Interleaved PC-OFDM to reduce peak-to-average power ratio

Parallel combinatory orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (PC-OFDM yields lower maximum peak-to-average power ratio (PAR), high bandwidth efficiency and lower bit error rate (BER) on Gaussian channels compared to OFDM systems. However, PC-OFDM does not improve the statistics of PAR significantly. In this chapter, the use of a set of fixed permutations to improve the statistics of the PAR of a PC-OFDM signal is presented. For this technique, interleavers are used to produce K-1 permuted sequences from the same information sequence. The sequence with the lowest PAR, among K sequences is chosen for the transmission. The PAR of a PC-OFDM signal can be further reduced by 3-4 dB by this technique. Mathematical expressions for the complementary cumulative density function (CCDF)of PAR of PC-OFDM signal and interleaved PC-OFDM signal are also presented.

Poster abstract : Energy-efficient rate adaptive MAC Protocol (RA-MAC) for long-lived sensor networks

This paper introduces an energy-efficient Rate Adaptive MAC (RA-MAC) protocol for long-lived Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). Previous research shows that the dynamic and lossy nature of wireless communication is one of the major challenges to reliable data delivery in a WSN. RA-MAC achieves high link reliability in such situations by dynamically trading off radio bit rate for signal processing gain. This extra gain reduces the packet loss rate which results in lower energy expenditure by reducing the number of retransmissions. RA-MAC selects the optimal data rate based on channel conditions with the aim of minimizing energy consumption. We have implemented RA-MAC in TinyOS on an off-the-shelf sensor platform (TinyNode), and evaluated its performance by comparing RA-MAC with state-ofthe- art WSN MAC protocol (SCP-MAC) by experiments.

Use of IP addresses for high rate flooding attack detection

High-rate flooding attacks (aka Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attacks) continue to constitute a pernicious threat within the Internet domain. In this work we demonstrate how using packet source IP addresses coupled with a change-point analysis of the rate of arrival of new IP addresses may be sufficient to detect the onset of a high-rate flooding attack. Importantly, minimizing the number of features to be examined, directly addresses the issue of scalability of the detection process to higher network speeds. Using a proof of concept implementation we have shown how pre-onset IP addresses can be efficiently represented using a bit vector and used to modify a “white list” filter in a firewall as part of the mitigation strategy.

Safety impacts of alcohol and other drugs in the construction industry : a research methodology

Anecdotal evidence from the infrastructure and building sectors highlights issues of drugs and alcohol and its association with safety risk on construction sites. Operating machinery and mobile equipment, proximity to live traffic together with congested sites, electrical equipment and operating at heights conspire to accentuate the potential adverse impact of drugs and alcohol in the workplace. While most Australian jurisdictions have identified this as a critical safety issue, information is limited regarding the prevalence of alcohol and other drugs in the workplace and there is limited evidential guidance regarding how to effectively and efficiently address such an issue. No known study has scientifically evaluated the relationship between the use of drugs and alcohol and safety impacts in construction, and there has been only limited adoption of nationally coordinated strategies, supported by employers and employees to render it socially unacceptable to arrive at a construction workplace with impaired judgement from drugs and alcohol. A nationally consistent collaborative approach across the construction workforce - involving employers and employees; clients; unions; contractors and sub-contractors is required to engender a cultural change in the construction workforce – in a similar manner to the on-going initiative in securing a cultural change to drink-driving in our society where peer intervention and support is encouraged. This study has four key objectives. Firstly, using the standard World Health Organisation AUDIT, a national qualitative and quantitative assessment of the use of drugs and alcohol will be carried out. This will build upon similar studies carried out in the Australian energy and mining sectors. Secondly, the development of an appropriate industry policy will adopt a non-punitive and rehabilitative approach developed in consultation with employers and employees across the infrastructure and building sectors, with the aim it be adopted nationally for adoption at the construction workplace. Thirdly, an industry-specific cultural change management program will be developed through a nationally collaborative approach to reducing the risk of impaired performance on construction sites and increasing workers’ commitment to drugs and alcohol safety. Finally, an implementation plan will be developed from data gathered from both managers and construction employees. Such an approach stands to benefit not only occupational health and safety, through a greater understanding of the safety impacts of alcohol and other drugs at work, but also alcohol and drug use as a wider community health issue. This paper will provide an overview of the background and significance of the study as well as outlining the proposed methodology that will be used to evaluate the safety impacts of alcohol and other drugs in the construction industry.

