Enhancing public transport passenger experience via mobile-mediated applications and services

Despite the rapidly urbanising population, public transport usage in metropolitan areas is not growing at a level that corresponds to the trend. Many people are reluctant to travel using public transport, as it is commonly associated with unpleasant experiences such as limited services, long wait time, and crowded spaces. This study aims to explore the use of mobile spatial interactions and services, and investigate their potential to increase the enjoyment of our everyday commuting experience. The main goal is to develop and evaluate mobile-mediated design interventions to foster interactions for and among passengers, as well as between passengers and public transport infrastructures, with the aim to positively influence the experience of commuting. Ultimately, this study hopes to generate findings and knowledge towards creating a more enjoyable public transport experience, as well as to explore innovative uses of mobile technologies and context-aware services for the urban lifestyle.

Mobile valuations : the Internet's impact on traditional valuation services

Preparing valuations is a time consuming process involving site inspections, research and report formulation. The ease of access to the internet has changed how and where valuations may be undertaken. No longer is it necessary to return to the office to finalise reports, or leave your desk in order to undertake research. This enables more streamlined service delivery and is viewed as a positive. However, it is not without negative impacts. This paper seeks to inform practitioners of the work environment changes flowing from increased access to the internet. It identifies how increased accessibility to, and use of, technology and the internet has, and will continue to, impact upon valuation service provision into the future.

The legal effect of settlement statements

The decision of Carrapetta v. Rado [2012] NSWCA 202 raises a short but very practical point relating to the right to deliver a notice to complete or have otherwise called for completion where time is of the essence of the contract in circumstances where a settlement statement subsequently sent from the seller has overstated the amount owing under the contract. It was common ground , following the oft quoted High Court decisions of Neeta (Epping) Pty Ltd v Phillips(1974) 131 CLR 286 and Louinder v Leis (1982) 149 CLR 509 that a Notice to Complete which called for completion outside the terms of the contract would be invalid. These decisions also further confirm the long accepted principles that a seller who is not “ready willing and able” to perform all their obligations or who is otherwise in breach of contract at the time could not deliver a Notice to Complete (at[27]).The issue in this case did not so much concern the efficacy of the Notice to Complete at the time was delivered ,but the legal effect upon the Notice to Complete of the later delivery of a settlement statement for what the buyer considered to be performance beyond that required by the contract.

Evaluating the QUT Homestay Program : lessons learnt in providing quality services to international students

The QUT Homestay Program is an essential part of the university’s commitment to meet the accommodation needs of international students. Despite the importance of this style of accommodation, there is very little research addressing issues related to homestay arrangements. The program at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was evaluated in 2002 to develop a continuous improvement framework to ensure provision of quality homestay services to international students. This paper presents an overview of the evaluation and key lessons learnt in providing quality homestay services to international students. It will cover social and cross-cultural issues faced by providers and international students in the homestay environment, the homestay support needs, program information, policies, procedures and code of practice governing the program.

Referral patterns and proximity to palliative care inpatient services by level of socio-economic disadvantage : a national study using spatial analysis

Background: A range of health outcomes at a population level are related to differences in levels of social disadvantage. Understanding the impact of any such differences in palliative care is important. The aim of this study was to assess, by level of socio-economic disadvantage, referral patterns to specialist palliative care and proximity to inpatient services. Methods: All inpatient and community palliative care services nationally were geocoded (using postcode) to one nationally standardised measure of socio-economic deprivation – Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA; 2006 census data). Referral to palliative care services and characteristics of referrals were described through data collected routinely at clinical encounters. Inpatient location was measured from each person’s home postcode, and stratified by socio-economic disadvantage. Results: This study covered July – December 2009 with data from 10,064 patients. People from the highest SEIFA group (least disadvantaged) were significantly less likely to be referred to a specialist palliative care service, likely to be referred closer to death and to have more episodes of inpatient care for longer time. Physical proximity of a person’s home to inpatient care showed a gradient with increasing distance by decreasing levels of socio-economic advantage. Conclusion: These data suggest that a simple relationship of low socioeconomic status and poor access to a referral-based specialty such as palliative care does not exist. Different patterns of referral and hence different patterns of care emerge.

