Preparing students for international study : the use of technology

About 1.6 million students currently study outside their home country. Despite this, and the fact that Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and many of the other host countries of international students are themselves extremely culturally diverse communities, business education remains essentially mono-cultural in form and Anglo American in content. Whilst it is true that these international students may want to understand the "Western" way of doing things, they may not be familiar or comfortable with the processes used to facilitate learning. This paper explores a project undertaken to create a tool that provides essential pre-orientation information and advice to students before they leave home. Where cultural adjustment is required, catching students before departure is a very effective time to introduce key information about lifestyle, culture and approaches to teaching and learning that would assist students with the complex and difficult adjustment to studying abroad, so that they could make a smoother transition to their new place of learning. Welcome to Studying Business at QUT is a Data DVD with 19 short videos capturing a student perspective on life and study. Forty percent of the content is related to living and studying and includes sections on accommodation, lifestyle, food and transport etc., and 60% takes an in-depth look at studying business, featuring students and academics talking about issues such as assessment, academic writing and working in groups. This paper outlines the process of developing the DVD and the range of issues addressed.

Regulating for Sustainability : Property Issues

All Australian governments recognize the need to ensure that land and natural resources are used sustainably. In this context, ‘resources’ includes natural resources found on land such as trees and other vegetation, fauna, soil and minerals, and cultural resources found on land such as archaeological sites and artefacts. Regulators use a wide range of techniques to promote sustainability. To achieve their objectives, they may, for example, create economic incentives through bounties, grants and subsidies, encourage the development of self-regulatory codes, or enter into agreements with landowners specifying how the land is to be managed. A common way of regulating is by making administrative orders, determinations or decisions under powers given to regulators by Acts of Parliament (statutes) or by regulations (delegated legislation). Generally the legislation provides for specified rights or duties, and authorises a regulator to make an order or decision to apply the legislative provisions to particular land or cases. For example, legislation might empower a regulator to make an order that requires the owner of a contaminated site to remediate it. When the regulator exercises the power by making an order in relation to particular land, the owner is placed under a statutory duty to remediate. When regulators exercise their statutory powers to manage the use of private land or natural or cultural resources on private land, property law issues can arise. The owner of land has a private property right that the law will enforce against anybody else who interferes with the enjoyment of the right, without legal authority to do so. The law dealing with the enforcement of private property rights forms part of private law. This report focuses on the relationship between the law of private property and the regulation of land and resources by legislation and by administrative decisions made under powers given by legislation (statutory powers).

Crown copyright

Copyright protects much of the creative, cultural, educational, scientific and informational material generated by federal, State/Territory and local governments and their constituent departments and agencies. Governments at all levels develop, manage and distribute a vast array of materials in the form of documents, reports, websites, datasets and databases on CD or DVD and files that can be downloaded from a website. Under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), with few exceptions government copyright is treated the same as copyright owned by non-government parties insofar as the range of protected materials and the exclusive proprietary rights attaching to them are concerned. However, the rationale for recognizing copyright in public sector materials and vesting ownership of copyright in governments is fundamentally different to the main rationales underpinning copyright generally. The central justification for recognizing Crown copyright is to ensure that government documents and materials created for public administrative purposes are disseminated in an accurate and reliable form. Consequently, the exclusive rights held by governments as copyright owners must be exercised in a manner consistent with the rationale for conferring copyright ownership on them. Since Crown copyright exists primarily to ensure that documents and materials produced for use in the conduct of government are circulated in an accurate and reliable form, governments should exercise their exclusive rights to ensure that their copyright materials are made available for access and reuse, in accordance with any laws and policies relating to access to public sector materials. While copyright law vests copyright owners with extensive bundles of exclusive rights which can be exercised to prevent others making use of the copyright material, in the case of Crown copyright materials these rights should rarely be asserted by government to deviate from the general rule that Crown copyright materials will be available for “full and free reproduction” by the community at large.

