The comparative cost of food and beverages at remote Indigenous communities, Northern Territory, Australia

OBJECTIVE: To determine the average price difference between foods and beverages in remote Indigenous community stores and capital city supermarkets and explore differences across products.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey compared prices derived from point-of-sale data in 20 remote Northern Territory stores with supermarkets in capital cities of the Northern Territory and South Australia for groceries commonly purchased in remote stores. Average price differences for products, supply categories and food groups were examined.

RESULTS: The 443 products examined represented 63% of food and beverage expenditure in remote stores. Remote products were, on average, 60% and 68% more expensive than advertised prices for Darwin and Adelaide supermarkets, respectively. The average price difference for fresh products was half that of packaged groceries for Darwin supermarkets and more than 50% for food groups that contributed most to purchasing.

CONCLUSIONS: Strategies employed by manufacturers and supermarkets, such as promotional pricing, and supermarkets' generic products lead to lower prices. These opportunities are not equally available to remote customers and are a major driver of price disparity.

IMPLICATIONS: Food affordability for already disadvantaged residents of remote communities could be improved by policies targeted at manufacturers, wholesalers and/or major supermarket chains.

Barriers to implementing reverse logistics in South Australian construction organisations

Purpose - This paper aims to present a survey of the perceptions of the barriers to implementing reverse logistics (RL) practices in South Australian (SA) construction organisations. Despite the extensive research on forward logistics and RL, there is a paucity of studies that examine the barriers to implementing RL particularly within the Australian construction industry. This study builds on the ongoing research being undertaken by the authors, entitled “Designing for reverse logistics (DfRL) within the building life cycle: practices, drivers and barriers”, which is examining the best practices and drivers that could be used as a “road map” for developing appropriate solutions for the successful implementation of RL. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected by utilising a triangulated data collection approach, a literature review and 49 questionnaires. The review of the literature identified 16 barriers to implementing RL. The quantitative survey data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics with correlation analysis to examine the relationships between different pairs of variables comprising RL’s critical barriers. Findings - The following barriers were indicated as most significant: lack of incorporation of salvaged materials by designers; regulation restrictions to usage of recovered materials and components; potential legal liabilities; higher costs; and longer-time association with deconstructing buildings. The least ranked barriers were mostly drawn from the operational and industrial categories as being: organisational lack of support for deconstruction due to incompatible design; lack of organisational support for deconstructing buildings due to higher health and safety risks; and inadequate skills and experience for deconstruction (operational). The industrial barrier was related to “higher costs of salvaged materials in comparison to virgin products”. Research limitations/implications - First, the reported findings are focussed on one study that used questionnaire surveys within the construction industry; therefore, the results may not be generalisable to other contexts. Further, studies should be conducted and extended to other industrial sectors beyond the construction industry. Second, the quantitative study (n 49) used a smaller sample, and the survey items were based on the review of the literature. Practical implications - The identified barriers could be used as a “road map” for the development of appropriate solutions for the successful implementation of RL, and to improve the environment-related decision-making processes of contractors. Originality/value - This study makes a contribution to the body of knowledge on the subject of RL within a previously unexplored SA context. In addition, the study provides some insights on the contributory effects of the barriers to the implementation of RL. It is the first work undertaken to determine the barriers to the adoption of RL within the SA construction industry.

Analysis of reverse logistics implementation practices by South Australian construction organisations

Purpose – A large number of benefits have been reported when reverse logistics (RL) is fully implemented in the construction industry. However, RL is yet to become common place in the construction sector, particularly in Australia. The particular sub-sector in which RL operates is small and weak and the remainder of the sector must embrace and accommodate it comfortably. Research is lacking on how to promoting RL in the construction industry. Very little has been done to identify the current practices that have the potential to promote RL industry-wide. The purpose of this paper is to identify the practices that work well in the sector, a strategy could be mapped out to promote RL to all stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – In order to fill the above gap, the present study used a mixed method approach to gather and evaluate current practices and their potential to promote RL in South Australia’s construction industry. Practices that were identified using a comprehensive literature review were evaluated with a questionnaire survey and series of interviews involving construction professionals. Findings – The findings are that practices facilitating deconstruction is the most important, followed by practices facilitating the use of salvaged materials in new construction to promote RL in South Australia. Awareness of deconstruction benefits, challenges and procedures at the organisation level and facilities and services at industry level were associated with RL implementation. Availability of salvaged materials in the market was found to influence its use in new construction and as a consequence its demand. Designing for reverse logistics is another practice that could facilitate deconstruction and the onus of its promotion lies mainly with the designers. Research limitations/implications – This research was confined to one state in Australia. As such the generalisation to other states and other countries should be treated cautiously. Practical implications – The findings of this study can help inform the industry and its stakeholders on areas that they need to concentrate more on to make the South Australian construction industry a fully RL integrated one. To that end the authors propose some recommendations arising from the findings reported here. Originality/value – This study makes a contribution to the body of knowledge on reserve logistics within a previously unexplored South Australian context. In addition, the study provides valuable insights into the contribution of RL practices to the construction industry.

