Passenger walking speed data for Australian domestic airports

The data covers the speed at which passengers walk through Australian domestic airport terminals, based on their group size.

Modelling based design of a pilot-scale membrane bioreactor for combined nutrient removal from domestic wastewater

A three stage-treatment of domestic wastewater including anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic phases is employed in this study while a clarifier unit is replaced with a submerged membrane in the aerobic unit. The effects of operational parameters on the performance of a pilot scale submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) namely hydraulic retention time (HRT), ratio of return activated sludge (QRS), ratio of internal recycle (QIR), solid retention time (SRT) and dissolved oxygen (DO) are evaluated by simulations, using a hybrid model composed of TUDP model, oxygen transfer model, biofouling model due to extra-cellular polymeric substances (EPS) and turbulent shear model. The results showed that anaerobic HRT of 3 hours, anoxic HRT of 6 hours, QRS of 20% and QIR of 300 % are satisfactory in obtaining a high removal efficiency (>90%) of COD, NH4-N, P04-P as well as a less sludge production. An increase of sludge production causes an increase in EPS, which fouls the membrane surface and increase the cleaning cycle of membrane. Operation of 5MBR system at 2 mg/I of DO and 30 days of SRT can extend the membrane cleaning cycle dramatically. The membrane cleaning cycle however is strongly dependent on the initial and terminal specific fluxes and displays inverse power relationships to those fluxes.

Risk management, player welfare and privacy : player development managers and dilemmas for employee relations in Australian football league clubs

This paper reports on one aspect of a research project that was funded by the Australian Football League (AFL) to explore the emergence and evolution of a ‘professional identity’ for AFL footballers. The research was informed by Foucault's later work on the care of the Self to focus on the ways in which player identities are governed by coaches, club officials, and the AFL Commission/Executive; and the manner in which players conduct themselves in ways that can be characterised as professional - or not. The paper explores the roles of Player Development Managers (PDMs) in emerging processes of risk and player management. These roles increasingly involve PDMs in risk management practices and processes that can be seen as intrusive in players’ lives. These risk management processes raise a number of concerns about player privacy and the rights of Clubs to know what their employees are up to away from the workplace.

Does the change of accounting regulation on employee share options give rise to greater scope for earnings management?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the concern about the impact of accounting regulatory change pertaining to employee share options (ESOs) on earnings management. Following Australia’s adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2005, companies are required to recognise the fair value of ESOs as expenses. Due to inherent imprecision in the estimate of ESO’s fair value, the regulatory change from disclosure to recognition was widely claimed to potentially give rise to an alternative mechanism to manage earnings. This study provides empirical evidence on whether the regulatory change leads to earnings management problems.

Design/methodology/approach – This study uses the regulatory change in accounting for ESOs to provide a direct test of earnings management between disclosed versus recognised regimes for the same sample of firms. The sample consists of Australian firms from S&P/ASX300 for the period from 2003 to 2006.

Findings – The results show that, although the accounting regulatory change from disclosure to recognition may provide an alternative earnings management vehicle, there is no evidence of this occurring. There could be several reasons for this finding. First, the statistical tests lack power. Second, there are stricter audit tests on recognised amounts than on disclosed amounts. Third, given the concern of excessive pay and the close scrutiny of compensation, managers may have already understated ESO values in the disclosure regime. Finally, managers have limited time and resources and the effort involved in the adoption of IFRS in 2005 could have restricted the time available to manage earnings via the ESO reporting channel.

Originality/value – This study adds to the limited research on whether a change in accounting regulation for employee share options from disclosure to recognition gives rise to greater scope for earnings management. One reason for the lack of empirical evidence in the research is due to the problem of designing a test. Bernard and Schipper suggest that within-firm studies have limitations for comparing the effects of recognition versus disclosure when the change is driven by an estimate becoming more reliable. A cross-sectional study is also problematic due to self-selection bias if firms can choose between disclosure versus recognition. This study circumvents potential design problems raised by Bernard and Schipper by setting a test using regulatory change which allows the test to be compared directly using the same company.

Responding to domestic violence in primary care : we know more about what works but questions remain

This commissioned editorial examines what we know about responding to domestic violence in primary care in the light of the recent publication of findings from the first randomised controlled trial in the United Kingdom on domestic violence.

Using job strain and organizational justice models to predict multiple forms of employee performance behaviours among Australian policing personnel

The overall purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between stress-related working conditions and three forms of employee performance behaviours: in-role behaviours, citizenship behaviours directed at other individuals and citizenship behaviours directed at the organization. The potentially stressful working conditions were based on the job strain model (incorporating job demands, job control and social support) as well as organizational justice theory. A sample of Australian-based police officers (n = 640) took part in this study and the data were collected via a mail-out survey. Multiple regression analyses were undertaken to assess both the strength and the nature of the relationships between the working conditions and employee performance and these analyses included tests for additive, interactional and curvilinear effects. The overall results indicated that a significant proportion of the explained variance in all three outcome measures was attributed to the additive effects of demand, control and support. The level of variance associated with the organizational justice dimensions was relatively small, although there were signs that specific dimensions of justice may provide unique insights into the relationship between job stressors and employee performance. The implications of these and other notable findings are discussed.

