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In this article, we argue that current assessment practices in higher education require urgent examination and should be re-imagined in culturally responsive ways to ensure fairness for all. From sociocultural and social justice perspectives, we highlight examples of cultural and linguistic bias in assessment that disadvantages many First Nations students. Incorporating a constructivist viewpoint, we argue that assessment practices must keep pace with culturally responsive pedagogical practices to improve assessment validity for First Nations students and to maintain constructive alignment between learning, teaching, and assessment. Based on qualitative interviews with stakeholders in the "On Country Teacher Education" program, we describe how university lecturers changed their approaches to assessment and modified their assessment tasks to enact and create culturally responsive assessments. These practices, whilst beneficial for First Nations students, are viewed as being 'responsive' rather than 'proactive'. Recommendations include shifting to a 'proactive' stance by evaluating the validity of student learning outcomes and assessment design from the onset.

Academics at Griffith university envisioned a complementary learning and supportive relationship could be developed between Bachelor of Information Technology (BAIT) students and Master of Social Work (MSW) students. Discussions between discipline specific staff highlighted that each discipline had strengths and expertise that could assist students to overcome challenges brought about by systemic changes in tertiary education, gaps in skillsets and curriculum, and workforce expectations. Pressures included students attending university from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, the increasing importance of information technology (IT) in the classroom and workplace, as well as the requirement to communicate effectively across a range of disciplines. Working, interacting, and communicating effectively in cross-discipline and culturally diverse environments is a requisite for all graduates, however academics found there were few opportunities for students to partner across disciplinary silos. Staff from both disciplines collaborated to develop a conversational pedagogical framework to underpin a pilot program to support peer learning, using active problem-based learning with IT and social work students. The pilot program evidenced a complementary transdisciplinary, learning partnership and enabled students from IT to help students from social work develop IT skills, while social work students assisted IT students to become more confident in their interpersonal communication skills.

Despite the increasing levels of cultural and linguistic diversity represented in Australian classrooms, many universities do not adequately prepare teachers to teach English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D). Moreover, in neoliberal educational regimes, teaching tends to remain steadfastly focused on monolingual conceptions of literacy development, and 'evidence-based' practices tend to reflect this stance. In this paper, we argue that due to the diversity and complexity of EAL/D learner cohorts, and current systemic constraints, teacher-researcher collaborations can be one avenue available to teachers to develop their knowledge and skills whilst simultaneously guiding future research. Drawing on 'identity texts' and arts-based approaches, through this case study, we describe our teacher-researcher collaboration in a super-diverse primary school classroom setting to illustrate the 'messiness' of classroom research, the challenges, and the considerable opportunities to effectively respond to EAL/D learner needs whilst valuing and embracing their diverse linguistic repertoires.

Arts programs are increasingly recognized for their role in promoting student development and cohesive school communities. Yet, most Australian schools are left to navigate a landscape characterized by shifting policy goals and external providers of diverse quality and intent. Drawing on interviews with 27 stakeholders from 19 Catholic primary schools in Melbourne, Australia, we explored key approaches to arts provision in this context, and conditions that hinder and support it. Approaches varied markedly, from school-wide programs embedded across the curriculum, to one-off incursions. Conditions consistently affecting provision ranged from leadership support to a community's view of the arts. Programs regularly relied on individuals passionate about arts to go beyond their paid roles, yet this frequently jeopardized sustainability. Overall, the approaches identified, and conditions affecting their sustainability, reveal a lack of value for school arts at policy and administration levels. This lack of value is not demonstrated in the provision of other traditional school activities like math or literacy, which begs consideration by policymakers and school administrators.

