The Law of Real Property Mortgages

This book examines the principles and practice of real estate mortgages in an easily accessible text referenced to all the Australian States. It specifically deals with the major theoretical and practical aspects of the land mortgage including vitiating factors in formation, mortgagees powers and duties and mortgagors’ rights both statutory and other, assignment, insurance and discharge. As a successor to Mortgages Law in Australia, this book adopts an exclusive focus on real estate mortgages in Australia and provides a thorough account of the law through analysis of the plethora of court decisions and statutory provisions in this area. Duncan and Dixon analyse the substance of the mortgage transaction from creation through to rights of enforcement. This analysis includes detailed consideration of the rights and obligations of both mortgagors and mortgagees covering topics such as priorities and tacking, insurance, variation and assignment, rights of discharge, entry into possession, foreclosure and power of sale. In addition, the book contains a separate chapter on factors that may affect the validity and enforcement of a mortgage together with separate consideration of a mortgagee’s right to enforce a guarantee provided on behalf of a mortgagor and the rights and liabilities associated with a receivership regime initiated by a mortgagee. Written for the national market, the book is one of the few substantial works on this subject for practitioners throughout Australia. It is a very accessible text which enables readers to decide whether or not they have a problem and provides primary guidance to its solution. The book has been deliberately, heavily referenced to incorporate statutory references from across Australia and contains extensive case analysis in order to satisfy both these objectives.

Digital broadcasting : a double edge sword in protecting children from disturbing news content

New technologies have the potential to both expose children to and protect them from television news footage likely to disturb or frighten. The advent of cheap, portable and widely available digital technology has vastly increased the possibility of violent news events being captured and potentially broadcast. This material has the potential to be particularly disturbing and harmful to young children. But on the flipside, available digital technology could be used to build in protection for young viewers especially when it comes to preserving scheduled television programming and guarding against violent content being broadcast during live crosses from known trouble spots. Based on interviews with news directors, parents and a review of published material two recommendations are put forward: 1. Digital television technology should be employed to prevent news events "overtaking" scheduled children's programming and to protect safe harbours placed in the classifications zones to protect children. 2. Broadcasters should regain control of the images that go to air during "live" feeds from obviously volatile situations by building in short delays in G classification zones.

Queensland College of Teachers annual lecture 2010 : child protection

Teachers have a crucial role as “sentinels” for children who have been abused or neglected. This professional development session will provide a framework for understanding the types, incidence and causes of child abuse and neglect, and teachers’ role in reporting suspected cases. The session will provide participants with knowledge and skills to enable them to identify warning signs and indicators of child abuse and neglect, know the basis of their duties to report suspected cases of abuse and neglect, and respond to the needs of abused and neglected children at school. The presentation will focus on: • the reasons why child abuse and neglect can occur; • the different types of child abuse and neglect and their effects on children; • the warning signs and indicators of physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect; • applying knowledge of indicators to make judgements about risk of harm; • responding to indications of risk of harm, including complying with legislative and policy-based duties to report suspected child abuse and neglect.

Searching for a feminist voice : film festivals and negotiating the tension between expectation and intent

International Film Festivals play a vital role in shaping filmmakers’ careers. This paper presents some initial findings from a current major research project, highlighting the significance of particular festival programming of emerging female directors from developing nations. Some filmmakers showcased at festivals actively privilege the voices of women in their films as a means of commenting on pressing cultural and political issues. Ironically, other filmmakers do not subscribe to the label of “feminist” or “woman filmmaker”, even if their respective films represent a strongly coded woman’s point of view. Tensions also arise inevitably when scrutinising women filmmakers from developing nations within a first world film festival context. The expectations of the researcher, the festival, film critics and audiences inevitably must negotiate with the original intentions of the filmmaker. This paper explores the significance of women filmmakers in attendance at the Brisbane International Film Festival (2009) and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2010).

Mortgages and insolvency

With an amalgam of statutory and common law duties, great care has always been required when considering the obligations of either mortgagees or receivers when exercising power of sale. Unfortunately, that position has only become more complicated with the enactment of the Property Law (Mortgagor Protection) Amendment Act 2008 (Qld).

