initial stages of restoration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ongoing histories of racism in colonial nations such as Australia challenge us as academics to consider how we understand racism and its role in practices of both privilege and oppression. In this article we as two non-indigenous people living in Australia attempt to work through issues of collective responsibility by focusing on what we believe are three key issues in the study of racism: 1) methodology and researcher subjectivity, 2) subjectification as a practice of racialisation and 3) racialised embodiment and its relation to power. In exploring these three issues we utilise theoretical interpretations of subjectivity and embodiment alongside a brief examination of a speech by Prime Minister Howard in order to elaborate our claim that racism is foundational to white subjectivities in Australia. By examining colonial violence and our relation to it, we seek to develop a framework within which psychological research on racism in Australia may disturb white claims to belonging by continuing to explore how racism works in the service of the ‘good nation’. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the limits of conventional legal understandings of responsibility as a means of dealing with the legacies of colonisation of Australia. It suggests that the overriding focus upon ‘moral agency’ in contemporary legal and historical debates may actually restrict or derail the institution of reconciliation as a tool of justice. I suggest that the tragic tradition can enrich or extend our understanding of the reconciliation process, firstly by sponsoring a concept of responsibility that does not take its bearings from the purposes or intentions of the agent and, secondly, by establishing a connection between our spectatorship on the events of the past and the education of compassion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the reasoning behind Jeremy Waldron's influential thesis concerning the possibility of the supersession of historical injustice. It argues that Waldron establishes only the possibility that distributions of property brought about by unjust acts may become just distributions in certain limited circumstances. It argues further that it is not clear that the circumstances of colonisation in Australia meet the relevant criteria and that the consequences of this argument for the rights of colonised Indigenous peoples are more limited than is commonly thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cultural safety has a stronghold within nursing practice and nursing education in Australia and is seen as a philosophy and practice that challenges and refutes previous concepts and frameworks of cultural awareness and cultural competence (Petric, 2019). Cultural safety practices are required for all members of the nursing profession, with a gaze now focused upon Australian Schools of Nursing to demonstrate their commitment and readiness towards cultural safety., Aim: This research study measures the commitment and readiness towards cultural safety within Schools of Nursing in Australian universities., Methods: This research study utilises a quantitative descriptive survey design, inviting the Deans of Schools of Nursing in Australia to respond to a modified Occupational Commitment and Health Professional Program Readiness Assessment Compass (DOH, 2014), that measures the current levels of commitment and readiness towards cultural safety., Findings: This research study provides evidence of cultural safety strategies within Australian Schools of Nursing with leadership and commitment being the highest scoring factor (M = 34.81; SD 6.34). However, structures towards and support for the implementation of cultural safety strategies and practices were demonstrated as weaknesses (M = 21.18; SD 4.71)., Discussion: There is a valuable opportunity for leadership and knowledge sharing between Schools of Nursing in Australia. The research outcomes highlight the importance for Schools of Nursing to review, reflect upon, and fully implement the Nursing and Midwifery Curriculum Framework (CATSINaM, 2017) and to audit and report levels of cultural safety., Conclusions: There are cultural safety champions and their leadership is important to the continuing development of curricula, organisations and the profession. These individuals' actions must also be reflected within and supported by organisational cultures, as they fundamentally encourage or obstruct the development of cultural safety in nursing students and academics; material, cultural and human resources are fundamental to the transformations towards cultural safety and to the decolonising practices of the nursing profession (Petric, 2019)., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Gram-negatives (3GCR-GN) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are common causes of multi-drug resistant healthcare-associated infections, for which gut colonisation is considered a prerequisite. However, there remains a key knowledge gap about colonisation and infection dynamics in high-risk settings such as the intensive care unit (ICU), thus hampering infection prevention efforts., Methods: We performed a three-month prospective genomic survey of infecting and gut-colonising 3GCR-GN and VRE among patients admitted to an Australian ICU. Bacteria were isolated from rectal swabs (n = 287 and n = 103 patients ≤2 and > 2 days from admission, respectively) and diagnostic clinical specimens between Dec 2013 and March 2014. Isolates were subjected to Illumina whole-genome sequencing (n = 127 3GCR-GN, n = 41 VRE). Multi-locus sequence types (STs) and antimicrobial resistance determinants were identified from de novo assemblies. Twenty-three isolates were selected for sequencing on the Oxford Nanopore MinION device to generate completed reference genomes (one for each ST isolated from ≥2 patients). Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were identified by read mapping and variant calling against these references., Results: Among 287 patients screened on admission, 17.4 and 8.4% were colonised by 3GCR-GN and VRE, respectively. Escherichia coli was the most common species (n = 36 episodes, 58.1%) and the most common cause of 3GCR-GN infection. Only two VRE infections were identified. The rate of infection among patients colonised with E. coli was low, but higher than those who were not colonised on admission (n = 2/33, 6% vs n = 4/254, 2%, respectively, p = 0.3). While few patients were colonised with 3GCR- Klebsiella pneumoniae or Pseudomonas aeruginosa on admission (n = 4), all such patients developed infections with the colonising strain. Genomic analyses revealed 10 putative nosocomial transmission clusters (≤20 SNVs for 3GCR-GN, ≤3 SNVs for VRE): four VRE, six 3GCR-GN, with epidemiologically linked clusters accounting for 21 and 6% of episodes, respectively (OR 4.3, p = 0.02)., Conclusions: 3GCR-E. coli and VRE were the most common gut colonisers. E. coli was the most common cause of 3GCR-GN infection, but other 3GCR-GN species showed greater risk for infection in colonised patients. Larger studies are warranted to elucidate the relative risks of different colonisers and guide the use of screening in ICU infection control., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Satellite observations of Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria between 1987 and 2015 highlighted that many mangroves on the coastline bounding low-lying plains were progressively extending inland and to a lesser extent, in a seaward direction. However, in 2015/16, a significant and widely publicised mangrove dieback event occurred, this was attributed to a combination of climate (temperature, precipitation anomalies) and a ~20–30 cm decline in sea level. A similar but unreported event also occurred in Kakadu National Park (NP) in the Northern Territory. This study aimed to a) quantify the extent of this dieback in the NP, b) establish the characteristics of mangroves (floristics, structure) and the substrate elevation prior to and following event and c) establish links with climate and sea level. Using time-series of high resolution airborne and Unmanned Airborne Vehicle (UAV) data, the majority of mangroves experiencing full or partial dieback were found to occur on the landward margins. Reference to sea-level data indicated that mangroves had colonised and retreated in unison with sea level fluctuations over previous decades but increased in overall extent and cover as sea level rise dominated. Mangroves experiencing full mortality were located on higher elevation substrates where the sea level/tidal influence was least. The study concluded that whilst short-term ENSO-related sea level may result in dieback in northern Australia, the long-term projection of an increase in sea level is anticipated to lead to extension of mangroves in the landward direction. Image 1 • Mangrove respond to water level fluctuations associated with sea-level rise & climatic variability. • Remote sensing indicates mangrove expansion over previous decades with sea-level rise. • Extensive mangrove dieback in 2015/16 was mapped using high resolution data and UAV. • Landward dieback of expanding mangrove associated with ENSO related sea level fall. • ENSO dieback a short deviation in long-term pattern of expansion with sea level rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metapopulation persistence in fragmented landscapes depends on habitat patches that can support resilient local populations and sufficient connectivity between patches. Yet epidemiological theory for metapopulations has largely overlooked the capacity of particular patches to act as refuges from disease, and has suggested that connectivity can undermine persistence. Here, we show that relatively warm and saline wetlands are environmental refuges from chytridiomycosis for an endangered Australian frog, and act jointly with connectivity to sustain frog metapopulations. We coupled models of microclimate and infection probability to map chytrid prevalence, and demonstrate a strong negative relationship between chytrid prevalence and the persistence of frog populations. Simulations confirm that frog metapopulations are likely to go extinct when they lack environmental refuges from disease and lose connectivity between patches. This study demonstrates that environmental heterogeneity can mediate host-pathogen interactions in fragmented landscapes, and provides evidence that connectivity principally supports host metapopulations afflicted by facultative pathogens., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.)