A significant number of university students are leaving their institutions before completing their degrees. The present research project applied embeddedness theory, from organizational research, to understand student retention in a tertiary student population, and develop a quantitative instrument that measured university student embeddedness. In Study One, a mixed-methods approach was employed to determine whether the Fit (similarity between the student and the university), Links (count of relationships at university), and Sacrifice (losses upon leaving university) dimensions of embeddedness related to students' self-reported reasons for remaining enrolled at their university. Qualitative results from 15 undergraduate students indicated that intent to remain could be understood within the embeddedness dimensions of Fit, Links, and Sacrifice. These themes were employed to build the University Student Embeddedness (USE) scale. The measure was examined against Rasch measurement model assumptions for each of its subscales using data collected from 299 Australian tertiary students. Study Two sought to examine exploratory evidence of the concurrent validity of the scores from this developed measure. Responses from a separate sample of 196 Australian tertiary students showed only the Fit scale significantly related to student intentions to stay at university. All USE scales correlated with academic-related skills and motivations. These results suggest that the Fit scale may be valuable in identifying students at risk of dropout. Early identification of "at risk" students may lead to the development of targeted retention interventions. However, the USE's role in detection requires further validation and the development of consistent findings within other student cohorts.

Most Indigenous peoples live in urban and regional locations across Australia and no longer speak their traditional languages fluently. Instead contact languages, creoles and dialects, are widely spoken. In many educational settings, educators may know little about the first languages of the Indigenous children they teach, and not recognise these as different languages or dialects. Consequently, these students may not be treated as second language learners of Standard Australian English (SAE) and their language learning requirements are not considered. From a sociocultural perspective, language is crucial to students' learning. In this paper, we quantitatively analyse the SAE learning needs of Indigenous primary school aged children in Far North Queensland using oral elicited imitation of simple sentences in SAE as a research method. Using one-way ANOVA, the results are compared with native monolingual SAE speakers showing significant differences between the two. This finding has important implications for classroom teaching practices and educational policies.

Background: Perceptual, cognitive and previous clinical experience may influence a novice Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study (VFSS) analyst's trajectory towards competency. Understanding these factors may allow trainees to be better prepared for VFSS training and may allow training to be developed to accommodate differences between trainees. Aims: This study explored a range of factors previously suggested in the literature as influencing the development of novice analysts' VFSS skills. We hypothesised that knowledge of swallow anatomy and physiology, visual perceptual skills, self-efficacy and interest, and prior clinical exposure would all influence VFSS novice analysts' skill development. Methods & Procedures: Participants were undergraduate speech pathology students recruited from an Australian university, who had completed the required theoretical units in dysphagia. Data assessing the factors of interest were collected--the participants identified anatomical structures on a still radiographic image, completed a physiology questionnaire, completed subsections of the Developmental Test of Visual Processing--Adults, self-reported the number of dysphagia cases they managed on placement, and self-rated their confidence and interest. Data for 64 participants relating to the factors of interest were compared with their ability to accurately identify swallowing impairments following 15 h of VFSS analytical training, using correlation and regression analysis. Outcomes & Results: Success in VFSS analytical training was best predicted by clinical exposure to dysphagia cases and the ability to identify anatomical landmarks on still radiographic images. Conclusions & Implications: Novice analysts vary in the acquisition of beginner-level VFSS analytical skill. Our findings suggest that speech pathologists who are new to VFSS may benefit from clinical exposure to dysphagia cases, sound foundational knowledge of anatomy relevant to swallowing and the ability to see the anatomical landmarks on still radiographic images. Further research is required to equip VFSS trainers and trainees for training, to understand differences between learners during skill development.

