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The work of early childhood educators is conducted in highly regulated environments in many Western nations. This is due to managerialism, the right arm of neoliberal-inspired policies. To explore educators' work within these contexts, our international study highlights the impacts of these systems on educators and the children they teach. This paper presents findings from five countries, namely, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Georgia and Italy. The results reveal the experiences of educators in these countries, impacted by neoliberal-inspired policies that are manifested in two different ways. They are dealing with increased managerial regulation or with the neglect of the sector in the pursuit of higher profits. Educators' job satisfaction is impacted when they perceive they are not able to adequately educate and support children due to these constraints. Using a critical neoliberal framework, we employed a mixed-method approach. The participants were educators with various roles and qualifications in a variety of service types. To analyse the numerical/closed answer data we used cross tabulation. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Despite their difficulties, educators provided many ideas on the ways their government can better support their work so that they can focus on supporting children's learning through play. This study will be of interest to researchers, educators, policymakers and teacher educators.

Aims: Cardiac dysfunction in patients with diabetes, referred to as diabetic cardiomyopathy, is primarily precipitated by dysregulations in glucose and lipid metabolism. Diet and lifestyle changes are considered crucial for successful heart failure and diabetes management and are often difficult to achieve. Low-carbohydrate diets (LCDs) have gained popularity for the management of metabolic diseases. Although quantitative research in this field is evolving, little is known about the personal experience of patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy on specific diets. The aim of this qualitative study was to identify enablers and barriers of patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy who engage in an LCD. It further explored patients' perception of dietary education and dietary support received while in hospital. Methods and Results: Participantswho previously consented to a 16-week LCD trialwere invited to share their experiences. Nine patients agreed to be interviewed. Semistructured interviews and a focus group interview were conducted,which were transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed by using the 6-step approach for thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: (1) nutrition literacy (2) disease-related health benefits, (3) balancing commitments, and (4) availability of resources and support. Conclusion: Improvements in disease-related symptoms acted as strong enablers to engage in an LCD. Barriers such as access to resources and time constraints were identified. These challenges may be overcome with efficient communication and ongoing dietary support. More research exploring the experience of patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy on an LCD are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is a culturally, religiously and linguistically diverse country, however, learning about the religious dimensions of this superdiversity is inadequately reflected in the national school curriculum, notwithstanding recent attempts to address this at the state level in Victoria. Debates regarding the role of religion in school have raged across the country for decades and have impeded the introduction of learning about diverse worldviews and religions, and even research on this topic. Competing views of Australia's national identity, as a multifaith and/or secular and/or Christian nation, continue to affect both policy and curriculum in Australia, and thereby the level of religious literacy of its citizens. Using data from a national study of young Australians and their worldviews, this research investigates levels of religious literacy and appreciation of religious diversity of 'Generation Z' Australians, for whom superdiversity is the norm. In doing so, it concludes that Australian curricula must evolve to include more content on diverse worldviews and better reflect the lived experiences of younger generations. This would in turn increase religious literacy and interreligious understanding in Australia. This study may also be instructive for those countries grappling to adjust to similar demographic and societal changes, challenges and opportunities.

Large-scale population studies surveying young people in relation to their worldviews have tended to frame their identities in a fixed and limited capacity while also treating the topics of religion/spirituality and sexuality/gender as discrete categories of scholarly analysis. We highlight the affordances and limitations of foregrounding fixed religious, sexual and gender-based identity categories in the process of collecting and analysing data related to the worldviews of young people. In this paper we argue the value of studying the complexities and intersections of these identities and worldviews together in one study. We do this through reference to the Australia's Generation Z (AGZ) study: the first nationally representative sample focused on providing an evidence-based understanding of both the religious/spiritual/non-religious and sexuality/gender identities and worldviews of young Australians aged 13-18. We discuss how we built on existing surveys in designing the AGZ survey. We also demonstrate how this survey allowed for the incorporation of young people's non-binary understandings of religion, sexuality and gender.

Childhood emotional and behavioural problems can indicate a higher risk of developing mental illness in adolescence and beyond. Schools provide an appropriate setting in which to deliver universal preventions to improve well-being and protect against early risks for mental health disorder. However, interventions can often be difficult to implement in schools due to their perceived or actual burdensomeness and implementation challenges can affect effectiveness. Teacher-delivered well-being interventions that can be integrated into usual classroom teaching practices provide a potential solution. This study examines the efficacy of a teacher-delivered programme, the Good Behaviour Game, in Australian primary schools. The programme significantly reduced emotional and behavioural problems as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire from baseline to post-intervention, suggesting that it may be an effective teaching practice for managing students in the classroom and for promoting well-being and development.

