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Not fair, no choice: the impact of WorkChoices on twenty South Australian workers and their households Jude Elton and Barbara Pocock / Centre for Work + LifeThere have always been harsh bosses in Australia: this is not new. However, the accounts assembled here suggest that WorkChoices has created a climate where some employers feel licensed to act with unilateral disdain for workers and their rights in many cases. Posted 01-08-2007
Re-imagining Science Education: Engaging students in science for Australia’s future Russell Tytler / Australian Council for Educational ResearchThe failure of school science to respond to the changing needs of students and the changing nature of science itself has created a crisis in Australian science education that shows no sign of abating according to a new review of research. Russell Tytler calls for major curriculum reform, arguing that the time has passed for tinkering around the edges of a science curriculum that belongs to the past. Posted 01-08-2007
AWAs, collective agreements and earnings: beneath the aggregate data David Peetz and Alison Preston / Victoria Department of Innovation, Industry & Regional DevelopmentIn introducing the 'WorkChoices' reforms, the federal government argued that they would encourage increased wages, particularly through Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). Using unpublished data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Employee Earnings and Hours (EEH) Survey for May 2006 this report studies the effects of these reforms. Posted 01-08-2007
Juvenile arson intervention programs in Australia Damon A Muller and Ashley Stebbins / Australian Institute of CriminologyAn important strategy for preventing deliberate firesetting is intervention with young people who show an unhealthy interest in fire and fire services. All Australian jurisdictions conduct juvenile arson intervention programs for such young people. This report examines the models for programs and calls for their evaluation. Posted 01-08-2007
The relationship between emotional state and other variables influencing successful reintegration of ex-prisoners: report to the Criminology Research Council Joe Graffam and Alison Shinkfield / Australian Institute of CriminologyCommunity reintegration of ex-prisoners is an important issue in efforts to reduce recidivism. This study examined the multiple interactive variables influencing successful reintegration of ex-prisoners, with a specific focus on the role of emotional state in the reintegration process. Posted 01-08-2007
Living dangerously with the constitution Greg Craven / Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social SciencesCan the Commonwealth take over our universities? The key point is not 'can', but 'when' argues Greg Craven in this address to the National Press Club for CHASS. Posted 01-08-2007
Costs of children Paul Henman, Richard Percival and Ann Harding, Matthew Gray / Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous AffairsThis is a collection of three reports on the costs of children in Australian families: 'The estimated costs of children in Australian families in 2005–06'; 'Updated costs of children using Australian budget standards; and 'Costs of children and equivalence scales: a review of methodological issues and Australian estimates'. Posted 31-07-2007
Intergenerational reliance on income support: psychosocial factors and their measurement Helen Berry, Emma George, Peter Butterworth, Bryan Rodgers and Tanya Caldwell / Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous AffairsThis paper identifies nine psychosocial factors that explain reliance on income support from one generation to the next. It concludes by drawing together the connections between the factors in five core themes, followed by an examination of policy and program development implications. Posted 31-07-2007
Australian social policy 2006 Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous AffairsThe latest edition of this annual departmental includes articles on trends in wealth among aged pensioners; potential risk factors, pathways and processes associated with childhood injury; men's and women's fertility; and psychosocial factors and intergenerational transmission of welfare dependency. Posted 31-07-2007
Future harvest: the way ahead for Australian agriculture and food Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and ForestryThis report outlines the Australian government’s broad policy directions for the agriculture, fisheries, forestry and food industries. It identifies key influences on future prosperity, including research and development, training and eduction, biosecurity, trade reform, consumer expectations, drought management, climate change and water, land and vegetation management. Posted 31-07-2007
Drink and food spiking Standing Committee of Attorneys-GeneralThis report concludes that there appears to be no gap in the criminal law as it applies to very serious offences involving drink-spiking. But the committee determined that there should be a particular drink and food spiking offence to fill a gap in the operation of the criminal law at the lower end of the criminal law spectrum. Posted 31-07-2007
Financial performance of government trading enterprises 2004-05 to 2005-06 Productivity CommissionThis research paper assesses the financial performance of 85 federal, state and territory government trading enterprises. It forms part of the commission's research into the performance of Australian industries and the progress of microeconomic reform. Posted 31-07-2007
Fostering friendships amongst a group of first-year university students: the use of online learning software Karen Farquharson / Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and SocietyThis study looks at whether students who participated in online tutorial discussions, in addition to face-to-face tutorial meetings, made more friends through the class than students who did not. Posted 31-07-2007
OECD health data 2007 OECDThis report shows that the number of doctors in OECD countries has increased by 35 per cent over the past fifteen years to 2.8 million. In most countries, this growth was driven largely by rising numbers of specialists – up nearly 50 per cent between 1990 and 2005 - compared with the 20 per cent increase in general practitioners. Posted 31-07-2007
