Communication Interception Technology (CIT) and its use in the fight against Transnational Organised Crime (TOC) in Australia : a review of the literature

In recent times, technology has advanced in such a manner that the world can now communicate in means previously never thought possible. Transnational organised crime groups, who have exploited these new technologies as basis for their criminal success, however, have not overlooked this development, growth and globalisation. Law enforcement agencies have been confronted with an unremitting challenge as they endeavour to intercept, monitor and analyse these communications as a means of disrupting the activities of criminal enterprises. The challenge lies in the ability to recognise and change tactics to match an increasingly sophisticated adversary. The use of communication interception technology, such as phone taps or email interception, is a tactic that when used appropriately has the potential to cause serious disruption to criminal enterprises. Despite the research that exists on CIT and TOC, these two bodies of knowledge rarely intersect. This paper builds on current literature, drawing them together to provide a clearer picture of the use of CIT in an enforcement and intelligence capacity. It provides a review of the literature pertaining to TOC, the structure of criminal enterprises and the vulnerability of communication used by these crime groups. Identifying the current contemporary models of policing it reviews intelligence-led policing as the emerging framework for modern policing. Finally, it assesses the literature concerning CIT, its uses within Australia and the limitations and arguments that exist. In doing so, this paper provides practitioners with a clearer picture of the use, barriers and benefits of using CIT in the fight against TOC. It helps to bridge the current gaps in modern policing theory and offers a perspective that can help drive future research.

Transnational Whiteness Matters

"The collection contributes to transnational whiteness debates through theoretically informed readings of historical and contemporary texts by established and emerging scholars in the field of critical whiteness studies. From a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, the book traces continuity and change in the cultural production of white virtue within texts, from the proud colonial moment through to neoliberalism and the global war on terror in the twenty-first century. Read together, these chapters convey a complex understanding of how transnational whiteness travels and manifests itself within different political and cultural contexts. Some chapters address political, legal and constitutional aspects of whiteness while others explore media representations and popular cultural texts and practices. The book also contains valuable historical studies documenting how whiteness is insinuated within the texts produced, circulated and reproduced in specific cultural and national locations."--Google eBook

Vote with your feet : hyperlocal public polling for urban screens

Technological advances have led to an ongoing spread of public displays in urban areas. However, they still mostly show passive content such as commercials and digital signage. Researchers took notice of their potential to spark situated civic discourse in public space and have begun working on interactive public display applications. Attracting people’s attention and providing a low barrier for user participation have been identified as major challenges in their design. This thesis presents Vote With Your Feet, a hyperlocal public polling tool for urban screens allowing users to express their opinions. Similar to vox populi interviews on TV or polls on news websites, the tool is meant to reflect the mindset of the community on topics such as current affairs, cultural identity and local matters. It shows one Yes/No question at a time and enables users to vote by stepping on one of two tangible buttons on the ground. This user interface was introduced to attract people’s attention and to lower participation barriers. Vote With Your Feet was informed by a user-centred design approach that included a focus group, expert interviews and extensive preliminary user studies in the wild. Deployed at a bus stop, Vote With Your Feet was evaluated in a field study over the course of several days. Observations of people and interviews with 30 participants revealed that the novel interaction technology was perceived as inviting and that Vote With Your Feet can spark discussions among co-located people.

Joseph Maiden and the national and transnational circulation of Wattle Acacia spp

During the nineteenth century and in the early years of the twentieth century wattle was circulated by botanists, botanical institutions, interested individuals, commercial seedsmen and government authorities. Wattle bark was used in the production of leather and was the subject of debate regarding its commercial development and conservation in Australia. It was also trialled in many other locations including America, New Zealand, Hawaii and Russia. In the process, South Africa became a major producer of wattle bark for a global market. At the same time wattle was also promoted as a symbol of Australian nationalism. This paper considers this movement of wattles, wattle material and wattle information by examining the career of one active agent in these botanical transfers: Joseph Maiden. In doing so it demonstrates that these seemingly different uses of the wattle overlap transnational and national spheres.

Prickly pear land : transnational networks in settler Australia

The story of prickly pear in Australia is usually told as a tale of triumphant scientific intervention into an environmental disaster. Instead, this unarticle considers it as a transnational network in order to better understand the myriad of elements that made this event so important. Through this methodology emerges the complex nature of prickly pear land that included people, places, ideas, rhetoric and objects that traveled from all over the world into settler Australia.