Based on data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children linked with pharmacy dispensing data from the Australian Government's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, we calculated the 1-year prevalence of psychotropic medicine supply in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as reported by parents in 2014. The majority of children and adolescents with ASD in Australia were not treated with psychotropic medicine. One-third had claims for at least one psychotropic medication, most commonly medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and antidepressants. Antipsychotics were supplied to less than one in twenty children and approximately one in ten adolescents. In line with findings from North America, psychotropic medicine was more often supplied to children and adolescents with ASD and comorbid ADHD.

Growing rates of childhood obesity globally create concern for individuals' health outcomes and demands on health systems. While many policy approaches focus on macro-level interventions, we examine how the type of stability of a family structure might provide opportunities for policy interventions at the micro level. We examine the association between family structure trajectories and childhood overweight and obesity across three Anglophone countries using an expanded set of eight family structure categories that capture biological relationships and instability, along with potential explanatory variables that might vary across family trajectories and provide opportunities for intervention, including access to resources, family stressors, family structure selectivity factors, and obesogenic correlates. We use three datasets that are representative of children born around the year 2000 and aged 11 years old in Australia (n = 3329), the United Kingdom (n = 11,542), and the United States (n = 8837) and nested multivariate multinomial logistic regression models. Our analyses find stronger relationships between child overweight and obesity and family structure trajectories than between child obesity and obesogenic factors. Children in all three countries are sensitive to living with cohabiting parents, although in Australia, this is limited to children whose parents have been cohabiting since before their birth. In the UK and US, parents starting their cohabitation after the child's birth are more likely to have children who experience obesity. Despite a few differences across cross-cultural contexts, most of the relationship between family structures and child overweight or obesity is connected to differences in families' access to resources and by the types of parents who enter into these family structures. These findings suggest policy interventions at the family level that focus on potential parents' education and career prospects and on income support rather than interventions like marriage incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, education policy reforms are increasingly aimed at attending to excellence in education. This is mainly expressed as attempts at raising educational standards generally, but also of identifying intellectual elites and making special provisions for them. Denmark, which is otherwise considered an exponent of an equality-oriented tradition in education, is now pursuing strategies of developing talent throughout the educational system, which is to cater more to the needs of so-called gifted and talented students. This policy is claimed to have found inspiration from Australia, where some of the states have been pursuing such policies for several years and where we find a more developed tradition for this. The paper is focused on understanding what concept of excellence such education policies imply; we aim to analyse the targeted groups with respect to means of identification and development, and to analyse the wider implications of such policies. The analysis is empirically focused on education policy documents on gifted and talented educational provisions at national/state level. Beginning with the political discourse of talent development in education as it has appeared in Denmark, we analyse this in relation to the policies and curricular provisions for the gifted and talented in England and Australia.

This paper describes a design-based research study in which an online platform for teachers was designed and implemented over 3 years. The study uses a networked learning approach to support teachers in the transition from university into service. It addresses the question of how online communities of teachers can support the development of situational knowledge. The paper describes the potential and the challenges of designing and implementing learning networks for teachers. A major challenge identified is the need for design that supports trust and stability within large networks. Significant potential is identified through the reuse of knowledge and greater collegiality within the profession. The platform, TeachConnect, was developed as a collaboration between academics at eight Australian universities, to create a platform to support teachers across the boundary from preservice into the profession. The study presents results from design and implementation, and includes site usage statistics and coding of types of support present within the platform. The paper contributes design principles for online communities of teachers and raises theoretical questions about future online communities.

