Applications of cognitive theories to children's fire safety education

Children under five have the highest rate of fire-related accidents (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2001). It is therefore essential to develop effective fire safety education programs to prevent casualties due to a fire. At present, there are fire education programs conducted across Australia for primary school children. However, it is vital that these programs get their message across to the children in the most efficient manner to help children retain the information. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of the 'Fire Ed' program conducted in Victoria and assessed the retention of fire safety information in children in preparatory and Grade five levels. The findings suggest that the information is not retained over long periods of time. Suggestions are made to provide fire safety education in line with
theories of cognitive development to make it more effective.

Gardner; re BWW: Victorian Supreme Court makes landmark Australian ruling on tube feeding

• The Victorian Supreme Court has decided that artificial nutrition and hydration provided through a percutaneous gastrostomy tube to a woman in a persistent vegetative state may be withdrawn.
• The judge ruled, in line with a substantial body of international medical, ethical and legal opinion, that any form of artificial nutrition and hydration is a medical procedure, not part of palliative care, and that it is a procedure to sustain life, not to manage the dying process.
• Thus, the law does not impose a rigid obligation to administer artificial nutrition or hydration to people who are dying, without due regard to their clinical condition. The definition of key terms such as “medical treatment”, “palliative care”, and “reasonable provision of food and water” in this case will serve as guidance for end-of-life decisions in other states and territories.
• The case also reiterates the right of patients, and, when incompetent, their validly appointed agents or guardians, to refuse medical treatment.
• Where an incompetent patient has not executed a binding advance directive and no agent or guardian has been appointed, physicians, in consultation with the family, may decide to withdraw medical treatment, including artificial nutrition or hydration, on the basis that continuation of treatment is inappropriate and not in the patient’s best interests. However, Victoria and other jurisdictions would benefit from clarification of this area of the law

Motivations for developing direct trade relationships

Purpose – This study aims to understand buyer and supplier motives for developing direct relationships with their trade partners.

Design/methodology/approach – A total of 18 in-depth interviews were conducted across Victoria and Tasmania (Australia); eight with retail buyers and ten with fresh produce suppliers. Both parties were involved in a direct relationship with their trade partner.

Findings – The research reveals a large variety of motivations that influence buyers and suppliers when deciding whether to operate in a direct or non-direct relationship with their trade partner. Motivations for both parties are remarkably similar, with buyers and suppliers ultimately attempting to minimise the inherent risk associated with operating in a volatile environment.

Research limitations/implications – The study may be limited by the fact that buyers and suppliers of different commodities were included in the study. In addition, the varied nature of the respondents' role may have impacted their judgment. The inability to interview dyads in all cases also limits the research.

Practical implications – This research has implications for both researchers and practitioners already involved in, or considering becoming involved in, a direct trade relationship. Clarification of motivations for bypassing intermediaries shows how both trade partners can minimise external risk and strengthen competitive advantage by assuming a direct relationship.

Originality/value – Extant research within this literary field is largely quantitatively based with researchers focusing on distinct relationship constructs, the definition of relationship marketing and the process of relationship development. In response to these limitations, this research adopted a qualitative approach in examining the core motivations for developing a direct trade relationship within the fresh produce industry.

Mentoring volunteer festival managers : evaluation of a pilot scheme in regional Australia

Festival managers in regional locations often have limited access to didactic experiences in their field. As such, developing strategies that enhance the skills of festival management in regional locations can be challenging. This paper, set within the context of the Australian regional arts festival sector, evaluates a pilot mentoring scheme developed by Regional Arts Victoria and Arts Victoria to assist volunteer festival managers to enhance the management, and focus the artistic direction, of their festivals. The results of the evaluation, based on six case studies, indicate that mentoring is highly suited to this scenario. Recommendations are made with regard to the future application of mentoring within this context, particularly in relation to communication and formalisation.

New early devonian charophyta from Gondwana

Early Devonian charophytes are reported from Australia (Buchan, Victoria) and Europe (Landeyran, southern France): Moellerina australica n. sp. Feist and Pinnoputamen occitanicum n. sp. Feist. Sedimentological data and associated faunas from these localities accord with both species having inhabited lacustrine or estuarine environments. A critical review of Devonian biotopes confirms that, as with present day species, Mid Palaeozoic charophytes could not have lived in open marine habitats. Originating in Baltica during the Silurian, charophytes appeared in Gondwana in the earliest Devonian.

Practical activities : what science teaching can learn from primary classrooms

Although I have been teaching and researching in primary science for the past decade, I began my career in science teaching in secondary and tertiary institutions and my views on science teaching were formed in these environments. Because I have never been a classroom primary teacher it has only been slowly that I have come to recognise some of the unique characteristics of science teaching in primary schools and come to value them. This paper is an attempt to begin a discussion about what science teaching can learn from the culture of teaching in primary schools by examining some of the ways in which science is taught.

