People and environment : the outdoor education community : curriculum ideas

This session is based on the concept of people as part of a broad ecological community. It focuses on relationships between people and between people and their environment. We look at outdoor education curriculum and teaching ideas aimed at developing the concepts of community, interdependence and responsibility for people and other living and non-living things. The concepts will be discussed in relation to developing outdoor education programs for students in years Prep-10.
Examples of teaching and assessment ideas will be provided from the Outdoor Education Course Advice Materials which have been developed for the Victorian Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF). Resources will also be discussed and displayed. The session will be part presentation and part interactive group work. It is relevant to teachers, curriculum developers and other outdoor educators working with children in the years Prep-10 age range.

Implementation of the nurse practitioner role within a Victorian healthcare network : an organisational perspective

Objective
This paper presents a discussion of the development of a framework to implement and sustain the nurse practitioner (NP) role within one health service designed to strengthen the capacity of the health system and which could be readily transferable to other health services.
Setting
Eastern Health (EH) is a multi‑campus tertiary health care organisation servicing a population of approximately 800,000 people in the east and outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. EH is committed to advancing the nursing profession and exploring innovative, research based models of practice that are responsive to the needs of the community it serves.
Primary argument
The Framework documents the processes of providing a new career pathway for advanced practice nurses that incorporates education and training, and utilises current evidenced‑based practice guidelines to define and promote the scope of practice.
Conclusion
Strong organisational support to facilitate interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary learning opportunities assists integration of the NP role into the healthcare team. Role clarity will assist interprofessional teams to understand and value the role NPs provide.

Association of adolescent symptoms of depression and anxiety with alcohol use disorders in young adulthood : findings from the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study

Objective: To examine the association of adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms with alcohol abuse or dependence in young adulthood.

Design, setting and participants: Cohort study of the health and wellbeing of adolescents and young adults in Victoria, assessed at 8 waves (periods) of data collection, from age 14 to 24 years, between 1992 and 2003. Young people who participated in the cohort study at least once during the six adolescent assessment points (conducted 6 months apart, from age 14 to 17 years), at least once during young adulthood and who were alive at Wave 8 (n = 1758).

Main outcome measure: Alcohol abuse or dependence assessed using the alcohol and substance abuse modules of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview at age 24 years.

Results: Adolescents with moderate to high levels of depression and anxiety symptoms (measured by the revised Clinical Interview Schedule) had an increased risk of alcohol abuse or dependence in young adulthood, compared with young adults with low levels of adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms, after adjusting for potential confounding factors. Risk was higher for those with symptoms at more than two adolescent assessment points (odds ratio [OR] 1.9; 95% CI, 1.7–2.0) and for those with symptoms at one or two assessment points (OR 1.3; 95% CI, 1.2–1.4), compared with those with no above-threshold symptoms in adolescence.

Conclusions: Adolescents with depression and anxiety symptoms are at increased risk for alcohol use disorders into young adulthood. They warrant vigilance from primary care providers in relation to alcohol use well into adulthood.

Sustaining Victorian certificate of applied learning (VCAL) educators

This paper draws on emerging data from in-progress analysis of interviews with 22 teachers/educators who teach the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) in the settings of schools, Adult Community Education (ACE) and Technical and Further Education (TAFE). The development and implementation of VCAL occurred in 2002 as a response to Victorian government policy initiatives resulting from the Kirby (2000) Report. The VCAL is offered alongside the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), in years 11 and 12 of school, as another pathway into employment or further education and training. VCAL is also offered in the settings of TAFE and ACE. The VCAL curriculum uses applied learning as a pedagogical foundation to engage students in relevant, meaningful and authentic learning. In schools VCAL is delivered by qualified and registered teachers. In the TAFE and ACE sectors VCAL is taught by staff who are not necessarily teacher trained. Many pre-service teaching courses (including Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment) do not include applied learning pedagogy in the curriculum. Since VCALʼs implementation there have been calls for greater consultation with, and support given to, VCAL teachers and organisations (Knipe, Ling, Bottrell and Keamy, 2003, p. 6; Harrison, 2006). Additionally VCAL teachers are frequently ill prepared professionally to manage a cohort which includes a high concentration of disengaged young people demonstrating challenging behaviours and attitudes (Pritchard & Anderson, 2006, p.1). Emerging data from the interviews with VCAL educators indicates these issues have not been addressed and many educators and teachers continue to feel unprepared and poorly supported. This is particularly significant in the light of a recent Victorian government announcement that, despite rising VCAL enrolments, VCAL coordination funding to schools is to be cut in 2012. (VALA, 2011, para. 4). To compensate for a lack of structured support and preparation, VCAL educators are frequently sustaining professional practice by their own agency in adapting already held life-skills and knowledge.

