Sherlockian adolescence for the twenty-first century : Conan Doyle’s ‘six dirty little scoundrels’ and contemporary children’s literature

Young adult literature is a socialising genre that encourages young readers to take up very particular ways of relating to historical or cultural materials. Recent years have seen a boom in Sherlockian YA fiction inviting reader identification either with the Baker Street Irregulars or an adolescent Holmes. In works by Anthony Read, Andrew Lane, Tracy Mack & Michael Citrin, and Tony Lee, the Sherlock canon provides a vocabulary for neo-Victorian young adult fiction to simultaneously invoke and defer a range of competing visions of working childhood as both at-risk and autonomous; of education as both oppression and emancipation; and of literary-cultural history as both populist and elitist. Such tensions can be traced in Conan Doyle’s own constructions of working children, and in the circulation of the Sherlock stories as popular or literary fictions. Drawing both on the Sherlock canon and its revisions, this paper reads current YA fiction’s deployment of Conan Doyle’s fictional universe as a tool for negotiating contemporary anxieties of adolescence.

Researching with the Aboriginal Community, MPH2057- Aboriginal Health Course (Monash University), delivered by the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) & The Burnet Institute at The Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, 29 September 2010

A copy of the slide presentation titled 'Researching with the Aboriginal Community'. It was presented by Bronwyn Fredericks for the Master of Public Health Program (MPH2057- Aboriginal Health Course) at Monash University. The Monash University Aboriginal Health Course (MPH2057) is delivered in partnership by the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) & The Burnet Institute. The 2010 Aboriginal Health Course was run on Level 3 of The Burnet Institute, 89 Commercial Road, Prahan, Melbourne, Victoria, 29 September 2010.

Caseload management, work-related stress and case manager self-efficacy among Victorian mental health case managers

Objective: In Australia and comparable countries, case management has become the dominant process by which public mental health services provide outpatient clinical services to people with severe mental illness. There is recognition that caseload size impacts on service provision and that management of caseloads is an important dimension of overall service management. There has been little empirical investigation, however, of caseload and its management. The present study was undertaken in the context of an industrial agreement in Victoria, Australia that required services to introduce standardized approaches to caseload management. The aims of the present study were therefore to (i) investigate caseload size and approaches to caseload management in Victoria's mental health services; and (ii) determine whether caseload size and/or approach to caseload management is associated with work-related stress or case manager self-efficacy among community mental health professionals employed in Victoria's mental health services. Method: A total of 188 case managers responded to an online cross-sectional survey with both purpose-developed items investigating methods of case allocation and caseload monitoring, and standard measures of work-related stress and case manager personal efficacy. Results: The mean caseload size was 20 per full-time case manager. Both work-related stress scores and case manager personal efficacy scores were broadly comparable with those reported in previous studies. Higher caseloads were associated with higher levels of work-related stress and lower levels of case manager personal efficacy. Active monitoring of caseload was associated with lower scores for work-related stress and higher scores for case manager personal efficacy, regardless of size of caseload. Although caseloads were most frequently monitored by the case manager, there was evidence that monitoring by a supervisor was more beneficial than self-monitoring. Conclusion: Routine monitoring of caseload, especially by a workplace supervisor, may be effective in reducing work-related stress and enhancing case manager personal efficacy. Keywords: case management, caseload, stress

Alternatives to youth imprisonment : evaluating the Victorian youth attendance order

On 22 June 1988 the then Minister for Community Services Victoria, Race Matthews, officially launched the Youth Attendance Order (YAO), a high tariff alternative for young offenders aged between 15 and 18 years who were facing a term of detention. Throughout the order's gestation, much debate occurred about the impact it would have on rates of juvenile incarceration as well as about the potential ‘net widening’ effect it could have on less serious offenders. In May 1994 the National Centre For Socio-Legal Studies at La Trobe University submitted its report evaluating the Victorian Youth Attendance Order. This article presents some of the major findings of that report and examines the future options for this high tariff order in juvenile justice

Explaining Gendered Sentencing Patterns for Men and Women in the Late Victorian Period

Contemporary studies of disparities in the sentencing of male and female offenders claim that the differences found are caused by gender-related contextual factors, but not by a gender bias. In contrast, historical studies have suggested that women were disadvantaged by appearing to offend both against the law and the conventions of femininity. This article analyses minor assaults prosecuted in ten English magistrates’ courts between 1880 and 1920. It is based on a data-set that combines court cases and newspaper reports, and allows for the control of gender differences in sentencing outcomes through four contextual factors: severity of the assault, bonds between victim and assailant, culpability, and evidence. The findings reveal a differentiated pattern of sentences that questions the assumption that ‘doubly deviant’ women were more often convicted, and received higher penalties, throughout the Victorian period. The results show that the contextual factors of the offence affected judicial decision-making to the extent that they virtually account for gender differences in conviction rates, but do not, on their own, account for the different penalties handed out to men and women. Women who committed similar assaults to men were likely to receive a lighter punishment. Magistrates clearly targeted ‘male’ contexts of violence, and handed down more convictions and harsher penalties to men involved in these, in contrast to women involved in 'female' contexts. The findings of a strong gender bias in sentencing that disadvantaged lowerclass men indicate that local magistrates directed their efforts of 'civilizing' lower-class communities at 'dangerous masculinities', and deemed assaults committed by women as less important in this task.