Shellfish reefs across the world have been heavily degraded by mechanical harvesting, disease and declining water quality. In southern Australia, where substantial losses have occurred, government and non‐government efforts to restore functioning reefs are now underway with a strong focus on enhancing fish productivity. However, the capacity of these restored reefs to enhance fish production remains unknown, hampering estimates of return on investment.We quantify the density differences of newly recruited juvenile fish and other nekton on these restored reefs, relative to those on unrestored, unstructured habitat. Fish were surveyed at three paired reef‐unstructured locations using 169 unbaited stereo video deployments during three periods over 12 months (2022–2023). We used automation software, FishID, to automatically identify, size and count fish in videos. We subsequently applied known growth and mortality parameters to model enhancement of fish productivity.Sixteen species occurred as new recruits, with all but two found at higher densities on reefs than unstructured habitat. Enhancement of fish production from subtidal restored shellfish reefs from a single year's cohort is estimated to be, on average, 6186 kg ha−1 year−1 (SD 1802) after enough time has elapsed for all species to have matured. Species harvested commercially or recreationally contributed 98% of that production (6083 kg ha−1 year−1, SD 1797).Enhancement varied greatly among locations, ranging from 12,738 kg ha−1 year−1 (SD 2894), which is the highest yet recorded anywhere, to 1.4 kg ha−1 year−1 (SD 0.9).The lack of juvenile fish at the location with the lowest estimated enhancement might be explained by the impact of overfishing on recruitment of key species or by an abundance of alternative habitat for juvenile fish.Synthesis and applications. The combination of underwater videos with automated data extraction provides a reliable, cost‐effective method for surveying fish on oyster reefs. By quantifying enhanced fish productivity on reefs, we provide estimates that will underpin calculations of ecological, social and financial benefits, supporting the business case for scaling‐up restoration efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay focuses on tensions within Canada and Australia between religious freedoms and sexual freedoms. Both countries have sought to develop religious accommodations for publicly funded religious schools. The essay is also informed by contemporary research related to the experiences of LGBT identified teachers and students. I briefly consider how their experiences of education are shaped by religious exemptions which operate to accommodate claims related to religious freedom. I also consider how advocates on both sides deploy particular understandings of secularism in order to distinguish between "public" and "private" spheres.

Young people may face conflicting and confusing messages about what it means to respond well in relation to homophobia and transphobia. Consequently, we ask--What might it mean to respond well to homophobia and transphobia? This strategy, inspired by Anika Thiem and Judith Butler, is recognition of the ambivalent conditions which structure attempts to respond well to bullying related to gender and sexuality. Such an approach is counter to educational responses that suggest a remedy in advance of the enactment of perceived bullying. Our paper draws on research conducted by the authors in four such schools, two in Australia and two in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It is a deliberate turn away from focusing on who should be held to account for homophobia and transphobia.

