Epidemiological patterns of Ross River virus disease in Queensland, Australia, 2001-2011

Ross River virus (RRV) infection is a debilitating disease which has a significant impact on population health, economic productivity and tourism in Australia. This study examined epidemiological patterns of the RRV disease in Queensland, Australia between January 2001 and December 2011 at a statistical local area level. Spatial-temporal analyses were used to identify the patterns of the disease distribution over time stratified by age, sex and space. The results show that the mean annual incidence was 54 per 100,000 people, with a male: female ratio of 1:1.1. Two space-time clusters were identified: the areas adjacent to Townsville, on the eastern coast of Queensland; and the south east areas. Thus, although public health intervention should be considered across all areas in which RRV occurs, it should specifically focus on these high risk regions, particularly during the summer and autumn to reduce the social and economic impacts of RRV.

Using the internet to assist court processes : delivery of justice in an electronic age

This article presents an overview of two aspects of the role the internet now plays in the court system - first, the extent to which judges, administrators and court officials at the different levels in the court hierarchy are using the internet to deliver enhanced access to the Australian justice system for the community as a whole, and second, how they have embraced that same technology as an aid for accessing information for better judgment delivery and administration.

Coal seam gas water : potential hazards and exposure pathways in Queensland

The extraction of coal seam gas (CSG) produces large volumes of potentially contaminated water. It has raised concerns about the environmental health impacts of the co-produced CSG water. In this paper, we review CSG water contaminants and their potential health effects in the context of exposure pathways in Queensland’s CSG basins. The hazardous substances associated with CSG water in Queensland include fluoride, boron, lead and benzene. The exposure pathways for CSG water are: (1) water used for municipal purposes, (2) recreational water activities in rivers, (3) occupational exposures, (4) water extracted from contaminated aquifers, and; (5) indirect exposure through the food chain. We recommend mapping of exposure pathways into communities in CSG regions to determine the potentially exposed populations in Queensland. Future efforts to monitor chemicals of concern and consolidate them into a central database will build the necessary capability to undertake a much needed environmental health impact assessment.

The caveat in Queensland : getting it off!

This article critically analyses the provisions by which a caveat against dealings may be cleared from a land title in Queensland, namely ss 126, 127 and 128 of the Land Title Act 1994(Qld). It includes a comparison of the current provisions with the pre-existing law and provides a comprehensive guide as to the circumstances in which, and the manner by which, the current provisions may be utilised to clear caveats from land titles in Queensland.

Damages for personal injuries in Queensland : interest please!

The article revises established principles relating to the awarding of damages to the date of judgment and discusses decisions in the High Court and in the Supreme Court of Queensland which have caused significant changes to the manner of assessments of interest. Its purpose is to provide for practitioners involved in personal injuries litigation in Queensland a current set of guidelines as to the manner in which the wide discretion to award interest may be expected to be exercised.

Study Protocol - Alcohol Management Plans (AMPs) in remote indigenous communities in Queensland: their impacts on injury, violence, health and social indicators and their cost-effectiveness

Background In 2002/03 the Queensland Government responded to high rates of alcohol-related harm in discrete Indigenous communities by implementing alcohol management plans (AMPs), designed to include supply and harm reduction and treatment measures. Tighter alcohol supply and carriage restrictions followed in 2008 following indications of reductions in violence and injury. Despite the plans being in place for over a decade, no comprehensive independent review has assessed to what level the designed aims were achieved and what effect the plans have had on Indigenous community residents and service providers. This study will describe the long-term impacts on important health, economic and social outcomes of Queensland’s AMPs. Methods/Design The project has two main studies, 1) outcome evaluation using de-identified epidemiological data on injury, violence and other health and social indicators for across Queensland, including de-identified databases compiled from relevant routinely-available administrative data sets, and 2) a process evaluation to map the nature, timing and content of intervention components targeting alcohol. Process evaluation will also be used to assess the fidelity with which the designed intervention components have been implemented, their uptake and community responses to them and their perceived impacts on alcohol supply and consumption, injury, violence and community health. Interviews and focus groups with Indigenous residents and service providers will be used. The study will be conducted in all 24 of Queensland’s Indigenous communities affected by alcohol management plans. Discussion This evaluation will report on the impacts of the original aims for AMPs, what impact they have had on Indigenous residents and service providers. A central outcome will be the establishment of relevant databases describing the parameters of the changes seen. This will permit comprehensive and rigorous surveillance systems to be put in place and provided to communities empowering them with the best credible evidence to judge future policy and program requirements for themselves. The project will inform impending alcohol policy and program adjustments in Queensland and other Australian jurisdictions. The project has been approved by the James Cook University Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number H4967 & H5241).

