Volunteers 'piggy-backing' on their private insurance : an uncertain protection against liability

Volunteering is a very important part of life in Australia with an estimated 36% of the adult population volunteering in 2010. Voluntary work generates economic benefits, addresses community needs and develops the social networks that form the backbone of civil society. Without volunteers, many essential services would either cease to exist or become too expensive for many people to afford. These volunteers, who by definition are not in receipt of any remuneration for their work and services, are exposed to personal injury and to legal liability in the discharge of their functions. It is therefore appropriate that statutory protection is extended to volunteers and that volunteer organisations procure public liability and personal accident cover where possible. However, given the patchwork quilt of circumstances where statutory or institutional cover is available to volunteers and the existence of many and diverse exclusions, it is important to have regard also to what scope a volunteer may have to avail themselves of protection against liability for volunteering activity by relying upon their own personal insurance cover. This article considers the extent of private insurance cover and its availability to volunteers under home and contents insurance and under comprehensive motor vehicle insurance. The most common policies in the Australian market are examined and the uncertain nature of protection against liability afforded by these policies is discussed. This uncertainty could be reduced should the Federal Government through amendments to the Insurance Contracts Regulations standardise the circumstances and extent to which liability protection was afforded to an insured holding home and contents insurance and comprehensive motor vehicle insurance cover.

Linkages of development and environment : in search of an integrated approach through sustainable development

Least developed countries (LDCs) are the primary victims of environmental changes, including present and future impacts of climate change. Environmental degradation poses a serious threat to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, thus hindering development in LDCs. Simultaneously, poverty is itself both a major cause and effect of global environmental problems. Against this backdrop, this essay argues that without recognition and protection of a collective right to development, genuine environmental protection will remain unachievable. Further, this essay submits that, particularly in the context of LDCs, the right to environment and the right to development are inseparable. Finally, this essay argues that the relationship between the right to environment and the right to development must fall within the paradigm of sustainable development if the promotion and protection of those rights are to be justified.

The judiciary in contemporary society : Australia

In Australia the appointment of judges is, by constitution or statute, universally the responsibility of the executive branch. The federal government handles all such matters relating to the High Court, the Federal Court, the Family Court and other federal judicial bodies. State governments exercise similar authority over the state supreme courts, district and magistrates' courts. All appointments are formally made by the Governor-General, or the Governor, in Council...

Private lawyers in contemporary society : Australia

Admission to practice law in Australia falls under the general supervisory power of supreme court judges in the various jurisdictions. The degree of supervision varies among jurisdictions, but the judiciary generally is responsible for setting the educational requirements for admission. A variety of admission boards perform a number of administrative and supervisory functions; for example, determining whether a particular law school's degree satisfies educational requirements for admission...

Protein markers for Alzheimer disease in the frontal cortex and cerebellum

Objective: To compare proteins related to Alzheimer disease ( AD) in the frontal cortex and cerebellum of subjects with early-onset AD (EOAD) with or without presenilin 1 (PS1) mutations with sporadic late-onset AD ( LOAD) and nondemented control subjects. Methods: Immunohistochemistry, immunoblot analysis, and ELISA were used to detect and assess protein levels in brain. Results: In EOAD and to a lesser extent in LOAD, there was increased amyloid beta (Abeta) deposition (by immunohistochemistry), increased soluble Abeta (by immunoblot analysis), and specific increases in Abeta(40) and Abeta(42) ( by ELISA) in the frontal cortex and, in some cases, in the cerebellum. Surprisingly, immunoblot analysis revealed reduced levels of PS1 in many of the subjects with EOAD with or without PS1 mutations. In those PS1 mutation-bearing subjects with the highest Abeta, PS1 was barely, if at all, detectable. This decrease in PS1 was specific and not attributable solely to neuronal loss because amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the PS1-interacting protein beta-catenin levels were unchanged. Conclusions: This study shows that in the frontal cortex and cerebellum from Alzheimer disease patients harboring certain presenilin 1 mutations, high levels of amyloid beta are associated with low levels of presenilin 1. The study provides the premise for further investigation of mechanisms underlying the downregulation of presenilin 1, which may have considerable pathogenic and therapeutic relevance.