Objective. This study aimed to investigate allied health professionals' (AHPs') perspectives preand post-implementation of an electronic medical record (EMR) in a tertiary health service in Australia and examine factors influencing user acceptance. Methods. Data were collected preand post-EMR implementation via cross-sectional online surveys based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Usage of Technology (UTAUT). All AHPs at a large tertiary hospital were invited to complete the surveys. Data analysis included descriptive analysis, Mann--Whitney U tests for pre-post item- and construct-level comparison and content analysis of free-text responses. The theoretical model was empirically tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Results. AHPs had positive attitudes toward EMR use both pre- and post-implementation. Compared to pre-implementation, AHPs felt more positive post-implementation about system ease of use and demonstrated decreased anxiety and apprehension regarding EMR use. AHPs felt they had adequate resources and knowledge to use EMR and reported real-time data accessibility as a main advantage. Disadvantages of EMR included an unfriendly user interface, system outages and decreased efficiency. Conclusions. As AHPs increase EMR system familiarity, their positivity towards its use increases. An understanding of what influences AHPs when implementing new compulsory technology can inform change management strategies to improve adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquifer pumping tests represent a standard method for estimating hydraulic characteristics, with practitioners often focusing on late period drawdown data because these are less affected by within‐ and near‐borehole effects (e.g., borehole‐storage and skin effects). Alternatively, groundwater responses to natural forcing (e.g., barometric pressure and earth tides) provide a passive method for estimating aquifer parameters at a low cost. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have compared parameters calculated from different periods within a pumping test with those from passive methods. Herein, we compare the aquifer transmissivity estimated using both active and passive methods in two wells located in the Beetaloo Region of Northern Australia. The active method estimates aquifer transmissivity during three periods (i.e., the early, middle, and late periods) of an aquifer pumping test, while the passive method employs groundwater responses to barometric‐pressure and earth‐tide fluctuations. We find that the range of best‐fit aquifer transmissivity is 1.18 × 10−5–1.79 × 10−5 m2/s and 1.73 × 10−5–2.14 × 10−5 m2/s for OW1 and OW2, respectively. The transmissivity estimated from the barometric pressure response method is the largest. The aquifer transmissivity using barometric pressure responses are consistent with early‐ and middle‐period estimates. This suggests that barometric pressure responses are more sensitive to within‐ and near‐borehole effects. The scales of the tidal response method are smaller than those of the pumping test method. Plain Language Summary: The accurate estimation of the hydraulic properties of aquifers is important for effective groundwater management. Both active (aquifer pumping tests) and passive (natural forcing such as barometric‐pressure and earth‐tide fluctuations) methods are used to estimate aquifer hydraulic properties. However, the aquifer parameters estimated from aquifer pumping tests are variable as borehole effects (e.g., borehole storage and skin effects) dissipate as the cone‐of‐depression expands over time. This leads to dynamic changes in parameters during the early, middle, and late periods of an active pumping test. By comparing the aquifer transmissivity from these different periods with those estimated from passive (tidal/barometric pressure) responses and combining with scale effect, we find that barometric pressure responses are consistent with early and middle periods (corresponding to within‐ and near‐borehole effects). The scales of the tidal response method are smaller than those of the pumping test method. Key Points: We estimate aquifer transmissivity using groundwater responses to natural disturbances (earth tides, barometric pressure fluctuations)From early to late period pumping, transmissivity changes slightly and decreases while storage coefficient changes in magnitude and increaseThe result of atmospheric response located in early to middle‐period pumping while AQTESOLV method is within late‐period pumping [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although women with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) generally have healthy pregnancies and babies, pregnancy is associated with a greater risk of maternal complications and requires planning and management of their condition. Given these possible complications, routine communication about childbearing between women with PKD and their treating team is important. A question prompt list (QPL), a structured list of questions used by patients during consultations with healthcare providers, may be beneficial in assisting women with PKD to discuss their childbearing concerns with, and seek related information from, their treating team. The aims of this study were to co‐design a QPL about pregnancy and childbearing for women with PKD, and evaluate its comprehensibility, salience, and acceptability. Methods: An exploratory sequential mixed‐methods study of women of reproductive age with PKD living in Australia, using an experience‐based co‐design approach with two phases. Women were recruited from a metropolitan public health service and via social media and invited to complete an anonymous online survey about the development of the PKD QPL (phase one) and participate in an online discussion group about its refinement (phase two). Results: Sixteen women completed the development survey and seven participated in the evaluation discussion group. Participants reported that women with PKD would value and use a QPL to prompt discussions with and seek further information about pregnancy and childbearing from their healthcare providers. Women identified four main topics for the QPL: 'thinking about having a baby', 'pregnancy', 'my medications' and 'after my baby is born'. Within each section a series of questions was developed. Based on the findings, a QPL about pregnancy and childbearing for women with PKD was co-designed. Conclusions: Women with PKD often find it difficult to access information and have discussions with their health care providers about pregnancy and childbearing. The PKD QPL co-designed in this study was perceived to be an acceptable tool which will, from the perspectives of participants, assist women with PKD to access information more easily about pregnancy, childbearing and PKD; ask more targeted questions of their treating team; and make informed childbearing decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. This study aimed to assess and compare the psychological wellbeing of Australian hospital clinical staff at three timepoints during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods. An anonymous, online, cross-sectional survey was conducted at three timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic (T1: May–June 2020; T2: October–December 2020; T3: November 2021–January 2022). The surveys were completed by nurses, midwives, doctors and allied health staff employed at a large metropolitan tertiary health service located in Melbourne, Australia. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) assessed respondents’ psychological wellbeing in the past week. General linear models were used to measure the effects of survey timepoint on DASS-21 subscale scores, adjusting for selected sociodemographic and health characteristics. Results. A total of 1470 hospital clinical staff completed at least one survey (T1: 668 (14.7%), T2: 358 (7.9%) and T3: 444 (9.8%)). Respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics were similar across the three timepoints and within professional discipline groups. Respondents’ psychological wellbeing was worse at T3 compared to the earlier survey timepoints. Adjusting for respondent characteristics, depression, anxiety and stress scores were significantly higher for respondents of the third survey compared to the first (P < 0.001). Conclusions. There was a significant and persistent negative impact on the psychological wellbeing of hospital clinical staff in Australia across waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospital clinical staff would benefit from ongoing and continued wellbeing support during and after pandemic waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the application and advantages of remote sensing, machine learning, and mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIR) as a popular proximal sensing spectroscopy tool in the estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC). It underscores the practical implications and benefits of the integrated approach combining machine learning, remote sensing, and proximal sensing for SOC estimation and prediction across a range of applications, including comprehensive soil health mapping and carbon credit assessment. These advanced technologies offer a promising pathway, reducing costs and resource utilization while improving the precision of SOC estimation. We conducted a comparative analysis between MIR-predicted SOC values and laboratory-measured SOC values using 36 soil samples. The results demonstrate a strong fit (R² = 0.83), underscoring the potential of this integrated approach. While acknowledging that our analysis is based on a limited sample size, these initial findings offer promise and serve as a foundation for future research. We will be providing updates when we obtain more data. Furthermore, this paper explores the potential for commercialising these technologies in Australia, with the aim of helping farmers harness the advantages of carbon markets. Based on our study's findings, coupled with insights from the existing literature, we suggest that adopting this integrated SOC measurement approach could significantly benefit local economies, enhance farmers' ability to monitor changes in soil health, and promote sustainable agricultural practices. These outcomes align with global climate change mitigation efforts. Furthermore, our study's approach, supported by other research, offers a potential template for regions worldwide seeking similar solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an exploration of the problem of theorizing gender and sexuality of people who Raewyn Connell might describe as coming from the global periphery, but whose lives and futures are also enmeshed in the politics, policies, and pedagogies of the metropole. Elizabeth Povinelli has done extensive research on Indigenous people in the Belyuen in northern Australia. The author Rasmussen, read Povinelli and Connell together because they have both sought to problematize the proper objects of research on gender and sexualities. Both have also been critical of identity politics related to gender and sexuality. Both researchers also interrogate gender and sexuality in relation to settler colonialism. Finally, both Connell and Povinelli attend to the ways in which intimate relations are governed by political and economic discourses related to neoliberalism (Connell and Povinelli) and late liberalism (Povinelli).