Resilience in critical infrastructures : the case of the Queensland electricity industry

The reliability of Critical Infrastructure is considered to be a fundamental expectation of modern societies. These large-scale socio-technical systems have always, due to their complex nature, been faced with threats challenging their ongoing functioning. However, increasing uncertainty in addition to the trend of infrastructure fragmentation has made reliable service provision not only a key organisational goal, but a major continuity challenge: especially given the highly interdependent network conditions that exist both regionally and globally. The notion of resilience as an adaptive capacity supporting infrastructure reliability under conditions of uncertainty and change has emerged as a critical capacity for systems of infrastructure and the organisations responsible for their reliable management. This study explores infrastructure reliability through the lens of resilience from an organisation and system perspective using two recognised resilience-enhancing management practices, High Reliability Theory (HRT) and Business Continuity Management (BCM) to better understand how this phenomenon manifests within a partially fragmented (corporatised) critical infrastructure industry – The Queensland Electricity Industry. The methodological approach involved a single case study design (industry) with embedded sub-units of analysis (organisations), utilising in-depth interviews and document analysis to illicit findings. Derived from detailed assessment of BCM and Reliability-Enhancing characteristics, findings suggest that the industry as a whole exhibits resilient functioning, however this was found to manifest at different levels across the industry and in different combinations. Whilst there were distinct differences in respect to resilient capabilities at the organisational level, differences were less marked at a systems (industry) level, with many common understandings carried over from the pre-corporatised operating environment. These Heritage Factors were central to understanding the systems level cohesion noted in the work. The findings of this study are intended to contribute to a body of knowledge encompassing resilience and high reliability in critical infrastructure industries. The research also has value from a practical perspective, as it suggests a range of opportunities to enhance resilient functioning under increasingly interdependent, networked conditions.

Analysis of linear relationships in block ciphers

This thesis is devoted to the study of linear relationships in symmetric block ciphers. A block cipher is designed so that the ciphertext is produced as a nonlinear function of the plaintext and secret master key. However, linear relationships within the cipher can still exist if the texts and components of the cipher are manipulated in a number of ways, as shown in this thesis. There are four main contributions of this thesis. The first contribution is the extension of the applicability of integral attacks from word-based to bitbased block ciphers. Integral attacks exploit the linear relationship between texts at intermediate stages of encryption. This relationship can be used to recover subkey bits in a key recovery attack. In principle, integral attacks can be applied to bit-based block ciphers. However, specific tools to define the attack on these ciphers are not available. This problem is addressed in this thesis by introducing a refined set of notations to describe the attack. The bit patternbased integral attack is successfully demonstrated on reduced-round variants of the block ciphers Noekeon, Present and Serpent. The second contribution is the discovery of a very small system of equations that describe the LEX-AES stream cipher. LEX-AES is based heavily on the 128-bit-key (16-byte) Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) block cipher. In one instance, the system contains 21 equations and 17 unknown bytes. This is very close to the upper limit for an exhaustive key search, which is 16 bytes. One only needs to acquire 36 bytes of keystream to generate the equations. Therefore, the security of this cipher depends on the difficulty of solving this small system of equations. The third contribution is the proposal of an alternative method to measure diffusion in the linear transformation of Substitution-Permutation-Network (SPN) block ciphers. Currently, the branch number is widely used for this purpose. It is useful for estimating the possible success of differential and linear attacks on a particular SPN cipher. However, the measure does not give information on the number of input bits that are left unchanged by the transformation when producing the output bits. The new measure introduced in this thesis is intended to complement the current branch number technique. The measure is based on fixed points and simple linear relationships between the input and output words of the linear transformation. The measure represents the average fraction of input words to a linear diffusion transformation that are not effectively changed by the transformation. This measure is applied to the block ciphers AES, ARIA, Serpent and Present. It is shown that except for Serpent, the linear transformations used in the block ciphers examined do not behave as expected for a random linear transformation. The fourth contribution is the identification of linear paths in the nonlinear round function of the SMS4 block cipher. The SMS4 block cipher is used as a standard in the Chinese Wireless LAN Wired Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI) and hence, the round function should exhibit a high level of nonlinearity. However, the findings in this thesis on the existence of linear relationships show that this is not the case. It is shown that in some exceptional cases, the first four rounds of SMS4 are effectively linear. In these cases, the effective number of rounds for SMS4 is reduced by four, from 32 to 28. The findings raise questions about the security provided by SMS4, and might provide clues on the existence of a flaw in the design of the cipher.

