Industry In Australia Research Articles

The Relationship between Mental Illness and Career Burnout in High-Stress Industries in Australia: A Systematic Review

The Relationship between Mental Illness and Career Burnout in High-Stress Industries in Australia: A Systematic Review

Towards an Evidence-Based Critical Incidents and Suicides Response Program in Australian Construction

Fatal and non-fatal accidents and suicides at work pose a substantial threat to workers’ physical and psychological safety, particularly within the construction industry. Managing these incidents is an essential component of workplace health and safety (WHS). Additionally, a formal program to support workers and provide feedback to improve the existing WHS management system is increasingly important. However, knowledge of the factors contributing to an effective critical incident (CI) or postvention response is limited by the lack of published evidence-based interventions, especially for occupations and industries that are exposed to higher rates of fatal and non-fatal injuries due to accidents and suicides. In addition, broader concerns surrounding the effectiveness of conventional critical incident programs highlight the need to develop innovative and evidence-based critical intervention and postvention responses addressing acute stress symptoms arising from exposure. This research outlines the development of the MATES Respond Training Program, a component of the WHO-endorsed MATES in Construction program, which is a charity charged with the task of improving mental health and suicide prevention in the construction industry in Australia and New Zealand. Development of the MATES Respond Training Program was informed by the following three key sources: a rapid literature review, interviews with 11 workers trained in peer support suicide prevention interventions, and an analysis of site notes on 193 critical incident and postvention construction site attendances by MATES in Construction field officers, case managers and social workers. Insights and recommendations obtained from these sources, along with the resulting program, are discussed in this paper.

Circular Economy-Related Strategies to Minimise Construction- and Demolition- Waste Generation in Australian Construction Projects

The construction industry in Australia generates a significant amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, necessitating better waste management (WM) practices. This research addresses this issue by investigating CE strategies aimed at minimising C&D waste in Australian construction projects (CPs). Utilising a qualitative approach, the study is based on 20 interviews and four case studies of commercial CPs, analysed through NVivo content analysis. The findings emphasise the need to integrate CE strategies at every CP stage. In the pre-design phase, setting sustainable objectives and engaging stakeholders early is crucial for aligning goals to reduce C&D waste. The tendering process benefits from incorporating WM into contracts, demonstrating early commitment to sustainability. The design phase, through Building Information Modelling and designing for disassembly, offers substantial waste-reduction opportunities. Modular and prefabricated components during the construction phase enhance material reuse and recycling. Operational strategies like regular maintenance and retrofitting extend material lifespan, while selective demolition and digital cataloguing at the end-of-life phase enable efficient material recovery. This highlights the essential roles of policy, technology, and stakeholder collaboration in advancing CE practices, providing practical insights for construction professionals and policymakers to implement CE-related strategies in CPs. The research concludes that adopting CE strategies can lead to significant reductions in C&D waste and improved sustainability in the construction sector.

Developing new boutique winery businesses—Lessons from the Australian experience

The global wine industry has been growing strongly for many years with entrepreneurs often seeking to establish boutique wineries in new or established wine-producing regions, partly to indulge their passion for wine but also to develop successful, long-term business ventures. Within this context, Australia has successfully grown its wine industry over several decades and is now one of the world’s largest wine exporters. The country is known for its robust mix of large and small wine producers and wine tourism. This paper explores key issues that should be considered by entrepreneurs contemplating new boutique winery ventures to increase their chances of business success. This is done by reviewing the general wine industry in Australia and comparing the situations of five successful smaller wine producers scattered around the country. To carry out the comparisons, the authors reviewed public promotions, customer reviews, and other materials about the case businesses and industry and interviewed proprietors as needed. A representative convenience sample of successful boutique wineries from several major Australian wine regions was chosen for review so that the whole Australian industry was covered. Based on their analysis, the authors firmly believe that boutique winery entrepreneurs must examine all aspects of the business model for their proposed venture and especially their interface with wine tourism to improve their chances for long-term growth and business success. Like most real estate investments, the location of the vineyard is critically important. Then, as well as producing high-quality grapes and wines and developing strong cellar door sales, they should also incorporate food offerings that emphasize pairing their wines with local produce. In addition, they should establish onsite “experience” focused lodging options that showcase local arts and crafts, with “glamping” style accommodations providing a particularly suitable option. These are all matters which should be considered from the very outset when the venture is initially being conceptualized and plans are being formulated for the development of the chosen property. For the sake of clarity, within this study, the term “boutique winery” refers to a wine-making facility with an adjoining vineyard.

Reading the Creative Industries With Deleuze: How Creative Are the Creative Industries?

