The eradication of compulsory retirement and age discrimination in the Australian workplace : A cause for celebration and concern

Earlier this year the Age Discrimination Act 2004 was passed by the Commonwealth government. This paper provides an overview of the Age Discrimination Act 2004 and critically examines whether it is likely to be successful in eradicating compulsory retirement and age discrimination within the workforce. Empirical studies suggesting that law reform alone is insufficient to eliminate ageist employer behaviour are discussed as is the need for public awareness campaigns. Given that compliance with the law is closely linked with normative belief, this paper also considers whether a moral duty to refrain from age discrimination can be grounded within the natural law ethic.

Institutional and structural forms of HIV-related discrimination in health care : a study set in Beijing

This paper presents key findings of a situational analysis of institutional and structural levels of HIV/AIDS-related discrimination in Beijing, China, with a focus on the area of health care. Initially slow to respond to the presence of HIV, China has altered its approach and enacted strict legislative protection for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). In order to determine whether this has altered discrimination against PLWHA, this study examined existing legislation and policy, and interviewed key informants working in health care and PLWHA. The overall findings revealed that discrimination in its many forms continued to occur in practice despite China's generally strong legislative protection, and it is the actual practice that is hindering PLWHAs' access to health services. A number of legislative and policy gaps that allow discrimination to occur in practice were also identified and discussed. The paper concludes with a call to rectify specific gaps between legislation, policy and practice. An understanding of the underlying factors that drive discrimination will also be necessary for effective strategic interventions to be developed and implemented.

Undoing men's privilege and advancing gender equality in public sector institutions

Discrimination against women in public sector organisations has been the focus of considerable research in recent years. While much of this literature acknowledges the structural basis of gender inequality, strategies for change are often focused on anti-discrimination policies, equal employment opportunities and diversity management. Discriminatory behaviour is often individualised in these interventions and the larger systems of dominance and subordination are ignored. The flipside of gender discrimination, we argue, is the privileging of men. The lack of critical interrogation of men's privilege allows men to reinforce their dominance. In this paper we offer an account of gender inequalities and injustices in public sector institutions in terms of privilege. The paper draws on critical scholarship on men and masculinities and an emergent scholarship on men's involvement in the gender relations of workplaces and organisations, to offer both a general account of privilege and an application of this framework to the arena of public sector institutions and workplaces in general.

Perceived discrimination in Mapuche discourse : contemporary racism in Chilean society

This paper documents the experiences of perceived discrimination by Mapuches, the largest aboriginal group in Chile, focusing on their oral discourse about the phenomenon. As part of a national research project, 100 Mapuches were interviewed about their perception of discrimination toward them. These interviews were analyzed using the four-level method developed by Merino, which is mainly based on local semantic strategies and argumentative sequences and topoi. The analysis suggests that racism is experienced in everyday interethnic interactions by means of four modes: verbal, behavioral, institutional and macro-social. Verbal racism includes name-calling (e.g. 'indio' [Indian]) and stereotyping (e.g. 'primitive'), and prejudiced remarks. Behavioral racism includes looking, ignoring, avoiding, segregating and denial of identity. In the institutional mode, denial of opportunities and discrimination in various public offices, private institutions and services are frequent, with perpetrators acting on behalf of the institution for which they work. The macro-social mode includes cultural dominance of the economic and educational systems, and an ethnocentric perspective of history. The findings suggest the presence of a racist ideology underlying Mapuche's discursive reproduction of the way Chileans talk and think about them and behave toward them.

Ethnic discrimination in private rental housing markets in Australia

Over the last two decades new and significant demographic, economic, social and environmental changes and challenges have shaped the production and consumption of housing in Australia and the policy settings that attempt to guide these processes. These changes and challenges, as outlined in this book, are many and varied. While these issues are new they raise timeless questions around affordability, access, density, quantity, type and location of housing needed in Australian towns and cities. The studies presented in this text also provide a unique insight into a range of housing production, consumption and policy issues that, while based in Australia, have implications that go beyond this national context. For instance how do suburban-based societies adjust to the realities of aging populations, anthropogenic climate change and the significant implications such change has for housing? How has policy been translated and assembled in specific national contexts? Similarly, what are the significantly different policy settings the production and consumption of housing in a post-Global Financial Crisis period require? Framed in this way this book accounts for and responds to some of the key housing issues of the 21st century.