Excessive internet use: the role of personality, loneliness and social support networks in internet addiction Elizabeth Hardie and Ming Yi Tee / Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and SocietyAn online survey of 96 adults showed that, based on Young's (1998) criteria for the Internet Addiction Test, 40% of the sample could be classified as average internet users, 52% as problem over-users and 8% as pathologically addicted to the internet. Posted 31-07-2007
Rising to the humanitarian challenge in Iraq Oxfam / The NGO Coordination Committee in IraqArmed violence is the greatest threat facing Iraqis, but the population is also experiencing another kind of crisis of an alarming scale and severity, according to this report. Eight million people are in urgent need of emergency aid; that figure includes over two million who are displaced within the country, and more than two million refugees. Posted 31-07-2007
The journey so far in the senior phase of learning Bobby Harreveld and Michael Singh / Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts.The Queensland government's senior phase education and training reforms were part of a larger change that also encompassed the early years of learning and the middle schooling years. This commissioned report, written by two education academics, provides a history of the reform process from 2003 to the end of 2005. Posted 30-07-2007
Pre-court diversion in the Northern Territory : impact on juvenile reoffending Teresa Cunningham / Australian Institute of CriminologyA juvenile pre-court diversion scheme was introduced in the Northern Territory in 2000. Administered by police, it uses warnings and conferences to divert selected juveniles from the court process. This paper reports on an analysis of Northern Territory police records on 3,597 apprehended juveniles over a 5 year period. Posted 30-07-2007
Public understanding of carbon sequestration in Australia: socio-demographic predictors of knowledge, engagement and trust Evonne Miller, Lorraine Bell, Laurie Buys / The Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society This article explores the extent to which socio-demographic characteristics influence knowledge, trust, risk perception and acceptance of an emerging scientific technology, geosequestration or carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in geological formations, which is positioned as a possible response to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Posted 27-07-2007
Approaches to evaluation of affordable housing initiatives in Australia Vivienne Milligan, Peter Phibbs, Nicole Gurran, Kate Fagan / Australian Housing and Urban Research InstituteThe release of the Framework for National Action on Affordable Housing (the Framework) in 2005 has provided an opportunity to consider how evaluation could be built from the outset into a major future initiative in the housing field. In response, this report first provides an overview of ideas and developments in evaluation theory and methods, drawing mainly on a recent proposal by two sociologists, Ray Pawson and Nick Tilley (1997). Posted 27-07-2007
An audit and review of Australian Indigenous housing research Stephen Long, Paul Memmott and Tim Seelig / Australian Housing and Urban Research InstituteThis report presents the outcomes of a research project conducted by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) Queensland Research Centre (UQ) on the characteristics and themes of the Australian Indigenous housing literature. The report examines the Indigenous housing literature from the 1970s through to the 2000s. Posted 27-07-2007
Sentinel events in public hospitals 2004-05 Australian Institute of Health and WelfareThe first joint publication of the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, this report presents data on the number and nature of sentinel events occurring in Australian hospitals over the period 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005 and the factors that contributed to these serious adverse events. Posted 27-07-2007
Patient-based substudies from BEACH: abstracts and research tools 1999-2006 Helena Britt, Graeme C Miller, Joan Henderson, Clare Bayram / Australian Institute of Health and WelfareBEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health) is a continuous national study of general practice activity. Since 1998 over 9,000 GPs have recorded details regarding approximately 900,000 GP-patient encounters on structured paper forms. The report is designed to assist GPs and other researchers by providing them with a wide range of tools that have demonstrated acceptability and utility, that are useable in the confines of general practice patient consultations, and which have already been approved by recognised ethics committees. Posted 27-07-2007
Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2005-06: findings from the National Minimum Data Set Department of Health and AgeingThis report presents data on publicly funded alcohol and other drug treatment services and their clients, including information about the types of drugs for which treatment is sought and the types of treatment provided. The data contained in this bulletin are derived from the comprehensive AODTS-NMDS 2005-06 annual report. Posted 27-07-2007
Design faults: the Asia Pacific's regional architecture, policy brief Allan Gyngell / Lowy InstituteThe Asia Pacific region has too many regional organisations, yet they are still unable to do all the things required of them. This matters at a time when the rising power of China and India presents new challenges. There is a need for a new framework for regional institutions, including the establishment of a more effective security organisation and a heads of government meeting separate from APEC. Posted 27-07-2007
Three perspectives on China Antony Funnell / The Media Report, ABC Radio NationalThree very different perspectives on China and the media... from the changing nature of propaganda to the globalisation of the Chinese cinema and television industry. Posted 26-07-2007
Public broadcasting in Canada and Australia Antony Funnell / The Media Report, ABC Radio NationalA look at issues relating to public broadcasting in both Australia and Canada, including an interview with the out-going Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's News Division, Tony Burman. Posted 26-07-2007
Homicide in Australia: 2005-06 national homicide monitoring program annual report Megan Davies and Jenny Mouzos / Australian Institute of CriminologyDuring 2005-06, there were 283 incidents of homicide, resulting in 301 victims, committed by 336 offenders. This is 34 more incidents than in 2004-05, an increase of 14 percent. Posted 26-07-2007Policy on Line