Moving beyond the restrictions : the evaluation of the Alice Springs alcohol management plan

There have been a number of evaluations of alcohol management in the Alice Springs region. Interestingly, an evaluation in 1975 emphasised the need for government and other agencies to view the issues holistically and to address them accordingly. The outcomes of this evaluation point to a similar situation with comparable recommendations.

The situation in Alice Springs is unique in some respects but has parallel characteristics to other towns and communities in Australia. Alice Springs is an important regional supply, service-orientated, and tourism town. Its people have diverse backgrounds and appear as durable as the environment they live in. Associated with this is a hard drinking culture that permeates the community with a range of issues regardless of one’s cultural background.

The research group found a community that in many ways is ruptured and fragmented when it comes to the ways and means of how such challenges can be confronted. This situation is exemplified by the perception that alcohol problems are confined to a minority of drinkers that seemingly pervades the dialogue surrounding drinking and its effects in the town.

Nevertheless, a positive outcome of such discourse is the fact that people do care about their community and are very keen to live in a town where there are more responsible attitudes toward drinking. There is some way to go; the first thing that everyone needs to accept is that it is a community problem. Non-Indigenous and Indigenous individuals, groups and organisations all have a responsibility therefore in addressing the challenges and working toward better solutions. Government have an important role of course, however the acceptance by the community that it is a community problem is paramount.

Some of the community and government initiatives are having a positive effect on drinking in the town. However, some of the initiatives, such as certain restrictions, can and should not be considered, on their own, as long-term solutions. Other processes need to be implemented, oversighted and managed in an effective manner. An important component of such processes is data that is well managed, available, and appropriate for those agencies involved.

The reader as audience : the appeal of the writers' festival to the contemporary audience

The contemporary popularity of the writers' festival might appear something of a contradiction, given that such festivals are based around an art form that has been chiefly a solitary experience for the reader for several centuries. Taking the 2009 Eye of the Storm Writers' Festival in Alice Springs as its case study, this article examines the motivations of the audience for participating in community-based writers' festivals. Interviews with audience members suggest that the writers' festival serves a much larger cultural and social role for the audience participant than simply increasing their enjoyment of literature.

Warlpiri warriors : Australian Rules Football in Central Australia

Yuendumu, located in the Tanami desert of the Northern Territory, is home to the largest Warlpiri community in Australia. We examine the role of Australian Rules football in this remote Indigenous community. Football is seen to operate on many layers of Warlpiri culture, from the traditional game of ‘purlja’, the introduction of modern football in the 1950s, the growth of sports weekends, community football and the Alice Springs competition to the journey of Liam Jurrah, the first Warlpiri man to make the journey from being a desert footballer to emerging as an Australian Football League star. The importance of football in Yuendumu is revealed as a vehicle for social cohesion, group identity, pride and joy, and as an expression of manhood, enabling its young men to see themselves as modern-day Warlpiri warriors.

Seasonal coolth storage system for residential buildings in Australia

Night sky cooling is explored as an alternative to the conventional cooling technologies using fossil fuels. The night sky cooling method is based on the long wave radiation of unglazed collectors to the sky at night. An evaluation of the night sky cooling system is present for a residential building in three cities of Australia, namely Alice Springs, Darwin and Melbourne. The system comprises an unglazed flat plate solar collector integrated with borehole storage. It uses night sky radiation to reduce the temperature of the ground near to the boreholes. The system was simulated with TRNSYS, a transient simulation program. The simulation results for adequately sized systems show that night sky radiation is able to reduce the coolth storage borehole temperature and the proposed system is able to meet the cooling load of the residential building simulated in three locations. Borehole lengths of 270, 318 and 106 m are required for coolth storage with 90, 260 and 14 m2 collector area for heat rejection in Alice Springs, Darwin and Melbourne, respectively. At the 20th simulation year, the proposed system is able to achieve a system cooling coefficient of performance of 2.2 in Alice Springs, and 2.8 in Darwin and Melbourne.

Alice's academy

Kate McInally approaches censorship from perspectives we often overlook in censorship discussions: self-censorship and the censorship of evasion. Using two novels by Australian author Doug MacLeod, McInally explores the subtle queering of heteronormative ideologies, the art of, perhaps, gently twisting depictions of sexualities and desires rather than overtly transgressing the expected norms. McInally commends MacLeod’s humorous and incisive questioning of those hetero-norms, yet questions some of his editorial decisions, wondering if he has stopped short of the story he really hoped to tell.
- Caroline Jones, editor Alice's Academy

Caroline Springs: Does this estate in Melbourne's west master open space?

A study of the use of two open spaces - a small park and an oval - at Caroline Springs, a Master Planned Estate in Melbourne's west.

Introduction : Alice's adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass

 Signature edition

Alice: walking in her footsteps

 The thesis Alice: Walking in Her Footsteps employs memoir writing and exegesis to examine the impact of government policies on Aboriginal Families in Australia in the 20th Century.