In this conceptual paper, we explore the opportunities and challenges that translanguaging may provide for students from Australian Aboriginal backgrounds and their teachers. We use examples taken from Australian Aboriginal students who may speak Standard Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, creoles (Kriol being the common one across the north of Australia) and traditional languages (e.g. Kija, Martu). We begin by examining the concept of translanguaging and show how Australian Aboriginal students can move fluidly between their various linguistic resources, dialects and repertoires to make meaning, express their thoughts, understandings and feelings, create their identities, and do so in often playful and creative ways. The principles of fair and valid assessment are explored and the role that translanguaging can fulfil for assessment purposes is considered. We also document some of the social, cultural and linguistic biases that underpin aspects of assessment, and make suggestions for improvement. In particular, we examine how teachers could approach assessment so that students with Aboriginal backgrounds are able to draw on their full linguistic repertoire and, in this way, address the issues surrounding discriminatory assessment practices that are founded on monolingual mindsets. We also take up the gauntlet to 'stop measuring black kids with a white stick' and seek positive and embracing ways for all students with Aboriginal backgrounds to engage in assessment practices.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore emerging synergies and tensions between the twin moves to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and online learning and teaching (L&T) in higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach: A preliminary global exploration of universities' SDG-based L&T initiatives was undertaken, using publicly available grey and academic literature. Across a total sample of 179 HEIs -- identified through global university rankings and analysis of all 42 Australian universities -- 150 SDG-based L&T initiatives were identified. These were analysed to identify common approaches to embedding the SDGs. Findings: Five key approaches to embedding the SDGs into online (and offline) HEI L&T were identified: designing curricula and pedagogy to address the SDGs; orienting the student experience towards the SDGs; aligning graduate outcomes with the SDGs; institutional leadership and capability building; and participating in cross-institutional networks and initiatives. Four preliminary conclusions were drawn from subsequent analysis of these themes and their relevance to online education. Firstly, approaches to SDG L&T varied in degree of alignment between theory and practice. Secondly, many initiatives observed already involve some component of online L&T. Thirdly, questions of equity need to be carefully built into the design of online SDG education. And fourthly, more work needs to be done to ensure that both online and offline L&T are delivering the transformational changes required for and by the SDGs. Research limitations/implications: The research was limited by the availability of information on university websites accessible through a desk-top review in 2019; limited HEI representation; and the scope of the 2019 THE Impact Rankings. Originality/value: To date, there are no other published reviews, of this scale, of SDG L&T initiatives in universities nor analysis of the intersection between these initiatives and the move to online L&T.

Background: Despite the growing popularity of transnational education, there is a dearth of quantitative research regarding how transnational students experience higher education. Aims: This comparative study sought to explore differences in educational experiences between transnational and onshore domestic students enrolled either at the Australian (domestic) or Singapore (transnational) campus of an Australian university. Sample and Methods: An online survey gathered responses from 199 domestic students and 313 transnational students. Results: Results indicated transnational students to be significantly lower than domestic students on social and academic integration, institutional commitment, and satisfaction. No group differences were found in persistence intentions. A series of regression analyses showed integration and commitment significantly predicted student persistence intentions, across both cohorts, beyond demographic and course characteristics. Conclusions: This study offers several recommendations for how universities can better foster integration and commitment in their transnational students, including better funding the development of student societies and providing realistic course previews and career advice to students upon entry into their courses. Further, universities are encouraged to reconsider their transnational staffing models to provide more opportunities for academic support and student consultation beyond the classroom.

With a focus on Australian Aboriginal students, in this article we argue that translanguaging provides a useful resource for multilingual learners. We point out that although translanguaging is a relatively recent term, in Indigenous Australia is has been used consistently throughout the ages as people from different languages communicated with each other. We argue that through the use of translanguaging in the classroom, children can be supported to draw on the wide range of linguistic resources they bring with them to school. Using data collected from an Aboriginal school in the Northern Territory and one in Western Australia, we illustrate the ways in which this perspective can inform approaches to teaching which will both enhance these learners' communication skills in Standard Australian English (SAE) in the classroom, and, importantly, at the same time demonstrate that the languages the children come to school with are valued.

The goal of training is to improve employee performance, and ultimately support organizational success. However, training does not always effectively transfer to workplaces to positively affect work practices, particularly because of disconnect between behaviourist approaches and contemporary work arrangements. The transfer of training to the workplace remains problematic. The present article is motivated by the need to challenge the status quo of training design and draw greater attention to learning design, beyond the confines of behaviourism. The aim of the article is to provoke critical discussion around learning theories and training design. We propose Knowles' adult learning principles and Mezirow's transformative learning theory, useful guide for the learning design of training. The learning design of a university-based safety management systems training course in aviation is discussed from the vantage point of the proposed guiding philosophy. Six specific strategies are presented supported by the evaluation of the course effectiveness conducted after the first iteration.

Work placements (including internships) are common in urban and regional planning education but the relevant literature has largely overlooked their assessment and academic standards. To address this gap, the paper presents a study of this topic undertaken within the Australian context. The research involved systematically scoping the status of work placements in planning education in Australia, and exploring the perspectives of participating educators, practitioners and students on appropriate assessment methods and academic standards. We found significant and problematic divergence in these three key stakeholders' perspectives. The implications of these findings are discussed in a national and international context. The consequent proposition is an approach to assessment and standards that promotes a shared understanding across these key stakeholders.