This paper is based on research conducted for my doctorate. It was done in two parts: first a pilot study, Current Primary Science Practice, to try and get a feel for the way science is taught in primary schools in Victoria, N.S.W. and the A.C.T., followed by an in study of a term-long unit of science teaching done by four teachers at four different schools in Victoria and N.S.W, The Role of Practical Activities in Science Teaching.

Trial by fire

Victoria is facing its driest summer for nearly one hundred years, with conditions worse than in 1983 when the state was swept by the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires. The fires were particularly fierce in Mount Macedon in central Victoria, and the Woodend Fire Brigade is in the front line of the struggle to avoid a repeat of Ash Wednesday. Trial by Fire follows this brigade as they do all that they can to keep their community safe from the devastation of the fires.

A study of social responsibility of Sri Lankan immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia

Increasing globalisation, technological advancement and migration waves in the last few decades have changed the look of many advanced countries to be more cosmopolitan and Australia is no exception. The number of South Asian migrants in Australia is steadily increasing. Among the South Asians, there are 31,482 Sri Lankans in the state of Victoria and the majority of them are entrepreneurs. Social responsibility perceptions and practices of these entrepreneurs have not been researched. The study aims to fill this gap by undertaking a triangulation method to investigate the social responsibility perceptions and practices of these entrepreneurs and identify whether or not they are influenced by home country contextual factors, specifically national culture, and business environment. The study is a work in progress and the survey will be undertaken in the second quarter of the year. Socially responsible businesses have the potential to promote an overall approach to quality and sustainable development as they can have positive impacts not only on their own businesses but also on the community and the environment in which they operate. This study is thus significant as it will deliver economic, social and environmental benefits to Australia.

Reflective practice in postgraduate midwifery education

The literature is abundant with the benefits of reflective practice in midwifery education and other disciplines. At Deakin University, Victoria, Australia,  students enrolled in the Graduate Diploma of Midwifery have embraced reflective practices by means of computer mediated learning applications. Students enrolled in this course reside in metropolitan, regional and rural areas of Victoria and had previously experienced issues of ‘distance’ and ‘isolation’ from peers  and academics. Since 2007 two computer modalities, Elluminate Live and  Deakin Studies Online have been incorporated into the lecture timetables for the  Graduate Diploma of Midwifery to allow students to participate in online  discourse and maintain an online reflective journal space. This innovation for the  promotion of reflective practices supports and upholds the oral tradition midwives are renowned for by increasing cohesion of each student course cohort,  collaboration between peers and access to midwifery academics.

The strength of strong ties : how women become supporters of Australian Rules Football

Two glaring omissions in the research on sports fans are on women fans and on how people become fans. In this paper we begin to address both of these issues by examining how women become fans of Australian rules football (AFL). From data generated in single-person and focus group interviews with women AFL supporters conducted in Victoria and NSW, we use their accounts to map-out four ways in which they became fans. We show that at the heart of each of these paths to fandom are the close ties that the women formed in their social networks – either as children through their kin, or later in life through others that entered their networks. Women become fans, we argue, because of the strong social ties that they have with people who are existing fans.

Mental health triage : towards a model for nursing practice

Mental health triage/duty services play a pivotal role in the current framework for mental health service delivery in Victoria and other states of Australia. Australia is not alone in its increasing reliance on mental health triage as a model of psychiatric service provision; at a global level, there appears to be an emerging trend to utilize mental health triage services staffed by nurses as a cost-effective means of providing mental health care to large populations. At present, nurses comprise the greater proportion of the mental health triage workforce in Victoria and, as such, are performing the majority of point-of-entry mental health assessment across the state. Although mental health triage/duty services have been operational for nearly a decade in some regional healthcare sectors of Victoria, there is little local or international research on the topic, and therefore a paucity of established theory to inform and guide mental health triage practice and professional development. The discussion in this paper draws on the findings and recommendations of PhD research into mental health triage nursing in Victoria, to raise discussion on the need to develop theoretical models to inform and guide nursing practice. The paper concludes by presenting a provisional model for mental health triage nursing practice.