A qualitative examination of major barriers in implementation of reverse logistics within the South Australian construction sector

Despite extensive research on the benefits of reverse logistics (RL), it has yet to become commonplace in the construction industry. Furthermore, the uptake and number of studies on RL remains very limited within the Australian context and particularly related to the construction industry. This paper is aimed at filling that knowledge gap by employing an exploratory approach to examine the critical barriers faced by South Australian construction organizations in implementing RL practices. Semi-structured interviews and a ranking approach facilitated the treatment of qualitative data through quantitative coding using cloud-based applications. The research identified 12 barriers to RL implementation, four of them very significant according to the responses of the interviewees: the regulatory environment, additional costs involved, lack of recognition in the construction supply chain, and extra effort required. The study also explored their inter-relationships through the Co-occurrence Index. The study proposes some remedial measures for RL implementation in South Australia based on the barriers identified.

The Indian diaspora : Hindus and Sikhs in Australia

Since the late 1990s, the Indian community in Australia has grown faster than any other immigrant community. The Indian Diaspora has made substantial contributions to the multi-ethnic and multi-religious diversity within Australia. The growth of Hinduism and Sikhism through gurus, temples, yoga and rituals of many kind has brought new colours, images, customs and practices to the profile of Australian religion, and the Australian landscape more widely. At the same time, Hinduism and Sikhism have themselves been transformed as Hindus and Sikhs from different parts of India as well as Fiji, Malaysia and other parts of the world have come together to establish a pan-Indian ethos. Hindus and Sikhs here have also interacted with other sectors of the Australian population and with religions from the Western world. This is the theme of this book.The Indian Diaspora covers the theory of diaspora, the historical development of the Indian communities in Australia since the late 19th century to the present times, current practices and statistical profiles of Hindus and Sikhs in Australia, and interactions between Hindus and Sikhs with the wider Australian community. There are case-studies of the Indian students and women in the Australian community, of Indian communities in Melbourne and South Australia, and of temple building and the Sikh gurdwara. The book has been edited by and contains contributions from Purushottama Bilimoria, an internationally-known scholar of philosophy and religion, Jayant Bhalchandra Bapat, one of Australia’s most senior Hindu priests and a scholar of Hinduism, and Philip Hughes, a leading analyst of the religious profiles of the Australian people. It also contains contributions from several other prominent scholars. Included are special essays on the importance of diaspora by the late Ninian Smart and on the 19th century Afghan cameleers and Indian hawkers.

Fuzzy logic for decision support in chronic care

Computerized clinical guidelines can provide significant benefits in terms of health outcomes and costs, however, their effective computer implementation presents significant problems. Vagueness and ambiguity inherent in natural language (textual) clinical guidelines makes them problematic for formulating automated alerts or advice. Fuzzy logic allows us to formalize the treatment of vagueness in a decision support architecture. In care plan on-line (CPOL), an intranet-based chronic disease care planning system for general practitioners (GPs) in use in South Australia, we formally treat fuzziness in interpretation of quantitative data, formulation of recommendations and unequal importance of clinical indicators. We use expert judgment on cases, as well as direct estimates by experts, to optimize aggregation operators and treat heterogeneous combinations of conjunction and disjunction that are present in the natural language decision rules formulated by specialist teams.

A review of Australian Siphonicytara Busk (Bryozoa : Cheilostomatida)

Until recently, species of the deep-water ascophoran genus Siphonicytara have been recorded from only two areas, nearly 10,000 km apart. Three species were known from the East Indies and one from the southwest Indian Ocean. A hitherto unrecognized species is now known from the southern-most Philippine region, and six new species have recently been described from New Caledonia. A further new species from relatively shallow water, S. occidentalis, is described here from Western Australia. Examination of fossil specimens from the Tertiary of Victoria and South Australia has shown that specimens attributed to Parina clypeata Waters have a close relationship with Siphonicytara, and the species is referred here to this genus, as is Mucronella airensis Maplestone. Another Tertiary species with a similar distribution, 'Eschara elevata' Waters not Tenison Woods, is assigned to Siphonicytara irregularis (Maplestone). The stratigraphic range for the family extends from the Late Eocene to Recent. Eschara elevata Tenison Woods sensu stricto is the type species of the genus Tubitrabecularia Bassler, and a discussion of the nature and status of this genus is included. A key to the species described is given.

