"To GAAR or not to GAAR-that is the question:" Canadian and Australian attempts to combat tax avoidance

In both Canada and Australia the relevant governments found their initial legislative attempts to combat tax avoidance to be ineffective. In time in each country it was concluded that the respective general avoidance provisions were of limited application and avoidance provisions were of limited application and ineffective to combat the sophisticated tax avoidance schemes promoted by tax advisers. In Canada it was determined that Income Tax Act, R.S.C 1985, s. 245(1) would be repealed and replaced with a general anti-avoidance rule ('GAAR') contained in a new s. 245 ITA. The Australian government similarly decided to replace Income Tax Assessment Act, Cth. 1936, s. 260 with a new general anti-avoidance measure, Part IVA ITAA. This article compares and contrasts the Canadian and Australian GAARs. Through the evaluation of each regime the article seeks to identify which model is most effective. It will be sen which model is most effective. It will be seen that both regimes have some features that are preferable to the other and thus both GAARs might be improved by incorporating aspects of the other anti-avoidance model.

2001 Volvo Award winner in clinical studies : effects of a media campaign on back pain beliefs and its potential influence on management of low back pain in general practice

Study Design. Quasi-experimental, nonrandomized, nonequivalent, parallel group-controlled study involving before and after telephone surveys of the general population and postal surveys of general practitioners was conducted, with an adjacent state used as a control group.


Objectives. To evaluate the effectiveness of a population-based intervention designed to alter beliefs about back pain, influence medical management, and reduce disability and workers’ compensation–related costs.


Summary of Background Data. A multimedia campaign begun during 1997 in Victoria, Australia, positively advised patients with back pain to stay active and exercise, not to rest for prolonged periods, and to remain at work.


Methods. The campaign’s impact on population beliefs about back pain and fear-avoidance beliefs was measured in telephone surveys, and the effect of the campaign on the potential management of low back pain by general practitioners was assessed by eliciting their likely approach to two hypothetical scenarios in mailed surveys. Demographically identical population groups in Victoria and the control state, New South Wales, were surveyed at three times: before, during, and after intervention in Victoria.


Results. The studies were completed by 4730 individuals in the general population and 2556 general practitioners. There were large statistically significant improvements in back pain beliefs over time in Victoria (mean scores on the Back Beliefs Questionnaire, 26.5, 28.4, and 29.7), but not in New South Wales (26.3, 26.2, and 26.3, respectively). Among those who reported back pain during the previous year, fear-avoidance beliefs about physical activity improved significantly in Victoria (mean scores on the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire for physical activity, 14, 12.5, and 11.6), but not in New South Wales (13.3, 13.6, and 12.7, respectively). General practitioners in Victoria reported significant improvements over time in beliefs about back pain management, as compared with their interstate colleagues. There were statistically significant interactions between state and time for 7 of 10 responses on management of acute low back pain, and for 6 of 10 responses on management of subacute low back pain.


Conclusion. A population-based strategy of providing positive messages about back pain improves the beliefs of the general population and general practitioners about back pain and appears to influence medical management.

Construction and regulation of “dangerous consumptions” : re-regulating state casino capitalism - an Australian regulatory case study

This paper explores insights into the regulatory state and state capitalism through the lens of how states construct and regulate markets in the area of ‘dangerous consumptions’, in particular, land-based casino gambling. It focuses on what is needed for public interest regulation; with a focus on consumer protection and harm prevention. Gambling constitutes a site of explicit state regulation as the state decides and negotiates license-to-operate conditions along with the degree of significance accorded to impact/harm, regulatory monitoring and enforcement, harm prevention and state/operator duty of care...

Do pain-related beliefs influence adherence to multidisciplinary rehabilitation? A systematic review

OBJECTIVES: To understand how pain-related cognitions predict and influence treatment retention and adherence during and after a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program.

METHODS: Electronic databases including Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Academic Search Complete, and Scopus were used to search three combinations of keywords: chronic pain, beliefs, and treatment adherence.

RESULTS: The search strategy yielded 591 results, with an additional 12 studies identified through reference screening. 81 full-text papers were assessed for eligibility and 10 papers met the inclusion and exclusion criteria for this review. The pain-related beliefs that have been measured in relation to treatment adherence include: pain-specific self-efficacy, perceived disability, catastrophizing, control beliefs, fear-avoidance beliefs, perceived benefits and barriers, as well as other less commonly measured beliefs. The most common pain-related belief investigated in relation to treatment adherence was pain-related self-efficacy. Findings for the pain-related beliefs investigated among the studies were mixed. Collectively, all of the aforementioned pain-related beliefs, excluding control beliefs, were found to influence treatment adherence behaviours.

DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that treatment adherence is determined by a combination of pain-related beliefs either supporting or inhibiting chronic pain patients' ability to adhere to treatment recommendations over time. In the studies reviewed, self-efficacy appears to be the most commonly researched predictor of treatment adherence, its effects also influencing other pain-related beliefs. More refined and standardised methodologies, consistent descriptions of pain-related beliefs and methods of measurement will improve our understanding of adherence behaviours.

The role of fear of self and responsibility in obsessional doubt processes: a bayesian hierarchical model

The literature concerning obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) indicates that obsessions frequently imply negative evaluative beliefs regarding the self. The construct of the feared self has been used to describe the set of harmful attributes an individual worries they may possess. This study aimed to partially replicate previous research that demonstrated a relationship between feared-self beliefs and obsessional doubt in OCD-relevant contexts. The relationship between perceptions of personal responsibility and associated levels of doubt was also examined. Nonclinical participants (N = 221; 155 female; Mage = 26.4, SD = 9.2) were presented with vignettes related to checking and non OCD-relevant themes, which quantified doubt through the presentation of alternating reality-based (i.e., sensory) and possibility-based information. Of the total sample, 112 participants were randomly allocated to a personally relevant condition (in which the action implied in the vignettes was completed by the reader), and 109 were allocated to a second, other-relevant, condition (in which the action implied in the vignettes was completed by a proximal other). The results provided support for reasoning processes implicated in OCD, suggesting that feared-self beliefs may partially contribute to heightened levels of doubt in response to possibility vs. reality-based information in OCD-relevant contexts. Personal relevance contributed to greater baseline levels of doubt, but not to greater responses to the reality- and possibility-based statements accompanying the OCD-relevant vignette. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.

The "HEALTH" model- part 1 : treatment program guidelines for complex PTSD

This paper outlines the development and piloting of the “HEALTH” model for treatment of Complex PTSD in clients who have experienced multiple traumas across childhood and adulthood - particularly child sexual abuse and sexual assault in adulthood. As a guideline-based treatment model, HEALTH outlines six stages of intervention: (1) having a supportive therapist; (2) ensuring personal safety; (3) assisting with daily functioning; (4) self-regulation - learning to manage core PTSD symptoms; (5) treating Complex PTSD symptoms; and, finally, (6) having patience and persistence to enable “ego strengthening”. Using a case study approach, we provide both qualitative and quantitative assessment data for the individuals in the study, all of whom displayed numerous pre-treatment symptoms of Complex PTSD. Such programs are different to standard PTSD treatment programs that focus predominantly on core PTSD symptoms of re-experiencing, avoidance and arousal. The results of this study provided support for the use of guideline-based treatment programs that cater specifically for the needs of those who have suffered long-term/multiple trauma experiences by targeting Complex PTSD symptoms.

Fear and loathing in public policy : ethical issues in laws for sex offenders

Laws intended to increase protection from sex offenders are often prompted by sensational crimes that provoke public outrage. As public policy, questions have been raised about the legality and effectiveness of these legislative initiatives as enacted in North America, Australasia and the UK since the early 1990s. Mental health professionals involved in the implementation of these laws are faced with ethical concerns that distinguish this area of forensic practice from other clinical roles. This article presents a brief description of the impetus for specific laws allowing for involuntary civil commitment, extended supervision and community notification of sex offenders in different jurisdictions. A model of human rights is then used to consider the ways in which these laws threaten the rights of offenders, and provides a framework for identifying ethical concerns inherent in professional practice in this area.

Expectancy model of disordered eating : a longitudinal study

This thesis proposes a new model of disordered eating and tests it using a longitudinal design. The Expectancy Model of Disordered Eating maintains that dieting and binge eating can best be explained as a predisposition towards avoidance coping which is triggered by outcome expectancies and negative affect or low self-esteem.

Pathways to female sexual offending : approach or avoidance?

