Finnis on the authority of law and the common good

This paper seeks to elucidate the role played by the common good in John Finnis's arguments for a generic and presumptive moral obligation to obey the law.1 Finnis's appeal to the common good constitutes a direct challenge to liberal and philosophical anarchist denials of a generic and presumptive obligation to obey the law.2 It is questionable, however, whether Finnis has presented the strongest possible case for his position. In the first section I outline Finnis's account of the relationship between basic goods, the common good, and the authority of law. Section II demonstrates how Finnis's emphasis upon the instrumental nature of the common good leaves his position vulnerable to Joseph Raz's objections3 that not all cases of law make a moral difference and that governmental authority is often unnecessary to resolve coordination problems. I argue that Raz's critique nonetheless fails adequately to address an alternative defense of the existence of a generic and presumptive obligation to obey the law, suggested by some passages in Finnis's work, according to which the common good is integral, rather than merely instrumental, to the good of individuals. In the final section I consider whether Finnis could strengthen his case for a generic and presumptive obligation to obey the law by adopting a more consistently robust—and hence also more contentious—account of the common good.

Alzheimer's disease, media representations and the politics of euthanasia: constructing risk and selling death in an ageing society

Drawing on extensive data including news media reports and commentaries, documentaries, courts and court reports, films, websites, professional literature and government and non-government agencies, this book explores the 'Alzheimerisation' of the euthanasia debate, examining the shift in recent years in public attitudes towards the desirability and moral permissibility of euthanasia as an end-of-life 'solution' for people living with the disease - not just at its end stage, but also at earlier stages. With attention to mediarepresentations and public understandings of Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Media Representations and the Politics of Euthanasia sheds light on the processes contributing to these changes in public opinion, investigating the drivers of vexed political debate surrounding the issue and examining the manner in which both sides of the euthanasia debate mobilise support, portray their opponents and make use of media technologies to frame the terms of discourse. Paving the way for a greater level of intellectual honesty with regard to an issue carrying significant policy implications, this book will be of interest to scholars of media and communication, social movements and political communication, and the sociology of health and medicine, as well as researchers and professionals in the fields of palliative and end of life care.

Does the shortage of diabetes specialists in regional and rural Australia matter? Results from Diabetes MILES – Australia.

Aim: To investigate differences in access to services and health outcomes between people living with Type 1 (T1DM) and Type 2 (T2DM) diabetes in rural/regional and metropolitan areas.

Methods: Diabetes MILES—Australia was a national postal/online survey of persons registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme. Selected variables, including utilisation of health care services and self-care indicators, were analysed for 3338 respondents with T1DM (41%) or T2DM (59%).

Results: Respondents from rural/regional (n=1574, 48%) and metropolitan areas were represented equally (n=1700, 52%). After adjusting for diabetes duration, demographic and socioeconomic variables, rural/regional respondents with T1DM (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83–0.97) and T2DM (RR 0.69, 95% CI 0.59–0.81) were less likely to report consulting an endocrinologist during the past 12 months. Rural/regional respondents with T1DM were more than twice as likely to have accessed a community/practice nurse for diabetes care (RR 2.22, 95% CI 1.25–3.93) while those with T2DM were more likely to have accessed a diabetes educator (RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.07–1.36) or dietician (RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.07–1.36). For the T1DM and T2DM groups were no differences between rural/regional and metropolitan respondents in self-reported hypoglycaemic events during past week and the majority of self-care indicators.

Conclusions: Despite a lack of access to medical specialists, respondents with T1DM and T2DM living in rural/regional areas did not report worse health or self-care indicators. The results suggest that multidisciplinary primary services in rural areas may be providing additional care for people with diabetes, compensating for poor access to specialists.

Programs to improve interpersonal safety in Indigenous communities: evidence and issues

There is now a substantial amount of published literature describing the range of programs and interventions that have been implemented in an attempt to improve aspects of community safety. Only a small body of this work, however, has examined the outcomes of those programs delivered to Indigenous Australians or, indeed, the communities in which they live. This Issues paper provides an overview of those programs that were identified in a systematic search of relevant research databases. 

Demographic and socio-cultural correlates of medical mistrust in two Australian states:Victoria and South Australia

Studies on medical mistrust have mainly focused on depicting the association between medical mistrust and access/utilization of healthcare services. The effect of broader socio-demographic and psycho-social factors on medical mistrust remains poorly documented. The study examined the effect of broader socio-demographic factors, acculturation, and discrimination on medical mistrust among 425 African migrants living in Victoria and South Australia, Australia. After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, low medical mistrust scores (i.e., more trusting of the system) were associated with refugee (β=−4.27, p<0.01) and family reunion (β=−4.01, p<0.01) migration statuses, being Christian (β=−2.21, p<0.001), and living in rural or village areas prior to migration (β=−2.09, p<0.05). Medical mistrust did not vary by the type of acculturation, but was positively related to perceived personal (β=0.43, p<0.001) and societal (β=0.38, p<0.001) discrimination. In order to reduce inequalities in healthcare access and utilisation and health outcomes, programs to enhance trust in the medical system among African migrants and to address discrimination within the community are needed.

Sociodemographic factors associated with healthy eating and food security in socio-economically disadvantaged groups in the UK and Victoria, Australia

Objective
To investigate the associations between sociodemographic factors and both diet indicators and food security among socio-economically disadvantaged populations in two different (national) contextual settings.

Design
Logistic regression was used to determine cross-sectional associations between nationality, marital status, presence of children in the household, education, employment status and household income (four low income categories) with daily fruit and vegetable consumption, low-fat milk consumption and food security.

Setting
Socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the UK and Australia.

Subjects
Two samples of low-income women from disadvantaged neighbourhoods: (i) in the UK, the 2003–05 Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey (LIDNS; n 643); and (ii) in Australia, the 2007–08 Resilience for Eating and Activity Despite Inequality (READI; n 1340).

Results
The influence of nationality, marital status and children in the household on the dietary outcomes varied between the two nations. Obtaining greater education qualifications was the most telling factor associated with healthier dietary behaviours. Being employed was positively associated with low-fat milk consumption in both nations and with fruit consumption in the UK, while income was not associated with dietary behaviours in either nation. In Australia, the likelihood of being food secure was higher among those who were born outside Australia, married, employed or had a greater income, while higher income was the only significant factor in the UK.

Conclusions
The identification of factors that differently influence dietary behaviours and food security in socio-economically disadvantaged populations in the UK and Australia suggests continued efforts need to be made to ensure that interventions and policy responses are informed by the best available local evidence.

Correspondences: A personal photographic journey between past/Iran and present/Australia

This project is an autobiographical photography series entitled: Correspondences; A personal photographic journey between past/Iran and present/Australia. This series of photographs are partly influenced by being born at the beginning of 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran . Also, having the experience of living almost thirty years in Iran and immigrating to Australia afterwards. This display consists of presentation of photographic images and will be presented in two series.