Perspectives on the effectiveness of the late night liquor trading lockout legislative provision

The effectiveness of ‘the lockout policy’ integrated within a broader police enforcement strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm, in and around late-night licensed premises, in major drinking precincts was examined. First response operational police (n= 280) recorded all alcohol and non alcohol-related incidents they attended in and around late-night liquor trading premises. A before and after study design was used, with police completing modified activity logs prior to and following the introduction of the lockout policy in two policing regions: Gold Coast (n = 12,801 incidents); Brisbane City/Fortitude Valley (n = 9,117 incidents). Qualitative information from key stakeholders (e.g., Police, Security Staff & Politicians n = 20) was also obtained. The number of alcohol-related offences requiring police attention was significantly reduced in some policing areas and for some types of offences (e.g., sex offences, street disturbances, traffic incidents. However, there was no variation for a number of other offence categories (e.g., assault). Interviews with licensees revealed that although all were initially opposed to the lockout policy, most perceived benefits from its introduction. This study was the first of its kind to comprehensively examine the impact of a lockout policy and provides supportive evidence for the effectiveness of the lockout policy as integrating positively with police enforcement to enhance public safety in some areas in and around late-night liquor trading premises.

Identity and genetic origins : an ethical exploration of the late discovery of adoptive and donor-insemination offspring status

This thesis is an ethical and empirical exploration of the late discovery of genetic origins in two contexts, adoption and sperm donor-assisted conception. This exploration has two interlinked strands of concern. The first is the identification of ‘late discovery’ as a significant issue of concern, deserving of recognition and acknowledgment. The second concerns the ethical implications of late discovery experiences for the welfare of the child. The apparently simple act of recognition of a phenomenon is a precondition to any analysis and critique of it. This is especially important when the phenomenon arises out of social practices that arouse significant debate in ethical and legal contexts. As the new reproductive technologies and some adoption practices remain highly contested, an ethical exploration of this long neglected experience has the potential to offer new insights and perspectives in a range of contexts. It provides an opportunity to revisit developmental debate on the relative merit or otherwise of biological versus social influences, from the perspective of those who have lived this dichotomy in practise. Their experiences are the human face of the effects arising from decisions taken by others to intentionally separate their biological and social worlds, an action which has then been compounded by family and institutional secrecy from birth. This has been accompanied by a failure to ensure that normative standards and values are upheld for them. Following discovery, these factors can be exacerbated by a lack of recognition and acknowledgement of their concerns by family, friends, community and institutions. Late discovery experiences offer valuable insights to inform discussions on the ethical meanings of child welfare, best interests, parental responsibility, duty of care and child identity rights in this and other contexts. They can strengthen understandings of what factors are necessary for a child to be able to live a reasonably happy or worthwhile life.

Explaining Gendered Sentencing Patterns for Men and Women in the Late Victorian Period

Contemporary studies of disparities in the sentencing of male and female offenders claim that the differences found are caused by gender-related contextual factors, but not by a gender bias. In contrast, historical studies have suggested that women were disadvantaged by appearing to offend both against the law and the conventions of femininity. This article analyses minor assaults prosecuted in ten English magistrates’ courts between 1880 and 1920. It is based on a data-set that combines court cases and newspaper reports, and allows for the control of gender differences in sentencing outcomes through four contextual factors: severity of the assault, bonds between victim and assailant, culpability, and evidence. The findings reveal a differentiated pattern of sentences that questions the assumption that ‘doubly deviant’ women were more often convicted, and received higher penalties, throughout the Victorian period. The results show that the contextual factors of the offence affected judicial decision-making to the extent that they virtually account for gender differences in conviction rates, but do not, on their own, account for the different penalties handed out to men and women. Women who committed similar assaults to men were likely to receive a lighter punishment. Magistrates clearly targeted ‘male’ contexts of violence, and handed down more convictions and harsher penalties to men involved in these, in contrast to women involved in 'female' contexts. The findings of a strong gender bias in sentencing that disadvantaged lowerclass men indicate that local magistrates directed their efforts of 'civilizing' lower-class communities at 'dangerous masculinities', and deemed assaults committed by women as less important in this task.