"Cruel optimism" is a term coined by Lauren Berlant. In conceptualizing this term, Berlant draws on the resources of critical theory to interrogate people's desires for things they think may improve their lot, but actually act as obstacles to flourishing. This notion may be useful for analysing the current state of education in Australia, and the desire to believe that "My School," and the associated data it provides, will enable schools to address social inequalities. For Berlant, the promise of such technologies is problematic because it diverts our attention from important ethical, social and political questions, some of which are highlighted in the contributions to this special issue. Using "cruel optimism" as a point of departure, I interrogate how the notion of critical theory has been conceptualized in educational research by briefly looking at scholarship within and outside education relating to critical theory. Following on from this, I consider how what I am terming critical theory is put to work in each of the articles that make up this special issue on "My School."

The broad aim of most sexuality educational programs is to improve and promote health among students (Epstein and Johnson 1998; Allen 2005; Aggleton and Campbell 2000). Various education programs aim for young people to receive preparation for their sexual lives and be educated against sexual abuse and exploitation (Carmody 2009; Bay-Cheng 2003), unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). More contemporary debates about sexuality education argue the value of endeavoring to educate students about sexual pleasure and desire, aiming to bring about attitudinal changes at the local level of social and political activity (Fields 2008; Lesko 2010). With these intentions the teaching and learning of sexuality education is positioned to be invested, not only in conveying sexual information, but also in producing a specific kind of sexual individual. In this frame, the effectiveness of the mobilization and maneuvering of this subject within schools and in the classroom is essentially based on pedagogy. A closer analysis of the intricate processes of how teachers' pedagogies regulate sexual identities and sexual behavior thus becomes paramount to better understanding effective teaching of sexuality education. This article is about the purposes and the processes of teaching comprehensive sexuality education to diverse communities. It begins with a brief exploration of current pedagogies of sexuality education in Australia and New Zealand. It then presents overlapping but often disputed understandings of sexuality education as well as critical pedagogy to demonstrate critical pedagogy's potential significance for creating comprehensive sexuality education for diverse communities. This is followed by a critical examination of the ways in which teachers' pedagogy in Australian and New Zealand schools explicitly communicates the ''critical'' oriented intent of critical pedagogy with reference to four specific areas: dialogue, critique, counter hegemony, and praxis.

