Australian sentencing : principles and practice

Australian Sentencing: Principles and Practice explains the rules, principles, policies and practices that underpin the manner in which people are punished for criminal behaviour in Australia. As well as dealing with sentencing law today, the book provides an extensive analysis of the wider policy, moral, and political consideration which shape sentencing law. It analyses and evaluates existing standards and practices, and suggests how sentencing law should be reformed so that it operates in a fairer, more efficient and effective manner.

Content: Part A: 1. The nature of sentencing and theories of punishment; 2. Plucking figures from the air: the instinctive synthesis; 3. The objectives that are attainable through sentencing; 4. High Court sentencing jurisprudence; Part B: 5. The principle of proportionality; 6. Aggravating factors; 7. Mitigating considerations; 8. The relevance of a guilty plea to sentence; 9. The relevance of prior criminality; 10. Aboriginality; Part C: 11. The nature of criminal sanctions; 12. Imprisonment; 13. Intermediate sanctions; 14. Discharges and bonds, fines and disqualifications; Part D: 15. The way forward ? strategic sentencing.

Patient engagement and coaching for health: the PEACH study- a cluster randomised controlled trial using the telephone to coach people with type 2 diabetes to engage with their GPs to improve diabetes care: a study protocol.

Background
The PEACH study is based on an innovative 'telephone coaching' program that has been used effectively in a post cardiac event trial. This intervention will be tested in a General Practice setting in a pragmatic trial using existing Practice Nurses (PN) as coaches for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Actual clinical care often fails to achieve standards, that are based on evidence that self-management interventions (educational and psychological) and intensive pharmacotherapy improve diabetes control. Telephone coaching in our study focuses on both. This paper describes our study protocol, which aims to test whether goal focused telephone coaching in T2D can improve diabetes control and reduce the treatment gap between guideline based standards and actual clinical practice.
Methods/design
In a cluster randomised controlled trial, general practices employing Practice Nurses (PNs) are randomly allocated to an intervention or control group. We aim to recruit 546 patients with poorly controlled T2D (HbA1c >7.5%) from 42 General Practices that employ PNs in Melbourne, Australia. PNs from General Practices allocated to the intervention group will be trained in diabetes telephone coaching focusing on biochemical targets addressing both patient self-management and engaging patients to work with their General Practitioners (GPs) to intensify pharmacological treatment according to the study clinical protocol. Patients of intervention group practices will receive 8 telephone coaching sessions and one face-to-face coaching session from existing PNs over 18 months plus usual care and outcomes will be compared to the control group, who will only receive only usual care from their GPs. The primary outcome is HbA1c levels and secondary outcomes include cardiovascular disease risk factors, behavioral risk factors and process of care measures.
Discussion
Understanding how to achieve comprehensive treatment of T2D in a General Practice setting is the focus of the PEACH study. This study explores the potential role for PNs to help reduce the treatment and outcomes gap in people with T2D by using telephone coaching. The intervention, if found to be effective, has potential to be sustained and embedded within real world General Practice.

The need for best practice standards in electronic governance of patient medical records to facilitate innovation

Background : Optimising the use of electronic data offers many opportunities to health services, particularly in rural and remote areas. These include reducing the effect of distance on access to clinical information and sharing information where there are multiple service providers for a single patient. The increasing compilation of large electronic databases of patient information and the ease with which electronic information can be transferred has raised concerns about the privacy and confidentiality of such records.
Aims & rationale/Objectives : This review aims to identify legal and ethical standards for areas of electronic governance where a lack of clarity may currently impede innovation in health service delivery.
Methods : This paper describes best practices for storage and transfer of electronic patient data based on an examination of Australian legislative requirements and a review of a number of current models. This will firstly allow us to identify basic legal requirements of electronic governance as well as areas of ambiguity not fully addressed by legislation. An examination of current models will suggest recommendations for best practice in areas lacking sufficient legal guidance.
Principal findings : We have identified the following four areas of importance, and shall discuss relevant details:
1) Patients' right of ownership to electronic patient records. 2) Custodial issues with data stored in centralised health care institutions 3) IT Security, including hierarchical level access, data encryption, data transfer standards and physical security 4) Software applications usage.
Discussion : Our examination of several models of best practice for the transfer of electronic patient data, both in Australia and internationally, identifies and clarifies many unresolved issues of electronic governance. This paper will also inform future policy in this area.
Implications : Clarification will facilitate the future development of beneficial technology-based innovations by rural health services.
Presentation type : Poster

Teachers' professional ethics and student relationships : how do these connect?

