Full-time is a given here : part-time versus full-time job quality

This study explores full-time workers' understanding of and assumptions about part-time work against six job quality components identified in recent literature. Forty interviews were conducted with employees in a public sector agency in Australia, a study context where part-time work is ostensibly 'good quality' and is typically long term, voluntary, involving secure contracts (i.e. permanent rather than casual) and having predictable hours distributed evenly over the week and year. Despite strong collective bargaining arrangements as well as substantial legal and industrial obligations, the findings revealed some serious concerns for part-time job quality. These concerns included reduced responsibilities and lesser access to high status roles and projects, a lack of access to promotion opportunities, increased work intensity and poor workplace support. The highly gendered, part-time labour market also means that it is women who disproportionately experience this disadvantage. To foster equity, greater attention needs to focus on monitoring and enhancing job quality, regardless of hours worked.

'Getting a job' : Aborignal Women's issues and experiences in the health sector

Indigenous participation in employment has long been seen as an indicator of Indigenous economic participation in Australia. Researchers have linked participation in employment to improved health outcomes, increased education levels and greater self-esteem. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of Indigenous workforce policies and employment strategies as employers and industries attempt to employ more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Coupled with this has been a push to employ more Indigenous people in specific sectors to address the multiple layers of disadvantage experienced by Indigenous people, for example, the health sector. This paper draws on interview discussions with Aboriginal women in Rockhampton, Central Queensland, along with findings from the research of others to offer a greater understanding of the mixed benefits of increased Indigenous employment. What is demonstrated is that the nature of Indigenous employment is complex and not as simple as ‘just getting a job’.

The S.T.A.B. Trial - Standardised Testing of Artificial Blood. A comparative study of various products that may be used as artificial blood for high fidelity simulation training in the critical care setting

Aim: In the current climate of medical education, there is an ever-increasing demand for and emphasis on simulation as both a teaching and training tool. The objective of our study was to compare the realism and practicality of a number of artificial blood products that could be used for high-fidelity simulation. Method: A literature and internet search was performed and 15 artificial blood products were identified from a variety of sources. One product was excluded due to its potential toxicity risks. Five observers, blinded to the products, performed two assessments on each product using an evaluation tool with 14 predefined criteria including color, consistency, clotting, and staining potential to manikin skin and clothing. Each criterion was rated using a five-point Likert scale. The products were left for 24 hours, both refrigerated and at room temperature, and then reassessed. Statistical analysis was performed to identify the most suitable products, and both inter- and intra-rater variability were examined. Results: Three products scored consistently well with all five assessors, with one product in particular scoring well in almost every criterion. This highest-rated product had a mean rating of 3.6 of 5.0 (95% posterior Interval 3.4-3.7). Inter-rater variability was minor with average ratings varying from 3.0 to 3.4 between the highest and lowest scorer. Intrarater variability was negligible with good agreement between first and second rating as per weighted kappa scores (K = 0.67). Conclusion: The most realistic and practical form of artificial blood identified was a commercial product called KD151 Flowing Blood Syrup. It was found to be not only realistic in appearance but practical in terms of storage and stain removal.

How should a vocational education and training course be evaluated?

The course evaluation process used by a large VET provider was evaluated using guidelines suggested by the course evaluation literature and feedback obtained from multiple stakeholders. A modified model is presented as an exemplar for course evaluation in the VET sector.

Management and organisational barriers in the acquisition of computer usage skills by mature age workers

Aim: To investigate workplace cultures in the acquisition of computer usage skills by mature age workers. Methods: Data were gathered through focus groups conducted at job network centres in the Greater Brisbane metropolitan region. Participants who took part were a mixture of workers and job-seekers. Results: The results suggest that mature age workers can be exposed to inappropriate computer training practices and age-insensitive attitudes towards those with low base computer skills. Conclusions: There is a need for managers to be observant of ageist attitudes in the work place and to develop age-sensitive strategies to help mature age workers learn computer usage skills. Mature age workers also need to develop skills in ways which are practical and meaningful to their work.

Levels of cardiac knowledge and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training among older people in Queensland

Objectives: The current study was conducted to determine levels of cardiac knowledge and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in older people in Queensland, Australia.---------- Methods: A telephone survey of 4490 Queensland adults examined respondents’ knowledge of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors, knowledge of heart attack symptoms, knowledge of the local emergency telephone number, as well as respondents’ rates and recency of training in CPR.---------- Results: Older participants, aged 60 years and over, were approximately one and a half times more likely than the 30–39 year-old reference group to have limited knowledge of heart disease risk factors (OR = 1.53), and low knowledge of heart attack symptoms (OR = 1.60). Knowledge of the local emergency telephone number also decreased with age. Older participants had significantly lower rates of training in CPR, with almost three quarters (71.7%) reporting that they had never been trained. Older people who had completed CPR training were significantly less likely to have done so recently.---------- Conclusions: Cardiac knowledge levels and CPR training rates in older Queensland persons were lower than those found in the younger population.

Leveraging training outcomes on public construction projects

The paper explores the efficacy of public agencies using their contracting relationships with private firms to affect training outcomes in the construction industry. It develops a theoretical perspective on this issue by extending a framework that was originally developed by Hart, Schleifer and Vishny (1997) to study privatisation. This paper shows how their framework can also be applied to situations where the provision of public works is already privatised and the government is attempting to regulate training outcomes via a contracting arrangement. An empirical study of two training policies of the Western Australian government complements this theoretical discussion. We report the results of an analysis of data drawn from the government’s Tender Registration System between 1997 & 2006. As such we use a unique and comprehensive resource to examine the possible effects of new training policies on an important segment of the construction ‘market’.