This study presents the first numerical simulations of seeded clouds over the Snowy Mountains of Australia. WRF-WxMod, a novel glaciogenic cloud-seeding model, was utilized to simulate the cloud response to winter orographic seeding under various meteorological conditions. Three cases during the 2018 seeding periods were selected for model evaluation, coinciding with an intensive ground-based measurement campaign. The campaign data were used for model validation and evaluation. Comparisons between simulations and observations demonstrate that the model realistically represents cloud structures, liquid water path, and precipitation. Sensitivity tests were performed to pinpoint key uncertainties in simulating natural and seeded clouds and precipitation processes. They also shed light on the complex interplay between various physical parameters/processes and their interaction with large-scale meteorology. Our study found that in unseeded scenarios, the warm and cold biases in different initialization datasets can heavily influence the intensity and phase of natural precipitation. Secondary ice production via Hallett–Mossop processes exerts a secondary influence. On the other hand, the seeding impacts are primarily sensitive to aerosol conditions and the natural ice nucleation process. Both factors alter the supercooled liquid water availability and the precipitation phase, consequently impacting the silver iodide (AgI) nucleation rate. Furthermore, model sensitivities were inconsistent across cases, indicating that no single model configuration optimally represents all three cases. This highlights the necessity of employing an ensemble approach for a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of the seeding impact. Significance Statement: Winter orographic cloud seeding has been conducted for decades over the Snowy Mountains of Australia for securing water resources. However, this study is the first to perform cloud-seeding simulation for a robust, event-based seeding impact evaluation. A state-of-the-art cloud-seeding model (WRF-WxMod) was used to simulate the cloud seeding and quantified its impact on the region. The Southern Hemisphere, due to low aerosol emissions and highly pristine cloud conditions, has distinctly different cloud microphysical characteristics than the Northern Hemisphere, where WRF-WxMod has been successfully applied in a few regions over the United States. The results showed that WRF-WxMod could accurately capture the clouds and precipitation in both the natural and seeded conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on community health service staff. The aim of this study was to assess the immediate and longer-term psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 on community health service staff in Australia. Methods: A prospective cohort design with an anonymous cross-sectional online survey that was administered at two time points (March–April 2021; n = 681 and September–October 2021; n = 479). Staff (clinical and non-clinical) were recruited from eight community health services in Victoria, Australia. Study-specific questions evaluated the impact of COVID-19 on respondents' work and personal lives. Space was provided at the end of the surveys for free-text comments. Results: There were no significant differences in respondent characteristics between the two surveys. At both survey time points, respondents were mostly concerned about their family's health. Compared to the first survey, survey two respondents were significantly more likely to report concerns about infecting family members (48.8% vs 41.6%, P = 0.029), clients having COVID-19 (43.2% vs 36.2%, P = 0.035), getting COVID-19 at work (53.7% vs 45.6%, P = 0.014), not being prepared to care for clients with COVID-19 (27.5% vs 18.8%, P = 0.006) and feeling more stress at work (63.7% vs 50.8%, P < 0.001). A significantly greater proportion of respondents indicated they were considering transitioning into another sector at the time of the second survey compared to the first (24.8% vs 18.7%, P = 0.026). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the work and personal lives of community health service staff. Staff would benefit from continued and targeted initiatives that address their wellbeing and concerns. Healthcare workers have reported concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic about their health and risk to families and colleagues; most studies have focused on hospital clinical staff. This study demonstrates the considerable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work and personal lives of community health service staff; including concerns about their family's health; managing work and family responsibilities; accessing and using personal protective equipment; redeployment; and turnover intentions. Appropriate workforce planning, including wellbeing initiatives, is crucial to support and retain staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the methodological politics of researching at the intersections of sexuality, culture and religion in secondary schools. It draws on experiences during a project concerned with how to address cultural and religious diversity in sexuality education in Australia and New Zealand. The paper focuses on two methodological sticking points, one occurring inside academia and the other outside, in schools. The first coheres around the process of gaining ethics approval from multiple institutional committees and the second accesses schools for participation. These sticking points are conceptualized as effects of a set of discursive and material constraints which are idiosyncratic to school-based sexualities research. We argue that discourses of sexuality and young people are mobilized in both spaces and intersect with a social moment of "risk anxiety" in ways that shape the methodological possibilities of the research. These discourses serve to constitute sexualities research as "risky" and "controversial", an image which impedes the generation of new knowledge in the field. By rendering challenges of this research visible and discursively deconstructing the reasons for them, we refuse to dismiss school-based sexualities research as "too hard". Instead, we aim to keep this topic firmly on the educational research agenda by alerting researchers to its challenges so they may prepare for them.