Universities are investing considerable resources into blended learning as an institutional strategy to respond to pressures of uncertain economies, increasing globalisation, and the changing expectations of cohorts of digitally savvy students. However, the widespread adoption of effective blended teaching practices has generally not been achieved. A greater understanding of academics' blended teaching practices is needed to facilitate the uptake of effective blended practices on a larger scale. By exploring how various factors influence academics' use of technology with face-to-face teaching, the study makes a contribution to the understanding of academics' blended practices. The study described in this paper uses a mixed method, two phase methodology to develop a predictive model of blended strategy use. A major finding of the study is gender differences in factors predisposing academics towards blended strategy. Factors predisposing academics towards the use of blended in strategies in current practice were found to be: perceived usefulness (but only for male academics), higher education teaching experience, and self-efficacy (but only for females). Significant factors influencing academics' intentions for future blended practice were found to be: perceived usefulness, current use of blended strategies and, for female academics, perceived feasibility.

This paper reports the outcomes of the second action cycle of an ongoing project at Edith Cowan University (ECU) called "Transition to Sustainability: ECU South West" which is located in a small, single faculty regional university campus. The overall project has comprised three action research cycles, the first of which was the planning cycle which established the importance of building a community of practice with a learning stance for sustainability transition. It also highlighted the issue of a common definition of the term sustainability; of including cross-disciplinary perspectives; and of working with the local community. The second action cycle which was the first implementation phase, is the subject of this report. In this phase, we found that by not foreclosing on the meaning of sustainability, important aspects of sustainability were included. Although research participants initially expressed some concern about using an open understanding of sustainability, the problem of the meaning functioned to foster involvement in dialogue. In fact, these ongoing discussions around sustainability and the notion of a sustainable future formed the heart of this action cycle. However there were constraints associated with the subject of dialogue. These included problems of site communication, the maintenance of effective networks and issues around power and authorisation. We observed that each of these elements could work together in ways that enrich and/or obstruct a transition to sustainability. Finally, we found that lack of time hinders participation in sustainability transition projects because of its effect on authentic dialogue, thereby impacting upon the development of collaborative ways of working within the university. Our project is distinctively Australian in that it reflects an emerging movement in Australia to create social frameworks for embedding sustainability education activities. In our project, the transition process by which learning and change has been facilitated comprises the action research itself. (Contains 1 endnote and 1 table.)

Reflection is critical to successful pre-service teacher learning, but it is hard to teach and difficult for students to conceptualize. This article reports a self-study, with others, where a practitioner and colleagues scrutinized an intervention in teacher education. The study employed design-based methodology to examine an intervention in a teacher educator's own class. Students were invited to use teaching strategies such as investigating, problem solving or cooperative learning and to analyze aspects of episodes in their school-based experience when teaching with these strategies. In collaboration with others, the teacher educator gathered data on the effects of this intervention through interviews, focus groups, observation, records of lecturers' reflections, on-line discussion board records and students' portfolios. The findings revealed that the use of contextual anchors contributed to these students becoming reflective and exhibiting increasing levels of reflection. Over the semester they moved from simple descriptions of what was happening in their classroom to richer analysis of their practice. We locate this study in current developments in science teacher education with particular emphasis on reflective practices. (Contains 1 table.)

Human Relationships Education is a very important part of primary school student-teacher education. All primary school children need sound guidance and enhanced knowledge about puberty, growing up successfully, and feeling competent and confident in themselves. An interactive multimedia CD-ROM was designed and developed for some Australian university student-teachers in the final fourth year of their Bachelor of Education (Primary School), and addresses the Human Relationships Education curriculum. This paper analyses some of the pedagogies used in this pastoral care learning as examples of a Constructivist approach to designing multimedia interactivities based on Anderson and Krathwohl's learning framework. Such an approach may be useful for other educational designers to improve student-teacher involvement in their pastoral care learning, to provide pedagogical variation and to use interactive multimedia, thus enhancing learning outcomes for student-teachers and, in turn, their primary school students. (Contains 1 table.)