Towards a typology of structural arrangements for shared services : evidence from the higher education sector

Shared services are increasingly prevalent in practice, their introduction potentially entailing substantive and highly consequential organizational redesign. Yet, attention to the structural arrangements of shared services has been limited. This study explores types of structural arrangements for shared services that are observed in practice, and the salient dimensions along which those types can be usefully differentiated. Through inductive attention to the shared services literature, and content analysis of 36 secondary case studies of shared services in the higher education sector, three salient dimensions emerged: (1) the existence or not of a separate organizational entity, (2) an intra- or inter-organizational sharing boundary, and (3) involvement or not of a third party. Each dimension being dichotomous yields 23 combinations, or eight shared services structural arrangement types. Each of the eight structural arrangement types is defined and demonstrated through case examples. The typology offers clarity around shared services structural arrangements. It can serve as a useful analytical tool for researchers investigating the phenomenon further, and for practitioners considering the introduction or further development of shared services arrangements. Important follow on research is suggested too.

In defence of Victoria's Children's Court : its value and role in the child protection system

Australian child protection systems have been subject to sustained and significant criticism for many decades. As a central part of that system Children’s Courts have been implicated: three recent inquiries into the child protection system in Victoria all criticised the Family Division of the Children’s Court.1 In the resulting debate two diametrically opposed points of view surfaced about the Children’s Court and the role that legal procedures and professionals should play in child protection matters. On one side bodies like the Children’s Court of Victoria, Victoria Legal Aid (‘VLA’), the Law Institute of Victoria (‘LIV’), and the Federation of Community Legal Centres (‘FCLC’) argued that the Children’s Court plays a vital role in child protection and should continue to play that role.2 On the other side a coalition of human service and child protection agencies called for major change including the removal of the Children’s Court from the child protection system. Victoria’s Department of Human Services (‘DHS’) has been critical of the Court3 as have community sector organisations like Anglicare, Berry Street, MacKillop Family Services and the Salvation Army — all agencies the DHS funds to deliver child protection services.4 Victoria’s Child Safety Commissioner has also called for major reform, publicly labelling the Court a ‘lawyers’ playground’ and recommending abolishing the Court’s involvement in child protection completely.

Does legal heritage affect obesity? The channel of motor vehicle dependence

We find a robust relationship between motor vehicle ownership, its interaction with legal heritage and obesity in OECD countries. Our estimates indicate that an increase of 100 motor vehicles per thousand residents is associated with about a 6% point increase in obesity in common law countries, whereas it has a much smaller or insignificant impact in civil law countries. These relations hold whether we examine trend data and simple correlations, or conduct cross-section or panel data regression analysis. Our results suggest that obesity rises with motor vehicle ownership in countries following a common law tradition where individual liberty is encouraged, whereas the link is small or statistically non-existent in countries with a civil law background where the rights of the individual tend to be circumscribed by the power of the state.

The exemplification of governance principles within state asset management laws and policies : the case of Indonesia

Efficient state asset management is crucial for governments as they facilitate the fulfillment of their public functions, which include the provision of essential services and other public administration support. In recent times economies internationally and particularly in South east Asia, have displayed increased recognition of the importance of efficiencies across state asset management law, policies and practice. This has been exemplified by a surge in notable instances of reform in state asset management. A prominent theme in this phenomenon is the consideration of governance principles within the re-conceptualization of state asset management law and related policy, with many countries recognizing variability in the quality of asset governance and opportunities for profit as being critical factors. This issue is very current in Indonesia where a major reform process in this area has been confirmed by the establishment of a new Directorate of State Asset Management. The incumbent Director-General of State Asset Management has confirmed a re-emphasis on adherence to governance principles within applicable state asset management law and policy reform. This paper reviews aspects of the challenge of reviewing and reforming Indonesian practice within state asset management law and policy specifically related to public housing, public buildings, parklands, and vacant land. A critical issue in beginning this review is how Indonesia currently conceptualizes the notion of asset governance and how this meaning is embodied in recent changes in law and policy and importantly in options for future change. This paper discusses the potential complexities uniquely Indonesian characteristics such as decentralisation and regional autonomy regime, political history, and bureaucratic culture.

Legal issues in the design and implementation of environmental offset and environmental trading frameworks

The Queensland Government released its new Environmental Offset Policy in July 2008. This policy creates a set of overarching principles which are to be incorporated into existing environmental offset policy. This article is the final article in a set of three interrelated articles discussing the operation and implementation of environmental offsets in Queensland. The first article discusses the Environmental Offsets Discussion Paper and the existing environmental offset requirements. No significant changes have been made to these existing offset requirements under the new Environmental Offset Policy. This article also touches briefly on the legal issues associated with design and implementation of environmental offset and trading frameworks. The second article considered the compatibility of different land tenure arrangements in Queensland against the requirements for the creation and trade of environmental offsets. The third article being the present article, discusses the application of the new Environmental Offset Policy while also analysing the legal issues associated with environmental offsets in further detail.

