The films of John Hughes: a history of independent screen production in Australia

ABSTRACTIn The Films of John Hughes: A history of independent screen production in Australia filmmaker and academic John Cumming tells the ongoing story of Hughes’ work illustrating the delicate balance of individual, collective and corporate agendas that many contemporary artists need to negotiate. This story begins in the 1960s with a generation of intelligent, socially engaged young people who challenge established power structures, conventions and stereotypes in art, politics and the media. Experiments were being made with grassroots democracy, with new social formations and new ways of seeing and communicating. The book also pays attention to earlier periods of cultural and political activism that captured Hughes’ imagination in the 1970s and became the subject of a number of his films over a period of nearly forty years. Through these films Cumming traces the outline of post-war film culture and production in Melbourne from the 1940s and sets this history within the context of international trends in independent filmmaking throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st.The work of an independent filmmaker has always included a great deal more than directing films. Working in an artisanal mode, he or she often performs, or has a hand in, every aspect of craft at the same time as engaging in discussion and organisation around the wider sphere of screen culture and industry. In addition to having proficiency as a producer, photographer, sound recordist, editor, distributor and exhibitor of films, there is research, organisation, lobbying, entrepreneurship and mentoring to be done. As an independent producer-director, John Hughes has engaged in all of these activities – often simultaneously. He is also a scholar, writer, organiser, activist and teacher. As a television bureaucrat he was both eminent and innovative, and through his filmmaking he has become a leading historian of Australian documentary cinema. ‘… that view – that art and politics are inherently at odds – is still lurking around. It is at the heart of cultural conservatism; and John Hughes’s film-making, from the 1970s to the present, confounds its proponents. His cinema is at once crowded, detailed, elegant and absolutely lucid; at the same time, it is shot through with political and historical understandings.’ Sylvia Lawson, ‘Such a Bloody Wonderful Place’, Inside Story, 28 April 2013.

Australian dental policy reform and the use of dental therapists and hygienists

Oral diseases including dental caries and periodontal disease are among the most prevalent and costly diseases in Australia today. Around 5.4% of Australia’s health dollar is spent on dental services totalling around $2.6 billion, 84% of which are delivered through the private sector (AIHW 2001). The other 16% is spent providing public sector services in varied and inadequate ways. While disease rates among school children have declined significantly in the past 20 years the gains made among children are not flowing on to adult dentitions and our aging population will place increasing demands on an inadequate system into the future (AHMAC 2001). Around 50% of adults do not received regular care and this has implications for widening health inequalities as the greatest burden falls on lower income groups (AIHW DSRU 2001). The National Competition Policy agenda has initiated, Australia-wide, reviews of dental legislation applying to delivery of services by dentists, dental specialists, dental therapists and hygienists and dental technicians and prosthetists. The review of the Victorian Dentists Act 1972, was completed first in 1999, followed by the other Australian states with Queensland, the ACT and the Northern Territory still developing legislation. One of the objectives of the new Victorian Act is to ‘…promote access to dental care’. This study has grown out of the need to know more about how dental therapists and hygienists might be utilised to achieve this and the legislative frameworks that could enable such roles. This study used qualitative methods to explore dental health policy making associated with strategies that may increase access to dental care using dental therapists and hygienists. The study used a multiple case study design to critically examine the dental policy development process around the Review of the Dentists Act 1972 in Victoria; to assess legislative and regulatory dental policy reforms in other states in Australia and to conduct a comparative analysis of dental health policy as it relates to dental auxiliary practice internationally. Data collection has involved (I) semi-structured interviews with key participants and stakeholders in the policy development processes in Victoria, interstate and overseas, and (ii) analysis of documentary data sources. The study has taken a grounded theory approach whereby theoretical issues that emerged from the Victorian case study were further developed and challenged in the subsequent interstate and international case studies. A component of this study has required the development of indicators in regulatory models for dental hygienists and therapists that will increase access to dental care for the community. These indicators have been used to analyse regulation reform and the likely impacts in each setting. Despite evidence of need, evidence of the effectiveness and efficiency of dental therapists and hygienists, and the National Competition Policy agenda of increasing efficiency, the legislation reviews have mostly produces only minor changes. Results show that almost all Australian states have regulated dental therapists and hygienists in more prescriptive ways than they do dentists. The study has found that dental policy making is still dominated by the views of private practice dentists under elitist models that largely protect dentist authority, autonomy and sovereignty. The influence of dentist professional dominance has meant that governments have been reluctant to make sweeping changes. The study has demonstrated alternative models of regulation for dental therapists and hygienists, which would allow wider utilisation of their skills, more effective use of public sector funding, increased access to services and a grater focus on preventive care. In the light of theses outcomes, there is a need to continue to advocate for changes that will increase the public health focus of oral health care.