Distant relations : limits to relational contracting in domestic violence programmes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the applicability of relational contract theory in situations where government departments contract with non-government welfare organisations to deliver human service programmes. Its limits are highlighted by an assessment of programmes for domestically violent men that epitomise “management of incomplete contracts” central to the theory.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an evaluation of contracted-out programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence in Australia that set out to compare and contrast distinct models of service delivery by documenting programme logic, service delivery effectiveness and effects on programme participants. It reflects on the difficulties of monitoring such programmes and considers the implications of this for contracting theory and for human service practice.

Findings – In contrast to critiques of contracting-out in a neo-liberal environment that emphasise how accountability and reporting requirements limit the autonomy of contracted agencies, this paper highlights considerable variation in how programmes were managed and delivered despite standardised service delivery contracts developed by the government department funding the programmes. This leads to a consideration of “incomplete contracts” where service delivery outcomes are hard to measure or there is limited knowledge of the contracted agencies by the contracting government department.

Originality/value – The paper highlights a situation in which the recommendations of relational contracting theory can exacerbate the difficulties of quality assurance rather than minimise them. It then argues a need for workforce development in the government departments and the contracted agencies, to enable a nuanced monitoring of the programmes' service delivery and promotion of quality assurance processes.

Assessment method difference : comparisons between international and domestic students within a first year undergraduate management course

This paper investigates the assessment methods and student results within a first year undergraduate management course offered within the business faculty of an Australian university. This course is compulsory for those studying for a commerce or management degree. The assessment results of full fee paying international students were compared with those of domestic students, during four teaching semesters in 2009 and 2010. Analysis compares 2,682 students’ numerical results for two constructed response assignments to their results for an examination comprising both multiple choice questions and constructed response questions. It also compares the results of international and domestic students across metropolitan, regional and rural campuses. However due to little comparison data for multiple campuses, findings are consolidated by domestic and international students, university-wide. International students were found to achieve lower results than domestic students for constructed response assessment tasks, but higher results than domestic students for multiple choice question assessments. These findings have implications for instructors eager to provide a level assessment playing field for both domestic and international students, enabling both groupings to take advantage of existing strengths but also to improve their weaknesses. This research led to a restructuring and rescheduling of assessment tasks for the 2012 academic year.

The power of myth : the (non) impact of invasive cane toads (Bufo marinus) on domestic chickens (Gallus gallus)

Myths about invasive species are widespread in the general community, even when contrary to scientific evidence. Public revulsion against invasive cane toads (Bufo marinus) in Australia has encouraged the belief that toads pose a significant risk to domestic poultry, by poisoning fowls that eat toads or that drink water contaminated by toads. Although discredited by scientists in 1938, within 2 years of the toads’ introduction to Australia, the myth continues to flourish. We conducted experimental trials to evaluate the vulnerability of chickens to toad-contaminated water, and to toad ingestion. No ill effects were seen, with one chicken consuming 45 small toads without falling ill. Thus, available evidence suggests that cane toads do not imperil domestic poultry.

Predators select against high growth rates and risk-taking behaviour in domestic trout populations

Domesticated (farm) salmonid fishes display an increased willingness to accept risk while foraging, and achieve high growth rates not observed in nature. Theory predicts that elevated growth rates in domestic salmonids will result in greater risk–taking to access abundant food, but low survival in the presence of predators. In replicated whole–lake experiments, we observed that domestic trout (selected for high growth rates) took greater risks while foraging and grew faster than a wild strain. However, survival consequences for greater growth rates depended upon the predation environment. Domestic trout experienced greater survival when risk was low, but lower survival when risk was high. This suggests that animals with high intrinsic growth rates are selected against in populations with abundant predators, explaining the absence of such phenotypes in nature. This is, to our knowledge, the first large–scale field experiment to directly test this theory and simultaneously quantify the initial invasibility of domestic salmonid strains that escape into the wild from aquaculture operations, and the ecological conditions affecting their survival.

Finding common ground: enhancing interaction between domestic and international students in higher education

A feature of Australian Higher Education over the last 10 years has been the increased numbers of international students. This feature has been perceived to have great potential for enhanced learning for all students – both international and domestic. Yet, student surveys and research clearly indicate that there is very little interaction occurring between domestic and international students. This article reports on a study that investigated the extent to which university teaching can promote interaction between students from diverse cultural and linguistic background. Using an innovative video-analysis methodology, the research found that academics engage in a variety of activities to encourage interaction between student groups. In order to assist academics in planning interaction, one of the main findings of the study was the development of ‘The Interaction for Learning Framework (ILF)’, that identifies key dimensions for curriculum design that can be used by academics to inform ways that they can enhance interaction between diverse student groups within teaching and learning contexts.