What further benefit, if any, might Australia get from the ALI-III Transnational Insolvency: Global Principles for Cooperation in International Insolvency Cases?

In 2006, the American Law Institute (ALI) and the International Insolvency Institute (III) established a Transnational Insolvency Project and appointed Professor Ian Fletcher (United Kingdom) and Professor Bob Wessels (Netherlands) as Joint Reporters. The objective was to investigate whether the essential provisions of the ALI Principles of Cooperation among the NAFTA Countries (ALI-NAFTA Principles) and the annexed Guidelines Applicable to Court-to-Court Communication in Cross-border Cases (ALI-NAFTA Guidelines) may, with certain necessary modifications, be acceptable for use by jurisdictions across the world. In 2012, Professor Fletcher and Professor Wessels presented the report Transnational Insolvency: Global Principles for Cooperation in International Insolvency Cases (“ALI-III Report”) to the Annual Meetings of the American Law Institute and the International Insolvency Institute. In 2013, the Australian Academy of Law (AAL) provided support to the authors to undertake research on the possible benefits for Australia of courts and insolvency administrators of referring to the ALI-III Report when addressing international insolvency cases. This AAL project was at the request of the Council of Chief Justices of Australia and New Zealand. This research Report compares the Global Principles for Cooperation in International Insolvency Cases with the Cross-border Insolvency Act 2008 and the UNCITRAL Model Law as it has been adopted and has force of law in Australia. Further, it examines the Global Guidelines for Court-to-Court Communications in International Insolvency Cases in light of Australian cross-border insolvency and procedural law. Finally, it makes brief reference to and commentary on the Global Rules on Conflict–of-Laws Matters in International Insolvency Cases annexed to the ALI-III Report from the perspective of Australian choice of law rules.

Vote with your feet : local community polling on urban screens

Falling prices have led to an ongoing spread of public displays in urban areas. Still, they mostly show passive content such as commercials and digital signage. At the same time, technological advances have enabled the creation of interactive displays potentially increasing their attractiveness for the audience, e.g. through providing a platform for civic discourse. This poses considerable challenges, since displays need to communicate the opportunity to engage, motivate the audience to do so, and be easy to use. In this paper we present Vote With Your Feet, a hyperlocal public polling tool for urban screens allowing users to express their opinions. Similar to vox populi interviews on TV or polls on news websites, the tool is meant to reflect the mindset of the community on topics such as current affairs, cultural identity and local matters. It is novel in that it focuses on a situated civic discourse and provides a tangible user interface, tackling the mentioned challenges. It shows one Yes/No question at a time and enables users to vote by stepping on one of two tangible buttons on the ground. This user interface was introduced to attract people’s attention and to lower participation barriers. Our field study showed that Vote With Your Feet is perceived as inviting and that it can spark discussions among co-located people.

Strategic intelligence in law enforcement : anticipating transnational organised crime

This thesis is an explorative study of four national level law enforcement agencies' applications of strategic intelligence against transnational organised crime. The thesis develops a hybrid conceptual model for strategic intelligence in law enforcement, which explains how strategic intelligence influences police management. Dr Coyne explored case studies of strategic intelligence in the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, Serious and Organised Crime Agency United Kingdom, Australian Crime Commission and the Australian Federal Police. The research provides an understanding of the impact of strategic intelligence across strategic responses to transnational organised crime and the implications this has for police management and intelligence theory.

Transnational distance education : cultural and quality considerations

There have now been two decades of rhetoric on the need for culturally and contextually appropriate perspectives in international education. However, the extent to which courses, provision and pedagogy have truly reflected differences in cultural characteristics and learning preferences is still open to question. Little attention has been paid to these matters in quality assurance frameworks. This chapter discusses these issues and draws upon Hofstede’s cultural dimensions framework and studies into Asian pedagogy and uses of educational technology. It proposes a benchmark and performance indicators for assuring cultural, contextual, educational and technological appropriateness in the provision of transnational distance education in Asia by Australian universities.