This article develops a definition of creativity that is informed by the work of Gilles Deleuze, Dan Harris, Susan Luckman, and others. We explore its application in the context of the creative industries in Australia. Through our empirical interviews conducted as part of an Australian Research Council–funded project called Vital Arts, we delve into the multifaceted nature of creativity, which we argue is not always accounted for in the bureaucratic organization, categorization, and funding of the creative industries. We outline the measurements used by key governmental, nongovernmental, and policymaking bodies in Australia to categorize and fund the creative industries. These metrics reveal blind spots in how the creative industries are institutionally organized and treated when considering the Deleuzian ontology of creativity that actually motors creative work. We argue that many creative jobs and industries exist outside traditional bureaucratic definitions and categories, and through the concepts of affect, becoming, the major and the minor, as well as fabulation, from Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy, we explore these dynamics further.

Continued development of a tool to measure intramuscular fat of Australian lamb carcases in commercial situations

Despite the importance of intramuscular fat (IMF) to eating quality, as yet no methodology has been widely adopted by the whole of industry in Australia to measure it routinely. Thus, a study was conducted to investigate the potential for a Near Infra-Red (NIR) device to predict the IMF content of the loin from spectra collected on the topside which is externally located on a hanging carcase and therefore easily accessible. To this end, NIR spectra were collected from topsides (m. semimembranosus) of 258 lamb carcases over 5 data collections and a sample of muscle was collected from the loin and the topside for IMF determination using a wet chemistry method. Subsequent Partial Least Square (PLS) models suggested the ability to predict the absolute IMF content of loins was poor (R2 = 0.28, RMSE = 1.26), yet there was a moderate ability to predict the IMF content of the topside (R2 = 0.56, RMSE = 0.82). Partial Least Square Discrimination Analysis (PLS-DA) models to classify cuts based on the IMF eating quality threshold of 4.5% yielded better predictive outcomes with accuracies of 66.7% and 76.7% for loin and topside respectively. However, further research to assess the relationship between the IMF of the loin and topside and reduce the impact of differences in overall absorbance between data collections will improve predictive outcomes.

XR support in the frame: the creative extended reality ecosystem in Australia

ABSTRACT Extended Reality (XR) is an emerging creative industry in Australia, and practitioners have had broad success in the international film festival circuit. This paper presents the results of a sector analysis conducted in late 2020 by the authors for their non-profit organization Frame Documentary. The analysis was designed to learn about the barriers to developing and producing non-fiction creative work in Australia using new technologies. We found that despite the international visibility of Australian XR practitioners, the domestic XR sector does not yet have access to strong and tailored support structures. While international XR artists have access to numerous funds, labs and mentorship programmes, Australian creative XR is developed and funded via the mainstream Australian screen industry – broadcasters, state and federal screen funding agencies, or is developed completely outside of dedicated screen support structures. Through a wide range of interviews with creative XR practitioners, as well as industry supporters and observers (including early career artists, award-winning practitioners, international sister organizations, festivals, funding agencies and commissioners), we identified six core areas of concern to the industry. We suggest that initiatives targeted at these areas can help to build a stronger, more sustainable and more diverse creative XR sector in Australia.

Analysis of Gender Diversity Initiatives to Empower Women in the Australian Construction Industry

Organizations play an essential role in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. Despite attempts to encourage gender diversity in the workplace, the construction industry in Australia remains one of the most male-dominated industries. Existing research tends to focus on identifying barriers to gender equality and women’s career development, with limited exploration of organizations’ current initiative implementation. To fill this research gap, this study aims to examine how organizations implement initiatives affecting gender equality and women’s career development in the Australian construction industry. This study applied the women’s empowerment framework and conducted a thematic analysis of diversity, inclusion, and equality policies, strategies, action plans, corporate reports, annual reports, and websites within the context of gender equality and women’s career development in construction companies. Through a comprehensive analysis, the study identifies prevalent practices and initiatives related to gender equality initiatives in the construction industry, synthesizing them into six themes: flexible working arrangements, inclusive and anti-discriminatory culture, promoting career development, recruitment, and promotion, shared caring responsibility, and strategic commitments. The findings also revealed areas for improvement, giving recommendations on how to further empower women in the construction industry through enhanced gender diversity initiatives. This study sheds light on the current state of gender diversity and inclusion efforts within construction companies and provides practical recommendations for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and organizational leaders who seek to foster more inclusive and equitable work environments.