This article describes the equivalency testing results of a 12-week behavior change program on targeted determinates of physical activity (PA) and self-reported health status. Participants (n = 192) were randomized to face-to-face, combined Internet and face-to-face, and Internet-only groups. Equivalency testing was used to examine differences and statistical equivalency across groups for all outcome measures (social support, self-efficacy, perceived health status, and motivational readiness for PA). Participants were assessed at baseline, postintervention, and 2 and 5 months postintervention. Motivational readiness for PA increased across all groups. The face-to-face and combined groups showed changes in social support; however, they were not statistically different and were equivalent. There were no changes in self-efficacy or physical health status. Overall face-to-face and the Internet delivery modes show similar results. If Internet-based programs can be shown to be as effective as face-to-face, they may in turn be a more efficient and cost-effective delivery method. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)

Professional learning communities among teachers and schools have been envisioned as a mechanism for development, knowledge building and implementation. However the formation of an effective learning community is more complex than giving teachers a project and asking them to share a room. This paper reports a synergistic interaction between a model of pedagogy and action learning, including peer observation, that involved 82 schools participating in a wide variety of projects. For most schools, these projects were successful in initiating action learning and promoting teacher development. The authors believe that this innovation generates insights into ways that the building of community, which is central to this type of learning, can be enhanced.

This paper reports the implementation of a collaborative pre-service science teacher education program between an Australian university and a collegiate of eight schools. The program was designed to facilitate the transition to teaching of pre-service teachers by reducing the gap between theory and practice while promoting the professional learning of the teachers involved. The community building literature, combined with an ecological perspective, is used to evaluate the strategies adopted to build a learning community across pre-service teacher, in-service teacher and system level interactions. Both pre-service and in-service teachers were interviewed at the beginning and end of the project and field notes made about the community building strategies employed. The learning community was found to operate like any ecosystem, change was slow and the effects were felt in ways remote from the original intention, however, there is evidence that building a teacher education community resulted in gains in professional learning at all levels with some strategies being more effective than others.

Human sexuality is a significant issue for educators to understand and teach about, and for young people to learn about. The development of interactive multimedia technologies has added a range of new dimensions associated with designing pedagogies for sex education on Interactive Multimedia (IMM). Here, a module on CD-Rom on Sexuality and Human Relationships designed for student teachers is presented as an example of a resource, and analysed for the pedagogical considerations that accompany it. The paper concludes that the conceptualisation and design of IMM on CD-Rom on sexuality is able to address a range of commonly used pedagogies. The most significant pedagogical renegotiation appears to lie in the transposing of human-to-human interaction, as in discussion, real life scenarios, simulation, role analysis, values and attitude clarification, to human-to-screen interaction. This may be addressed principally by using camera phones where human-to-human interaction occurs visually and in real time, whilst email and discussion groups can cater for delayed, typed text human-to-human interactions. For some learners, using IMM on CD-Rom for sex education may be less effective, but for others it may be ideal as it provides for privacy, solo contemplation, self-dialogue, and negates embarrassment in front of peers or teachers. (Contains 2 tables.)

This article reports the experiences of three retrained teachers as they made the transition to science teaching. The stories of their survival in a new school context were constructed from data obtained in an evaluation of the retraining program and interpreted using a reflexive methodology. These mature professionals had developed an approach to the use of power that characterised their teaching style, and this "identity" influenced the way they interacted with the school culture. The school is likened to a hamlet, in which a new resident alters the balance of relationships and brings changes to the cultural codes. A less teacher-centred style in the classroom, and a tolerant attitude to the value of the individual, appeared to increase the likelihood of successful integration into a new school environment.