Domestic energy monitoring in Victorian households with PV solar installations : feasibility report for GV Community Energy

Australia requires decisive action on climate change and issues of sustainability. The Urban Informatics Research Lab has been funded by the Queensland State Government to conduct a three year study (2009 – 2011) exploring ways to support Queensland residents in making more sustainable consumer and lifestyle choices. We conduct user-centred design research that inform the development of real-time, mobile, locational, networked information interfaces, feedback mechanisms and persuasive and motivational approaches that in turn assist in-situ decision making and environmental awareness in everyday settings. The study aims to deliver usable and useful prototypes offering individual and collective visualisations of ecological impact and opportunities for engagement and collaboration in order to foster a participatory and sustainable culture of life in Australia. Raising people’s awareness with environmental data and educational information does not necessarily trigger sufficient motivation to change their habits towards a more environmentally friendly and sustainable lifestyle. Our research seeks to develop a better understanding how to go beyond just informing and into motivating and encouraging action and change. Drawing on participatory culture, ubiquitous computing, and real-time information, the study delivers research that leads to viable new design approaches and information interfaces which will strengthen Australia’s position to meet the targets of the Clean Energy Future strategy, and contribute to the sustainability of a low-carbon future in Australia. As part of this program of research, the Urban Informatics Research Lab has been invited to partner with GV Community Energy Pty Ltd on a project funded by the Victorian Government Sustainability Fund. This feasibility report specifically looks at the challenges and opportunities of energy monitoring in households in Victoria that include a PV solar installation. The report is structured into two parts: In Part 1, we first review a range of energy monitoring solutions, both stand-alone and internet-enabled. This section primarily focusses on the technical capacilities. However, in order to understand this information and make an informed decision, it is crucial to understand the basic principles and limitations of energy monitoring as well as the opportunities and challenges of a networked approach towards energy monitoring which are discussed in Section 2.

Victorian Public Libraries: Our Future, Our Skills. Research Report

This research study represents a key part of the program of Statewide Public Library Development Projects delivered by the State Library of Victoria between 2011 and 2014 in partnership with Public Libraries Victoria Network (PLVN), the peak body for Victoria’s 47 public library services. The overarching objectives of this project were: - to develop a framework to articulate the core competencies required by the public library workforce for the 21st century - to conduct a skills audit of Victorian public library staff in order to collect evidence of the current skills and to anticipate future skills requirements - to deliver a report that analyses the audit findings and makes recommendations on training needs and strategies to prepare for the future delivery of public library services in Victoria. The study built on the 2008 report Workforce sustainability and leadership: Survey, analysis and planning, developed for the State Library of Victoria and PLVN, in which three types of workplace skills were delineated: cognitive (or Foundation), technical (or Professional) and Behavioural skills. Following industry discussion and review, a framework comprising 59 skill-sets within the three distinct skills areas was finalised in October 2013. The skills audit, which comprised an Individual survey and a Management survey with questionnaires directly based on the skills framework, was undertaken between late November and December 2013. This report presents the analysis and interpretation of the data collected through the two surveys.

The Victorian 260 cc Legislation. Evaluation Report Using Accident Data to December, 1982.

Learner and first year probationary motorcyclists are over-represented in traffic accidents, being involved about four times as often as full motorcycle licence holders in relation to their numbers. In an attempt to reduce this over-involvement, the Victorian Government amended the law in 1979 to restrict learner and first year probationary motorcyclists to motorcycles with engine capacities of less than 260 cc. This paper reports an evaluation which showed that casualty rates for learner and first year probationers began to decrease from mid 1979 and continued to do so until the end of 1980. A further analysis indicated that compared to full licence holder casualties, learner permit casualties were about 40% less than expected while first year probationary casualties were about 39% lower.

Experimental studies on comparison of microwave curing and thermal curing of epoxy resins used for alternative mould materials

In this present work attempts have been made to study the glass transition temperature of alternative mould materials by using both microwave heating and conventional oven heating. In this present work three epoxy resins, namely R2512, R2515 and R2516, which are commonly used for making injection moulds have been used in combination with two hardeners H2403 and H2409. The magnetron microwave generator used in this research is operating at a frequency of 2.45 GHz with a hollow rectangular waveguide. In order to distinguish the effects between the microwave and conventional heating, a number of experiments were performed to test their mechanical properties such as tensile and flexural strengths. Additionally, differential scanning calorimeter technique was implemented to measure the glass transition temperature on both microwave and conventional heating. This study provided necessary evidences to establish that microwave heated mould materials resulted with higher glass transition temperature than the conventional heating. Finally, attempts were also made to study the microstructure of microwave-cured materials by using a scanning electron microscope in order to analyze the morphology of cured specimens.