Australian Media and Culture

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How well are Australian infants and children aged 4 to 5 years doing? Findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children Wave 1

This report presents an analysis of the data from the first wave of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to explore the wellbeing of 5,107 children in the infant cohort of the study and the 4,983 children, aged 4 to 5 years, in the child cohort. Wave 1 of LSAC includes measures of multiple aspects of children’s early development. These developmental measures are summarised in the LSAC Outcome Index, a composite measure which includes an overall index as well as three separate domain scores, tapping physical development, social and emotional functioning, and learning and cognitive development.

Australian foundations and the downturn

Building on the investigation of the Charity Commission (2009) on the effects of the economic downturn on the largest trusts and foundation in the United Kingdom, the purpose of this research was to assess the extent to which Australian trusts and foundations were taking an actively strategic approach to their investments and pursuit of mission (including grant-making), and the relationship between the two in the context of the economic downturn. Focus was given to identifying the issues raised as a consequence of the economic downturn, rather than providing a generalised snapshot of the ‘average’ foundations response. In September 2009, semi-structured, in depth interviews were conducted with executives of 23 grant making trusts and foundations. The interviews for this research focused on the largest grant makers in terms of grant expenditure, however included foundations from different geographical locations and from across different cause areas. It is important to stress at the outset that this was not a representative sample of foundations; the study aimed to identify issues rather than to present a representative picture of the ‘average’ foundation’s response. It is also important to note that the study was undertaken in September 2009 at a time when many foundations were beginning to feel more optimistic about the longer term future, but aware of continuing and possibly worsening short term income problems. But whatever the financial future, some of the underlying issues, concerning investment and grant making management practices, raised in this report will be of continuing relevance worthy of wider discussion. If a crisis is too good to waste, it is also too good to forget. One other introductory point – as previously noted, interviews for this study were conducted in September 2009 – just one month prior to the introduction of the new Private Ancillary Fund (PAF) legislation which replaced the previous Prescribed Private Fund (PPF) arrangement1. References to PAFs and/or PPFs reflect that time.

Australian Library and Information Studies (LIS) researchers' ranking of LIS journals

The paper describes the processes and the outcomes of the ranking of LIS journal titles by Australia’s LIS researchers during 2007-8, firstly through the Australian federal government’s Research Quality Framework (RQF) process and then its replacement, the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative. The requirement to rank the journals titles used came from discussions held at the RQF panel meeting held in February 2007 in Canberra, Australia. While it was recognised that the Web of Science (formerly ISI) journal impact approach of journal acceptance for measures of research quality and impact might not work for LIS, it was apparent that this model would be the default if no other ranking of journal titles became apparent. Although an increasing number of LIS and related discipline journals were appearing in the Web of Science listed rankings, the number was few and it was thus decided by the Australian LIS research community to undertake the ranking exercise.

Swell : a feature-length screenplay set in the world of Australian surfing, and an accompanying exegesis on three-act structure

Despite many arguments to the contrary, the three-act story structure, as propounded and refined by Hollywood continues to dominate the blockbuster and independent film markets. Recent successes in post-modern cinema could indicate new directions and opportunities for low-budget national cinemas.

On the computation and interpretation of auto- and cross-trispectra

This paper discusses the principal domains of auto- and cross-trispectra. It is shown that the cumulant and moment based trispectra are identical except on certain planes in trifrequency space. If these planes are avoided, their principal domains can be derived by considering the regions of symmetry of the fourth order spectral moment. The fourth order averaged periodogram will then serve as an estimate for both cumulant and moment trispectra. Statistics of estimates of normalised trispectra or tricoherence are also discussed.

Do Australian public and nonprofit nurses cope with administrative stressors?

The nursing profession in Australia and other OECD countries such as the USA and the UK, have focused on ways to recruit and retain nurses (e.g., Bartram, Joiner, & Stanton, 2004). Research has shown that the most common factors impacting negatively on retention include sources of nursing stress such as workload and work environment. While the literature has shown that nursing staff encounter these stressors, studies do not examine the effects of stress caused by an increasing degree of administrative demand placed on nurses, caused by the new public management (NPM) reform in public and nonprofit (PNP) health care organizations. At best, some studies have alluded to some aspects of administrative related stressors (vis-a-vis nursing related stressors such as death, sickness, etc), but they have not been examined in any detail. Similarly, extant research has not examined how nurses cope with these administrative stressors. These will be the main aims of the present study.

Motivations, expectations and experiences of Australian rural and regional planners

Despite playing an extremely important role in shaping communities, the role and contribution of planners is not widely understood or acknowledged. At the same time, there is a shortage of planners in Australia, especially in non-urban areas. Thus, though an online survey of 185 rural and regional planners, this research explores their motivations, expectations and experiences. Most enjoyed and felt confident in their role, explaining that they valued the relaxed family orientated rural lifestyle and the varied nature of the planning work. Although they sometimes felt isolated, the non-urban location provided quicker progression to senior roles, the ability to engage directly with the community and to see the consequences of their decisions. Only half felt their education had prepared them well for their role, citing gaps in terms of computerised modelling, team leadership and conflict resolution skills. Their feedback centred on providing a more practical course, focussing more on regional planning, and encouraging urban and rural experience placements. As the first study to quantifiably explore rural and regional Australian planners perceptions of their role and challenges, the findings illustrate current experiences, key planning challenges, perceived educational gaps and future priorities.

ArtConnexions series

The exhibition consists of a series of 9 large-scale cotton rag prints, printed from digital files, and a sound and picture animation on DVD composed of drawings, sound, analogue and digital photographs, and Super 8 footage. The exhibition represents the artist’s experience of Singapore during her residency. Source imagery was gathered from photographs taken at the Bukit Brown abandoned Chinese Cemetery in Singapore, and Australian native gardens in Parkville Melbourne. Historical sources include re-photographed Singapore 19th and early 20th century postcard images. The works use analogue, hand-drawn and digital imaging, still and animated, to explore the digital interface’s ability to combine mixed media. This practice stems from the digital imaging practice of layering, using various media editing software. The work is innovative in that it stretches the idea of the layer composition in a single image by setting each layer into motion using animation techniques. This creates a multitude of permutations and combinations as the two layers move in different rhythmic patterns. The work also represents an innovative collaboration between the photographic practitioner and a sound composer, Duncan King-Smith, who designed sound for the animation based on concepts of trance, repetition and abstraction. As part of the Art ConneXions program, the work travelled to numerous international venues including: Space 217 Singapore, RMIT Gallery Melbourne, National Museum Jakarta, Vietnam Fine Arts Museum Hanoi, and ifa (Institut fur Auslandsbeziehungen) Gallery in both Stuttgart and Berlin.

Australian universities and the challenges of internationalization

In a little over twenty years, Australia has succeeded in developing an industry in international education worth $15.5 billion Australian dollars. Most universities engaged in this industry see themselves as integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into teaching, research and service. We examine the internationalization challenges faced by Australia's universities, and explore how curriculum and mobility are understood by academics interviewed at two case study universities.