Agriculture, industry and medicine are being altered by new biotechnologies. Biotechnology education is important because today's students and citizens will make decisions about the development and application of these new molecular biologies. This article reports an investigation of the teaching of biotechnology in an Australian state, New South Wales (NSW). In NSW few students were electing to answer examination questions related to biotechnology, suggesting that few students were studying the topic. This study looks at why electives relating to biotechnology are chosen or not chosen by students and teachers, with the intention of developing a greater understanding of the requirements for provision of a successful unit of study in this subject. Data was obtained through a survey of secondary science teachers, interviews with teachers and two case studies of the teaching of a biotechnology unit. Teachers reported a range of obstacles to the teaching of biotechnology including the difficulty of the subject matter and a lack of practical work that was suited to the content of the teaching unit. If biotechnology is worth learning in school science, then further research is needed to identify ways to promote the effective teaching of this topic, which teachers regard as important for, and interesting to, students but which most teachers choose not to teach.

A previous case-series evaluation of a six-session guided self-help (GSH) approach with 15 people with bulimia nervosa (BN) showed significant reductions across all measures, including binge eating, self-induced vomiting, weight concern, shape concern and dietary restraint. However, the reduction of binge eating and self-induced vomiting was inferior to that achieved in more behavioural approaches. A further 10 people with BN were treated with an eight-session cognitive GSH, where the two extra sessions had a more behavioural focus. Although both conditions significantly decreased levels of binge eating and self-induced vomiting at post-treatment evaluation (with large effect sizes), comparisons of these two GSH conditions showed that an addition of two sessions did not significantly improve outcome on either of the behaviours. Cognitive GSH seems to be a worthwhile candidate for a first-step treatment in BN, but further improvements in this approach can be considered. (Contains 2 tables.)

Novice teachers need support if they are to survive the reality of school. A web of relationships involving members of the school community, mentors outside the school community and a university tutor has been shown to be an effective way of providing this assistance. This article describes an extended web of assistance offered to a group of 11 teachers retrained to teach science. As they made the transition to science teaching these teachers identified a need for guidance and support in learning about a new subject and a new school environment. In some cases the school community was able to provide this guidance and support but in other cases the retrained teachers were met with scepticism by their fellow teachers and needed assistance from other sources. The extended web of relationships they accessed included district consultants provided by the employer, mentors located outside of the school, fellow graduates and a university tutor. All retrained teachers were also assisted in their development as reflective teachers by the production of a portfolio. The addition of an online component to the portfolio, allowing the sharing of ideas between the retrained teacher and the university tutor coordinating the program is proposed as a valuable component of the mentoring network. (Contains 2 tables.)

In many countries, one aspect of health education, namely child sexual abuse, has become an important issue for teachers in pre-schools, primary schools and high schools to address. In Australia, many states now have mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse by teachers to their Principals then to the police or the Department of Families. Consequently, as preparation for this role, all teachers should have appropriate knowledge and attitudes about child sexual abuse. This paper analyses the educational bases of an interactive multimedia CD-Rom module on child sexual abuse designed for use by Australian university undergraduate teachers, to enhance their knowledge and attitudes about child sexual abuse. This application of Bloom's Levels of Thinking Skills as well as Constructivist principles in designing educational multimedia may assist other educational curriculum developers when designing pedagogical interactivities that are appropriate, productive and relevant in teaching about child sexual abuse to undergraduate teachers. (Contains 1 table.)

A culturally appropriate oral health training course tailored to the needs of rural Aboriginal health workers was developed in Western Australia. The course is taught in three modules ranging from introductory material to comprehensive practical and theoretical knowledge of basic dental health care. The program encourages Aboriginal health workers to implement long-term preventive measures at the local level. (TD)

Inadequate funding for Australian university libraries is criticized. Issues considered include interlibrary loans, staffing needs, the state of cataloging, networks, acquisitions, building and space problems, new technologies, mergers, and governmental priorities. Statistics for individual library holdings and expenditures, and trends in 1976-79 are provided. (MSE)

Discusses issues facing libraries in Australia as a result of economic factors, especially inflation. Topics include serials and other cancellations; competition among universities and the need for cooperation among libraries; national cooperative projects, including the National Bibliographic Database and interlibrary loan programs; the need for resource coordination; and global challenges. (LRW)

Describes telecommunications and networking developments in Australia that provide increased communication and cooperation opportunities for libraries, as well as linkages to international information sources. Staff attitudes, document access and supply, the current situation of Australian academic libraries, and the concept of a distributed national collection are also addressed. (13 references) (MES)

