Reconsidering the scope of the equitable mortgage arising from deposit of title documents

This article examines the underlying fairness of applying equitable security presumptions to the deposit of title documents belonging to third parties. It argues that within such transactions, the focus of the equitable jurisdiction must be upon the intention of the owner of the title documents rather than presumptions arising from the fact of the deposit. It suggests that there is no logic in applying equitable presumptions, founded on the principles of part performance, to infer a security intention in transactions involving third party title documents. The fact that the parties to a loan advance may have intended to create a mortgage between themselves does not mean that the third party owner of the title documents also intended to create a mortgage. In third party transactions, the objectives of the equity jurisdiction are best achieved through a comprehensive assessment of the intention of all parties and the abolition of presumptions based upon the bare fact of title deposit.

"Sexually transmitted debts":the scope of defences to directors' liability for insolvent trading

The recent demise of prominent Australian corporations, such as GIO Australia Holdings Ltd, One.Tel Ltd, HIH Insurance Ltd and Ansett Australia Ltd, have highlighted the relevance of, inter alia, the Australian insolvent trading provisions embodied in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (formerly Corporations Law). What may not be appreciated, however, is that insolvent trading is not only concerned with large public companies. Many of the insolvent trading cases that come before the courts involve small proprietary companies. Moreover, in many cases these are small “family” companies where there may only be one active director. This gives rise to a difficult issue as to the appropriateness of imposing liability for insolvent trading on a spouse who is, factually, merely a dormant director. This article explores the issue of spousal liability for insolvent trading, particularly focusing on the scope of the current defences to insolvent
trading under s 588H.

What is 'political communication'? The rationale and scope of the implied freedom of political communication

The aim of this article is to identify what counts as ‘political communication’ for the purposes of the implied constitutional freedom of political communication. This is done for two reasons. The first is to delimit the scope of the implied freedom. The second is to clarify whether racial vilification is ‘political communication’, which is the initial step that must be taken in order to assess the constitutionality or otherwise of current Australian racial vilification laws. It is, however, necessary and desirable to establish a sound theoretical basis for the implied freedom before these questions can be properly considered. To this end, it is argued that a minimalist model of judicially-protected popular sovereignty underpins the implied freedom and is the rationale that must guide its interpretation and application. The analysis undertaken demonstrates that a generous zone of ‘political communication’ must attract constitutional protection and that racial vilification will in certain circumstances amount to ‘political communication’.

A trial of nurse practitioner scope of practice

Aims. The aim of this paper is to report a trial to investigate the feasibility of the nurse practitioner role in local health service delivery and to provide information about the educational and legislative requirements for nurse practitioner practice.

Background. Nurse practitioners have been shown to offer a beneficial service and fill a gap in health care provision. However, the lack of publications describing, critiquing, or defending the way that existing nurse practitioner roles have been developed may lead to a lack of clarity in comparing the nurse practitioner scope of practice internationally. In Australia, credible exploratory research is needed to realize the potential of nurse practitioners to bridge the divide of inequitable distribution of health services. A trial of nurse practitioner services in the Australian Capital Territory provided an excellent opportunity to investigate these scope and continuity issues.

Methods. This was an observational analytic study using multiple data sources. Four models of nurse practitioner service were chosen from a competitive field of applications that were evaluated according to efficacy, feasibility, and sustainability across specified selection criteria. Each model in the trial included a clinical support team, with the nurse practitioner candidate 'working-into-the-role' and collecting demographic, clinical practice, patient outcome, and health service and consumer survey data over a 10 month period.

Findings. The trial identified the broad potential of the nurse practitioner role, its breadth and limitations, and its impact on selected health services in the Australian Capital Territory. Data from individual models were compared highlighting generic elements, and formed the basis for the development of the scope of practice for the Australian Capital Territory nurse practitioner models.

Conclusions. This study has validated a research-based, iterative process for initial development of nurse practitioner scope of practice for any Australian specialization. Importantly, the study concluded with the scope of practice as a finding, rather than commencing with it a priori. Although general areas of health care need and under-servicing were identified at the outset, the process tested both the expansion and parameters of the roles.

Scope of practice in forensic nursing

1. There is significant role variation, across the Western world, in relation to how forensic nurses practice. 2. The authors conducted a pilot survey of forensic nurses in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom to examine forensic nursing practice, role definition, and role boundaries. 3. Issues arising from the data include the visibility of forensic nurses, the client group, forensic-specific education, and role development.