Mental health outcomes for unemployed individuals who attend occupational skills / personal development training programs

Four studies report on outcomes for long-term unemployed individuals who attend occupational skills/personal development training courses in Australia. Levels of distress, depression, guilt, anger, helplessness, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction and self esteem were used as measures of well-being. Employment value, employment expectations and employment commitment were used as measures of work attitude. Social support, financial strain, and use of community resources were used as measures of life situation. Other variables investigated were causal attribution, unemployment blame, levels of coping, self efficacy, the personality variable of neuroticism, the psycho-social climate of the training course, and changes to occupational status. Training courses were (a) government funded occupational skills-based programs which included some components of personal development training, and (b) a specially developed course which focused exclusively on improving well-being, and which utilised the cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) approach. Data for all studies were collected longitudinally by having subjects complete questionnaires pre-course, post-course, and (for 3 of the 4 studies) at 3 months follow-up, in order to investigate long-term effects. One of the studies utilised the case-study methodology and was designed to be illustrative and assist in interpreting the quantitative data from the other 3 evaluations. The outcomes for participants were contrasted with control subjects who met the same sel~tion criteria for training. Results confirmed earlier findings that the experiences of unemployment were negative. Immediate effects of the courses were to improve well-being. Improvements were greater for those who attended courses with higher levels of personal development input, and the best results were obtained from the specially developed CBT program. Participants who had lower levels of well-being at the beginning of the courses did better as a result of training than those who were already functioning at higher levels. Course participants gained only marginal advantages over control subjects in relation to improving their occupational status. Many of the short term well-being gains made as a result of attending the courses were still evident at 3 months follow-up. Best results were achieved for the specially designed CBT program. Results were discussed in the context of prevailing theories of Ynemployment (Fryer, 1986,1988; Jahoda, 1981, 1982; Warr, 1987a, 1987b).

Fingerprint analysis using wavelet transform with application to compression and feature extraction