The rise and demise of the Inspector of Schools in Queensland

The colony of Queensland, established on 10 December 1859, passed its first Education Act in 1860. This enabled the government to provide for the education of all children from six to twelve years of age. The Board of General Education appointed its first Inspector of Schools in 1863, and he was followed by over 400 men — and later women — to inspect schools and teachers to guarantee conformity and efficiency. In 1875, education became a ministerial responsibility and the Department of Public Instruction was established. Teachers never seemed to enjoy a friendly working relationship with inspectors, and with the establishment of the Queensland Teachers Union, hostility increased. Eventually, in 1989, the Inspector of Schools position was abolished.

The geographical co-distribution and socio-ecological drivers of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea in Queensland, Australia

This study aimed to explore the spatiotemporal patterns, geographic co-distribution, and socio-ecological drivers of childhood pneumonia and diarrhea in Queensland. A Bayesian conditional autoregressive model was used to quantify the impacts of socio-ecological factors on both childhood pneumonia and diarrhea at a postal area level. A distinct seasonality of childhood pneumonia and diarrhea was found. Childhood pneumonia and diarrhea mainly distributed in northwest of Queensland. Mount Isa was the high-risk cluster where childhood pneumonia and diarrhea co-distributed. Emergency department visits (EDVs) for pneumonia increased by 3% per 10-mm increase in monthly average rainfall, in wet seasons. In comparison, a 10-mm increase in monthly average rainfall may increase 4% of EDVs for diarrhea. Monthly average temperature was negatively associated with EDVs for childhood diarrhea, in wet seasons. Low socioeconomic index for areas (SEIFA) was associated with high EDVs for childhood pneumonia. Future pneumonia and diarrhea prevention and control measures in Queensland should focus more on Mount Isa.

Spatial-temporal epidemiological analyses of two sympatric, co-endemic alphaviral diseases in Queensland, Australia

Background: The two most reported mosquito-borne diseases in Queensland, a northern state of Australia, are Ross River virus (RRV) disease and Barmah Forest virus (BFV) disease. Both diseases are endemic in Queensland and have similar clinical symptoms and comparable transmission cycles involving a complex inter-relationship between human hosts, various mosquito vectors, and a range of nonhuman vertebrate hosts, including marsupial mammals that are unique to the Australasian region. Although these viruses are thought to share similar vectors and vertebrate hosts, RRV is four times more prevalent than BFV in Queensland. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of BFV and RRV human disease notification data collected from 1995 to 2007 in Queensland to ascertain whether there were differences in the incidence patterns of RRV and BFV disease. In particular, we compared the temporal incidence and spatial distribution of both diseases and considered the relationship between their disease dynamics. We also investigated whether a peak in BFV incidence during spring was indicative of the following RRV and BFV transmission season incidence levels. Results: Although there were large differences in the notification rates of the two diseases, they had similar annual temporal patterns, but there were regional variations between the length and magnitude of the transmission seasons. During periods of increased disease activity, however, there was no association between the dynamics of the two diseases. Conclusions: The results from this study suggest that while RRV and BFV share similar mosquito vectors, there are significant differences in the ecology of these viruses that result in different epidemic patterns of disease incidence. Further investigation is required into the ecology of each virus to determine which factors are important in promoting RRV and BFV disease outbreaks.

A review of the potential role of greenhouse gas abatement in native vegetation management in Queensland's rangelands

Concern about the risk of harmful human-induced climate change has resulted in international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. We review the international and national context for consideration of greenhouse abatement in native vegetation management and discuss potential options in Queensland. Queensland has large areas of productive or potentially productive land with native woody vegetation cover with approximately 76 million ha with woody cover remaining in 1991. High rates of tree clearing, predominantly to increase pasture productivity, continued throughout the 1990s with an average 345,000 ha/a estimated to have been cleared, including non-remnant (woody regrowth) as well as remnant vegetation. Estimates of greenhouse gas emissions associated with land clearing currently have a high uncertainty but clearing was reported to contribute a significant proportion of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 (21%) to 1999 (13%). In Queensland, greenhouse emissions from land clearing were estimated to have been 54.5 Mt CO(2)-e in 1999. Management of native vegetation for timber harvesting and the proliferation of woody vegetation (vegetation thickening) in the grazed woodlands also represent large carbon fluxes. Forestry (plantations and native forests) in Queensland was reported to be a 4.4 Mt CO(2)-e sink in 1999 but there are a lack of comprehensive data on timber harvesting in private hardwood forests. Vegetation thickening is reported for large areas of the c. 60 million ha grazed woodlands in Queensland. The magnitude of the carbon sink in 27 million ha grazed eucalypt woodlands has been estimated to be 66 Mt CO(2)-e/a but this sink is not currently included in Australia's inventory of anthropogenic greenhouse emissions. Improved understanding of the function and dynamics of natural and managed ecosystems is required to support management of native vegetation to preserve and enhance carbon stocks for greenhouse benefits while meeting objectives of sustainable and productive management and biodiversity protection.