Indigenous place-making in the city : dispossessions, occupations and implications for cultural architecture

This paper considers Indigenous place-making practices in light of an idea for a major Victorian Indigenous Cultural Knowledge and Education Centre in central Melbourne as championed by Traditional Owners in Victoria. With only eight Aboriginal architects in the country, collaboration with non-Indigenous architects will be inevitable. Two case studies from the recent past—the Tent Embassy in Canberra and a street corner in Collingwood—reveal that dominant cultures of place-making continue to marginalise Aboriginal people in urban Australia. This paper will contend that delivering spatial justice will require both an opportunity for Indigenous Victorians to build visibility in the centre of the city and a willingness within the dominant culture to be deterritorialised.

Sisters of the sun

A film about flows of time and language on the Volcanic Plains of Western Victoria. Directed by Simon Wilmot. Produced by Patrick West & Simon Wilmot. Script by Patrick West.

The past has its place in the future. Wombeetch Puyuun is teaching Scottish-born settler Isabella Dawson his aboriginal tongue so that her father, James Dawson, can write his book. But how can language preserve the past in a land where time overwhelms words? Meanwhile, contemporary Australians from the Volcanic Plains of Victoria’s Western District meditate over life in a place of sheep, algae, eels, lava and stars. Susan Cole and Janice Austin, descendents of Isabella and Wombeetch’s people united for the first time, reflect on Wombeetch’s friendship with James, and what it means to be ‘the last of your tribe.’

The event 'Flows and Catchments' was held at the Warrnambool Art Gallery on 2/12/2012.

Sisters of the Sun has also screened at Lake Bolac Eel Festival (March 2014) and Warnambool Art Gallery (Feb 2013)

Quantifying the profile and progression of impairments, activity, participation, and quality of life in people with Parkinson disease : protocol for a prospective cohort study

Background Despite the finding that Parkinson disease (PD) occurs in more than one in every 1000 people older than 60 years, there have been few attempts to quantify how deficits in impairments, activity, participation, and quality of life progress in this debilitating condition. It is unclear which tools are most appropriate for measuring change over time in PD.
Methods and design This protocol describes a prospective analysis of changes in impairments, activity, participation, and quality of life over a 12 month period together with an economic analysis of costs associated with PD. One-hundred participants will be included, provided they have idiopathic PD rated I-IV on the modified Hoehn & Yahr (1967) scale and fulfil the inclusion criteria. The study aims to determine which clinical and economic measures best quantify the natural history and progression of PD in a sample of people receiving services from the Victorian Comprehensive Parkinson's Program, Australia. When the data become available, the results will be expressed as baseline scores and changes over 3 months and 12 months for impairment, activity, participation, and quality of life together with a cost analysis.
Discussion This study has the potential to identify baseline characteristics of PD for different Hoehn & Yahr stages, to determine the influence of disease duration on performance, and to calculate the costs associated with idiopathic PD. Valid clinical and economic measures for quantifying the natural history and progression of PD will also be identified.