Standardisation and patent ambush : potential liability under Australian competition law

This article examines the problem of patent ambush in standard setting, where patent owners are sometimes able to capture industry standards in order to secure monopoly power and windfall profits. Because standardisation generally introduces high switching costs, patent ambush can impose significant costs on downstream manufacturers and consumers and drastically reduce the efficiency gains of standardisation.This article considers how Australian competition law is likely to apply to patent ambush both in the development of a standard (through misrepresenting the existence of an essential patent) and after a standard is implemented (through refusing to license an essential patented technology either at all or on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms). This article suggests that non-disclosure of patent interests is unlikely to restrained by Part IV of the Trade Practices Act (TPA), and refusals to license are only likely to be restrained if the refusal involves leveraging or exclusive dealing. By contrast, Standard Setting Organisations (SSOs) which seek to limit this behaviour through private ordering may face considerable scrutiny under the new cartel provisions of the TPA. This article concludes that SSOs may be best advised to implement administrative measures to prevent patent hold-up, such as reviewing which patents are essential for the implementation of a standard, asking patent holders to make their licence conditions public to promote transparency, and establishing forums where patent licensees can complain about licence terms that they consider to be unreasonable or discriminatory. Additionally, the ACCC may play a role in authorising SSO policies that could otherwise breach the new cartel provisions, but which have the practical effect of promoting competition in the standards setting environment.

Order supported by law : the enforcement of norms in virtual communities

As online social spaces continue to grow in importance, the complex relationship between users and the private providers of the platforms continues to raise increasingly difficult questions about legitimacy in online governance. This article examines two issues that go to the core of egitimate governance in online communities: how are rules enforced and punishments imposed, and how should the law support legitimate governance and protect participants from the illegitimate exercise of power? Because the rules of online communities are generally ultimately backed by contractual terms of service, the imposition of punishment for the breach of internal rules exists in a difficult conceptual gap between criminal law and the predominantly compensatory remedies of contractual doctrine. When theorists have addressed the need for the rules of virtual communities to be enforced, a dichotomy has generally emerged between the appropriate role of criminal law for 'real' crimes, and the private, internal resolution of 'virtual' or 'fantasy' crimes. In this structure, the punitive effect of internal measures is downplayed and the harm that can be caused to participants by internal sanctions is systemically undervalued.

Mapping the ethical journey of experienced nurses now practising in rural and remote hospitals in central and south-west Queensland and in domiciliary services in Brisbane : a grounded theory approach

The aim of this thesis has been to map the ethical journey of experienced nurses now practising in rural and remote hospitals in central and south-west Queensland and in domiciliary services in Brisbane. One group of the experienced nurses in the study were Directors of Nursing in rural and remote hospitals. These nurses were “hands on”, “multi-skilled “ nurses who also had the task of managing the hospital. Also there were two Directors of Nursing from domiciliary services in Brisbane. A grounded theory method was used. The nurses were interviewed and the data retrieved from the interviews was coded, categorised and from these categories a conceptual framework was generated. The literature which dealt with the subject of ethical decision making and nurses also became part of the data. The study revealed that all these nurses experienced moral distress as they made ethical decisions. The decision making categories revealed in the data were: the area of financial management; issues as end of life approaches; allowing to die with dignity; emergency decisions; experience of unexpected death; the dilemma of providing care in very difficult circumstances. These categories were divided into two chapters: the category related to administrative and financial constraints and categories dealing with ethical issues in clinical settings. A further chapter discussed the overarching category of coping with moral distress. These experienced nurses suffered moral distress as they made ethical decisions, confirming many instances of moral distress in ethical decision making documented in the literature to date. Significantly, the nurses in their interviews never mentioned the ethical principles used in bioethics as an influence in their decision making. Only one referred to lectures on ethics as being an influence in her thinking. As they described their ethical problems and how they worked through them, they drew on their own previous experience rather than any knowledge of ethics gained from nursing education. They were concerned for their patients, they spoke from a caring responsibility towards their patients, but they were also concerned for justice for their patients. This study demonstrates that these nurses operated from the ethic of care, tempered with the ethic of responsibility as well as a concern for justice for their patients. Reflection on professional experience, rather than formal ethics education and training, was the primary influence on their ethical decision making.