In a discussion of Deleuze's theorization of concepts, Todd May asks "what can a concept do with that which cannot be identified?" Or to put it another way, May writes--"A concept is a way of addressing the difference that lies beneath the identities we experience." This is not to say that identities, concepts, and experiences are linked in particular ways. The possibility of extending what a concept can do is also brought under scrutiny by Ann Burlein, who draws on the work of Elizabeth Wilson to argue "Feminism needs to engage with scientific authority not simply at those sites where it [science] takes women as its objects, but also in the neutral zones, in those places where feminism appears to have no place or political purchase." "Why not feminist critiques of the liver or the stomach, she asks?" Such styles of thought are the inspiration for this paper. We argue that queer concepts in education should not stop at places where education takes queer bodies as its objects, but that queer concepts have an important role to play in places where, at first glance, they appear to have no place or purchase.

The most attractive thing in queer theory is the social movement energy that's been in it, the sense of excitement and boundary-breaking, the sense of new perspectives. Given the social anxieties and manipulated fear and right-wing triumphalism around today, people need that excitement and boldness--in education and in society at large. In this article, the three authors interview Raewyn Connell on the cultural politics of queer theory in education research.

This paper pursues issues of pedagogy, place and queer phenomenology in the context of what might be meant by the term "after-queer" or "what falls outside queer" as we currently theorise, practice and locate queer. Inspired by Sara Ahmed's account of how bodies become oriented by the ways in which they take up time and space, this paper investigates how bodies become oriented within and around the field of a television series that centres Indigenous terms and orientations and thereby, still further, problematises the directions and orientations of desire. The paper explores the narrative and queer and other couplings of an Australian tele-series, "The Circuit". It raises issues of audience, public pedagogy and we refer to guestbook discussion as we strive to foreground a methodology for working with sexuality and race that recognises and disturbs in order to read sexual and racial orientations as mixed and unfixed orientations. (Contains 6 notes.)

This paper draws on Judith Butler's notion of "gender melancholia" as conceived in "The Psychic Life of Power: Theories in Subjection," and Emmanuel Levinas' notion of the face of the other mobilized in Butlers' more recent work. In particular, I will focus on gender melancholia in order to consider why non-heteronormative identities might cause such consternation when they appear in a specific pedagogical context. I also consider how the notion of gender melancholia may be useful in gaining a more in-depth understanding of the prohibitions placed on the production and dissemination of texts that introduce young children to non-normative representations of sexual and gender identity. In addition, the Levinasian notion of the face, as mobilized by Butler, prompts a consideration of the ethical implications of having certain faces that appear to be unrepresentable in particular pedagogical domains. (Contains 4 notes.)

This study examines the global trend in shifting university costs from national governments to individual students and families, with a specific focus on the existing cost-sharing model in Australian higher education. The research examines the manner in which the availability of income-contingent loans (through the Higher Education Contribution Scheme, or HECS) enters into individual cost assessments and evaluative frameworks during the university exploration and search process of low-income Australian youth, and the resulting lessons that might be applied to other national contexts. Semi-structured interviews with 16 participants addressed a broad range of issues related to the development of educational aspirations, and how beliefs and attitudes about cost influenced participants' understanding and decision-making regarding tertiary enrollment and post-graduate plans. A number of discreet and related themes emerged from analysis of the interviews, including motivations for attending university; pre-university cost considerations; self-assessments of skills, abilities, and personal traits and characteristics; general financial orientation; pre-university experiences and influences; and the role of others including family, peers, teachers and other school staff. The author concludes that the Australian system is worthy of consideration by other nations as a possible mechanism for enhancing access to higher education for individuals who might otherwise not possess the opportunity to participate.

