Educating teachers in child protection : lessons from research

This paper examines research about child protection preparation of teachers. Such research indicates that the nature of the training required to "do the public good" would differ markedly from that which is currently on offer in most teacher education courses. Whilst teachers have the potential to operate as frontline respondents in combating child abuse, the limitations of their training create a situation in which they are "worried, lacking in confidence and stressed about their ability to comply with mandatory reporting legislation" (Bluett, 2002). The consequences to the community are substantial: not only are there disincentives for teachers to participate in child protection roles and the increased likelihood of poor quality reporting, but children subjected to abuse may be unable to access protective services via the school system. The paper distills the findings of recent studies to identify design parameters for effective teacher preparation in child protection. The paper concludes that a program informed by research has the potential to produce enhanced outcomes for children, teachers and the broader community.

Commercial critical systems and critical infrastructure protection : a future research agenda

Secure management of Australia’s commercial critical infrastructure presents ongoing challenges to owners and the government. Although it is currently managed through high-level information sharing via collaboration, but does this suit the commercial sector. One of the issues facing Australia is that the majority of critical infrastructure resides under the control of the business sector and certain aspects such of the critical infrastructure such as Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems are distributed entities and not a single entity. The paper focuses upon the security issues associated with SCM systems and critical infrastructure protection.

Security protection for critical infrastructure

Understanding and managing information infrastructure (II) security risks is a priority to most organizations dealing with information technology and information warfare (IW) scenarios today (Libicki, 2000). Traditional security risk analysis (SRA) was well suited to these tasks within the paradigm of computer security, where the focus was on securing tangible items such as computing and communications equipment (NCS,1996; Cramer, 1998). With the growth of information interchange and reliance on information infrastructure, the ability to understand where vulnerabilities lie within an organization, regardless of size, has become extremely difficult (NIPC, 1996). To place a value on the information that is owned and used by an organization is virtually an impossible task. The suitability of risk analysis to assist in managing IW and information infrastructure-related security risks is unqualified, however studies have been undertaken to build frameworks and methodologies for modeling information warfare attacks (Molander, Riddile, & Wilson, 1996; Johnson, 1997; Hutchinson & Warren, 2001) which will assist greatly in applying risk analysis concepts and methodologies to the burgeoning information technology security paradigm, information warfare.

Nano zinc oxide for UV protection of textiles

This paper describes the effect on the fading of dyed polyester fabrics in artificial sunlight, when the Ultra Violet (UV) component of the radiation was blocked by coating the fabric with zinc oxide nanoparticles, dispersed in an acrylic polymer. Zinc oxide is photoactive and generates superoxide and hydroxyl radicals (Reactive Oxygen Species; ROS) when irradiated with UV in the presence of oxygen and water. The results for the four dyes studied show that different dye chromophores interact differently with ROS. Selection of dyes with anti oxidant properties or addition of other anti oxidants may reduce the adverse effects of ROS

Hollow avowals of human rights protection-time for an Australian federal bill of rights?

Unlike the constitutions of many nations, such as the United States of America and the Republic of South Africa, the constitutions of the Australian States and Territories and the Commonwealth Constitution Act 1901 (UK) contain no bill of rights. Australia is the only western democracy without a federal bill of rights. The debate regarding the need for a bill of rights necessitates an understanding of what human rights the people of Australia already enjoy. If sufficient protection can be found in existing sources, does Australia really need a federal bill of rights? Opponents of a bill of rights state that we have sufficient protection from arbitrary government intervention in our personal affairs and thus a bill of rights is unnecessary. There are a number of potential sources of human rights in Australia that might provide the suggested existing protection, including the common law, specific domestic legislation, international law and constitutional law. Each of these sources of human rights has, however, important limitations. The focus of this article is on the inadequacy of the Australian constitutions as a source of purported protection. This in turn suggests that an alternative source of rights is needed - a federal bill of rights? In the course of this analysis the author makes suggestions for reform; specifically how a federal bill of rights may address the paucity of constitutional protection.

The evolution of the temporary protection visa regime in Australia

While the Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) regime was formally introduced in October 1999 by the Howard Government, the concept of temporary protection was not totally alien to the Australian humanitarian landscape. Earlier examples reflected a standard use of temporary protection as a complementary or interim protection mechanism, offering short-term group-based protection where individual assessment under the 1951 Convention was both impractical and untimely. This paper focuses on the wider and more controversial changes in the use of temporary protection mechanisms that were to follow with the introduction of the TPV in 1999, which offered substitute protection for individually assessed Convention refugees who had arrived onshore without valid travel documents. It examines the history and evolution of the TPV policy regime from 1999 to the announcement of its abolition in 2008, arguing that the introduction and subsequent development of the policy may be understood as a product of a conservative, exclusionist political climate in Australia, following the unprecedented impact of the populist One Nation party in 1998, and later, the impact of September 11th. It also examines later amendments to the regime as a response to growing domestic disquiet about the impacts of the policy, and the abolition of the TPV policy under a new Australian government elected in late 2007.

Child protection, risk assessment and blame ideology

In this article we use qualitative data drawn from a sample of child protection cases 10 demonstrate holV the process of al1ributing blame to parents and carers for child maltreatment is a sign!ficanr influence 011 decisionmaking,
sometimes to the detriment of assessing the flltllre safety of children. We foctls on two cases which both demonstrate how the process of apportioning blame can lead to decisions which might not be considered 10 be in the best interests of the children concerned. We conceptualise blame as an 'ideology' with its roots in the discourse of the 'risk society', pelpetuated and sustained by the technology of risk assessment. The concept of blame ideology is offered as an addition to theOlY which seeks 10 explain the influences on decision making in child protection practice.