This study forms the second part of a larger investigation into the offence process characteristics of female sexual offenders (FSOs). In the first part - documented in Gannon, Rose, and Ward (Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 20, 352-374, 2008) - we described the development of the Descriptive Model of Female Sexual Offending (DMFSO); an offence process model developed using Grounded Theory methodology to describe the sequence of cognitive, affective, behavioural and contextual factors generating female-perpetrated sexual abuse. The second study described here examines the prevalence of specific pathways characterizing the 22 FSOs originally used to develop the DMFSO. Four individuals could not be assigned to a pathway due to lack of information (18% of the overall sample). However, for the remaining 18 participants, three stable pathways to female sexual offending were identified: Explicit Approach offenders (50%, n=9), who intended to offend, and explicitly planned their offence behaviours accordingly; Directed Avoidant offenders (28%, n=5), who did not intend to offend, but did so under the direction and coercion of a male accomplice; and Implicit Disorganized offenders (22%, n=4), who did not intend to offend (i.e. they engaged in minimal planning), but offended impulsively following severe self-regulatory failure. In this paper, we present the core characteristics defining each pathway, their associated demographic features, and discuss potential treatment implications.

Ability of predator odour exposure to elicit conditioned versus sensitised post traumatic stress disorder-like behaviours, and forebrain ΔFosB expression, in rats

At present, exposure of a rodent to the odour of a predator is one of the most common animal models of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite this, the model remains incompletely characterized, particularly in regard to within subject assessment of major PTSD-like behaviours. In an attempt to redress this situation, we have extensively characterized the two broad categories of behaviour that are considered to characterize PTSD, that is sensitized behaviours such as social withdrawal and hypervigilance and conditioned behaviours such as avoidance of trauma linked cues. Specifically, we determined the presence and duration of both conditioned and sensitized behaviours, in the same cohort of animals, after three exposures to predator odour. Conditioned fear was assessed on the basis of inhibition of locomotor activity upon return to context 2, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after the last odour exposure session. To assess the impact on sensitization behaviours, we monitored acoustic startle responses and social interaction behaviour 4, 9, 16, 23, and 30 days after the last exposure session. In addition to examining the behavioural consequences associated with odour exposure, we also determined the key brain regions that were activated using ΔFosB immunohistochemistry. Our results show that the two groups of behaviours thought to characterize PTSD (conditioned and sensitized) do not travel together in the predator odour model, with clear evidence of enduring changes in conditioned fear but little evidence of changes in social interaction or acoustic startle. With regard to associated patterns of activity in the brain, we observed that odour-exposed animals exhibited significantly higher numbers of FosB-positive nuclei in only the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a finding that can be viewed as being consistent with the observed behavioural changes.

Fear of self, doubt and obsessive compulsive symptoms

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Following observations in the literature that obsessions often contain or imply negative evaluative information about the self, Aardema et al. (2013) recently developed a measure of feared-self relevant to OCD. The current study aimed to provide further examination of the relevance of such feared self-beliefs to obsessive compulsive processes - in particular whether they partially underlie doubt in OCD-relevant situations. METHOD: Nonclinical participants (N = 463; 291 females; Mage = 25.17, SD = 7.47), were presented with three vignettes, related to washing, checking and non-OCD relevant themes, which assessed doubt through providing alternating sensory and possibility-based information. RESULTS: Higher levels of OCD symptoms and feared-self beliefs both significantly predicted both higher baseline levels of doubt and greater fluctuation in levels of doubt in both the contamination and checking scenarios, and to a much lesser extent in the control scenario. Feared-self beliefs did not predict fluctuation in doubt over-and-above OCD symptoms, consistent with a mediation model. LIMITATIONS: The main limitation was the use of a non-clinical sample, although this allowed sufficient participant numbers to test hypotheses. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provided further experimental support for reasoning processes in OCD, and suggested that feared self-beliefs may make individuals vulnerable to experiencing doubt. Additionally, these results suggested that individuals with high OCD symptoms and those with high feared self-beliefs are unable to recognise the improbable nature of possibility-based statements. Implications for treatment and theory are discussed.

Fear and overprotection in Australian residential aged care facilities: the inadvertent impact of regulation on quality continence care

Aim: Most residents in residential aged care facilities are incontinent. This study explored how continence care was provided in residential aged care facilities, and describes a subset of data about staffs' beliefs and experiences of the quality framework and the funding model on residents' continence care.

Methods: Using grounded theory methodology, 18 residential aged care staff members were interviewed and 88 hours of field observations conducted in two facilities. Data were analysed using a combination of inductive and deductive analytic procedures.

Results: Staffs' beliefs and experiences about the requirements of the quality framework and the funding model fostered a climate of fear and risk adversity that had multiple unintended effects on residents' continence care, incentivising dependence on continence management, and equating effective continence care with effective pad use.

Conclusion: There is a need to rethink the quality of continence care and its measurement in Australian residential aged care facilities.