Opportunities for enhancing the Australian national road safety strategy

With the current National Road Safety Strategy [1] coming to the end of its term, it is timely to consider ways in which the next iteration of this strategy can be enhanced. Strategic planning should be a cyclic process in which learning and adaptation are just as important as planning and implementation. It will always be the case that some actions are not as effective as expected, or that barriers to effective implementation will emerge. Rather than being setbacks, these are opportunities for learning about the validity of our assumptions. They are also opportunities for us to adapt to meet unanticipated or emerging challenges. One of the positive aspects of the implementation of the first and second National Road Safety Strategies has been the willingness of road safety agencies to critically assess progress and to identify where and how actions would be better focused. This has been reflected in the evolving nature of the periodic National Road Safety Action Plans. As the decade of the current Strategy reaches an end, there is a need to take this process further, and undertake a thorough critical evaluation of the Strategy development and implementation. While not an attempt to be exhaustive, the following article will identify some key priorities for consideration as part of this process.

Evaluation of valuation of noise amelioration treatments within and outside the road reserve

In urban environments road traffic volumes are increasing and the density of living is becoming higher. As a consequence the urban community is being exposed to increasing levels of road traffic noise. It is also evident that the noise reduction potential of within-the-road-reserve treatments such as noise barriers, mounding and pavement surfacing has been exhausted. This paper presents a strategy that involves the comparison of noise ameliorative treatments both within and outside the road reserve. The noise reduction resulting from the within-the-road-reserve component of treatments has been evaluated using a leading application of the CoRTN Model, developed by the UK Department of Transport 1988 [1], and the outside road reserve treatment has been evaluated in accordance with the Australian Standard 3671, Acoustics – Road traffic noise intrusion – Building sitting and construction [5]. The evaluation of noise treatments has been undertaken using a decision support tool (DST) currently being developed under the research program conducted at RMIT University and Department of Main Roads, Queensland. The case study has been based on data from a real project in Queensland, Australia. The research described here was carried out by the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation [9], in collaboration with Department of Main Roads, Queensland, Department of Public Works, Queensland, Arup Pty. Ltd., Queensland University of technology and RMIT University.

Comparative study : health research on traffic noise pollution vs. Technical research on traffic noise mitigation

Community awareness and the perception on the traffic noise related health impacts have increased significantly over the last decade resulting in a large volume of public inquiries flowing to Road Authorities for planning advice. Traffic noise management in the urban environment is therefore becoming a “social obligation”, essentially due to noise related health concerns. Although various aspects of urban noise pollution and mitigation have been researched independently, an integrated approach by stakeholders has not been attempted. Although the current treatment and mitigation strategies are predominantly handled by the Road Agencies, a concerted effort by all stakeholders is becoming mandatory for effective and tangible outcomes in the future. A research project is underway a RMIT University, Australia, led by the second author to consider the use of “hedonic pricing” for alternative noise amelioration treatments within the road reserve and outside the road reserve. The project aims to foster a full range noise abatement strategy encompassing source, path and noise receiver. The benefit of such a study would be to mitigate the problem where it is most effective and would defuse traditional “authority” boundaries to produce the optimum outcome. The project is conducted in collaboration with the Department of Main Roads Queensland, Australia and funded by the CRC for Construction Innovation. As part of this study, a comprehensive literature search is currently underway to investigate the advancements in community health research, related to environmental noise pollution, and the advancements in technical and engineering research in mitigating the issue. This paper presents the outcomes of this work outlining state of the art, national and international good practices and gap analysis to identify major anomalies and developments.

A national building products inventory

Australia has no nationally accepted building products life cycle inventory (LCI) database for use in building Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) assessment (BEA) tools. More information about the sustainability of the supply chain is limited by industry’s lack of real capacity to deliver objective information on process and product environmental impact. Recognition of these deficits emerged during compilation of a National LCI database to inform LCADesign, a prototype 3 dimensional object oriented computer aided design (3-D CAD) commercial building design tool. Development of this Australian LCI represents 24 staff years of effort here since 1995. Further development of LCADesign extensions is proposed as being essential to support key applications demanded from a more holistic theoretical framework calling for modules of new building and construction industry tools. A proposed tool, conceptually called LCADetails, is to serve the building product industries own needs as well as that of commercial building design amongst other industries’ prospective needs. In this paper, a proposition is examined that the existing national LCI database should be further expanded to serve Australian building product industries’ needs as well as to provide details for its client-base from a web based portal containing a module of practical supply and procurement applications. Along with improved supply chain assessment services, this proposed portal is envisaged to facilitate industry environmental life cycle improvement assessment and support decision-making to provide accredited data for operational reporting capabilities, load-based reasoning as well as BEA applications. This paper provides an overview of developments to date, including a novel 3-D CAD information and communications technology (ICT) platform for more holistic integration of existing tools for true cost assessment. Further conceptualisation of future prospects, based on a new holistic life cycle assessment framework LCADevelop, considering stakeholder relationships and their need for a range of complementary tools leveraging automated function off such ICT platforms to inform dimensionally defined operations for such as automotive, civil, transport and industrial applications are also explored.

Moving from Awareness to Knowing, Understanding, Speaking and Doing: Indigenous Women Academics in Higher Education. National Tertiary Education Women's Conference, 18-19 July 2009, South Melbourne, Victoria.

Bronwyn Fredericks was asked to outline some of the issues faced by Indigenous women academics.