The main goal of this research is to design an efficient compression al~ gorithm for fingerprint images. The wavelet transform technique is the principal tool used to reduce interpixel redundancies and to obtain a parsimonious representation for these images. A specific fixed decomposition structure is designed to be used by the wavelet packet in order to save on the computation, transmission, and storage costs. This decomposition structure is based on analysis of information packing performance of several decompositions, two-dimensional power spectral density, effect of each frequency band on the reconstructed image, and the human visual sensitivities. This fixed structure is found to provide the "most" suitable representation for fingerprints, according to the chosen criteria. Different compression techniques are used for different subbands, based on their observed statistics. The decision is based on the effect of each subband on the reconstructed image according to the mean square criteria as well as the sensitivities in human vision. To design an efficient quantization algorithm, a precise model for distribution of the wavelet coefficients is developed. The model is based on the generalized Gaussian distribution. A least squares algorithm on a nonlinear function of the distribution model shape parameter is formulated to estimate the model parameters. A noise shaping bit allocation procedure is then used to assign the bit rate among subbands. To obtain high compression ratios, vector quantization is used. In this work, the lattice vector quantization (LVQ) is chosen because of its superior performance over other types of vector quantizers. The structure of a lattice quantizer is determined by its parameters known as truncation level and scaling factor. In lattice-based compression algorithms reported in the literature the lattice structure is commonly predetermined leading to a nonoptimized quantization approach. In this research, a new technique for determining the lattice parameters is proposed. In the lattice structure design, no assumption about the lattice parameters is made and no training and multi-quantizing is required. The design is based on minimizing the quantization distortion by adapting to the statistical characteristics of the source in each subimage. 11 Abstract Abstract Since LVQ is a multidimensional generalization of uniform quantizers, it produces minimum distortion for inputs with uniform distributions. In order to take advantage of the properties of LVQ and its fast implementation, while considering the i.i.d. nonuniform distribution of wavelet coefficients, the piecewise-uniform pyramid LVQ algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm quantizes almost all of source vectors without the need to project these on the lattice outermost shell, while it properly maintains a small codebook size. It also resolves the wedge region problem commonly encountered with sharply distributed random sources. These represent some of the drawbacks of the algorithm proposed by Barlaud [26). The proposed algorithm handles all types of lattices, not only the cubic lattices, as opposed to the algorithms developed by Fischer [29) and Jeong [42). Furthermore, no training and multiquantizing (to determine lattice parameters) is required, as opposed to Powell's algorithm [78). For coefficients with high-frequency content, the positive-negative mean algorithm is proposed to improve the resolution of reconstructed images. For coefficients with low-frequency content, a lossless predictive compression scheme is used to preserve the quality of reconstructed images. A method to reduce bit requirements of necessary side information is also introduced. Lossless entropy coding techniques are subsequently used to remove coding redundancy. The algorithms result in high quality reconstructed images with better compression ratios than other available algorithms. To evaluate the proposed algorithms their objective and subjective performance comparisons with other available techniques are presented. The quality of the reconstructed images is important for a reliable identification. Enhancement and feature extraction on the reconstructed images are also investigated in this research. A structural-based feature extraction algorithm is proposed in which the unique properties of fingerprint textures are used to enhance the images and improve the fidelity of their characteristic features. The ridges are extracted from enhanced grey-level foreground areas based on the local ridge dominant directions. The proposed ridge extraction algorithm, properly preserves the natural shape of grey-level ridges as well as precise locations of the features, as opposed to the ridge extraction algorithm in [81). Furthermore, it is fast and operates only on foreground regions, as opposed to the adaptive floating average thresholding process in [68). Spurious features are subsequently eliminated using the proposed post-processing scheme.

Spectral coding methods for speech compression and speaker identification

This thesis investigates aspects of encoding the speech spectrum at low bit rates, with extensions to the effect of such coding on automatic speaker identification. Vector quantization (VQ) is a technique for jointly quantizing a block of samples at once, in order to reduce the bit rate of a coding system. The major drawback in using VQ is the complexity of the encoder. Recent research has indicated the potential applicability of the VQ method to speech when product code vector quantization (PCVQ) techniques are utilized. The focus of this research is the efficient representation, calculation and utilization of the speech model as stored in the PCVQ codebook. In this thesis, several VQ approaches are evaluated, and the efficacy of two training algorithms is compared experimentally. It is then shown that these productcode vector quantization algorithms may be augmented with lossless compression algorithms, thus yielding an improved overall compression rate. An approach using a statistical model for the vector codebook indices for subsequent lossless compression is introduced. This coupling of lossy compression and lossless compression enables further compression gain. It is demonstrated that this approach is able to reduce the bit rate requirement from the current 24 bits per 20 millisecond frame to below 20, using a standard spectral distortion metric for comparison. Several fast-search VQ methods for use in speech spectrum coding have been evaluated. The usefulness of fast-search algorithms is highly dependent upon the source characteristics and, although previous research has been undertaken for coding of images using VQ codebooks trained with the source samples directly, the product-code structured codebooks for speech spectrum quantization place new constraints on the search methodology. The second major focus of the research is an investigation of the effect of lowrate spectral compression methods on the task of automatic speaker identification. The motivation for this aspect of the research arose from a need to simultaneously preserve the speech quality and intelligibility and to provide for machine-based automatic speaker recognition using the compressed speech. This is important because there are several emerging applications of speaker identification where compressed speech is involved. Examples include mobile communications where the speech has been highly compressed, or where a database of speech material has been assembled and stored in compressed form. Although these two application areas have the same objective - that of maximizing the identification rate - the starting points are quite different. On the one hand, the speech material used for training the identification algorithm may or may not be available in compressed form. On the other hand, the new test material on which identification is to be based may only be available in compressed form. Using the spectral parameters which have been stored in compressed form, two main classes of speaker identification algorithm are examined. Some studies have been conducted in the past on bandwidth-limited speaker identification, but the use of short-term spectral compression deserves separate investigation. Combining the major aspects of the research, some important design guidelines for the construction of an identification model when based on the use of compressed speech are put forward.

