Macleod and the offence of defrauding the company in one-person businesses: the divergence between legal principle and logic widens

The recent High Court decision in Macleod v R establishes that a director and sole shareholder may be convicted of fraudulently applying a company's property even though the person has consented to the personal use of the company's property. It is contended that while this decision is consistent with the weight of precedent, it is wrong in principle. The decision implies that corporations are not only separate legal entities, but that they are highly virtuous legal entities -- incapable of being imbued with the dishonest intentions and activities of the individuals controlling the company.

Physical activity and sedentary behavior: a population-based study of barriers, enjoyment, and preference

The associations of physical activity and sedentary behavior with barriers, enjoyment, and preferences were examined in a population-based mail survey of 1,332 adults. Respondents reporting high enjoyment and preference for physical activity were more likely to report high levels of activity. Those reporting cost, the weather, and personal barriers to physical activity were less likely to be physically active. Preference for sedentary behavior was associated with the decreased likelihood of being physically active, and the weather as a barrier to physical activity was associated with the increased likelihood of sedentary behavior. These constructs can be used to examine individual and environmental influences on physical activity and sedentary behavior in specific populations and could inform the development of targeted interventions.

Tracking the nomadic life of the eductional researcher: what future for feminist public intellecturals and the performative university?

Is the idea of the liberal university dead, has the postmodern university any chance of being emancipatory, has the theory–practice divide merely collapsed in an era of 'new knowledge work', or has the university just become one aspect of market states and global capitalism? Knowledge-based economies locate universities as central to the commodification and management of knowledge, while at the same time the legitimacy of the university and the academic as knowledge producers is challenged by postmodernist, feminist, post-colonial and indigenous claims within a wider trend towards the 'democratisation of knowledge' and a new educational instrumentalism and opportunism. What becomes of the educational researcher, and indeed their professional organisations, in this changing socio-political and economic scenario? Is our role one of policy service, policy critique, technical expert or public intellectual? In particular what place is there for feminist public intellectuals in a so-called era of post feminism and public–private convergence? The paper draws on feminist and critical perspectives to mount a case for the importance of the public intellectual in the performative postmodern university.

From local to national: aspects of mapping the welfare third sector in Australia

The paper charts the authors' research experiences in various types of sociological mapping ofc ommunity or third sector organisations. Specifically this was a search for a way of understanding how third sector organisations dealing with welfare issues were operating in Australia in the mid I990s.

The paper tells the story of how the researchers worked through the implications of being faced initially with a dearth of information about their subject and of how lessons were learnt about the disjunctions between what is formally given as textbook knowledge about research practice and what actually can and does happen: that is, the relationship between the theory and the practice of research.

In discussing the creation of a database of organisations, conducting focus groups and a national sample survey, the paper comments on some of the practical problems facing third sector researchers as well as looking at concept generation and typology building as analytical tools.

The disunity of employment law and sentencing

This article discusses the lack of integration between criminal sanctions and employment deprivations (in the form of being dismissed from employment or disqualified from working in certain industries). Offenders who are employed in certain industries, especially the professions, often suffer a far greater net punishment upon being found guilty of a criminal offence than other offenders, thereby violating the principle of proportionality and the (related) principle of equality in the impact of sanctions. The reason that such a situation has developed is because criminal sanctions and employment deprivations have evolved from different streams of jurisprudence. This article argues that sentencers should impose a ‘net’ sanction for a criminal offence, thereby merging these streams of jurisprudence. This would require courts to be vested with the power to suspend or disqualify people from being employed in certain occupations. The legal analysis in this article focuses on case and statutory law in Australia, however, the same broad principles apply in all common law jurisdictions, including the UK. Hence, the reform proposals suggested in this article are relevant throughout the common law world.

Association of family environment with children's television viewing and with low level of physical activity

Objective: This study examined associations between the family environment and children's television (TV) viewing and likelihood of being low-active.
Research Methods and Procedures: In 2001, children were recruited from 19 primary schools in Melbourne, Australia. Parents completed a questionnaire about their child's TV viewing and the family environment. Children also completed a questionnaire and wore an accelerometer for 8 days. Movement counts were used to identify low-active children (lowest quartile). Data were analyzed in May 2004.
Results: The sample consisted of 878 children (mean age = 11.5 0.6 yrs). Multiple logistic regression revealed that socioeconomic status [adjusted odds ratios (AOR) = 0.4 boys], frequency families watched TV together (AOR = 2.0 boys), mothers' (AOR = 1.8 boys; AOR = 2.5 girls) and fathers' (AOR = 2.6 boys; AOR = 2.8 girls) TV viewing, and rules prohibiting TV during mealtimes (AOR = 0.6 boys; AOR = 0.6 girls) related to children watching TV 2 h/d. Variables associated with low-level physical activity included self-reported enjoyment of Internet use (AOR = 1.7 boys) and preference for watching TV (AOR = 2.3 girls), perception that mother uses computer a lot (AOR = 1.9 boys) and likes using the computer (AOR = 0.6 girls), fathers' reported computer/electronic games use (AOR = 1.7 girls), frequency families used computer together (AOR = 0.4 girls), rules that TV viewing must be supervised (AOR = 1.9 boys; AOR = 0.6 girls), and having pay TV (AOR = 0.6 boys) and electronic games at home (AOR = 2.6 boys).
Discussion: These findings suggest that the relationships between the family environment and TV viewing and low-level activity are complex and that these behaviors are distinct.