Managing wetlands sustainably as ecosystems : The contribution of the law (part 1)

The ways in which a society set standards of behaviour and of conduct for its members vary hugely. For example, accepted practices, recognised customs, spiritually or morally inspired norms, judicially declared rules, executively formulated edicts, formal legislative enactments or constitutionally embedded rights and duties. Whatever form they assume, these standards are the artificial construction of the human mind. Accordingly the law - whatever its form - can do no more and no less than regulate or set standards for human behaviour, human conduct, and human decision-making. The law cannot regulate the environment. It can only regulate human activities that impact directly or indirectly upon the environment. This applies as much to wetlands as components of the environment as it does to any other components of the environment or the environment at large. The capacity of the law to protect the environment and therefore wetlands is thus totally dependent upon the capacity of the law to regulate human behaviour, human conduct and human decision-making. At the same time the law needs to reflect the specific nature, functions and locations of wetlands. A wetland is an ecosystem by itself; it comprises a range of ecosystems within it; and it is part of a wider set of ecosystems. Hence, the significant ecological functions performed by wetlands. Then there are the benefits flowing to humans from wetlands. These may be social, economic, cultural, aesthetic, or a combination of some or of all of these. It is a challenge for a society acting through its legal system to find the appropriate balance between these ecological and these human values. But that is what sustainability requires.The ways in which a society set standards of behaviour and of conduct for its members vary hugely. For example, accepted practices, recognised customs, spiritually or morally inspired norms, judicially declared rules, executively formulated edicts, formal legislative enactments or constitutionally embedded rights and duties. Whatever form they assume, these standards are the artificial construction of the human mind. Accordingly the law - whatever its form - can do no more and no less than regulate or set standards for human behaviour, human conduct, and human decision-making. The law cannot regulate the environment. It can only regulate human activities that impact directly or indirectly upon the environment. This applies as much to wetlands as components of the environment as it does to any other components of the environment or the environment at large. The capacity of the law to protect the environment and therefore wetlands is thus totally dependent upon the capacity of the law to regulate human behaviour, human conduct and human decision-making. At the same time the law needs to reflect the specific nature, functions and locations of wetlands. A wetland is an ecosystem by itself; it comprises a range of ecosystems within it; and it is part of a wider set of ecosystems. Hence, the significant ecological functions performed by wetlands. Then there are the benefits flowing to humans from wetlands. These may be social, economic, cultural, aesthetic, or a combination of some or of all of these. It is a challenge for a society acting through its legal system to find the appropriate balance between these ecological and these human values. But that is what sustainability requires.

Challenges in the supervisory boardroom : an exploratory study in the Netherlands

As a consequence of recent corporate governance reforms, the work of supervisory board members in the Dutch two-tier system has become more complex. The objectives of this study are to gain more insight in the current challenges that supervisory board members face and assess whether they are well-equipped to manage them. Based on a combination of an analysis of self-assessment reports, a web-based survey and semi-structured interviews, we conclude that the major challenges of supervisory board members lie in the field of interaction and collaboration with executives. Distinct ‘challenge areas’ were relatively often perceived as problematic as well as important, highlighting the need to improve the current functioning of boards. With regard to the skills that are present on supervisory boards, we find that individual qualities, like integrity, professionalism and knowledge, are better recognized than collective qualities for the supervisory board as a whole. In particular, openness and honesty are seen as important, but often lacking. The paper highlights several implications for scholars and practitioners.

Independent cinema in the Chinese film industry

Chinese independent cinema has developed for more than twenty years. Two sorts of independent cinema exist in China. One is underground cinema, which is produced without official approvals and cannot be circulated in China, and the other are the films which are legally produced by small private film companies and circulated in the domestic film market. This sort of ‘within-system’ independent cinema has played a significant role in the development of Chinese cinema in terms of culture, economics and ideology. In contrast to the amount of comment on underground filmmaking in China, the significance of ‘within-system’ independent cinema has been underestimated by most scholars. This thesis is a study of how political management has determined the development of Chinese independent cinema and how Chinese independent cinema has developed during its various historical trajectories. This study takes media economics as the research approach, and its major methods utilise archive analysis and interviews. The thesis begins with a general review of the definition and business of American independent cinema. Then, after a literature review of Chinese independent cinema, it identifies significant gaps in previous studies and reviews issues of traditional definition and suggests a new definition. After several case studies on the changes in the most famous Chinese directors’ careers, the thesis shows that state studios and private film companies are two essential domestic backers for filmmaking in China. After that, the body of the thesis provides an examination of the development of ‘within-system’ independent cinema. Specifically, three factors: government intervention, the majors’ performance (state studios and, later, the conglomerates) and the market conduct of independent cinema at various points in their trajectories are studied. The key findings of the study are as follows: First, most scholars have overlooked the existence and the significance of within-system Chinese independent cinema. Drawing on an American definition of the independent sector, this thesis proposes a definition of the sector in China: namely, any film that has not been financed, produced, and/or distributed by majors. The thesis also notes important contradictions in applying this definition: i.e. film-making is still dependent on policies that frame industry development. The thesis recognises that major tensions apply to filmmaking in China, which significantly differentiates the Chinese independents from those in the US. Second, the development of Chinese independent cinema is the result the rise of the private sector and the decline of the state studio system. As state studios encountered difficulties the private sector moved forward; consequently the environment improved for independent cinema. Third, before 2003, the film industry in China had little commercialisation. The government controlled independent cinema by means of license and censorship. State studios produced main melody films and Hollywood attracted most of the audiences. Many independent filmmakers focused on commercial films, thus contributing to film commercialisation. Fourth, after 2003, the film industry became increasingly fragmented. The government created distribution and exhibition opportunities for main melody films; conglomerates collaborated with Hong Kong players; Hong Kong co-productions and Hollywood occupied the film market; and small private film companies produced main melody films in order to earn meagre profits. The original contribution of the thesis is to advance the study of Chinese independent cinema. The study suggests a reasonable and practical definition of Chinese independent cinema. It shows how the Chinese government authorities have implemented economic measures to gain ideological control in the film industry. Finally, this the first study on Chinese independent cinema applying a synthesis of economic, political and historical perspectives.