Formal statements about 'professional ethics' for teachers have become part of the current standards and accountability regime. Such codes of conduct serve many purposes: to define acceptable principles of personal and professional relationships; as a set of protocols by which teachers' conduct may be judged both within and outside the profession; as a political exercise to reassure the wider community of the high expectations held by the teaching profession; and importantly, to provide teachers with a guide in their interactions with students. While relationships with students, particularly those that will enhance learning outcomes, are cited often in teachers' codes of professional ethics, how teachers make ethical decisions concerning students is far less studied and understood. What frames of reference are available to ensure that decisions are (and are seen to be) right, fair and just? How might such ethical frameworks be examined?

Critical assessment of various techniques for the extraction of carotenoids and co-enzyme Q10 from the Thraustochytrid strain ONC-T18

A variety of techniques for extracting carotenoids from the marine Thraustochytrium sp. ONC-T18 was compared. Specifically, the organic solvents acetone, ethyl acetate, and petroleum ether were tested, along with direct and indirect ultrasonic assisted extraction (probe vs bath) methods. Techniques that used petroleum ether/acetone/water (15:75:10, v/v/v) with 3 h of agitation, or 5 min in an ultrasonic bath, produced the highest extraction yields of total carotenoids (29−30.5 μg g^-1). Concentrations up to 11.5 μg g^-1 of canthaxanthin and 17.5 μg g^-1 of β-carotene were detected in extracts stored for 6 weeks. Astaxanthin and echinenone were also detected as minor compounds. Extracts with and without antioxidants showed similar carotenoid concentration profiles. However, total carotenoid concentrations were approximately 8% higher when antioxidants were used. Finally, an easy-to-perform and inexpensive method to detect co-enzymes in ONC-T18 was also developed using silica gel TLC plates. Five percent methanol in toluene as a mobile phase consistently eluted co-enzyme Q10 standards and could separate the co-enzyme fractions present in ONC-T18.

Professional standards for teachers : a case study of professional learning

This paper analyses the current Australian policy and research context in relation to developing quality teachers. Like other countries, many educational authorities in Australia are developing professional standards for teachers and the evaluation of teachers against those standards as a
mechanism for ensuring and extending the quality of teaching in schools. A key policy consideration involves the use of professional standards as tools for extending professional learning and/or for credentialing and appraisal. This paper considers these uses of standards by drawing on an evaluation of Education Queensland’s Professional Standards for Teachers pilot.
The pilot focused on using a set of standards as a framework for professional learning. Teachers’ perspectives on the standards and their intended use, their engagement with the standards during the pilot and the nature of professional learning associated with that engagement are discussed in light of current policy debates about professional standards.

