Development of educational policy and early intervention for learning difficulties in Australia: In the case of Queensland

This paper aims to describe the historical outline and current development of the educational policy for students with learning difficulties in Australia, focusing especially on the state of Queensland. In order to develop educational policy of learning difficulities at the state level, the concept of learning difficulities had been discussed until the middle of the 1970's. Receiving the submissions which argued strongly against a diagnostically-oriented definition of learning disabilities, the Select Comittee concluded that there was much conceptual confusion regarding the definition and cause of learining difficulties that might take many years to resolve. Despite that it was recongnised that action was needed to assist children by looking at their "total learning environmerit", and recommended the development of an educational policy for students with learning difficulties. During 1980's, support teachers for students with learning difficulties were employed in many schools. Scince the early 1980's support teachers have been making their efforts in regular classrooms rather than in the resource rooms. Their roles have been to help students with learning difficulties using effective and specific skills, and to consult with the regular classroom teacher in solving the problems related to learning difficulties in regular classes. Currently, the support system for students with learning difficulties has been employed to organize a more systematic and broader approach in Queensland based on the accountability of schools. In the context of enphasizing literacy and numeracy, a systematic whole school approach and particular programs, such as the Year 2 Diagnostic Net and Reading Recovery, have been introduced into the educational system for early identification and early intervention.

Damages for wrongful conception : moving away from policy considerations?

The House of Lords addressed the issue of damages in a wrongful conception case, in McFarlane and Another v Tayside Health Board - decision provides a strong indication that damages will be awarded for pain and suffering associated with childbirth but not for the costs of maintaining the child until adulthood - no case involving a claim of raising a child in a wrongful birth case has yet come before the High Court of Australia.

Macroeconomic policy in an output-expenditure model

This paper proposes an alternative framework for examining the international macroeconomic impact of domestic monetary and fiscal policies and focuses on the distinction between national spending and national production and the reactive behavior of foreign investors to changing external account balances. It demonstrates that under a floating exchange rate regime, monetary and fiscal policies can affect aggregate expenditure and output quite differently, with important implications for the behavior of the exchange rate, the current account balance, and national income in the short run, as well as the economy's price level in the long run. In particular, this paper predicts that expansionary monetary and fiscal policies tend to depreciate the currency and only temporarily raise gross domestic product and the current account surplus, although permanently raise the domestic price level. This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Forty-Ninth International Atlantic Economic Conference, March 14–21, 2000, Munich, Germany.

Quality Assurance Through a Continuous Curriculum Review (CCR) Strategy: Reflections on a Pilot Project

Institutional research can be defined as "the activity in which the research effort of an academic institution is directed at the solution of its own problems and to the enhancement of its own performance" (Woodward, 1993, p. 113). This paper describes and reflects on an attempt at the University of Queensland to address the need for course quality appraisal for improvement. The strategy, Continuous Curriculum Review (CCR) is simply an attempt to trial and promote regular comprehensive data collection for developing 'snapshot' views of whole curricula so that decisions about what to change and what to change first can be made in an empirically defensible and timely manner. The strategy and reporting protocols that were developed are described, and the costs and benefits of engaging in this kind of data gathering exercise for quality assurance and quality enhancement purposes are discussed.

Highlights of drought policy and related science in Australia and the USA

Patterns of water supply and use in Australia and the U.S.A. differ in many ways. This results in different perceptions concerning the nature of drought and policy approaches to its management. This paper discusses the differences and similarities and explores lessons that policy makers in both countries can learn from one another. A key difference between the two countries is that whereas drought is perceived in Australia essentially in terms of its impact on agriculture, in the U.S. both perceptions and policy are also heavily influenced by the impact of drought on urban communities. This has led to different policy emphases. In 1992 Australia established its National Drought Policy; the U.S. is presently considering the adoption of a national drought policy. These policies highlight drought being accepted as part of natural climate variability, rather than as a natural disaster. They also emphasize the protection of the natural resource base.

The Role of Non-Market Valuation in Forest Management and Recreation Policy

Forests, and particularly those where native and mixed species are gown, provide a variety of non-wood values, important among which are recreation and environmental services. Substantial progress has been made in recent years in estimating economic values on these services. A considerable amount of research on forest values has been carried out recently in tropical and sub-tropical eastern Australia, some of which is reported in the following papers. The need for estimates of non-wood forest benefits is apparent, and it is clear that further development of techniques and a greater understanding of the way these values can be integrated into public-sector decision making is required.

Ethical dilemmas confronting dentists in Queensland, Australia

Background: This paper details contemporary ethical dilemmas encountered by Queensland dentists. Methods: An age-stratified sample of 499 dentists resident in Queensland was surveyed. The questionnaire contained scenarios of five common ethical dilemmas. In addition, open-ended questions sought the respondent's most frequent, difficult and recent ethical dilemmas, and where they would seek guidance in dealing with ethical problems. Results: Respondents acknowledged the patient's rights in treatment decisions and the dentist's right to refuse demands for inappropriate treatment. However, responses varied in the extent to which dentists may influence treatment decisions. Few respondents would ignore evidence of poor dental treatment but they are evenly divided in choosing to inform the patient, the dentist or both. Poor quality treatment is the most frequent and difficult dilemma, and half have experienced this problem recently. Requests by patients for fraudulent receipts occur in a third of responses. Dentists develop ethical values from multiple sources but for help with dental ethical problems, 90 per cent of respondents would consult another dentist. Conclusions: Of the ethical dilemmas discussed in this survey, those relating to poor quality treatment confronted most respondents. Also the actions of dentists in dealing with these dilemmas were most varied.