The Australian built environment : current challenges and innovative responses

The exploratory research presented in this discussion paper was undertaken as input to a major research grant application for the Australian Research Council. The research looks at the contribution of the Australian built environment to meet social and environmental needs. The paper examines the following research questions: What are the main challenges facing the Australian built environment? What types of building innovations might address those challenges? The research questions were addressed through desk-top research, involving an international review of (1) relevant academic literature in top-tier construction management and general management journals, and (2) high profile industry reports published internationally. Future research will involve assessing the diffusion of the identified building innovations and gauging their impact on social and environmental goals.

Identifying critical sun-protective beliefs among Australian adults

We investigated critical beliefs to target in interventions aimed at improving sun-protective behaviours of Australian adults, a population at risk for skin cancer. Participants (N = 816) completed a Theory of Planned Behaviour belief-based questionnaire and a 1-week follow-up of sun-protective behaviour. A range of behavioural, normative and control beliefs correlated with sun-protective behaviour, with no and only minimal differences observed in correlations between beliefs and behaviour by gender and age, respectively. A range of key beliefs made independent contributions to behaviour; however, the behavioural belief about being less likely to tan (β = 0.09); normative belief about friends (β = 0.20); and control beliefs about forgetfulness (β = −0.14), inconvenience (β = −0.17), knowing I will be in the sun for a long time (β = 0.16) and more fashionable sun-protective clothing (β = 0.13) were significant critical beliefs guiding people’s sun-protective behaviour. Our study fills a gap in the literature by investigating an at-risk population for skin cancer and using an established theoretical framework to identify critical beliefs that guide Australian adults’ decisions to sun protect. Attention to these critical beliefs will assist health campaigns and interventions aimed at combating the increasing rates of skin cancer for adults.

An analysis of the corporate governance practices of smaller listed Australian companies

We examine the corporate governance environment of smaller listed Australian firms to investigate the factors that determine how firms respond to recommendations contained in corporate governance codes. We group corporate governance recommendations into three distinct categories and argue that differences in adoption costs between categories, together with firm specific factors, determine a firm’s decision to conform with the recommendation or to explain the reasons for non-conformance. Analysis of the conformance by smaller firms with governance recommendations highlights substantial differences in adoption rates between categories of recommendations. Our results also reveal that the cost of adopting specific recommendations, together with profitability, external audit quality, and ownership dispersion, jointly explain a firm’s decision to ‘comply or explain’. This study provides insights for policy makers and regulators regarding the appropriateness of corporate governance recommendations for smaller firms

Digital dietetics : practices and attitudes to technology use among Australian dietitians

Recent advancements in the capabilities of information and communication technologies (ICT) offer unique avenues to support the delivery of nutrition care. Despite ICTs being widely available, evidence on the practices and attitudes with regard to ICT use among dietitians is limited. A cross-sectional survey of Dietitians Association of Australia members was administered online in August 2011. All dietitians who responded (n=87) had access to a computer at work. Half reported providing non face-to-face consultations, with the telephone and email the most common modes of delivery. The use of smart phones was prevalent for 49% of practitioners, with 30% recommending nutrition-related applications and/or programs to clients. Benefits to technology use in practice most commonly reported included improvements in access to information/resources, time management, and workflow efficiency. Barriers identified related to cost and access to technology, and lack of suitable programs/applications. Technology was viewed as an important tool in practice among 93% of dietitians surveyed, however only 38% were satisfied with their current level of use. The majority (81%) believed more technology should be integrated within dietetics, while 85% indicated that the development of suitable and practical applications andprograms is necessary for future practice. Technology is regarded as an important tool by Australian dietitians, with an expressed need for theirinclusion to further facilitate nutrition care. Regular and ongoing evaluation of technology use among dietitians is vital to ensure thatapplications and use are evidence based and relevant to consumers in the digital world.

A qualitative exploration of drivers of eating habits in young Australian men

Australian men’s health status is poor, with a lower life expectancy than women and higher chronic disease risk due in part to poorer dietary habits. Previous studies and sociological theories have: - linked gender norms around food and masculine ideals to men’s eating patterns; and - aligned these forms of masculinity with certain occupations. This study sought to explore the drivers of young, Australian men’s diets, the link to ideas of masculinity and occupation groups to assist in the development of strategies to support healthier eating habits in this population.

Brominated flame retardants in the Australian population : 1993-2009

Brominated flame retardants, including hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used to reduce the flammability of a multitude of electrical and electronic products, textiles and foams. The use of selected PBDEs has ceased, however, use of decaBDE and HBCD continues. While elevated concentrations of PBDEs in humans have been observed in Australia, no data is available on other BFRs such as HBCD. This study aimed to provide background HBCD concentrations from a representative sample of the Australian population and to assess temporal trends of HBCD and compare with PBDE concentrations over a 16 year period. Samples of human milk collected in Australia from 1993 to 2009, primarily from primiparae mothers were combined into 12 pools from 1993 (2 pools); 2001; 2002/2003 (4 pools); 2003/2004; 2006; 2007/2008 (2 pools); and 2009. Concentrations of ∑HBCD ranged from not quantified (nq) to 19 ng g−1 lipid while α-HBCD and γ-HBCD ranged from nq to 10 ng g−1 lipid and nq to 9.2 ng g−1 lipid. β-HBCD was detected in only one sample at 3.6 ng g−1 lipid while ∑4PBDE ranged from 2.5 to 15.8 ng g−1 lipid. No temporal trend was apparent in HBCD concentrations in human milk collected in Australia from 1993 to 2009. In comparison, PBDE concentrations in human milk show a peak around 2002/03 (mean ∑4PBDEs = 9.6 ng g−1 lipid) and 2003/04 (12.4 ng g−1 lipid) followed by a decrease in 2007/08 (2.7 ng g−1 lipid) and 2009 (2.6 ng g−1 lipid). In human blood serum samples collected from the Australian population, PBDE concentrations did not vary greatly (p = 0.441) from 2002/03 to 2008/09. Continued monitoring including both human milk and serum for HBCD and PBDEs is required to observe trends in human body burden of HBCD and PBDEs body burden following changes to usage.