Reducing high levels of communication apprehension among primary school students

This study focused on a group of primary school teachers as they implemented a variety of intervention actions within their class programs aimed towards supporting the reduction of high levels of communication apprehension (CA) among students.Six teachers and nine students, located across three primary schools, four year levels,and six classes, participated in this study. For reasons of confidentiality the schools,principals, parents, teachers, teacher assistants, and students who were involved in this study were given fictitious names. The following research question was explored in this study: What intervention actions can primary school teachers implement within their class programs that support the reduction of high CA levels among students? Throughout this study the term CA referred to "an individual's level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated (oral) communication with another person or persons" (McCroskey, 1984, p. 13). The sources of CA were explained with reference to McCroskey's state-trait continuum. The distinctions between high and appropriate levels of CA were determined conceptually and empirically. The education system within which this study was conducted promoted the philosophy of inclusion and the practices of inclusive schooling. Teachers employed in this system were encouraged to create class programs inclusive of and successful for all students. Consequently the conceptual framework within which this study was conducted was based around the notion of inclusion. Action research and case study research were the methodologies used in the study. Case studies described teachers' action research as they responded to the challenge of executing intervention actions within their class programs directed towards supporting the reduction of high CA levels among students. Consequently the teachers and not the researcher were the central characters in each of the case studies. Three principal data collection instruments were used in this study: Personal Report of Communication Fear (PRCF) scale, semistructured interviews, and dialogue journals. The PRCF scale was the screening tool used to identify a pool of students eligible for the study. Data relevant to the students involved in the study were gathered during semistructured interviews and throughout the dialogue journaling process. Dialogue journaling provided the opportunity for regular contact between teachers and the researcher, a sequence to teacher and student intervention behaviours, and a permanent record of teacher and student growth and development. The majority of teachers involved in this study endeavoured to develop class programs inclusive of all students.These teachers acknowledged the importance of modifying aspects of their class programs in response to the diverse and often multiple needs of individual students with high levels of CA. Numerous conclusions were drawn regarding practical ways that the teachers in this study supported the reduction of high CA levels among students. What this study has shown is that teachers can incorporate intervention actions within their class programs aimed towards supporting students lower their high levels of CA. Whilst no teacher developed an identical approach to intervention, similarities and differences were evident among teachers regarding their selection, interpretation, and implementation of intervention actions. Actions that teachers enacted within their class programs emerged from numerous fields of research including CA, inclusion, social skills, behaviour teaching, co-operative learning, and quality schools. Each teacher's knowledge of and familiarity with these research fields influenced their preference for and commitment to particular intervention actions. Additional factors including each teacher's paradigm of inclusion and exclusion contributed towards their choice of intervention actions. Possible implications of these conclusions were noted with reference to teachers,school administrators, support personnel, system personnel, teacher educators, parents, and researchers.