Defining the scope of practice of the emergency nurse practitioner role in a metropolitan emergency department

This study examined the emergency nurse practitioner candidate (ENPC) scope of practice in a Victorian emergency department (ED). The emergency nurse practitioner (ENP) role is relatively new in Victoria and the scope of the ENP(C) practice is yet to be defined. International research literature regarding the ENP role has focused on outcomes such as patient satisfaction, waiting times and/or ED length of stay, accuracy and adequacy of documentation, use of radiography, and patient education, health promotion and communication issues. A prospective exploratory design was used to conduct this cohort study. There were 476 ENPC-managed patients between 14 July 2004 and 31 March 2005 with an average age of 29 years. The majority (77.2%) of ENPC-managed patients were discharged from the ED. The majority of the ENPC time was devoted to clinical practice (55%) and development of clinical practice guidelines (25%). Of patients managed by the ENPC, 49.6% required medications, 51% required diagnostic imaging and 8.6% required pathology testing during their ED stay. The most common discharge referrals were made to local medical officers (73.5%) and the most common referrals made for patients requiring admission were made to the plastic surgery (37.3%) and orthopaedic (35.5%) units. Extensions to the current scope of emergency nursing practice are pivotal to effective management of specific patient groups by ENP. The ENP model of care is an important strategy for the management of increased service demands in Victoria; however, little is known about the scope of the ENPC practice and many outcomes of the ENP care are yet to be defined. Further research to better understand the relationships between ENP outcomes is required if the contribution that ENPs make to emergency care is to be accurately quantified.

A review of the scope of scientific studies relating indoor environment and student performance

In 2006-7 the Australian government will invest $9.3 billion in state government and nongovernment educational facilities (DEST 20061). One area of particular interest to both government and school designers is maximising this investment through providing students with healthy and
productive indoor learning environments. The lack of post-occupancy evaluations carried out in schools (Lackney 2001) means that designers are reliant on “best practice” indoor environment quality guidelines developed primarily from scientific studies. The problem with scientific evaluation is that often the complexity of the influences upon student performance is simplified in order to gather information, rather than necessarily providing a more holistic and realistic explanation of any improved outcomes. This paper examines the scope of various studies of classroom indoor environment qualities that have thus far contributed to current understanding of their impact on student learning outcomes. The review demonstrates the lack of comprehensive research into the full range of influences on student performance and offers a better understanding of the limitations of knowledge about indoor environment qualities. This information provides valuable input to research development and post-occupancy evaluation that can better integrate the full range of influences upon students of school facilities and test the assumptions made about “best practice”.

Nurses’ utilisation of complementary therapies : a pilot study exploring scope of practice

The increasing use of complementary therapies (CTs) by the public requires nurses to be fully informed about the use and safety of these modalities. In addition, nurses need to be aware of what constitutes complementary therapy practice, its overlap with nursing practice and how to respond appropriately to patients' requests for access to and information about CTs. A pilot study that aimed to describe nurses' knowledge about, and the use of CTs was conducted in four hospitals in southeast Queensland, Australia. One hundred and twenty-nine nurses (65% response rate) of varying levels of qualification and expertise completed a questionnaire. Over 80% of the participants indicated that they engaged in some form of complementary therapy (CT) activity. The entire sample worked in acute care hospitals but 5% engaged in CTs while employed in a second job. These nurses worked in either individual private practice or a multidisciplinary clinic setting. Only 2% of the sample had formal qualifications in a specific CT. Many nurses seemed unsure about what should be defined as a CT. The most common CTs engaged in by nurses were massage, music therapy and relaxation techniques but some nurses also participated in acupuncture, acupressure, hypnotherapy and osteopathy. Some nurses were confused about the difference between CT and usual nursing care. In addition, there were knowledge deficits relating to institutional policies and professional standards. Our findings suggest that nurses require more education about the scope of CT and how it differs from nursing practice. Nurses also require access to clear policies about the safe use of CTs in specific practice settings and about appropriate referral of clients to complementary therapists with accredited qualifications.

