Australian Television and International Mediascapes

This book addresses current debates about globalization and culture by tracing the emergence of Australia as a significant exporter of television to the world market. The authors investigate why Australian programs have found international popularity. The book describes the Australian industry and the international television marketplace. It also examines the impact of Australian programs on the television cultures of the importing countries. The authors outline policy implications and speculate on future directions of Australian television.

Little theory, big plans : social capital and community building in Aboriginal Australia

The discourse surrounding recent Aboriginal social policy regularly refers to pragmatism and partnership. In a simpler world, we might call this ‘getting things done with Aboriginal people.’ To that extent, the discourse draws on an indisputable common sense, and it is not surprising that a variety of political agendas can be packaged within such language. While many things need to be done, the quantity and particularly the quality of social networks required to take effective policy into effective practice is something we ought to consider more carefully. This is where the concept of social capital could be useful, since it focuses attention on the social resources required to construct social policy, as well as the social resources that could be produced by effective social policy. Partnerships and pragmatism are therefore related at a most fundamental level in terms of social policy. We question whether this important conceptual bedrock has been fully explored. Hence we review here some recent ‘big plans’ for Aboriginal Australia, and ask whether the size of the theory matches the size of the plans.

Aural auteur : sound in the films of Rolf de Heer

An interpretative methodology for understanding meaning in cinema since the 1950s, auteur analysis is an approach to film studies in which an individual, usually the director, is studied as the author of her or his films. The principal argument of this thesis is that proponents of auteurism have privileged examination of the visual components in a film-maker’s body of work, neglecting the potentially significant role played by sound. The thesis seeks to address this problematic imbalance by interrogating the creative use of sound in the films written and directed by Rolf de Heer, asking the question, “Does his use of sound make Rolf de Heer an aural auteur?” In so far as the term ‘aural’ encompasses everything in the film that is heard by the audience, the analysis seeks to discover if de Heer has, as Peter Wollen suggests of the auteur and her or his directing of the visual components (1968, 1972 and 1998), unconsciously left a detectable aural signature on his films. The thesis delivers an innovative outcome by demonstrating that auteur analysis that goes beyond the mise-en-scène (i.e. visuals) is productive and worthwhile as an interpretive response to film. De Heer’s use of the aural point of view and binaural sound recording, his interest in providing a ‘voice’ for marginalised people, his self-penned song lyrics, his close and early collaboration with composer Graham Tardif and sound designer Jim Currie, his ‘hands-on’ approach to sound recording and sound editing and his predilection for making films about sound are all shown to be examples of de Heer’s aural auteurism. As well as the three published (or accepted for publication) interviews with de Heer, Tardif and Currie, the dissertation consists of seven papers refereed and published (or accepted for publication) in journals and international conference proceedings, a literature review and a unifying essay. The papers presented are close textual analyses of de Heer’s films which, when considered as a whole, support the thesis’ overall argument and serve as a comprehensive auteur analysis, the first such sustained study of his work, and the first with an emphasis on the aural.

The moment of exchange : risk, vulnerability, responsibility

Any cycle of production and exchange – be it economic, cultural or aesthetic – involves an element of risk. It involves uncertainty, unpredictability, and a potential for new insight and innovation (the boom) as well as blockages, crises and breakdown (the bust). In performance, the risks are plentiful – economic, political, social, physical and psychological. The risks people are willing to take depend on their position in the exchange (performer, producer, venue manager or spectator), and their aesthetic preferences. This paper considers the often uncertain, confronting or ‘risky’ moment of exchange between performer, spectator and culture in Live Art practices. Encompassing body art, autobiographical art, site-specific art and other sorts of performative intervention in the public sphere, Live Art eschews the artifice of theatre, breaking down barriers between art and life, artist and spectator, to speak back to the public sphere, and challenge assumptions about bodies, identities, memories, relationships and histories. In the process, Live Art frequently privileges an uncertain, confrontational or ‘risky’ mode of exchange between performer, spectator and culture, as a way of challenging power structures. This paper examines the moment of exchange in terms of risk, vulnerability, responsibility and ethics. Why the romance with ‘risky’ behaviours and exchanges? Who is really taking a risk? What risk? With whose permission (or lack thereof)? What potential does a ‘risky’ exchange hold to destabilise aesthetic, social or political norms? Where lies the fine line between subversive intervention in the public sphere and sheer self-indulgence? What are the social and ethical implications of a moment of exchange that puts bodies, beliefs or social boundaries at ‘risk’? In this paper, these questions are addressed with reference to historical and contemporary practices under the broadly defined banner of Live Art, from the early work of Abrovamic and Burden, through to contemporary Australian practitioners like Fiona McGregor.

Spatial restructuring of cities in the age of knowledge economy : insights from Australian cities

In the age of knowledge economy, knowledge production, and where, how and by whom it is produced, has become one of the most important factors in determining the quality of life and competitiveness of a city. In different parts of the world, cities that are the centres of knowledge production are branded under different names, e.g. knowledge city, creative city, ubiquitous eco city, smart city. This paper focuses on the core building block of these cities: ‘knowledge precincts’ that are the catalytic magnet infrastructures impacting knowledge production. The paper discusses the increasing importance of knowledge-based urban development within the paradigm of knowledge economy, and the role of knowledge community precincts as an instrument to seed the foundation of knowledge production. This paper explores knowledge based urban development, particularly knowledge community precinct development, potentials of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and benchmarks them against Boston. The paper also draws conclusions and recommendations for other cities considering knowledge based development.