The value of books : the fantastic flying books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and the social hieroglyphic of reading

The late eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of new technologies of subjectivity and of the literary. Most obviously, “the novel as a literary form appeared to embody and turn into an object the experience of life itself” (Park), and the novel genre came to both reflect and shape notions of interiority and subjectivity. In this same period, “A shift was taking place in the way people felt and thought about children and the accoutrements of childhood, including books and toys, were implicated in this change” (Lewis). In seeking to understand the relationships between media (e.g. books and toys), genres (e.g. novels and picture books), and modes of subjectivity, Marx’s influential theory of commodity fetishism, whereby “a definite social relation between men, that assumes, in their eyes, the fantastic form of a relation between things”, has served as a productive tool of analysis. The extent to which Marx’s account of commodity fetishism continues to be of use becomes clear when the corollaries between the late eighteenth-century emergence of novels and pictures books as technologies of subjectivity and the early twenty-first century emergence of e-readers and digital texts as technologies of subjectivity are considered. This paper considers the literary technology of Apple’s iPad (first launched in 2010) as a commodity fetish, and the circulation of “apps” as texts made available by and offered as justifications for, this fetish object. The iPad is both book and toy, but is never “only” either; it is arguably a new technology of subjectivity which incorporates but also destabilises categories of reading and playing such as those made familiar by earlier technologies of literature and the self. The particular focus of this paper is on the multimodal versions (app, film, and picture book) of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, which are understood here as a narrativisation of commodity fetishism, subjectivity, and the act of reading itself.

Reading : From Turning the Page to Touching the Screen

This chapter considers the ways in which contemporary children’s literature depicts reading in changing times, with a particular eye on the cultural definitions of ‘reading’ being offered to young people in the age of the tablet computer. A number of picture books, in codex and app form, speak to changing times for reading by their emphasis on the value of books and reading as technologies of literature and of the self. Attending to valuations of literacy and literature within children’s texts provides insight into anxieties about books in the electronic age.

EatChaFood : challenging technology design to slice food waste production

This paper presents work in progress of EatChaFood – a prototype app designed to increase user knowledge of the currently available domestic supply and location of food, with a view to reducing expired household food waste. In order to reap the benefits that EatChaFood can provide we explore ways to overcome manual data entry as a barrier to use. Our user study has to recognise the limitations of the prototype app, and conduct an evaluation of the interaction design built into the app to promote behaviour change. Innovations in the near future such as the automatic scanning of barcodes on food items or photo-recognition will close the gap between perceived prototype usability and usefulness.

TrainRoulette : promoting situated in-train social interaction between passengers

Travelling by public transport is usually regarded as boring and uninteresting. Refraining from talking to the stranger next to you may be due to limitations that are self-imposed and further corroborated by social expectations and cultural norms that govern behaviour in public space. Our design research into passenger interactions on board of urban commuter trains has informed the development of the TrainRoulette prototype – a mobile app for situated, real-time chats between train passengers. We study the impact of our design intervention on shaping perceptions of the train journey experience. Moreover, we are interested in the implications of such ICT-mediated interactions within train journeys for stimulating social offline interactions and new forms of passenger engagement.

Using participatory action research for heart self care amongst indigenous patients

This paper describes the initial phases of the Fluid Watchers Pacific Rim project: a participatory action research project that involves developing and trialling an iPad app to provide monitoring and self-care for Indigenous Australians with heart failure. The development phase involved working with health experts, an IT team and Indigenous heart-failure patients through three cycles of development and critical reflection. This was followed by a small pilot study to examine the app’s effectiveness. In this paper, the researchers explain why IT-supported health education can be successful in decreasing re-hospitalisation and improving self-management skills. They describe the steps they took to ensure community participation and ownership of the project and present the findings of their pilot study. This pilot project suggests that an iPad app may be a practical and successful way to provide health-care support for Indigenous Australian heart-failure patients.

The next generation health intervention tool - Can smart phone applications help young people track and moderate alcohol use and potential harms?