An ecology of centre-based child care

The studies in the thesis were derived from a program of research focused on centre-based child care in Australia. The studies constituted an ecological analysis as they examined proximal and distal factors which have the potential to affect children's developmental opportunities (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The project was conducted in thirty-two child care centres located in south-east Queensland. Participants in the research included staff members at the centres, families using the centres and their children. The first study described the personal and professional characteristics of one hundred and forty-four child care workers, as well as their job satisfaction and job commitment. Factors impinging on the stability of care afforded to children were examined, specifically child care workers' intentions to leave their current position and actual staff turnover at a twelve month follow-up. This is an ecosystem analysis (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983), as it examined the world of work for carers; a setting not directly involving the developing child, but which has implications for children's experiences. Staff job satisfaction was focused on working with children and other adults, including parents and colleagues. Involvement with children was reported as being the most rewarding aspect of the work. This intrinsic satisfaction was enough to sustain caregivers' efforts to maintain their employment in child care programs. It was found that, while improving working conditions may help to reduce turnover, it is likely that moderate turnover rates will remain as child care staff work in relatively small centres and they leave in order to improve career prospects. Departure from a child care job appeared to be as much about improving career opportunities or changing personal circumstances, as it was about poor wages and working conditions. In the second study, factors that influence maternal satisfaction with child care arrangements were examined. The focus included examination of the nature and qualities of parental interaction with staff. This was a mesosystem analysis (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983), as it considered the links between family and child care settings. Two hundred and twenty-two questionnaires were returned from mothers whose children were enrolled in the participating centres. It was found that maternal satisfaction with child care encompassed the domains of child-centred and parent-centred satisfaction. The nature and range of responses in the quantitative and qualitative data indicated that these parents were genuinely satisfied with their children's care. In the prediction of maternal satisfaction with child care, single parents, mothers with high role satisfaction, and mothers who were satisfied with the frequency of staff contact and degree of supportive communication had higher levels of satisfaction with their child care arrangements. The third study described the structural and process variations within child care programs and examined program differences for compliance with regulations and differences by profit status of the centre, as a microsystem analysis (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Observations were made in eighty-three programs which served children from two to five years. The results of the study affirmed beliefs that nonprofit centres are superior in the quality of care provided, although this was not to a level which meant that the care in for-profit centres was inadequate. Regulation of structural features of child care programs, per se, did not guarantee higher quality child care as measured by global or process indicators. The final study represented an integration of a range of influences in child care and family settings which may impact on development. Features of child care programs which predict children's social and cognitive development, while taking into account child and family characteristics, were identified. Results were consistent with other research findings which show that child and family characteristics and child care quality predict children's development. Child care quality was more important to the prediction of social development, while family factors appeared to be more predictive of cognitive/language development. An influential variable predictive of development was the period of time which the child had been in the centre. This highlighted the importance of the stability of child care arrangements. Child care quality features which had most influence were global ratings of the qualities of the program environment. However, results need to be interpreted cautiously as the explained variance in the predictive models developed was low. The results of these studies are discussed in terms of the implications for practice and future research. Considerations for an expanded view of ecological approaches to child care research are outlined. Issues discussed include the need to generate child care research which is relevant to social policy development, the implications of market driven policies for child care services, professionalism and professionalisation of child care work, and the need to reconceptualise child care research when the goal is to develop greater theoretical understanding about child care environments and developmental processes.

A life jacket with holes- : a case study of 'temporary engagement' : a strategy used by Education Queensland to employ beginning secondary teachers