Levy grant training scheme evolution : focus on Fiji and Singapore

This thesis examines the evolution of national training policy in Fiji since 1973 with a particular emphasis on the national levy-grant scheme that was introduced in Fiji in that same year. Developments in the Fiji National Training Council (FNTC) levy-grants scheme since its inception, including substantive amendments to the legislation in late 2002, form part of the scholarship. The thesis will provide an analytical narration of the training policy objectives and their transformation over a time span of almost three decades in the context of a small island nation. To inform this study, it was considered essential to compare the Fiji experience of levy grants schemes with other levy grants scheme. The author decided to use as the focal comparative benchmark the case of the Skills Development Fund (SDF) in Singapore. The SDF has been increasingly portrayed, by the World Bank, the International Labour Organisation and other influential agencies, as the best practice case when it comes to managing a training levy grants scheme. The thesis adopted a qualitative approach that utilized elements of case study, historical research, and key person interviews. The challenges of doing 'insider* research were explored because of its pertinence to the study. Because the study also involved the comparison of the policy experiences of two distinct countries, it was imperative to consider the issues and challenges of undertaking comparative research with particular reference to training matters- Given that training is often enmeshed with other human resources management issues, cognisance was taken of some of the broader debates in this regard. Following consideration of the methodological issues, the research paper explores the objectives of national training strategies and, in particular, issues relating to national competitiveness and skills development. The purpose is to situate the issue of training and skills development within the broader discourse of national development. Alternative approaches to the strategic role of training are considered both at the national and organisational level and some of the classic and current debates surrounding human capital investment are visited. The thesis then proceeds to examine the forms of, and rationale for government interventions in the area of training. One of the challenges both in practice and theoretically is to arrive at a consensual definition of training because of the constantly evolving context and boundaries in which training policies are fashioned. This provides the setting to examine the role that governments can and do play in skills development and how levy-grant schemes, in particular, contribute to the process. Three forms of levy grants schemes are identified and examined: levy-generating; levy-exemption; and levy-grant and reimbursement schemes. The levy-grant and reimbursement variant is the basic thrust of this thesis. In this regard, the UK experience with the levy-grant system from 1964 to 1981 is also reviewed. Some of the issues in relation to training levies are scrutinized including the levy as a sheltered source of training finance, levy rates, duration of levy, impact of levy on the quality and quantity of training, benefits to small businesses, links between training and strategic business objectives, repackaging of training to qualify for grants, and the process by which training levy policies are devised. In looking at the policy formulation, it was necessary to unpack the processes involved and explore the role of the state further. In relation to policy development and implementation, the consultation processes, role of bureaucrats, the policy context, and approaches to policy transfer are examined. In looking at the role of the state in policy development, the alternative roles of government are explored and the concepts of the 'developmental state' and the 'corporatist state* evaluated. The notion of the developmental state has particular relevance to this study given the emphasis placed by the Singaporean government on human resource development policies. This sets the scene for a detailed examination of the role of levy-grant training schemes in Fiji and Singapore. The Skills Development Fund in Singapore was developed as an integral component of national economic policy when the Singaporean government decided to break out of the 'low-skills' trap and move the economy towards a higher value adding structure. The levy-grant system was designed to complement the strategy by focusing on upgrading the skills of employees on lower incomes, the assumption being that employees on lower remuneration were more likely to need skills upgrading. The study notes that the early objectives of the SDF were displaced when it was revealed that the bulk of SDF expenditure was directed at higher level supervisory and management training. As a result, the SDF had to refocus its activities on small and medium enterprises and the workers who were likely to miss out on formal training opportunities. The Singaporean context also shows trade unions playing a significant role in worker education and literacy programmes financed under the SDF. To understand this requires some understanding of the historical linkages between the present Singaporean government and trade union leadership. Another aspect of the development of the SDF has been the constant shifting of the institutional responsibility for the scheme. As late as September 2003, the SDF was again moved, this time to the newly created Singapore Workforce Development Agency, with the focus turning to lifelong learning and assisting Singaporeans who are unemployed or made redundant as a result of the economic restructuring. The Fiji experience with the FNTC scheme is different. It evolved in the context of perceived skills shortages but there was a degree of ambiguity over its objectives. There were no specific linkages with economic policy. Relationships with other public training institutions and more recently, private training providers, have been fraught with difficulties. The study examines the origins of the policy, the early difficulties including perceived employer grievances, and the numerous external assessments of the Fiji levy-grant scheme noting that some of them were highly critical. The thesis also examines an attempted reform of the scheme in 1992-93 that proved unsuccessful and the more recent legislative reforms to the scheme in 2002 that have expanded the role of the scheme to encompass, inter alia, national occupational standards and accreditation activities. The thesis concludes by comparing the two schemes noting that the SDF is well entrenched as a policy instrument in Singapore whilst the FNTC is facing a struggle to assert its legitimacy in Fiji.

Editorial : the construction of academic literacy and difference

In recent years, academic literacy has been a subject of heated scholarly and political debates. How academic literacy is defined, whom it serves, and what its purposes are shape both educational policies and the pedagogical practices adopted in classrooms. Any definition of academic literacy, its purposes and its learners also constructs powerful notions of difference. For instance, many traditional definitions of academic literacy posit “out of school” literacy (or literacies) as its opposite; current literacy standards and performance measures create categories of students as able or struggling; and so on. At a time when English classrooms around the world are becoming more multicultural, multilingual and international, how might understandings of academic literacy respond to cultural, linguistic, gender, economic, (dis)ability and other differences? How can literacy be taught to difference without reducing it to sameness? Framing the curriculum around dominant cultural literacy and establishing communal homogeneity, whilst de-legitimizing the Other and announcing ever-new strangers, is not feasible in a new multilingual, multiculural order. There is an increasing need to resist conservative tendencies and to continue a socially critical model of literacy education that is more response-able to the lives of strangers and other forms of difference in a late-modern, globalized society at the same time that it provides opportunities for all students to expand their communicative repertoires and to gain agency in the “design of their social futures” (New London Group, 2000). Articles in this issue respond in different ways to this agenda.