Whilst alcohol is a common feature of many social gatherings, there are numerous immediate and long-term health and social harms associated with its abuse. Alcohol consumption is the world’s third largest risk factor for disease and disability with almost 4% of all deaths worldwide attributed to alcohol. Not surprisingly, alcohol use and binge drinking by young people is of particular concern with Australian data reporting that 39% of young people (18-19yrs) admitted drinking at least weekly and 32% drank to levels that put them at risk of alcohol-related harm. The growing market penetration and connectivity of smartphones may be an opportunities for innovation in promoting health-related self-management of substance use. However, little is known about how best to harness and optimise this technology for health-related intervention and behaviour change. This paper explores the utility and interface of smartphone technology as a health intervention tool to monitor and moderate alcohol use. A review of the psychological health applications of this technology will be presented along with the findings of a series of focus groups, surveys and behavioural field trials of several drink-monitoring applications. Qualitative and quantitative data will be presented on the perceptions, preferences and utility of the design, usability and functionality of smartphone apps to monitoring and moderate alcohol use. How these findings have shaped the development and evolution of the OnTrack app will be specifically discussed, along with future directions and applications of this technology in health intervention, prevention and promotion.

Effect of the mediator in feedback mode-based SECM interrogation of indium tin-oxide and boron-doped diamond electrodes

Indium tin-oxide (ITO) and polycrystalline boron-doped diamond (BDD) have been examined in detail using the scanning electrochemical microscopy technique in feedback mode. For the interrogation of electrodes made from these materials, the choice of mediator has been varied. Using Ru(CN) 4− 6 (aq), ferrocene methanol (FcMeOH), Fe(CN) 3− 6 (aq) and Ru(NH 3) 3+ 6 (aq), approach curve experiments have been performed, and for purposes of comparison, calculations of the apparent heterogeneous electron transfer rates (k app) have been made using these data. In general, it would appear that values of k app are affected mainly by the position of the mediator reversible potential relative to the relevant semiconductor band edge (associated with majority carriers). For both the ITO (n type) and BDD (p type) electrodes, charge transfer is impeded and values are very low when using FcMeOH and Fe(CN) 3− 6 (aq) as mediators, and the use of Ru(NH 3) 3+ 6(aq) results in the largest value of k app. With ITO, the surface is chemically homogeneous and no variation is observed for any given mediator. Data is also presented where the potential of the ITO electrode is fixed using a ratio of the mediators Fe(CN) 3− 6(aq) and Fe(CN) 4− 6(aq). In stark contrast, the BDD electrode is quite the opposite and a range of k app values are observed for all mediators depending on the position on the surface. Both electrode surfaces are very flat and very smooth, and hence, for BDD, variations in feedback current imply a variation in the electrochemical activity. A comparison of the feedback current where the substrate is biased and unbiased shows a surprising degree of proportionality.

The apps industry

Australian apps developers typify global industry segmentation, varying in function, focus, employment situation and background. They range from freelancers contracted to build apps on demand and venture capital-backed or bootstrapped startups, to specialist app studios and full service digital agencies for whom apps are one among many services that may include web development, marketing, advertising, business strategy, branding and games development.

Creative services, apps and banks in Australia

This paper is divided in to three parts. The first part discusses recent CCI research on employment in creative services, with particular focus on the 'creative trident' model, and the distinction between cultural production and creative services occupations. The second part discusses the growth of the app economy and related employment details. The third part discusses mobile banking use, financial services and mobile devices, and apps created by or for banks.

Luxury brand identity : the influence of mobile digital technology

This thesis examined the influence of mobile digital technology on the brand identity of luxury brands. Specifically it focused on the use of mobile applications by automobile, hotel and beauty brands and compared the perceptions of marketing managers with consumers on how mobile applications influenced luxury brand identity and image. Outcomes of this research included a model to depict the ongoing process between mobile-mediated luxury brand identity and image, and a typology of luxury brand mobile applications listing key features of mobile-mediated luxemosphere. Overall findings suggest that the influence of mobile applications on luxury brand identity has been negative, as their brand image appeared to be degraded, resulting in diminishing the brand identity.