The late discovery of adoptive and donor insemination offspring status : ethical implications for conceptual understandings of the ‘best interests of the child’ principle

Late discovery is a term used to describe the experience of discovering the truth of one’s genetic origins as an adult. Following discovery, late discoverers face a lack of recognition and acknowledgment of their concerns from family, friends, community and institutions. They experience pain, anger, loss, grief and frustration. This presentation shares the findings of the first qualitative study of both late discovery of adoptive and donor insemination offspring (heterosexual couple use only) experiences. It is also the first study of late discovery experiences undertaken from an ethical perspective. While this study recruited new participants, it also included an ethical re-analysis of existing late discovery accounts across both practices. The findings of this study (a) draws links between past adoption and current donor insemination (heterosexual couple only) practices, (b) reveals that late discoverers are demanding acknowledgment and recognition of the particularity of their experiences, and (c) offers insights into conceptual understandings of the ‘best interests of the child’ principle. These insights derive from the lived experiences of those whose biological and social worlds have been sundered and secrecy and denial of difference used to conceal this. It suggests that acknowledging the equal moral status of the child may be useful in strengthening conceptual understandings of the ‘best interests of the child’ principle. This equal moral status involves ensuring that personal autonomy and the ability to exercise free will is protected; that the integrity of the relationships of trust expected and demanded between parent/s and children is defended and supported; and that equal access to normative socio-cultural practices, that is; non-fictionalised birth certificates and open records, is guaranteed.

Characterisation of micrinite in the late triassic Callide Coal Measures

Samples from the Callide Coal Measures, Queensland, Australia, containing the minor maceral, micrinite, have been studied using optical and electron-optical techniques to determine the precise compositional and structural nature of micrinite when in association with vitrinite macerals. Emphasis has been placed on direct spatial correlation of optical and electron-optical data due to the fine grain size (<1μm) of micrinite and its relatively low abundance compared with other macerals in the Callide Basin coals. Precise elemental, morphological and structural data, including electron diffraction, provides unambiguous evidence for the presence of kaolinite in the component known as micrinite. Indeed, micrinite consists predominantly of fine-grained kaolinite (>90 per cent of the component) and, as such, should not be considered a maceral.

Four new avian mitochondrial genomes help get to basic evolutionary questions in the late cretaceous

Good phylogenetic trees are required to test hypotheses about evolutionary processes. We report four new avian mitochondrial genomes, which together with an improved method of phylogenetic analysis for vertebrate mt genomes give results for three questions in avian evolution. The new mt genomes are: magpie goose (Anseranas semipalmata), an owl (morepork, Ninox novaeseelandiae); a basal passerine (rifleman, or New Zealand wren, Acanthisitta chloris); and a parrot (kakapo or owl-parrot, Strigops habroptilus). The magpie goose provides an important new calibration point for avian evolution because the well-studied Presbyornis fossils are on the lineage to ducks and geese, after the separation of the magpie goose. We find, as with other animal mitochondrial genomes, that RY-coding is helpful in adjusting for biases between pyrimidines and between purines. When RY-coding is used at third positions of the codon, the root occurs between paleognath and neognath birds (as expected from morphological and nuclear data). In addition, passerines form a relatively old group in Neoaves, and many modern avian lineages diverged during the Cretaceous. Although many aspects of the avian tree are stable, additional taxon sampling is required.

Exploring the ethical implications of the late discovery of adoptive and donor-insemination offspring status

Some children adopted under the now discredited period of closed adoption were never told of their adoptive status until it was revealed to them in adulthood. Yet to date, this ‘late-discovery’ experience has received little research attention. Now a new generation of ‘late discoverers’ is emerging as a result of (heterosexual couple) donor insemination (DI) practices. This study of 25 late-discovery participants of either adoptive or (heterosexual couple) DI offspring status reveals ethical concerns particular to the lateness of discovery. Most of the participants were Australian, with the remainder from the UK, USA and Canada. All were asked to give an ‘open’ account of their experience, with four themes or suggestions provided on request. These accounts were added to those available in relevant publications. The analysis employed a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology and all accounts were analysed using an ethical perspective developed by Walker (2006, 2007). The main themes that emerged were: disrupted personal autonomy, betrayal of deep levels of trust and feelings of injustice and diminished self-worth. The lack of recognition of concerns particular to late discovery has resulted in late discoverers (i) feeling unable to regain a sense of personal control, (ii) significantly disrupted relationships with those closest to them and others, including community and institutions, and (iii) feelings of diminished value and self-worth.