This research investigated the impact of Education Queensland's employment policy and practices for beginning secondary teachers appointed on temporary engagement. The context was the public secondary school sector within the state of Queensland, Australia. The study was set within a context of the changing nature of work from full-time permanent employment towards casual, fixed-term contracts, temporary and part-time employment, a trend reflected in the employment patterns for teachers within Australia. Two broad categories of literature relating to the research problem of this thesis were reviewed, namely the beginning teacher and permanency or tenure. The focus in the research literature on beginning teachers was the professional experiences of teachers within the classroom and school. There was a paucity of research that considered the working and industrial conditions of temporary employment for beginning teachers or the personal and professional implications of this form of employment. The review of the context and literature was conceptualised as a Beginning Temporary Teacher Theoretical Framework which served to inform the study. Using a qualitative case study methodology, the research techniques employed for the thesis were semi-structured interview and document analysis. A simultaneously conducted research project in which the researcher participated entitled 'Winning the Lottery? Beginning Teachers on Temporary Engagement' foregrounded this thesis in terms of refining the research question, contributing to the literature and in the selection of the participants. For this case study the perspectives of four distinct yet inter-related categories of professionals were sought. These included four beginning secondary teachers, three school administrators, a Senior Personnel Officer with Education Queensland, and a representative from the Queensland Teachers' Union. The research findings indicated that none of the beginning teachers or other professionals viewed starting a career in teaching on temporary engagement as the ideal. The negative features identified were the differential treatment received and the high level of uncertainty associated with temporary employment. Differential treatment tended to indicate 'less' entitlements, in terms of access to induction and professional development, recreational and sick leave, acceptance by and expectations of other colleagues, and avenues of redress in grievance cases. Moreover, interviews indicated a high level of uncertainty in terms of starting within the teaching profession, commencing at a new school, and a regular income. In addition, frequent changes in schools and/or cohorts of students exacerbated levels of uncertainty. The beginning teachers reported significantly decreased motivation, self-esteem and sense of belonging, and increased stress levels. There was an even more marked negative impact on those beginning teachers who had experienced a higher number of temporary engagements and schools in their first year of teaching. Conversely, strong staff support and a reasonable length of time in the one school improved the quality of the beginning teachers' experiences. The overall impact of being on temporary engagement resulted in delayed permanent position appointments, decreased commitment to particular schools and to Education Queensland as the employing authority, and for two of the beginning teachers, it produced a desire to seek alternative employment. The implementation of Education Queensland's policies relating to working conditions and entitlements for these temporary beginning teachers at the school level was revealed to be less than satisfactory. There was a tendency towards 'just-in- time' management of the beginning teacher on temporary engagement. The beginning teachers received 'less-than-messages' about access to and use of departmental documentation, support through induction and professional development, and their transition from temporary to permanent employment. To ensure a more systematic, supportive and inclusive process for managing the temporary beginning teacher, a conceptual framework entitled 'Continuums of Tension' was developed. The four continuums included permanent employment - temporary employment; system perspective - individual perspective; teaching as a profession - teaching as a job; and the permanent beginning teacher - university graduate. The general principles of the human resource policies of Education Queensland were based on a commitment to permanent employment, a system's perspective, viewing teaching as a profession and a homogeneous group of permanent beginning teachers. Contrasting with this, the beginning teacher on temporary engagement tended to operate from the position of temporary employment and a perspective that was individually based. Their priorities therefore included the 'occupational' aspects of being a temporary teacher striving to become permanent. Thus there existed a tension or contradiction between the general principles of human resource policies within Education Queensland and the employment experiences of beginning teachers on temporary engagement. The study proposed three actions for resolution to address the aforementioned tensions. The actions included: (a) the effective provision and targeted communication of information; (b) support, induction and professional development; and (c) a coordinated approach between Education Queensland, Queensland Teachers' Union, the Universities and the beginning teacher. These actions are fm1her refined to include: (a) an induction kit to suppm1 the individual through the pre-employment to permanent employee phases, (b) an extrapolation of the roles and responsibilities of Education Queensland personnel charged with supporting the beginning temporary teacher, and (c) a series of recommendations to effect a coordinated approach amongst the key stakeholders. The theoretical and conceptual frameworks have provided a means of addressing the identified needs of the beginning teacher on temporary engagement. As such, this study has contributed to the research literature on teacher employment and professionalism and aims to provide a beginning temporary teacher with managed professional and occupational support.

Getting that piece of paper : mental health nurses' experience of undertaking doctoral studies in Victoria, Australia

The aim of this study was to explore the experience of mental health nurses undertaking doctoral studies. The study was conducted in Victoria, Australia. A descriptive exploratory approach to inquiry was used for this study. Participants were mental health nurses who had successfully completed a doctoral qualification. Eligibility for inclusion required participants to be residing in Victoria (irrespective of where their doctoral studies were undertaken) and to have conducted their research within the domain of mental health and/or currently employed in the field of mental health nursing. Of the 20 potential participants invited, 16 accepted the invitation. Five emergent themes were explicated from narrative analyses. These themes were being a trail blazer, positioning for professional advancement, achieving a balance between competing priorities, maintaining a commitment to the development of the profession, and a point of affirmation. An understanding of the experience of undertaking doctoral studies can be used to influence the development of strategies to encourage more mental health nurses to consider undertaking a doctoral degree.