Background: Hospital clinical staff have reported poor psychosocial wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about community health service staff who undertake various roles including education, advocacy and clinical services, and work with a range of clients. Few studies have collected longitudinal data. The aim of this study was to assess the psychological wellbeing of community health service staff in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic at two time points in 2021. Methods: A prospective cohort design with an anonymous cross-sectional online survey administered at two time points (March/April 2021; n = 681 and September/October 2021; n = 479). Staff (clinical and non-clinical roles) were recruited from eight community health services in Victoria, Australia. Psychological wellbeing was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and resilience using the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). General linear models were used to measure the effects of survey time point, professional role and geographic location on DASS-21 subscale scores, adjusting for selected sociodemographic and health characteristics. Results: There were no significant differences in respondent sociodemographic characteristics between the two surveys. Staff's mental health declined as the pandemic continued. Adjusting for dependent children, professional role, general health status, geographic location, COVID-19 contact status and country of birth; depression, anxiety and stress scores were significantly higher for respondents in the second survey than the first (all p < 0.001). Professional role and geographic location were not statistically significantly associated with scores on any of the DASS-21 subscales. Higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress were reported among respondents who were younger, and had less resilience or poorer general health. Conclusions: The psychological wellbeing of community health staff was significantly worse at the time of the second survey than the first. The findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an ongoing and cumulative negative impact on staff wellbeing. Staff would benefit from continued wellbeing support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Studies of Australian health workforce demographics tend to be limited to single professions, a set geographic area, or based on incomplete data. This study aims to comprehensively describe changes to the demographic characteristics of Australia's regulated health professions over 6 years. Methods: Data were sourced from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) registration database, and a retrospective analysis of 15 of the 16 regulated health professions between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2021 was conducted. Variables including profession, age, gender and state/territory locations for the practitioners' principal places of practice were analysed descriptively and via appropriate statistical tests. Results: Changes in age, gender representation, and place of practice varied significantly and in different ways across the 15 professions. The total number of registered health practitioners increased by 141 161 (22%) from 2016 to 2021. The number of registered health practitioners per 100 000 population increased by 14% from 2016, with considerable variation across the professions. In 2021, women accounted for 76.3% of health practitioners across the 15 health professions, a significant increase of 0.5% points since 2016. Conclusions: Changes to demographics, especially in ageing workforces and feminising professions, can have implications for workforce planning and sustainability. Future research could build on this demographic trend data by investigating causes or undertaking workforce supply or demand modelling. What is known about the topic? Several studies have demonstrated changes in the demography of the Australian health workforce, they tend to focus on individual professions, prescribed geographic areas, or are based on data that are dated or incomplete. What does this paper add? This study presents a national picture of 15 regulated health professions' demographic changes in Australia across a 6-year period and allows for comparisons between professions. What are the implications for practitioners? Future research could build on this demographic trend data by investigating causes or undertaking workforce supply or demand modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Findings from family and twin-based studies of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have indicated that inattentive and combined subtypes cluster together among sibling pairs who both express ADHD symptoms. The current report examines the familial clustering of ADHD subtypes, defined according to latent class and DSM-IV criteria, in a general population sample of 2,848 Australian twins, 1,013 of their non-twin siblings and 4,036 female twins from Missouri, USA. Significant clustering of DSM-IV inattentive and combined subtypes, and significant clustering of the same latent classes among siblings was predicted. Method: Logistic regression was used to assess 1) the clustering of same and different subtype combinations among twin and twin-sibling pairs and 2) whether genetic influences contribute significantly to the observed patterns of subtype combinations among siblings. Results: With the exception of the DSM-IV hyperactive-impulsive subtype and the severe hyperactive-impulsive latent class, all other sibling DSM-IV and latent class ADHD subtypes consistently exhibited significant same-subtype clustering with MZ probands, DZ probands and their siblings in both samples. Furthermore, a significant genetic influence contributing to subtype concordance was detected for every DSM-IV subtype excluding hyperactive-impulsive, and for all eight latent classes. While some instances of significant different-subtype clustering among siblings was observed across both classification systems and samples, the particular subtype combinations involved were largely inconsistent across samples and no significant genetic influences contributing towards these discordant subtype combinations were detected. Conclusions: For both DSM-IV and latent class subtypes, the overall pattern of findings in both samples indicated significant familial clustering of same-subtype combinations and significant genetic influences contributing to these patterns of subtype concordance, despite important sample differences. These findings further extend previous work and are most consistent with the presence of multiple independent forms of ADHD.

This feature is a collection of brief essays recently written by Australian, New Zealand, and American lesbians followed by commentaries from several leading educators and scholars. Their commentaries are followed with brief comments by some of these young writers.

Sex and pleasure are fundamental aspects of students' lives and school cultures. They are also integral to students' sense of well-being and can determine their propensity to engage or disengage with the desire to love, learn and transform themselves. Taking the fundamental role of pleasure as its starting point, this paper discusses the idea of how a Foucaultian inspired "ethics of pleasure" might be used to proliferate ways of reading, producing and experiencing research related to sexualities and schooling in Australia and the United States. This "ethics of pleasure" is considered through a reading of two texts, "Young, Gay and Proud (YGP)" (1978), a text written for lesbian and gay young people by an autonomous collective of the Melbourne Gay Teachers' and students' Group (MGTSG) and, a letter written to Dan Savage, a nationally syndicated "agony aunt" in the United States. (Contains 9 notes.)