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Children's Courts in Australia are important parts of the systems which protect children and deal with young people who offend. They make decisions about the best interests of these vulnerable children and young people and require that children are represented in court. The paper reports on views of 46 stakeholders about quality of and access to representation in the care jurisdiction of the Childrens Court in Australian Capital Territory. Most stakeholders were adamant that for all parties to receive as fair a hearing as possible, they needed representation. There were a range of views about the quality of representation and about what quality representation looks like in an adversarial system of decision‐making.

This report summarises the findings of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) component of the Australian Research Council funded Discovery Project: Challenges possibilities and future directions: a National Assessment of Australia’s Children’s Courts. This project was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant. The ACT study was one of nine parallel studies – one covering each state and territory and the ninth, based on the eight others, focusing on Australia as a whole. Each study had its own set of Chief Investigators and in the ACT these were Professor Peter Camilleri and Professor Morag McArthur. A book, published by Springer, is under preparation which will outline the findings of each jurisdiction and of the national research project.

The structure of the Maltese economy is the founding result of its geographic location and limited natural resources, one of which is the agricultural area. Agriculture is a major land user and despite its limited economic size, Malta’s agriculture provide significant basis of the national consumption pattern. Different authorities and institutional bodies perceived the importance of agriculture, as these have developed policies by which the agricultural sector could be safeguarded from urban development and in encouraging in the reduction of land abandonment. The aim of this article is to analyse past and present policies being the PA structure plan (Land use and development control), CAMP (Integrated Costal Area Management), the Rural Development Plan and the Maltese Code of Good Agricultural Practice. However, it recommends a Sustainable Rural Development Program, which gives an evaluation of the policy needed for the future. Such policy could address the ecological integrity, which should minimize and mitigate adverse environmental impacts, ensuring a sustainable use of agriculture as a resource and conserve and protects the rural landscape and land speculation, amongst others. Finally, this paper concludes by questioning if there should be a more consistent, rationalised, streamlined approach to rural land use management., peer-reviewed

Este artículo examina críticamente los cambios en la educación en Australia y las consecuencias de esos cambios en la dirección futura del trabajo social. La expresión "cruce de caminos" se utiliza en dos sentidos: en el primero, se refiere a un documento publicado recientemente por el gobierno australiano, documento que tendrá gran impacto en todo el sector de la educación superior. En el segundo sentido, se refiere a las consecuencias que estos cambios universitarios tendrán en los programas de trabajo social. Existe la expectativa de que los programas de trabajo social se vuelvan más "empresariales" (es decir, utilicen un pensar de comercio), de que se publique para sobrevivir como académico y finalmente, de que se utilice mas tecnología, mas profesores adjuntos (no titulares), y clases con más estudiantes. Desafortunadamente, la asociación profesional que acredita los programas de trabajo social esta por atrás y no en la vanguardia de todos estos cambios., The term ‘crossroads’ is being used in two senses in this paper. The first refers to the Australian Government’s recent Review of Higher Education (referred to as ‘Crossroads Report’) and the impact that the changes will have on the higher education sector and consequently social work education. And secondly, ‘crossroads’ is being used in the sense that social work education is being restructured by the changes occurring in universities. Social work programs are expected to be more ‘entrepreneurial’, more research oriented (‘publish or perish’), and more efficient in teaching methodology (this has meant emphasis on technology, use of adjunct staff and larger classes). The profession through the professional body (Australian Association of Social Workers) accredits programs but is ‘running behind’ the changes in higher education. The paper reviews critically these changes in social work education, the higher education sector and ‘welfare reform’, and how these changes may effect the future direction of social work education

Este artículo examina críticamente los cambios en la educación en Australia y las consecuencias de esos cambios en la dirección futura del trabajo social. La expresión "cruce de caminos" se utiliza en dos sentidos: en el primero, se refiere a un documento publicado recientemente por el gobierno australiano, documento que tendrá gran impacto en todo el sector de la educación superior. En el segundo sentido, se refiere a las consecuencias que estos cambios universitarios tendrán en los programas de trabajo social. Existe la expectativa de que los programas de trabajo social se vuelvan más "empresariales" (es decir, utilicen un pensar de comercio), de que se publique para sobrevivir como académico y finalmente, de que se utilice mas tecnología, mas profesores adjuntos (no titulares), y clases con más estudiantes. Desafortunadamente, la asociación profesional que acredita los programas de trabajo social esta por atrás y no en la vanguardia de todos estos cambios. The term ‘crossroads’ is being used in two senses in this paper. The first refers to the Australian Government’s recent Review of Higher Education (referred to as ‘Crossroads Report’) and the impact that the changes will have on the higher education sector and consequently social work education. And secondly, ‘crossroads’ is being used in the sense that social work education is being restructured by the changes occurring in universities. Social work programs are expected to be more ‘entrepreneurial’, more research oriented (‘publish or perish’), and more efficient in teaching methodology (this has meant emphasis on technology, use of adjunct staff and larger classes). The profession through the professional body (Australian Association of Social Workers) accredits programs but is ‘running behind’ the changes in higher education. The paper reviews critically these changes in social work education, the higher education sector and ‘welfare reform’, and how these changes may effect the future direction of social work education