Indigenous knowledge and climate change : the Wathaurong and Gadubanud narrative for the Great Ocean Road region

For more than forty thousand years Aboriginal people of Australia have been confronted with major climate, ecological and geological changes as well as annual seasonal variations. Many of these changes have been captured in the cultural traditions of Maar (the people) of the south-west Victorian coast and the knowledge has been transferred from generation to generation through Dreaming stories. Many Dreaming stories recount the forming of the coastal landscape and Sea Country. Weather patterns and climate change were gauged by the occurrence of natural events such as the tidal changes, sea level rise, landscape changes, behaviour of animals, and the availability of food sources. Can this ancient knowledge provide answers for adaptation and resilience to a rapid changing climate? Drawing upon recent literature on coastal climate change in the Great Ocean Road Region (GORCC, 2012), literature review of indigenous environmental planning (Kooyang Sea Country Plan, 2004), and investigation of settlement patterns of the Wathaurong and Gadubanud people, this paper reviews the changes in the landscape due to climate change and explores traditional knowledge as input to a potential design based adaptation model for coastal settlements of the Great Ocean Road Region.

Patterns and correlates of self-reported racial discrimination among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, 2008–09: analysis of national survey data

Background
There is now considerable evidence that racism is a pernicious and enduring social problem with a wide range of detrimental outcomes for individuals, communities and societies. Although indigenous people worldwide are subjected to high levels of racism, there is a paucity of population-based, quantitative data about the factors associated with their reporting of racial discrimination, about the settings in which such discrimination takes place, and about the frequency with which it is experienced. Such information is essential in efforts to reduce both exposure to racism among indigenous people and the harms associated with such exposure.

Methods
Weighted data on self-reported racial discrimination from over 7,000 Indigenous Australian adults participating in the 2008–09 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey, a nationally representative survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, were analysed by socioeconomic, demographic and cultural factors.

Results
More than one in four respondents (27%) reported experiencing racial discrimination in the past year. Racial discrimination was most commonly reported in public (41% of those reporting any racial discrimination), legal (40%) and work (30%) settings. Among those reporting any racial discrimination, about 40% experienced this discrimination most or all of the time (as opposed to a little or some of the time) in at least one setting. Reporting of racial discrimination peaked in the 35–44 year age group and then declined. Higher reporting of racial discrimination was associated with removal from family, low trust, unemployment, having a university degree, and indicators of cultural identity and participation. Lower reporting of racial discrimination was associated with home ownership, remote residence and having relatively few Indigenous friends.

Conclusions
These data indicate that racial discrimination is commonly experienced across a wide variety of settings, with public, legal and work settings identified as particularly salient. The observed relationships, while not necessarily causal, help to build a detailed picture of self-reported racial discrimination experienced by Indigenous people in contemporary Australia, providing important evidence to inform anti-racism policy.

From fibro shacks to McMansions: considering the impact of housing change on the sense of place in the historic Victorian coastal towns of Sorrento and Queenscliff

Eighty per cent of Australians now live within 50 kilometres of the coast.1 While most of the population remains concentrated in the large capital cities, some people have chosen small coastal towns as their permanent and or second-home destination. Greater mobility and income has increased the feasibility and attractiveness of living in these once overlooked and forgotten towns. The arrival of these new residents has changed the towns in both positive and negative ways. Declining traditional industries have been replaced by tourism and service sectors, providing a much-needed economic revival. The expectations of new residents, both permanent and non-permanent, however, have also brought challenges to the towns. Metropolitan value systems sometimes impact negatively on the unique sense of place and neighbourhood character of these towns. This paper presents both quantitative and qualitative evidence of the impact on character and sense of place in two historic coastal towns, Queenscliff and Sorrento, in southern Victoria. Census data shows how employment and the number of permanent residents have changed radically over the last 50-60 years, altering the social fabric of the towns. An analysis of the building footprint over a similar timeframe shows a growth in building size as larger houses become more common, and a growth in planning appeals for the towns is indicative of a clash of expectations between the council, long-time and new residents. While these indicators demonstrate the impact on the character of the towns as defined by their built environment, some oral accounts of local residents are used to show the emotional impact of these changes on the traditional sense of place associated with these towns. Some specific examples of changes to the built environment are provided to demonstrate that local planning schemes are not always successful in protecting neighbourhood character and that further measures are required in order to safeguard the uniqueness of coastal towns from the negative aspects of development.