Importance of administrative transparency in the correctional context : knowing the rules

As a class, prisoners are vulnerable to numerous privations while in custody. In particular, prisoners are at a distinct disadvantage in terms of being able to control the central features of their daily lives. The lives of prisoners are circumscribed by numerous rules and regulations and their administration by correctional administrators. It is important that prisoners are aware of the content of the rules that govern their existence and the precise basis upon which power is exercised over them. In a recent freedom of information application in Victoria, a prisoner sought a personal copy of the rules that would govern his life in that particular institution. The prison authorities refused that request. The prisoner then appealed that decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and was unsuccessful. It is contended that the analysis used in that case was flawed through the misreading of the nature of correctional environment and the fundamental importance of transparency in such a context.

Refugee law: the irrelevance of the framers` intentions

The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 ("the Convention") is over fifty years old. It is the most comprehensive legally binding international standard for the treatment of refugees.' The Convention governs the rights of refugees and the obligations of ratifying State parties towards refugees. The key aspect of the Convention is article 1A(2), which sets out the Convention definition of a refugee. It provides that a refugee is a person who: Owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his or her nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.2 At the international law level the definition has remained (effectively)3 unchanged during this period. However, there has been a considerable amount of uncertainty at the domestic level concerning the precise meaning that should be given to important aspects of the definition, such as "particular social group" and "persecution". Given that the Convention is the principal international instrument dealing with the rights of refugees (since it was ratified by Denmark in 1952, 140 states have acceded to the Convention)4 and the importance of the interests and indeterminate nature of several aspects of the definition of refugee, the interpretive approach adopted in relation to the Convention is of considerable importance.

`A bit of a chameleon act`: a case study of one teacher`s understandings of diversity

While for political, economic and social justice reasons, there is now an emphasis on ensuring that all children achieve educationally, including those whose ethnicity, 'race' or socio-economic status are different from the dominant culture, multiple and often contradictory discourses operate concerning how teachers should work with diversity. Within post-structural theories, 'race', socio-economic status, gender and ethnicity are theorised as fluid, dynamic and interconnected categories of identity. In this article, working with post-structuralist concepts including notions of 'discourse', 'subjectivities', and 'investments', I briefly review a number of discourses around identities and difference that play out within education, particularly in Australia, but with reference to research in North America, and the United Kingdom as well. I then draw on research data to present a case study of one teacher's perspective on diversity. Using his childhood experiences of being both an 'insider' and 'outsider' in mainstream culture, I speculate on how his subjectivities shape and are shaped by his professional identity and relations with students. I discuss his understanding of diversity and of socially just pedagogies in light of current discourses and consider some implications for how teacher education might develop richer, more complex understandings of diversity.

Satisfaction with general practitioner treatment of depression among residents of aged care facilities.

Objective: This article investigates consumer perspectives on the treatment for depression among older people in residential facilities. Method: Aged care residents who were aware of being treated for depression in the past 6 months (24 women and 7 men, mean age = 83 years) participated in an interview that assessed their perspective on treatments. Results: Although more than half of the participants in the sample reported overall satisfaction with the medical treatments received for depression, qualitative data provided indications of unsatisfactory service delivery, including perceptions of low treatment efficacy, short consultation times, the failure to assess affective symptomatology, and negative responses to residents’ disclosure of symptoms. Discussion: The findings are discussed in relation to previous research on consumer satisfaction with health services and issues that may be pertinent to the elderly depressed. Training for general practitioners providing treatment in aged care is indicated.

The psychological impact of extended temporary protection

Against the background of the recent international trend of a greater reliance on deterrence measures in managing the flow of asylum seekers, this paper discusses the implementation of the temporary protection visa (TPV) in Australia. It focuses on the psychological impact of the TPV policy on individual asylum seekers and how this unlimited temporary status affects the overall process of settlement. This study is based on personal narratives constructed by individual asylum seekers during one-on-one interviews aimed at sketching the mental and psychological manifestations of stressful events in their lives as TPV holders. What is particularly revealing among many of these TPV holders is the fact that their pre-migration traumatic experiences are compounded by a post-migration condition of being in indefinite "temporary" protection. This is further exacerbated by a prevalence of racialized discourses and exclusionary policies advocated by the host government. Past trauma and persecution, combined with present family separation and social exclusion, and further compounded by uncertainty about the future, had resulted in almost chronic states of anxiety and depression among a significant number of TPV holders.

