Are we too busy to volunteer? The relationship between time and volunteering using the 1997 ABS Time Use Data

Time availability is a key concept in relation to volunteering, leading to organisations and governments targeting those outside paid work as a potential source of volunteers. It may be that factors such as a growth in female participation in the labour market and an increase in work hours will lead to more people saying they are simply too busy to volunteer This paper discusses how social and economic change, such as changing work patterns, are impacting on time availability. Using the 1997 ABS Time Use data, it identifies a predictive model of spare time by looking at demographic, life stage and employment related variables. Results confirm that those outside paid work, particularly the young, males and those without partners or children, are the groups most likely to have time to spare. These groups do not currently report high rates of volunteering. The paper concludes by questioning the premise that people will volunteer simply because they have time to spare. This is just one component of a range of motivations and factors that influence the decision to volunteer.

Multiple directorships and corporate performance in Australian listed companies

How many directorships are too many? Globally, normative advice emphasises the importance of limiting the number of directorships any individual should hold due to the workloads they entail. However, there is little empirical evidence to support this view. Rather, there is a strong tradition of supporting multiple directorships as a mechanism for the firm to co-opt external resources. To explore the issue of director workloads and multiple directorships, we first consider the issues related to multiple directorships and outline the conclusions of extant international and Australian studies into multiple directorships. We then detail our objectives in undertaking this research and our approach to data collection. Our findings indicate that the incidence of multiple directorships in Australian listed companies is low. We also find that many of the apparent examples of multiple directorships are due to related entities, which share common directors and, due to the nature of these entities, have much lower workload requirements. Further, there does not appear to be any relationship between holding multiple directorships and firm financial performance. Finally, we discuss the implications for boards and those interested in governance, particularly the need to ensure governance recommendations and guidelines reflect empirical findings. We offer one solution to address the concerns of boards, investors, other stakeholders and the community regarding multiple directorships: board and individual director evaluations.

Too wet to exercise? Leaking urine as a barrier to physical activity in women

Leaking urine Is frequently mentioned (anecdotally) by women as a barrier to physical activity. The aim of this paper was to use results from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) to explore the prevalence of leaking urine in Australian women, and to ascertain whether leaking urine might be a barrier to participation for women. More than 41,000 women participated in the baseline surveys of the ALSWH in 1996. More than one third of the mid-age (45-50 years) and older (70-75) women and 13% of the young women (18-23) reported leaking urine. There was a cross-sectional association between leaking urine and physical activity, such that women with more frequent urinary leakage were also more likely to report low levels of physical activity. More than one thousand of those who reported leaking urine at baseline participated in a follow-up study in 1999. Of these, more than 40% of the mid-age women (who were aged 48-53 in 1999), and one in seven of the younger (21-26 years) and older (73-79 years) women reported leaking urine during sport or exercise. More than one third of the mid-age women and more than one quarter of the older women, but only 7% of the younger women said they avoided sporting activities because of leaking urine. The data are highly suggestive that leaking urine may be a barrier to physical activity, especially among mid-age women. As current estimates suggest that fewer than half of all Australian women are adequately active for health benefit, health professionals could be more proactive in raising this issue with women and offering help through non-invasive strategies such as pelvic floor muscle exercises.

Primary aldosteronism: Are we diagnosing and operating on too few patients?

Many cases of potentially curable primary aldosteronism are currently likely to be diagnosed as essential hypertension unless screening tests based on suppression of renin are tarried out in all hypertensive patients. More than half of the patients with primary aldosteronism detected in this way have normal circulating potassium levels, so measurement of potassium is not enough to exclude primary aldosteronism. When primary aldosteronism is diagnosed, fewer than one-third of patients are suitable for surgery as initial treatment, but this still represents a significant percentage of hypertensive patients. After excluding glucocorticoid-suppressible primary aldosteronism, adrenal venous sampling is essential to detect unilateral production of aldosterone and diagnose angiotensin-responsive aldosterone-producing adenoma. One cannot rely on the computed tomography scan. If all hypertensive patients are screened for primary aldosteronism and the workup is continued methodically in those with a positive screening test, patients with unilateral overproduction of aldosterone who potentially can be cured surgically are not denied the possibility of cure.

Sticks and stones will break my bones -- and words will harm too: Australia's provision of education for asylum seeker children in detention

No abstract

The epidemiology of dysphagia: Describing the problem - are we too late?

The assessment and management of dysphagia is a rapidly growing part of speech pathology clinical practice for both adult and paediatric populations, yet there is limited information available regarding the epidemiology of dysphagia. Very few studies have defined the characteristics of the disorder, its incidence/prevalence in various populations, the natural history of the disorder or the relative risks, comorbidities and outcomes associated with dysphagia. The current paper will identify some fundamental questions that as yet remain unanswered and highlight areas of future research that are required in order for us to have a better understanding of dysphagia and inform assessment and management. In conclusion, the authors propose an epidemiological framework and highlight information needs in the field of dysphagia. This framework urges future dysphagia research to be informed and underpinned by sound epidemiological principles.

Busy saying nothing new: Live silence in TV reporting of 9/11

News of the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11th 2001 spread fast, mainly through dramatic images of the events broadcast via a global television media, particularly 24-hour news channels such as BBC News 24 and CNN. Following the initial report many news channels moved to dedicated live coverage of the story. This move, to what Liebes (1998) describes as a 'disaster marathon', entails shifting from the routine, regular news agenda to one where the event and its aftermath become the main story and reference for all other news. In this paper, we draw upon recordings from the BBC News 24 channel on September 11th 2001 during the immediate aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon to argue that the coverage of this event, and other similar types of events, may be characterised as news permeated with strategic and emergent silences. Identifying silence as both concrete and metaphorical, we suggest that there are a number of types of silence found in the coverage and that these not only act to cover for lack of new news, or give emphasis or gravitas, but also that the vacuum created by a lack of news creates an emotional space in which collective shock, grieving or wonder are managed through news presented as phatic communion.