Residential real estate education and globalisation in Australian real estate markets and practices

The purpose of this scoping paper is to offer an overview of the literature to determine the development to date in the area of residential real estate agency academic and career education in respect to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) transactions and implications in Australia. This paper will review studies on the issue of foreign real estate ownership and FDI in Australian real estate markets to develop an understanding of the current state of knowledge on residential real estate agency practice, career education and real estate licensing requirements in Australia. The distinction between the real estate profession education, compared to other professions such as accounting, legal and finance is based on the intensity of the professional career training prior or post formal academic training. Real estate education could be carried out with relatively higher standards in terms of licensing requirement, career and academic education. As FDI in the Australian real estate market is a complex globalisation and economic phenomenon, a simple content of residential real estate training and education may not promote proper management or capacity in dealing with relevant foreign residential property market transaction. The preliminary summarising from the literature of residential real estate agency education, with its current relevant or emerging licensing requirement are focused on its role and effectiveness and impact in residential real estate market. Particular focus will be directed to the FDI relevant residential real estate agency transactions and practices, which have been strongly influenced by the current residential real estate market and agency practices. Taken together, there are many opportunities for future research to extend our understanding and improving the residential real estate agency education and training of Foreign Direct Investment in the Australian residential real estate sector.

Real estate agents : why is education important?

Real Estate Agency education in Australia has undergone many changes during the last 40 years. This is primarily due to the changing nature of consumer protection provided by government and the expectation of increased fields of knowledge relating to real estate transactions. Each state and territory within Australia has a range of regulatory bodies to oversee consumer protection and the distinct licenses and educational requirements that comprise their regimes. Since the 1970’s minimum educational requirements in New South Wales are prescribed for real estate agency work. However, very little research exists in the Australian literature, where an analysis has been undertaken to evaluate these changes, which includes course content, hours allocated for each subject, assessment criteria for each subject,the educational qualification attained, and the requirement for industry experience as a pre-requisite for licensing approval. It is argued that the change to educational requirements, has impacted negatively for the consumer, with an increase in consumer complaints, particularly during the last 10 years.

Development of an evidence-based framework to guide injury prevention interventions for off-road motorcyclists

There is little research on off-road motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle riders though injury levels are high. This thesis identified formal responsibility for monitoring injuries, targeting young male and recreational riders, promotion of family members as models, and controlled and accessible riding locations as ways to increase safety. These recommendations were based on analysis of Queensland hospitalisation records, rider personal reports and survey responses.

Patron-driven acquisition of online video

Letting the patron choose ebooks has been a successful experience. Why not apply the same purchase model to other formats? This showcase outlines Queensland University of Technology’s experience with a trial of patron driven acquisition (PDA) for online video. The trial commencing in August 2012 provided access to over 700 online videos licensed from Kanopy across a number of discipline areas. As online video publishing is still in the early stages of development, and as the trial is only in the very early stages, it is too early to draw any firm conclusions about the likely suitability of this model for online video selection and acquisition. However, the trial provides some interesting initial comparisons with ebook PDA and existing online video purchase models and prompts further consideration of PDA as a method for online video selection and licensing.

The future of the music industry in an age of digital distribution

This is an invited public lecture. The talk will cover how the music industry has changed due to digital technologies. During the talk I will look at how the changing balance between live music, music licensing and recorded music. I will also discuss online music subscription services and whether they might be a future for music distribution in China and elsewhere in the world. It will also look at how music artists and composers are affected by this change.

The transformation of Sweden from a haven for online pirates to the hope of the digital music industry [Musikbranschens föregångsland]

1974 was the year when the Swedish pop group ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton and when Blue Swede reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Although Swedish pop music gained some international success even prior to 1974, this year is often considered as the beginning of an era in which Swedish pop music had great success around the world. With brands such as ABBA, Europe, Roxette, The Cardigans, Ace of Base, In Flames, Robyn, Avicii, Swedish House Mafia and music producers Stig Andersson, Ola Håkansson, Dag Volle, Max Martin, Andreas Carlsson, Jorgen Elofsson and several others have the myth of the Swedish music miracle kept alive for nearly more than four decades. Swedish music looks to continue reap success around the world, but since the millennium, Sweden's relationship with music has been more focused on relatively controversial Internet-based services for music distribution developed by Swedish entrepreneurs and engineers rather than on successful musicians and composers. This chapter focusses on the music industry in Sweden. The chapter will discuss the development of the Internet services mentioned above and their impact on the production, distribution and consumption of recorded music. Ample space will be given in particular to Spotify, the music service that quickly has fundamentally changed the music industry in Sweden. The chapter will also present how the music industry's three sectors - recorded music, music licensing and live music - interact and evolve in Sweden.