Journalists at war

Journalism is an especially hazardous profession when it takes the reporter into zones of war and conflict. The Committee to Protect Journalists records that in 2010 44 journalists were killed while carrying out their duties. Some of these were reporting conflict in Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and elsewhere. Others were on assignments covering crime and corruption in Mexico, Russia, Venezuela*all places where telling truth to power can easily get you killed, beaten or banged up. In the last 20 years some 874 journalists have been killed on the job, and we salute them all. Journalists get criticised a lot by we scholars, and often for good reason. They can be villains, for sure, but they can also be heroes, when they lay down their lives in the pursuit of the truth. As this piece was being edited, photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed in Libya.

An assessment of Georgia's National Integrity System : the GNISA project

Georgia’s ‘National Integrity Systems’ are the institutions, laws, procedures, practices and attitudes that encourage and support integrity in the exercise of power in modern Georgian society. Integrity systems function to ensure that power is exercised in a manner that is true to the values, purposes and duties for which that power is entrusted to, or held by, institutions and individual office-holders. This report presents the results of the Open Society Institute / Open Society – Georgia Foundation funded project Georgian National Integrity Systems Assessment (GNISA), conducted in 2005–2006 by Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Transparency International Georgia, Georgian Young Lawyers Association, in close cooperation with Griffith University Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law (Australia), and Tiri Group (UK), into how different elements of integrity systems interact, which combinations of institutions and reforms make for a strong integrity system, and how Georgia’s integrity systems should evolve to ensure coherence, not chaos in the way public integrity is maintained. Nevertheless all participants of the research may not share some conclusions given in the GNISA report.

Exploring the role of the governing body (board) in information technology governance : a study of Australian universities

In this thesis, I advance the understanding of information technology (IT) governance research and corporate governance research by considering the question “How do boards govern IT?” The importance of IT to business has increased over the last decade, but there has been little academic research which has focused on boards and their role in the governance of IT (Van Grembergen, De Haes and Guldentops, 2004). Most of the research on information technology governance (ITG) has focused on advancing the understanding and measurement of the components of the ITG model (Buckby, Best & Stewart, 2008; Wilkin & Chenhall, 2010), a model recommended by the IT Governance Institute (2003) as ‘best practice’ for boards to use in governing IT. IT governance is considered to be the responsibility of the board and is said to form an important subset of an organisation’s corporate governance processes (Borth & Bradley, 2008). Boards need to govern IT as a result of the large capital investment in IT resources and high dependency on IT by organisations. Van Grembergen, De Haes and Guldentops (2004) and De Haes & Van Grembergen (2009) indicate that corporate governance matters are not able to be effectively discharged unless IT is being governed properly, and call for further specific research on the role of the board in ITG. Researchers also indicate that the link between corporate governance and IT governance has been neglected (Borth & Bradley, 2008; Musson & Jordan, 2005; Bhattacharjya & Chang, 2008). This thesis will address this gap in the ITG literature by providing the bridge between the ITG and corporate governance literatures. My thesis uses a critical realist epistemology and a mixed method approach to gather insights into my research question. In the first phase of my research I develop a survey instrument to assess whether boards consider the components of the ITG model in governing IT. The results of this first study indicated that directors do not conceptualise their role in governing IT using the elements of the ITG model. Thus, I moved to focus on whether prominent corporate governance theories might elucidate how boards govern IT. In the second phase of the research, I used a qualitative inductive case based study to assess whether agency, stewardship and resource dependence theories explain how boards govern IT in Australian universities. As the first in-depth study of university IT governance processes, my research contributes to the ITG research field by revealing that Australian university board governance of IT is characterized by a combination of agency theory and stewardship theory behaviours and processes. The study also identified strong links between a university’s IT structure and evidence of agency and stewardship theories. This link provides insight into the structures element of the emerging enterprise governance of IT framework (Van Grembergen, De Haes & Guldentops, 2004; De Haes & Van Grembergen, 2009; Van Grembergen & De Haes, 2009b; Ko & Fink, 2010). My research makes an important contribution to governance research by identifying a key link between corporate and ITG literatures and providing insight into board IT governance processes. The research conducted in my thesis should encourage future researchers to continue to explore the links between corporate and IT governance research.