Disposable maps : ad hoc location sharing

The gathering of people in everyday life is intertwined with travelling to negotiated locations. As a result, mobile phones are often used to rearrange meetings when one or more participants are late or cannot make it on time. Our research is based on the hypothesis that the provision of location data can enhance the experience of people who are meeting each other in different locations. This paper presents work-in-progress on a novel approach to share one’s location data in real-time which is visualised on a web-based map in a privacy conscious way. Disposable Maps allows users to select contacts from their phone’s address book who then receive up-to-date location data. The utilisation of peer-to-peer notifications and the application of unique URLs for location storage and presentation enable location sharing whilst ensuring users’ location privacy. In contrast to other location sharing services like Google Latitude, Disposable Maps enables ad hoc location sharing to actively selected location receivers for a fixed period of time in a specific given situation. We present first insights from an initial application user test and show future work on the approach of disposable information allocation.

Interoperable Standards Development : Final Report

Since 1995 the buildingSMART International Alliance for Interoperability (buildingSMART)has developed a robust standard called the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). IFC is an object oriented data model with related file format that has facilitated the efficient exchange of data in the development of building information models (BIM). The Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation has contributed to the international effort in the development of the IFC standard and specifically the reinforced concrete part of the latest IFC 2x3 release. Industry Foundation Classes have been endorsed by the International Standards Organisation as a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) under the ISO label ISO/PAS 16739. For more details, go to http://www.tc184- sc4.org/About_TC184-SC4/About_SC4_Standards/ The current IFC model covers the building itself to a useful level of detail. The next stage of development for the IFC standard is where the building meets the ground (terrain) and with civil and external works like pavements, retaining walls, bridges, tunnels etc. With the current focus in Australia on infrastructure projects over the next 20 years a logical extension to this standard was in the area of site and civil works. This proposal recognises that there is an existing body of work on the specification of road representation data. In particular, LandXML is recognised as also is TransXML in the broader context of transportation and CityGML in the common interfacing of city maps, buildings and roads. Examination of interfaces between IFC and these specifications is therefore within the scope of this project. That such interfaces can be developed has already been demonstrated in principle within the IFC for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) project. National road standards that are already in use should be carefully analysed and contacts established in order to gain from this knowledge. The Object Catalogue for the Road Transport Sector (OKSTRA) should be noted as an example. It is also noted that buildingSMART Norway has submitted a proposal

Library technician course recognition : meeting the challenge of a distributed national education program

This paper looks at the challenges presented for the Australian Library and Information Association by its role as the professional association responsible for ensuring the quality of Australian library technician graduates. There is a particular focus on the issue of course recognition, where the Association's role is complicated by the need to work alongside the national quality assurance processes that have been established by the relevant technical education authorities. The paper describes the history of course recognition in Australia; examines the relationship between course recognition and other quality measures; and describes the process the Association has undertaken recently to ensure appropriate professional scrutiny in a changing environment of accountability.

National consumer credit laws, financial exclusion and interest rate caps : The case for diversity within a centralised framework

Australia is going through a major reform of consumer credit regulation, with the implementation of a proposal to transfer regulatory responsibility from the State and Territory Governments to the Commonwealth Government. While the broad policy approach is supported, the reform process has missed a significant opportunity to engage directly with issues of financial exclusion and with the potential role of regulation to reduce financial exclusion. The imposition of an interest rate cap can limit the impact of financial exclusion. However, the future of the existing interest rate caps is uncertain, given the diversity of approaches, and the heated debate that surrounds this issue. In the absence of support for regulatory initiatives to increase the availability of low cost, small loans, permitting regulatory diversity on this issue of interest rate caps, within an otherwise centralised regulatory framework., can minimise the impact of financial exclusion on consumers.

The status of Australian nurse practitioners : the first national census

A five-section questionnaire was mailed to all 234 authorised Australian nurse practitioners in late 2007. An 85% response rate was achieved (202 responses). Respondents had a mean age of 47.0 years and 84.2% were women. Only 145 nurse practitioners (72% of respondents) reported being employed in Australia at the time of the census. Emergency nurse practitioners were the most commonly employed nationally (26.9%). Nearly one third of employed nurse practitioners reported that they were still awaiting approval to prescribe medications despite this being a core legislated skill. Over 70% stated that lack of Medicare provider numbers and lack of authority to prescribe through the Pharmaceut ical Benef its Scheme was extremely limiting to their practice. These findings are consistent with the international literature describing establishment of reformative

Alcohol and other drugs in the Australian construction industry : A national evaluation and the best way forward

Anecdotal evidence highlights issues of alcohol and other drugs (AODs) and its association with safety risk on construction sites. Information is limited however regarding the prevalence of AODs in the workplace and there is limited evidential guidance regarding how to effectively address it. This research aimed to scientifically evaluate the use of AODs within the Australian construction industry in order to reduce the potential resulting safety and performance impacts and engender a cultural change in the workforce. A national qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the use of AODs was conducted with approximately 500 employees. Results indicate that as in the general population, a proportion of those sampled in the construction sector may be at risk of hazardous alcohol consumption and support the need for evidence-based, tailored responses. This is the first known study to scientifically evaluate the use of AODs and potential workplace safety impacts in the construction sector.

neXus2. An investigation into the library and information services workforce in Australia: The institutional perspective. Final report prepared for the Australian Library and Information Association and National and State Libraries Australia

The neXus2 research project has sought to investigate the library and information services (LIS) workforce in Australia, from the institutional or employer perspective. The study builds on the neXus1 study, which collected data from individuals in the LIS workforce in order to present a snapshot of the profession in 2006, highlighting the demographics, educational background and career details of library and information professionals in Australia. To counterbalance this individual perspective, library institutions were invited to participate in a survey to contribute further data as employers. This final report on the neXus2 project compares the findings from the different library sectors, ie academic libraries, TAFE libraries, the National and State libraries, public libraries, special libraries and school libraries.