The legal nature of justice in REDD+

Formation of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) policy within the international climate regime has raised a number of discussions about ‘justice’. REDD+ aims to provide an incentive for developing countries to preserve or increase the amount of carbon stored in their forested areas. Governance of REDD+ is multi-layered: at the international level, a guiding framework must be determined; at the national level, strong legal frameworks are a pre-requisite to ensure both public and private investor confidence and at the sub-national level, forest-dependent peoples need to agree to participate as stewards of forest carbon project areas. At the international level the overall objective of REDD+ is yet to be determined, with competing mitigation, biological and justice agendas. Existing international law pertaining to the environment (international environmental principles and law, IEL) and human rights (international human rights law, IHRL) should inform the development of international and national REDD+ policy especially in relation to ensuring the environmental integrity of projects and participation and benefit-sharing rights for forest dependent communities. National laws applicable to REDD+ must accommodate the needs of all stakeholders and articulate boundaries which define their interactions, paying particular attention to ensuring that vulnerable groups are protected. This paper i) examines justice theories and IEL and IHRL to inform our understanding of what ‘justice’ means in the context of REDD+, and ii) applies international law to create a reference tool for policy-makers dealing with the complex sub-debates within this emerging climate policy. We achieve this by: 1) Briefly outlining theories of justice (for example – perspectives offered by anthropogenic and ecocentric approaches, and views from ‘green economics’). 2) Commenting on what ‘climate justice’ means in the context of REDD+. 3) Outlining a selection of IEL and IHRL principles and laws to inform our understanding of ‘justice’ in this policy realm (for example – common but differentiated responsibilities, the precautionary principle, sovereignty and prevention drawn from the principles of IEL, the UNFCCC and CBD as relevant conventions of international environmental law; and UNDRIP and the Declaration on the Right to Development as applicable international human rights instruments) 4) Noting how this informs what ‘justice’ is for different REDD+ stakeholders 5) Considering how current law-making (at both the international and national levels) reflects these principles and rules drawn from international law 6) Presenting how international law can inform policy-making by providing a reference tool of applicable international law and how it could be applied to different issues linked to REDD+. As such, this paper will help scholars and policy-makers to understand how international law can assist us to both conceptualise and embody ‘justice’ within frameworks for REDD+ at both the international and national levels.

Private health insurance status and utilisation of dental services in Australia

This article focuses on the relationship between private insurance status and dental service utilisation in Australia using data between 1995 and 2001. This article employs joint maximum likelihood to estimate models of time since last dental visit treating private ancillary health insurance (PAHI) as endogenous. The sensitivity of results to the choice between two different but related types of instrumental variables is examined. We find robust evidence in both 1995 and 2001 that individuals with a PAHI policy make significantly more frequent dental consultations relative to those without such coverage. A comparison of the 1995 and 2001 results, however, suggests that there has been an increasing role of PAHI in terms of the frequency of dental consultations over time. This seems intuitive given the trends in the price of unsubsidised private dental consultations. In terms of policy, our results suggest that while government measures to increase private health insurance coverage in Australia has been successful to a significant degree, it may have come at some cost in terms of socio-economic inequality as the privately insured are provided much better access to care and financial protection.

Income Tax : Text, Materials and Essential Cases [8th ed.]

Tax law and policy is a vital part of Australian society. Australian society insists that the Federal Government provide extensive public programs, such as health services, education, social security, foreign aid, legal infra¬structure, regulation, police services, national defence and funding for sports development. These programs are costly to provide and are funded by taxation. The aim of this book is to introduce and explain the principles of tax law and tax policy in plain English. The book contains detailed commentary on tax principles together with extracts from cases and materials that illustrate the application of the principles. The book considers tax policy and the economic and social aspects of tax law. While tax students must develop technical competence in tax law, given the speed with which changes are made to the technical details of tax law, it is also important to grasp tax principles and policy to understand why tax law has changed or why it should change. The chapters are structured to direct readers to the key provisions of the tax law. Each case is introduced by an explanation of the facts, followed by the taxpayer’s arguments, the Commissioner’s assertions and the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or a court. The commentary guides readers through the issues considered in the judgments. The book contains extracts from: articles; materials dealing with tax policy; and the Commissioner’s rulings. The book also has references for further reading and medium-neutral citations (Internet citations) for cases decided since 1998.