Describes the development of satellite television and information access in Australia, principally within Australian higher education institutions. Client groups and basic technologies are overviewed as well as the role of the library in the provision of satellite services. (Six references) (Author/CLB)

This paper explores the possibility of reparations for harms suffered by people in residential aged care, focusing on experiences of people with dementia. We first explain how systemic and structural harms occur within residential aged care and outline how they constitute human rights violations. Using Australia as a case study, we then consider the limitations of court-based approaches to pursuit of redress and the current absence of redress from policy responses. We then propose an expansive and multifaceted notion of redress as reparations, where governments, residential aged care operators, medical and legal professionals, and civil society engage in ongoing recognition of harms and specific actions to prevent recurrence. By drawing on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Van Boven Principles, we consider the application to aged care of the framework of access to justice and reparations for human rights violations. This framework encompasses inclusive and accessible processes to access reparations for individuals in such forms as compensation and rehabilitation, and collective reparations, including apologies and public education. In order to ensure that reparations support the prevention of further harm in aged care, the design of redress could form part of broader government strategies directed toward increasing funding and access to community-based support, care, and accommodation, and enhancing the human rights of people with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes a CD-ROM written by faculty in an Australian university that is based on principles of a constructivist theory of learning. Examines three examples of appropriate interactivity to indicate the variety, relevance, pedagogical principles, and interest that can be generated to enhance student learning by using multimedia. (Author/LRW)

This paper responds to growing concerns in human rights practice and scholarship about the confinement of people living with dementia in care homes. Moving beyond the existing focus in human rights scholarship on the role of restrictive practices in confinement, the paper broadens and nuances our understanding of confinement by exploring the daily facilitators of confinement in the lives of people with dementia. The paper draws on data from focus groups and interviews with people living with dementia, care partners, aged care workers, and lawyers and advocates about Australian care homes. It argues that microlevel interrelated and compounding factors contribute to human rights abuses of people living with dementia related to limits on freedom of movement and community access of people living with dementia, at times irrespective of the use of restrictive practices. These factors include immobilization and neglect of residents, limited and segregated recreational activities, concerns about duty of care and liability, apprehension of community exclusion, and pathologization and subversion of resistance. It is necessary to challenge the organizational, cultural, economic, and social dynamics that shape day-to-day, microlevel, routine, and compounding factors that remove the agency of people living with dementia and in turn facilitate entrenched and systematic human rights breaches in care homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on a 1987 survey of automation in Australian academic and state libraries. The current situation is described in several areas: (1) turnkey integrated "proprietary" library system suppliers; (2) networks; (3) modules; (4) database issues; and (5) staffing trends. The questionnaire and data on proprietary systems and modules used by responding libraries are appended. (14 references) (MES)

Five brief articles examine new library technologies and physical problems; potential health hazards posed by frequent use of photocopiers; psychological deterrence of electronic security systems; quality control of cooperative cataloging in a library network; and the billing system designed and programed for a medical library. Two articles include reference lists. (CDD)

Introduction: The Schenkenberg Line Bisection Test is a brief screening tool following stroke to assess for unilateral spatial neglect. This assessment takes under five minutes to administer, but scoring using the guidelines of the original authors is lengthy and complex. This study examined the interrater, intrarater, and test–retest reliability of the test using both a brief and detailed method of scoring developed for this study that are more readily used in the clinical setting. Method: Fifteen participants following stroke were assessed using the Schenkenberg Line Bisection Test. Assessments were scored by four occupational therapists on two separate occasions using both the brief and detailed scoring method developed for this study. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients obtained for interrater reliability for the brief scoring method ranged from.89 to 1, and from.82 to.95 for the detailed method. Intraclass correlation coefficients for intrarater reliability ranged from.82 to 1 for the brief method and from.72 to.99 for the detailed method. Strong agreement was observed between first and second assessments in most situations for test–retest reliability. Conclusion: Preliminary exploration of the revised scoring methods for the Schenkenberg Line Bisection Test demonstrate high reliability and that scoring can be completed relatively quickly in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insolvency practitioner remuneration is controversial as recent debates and reforms in Australia evidence. The role of courts in reviewing and setting remuneration has also been called into question. These debates have lacked, however, empirical evidence about remuneration and the role of courts. This article analyses 162 decisions from Australian courts to find out what roles courts are playing in reviewing and setting corporate insolvency practitioner remuneration. The findings suggest that there are still important roles for courts, particularly in the context of allegations of misconduct. The study also suggests, however, that there is merit in continuing to explore low cost, out-of-court mechanisms for reviewing and setting remuneration. The study found that many claims for approval of remuneration are coupled with requests from practitioners seeking other orders, are unopposed and typically approved as claimed. Over one third of the cases involved claims for amounts of less than $50,000. Out-of-court mechanisms focused solely on remuneration may also provide more certainty and consistency across remuneration decisions which will benefit all stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses recent developments concerning Australian company laws, as of January 2016, such as the decision of the Federal Court of Australia in the case "Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) v Mariner Corp." related to Corporations Act 2001.