Clichéd gaze of the migrant on the Australian screen

The thesis takes up the question of the representation of the migrant on the Australian screen in terms of a specific set of concerns around the notions of stereotype and self-reflexivity. The stereotype is read as a self-referential image: hence, as a question of film spectatorship and identity; in short as an unconscious reflex or self image. The text of the thesis is in two parts: part one, comprises the production of the film ‘Italians at home’. It is the major component of research and text which, for this purpose, has been copied and submitted hereto on VHS video cassette. Part two, includes an analysis and discussion of the television documentary ‘The migrant experience’, and an exegesis, of the production, narrative and reception of the film ‘Italians at home’. The migrant experience is read and discussed as an exemplary text of dominant, stereotyped discourse of cultural difference; while ‘Italians at home’ is proposed as a parallel text and a self-reflexive reading and criticism of such a text. Both the television documentary and the film, deal with the representation and problematic of homogenised representations of ethnicity. In the case of ‘The migrant experience’, it is argued, that the figure of the migrant as other and self-image, functions as an object of Australian culture and discourse of national identity within a logic of representation of binary structures; while the film ‘Italians at home’, the question of self-referentiality is seen in terms of the viewing subject and a problematic of film representation; thus, the film attempts to make such signifying structures, visual codes and agreed assumptions of otherness visible, while, at the same time, attempting to displace them or pose them as a problem of representation or reading for the viewer.

A review of program evaluations in an Australian independent school: participants’ perspectives

This paper reports on ways in which one Australian independent school seeks to develop and sustain best practice and academic integrity in its programs through a system of ongoing program evaluation, involving a systematic, cyclical appraisal of the school’s suite of six faculties. A number of different evaluation methods have been and continue to be used, each developed to best suit the particular program under evaluation. In order to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of this process, we conducted a study into participants’ perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of the four program evaluations undertaken between 2009 and 2011. Drawing on documentary analysis of the evaluation reports and analysis of questionnaire data from the study participants, a number of findings were generated. These findings are provided and discussed, together with suggestions about ways in which the conceptualisation and conduct of school program evaluations might be enhanced.

Australian government budget balance numbers: the hybrid nature of public sector accrual accounting

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature and comparability of budget balance (surplus/deficit) numbers headlined by the Australian Commonwealth Government and the governments of the six Australian States and the two Australian Territories. It does this in the context of the transition to Australian accounting standard AASB 1049 Whole of Government and General Government Sector Financial Reporting. Design/methodology/approach - A case study research method is adopted, based on a content/documentary analysis of the headline budget balance numbers in the general government sector budget statements of each of the nine governments for the eight financial years from 2004-2005 to 2011-2012. Findings - Findings indicate some variation in the measurement bases adopted and a number of departures from the measurement bases prescribed in the reporting frameworks, including AASB 1049. Findings also reveal that none of the nine governments have headlined a full accrual based budget balance number since the implementation of AASB 1049 in 2008. Research limitations/implications - While the study focuses on the Australian general government sector environment, it has significant implications in highlighting the ambiguity in the government budget balance numbers presented and the monitoring and information asymmetry problems that can arise. Research findings have wider relevance internationally in highlighting issues arising with the public sector adoption of accrual accounting. Practical implications - The paper highlights the manner in which governments have been selective in the manner in which they present important budget aggregates. This has important practical and social implications, as the budget balance number is one of the most important measures used to evaluate a government's fiscal management and responsibility. Originality/value - The paper represents the first detailed examination of aspects of the effect of the transition to AASB 1049.

The documentary take

Interview on the ABC TV The Mix Episode 38

Does the poor quality of Australian health education documentation undermine the message? A review of documents informing pregnant women about alcohol

Background. The advice given to pregnant women about alcohol consumption during pregnancy is variable across countries and within countries.Aim. The aim of this study was to review the content and design of existing Australian health education documentation regarding alcohol consumption in pregnancy that is available to pregnant women. Methods. A documentary analysis was conducted. This involved the identification and collection of a range of health education documents, which were then systematically analysed. The thematic and symbolic elements of each document were compared and contrasted using a modified version of the DISCERN instrument. Findings. A total of 32 documents were retrieved via general and targeted internet searching. Documents varied considerably in their purpose, language levels, accessibility, and quality. The majority of documents scored as low to moderate quality. Implications. Although there are many and varied existing documents relating to alcohol consumption during pregnancy in Australia, these are not of high quality and could be substantially improved by including publication dates, using simple language, and providing sources of information. This may result in a more effective public health message and so help to reduce the number of pregnant women who continue to drink during pregnancy.