Contribution of multi-tenure reserve networks to biodiversity conservation

A consistent and integrated approach to nature conservation across the landscape and regardless of tenure is widely recognised as essential in ensuring the effective conservation of biodiversity. 'Multi-tenure reserve networks', which incorporate public and private lands managed for conservation, are considered a means of achieving landscape scale conservation. Biosphere Reserves (BR) and Conservation Management Networks (CMN) are characteristic models in Australia. This thesis aims to evaluate the role of such networks in protecting biodiversity, specifically by: (1) analysing the spatial configuration (size, shape, connectivity) of networks and their individual components; (2) evaluating the contribution of networks (in real terms and in reporting procedures) to biodiversity conservation objectives; (3) analysing the influence of the attitudes and perceptions of land managers on the functionality of networks; and (4) evaluating the influence of coordinating bodies on network functionality. In order to account for deficiencies in existing classifications of conservation lands, a new classification system was developed for this thesis - the Conservation Lands Classification. This classification incorporates conservation mechanisms on public and private lands and forms the basis for comparing network components in three Australian case studies - the Bookmark BR located in the Murray Mallee of South Australia, the Gippsland Plains CMN on the eastern Gippsland Plains of Victoria and the Grassy Box Woodlands CMN across the inland slopes of New South Wales. The spatial configuration of individual components within networks was measured using spatial analysis techniques within a geographic information system (GIS). GIS was also used to measure the contribution that networks made to a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system through the ecosystems they protected. The attitudes and perceptions of landowners and managers within the networks were obtained using questionnaires. Questionnaires were also sent to network coordinators. Statistical and descriptive analysis was conducted on the results. The sizes of individual components varied markedly between the three networks, however within each network public reserves were on average larger than private conservation lands. Although levels of physical connectivity varied between networks, Bookmark BR and Gippsland Plains CMN showed greater similarity to each other than to the Grassy Box Woodlands CMN. The findings raise important questions about the real and perceived differences in the BR and CMN models. All networks, and particularly those components outside the public protected area estate, contributed to enhancing the protection of ecosystems unrepresented or under-represented in the reserve system, although the extent of this contribution varied between networks. Trade-offs between reserve design efficiency and a contribution to a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system were evident between networks. Bookmark BR was characterised by high connectivity, strong reserve design integrity but a lower contribution to protecting under-reserved ecosystems, whereas the opposite was evident in the Grassy Box Woodlands CMN. Over 88% of managers considered their involvement in multi-tenure reserve networks to be a positive or very positive experience. A lack of resources and time for management were considered major limitations of these networks. The majority (80%) of private land managers within networks were willing to be included in a national reserve system of conservation lands. This has important implications for the Australian National Reserve System, which currently incorporates mostly public land. The changing nature of the network coordination arrangements suggests an organic fluid evolution of network structures is likely, contrasting with the desire for legalistic and administrative rigidity promoted by government agencies. The thesis concludes that all the networks studied contribute in varying degrees to biodiversity conservation. The key factors influencing the current and potential contribution that such networks make are: (1) the aims, directions and restrictions set by or imposed upon the coordinating body; and (2) the biophysical nature of the surrounding bioregion and resultant historical land use and tenure pattern. Although the successful operation of such 'multi-tenure' networks ultimately relies on the willing participation of private landholders, ongoing institutional support is likely to be required for maintaining networks in the longer term. Considering networks are increasingly formed outside of the influence of government institutions, this presents a significant challenge for effective coordinated conservation.

User participation in the performance assessment of school buildings : a study of six primary schools in the Bellarine Peninsula region

Young children spend a significant portion of their lives at primary school. This research traces the development of school facilities in Victoria and examines the performance of six primary schools from the users' perspective. Performance assessments were carried out using participatory evaluation methods that included Touring Interviews with small groups of students aged from six to twelve years. The study found that participatory evaluation methods with both student and staff users generate significant information to improve school facilities. User comments were analysed with respect to 14 aspects of building quality and serviceability including character, thermal environment, privacy and flexibility. The study concludes that school buildings do not meet a number of key user requirements. Children expressed dissatisfaction with furniture and equipment in their classrooms and the playground, and to a lesser extent with student toilets, security of their school bags and personal privacy. Staff were dissatisfied with the provision of withdrawal areas and specialist spaces. Department of School Education facilities guidelines do not address the concerns of school users or meet user needs.

Clinical waste management in Victorian hospitals

This project for the Doctor of Technology provides a significant contribution to the understanding of healthcare waste management in Victoria and worldwide. The thesis describes approaches to enable healthcare facilities to identify factors that contribute to waste generation and resulting impacts on the environment in order to reduce them.

Organising inclusion work : key factors for success

This paper presents the findings of research conducted by Scope in 2007-2009. It proposes a way of categorising the dominant modes or orientations to inclusion work in the disability sector in Australia and identifies the barriers and enablers to it. The research engaged with seventeen ‘inclusion workers’ or managers in Victoria and Perth, Western Australia and sought examples of successful practice along with the ingredients of success, and outcomes of the work. Coincidently, the majority of examples provided related to inclusion work with people with intellectual disability, and a minority of these relating to people with severe intellectual disability. This data was analysed to identify key organisational factors required for successful inclusion work. Most importantly, respondents were also asked to identify the outcomes of inclusion work for individuals with a disability and their families, as well as for services, and for the communities with whom they engaged. The paper offers a way of conceptualising the breadth of inclusion work, including work focused on presence and participation, as well as the larger scale activities of social engineering or social change. The paper presents key ingredients for successful organisational approaches to such work.