Two cycles of voluminous pyroclastic volcanism and sedimentation related to episodic granite emplacement during the late Archean : Eastern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

The thick piles of late-Archean volcaniclastic sedimentary successions that overlie the voluminous greenstone units of the eastern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, record the important transition from the cessation in mafic-ultramafic volcanism to cratonisation between about 2690 and 2655 Ma. Unfortunately, an inability to clearly subdivide the superficially similar sedimentary successions and correlate them between the various geological terranes and domains of the eastern Yilgarn Craton has led to uncertainty about the timing and nature of the region's palaeogeographic and palaeotectonic evolution. Here, we present the results of some 2025 U–Pb laser-ablation-ICP-MS analyses and 323 Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) analyses of detrital zircons from 14 late-Archean felsic clastic successions of the eastern Yilgarn Craton, which have enabled correlation of clastic successions. The results of our data, together with those compiled from previous studies, show that the post-greenstone sedimentary successions include two major cycles that both commenced with voluminous pyroclastic volcanism and ended with widespread exhumation and erosion associated with granite emplacement. Cycle One commences with an influx of rapidly reworked feldspar-rich pyroclastic debris. These units, here-named the Early Black Flag Group, are dominated by a single population of detrital zircons with an average age of 2690–2680 Ma. Thick (up to 2 km) dolerite bodies, such as the Golden Mile Dolerite, intrude the upper parts of the Early Black Flag Group at about 2680 Ma. Incipient development of large granite domes during Cycle One created extensional basins predominantly near their southeastern and northwestern margins (e.g., St Ives, Wallaby, Kanowna Belle and Agnew), into which the Early Black Flag Group and overlying coarse mafic conglomerate facies of the Late Black Flag Group were deposited. The clast compositions and detrital-zircon ages of the late Black Flag Group detritus match closely the nearby and/or stratigraphically underlying successions, thus suggesting relatively local provenance. Cycle Two involved a similar progression to that observed in Cycle One, but the age and composition of the detritus were notably different. Deposition of rapidly reworked quartz-rich pyroclastic deposits dominated by a single detrital-zircon age population of 2670–2660 Ma heralded the beginning of Cycle Two. These coarse-grained quartz-rich units, are name here the Early Merougil Group. The mean ages of the detrital zircons from the Early Merougil Group match closely the age of the peak in high-Ca (quartz-rich) granite magmatism in the Yilgarn Craton and thus probably represent the surface expression of the same event. Successions of the Late Merougil Group are dominated by coarse felsic conglomerate with abundant volcanic quartz. Although the detrital zircons in these successions have a broad spread of age, the principal sub-populations have ages of about 2665 Ma and thus match closely those of the Early Merougil Group. These successions occur most commonly at the northwestern and southeastern margins of the granite batholiths and thus are interpreted to represent resedimented units dominted by the stratigraphically underlying packages of the Early Merougil Group. The Kurrawang Group is the youngest sedimentary units identified in this study and is dominated by polymictic conglomerate with clasts of banded iron formation (BIF), granite and quartzite near the base and quartz-rich sandstone units containing detrital zircons aged up to 3500 Ma near the top. These units record provenance from deeper and/or more-distal sources. We suggest here that the principal driver for the major episodes of volcanism, sedimentation and deformation associated with basin development was the progressive emplacement of large granite batholiths. This interpretation has important implication for palaeogeographic and palaeotectonic evolution of all late-Archean terranes around the world.

New evidence of the reproductive organs of Glossopteris based on permineralized fossils from Queensland, Australia. II: pollen-bearing organ Ediea gen. nov

Ediea homevalensis H. Nishida, Kudo, Pigg & Rigby gen. et sp. nov. is proposed for permineralized pollen-bearing structures from the Late Permian Homevale Station locality of the Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia. The taxon represents unisexual fertile shoots bearing helically arranged leaves on a central axis. The more apical leaves are fertile microsporophylls bearing a pair of multi-branched stalks on their adaxial surfaces that each supports a cluster of terminally borne pollen sacs. Proximal to the fertile leaves there are several rows of sterile scale-like leaves. The pollen sacs (microsporangia) have thickened and dark, striate walls that are typical of the Arberiella type found in most pollen organs presumed to be of glossopterid affinity. An examination of pollen organs at several developmental stages, including those containing in situ pollen of the Protohaploxypinus type, provides the basis for a detailed analysis of these types of structures, which bear similarities to both compression/impression Eretmonia-type glossopterid microsporangiate organs and permineralized Eretmonia macloughlinii from Antarctica. These fossils demonstrate that at least some Late Permian pollen organs were simple microsporophyll-bearing shoot systems and not borne directly on Glossopteris leaves.