Disability, public space performance & spectatorship : Unconscious performers

Why would disabled people want to re-engage, re-enact and re-envisage the everyday encounters in public spaces and places that cast them as ugly, strange, stare-worthy? In Disability, Public Space Performance and Spectatorship: Unconscious Performers, Bree Hadley examines the performance practices of disabled artists in the US, UK, Europe and Australasia who do exactly this. Operating in a live or performance art paradigm, artists like James Cunningham (Australia), Noemi Lakmaier (UK/Austria), Alison Jones (UK), Aaron Williamson (UK), Katherine Araniello (UK), Bill Shannon (US), Back to Back Theatre (Australia), Rita Marcalo (UK), Liz Crow (UK) and Mat Fraser (UK) all use installation and public space performance practices to re-stage their disabled identities in risky, guerilla-style works that remind passersby of their own complicity in the daily social drama of disability. In doing so, they draw spectators' attention to their own role in constructing Western concepts of disability. This book investigates the way each of us can become unconscious performers in a daily social drama that positions disability people as figures of tragedy, stigma or pity, and the aesthetics, politics and ethics of performance practices that intervene very directly in this drama. It constructs a framework for understanding the way spectators are positioned in these practices, and how they contribute to public sphere debates about disability today.

Older driver safety and mobility : where to from here?

The older adult population (65 years and over) represents a rapid growing segment of the population in many developed countries. Unlike earlier cohorts of older drivers that included many who were familiar with public transportation, the present cohort of older drivers historically has a greater reliance on the private automobile as their main form of transportation. Recent studies of older adults’ travel patterns reported automobile to be responsible for over 80% of the total number of hours spent on all trips. While older drivers, as a group, does not demonstrate a particular road risk, the evident demographic change and the increased physical fragility and severity of crash-related injuries makes older driver safety a prevalent public health issue. This study systematically reviewed the safety and mobility outcomes of existing strategies used internationally to manage older driver safety, with a specific focus on age-based testing (ABT), license restriction and self-regulation (i.e. voluntary limiting driving in potentially hazardous situations). ABT remains the most commonly adopted strategy by licensing authorities both within Australia and internationally. Heterogeneity in the development of functional declines, and in driving behaviours within the older driver population, makes age an unreliable index of driving capacity. Given the counter-productive safety and mobility outcomes of ABT strategies, their continued popularity within both the legislative and public domains remains problematic. Self-regulation may provide greater potential for reducing older drivers’ crash risk while maintaining their mobility and independence. The current body of literature on older drivers’ self-regulation is systematically reviewed. Despite being promoted by researchers and licensing authorities as a strategy to maintain older driver safety and mobility, the proportion of older drivers who self-regulate, and exactly how they do so, remains unclear. Future research on older drivers’ adoption of self-regulation, particularly the underlying psychological factors that underlies this process, is needed in order to promote its use within the older driver community.

The role of parents and non-parents in the supervision of learner drivers in Australia

The purpose of this study was to contrast the role of parental and non-parental (sibling, other family and non-family) supervisors in the supervision of learner drivers in graduated driver licensing systems. The sample consisted of 522 supervisors from the Australian states of Queensland (n = 204, 39%) and New South Wales (n = 318, 61%). The learner licence requirements in these two states are similar, although learners in Queensland are required to accrue 100 h of supervision in a log book while those in New South Wales are required to accrue 120 h. Approximately 50 per cent of the sample (n = 255) were parents of the learner driver while the remainder of the sample were either siblings (n = 72, 13.8%), other family members (n = 153, 29.3%) or non-family (n = 114, 21.8%). Parents were more likely than siblings, other family or non-family members to be the primary supervisor of the learner driver. Siblings provided fewer hours of practice when compared with other supervisor types while the median and mode suggest that parents provided the most hours of practice to learner drivers. This study demonstrates that non-parental supervisors, such as siblings, other family members and non-family, at least in jurisdictions that require 100 or 120 h of practice, are important in facilitating learner drivers to accumulate sufficient supervised driving practice.

Quantitative fit analysis of orthopedic bone plates : methods, criteria and approach

Studies on quantitative fit analysis of precontoured fracture fixation plates emerged within the last few years and therefore, there is a wide research gap in this area. Quantitative fit assessment facilitates the measure of the gap between a fracture fixation plate and the underlying bone, and specifies the required plate fit criteria. For clinically meaningful fit assessment outcome, it is necessary to establish the appropriate criteria and parameter. The present paper studies this subject and recommends using multiple fit criteria and the maximum distance between the plate and underlying bone as fit parameter for clinically relevant outcome. We also propose the development of a software tool for automatic plate positioning and fit assessment for the purpose of implant design validation and optimization in an effort to provide better fitting implant that can assist proper fracture healing. The fundamental specifications of the software are discussed.