Outsourcing and downsizing: Processes of workplace change in public health

Throughout the 1990s, public hospitals embarked on a range of benchmarking exercises for support services, often accompanied by downsizing and, in some cases, outsourcing. These support services included clinical areas such as, radiology, pharmacy and pathology, and nonclinical areas of catering and cleaning, engineering and environmental services. The impetus for this trend was the introduction of the Federal Governments National Competition Policy with its rationale that private sector pressures and competition would make the public sector more efficient.
Through a case study approach, this paper discusses this process at two public hospitals, the aim being to investigate the reasons for outsourcing, outsourcings interconnectedness with downsizing, and the implications at the workforce level. Workplace issues discussed include consultation between management, unions and employees, changes to employee numbers and work practices, maintenance of workplace conditions, implications for staff recruitment and retention, and the relative power of management and unions. It concludes that benchmarking, outsourcing and downsizing have all been used to bring about workplace change. Whilst the choice between processes may be dependent on management perception of the workplace environment, implications for the workplace from each process have been similar.

Changing vistas in public relations theory

Contemporary theorists are opening new ways to think about public relations. Public relations textbook authors have hitherto borrowed theories from the adjacent disciplines of communication, psychology, sociology, and organisation studies. At the end of the twentieth century, J. Grunig’s four-model concept of public relations was the only modern theoretical approach that could be said to have originated from within public relations scholarship. And as we will see, even J. Grunig’s perspective is rooted in political theory. But the 21st century’s burgeoning critical and professional interest in ethical public relations has produced a flurry of discipline-specific, theoretical initiatives.

Recruiting in public places : A strategy to increase diversity in qualitative research samples

For some research projects, recruiting in public places is an invaluable addition to sampling strategies. It complements the more traditional recruitment strategies by providing researchers with' opportunities to include people in the research who would otherwise be excluded. One of the limitations of selective and snowball sampling is that participants often come from the same social group. Participants from these social groups often share similar experiences and ways of thinking about those experiences. The aim of recruiting in public places is to move beyond this 'in group' to ensure a wider perspective. This paper illustrates how recruiting in public places can provide greater sample diversity for theoretical strength. The paper begins with a brief overview of recruiting in public places. It then describes the theoretical considerations associated with this recruiting strategy. The paper demonstrates how recruiting in public places facilitates grounded theory by providing comparisons that are informed by diverse experiences. Using examples and a case study, we illustrate how recruiting in public places can complement selective, snowball and theoretical sampling to ensure a more comprehensive sample.

Twisting the knife: discrimination in the law

Of the many different variations that can occur in human sexual formation, transsexualism no doubt remains the least understood by the wider Australian community. As a consequence, the process of attaining human rights to legal status, privacy, dignity and freedom from discrimination for those who experience this unusual condition has been a slow and sometimes frustrating one. The article seeks to introduce the reader to some of the more recent developments in the international jurisprudence of transsexualism and the underlying medical evidence that has supported them. It also offers criticism of the belated attempt by the State of Victoria,  with the Births, Deaths & Marriages Registration (Amendment) Act 2004, to establish certain statutory rights in this regard. While the legislation was enacted with the stated and very laudable purpose of providing for the  correction of birth records on the Register of Births of those people with transsexualism who have altered their phenotypic sex by hormonal  medication and surgery, the article argues it has also served to remove other equally important rights already won and proposes that a final remedy will only be found, as on previous occasions, in the courts.