Postglacial Early Permian (late Sakmarian-early Artinskian) shallow-marine carbonate deposition along a 2000 km transect from Timor to west Australia

Late Sakmarian to early Artinskian (Early Permian) carbonate deposition was widespread in the marine intracratonic rift basins that extended into the interior of Eastern Gondwana from Timor in the north to the northern Perth Basin in the south. These basins spanned about 20° of paleolatitude (approximately 35°S to 55°S). This study describes the type section of the Maubisse Limestone in Timor-Leste, and compares this unit with carbonate sections in the Canning Basin (Nura Nura Member of the Poole Sandstone), the Southern Carnarvon Basin (Callytharra Formation) and the northern Perth Basin (Fossil Cliff Member of the Holmwood Shale). The carbonate units have no glacial influence and formed part of a major depositional cycle that, in the southern basins, overlies glacially influenced strata and lies a short distance below mudstone containing marine fossils and scattered dropstones (perhaps indicative of sea ice). In the south marine conditions became more restricted and were replaced by coal measures at the top of the depositional sequence. In the north, the carbonate deposits are possibly bryozoan–crinoidal mounds; whereas in the southern basins they form laterally continuous relatively thin beds, deposited on a very low-gradient seafloor, at the tops of shale–limestone parasequences that thicken upward in parasequence sets. All marine deposition within the sequence took place under very shallow (inner neritic) conditions, and the limestones have similar grain composition. Bryozoan and crinoidal debris dominate the grain assemblages and brachiopod shell fragments, foraminifera and ostracod valves are usually common. Tubiphytes ranged as far south as the Southern Carnarvon Basin, albeit rarely, but is more common to the north. Gastropod and bivalve shell debris, echinoid spines, solitary rugose corals and trilobite carapace elements are rare. The uniformity of the grain assemblage and the lack of tropical elements such as larger fusulinid foraminifera, colonial corals or dasycladacean algae indicate temperate marine conditions with only a small increase in temperature to the north. The depositional cycle containing the studied carbonate deposits represents a warmer phase than the preceding glacially influenced Asselian to early Sakmarian interval and the subsequent cool phase of the “mid” Artinskian that is followed by significant warming during the late Artinskian–early Kungurian. The timing of cooler and warmer intervals in the west Australian basins seems out-of-phase with the eastern Australian succession, but this may be a problem of chronostratigraphic miscorrelation due to endemic faunas and palynofloras.

The nature and extent of policing alcohol related crime and reducing violence in and around late night entertainment areas