Scope of practice of occupational therapists working in Victorian community health settings

Background/aim: Current health policy places emphasis on community-based health care and it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of people receiving care in community settings. This study aimed to examine the profile and scope of practice of occupational therapists working in Victorian community health settings and the amount and type of health promotion activity incorporated into their role.
Method:  An anonymous postal questionnaire was sent to 205 community-based Victorian occupational therapists. One hundred and one (49.3% response rate) questionnaires were returned, with 72 respondents (35.1%) meeting study inclusion criteria. A descriptive research design was used to address study aims.
Results:  Results indicate that the majority of community health occupational therapists are experienced practitioners, have a varied scope of practice and report a high level of job satisfaction. Compared with previous studies, there is an increase in new graduate occupational therapists starting their career in community health settings, a greater number of part-time workers and a diversification of clinical and non-clinical roles. Barriers to practice that exist include high demand for service, limited funding and time spent on administrative tasks. Although health promotion was regarded as an important role of community health workers, a large number of therapists were not involved in this activity because of limited knowledge and clinical work taking priority.
Conclusion: Study findings have implications for occupational therapy training, and there is a clear need for input at policy level to address the significant resource allocation issues raised.

Engaging rural communities in health care through a paramedic expanded scope of practice

Introduction: This article explores how community engagement by paramedics in an expanded scope role contributes to both primary health care and to an overall improved emergency response capacity in rural communities. Understanding how expanded scope paramedics (ESP) can strengthen community healthcare collaborations is an important need in rural areas where low workforce numbers necessitate innovation.

Methods: Four examples of Australian rural ESP roles were studied in Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria to gather information on consistent elements that could inform a paramedic expanded scope model. Qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and organisational documents. Thematic analysis within and across cases found community engagement was a key element in the varied roles. This article relies heavily on data from the Victorian and Tasmanian case studies because community engagement was a particularly strong aspect of these cases.

Results: The ESP in the case studies increased interactions between ambulance services and rural communities with an overall benefit to health care through: increasing community response capacity; linking communities more closely to ambulance services; and increasing health promotion and illness prevention work at the community level. Leadership, management and communication skills are important for paramedics to successfully undertake expanded scope roles.

Conclusion: ESP in rural locations can improve health care beyond direct clinical skill by active community engagement that expands the capacity of other community members and strengthens links between services and communities. As health services look to gain maximum efficiency from the health workforce, understanding the intensification of effort that can be gained from practitioner and community coalitions provides important future directions.

The nature and scope of rights of removal

The rationale underlying the fixtures and accession presumptions is the need to protect the value of the chattel as well as the need to protect third-party interests. The destruction of the independent legal status of an attached chattel is generally deemed appropriate where the value of the co-mingled asset will be diminished if the chattel retains a separate legal title and this would generate unfairness because third parties have dealt with the co-mingled asset on the basis of its overall value. Rights to remove have evolved under both common law and equity to moderate the scope of these presumptions. Common law will uphold the right of a tenant to remove chattels that have been attached to leased premises during the currency of the lease. Equity on the other hand will uphold the right to remove affixed chattels in circumstances where the enforcement of such an entitlement is consistent with contractual intention and transactional fairness. This article examines the different rights of removal that have evolved under Australian law to date and the emergent statutory framework supporting these rights. It discusses the historical purpose and structural utility of these entitlements within a land framework that supports fixtures presumptions. Rights of removal, whether validated at law or in equity, confer positive entitlements upon the holder to access and remove affixed goods in circumstances where, because of the fixtures and accession presumptions, those goods no longer retain any separate legal status. The capacity of the holder to enforce this right against third parties is illustrative of their distinctive proprietary perspective.

A snapshot of the scope of obesity prevention practice in Australia.

Community-based initiatives (CBIs) that build capacity and promote healthy environments hold promise for preventing obesity and non-communicable disease, however their characteristics remain poorly understood and lessons are learned in isolation. This limits understanding of likely effectiveness of CBIs; the potential for actively supporting practice; and the translation of community-based knowledge into policy. Building on an initial survey (2010), an online survey was launched (2013) with the aim to describe the reach and characteristics of Australian CBIs and identify and evaluate elements known to contribute to best practice, effectiveness and sustainability. Responses from 104 CBIs were received in 2013. Geographic location generally reflected population density in Australia. Duration of CBIs was short-term (median 3 years; range 0.2-21.0 years), delivered mostly by health departments and local governments. Median annual funding had more than doubled since the 2010 survey, but average staffing had not increased. CBIs used at least two strategy types, with a preference for individual behaviour change strategies. Targeting children was less common (31%) compared with the 2010 survey (57%). Logic models and theory were used in planning, but there was low use of research evidence and existing prevention frameworks. Nearly, all CBIs had an evaluation component (12% of budget), but dissemination was limited. This survey provides information on the scope and varied quality of the current obesity prevention investment in Australia. To boost the quality and effectiveness of CBIs, further support systems may be required to ensure that organizations adopt upstream, evidence-informed approaches; and integrate CBIs into systems, policies and environments.