Introduction: In 2011 Bond University was looking for innovative ways to meet the professional standards and guidelines in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in its Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) curriculum. In 2012 Bond piloted a compulsory cultural immersion program for all first year students, which is now a usual part of the MBBS program., Methods: Three phases were included - establishing an Indigenous health group, determining the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educational content based on the professional standards and developing nine educational sessions and resources - as well as significant administrative processes. The cultural immersion was piloted in 2012 with 92 first year medical students. Following refinements it was repeated in 2013 with 95 students and in 2014 with 94 students. A comprehensive evaluation process was undertaken that included a paper-based evaluation form using a five-point Likert scale, as well as a confidential talking circle evaluation. The response rate was 95.4% (n=271, pooled cohort). Data were entered separately into SPSS and annual reports were written to the Faculty. Descriptive statistics are reported alongside themed qualitative data., Results: The three combined student evaluation results were extremely positive. Students (n=271) strongly agreed that the workshop was well organised (M=4.3), that the facilitators contributed very positively to their experience (M=4.3), and that they were very satisfied overall with the activity (M=4.2). They agreed that the eight overall objectives had been well met (M=3.9-4.3). The nine sessions were highly evaluated with mean ratings of between 3.9 and 4.8. The 'best thing' about the immersion identified by more than half of the students was overwhelmingly (n=140) the Storytelling session, followed by bonding with the cohort, the Torres Strait Islander session and learning more about culture. The item identified as needing most improvement was the food (n=87), followed by the accommodation (n=65)., Conclusions: The use of immersion in the early part of a cultural awareness program for medical students provides an extremely valuable platform from which to launch more detailed information about the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia and its impact on the current health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Doing this in a safe, supportive cross-cultural environment with highly skilled facilitators is essential. Key to success is strong leadership, commitment and support from Faculty level, a structured educational program and educating all staff and students about its importance throughout the journey.

Published ages of >50 ka for occupation at Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II) in Australia's north have kept the site prominent in discussions about the colonisation of Sahul. The site also contains one of the largest stone artefact assemblages in Sahul for this early period. However, the stone artefacts and other important archaeological components of the site have never been described in detail, leading to persistent doubts about its stratigraphic integrity. We report on our analysis of the stone artefacts and faunal and other materials recovered during the 1989 excavations, as well as the stratigraphy and depositional history recorded by the original excavators. We demonstrate that the technology and raw materials of the early assemblage are distinctive from those in the overlying layers. Silcrete and quartzite artefacts are common in the early assemblage, which also includes edge-ground axe fragments and ground haematite. The lower flaked stone assemblage is distinctive, comprising a mix of long convergent flakes, some radial flakes with faceted platforms, and many small thin silcrete flakes that we interpret as thinning flakes. Residue and use-wear analysis indicate occasional grinding of haematite and woodworking, as well as frequent abrading of platform edges on thinning flakes. We conclude that previous claims of extensive displacement of artefacts and post-depositional disturbance may have been overstated. The stone artefacts and stratigraphic details support previous claims for human occupation 50-60 ka and show that human occupation during this time differed from later periods. We discuss the implications of these new data for understanding the first human colonisation of Sahul., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This paper describes the early settlement of Western Australia and colonial strategies implemented to manage the mentally ill., Conclusions: Western Australian Colonial treatment of the mentally ill began in 1829 with the first mentally ill patient, Dr Nicholas Were Langley. Building commenced to house the mentally ill with the use of a prison, 'The Round House', and later the temporary shelter 'Scott's Warehouse'. Both convicts and the mentally ill were initially housed together, but evidence exists of attempts to provide therapeutic diversions at Scott's Warehouse.