The misuse of alcohol is well documented in Australia and has been associated with disorders and harms that often require police attention. The extent of alcohol-related incidents requiring police attention has been recorded as substantial in some Australian cities (Arro, Crook, & Fenton, 1992; Davey & French, 1995; Ireland & Thommeny, 1993). A significant proportion of harmful drinking occurs in and around licensed premises (Jochelson, 1997; Stockwell, Masters, Phillips, Daly, Gahegan, Midford, & Philp, 1998; Borges, Cherpitel, & Rosovsky, 1998) and most of these incidents are not reported to police (Bryant & Williams, 2000; Lister, Hobbs, Hall, & Winlow, 2000). Alcohol-related incidents have also been found to be concentrated in certain places at certain times (Jochelson, 1997) and therefore manipulating the context in which these incidents occur may provide a means to prevent and reduce the harm associated with alcohol misuse. One of the major objectives of the present program of research was to investigate the occurrence and resource impact of alcohol-related incidents on operational (general duties) policing across a large geographical area. A second objective of the thesis was to examine the characteristics and temporal/spatial dynamics of police attended alcohol incidents in the context of Place Based theories of crime. It was envisaged that this approach would reveal the patterns of the most prevalent offences and demonstrate the relevance of Place Based theories of crime to understanding these patterns. In addition, the role of alcohol, time and place were also explored in order to examine the association between non criminal traffic offences and other types of criminal offences. A final objective of the thesis was to examine the impact of a situational crime prevention strategy that had been initiated to reduce the violence and disorder associated with late-night liquor trading premises. The program of research in this doctorate thesis has been undertaken through the presentation of published papers. The research was conducted in three stages which produced six manuscripts, five of which were submitted to peer reviewed journals and one that was published in a peer reviewed conference proceedings. Stage One included two studies (Studies 1 & 2) both of which involved a cross sectional approach to examine the prevalence and characteristics of alcohol-related incidents requiring police attendance across three large geographical areas that included metropolitan cities, provincial regions and rural areas. Stage Two of the program of research also comprised two cross sectional quantitative studies (Studies 3 & 4) that investigated the temporal and spatial dynamics of the major offence categories attended by operational police in a specific Police District (Gold Coast). Stage Three of the program of research involved two studies (Studies 5 & 6) that assessed the effectiveness of a situational crime prevention strategy. The studies employed a pre-post design to assess the impact on crime, disorder and violence by preventing patrons from entering late-night liquor trading premises between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. (lockout policy). Although Study Five was solely quantitative in nature, Study Six included both quantitative and qualitative aspects. The approach adopted in Study Six, therefore facilitated not only a quantative comparison of the impact of the lockout policy on different policing areas, but also enabled the processes related to the implementation of the lockout policy to be examined. The thesis reports a program of research involving a common data collection method which then involved a series of studies being conducted to explore different aspects of the data. The data was collected from three sources. Firstly a pilot phase was undertaken to provide participants with training. Secondly a main study period was undertaken immediately following the pilot phase. The first and second sources of data were collected between 29th March 2004 and 2nd May 2004. Thirdly, additional data was collected between the 1st April 2005 and 31st May 2005. Participants in the current program of research were first response operational police officers who completed a modified activity log over a 9 week period (4 week pilot phase & 5 week survey study phase), identifying the type, prevalence and characteristics of alcohol-related incidents that were attended. During the study period police officers attended 31,090 alcohol-related incidents. Studies One and Two revealed that a substantial proportion of current police work involves attendance at alcohol-related incidents (i.e., 25% largely involving young males aged between 17 and 24 years). The most common incidents police attended were vehicle and/or traffic matters, disturbances and offences against property. The major category of offences most likely to involve alcohol included vehicle/traffic matters, disturbances and offences against the person (e.g., common & serious assaults). These events were most likely to occur in the late evenings and early hours of the morning on the weekends, and importantly, usually took longer for police to complete than non alcohol-related incidents. The findings in Studies Three and Four suggest that serious traffic offences, disturbances and offences against the person share similar characteristics and occur in concentrated places at similar times. In addition, it was found that time, place and incident type all have an influence on whether an incident attended by a police officer is alcohol-related. Alcohol-related incidents are more likely to occur in particular locations in the late evenings and early mornings on the weekends. In particular, there was a strong association between the occurrence of alcohol-related disturbances and alcohol-related serious traffic offences in regards to place and time. In general, stealing and property offences were not alcohol-related and occurred in daylight hours during weekdays. The results of Studies Five and Six were mixed. A number of alcohol-related offences requiring police attention were significantly reduced for some policing areas and for some types of offences following the implementation of the lockout policy. However, in some locations the lockout policy appeared to have a negative or minimal impact. Interviews with licensees revealed that although all were initially opposed to the lockout policy as they believed it would have a negative impact on business, most perceived some benefits from its introduction. Some of the benefits included, improved patron safety and the development of better business strategies to increase patron numbers. In conclusion, the overall findings of the six studies highlight the pervasive nature of alcohol across a range of criminal incidents, demonstrating the tremendous impact alcohol-related incidents have on police. The findings also demonstrate the importance of time and place in predicting the occurrence of alcohol-related offences. Although this program of research did not set out to test Place Based theories of crime, these theories were used to inform the interpretation of findings. The findings in the current research program provide evidence for the relevance of Place Based theories of crime to understanding the factors contributing to violence and disorder, and designing relevant crime prevention strategies. For instance, the results in Studies Five and Six provide supportive evidence that this novel lockout initiative can be beneficial for public safety by reducing some types of offences in particular areas in and around late-night liquor trading premises. Finally, intelligent-led policing initiatives based on problem oriented policing, such as the lockout policy examined in this thesis, have potential as a major crime prevention technique to reduce specific types of alcohol-related offences.