Revision of tertiary species of Anaskopora Wass (Bryozoa: Cribrimorpha)

The subgenus Anaskopora Wass, 1975 is raised to generic rank, separated from the genus Corbulipora, and redefined. The type species, Cribrilina elevata MacGillivray, 1895, is a Tertiary fossil from Victoria with small globular colonies formed principally by a special kind of interzooidal frontal budding. Other Tertiary fossil species with a similar colony structure, here assigned to Anaskopora, are Cribrilma cornuta MacGIllIvray, 1895 and Lepralia rotundata MacGillivray, 1895. Two further new Tertiary species, A. simplex and A. mesa, from Victoria and South Australia have small encrusting colonies. A key to species is given.

Outcomes, standards and benchmarks

The use of outcomes as a tool for curriculum development has considerable currency in Australia. It is widely perceived as representing world's best practice (South Australia Department of Education, Training and Employment, 2000, foreword) and as providing an effective means for quality assurance and enhancement (Willis & Kissane, 1997). At a system level, these assumptions have been unquestioned and unexamined, and curriculum frameworks in all Australian States now consider themselves to be 'outcome-based'. Surprisingly, this results in little similarity between Australian State educational frameworks, and raises the question of what I really understood about the concept of an 'outcome'. This essay explores some definitions of the term and related concepts of 'standards' and 'benchmarks'. The latter terms have less currency in Australia but can be shown to more accurately describe much of what we consider to be outcomes. The issue is not a semantic one, but goes to the very heart of our intentions in specifying learning outcomes. The indiscriminate use of the term 'outcome' has largely devalued it to the point that there is little real understanding and little debate about the efficacy of outcome setting as the primary process in curriculum production in Australia.

First fossil finds of some Australian Bryozoa (Cheilostomata)

The abundant fossil record of well-preserved Bryozoa in samples from the Tertiary of Victoria and South Australia includes some 'first fossil finds' which are recorded here. Several are of species known from the Recent of the Australian or Indo-West-Pacific regions, but some represent genera with a much wider temporal and geographical range. Of the 11 species illustrated, six are known, or may be inferred, to have inhabited 'sand fauna' environments. Specimens of one species are complete enough to allow its formal description as Chlidoniopsis inopina sp. nov.

Implementing an inclusive social work curriculum

This paper discusses the implementation of an inclusive curriculum in social work education, in response to an Inclusive Curriculum project at the University of South Australia which aimed to develop principles and policies of inclusivity in curriculum within national priorities. The concept of 'inclusivity' is located within theories of identity, and international developments on inclusive education. We discuss the articulation of ideas on inclusivity in social work education through the 'personal story' of an individual social work educator's practices within organizational policies and structures. We show how an educator's 'personal story' is positioned within particular perspectives of knowledge and pedagogy, and influenced by other personal stories that produced a particular response to implementing an inclusive curriculum in social work.

Whose school? Which community?

This paper takes up the theme 'The school as a centre in the community' in light of a research project conducted in a remote community in South Australia in 2001. This project set out to explore with Aboriginal parents, Aboriginal students, teachers and representatives of the various agencies operating in the area how groups within the community understood the issues of early exiting Aboriginal students.

Volunteering and social capital in regional Victoria

The link between volunteerism and social capital has received some attention in Australia in recent years. Of particular note to this paper is the work of Baum, Bush, Modra, Murray, Cox, Alexander, and Potter (2000), who described the contribution volunteers made to social capital in a metropolitan setting - the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. The aim of this current study is twofold, to describe the contribution volunteers make to social capital through participation, reciprocity and social trust in a regional and rural setting; and to compare findings with those relating to a metropolitan environment. In the light of differing volunteer patterns in rural and regional environments compared to metropolitan environments, we hypothesised that the relationship between volunteerism and indicators of social capital would also be different. The results from this study support the findings of Baum, Modra, Bush, Cox, Cooke, and Potter (1999) and therefore reinforce the premise that volunteers make a substantial. contribution to social capital. While greater numbers of people who live in rural or regional areas undertake volunteer work, we found there are more similarities between the rural/regional and metropolitan sectors regarding volunteerism than there are differences.