Examining the potential for design and renewable energy to contribute to zero energy housing in Queensland

This was a comparative study of the possibility of a net zero energy house in Queensland, Australia. It examines the actual energy use and thermal comfort conditions of an occupied Brisbane home and compares performance with the 10 star scale rating scheme for Australian residential buildings. An adaptive comfort psychometric chart was developed for this analysis. The house's capacity for the use of the natural ventilation was studied by CFD modelling. This study showed that the house succeeded in achieving the definition of net zero energy on an annual and monthly basis for lighting, cooking and space heating / cooling and for 70% of days for lighting, hot water and cooking services.

Micropolitical insights into Assistant Regional Directors’ leadership in Queensland Education

The position of Assistant Regional Directors, School Performance (ARD-SP) was established by the Department of Education and Training (DET), the government provider of public education in Queensland, in 2010, to improve student learning across Queensland by providing close supervision of principals. Based on interviews with 18 ARDs-SP and two of their immediate supervisors, this paper explores their views about this relatively new position and their understandings of the role. Following Blase and Anderson (1995), it uses micropolitical leadership theory to analyse comments made by the participants. A key finding was a view of leadership based on a differentiated supervision model whereby ARDs-SP worked with principals to ensure they met the corporate agenda. Participants’ comments favoured a leadership approach that was both adversarial (drawing upon power over and power through) and facilitative (drawing upon power through and power over) and for those principals deemed under-performing, an authoritarian leadership approach was apparent.

Assessment of Geogenic Contaminants in Water Co-Produced with Coal Seam Gas Extraction in Queensland, Australia : Implications for Human Health Risk

Organic compounds in Australian coal seam gas produced water (CSG water) are poorly understood despite their environmental contamination potential. In this study, the presence of some organic substances is identified from government-held CSG water-quality data from the Bowen and Surat Basins, Queensland. These records revealed the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 27% of samples of CSG water from the Walloon Coal Measures at concentrations <1 µg/L, and it is likely these compounds leached from in situ coals. PAHs identified from wells include naphthalene, phenanthrene, chrysene and dibenz[a,h]anthracene. In addition, the likelihood of coal-derived organic compounds leaching to groundwater is assessed by undertaking toxicity leaching experiments using coal rank and water chemistry as variables. These tests suggest higher molecular weight PAHs (including benzo[a]pyrene) leach from higher rank coals, whereas lower molecular weight PAHs leach at greater concentrations from lower rank coal. Some of the identified organic compounds have carcinogenic or health risk potential, but they are unlikely to be acutely toxic at the observed concentrations which are almost negligible (largely due to the hydrophobicity of such compounds). Hence, this study will be useful to practitioners assessing CSG water related environmental and health risk.

New regime for property agents and residential property sales in Queensland : Property Occupations Act 2014

This article examines the new Property Occupations Act 2014 (POA) and relevant provisions of the Agents Financial Administration Act 2014 (AFAA) and the impacts for property practitioners. The Acts are due to commence later in 2014 once regulations and relevant forms are drafted. Coinciding with the commencement of the Acts further versions of the REIQ Houses and Land Contract and REIQ Community Title Contract will also be released. The POA introduces changes for licencing of real estate agents, property developers and resident letting agents as well as significant changes for the contract formation process. The AFAA includes the trust account and claim fund provisions of PAMDA, which avoids duplication of these provisions across each of the industry-specific Bills. The most significant change is to the process for making a claim against the fund for the conduct of property agents.

New laws for off the plan contracts in Queensland

The Land Sales Act 1984 regulates “off the plan” sales in Queensland in conjunction with several provisions in the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. Together the Acts regulate sales in both unit developments and housing estates. From 2010 to 2013 the Queensland Government undertook a comprehensive review of the Land Sales Act 1984 to identify opportunities to modernise and improve the legislation. Significant changes were recommended by the Review to align the Land Sales Act 1984 (LSA) with current surveying and conveyancing practice and to overcome a number of practical issues faced by developers under the current legislation. A significant outcome of the review is the removal of provisions related to off the plan community title sales from the LSA to the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCMA) and the Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980 (BUGTA). This article examines the Land Sales and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2014 due to commence in November 2014.