Allegations of unlawful discrimination in education: parents taking their fight for Auslan to the courts

This paper examines the use of the Disability Discrimination Act (Commonwealth of Australia, 1992) by parents seeking access for their deaf children to native sign language in the classroom. It reviews a number of cases in which Australian parents have claimed indirect discrimination by educational authorities over their children's lack of access to instruction through Australian Sign Language (Auslan) and discusses the outcomes of such litigation. The policies endorsed by deafness organizations are contrasted with those of state educational authorities. The author discusses the limitations of a complaints-based system to address systemic discrimination and suggests the need for legislation to protect the linguistic rights of deaf children.

Designing contemporary learning environments for excellence in public relations

Universities are striving to enhance the quality of the educational experience in the professions in response to external and internal pressures. The professional field of public relations (PR) is not immune to these forces. Previously, enhancements were often pursued through particular initiatives relating to curriculum, pedagogical or assessment redesign at the unit level. While such initiatives are valuable we argue for a strategic, integrated, programmatic approach. This requires the design of learning environments, with integrated virtual and physical dimensions, based on a relevant and meaningful curriculum, and student-centred approaches to learning. These learning environments enable quality learning in fields like public relations with diverse student cohorts studying on- and off-campus. The challenges involved in designing what we term ‘contemporary learning environments’ are illuminated through a case study of Deakin University’s Public Relations Program. Over the last three years redesigning PR online has led to changed curriculum, and pedagogical and assessment practices. We conclude by suggesting that a commitment to continuous quality improvement will be required to ensure the program’s learning environment remains relevant to the needs of students studying in the field.

Misuse of the term 'stakeholder' in public relations

This article queries the relatively recent adoption of the term 'stakeholder', borrowed from the UK political and the US business management spheres, in public relations academic writing. The article concludes that these spheres use the term in a normative or ideological manner that has worrying implications. The term frames people as having a pre-existing relationship with the governments or business organisations which name them as such. This process of incorporation prejudges and potentially obscures the real relations of groups of people vis-à-vis governments and business organisations which they may wish to have nothing to do with. An argument is mounted for the defence of the term 'publics'. It is pointed out that a key originator of stakeholder theory opposes the notion of 'publics' as closer to a notion of an uncontrolled audience. The article argues that the notion of 'publics' is more fitting than the notion of 'stakeholders' if public relations is about acknowledging this uncontrollability, and to do with advising organisations about their positioning in the democratic milieu. On the other hand, the notion 'stakeholders' may be the right one if public relations is simply aimed at immediately shaping people's behaviour, irrespective of longer term and wider political implications.

The role and theoretical evolution of knowledge translation and exchange in public health

Background There is an increased emphasis in public health research on effective models and strategies to support knowledge translation (KT), the exchange, synthesis and ethically sound application of research findings within a complex set of interactions among researchers and knowledge users. In other words, KT can be seen as an acceleration of the knowledge cycle—an acceleration of the natural transformation of knowledge into use (Canadian Institutes of Health Services Research. Knowledge Translation Strategy, 2004). The most recent conceptualizations consider the complexities of public health decision-making. The role of practitioners and communities is increasingly considered.

Methods We identify, describe and discuss the theoretical underpinnings of KT and recommend a way forward to build the evidence for more effective practice.

Results Theoretical perspectives increasingly influence research on KT in public health. A range of innovative work is being conducted to explore methods for KT using practical tools, often with the support of government.

Conclusions KT describes a crucial and to date under-developed element of the research process. There is an important gap in theoretically informed empirical studies of effectiveness of proposed approaches in public health, health promotion and preventive medicine, and thus much of the debate remains abstract. There is clearly an urgent policy need to establish the effectiveness of KT models in a range of contexts. This must include both the consideration of development and the utilization of knowledge.

The employment effects of gender discrimination in Australia 1994-95

Interpreting the unexplained component of the gender wage gap as indicative of discrimination, the empirical literature to date has tended to ignore the potential impact wage discrimination may have on employment. Clearly, employment effects will arise if discrimination lowers the female offered wage and the labour supply curve is upward sloping. The empirical analysis employs the ABS Income Distribution Survey 1994–95 and finds evidence of both wage and associated employment effects. The analysis is replicated for the earlier period 1989–90. A comparison across time is of interest given the substantial deregulation of the Australian labour market over the period.