Saving human rights from its friends : a critique of the imaginary justice of Costas Douzinas

Costas Douzinas has argued that human rights arise from a universal but unconscious need for recognition of oneself by others as unique and whole. According to Douzinas, humans' activities and interrelationships are determined by their desires and human rights are a manifestation of those same deep characteristics. Because the basic desires are by their nature incapable of being satisfied, the aspiration for human rights is likewise doomed to frustration. Douzinas' analysis of human nature is derived from a reading of Jacques Lacan's theory of psychoanalysis in which an imaginary and a symbolic realm of experience are defined. Douzinas attempts a synthesis between the Lacanian imaginary and the ethical arguments of Emmanuel Levinas. It will be argued here that the synthesis proposed by Douzinas is itself doomed to failure and that Douzinas' negative approach to human rights and to justice should be rejected in favour of a positive approach.

Youth alcohol and other drug use in the United States and Australia: a cross-national comparison of three state-wide samples

Although youth drug and alcohol harm minimization policies in Australia are often contrasted with the abstinence and zero tolerance policies adopted in the United States, there has been little research directly comparing youth substance use behaviour in the two countries. Three state representative samples in Victoria, Australia (n = 7898) and in the US states of Oregon (n = 15 224) and Maine (n = 16 245) completed a common cross-sectional student survey. Rates of alcohol use (lifetime alcohol use, recent use in the past 30 days), alcohol use exceeding recommended consumption limits (binge drinking: five or more drinks in a session), other licit drug use (tobacco use), and norm-violating substance use (substance use at school, use in the past 30 days of marijuana or other illicit drug use) were compared for males and females at ages 12-17. Rates were lower (odds ratios 0.5-0.8) for youth in Maine and Oregon compared to Victoria for lifetime and recent alcohol use, binge drinking and daily cigarette smoking. However, rates of recent marijuana use and recent use of other illicit drugs were higher in Maine and Oregon, as were reports of being drunk or high at school. In contradiction of harm minimization objectives, Victoria, relative to the US states of Oregon and Maine, demonstrated higher rates of alcohol use exceeding recommended consumption limits and daily tobacco use. However, findings suggested that aspects of norm-violating substance use (substance use at school, marijuana use and other illicit drug use) were higher in the US states compared to Victoria.

Separation of conjoined twins: experiences of perioperative nurses and their recommendations

Background: Within an 8-month period, an unprecedented and historical first in Queensland, Australia, the perioperative nurses were members of teams involved in the surgical separation of two sets of conjoined twins. Little is known about the (dis)stress that some of these perioperative nurses experienced nor how best to support them during such experiences.

Aim: The aim of this paper is to report on the qualitiative study that explored the experiences of those perioperative nurses involved in the surgical separation of cojoined twins and from their stories propose recommendations to support perioperative nurses who are confronted with such workplace experiences.

Methods: Using a narrative methodology, nine perioperative nurses shared their stories of being involved in the surgical separation of conjoined twins in Australia. Narrative and thematic analyses were conducted and recommendations to support perioperative nurses through workplace (dis)stress were identified. Participants validated the findings and recommendations.

Findings: The analyses revealed the themes of professionalism, teamwork, 'them vs. us' and emotional loads.

Discussion: The sensationalism around the rarity of conjoined twins brought an intensive intrusiveness from the world media. As a result, secrecy within the hospital about the conjoined twin cases created divisions between those perioperative nurses on the teams and those not. The processes and outcomes of the two surgical cases were in contrast to each other. For some perioperative nurses this caused distress. It is essential that professional support is offered in a way in which the perioperative nurse can take it up without fear of negative judgement.

Online teaching - the experience of a 'new' academic

A 'new' academic will share her fIrst experience of online teaching in a university environment. As an experienced user of computer technology this academic who is new to teaching in a university environment shared the experience of being 'new' to online teaching and learning with Masters level students. This paper explores the issues associated with online learning from the perspective of the 'teacher' as weIl as that of the 'learners'. The learners in this study participated in project-based learning experiences in an online unit taught by staff in the Faculty of Education. It will consider the issues that arose during the semester including the use of a new technology (new to the university) as well as the experience of participation in project-based learning in an online learning environment. The manner in which students dealt with the issues associated with this learning experience in an online environment will be presented.