The future of facilities management : educators and professional bodies working together

Facilities management programmes in Australia suffer from poor recruitment levels. This is in strong contrast to nearby Asian countries such as Hong Kong and Singapore where facilities management is a well-respected profession and programmes recruit in the 100’s. Facilities management seems to be more regarded as purely a technical or even a janitorial job by potential students rather than a profession that offers scope for the development and exercise of high level skills in Australia. The word “management” seems to be ignored in the minds of the general public, despite the aspirations of practitioners and researchers to reach board-level influence. Facilities management is not the only one of the built-environment professions being viewed in this way. A number of professional bodies have difficulty recruiting fresh graduates into their ranks in Australia and research suggests that low recruitment levels will lead to a moribund profession with the potential for being downgraded to quasi or para-professional status. This paper would like to stimulate debate about the future of construction professions generally, how to encourage quality graduate entrants and educate employers about the need, indeed the necessity, for requiring professional qualifications in addition to graduate or post-graduate education to ensure the highest standards and continuing development of skills and knowledge.

Explaining ourselves (to ourselves) : english teachers, professional identity and change

This article discusses the professional identity of English teachers. It draws on discussions held at the International Federation for the Teaching of English conference. Issues addressed include professional standards formulated by teachers of English in the United States: the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and, in Australia: the Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australian (STELLA); the way in which the professional identities of teachers are crucially bound up with their disciplinary fields; and the need for English teachers to confront the conditions of their work.

Pre-cursors to physical employment standards for rural tanker-based bushfire suppression work

This thesis quantified the physical demands of Australian rural bushfire suppression and developed a controlled bushfire simulation suitable for ongoing bushfire research. The findings of this thesis will be used to develop physical employment standards and OH&S strategies to protect the 200,000 volunteer firefighters Australia wide.

Regulatory theory insights into the past, present and future of general purpose water accounting standard setting

Purpose – Accounting and water industry experts are developing general-purpose water accounting (GPWA) to report information about water and rights to water. The system has the potential to affect water policies, pricing and management, and investment and other decisions that are affected by GPWA report users' understanding of water risks faced by an entity. It may also affect financial returns to accounting and auditing firms and firms in water industries. In this paper the authors aim to examine the roles of the accounting profession, water industries and other stakeholders in governing GPWA. Recognising that the fate of GPWA depends partly upon regulatory power and economics, they seek to apply regulatory theories that explain financial accounting standards development to speculate about the national and international future of GPWA.

Design/methodology/approach – Official documents, internal Water Accounting Standards Board documents and unstructured interviews underpin the authors' analysis.

Findings – The authors speculate about the benefits that might accrue to various stakeholder groups from capturing the GPWA standard-setting process. They also suggest that internationally, water industries may dominate early GPWA standards development in the public interest and that regulatory capture by accounting or water industry professionals will not necessarily conflict with public interest benefits.

Practical implications – Accounting for water can affect allocations of environmental, economic, social and other resources; also, accounting and water industry professional standing and revenues. In this paper the authors identify factors influencing GPWA standards and standard-setting institutional arrangements, and thereby these resource allocations. The paper generates an awareness of GPWA's emergence and practical implications.

Originality/value – This is an early study to investigate water accounting standard-setting regulatory influences and their impact.

Measurement and analysis of pavement marking retroreflectivity

Retroreflective pavement markings enhance road safety by increasing visibility of roadway delineation for road users. In most countries, authorities responsible for road safety do not have performance intervention criteria and standards, and rely on fixed-time interval maintenance programs. This practice is undergoing change via the introduction of mobile retroreflectivity recording units. The focus of this study is to investigate the use of standard mobile retroreflectivity recording units and to analyse the observed retroreflectivity data to evaluate the state of pavement markings under investigation. The centreline pavement marking retrorefl/ectivity data collected by Queensland Department of Main Roads using the ECODYN mobile retroreflectivity recording unit are analysed to determine how the factors such as pavement surface type and traffic environment relate to retroreflectivity performance. It has been found that the mobile retroreflectivity recording unit with in-built processing capabilities can be implemented for identifying the requirements of maintenance programs, as well as to relate the observed retroreflectivity with other factors such as pavement surface type and traffic environment. The observed data indicated that there is a disparity between urban and rural roads of southeast Queensland in terms of centreline pavement marking retroreflectivity qualities. Asphalt surfaces, common in urban environments, were found to have average retroreflectivity over 200 mcd/m2/lux, whereas sprayed seal surfaces, common in rural environments, averaged below 170 mcd/m2/lux. About one-third of the roads used in the analysis fell below the generally accepted minimum threshold of 150 mcd/m2/lux at the time of observation.