Optical coupling of Au nanoparticles on vertical graphenes to maximize SERS response

Gold particle interaction with few-layer graphenes is of interest for the development of numerous optical nanodevices. The results of numerical studies of the coupling of gold nanoparticles with few-layer vertical graphene sheets are presented. The field strengths are computed and the optimum nanoparticle configurations for the formation of SERS hotpots are obtained. The nanoparticles are modeled as 8 nm diameter spheres atop 1.5 nm (5 layers) graphene sheet. The vertical orientation is of particular interest as it is possible to use both sides of the graphene structure and potentially double the number of particles in the system. Our results show that with the addition of an opposing particle a much stronger signal can be obtained as well as the particle separation can be controlled by the number of atomic carbon layers. These results provide further insights and contribute to the development of next-generation plasmonic devices based on nanostructures with hybrid dimensionality.

“I drove after drinking alcohol” and other risky driving behaviours reported by young novice drivers in Queensland, Australia

Background. Volitional risky driving behaviours such as drink- and drug-driving (i.e. substance-impaired driving) and speeding contribute to the overrepresentation of young novice drivers in road crash fatalities, and crash risk is greatest during the first year of independent driving in particular. Aims. To explore the: 1) self-reported compliance of drivers with road rules regarding substance-impaired driving and other risky driving behaviours (e.g., speeding, driving while tired), one year after progression from a Learner to a Provisional (intermediate) licence; and 2) interrelationships between substance-impaired driving and other risky driving behaviours (e.g., crashes, offences, and Police avoidance). Methods. Drivers (n = 1,076; 319 males) aged 18-20 years were surveyed regarding their sociodemographics (age, gender) and self-reported driving behaviours including crashes, offences, Police avoidance, and driving intentions. Results. A relatively small proportion of participants reported driving after taking drugs (6.3% of males, 1.3% of females) and drinking alcohol (18.5% of males, 11.8% of females). In comparison, a considerable proportion of participants reported at least occasionally exceeding speed limits (86.7% of novices), and risky behaviours like driving when tired (83.6% of novices). Substance-impaired driving was associated with avoiding Police, speeding, risky driving intentions, and self-reported crashes and offences. Forty-three percent of respondents who drove after taking drugs also reported alcohol-impaired driving. Discussion and Conclusions. Behaviours of concern include drink driving, speeding, novice driving errors such as misjudging the speed of oncoming vehicles, violations of graduated driver licensing passenger restrictions, driving tired, driving faster if in a bad mood, and active punishment avoidance. Given the interrelationships between the risky driving behaviours, a deeper understanding of influential factors is required to inform targeted and general countermeasure implementation and evaluation during this critical driving period. Notwithstanding this, a combination of enforcement, education, and engineering efforts appear necessary to improve the road safety of the young novice driver, and for the drink-driving young novice driver in particular.

Parental perceptions of the learner driver log book system in two Australian states

Objective While many jurisdictions internationally now require learner drivers to complete a specified number of hours of supervised driving practice before being able to drive unaccompanied, very few require learner drivers to complete a log book to record this practice and then present it to the licensing authority. Learner drivers in most Australian jurisdictions must complete a log book that records their practice thereby confirming to the licensing authority that they have met the mandated hours of practice requirement. These log books facilitate the management and enforcement of minimum supervised hours of driving requirements. Method Parents of learner drivers in two Australian states, Queensland and New South Wales, completed an online survey assessing a range of factors, including their perceptions of the accuracy of their child’s learner log book and the effectiveness of the log book system. Results The study indicates that the large majority of parents believe that their child’s learner log book is accurate. However, they generally report that the log book system is only moderately effective as a system to measure the number of hours of supervised practice a learner driver has completed. Conclusions The results of this study suggest the presence of a paradox with many parents possibly believing that others are not as diligent in the use of log books as they are or that the system is too open to misuse. Given that many parents report that their child’s log book is accurate, this study has important implications for the development and ongoing monitoring of hours of practice requirements in graduated driver licensing systems.

Editorial [Special Issue]

This special issue of the International Journal of Technology Policy and Law considers recent developments in the reconfiguration of communication regulation to account for the impact of media convergence. It is readily apparent that media worldwide are going through a series of transformations, associated with the rise of the internet, user-created content and social media. The papers in the collection draw upon legal and policy developments in Australia, the European union and South Korea, and consider such issues as public participation in media policy and regulation, civic media governance for online platforms, the future copyright laws, the roles and responsibilities of internet intermediaries, and regulatory frameworks for internet protocol television (IPTV).

Evaluation of robust autonomy and implications on UAS certification and design

As the number of potential applications of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) grows in civilian operations and national security, National Airworthiness Authorities are under increasing pressure to provide a path for certification and allow UAS integration into the national airspace. The success of this integration depends on developments in improved UAS reliability and safety, regulations for certification, and technologies for operational performance and safety assessment. This paper focusses on the latter and describes the use of a framework for evaluating robust autonomy of UAS, namely, the autonomous system’s ability to either continue operation in the presence of faults or safely shut down. The paper draws parallels between the proposed evaluation framework and the evaluation of pilots during the licensing process. It also discusses how the data from the proposed evaluation can be uses as an aid for decision making in certification and UAS designs.