Developments in Australian laws requiring the reporting of suspected child sexual abuse

Thousands of Australian children are sexually abused every year, and the effects can be severe and long lasting. Not only is child sexual abuse a public health problem, but the acts inflicted are criminal offences. Child sexual abuse usually occurs in private, typically involving relationships featuring a massive imbalance in power and an abuse of that power. Those who inflict child sexual abuse seek to keep it secret, whether by threats or more subtle persuasion. As a method of responding to this phenomenon and in an effort to uncover cases of sexual abuse that otherwise would not come to light, governments in Australian States and Territories have enacted legislation requiring designated persons to report suspected child sexual abuse. With Western Australia’s new legislation having commenced on 1 January 2009, every Australian State and Territory government has now passed these laws, so that there is now, for the first time, an almost harmonious legislative approach across Australia to the reporting of child sexual abuse. Yet there remain differences in the State and Territory laws regarding who has to make reports, which cases of sexual abuse are required to be reported, and whether suspected future abuse must be reported. These differences indicate that further refinement of the laws is required

Walking and sitting in the Australian Antarctic Territory : mobility and imperial space

In 1995 and 1997, two major Australian expeditions travelled to Antarctica. They were the most heavily-reported Antarctican events of their two years: they were charged with the public production of Australian Antarctic spatiality. Both published exploration narratives: Don and Margie McIntyre’s Expedition Icebound generated an illustrated coffee-table book, Two Below Zero: A Year Alone in Antarctica, and the Spirit of Australia South Pole Expedition published its narrative as a video titled Walking on Ice: The History-Making Expedition to the South Pole. Yet, despite the fact that the two polar trips took place during the same period, their spatialities are markedly different. Walking on Ice is a mobile narrative of imperial exploration, while Two Below Zero is a static spatial story of colonial settlement. How polar mobility and relative immobility figure in Australia’s perceptions of, and claim to, nearly half of Antarctica is the focus of this chapter.

Deeply divergent mitochondrial lineages reveal patterns of local endemism in chironomids of the Australian Wet Tropics

The Wet Tropics bioregion of north-eastern Australia has been subject to extensive fluctuations in climate throughout the late Pliocene and Pleistocene. Cycles of rainforest contraction and expansion of dry sclerophyll forest associated with such climatic fluctuations are postulated to have played a major role in driving geographical endemism in terrestrial rainforest taxa. Consequences for the distributions of aquatic organisms, however, are poorly understood.The Australian non-biting midge species Echinocladius martini Cranston (Diptera: Chironomidae), although restricted to cool, well-forested freshwater streams, has been considered to be able to disperse among populations located in isolated rainforest pockets during periods of sclerophyllous forest expansion, potentially limiting the effect of climatic fluctuations on patterns of endemism. In this study, mitochondrial COI and 16S data were analysed for E. martini collected from eight sites spanning theWet Tropics bioregion to assess the scale and extent of phylogeographic structure. Analyses of genetic structure showed several highly divergent cryptic lineages with restricted geographical distributions. Within one of the identified lineages, strong genetic structure implied that dispersal among proximate (<1 km apart) streams was extremely restricted. The results suggest that vicariant processes, most likely due to the systemic drying of the Australian continent during the Plio-Pleistocene, might have fragmented historical E. martini populations and, hence, promoted divergence in allopatry.

The relative age effect in Australian Football League players

Youth sports teams are usually grouped into yearly age groups based on fixed cut-off date (September 1st in the UK and January 1st in Australia). Children born just after this cut-off will be the oldest and most mature in their age group. This gives them an advantage in competitive sport, an advantage which has persisted into adulthood as shown by seasonal patterns in the dates of birth of professional ice hockey, football and basketball players. We were interested in whether a similar seasonal pattern exists in professional Australian Football League (AFL) players. We examined all AFL players in the 2009 season excluding foreign-born players. We compared the observed number of players’ born in each month with the expected number based on national statistics. There was a marked and statistically significant seasonality in players’ dates of birth. There were 33% more players than expected with dates of birth in January, and 25% fewer in December. Players who are relatively older in youth AFL teams have a better chance of turning professional.

More than experiential learning or volunteering : a case study of community service learning within the Australian context

Community service learning is the integration of experiential learning and community service into coursework such that community needs are met and students gain both professional skills and a sense of civic responsibility. A critical component is student reflection. This paper provides an example of the application of community service learning within an undergraduate health unit at the Queensland University of Technology. Based on survey data from 36 program participants, it demonstrates the impact of CSL on student outcomes. Results show that students benefited by developing autonomy through real world experiences, through increased self-assurance and achievement of personal growth, through gaining new insights into the operations of community service organisations and through moving towards becoming responsible citizens. Students expect their CSL experience to have long-lasting impact on their lives, with two-thirds of participants noting that they would like to continue volunteering as part of their future development.

Enabling Open Access to Public Sector Information With Creative Commons Licences : The Australian Experience

This chapter considers how open content licences of copyright-protected materials – specifically, Creative Commons (CC) licences - can be used by governments as a simple and effective mechanism to enable reuse of their PSI, particularly where materials are made available in digital form online or distributed on disk.

60Sox Report Volume 1: from education to work in Australia's digital content industries. The opinions and practices of aspiring creatives in the creative industries

This report presents findings from the largest survey of aspiring creatives who work or intend to work in the digital content industries ever undertaken in Australia. Survey respondents included those with aspirations to work in the publicly-supported, less commercial end of the Creative Industries spectrum as well as those with aspirations to work in the digital content industries. The survey gathered rich data on their characteristics, skills and attributes, barriers to employment, workforce mobility, career intentions, professional development, mentors and industry supports, and participation in communities of practice. The survey sought to determine if aspiring creatives have the necessary skills and attributes to work effectively in the digital content industries. This task also involved finding out how they develop their skills and attributes, and what they need to develop them further.