Learning in the global classroom : a guide for students in the multicultural university

This unique and fascinating book is written for tertiary level students in the multi-cultural classroom, whether studying abroad or at home alongside international students. It relates a genuine understanding of the student perspective of learning in a multi cultural classroom, highlighting how students possess different learning styles and attitudes to teaching and learning and demonstrating that students not only face language issues, but also numerous other unanticipated challenges.

Teamwork protocol

This protocol represents an attempt to assist in the instruction of teamwork assessment for first-year students across QUT. We anticipate that teaching staff will view this protocol as a generic resource in teamwork instruction, processes and evaluation. Teamwork has been acknowledged as a problematic practice at QUT while existing predominantly in importance amongst graduate capabilities for all students at this institution. This protocol is not an extensive document on the complexities and dynamics of teamwork processes, but instead presents itself as a set of best practice guidelines and recommendations to assist in team design, development, management, support and assessment. It is recommended that this protocol be progressively implemented across QUT, not only to attain teamwork teaching consistency, but to address and deal with the misconceptions and conflict around the importance of the teamwork experience. The authors acknowledge the extensive input and contributions from a Teamwork Steering Committee selected from academic staff and administrative members across the institution. As well, we welcome feedback and suggestions to both fine tune and make inclusive those strategies that staff believe add to optimal teamwork outcomes.

Land Contracts in Queensland

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive account of the law relating to buyers and sellers of freehold land in Queensland. It analyses relevant clauses of the standard contracts in common use and the plethora of court decisions relating to the area.Its contents comprise a full transactional analysis of a conveyance from negotiation by a real estate agent through to completion. In addition, it contains chapters on special conditions, remedies, GST and stamp duty provisions.

Global Lessons from Fitzgerald : From State and National to Global Integrity Systems

Tony Fitzgerald’s visionary leap was to see beyond localised, individual wrongdoing. He suggested remedies that were systemic, institutionalised, and directed at underlying structural problems that led to corruption. His report said ‘the problems with which this Inquiry is concerned are not merely associated with individuals, but are institutionalized and related to attitudes which have become entrenched’ (Fitzgerald Report 1989, 13). His response was to suggest an enmeshed system of measures to not only respond reactively to future corruption, but also to prevent its recurrence through improved integrity systems. In the two decades since that report the primary focus of corruption studies and anti-corruption activism has remained on corruption at the local level or within sovereign states. International activism was largely directed at co-ordinating national campaigns and to use international instruments to make these campaigns more effective domestically. This reflects the broader fact that, since the rise of the nation state, states have comprised the majority of the largest institutional actors and have been the most significant institution in the lives of most individuals. This made states the ‘main game in town’ for the ‘governance disciplines’ of ethics, law, political science and economics.

Gender patterns for aspirations for transitional employment and training and development in local government

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the patterns of transitional employment (TE) aspirations and training and development (T&D) needs of women within local government. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative survey methodology was used to identify aspirations in a sample of 1,068 employees from the Australian Local Government Association. Findings – Mature-aged women were very interested in continuous learning at work despite their limited formal education. Their training preferences consisted of informal delivery face-to-face or online in the areas of management or administration. Younger women were interested in undertaking university courses, while a minority were interested in blue collar occupations. Practical implications – Through the identification of patterns of TE and T&D aspirations, long term strategies to develop and retain women in local government may be developed. Findings suggest that mature-aged women would benefit from additional T&D to facilitate entry into management and senior administration positions, as well as strategies to facilitate a shift in organizational climate. Social implications – Mature-aged women were found to be a potentially untapped resource for management and senior administrative roles owing to their interest in developing skills in these fields and pursuing TE. Younger women may also benefit from T&D to maintain their capacity during breaks from employment. Encouragement of women in non-traditional areas may also address skill shortages in the local government. Originality/value – Mature-aged women were found to be a potentially untapped resource for management and senior administrative roles owing to their interest in developing skills in these fields and pursuing TE. Younger women may also benefit from T&D to maintain their capacity during breaks from employment. Encouragement of women in non-traditional areas may also address skill shortages in the local government.