The article focuses on the Australian law regulating the international travel to end life, also known as death tourism. Topics include the emergence of the death tourism market, an individual's right to travel for assisted suicide, and if Australian law forces residents to participate in death tourism due to laws governing assisted suicide.

Several cellular pathways are implicated in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and attempts to arrest disease progression with a single drug would not be expected to succeed in the medium term. In clinical practice, combination therapy is often used in patients deteriorating on monotherapy, despite the absence of firm evidence from randomized controlled controls. From January 2005 to August 2009, 112 patients with World Health Organisation Functional Class (FC) II-IV PAH deteriorating on monotherapy received non-parenteral combination therapy at six Australian PAH expert hospitals. Combination therapy included bosentan, sitaxentan, ambrisentan, iloprost and sildenafil. Data were prospectively collected for survival status, 6-min walk distance, FC and echocardiographic parameters at the start of monotherapy through to commencement of combination therapy and at 6-monthly intervals thereafter. After varying periods of monotherapy (18.7 ± 13.4 months), survival estimates on combination therapy were 88%, 71% and 61% for the additional 1, 2 and 3 years respectively. Survival on dual therapy in patients with idiopathic PAH/familial PAH was 93% at 1 year and 79% at 2 years, and for scleroderma-related PAH, 72% at 1 year and 48% at year 2 after initiation of combination therapy. In survivors, dual therapy reversed the deterioration in FC, from 3.1 ± 0.6 on monotherapy to 2.2 ± 0.6 at 12 months. Similarly, dual therapy improved 6-min walk distance from 316 ± 119 m to 406 ± 129 m at 12 months, and sequential echocardiography demonstrated a fall in pulmonary artery systolic pressure and improved right ventricular function. Dual non-parenteral therapy appears safe and effective and should be considered for PAH patients who are deteriorating on monotherapy to improve long-term outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Family Court of Australia has jurisdiction to consent to the non-therapeutic sterilisation of girls with intellectual disability. The Family Court made a series of decisions concerning the sterilisation of girls with intellectual disability during the period 1988-1995. Despite the recent absence of Family Court decisions on sterilisation, the non-therapeutic sterilisation of girls with intellectual disability remains a pertinent issue due to recent developments in relation to the scope of the welfare jurisdiction, the increased rights for people with intellectual disability, and moves towards the development of uniform legislation regulating the sterilisation of children with intellectual disability. To date, there has been only modest critical engagement in the legal context with the issue of sterilisation and there has been a failure to look at the ideas underpinning the Family Court's decisions ordering the sterilisation of girls with intellectual disability. This article seeks to address this gap by exploring the question 'why does the non-therapeutic sterilisation of girls with intellectual disability make sense?' In order to answer this question, the writer applies a medical model of disability to an analysis of the legal process through which a non-therapeutic sterilisation decision is made - the question of jurisdiction and the application of the legal test - to understand what the underlying assumptions about girls with intellectual disability are which inform the legal decision-making process. This article also asks a second question: 'how can intellectual disability alternatively be understood so that the application of the legal test in favour of non-therapeutic sterilisation is problematic and thus does not make sense?' In order to answer this second question, the writer employs an interactional model of disability. This article demonstrates that the logic of family law's approach to non-therapeutic sterilisation is not absolute but is highly contingent to a particular (and highly problematic) understanding of intellectual disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]