Landscapes in transition : local perceptions of indigenous and European settlement changes along the Victorian coast

Around the world coastal areas are witnessing dramatic changes due to the consequences of the growth of human settlements. Rapid urban expansion in coastal settlements due to ‘life style migration’ impacts negatively on environmental coastal amenities that are the driving factor behind the attraction of these areas. The Victorian Coast in Australia is under stress, with the growth pattern of coastal settlements in a sprawling linear fashion resulting in devastating effects on the natural coastal environment, biodiversity and the loss of cultural heritage. The Victorian coast is rich in history, and the coastal towns are often described in literature as places with ‘sense of place’, or referred to as place character. This place character has been formed over many years with the interaction between social histories and natural environments woven together across time. This paper reviews the transition of the landscapes along the Great Ocean Road coastal region, and ask the question how can a potential Generative Plan be developed to establish a process to keep the place character of coastal towns. The proposed plan considers the interrelationships of nature and people as fundamental to forming place character, from the time of Indigenous habitation before European settlement, to the current day of rapid increased developments scattered along this coast.

An accessible survey method: increasing the participation of people with a disability in large sample social research

The 1 in 4 Poll project seeks to increase understanding of the views and needs of people with a disability by developing an accessible survey method. It is being conducted by Deakin University in partnership with the Victorian disability service provider, Scope. To address this goal, the 1 in 4 Poll method has focused on three key strategies: an accessible Internet-based survey; use of an assisted and proxy report; and a ‘standard’ and Easy English version of the survey. A bespoke online survey design seeks to overcome the limitations in accessibility of available online survey tools. Positive evaluative comments, from respondents across a wide-range of disabilities, suggests that the combination of the three major strategies used in the 1 in 4 Poll has resulted in a valuable and accessible method of large scale surveying of people with a disability.

The Victorian bushfires and extreme weather events : media coverage, crisis and communication

The 2009 'Black Saturday' Victorian bushfires claimed the lives of 173 people and have become known as the worst fire event in Australian history. Victoria has been at the centre of two other significant Australian fire disasters - 'Black Friday' in 1939 and the 1983 'Ash Wednesday' fires in south-eastern Australia that claimed the lives of 47 people in Victoria. As media scholar and commentator Michael Gawenda has noted, the media not only report an 'event' - like the Victorian bushfires or the tsunami in the South Pacific - but in a sense create and define it. Print and electronic media coverage of extreme weather events therefore raises a multitude of issues about the media's role in serving the community before, during and after a crisis, while also trying to produce the best possible reportage in a competitive industry undergoing dramatic change. This issue of MIA provides a venue for critical, empirical engagement with media coverage and representation, and the role of journalism and journalists in reporting national and international bushfires, tsunamis, hurricanes and other extreme weather events, with a special focus on the 2009 Victorian bushfires. Its goal is to address the ramifications of an industry in flux - indeed, some may say crisis - driven by technological advances, staff reductions and media organisations under financial pressure, and to explore the ways in which such extreme weather events have impacted media practices and policy

Social media as a learning environment : how, why, where and when people learn

This paper reports on an 18-month high school action research study and how this could be used to inform course designers and educators in other sectors of education. The high school study focused on the integration of social media into the face-to-face classroom. It used action research in a Victorian public high school in a total of 13 of the author’s classes. Data collection was in three phases over an eighteen month period. This involved the teacher creating one online social network and sharing this dynamic environment with up to seven classes in a semester. Blogs, groups, chats, discussion forums, Web 2.0 tools and a wide range of student-generated content were shared online, within a class and between classes. Students were encouraged to interact and to share their thoughts and ideas about planning as well as using their out-of-school skills and knowledge. Each topic, within each class, was one action research cycle. A number of the findings from this high school study were integrated into post-secondary education subjects at Deakin University. In an era of social media, this high school study has provided insight into how, why, where and when students learn, and by blending many of the findings into Deakin University courses, this study offers a new way of approaching teaching and learning in the broader notion of tertiary education and training.