Knowledge Transfer in Transnational Programmes : Opportunities and Challenges for the Pacific Region

The globalised world: The current higher education community The last decade has seen rapid changes in the landscape of higher education (HE) throughout the world, largely as a product of globalisation. A major effect has been to propel the interconnectedness between nations and people across the globe (Scholte, 2005). The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has diminished the distance between countries. The world’s economies are becoming more integrated and interrelated through neoliberal economic policies, free trade agreements and open access of goods and services beyond national borders, policies promulgated by organisations such as the World Trade Organization and The World Bank (Marginson & Ordorika, 2011; Mok, 2011). As a consequence, universities are operating at global, national and local levels simultaneously. In the Pacific region, new universities are emerging. For example, Fiji now has one regional and two national universities; Samoa has a national university and Solomon Islands has an institute of higher education. These new players add to regional competition as they open opportunities for global partnerships and transnational programmes. Thus, participating at these multiple levels is inevitable, and no university is immune to these changes (Marginson, Kaur & Sawir, 2011a). Universities are now part of the global HE community that cannot be confined within a nation’s borders. Transitional HE programmes are perhaps one of the most evident demonstrations of the interconnectedness of universities across countries in this global era.

Transnational preservice teachers in local education programs : a critical realist approach to narratives

This study explores how preservice teachers with non-Australian educational backgrounds and prerequisite qualifications make their way into and through a local teacher education program. It is informed by Margaret Archer's sociology of reflexivity to understand the interplay between these people's personal resources and institutional constraints and enablements. Data were collected from seven participants through narrative interviews. A narrative analysis identified big and small stories. Findings show that these preservice teachers purposefully exercise their agency as they invest in a common project for a variety of transnational goals. The outcome of that project emerges from the interaction between structure and agency.

An introduction to education research methods: Exploring the learning journey of pre-service teachers in a transnational programme

Internationally there is interest in developing the research skills of pre-service teachers as a means of ongoing professional renewal with a distinct need for systematic and longitudinal investigation of student learning. The current study takes a unique perspective by exploring the research learning journey of pre-service teachers participating in a transnational degree programme. Using a case-study design that includes both a self-reported and direct measure of research knowledge, the results indicate a progression in learning, as well as evidence that this research knowledge is continued or maintained when the pre-service teachers return to their home university. The findings of this study have implications for both pre-service teacher research training and transnational programmes.

Vote as you go : Blending interfaces for community engagement into the urban space

This paper presents a series of studies on situated interfaces for community engagement. Firstly, we identify five recurring design challenges as well as four common strategies used to overcome them. We then assess the effectiveness of these strategies through field studies with public polling interfaces. We developed two very different polling interfaces in the form of (1) a web application running on an iPad mounted on a stand, allowing one vote at a time, and (2) a playful full-body interaction application for a large urban screen allowing concurrent participation. We deployed both interfaces in an urban precinct with high pedestrian traffic and equipped with a large urban screen. Analysing discoverability and learnability of each scenario, we derive insights regarding effective ways of blending community engagement interfaces into the built environment, while attracting the attention of passers-by and communicating the results of civic participation.

Knowledge transfer through a transnational program partnership between Indonesian and Australian universities

As transnational programs are often advocated as a knowledge transfer opportunity between the partner universities, this case study investigated the knowledge transfer (KT) processes between Indonesian and Australian universities through an undergraduate transnational program partnership (TPP). An inter-organisational KT theoretical framework from the business sector was adapted and used to guide the study. The data were generated through semi-structured interviews with key university officers and document analysis from two partner universities. Based on the thematic analysis of the data, the findings demonstrated that the curriculum mapping process facilitated KT. However, different intentions of the partner universities in establishing the program led to declining interest to conduct more KT when expectations were not met. The Indonesian university’s existing knowledge, acquired from other sources through processes that were serendipitous and based on individual lecturers’ personal experience, meant that KT opportunities through the TPP were not always pursued despite written agreement to exchange knowledge with the Australian partner. While KT most evidently resulted in institutional capacity development for the Indonesian university’s school that managed the TPP, dissemination of knowledge to other units within the university was more challenging due to communication problems between the units. Hence, other universities seeking to conduct KT through TPPs need to understand each partner university's intention in establishing the partnerships, identify the institutions' needs before seeking knowledge input from the partner university and improve the communication between and within the universities for sustainable benefits.