Fish out of water : refugee and international students in mainstream Australian schools

In this paper, the authors combine Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of hysteresis (the ‘fish out of water’ experience) with the discourse historical approach to critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a theoretical and analytical framework through which they examine specific moments in the schooling experiences of one refugee student and one international student, both enrolled in post-compulsory education in Australian mainstream secondary schools. We examine specific moments – as narrated by these students during interviews – in which these students can be described as ‘fish out of water’. As such, this paper takes up the concerns of researchers who call for an examination of the lived geographies and the everyday lives of individual students in mainstream schools. We find that our students’ habitus, conditioned by their previous schooling experiences in their home countries, did not match their new Australian schools, resulting in frustration with, and alienation from, their mainstream schools. However, we also note that schools, too, need to adapt and adjust their habitus to the new multicultural world, in which there are international and refugee students among their usual cohort of mainstream students.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a kidney and cardiovascular disease treatment program in an Australian Aboriginal population

The objective of the study was to assess, from a health service perspective, whether a systematic program to modify kidney and cardiovascular disease reduced the costs of treating end-stage kidney failure. The participants in the study were 1,800 aboriginal adults with hypertension, diabetes with microalbuminuria or overt albuminuria, and overt albuminuria, living on two islands in the Northern Territory of Australia during 1995 to 2000. Perindopril was the primary treatment agent, and other medications were also used to control blood pressure. Control of glucose and lipid levels were attempted, and health education was offered. Evaluation of program resource use and costs for follow-up periods was done at 3 and 4.7 years. On an intention-to-treat basis, the number of dialysis starts and dialysis-years avoided were estimated by comparing the fate of the treatment group with that of historical control subjects, matched for disease severity, who were followed in the before the treatment program began. For the first three years, an estimated 11.6 person-years of dialysis were avoided, and over 4.7 years, 27.7 person-years of dialysis were avoided. The net cost of the program was 1,210 dollars more per person per year than status quo care, and dialyses avoided gave net savings of 1.0 million dollars at 3 years and 3.4 million dollars at 4.6 years. The treatment program provided significant health benefit and impressive cost savings in dialysis avoided.

Making space for knowledge generation and place for knowledge communities : an analysis of the Australian practice

In the era of global knowledge economy, urban regions—seeking to increase their competitive edge, become destinations for talent and investment, and provide prosperity and quality of life to their inhabitants—have little chance achieving their development goals without forming effective knowledge-based urban development strategies. This paper aims to shed light on the planning and development processes of the knowledge-based urban development phenomenon with respect to the construction of knowledge community precincts aimed at making space for knowledge generation and place for knowledge communities. Following to a thorough review of the literature on knowledge-based urban development and strategic asset-based planning, the paper undertakes policy and best practice analyses to learn from the planning and development processes of internationally renowned knowledge community precincts—from Copenhagen, Eindhoven and Singapore. In the light of the analyses findings, this paper scrutinises major Australian knowledge community precinct initiatives—from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane—to better understand the dynamics of national practices, and benchmark them against the international best practice cases. The paper concludes with a discussion on the study findings and recommendations for successfully establishing space and place for both knowledge economy and society in Australian cities.

A chance for diversity? Australian online journalism

Australia’s mainstream media landscape has long been recognised as highly limited – media ownership in the country has traditionally been concentrated in the hands of a very few, and (except for Sydney and Melbourne) it is common for major Australian cities to be served by only one local newspaper, usually produced by Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd. This can be seen also to affect the quality and diversity of Australian journalism; additionally, the global decline of newspaper publishers’ revenues and overall adverse economic conditions exert further pressure on journalistic operations in the country. At the same time, and possibly in response to the increasing stresses on industrial journalism in the country and the implications they have for the quality of journalistic products, a vibrant and dynamic ecosystem of Australian industrial and citizen journalism publications has emerged online. Existing media organisations have built strong news brands online, while citizen journalists and political bloggers have given voice to issues, concerns, and opinions hitherto underrepresented in Australian mainstream journalism; of particular interest, however, is the increasing level of engagement and interaction between the two. While such interaction has been characterised by deep animosity at times (especially also in the context of the Australian federal election in November 2007), Australia has also seen the emergence and establishment of a number of new, intermediary online publications which act as spaces for public debate and analysis – from the public intellectualism of Online Opinion through the muckraking of Crikey to the progressive politics of New Matilda. The rise of social media as spaces for the discussion of news and politics further changes the media environment, potentially leading both to renewed conflict between professional and citizen journalists and to a greater level of engagement between journalists and audiences. Overall, then, such online developments offer a chance for a greater diversity of opinion and representation in Australian journalism, but also remain under a cloud from uncertain long-term business models and funding arrangements. This chapter outlines current trends in Australian online journalism, and speculates about their effect on the Australian news media landscape.