The changing role of the supervisory board chairman: the case of the Netherlands (1997-2007)

Over the last ten years, the corporate governance context in most Western countries has changed as a result of irregularities, increased regulation, heightened societal expectations and shareholder activism. This paper examines the impact of the changing context on the role of chairmen of supervisory boards in the Netherlands. Based on a combination of thirty semi-structured interviews with board members of leading Dutch corporations and secondary data on the position of supervisory board chairmen at the top-100 listed firms in the Netherlands, the study reveals that board chairmen have become increasingly involved in both their control and service roles. While the demographics (i.e., age, tenure, gender and nationality) of chairmen have hardly changed over the last decade, chairmen are spending considerably more time on boards and committees, have reduced the number of board interlocks and have become more active on the forefront of the corporate governance discussion. The paper highlights several implications for scholars and practitioners.

Correlates of Pedometer Use: Results from a Community-based Physical Activity Intervention Trial (10,000 Steps Rockhampton)

Background Pedometers have become common place in physical activity promotion, yet little information exists on who is using them. The multi-strategy, community-based 10,000 Steps Rockhampton physical activity intervention trial provided an opportunity to examine correlates of pedometer use at the population level. Methods Pedometer use was promoted across all intervention strategies including: local media, pedometer loan schemes through general practice, other health professionals and libraries, direct mail posted to dog owners, walking trail signage, and workplace competitions. Data on pedometer use were collected during the 2-year follow-up telephone interviews from random population samples in Rockhampton, Australia, and a matched comparison community (Mackay). Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the independent influence of interpersonal characteristics and program exposure variables on pedometer use. Results Data from 2478 participants indicated that 18.1% of Rockhampton and 5.6% of Mackay participants used a pedometer in the previous 18-months. Rockhampton pedometer users (n = 222) were more likely to be female (OR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.11, 2.23), aged 45 or older (OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.16, 2.46) and to have higher levels of education (university degree OR = 4.23, 95% CI: 1.86, 9.6). Respondents with a BMI > 30 were more likely to report using a pedometer (OR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.11, 2.54) than those in the healthy weight range. Compared with those in full-time paid work, respondents in 'home duties' were significantly less likely to report pedometer use (OR = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.06, 0.53). Exposure to individual program components, in particular seeing 10,000 Steps street signage and walking trails or visiting the website, was also significantly associated with greater pedometer use. Conclusion Pedometer use varies between population subgroups, and alternate strategies need to be investigated to engage men, people with lower levels of education and those in full-time 'home duties', when using pedometers in community-based physical activity promotion initiatives.

Corporate governance, accounting and finance: a review

We review accounting and finance research on corporate governance (CG). In the course of our review, we focus on a particularly vexing issue, namely endogeneity in the relationships between CG and other matters of concern to accounting and finance scholars, and suggest ways to deal with it. Given the advent of large commercial CG databases, we also stress the importance of how CG is measured and in particular, the construction of CG indices, which should be sensitive to local institutional arrangements, and the need to capture both internal and external aspects of governance. The ‘stickiness’ of CG characteristics provides an additional challenge to CG scholars. Better theory is required, for example, to explain whether various CG practices substitute for each other or are complements. While a multidisciplinary approach to developing better theory is never without its difficulties, it could enrich the current body of knowledge in CG. Despite the vastness of the existing CG literature, these issues do suggest a number of avenues for future research.

Support teachers, learning difficulties and secondary school culture

This thesis will report on mixed method research which examined secondary Support Teachers Learning Difficulties (STLDs) and their modes of operation in New South Wales (NSW) government schools, Australia. Four modes of operation were identified in the literature as consultancy, team teaching, in-class support and withdrawal. An additional area of other duties was also included to examine the time when STLDs were not functioning in the four identified modes of operation. NSW government policy is in keeping with the literature as it recommends that STLDs should spend the majority of their time in consultancy and team teaching while in class with a minimum of withdrawal of students from their main classrooms for individual or small group instruction. STLDs, however, did not appear to be functioning in the recommended way. A number of factors identified in the literature, which may influence the modes of operation, can be grouped under the heading of school culture thus this research involved the examination of the effects of school culture on the modes of operation with the aim of expanding our understanding of the functioning of STLDs and providing suggestions for improvement. The theoretical base of social constructionism has informed this research which included survey and case study methods. Case studies of the STLDs in three secondary schools led to the conclusion that, in conjunction with factors such as flexibility and commitment, the involvement of the STLD in a sub-culture of learning support may lead to functioning in the recommended modes of operation.