An MCDM analysis of critical success criteria for medium and large construction projects in Australia and New Zealand

PurposeThe global construction industry has a history of poor project success, with evident and frequent overruns in cost and schedule. This industry is a highly interconnected and complex system in which the components, i.e. suppliers, contractors, end-users, and stakeholders, are delicately linked to each other, the community, and the environment. Therefore, defining and measuring project success can be challenging for sponsors, contractors, and the public. To address this issue, this study develops and analyzes a more comprehensive set of success criteria for medium and large construction projects.Design/methodology/approachAfter reviewing the existing literature, this study identified 19 success criteria for medium and large construction projects, which were categorized into five groups. The fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (fuzzy DEMATEL) method was used to gain further insight into the interrelationships between these categories and explain the cause-and-effect relationships among them. Next, this study applied the modified logarithmic least squares method to determine the importance weight of these criteria using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process.Findings28 project managers working in the construction industries in Australia and New Zealand participated in this study. Results suggest that “project efficiency” and “impacts on the project team” are cause criteria that affect “business success,” “impacts on stakeholders,” and “impacts on end-users.” Effective risk management emerged as the most crucial criterion in project efficiency, while customer satisfaction and return on investment are top criteria in “impacts on end-users” and “business success.”Originality/valueAlthough numerous studies have been conducted on project success criteria, multicriteria analyses of success criteria are rare. This paper presents a comprehensive set of success criteria tailored to medium and large construction projects. The aim is to analyze their interrelationships and prioritize them thoroughly, which will aid practitioners in focusing on the most important criteria for achieving higher success rates.

Toward a push–pull strategy against invasive snails using chemical and visual stimuli

Four invasive Mediterranean snails, i.e., Theba pisana (Müller, 1774), Cernuella virgata (da Costa, 1778), Cochlicella acuta (Müller, 1774) and Cochlicella barbara (Linnaeus, 1758) cost $170 million yearly to the grain industry in Australia. Their impact is mainly due to their estivation behavior: snails climb on cereal and legume stalks to rest during summer, which coincides with harvest, causing grain contamination issues in crops such as wheat, barley and canola. Diverse management methods have been developed to regulate snail populations, with limited success. Our study investigates the potential for a push–pull strategy to divert invasive snails from cultivated fields. A “push” part (i.e. using a repellent stimuli) was based on the use of a chemical deterrent repelling snails from the cultivated field, and a “pull” part (i.e. using an attractive stimuli) was based on offering attractive estivation supports for snails to aggregate outside the cultivated field. First, artificial estivation supports of different colors were tested under laboratory and field conditions and showed that red supports were the most attractive for these snails. Second, different substances were tested as potential snail deterrents (garlic, coffee, coffee grounds, copper). Garlic extracts were the most powerful snail deterrent and were shown to effectively protect an estivation support and food source from snails under laboratory conditions. These results, which were highly consistent for the four species, illustrate the potential of a push–pull strategy against invasive snails in Australia. It is the first attempt to develop a push–pull strategy relying on both visual and chemical stimuli to achieve results, as well as manipulating the estivation behavior of a pest.

A creative gift economy: pre-pandemic creative systems examined through a study of regional creative industries in Australia

Australia’s creative industries and the impact COVID-19 had on cultural, employment and economic outputs is examined through the themes creative systems, creative migration, cultural volunteering and cultural tourism. Using a Creative System/Ecosystem theoretical framework, this research takes a retrospective view through data collected during the ‘old normal’ that was pre-pandemic Australia and presents findings on creative and cultural activities occurring in seven statistically determined creative hotspots. These findings are reviewed against the COVID-19 economic stimulus packages created by Australian Federal and State Governments. The research takes a deep dive into the precarious nature of creative employment and migration, cultural volunteering and tourism, through an investigation of Australia’s regional creative economies and points to the existence of a gift economy that sustains many activities that are essential to the Creative Industries.

A Structural Equation Model Study for Adoption of Internet of Things for the Growth of Manufacturing Industries in Australia

This research study delves into the integration of IoT within the Australian manufacturing sector, analyzing five key factors influencing adoption and drawing comparisons with Rogers' innovation theory. Its objectives encompass assessing how competitiveness, regulatory support, management support, manufacturing growth, and cost savings affect IoT adoption. Methodologically, the research journey includes defining the problem, conducting a thorough literature review, crafting a research proposal, executing pilot and main studies, validating findings, and ultimately composing the final thesis. Quantitative data obtained from a large pool of over 500 respondents shed light on the positive impacts of competitiveness, regulatory support, and cost savings on IoT adoption. Additionally, the study employs Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) to underscore the significance of management support in successful IoT implementation. Despite facing limitations such as common method bias and constraints on generalizability, the research underscores the transformative potential of IoT in enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making within Australian manufacturing. Overall, the study's findings confirm the significant influence of key factors on IoT adoption, affirming its potential to drive competitiveness, regulatory compliance, cost efficiency, and growth within the Australian manufacturing landscape.

Who’s the boss? Exploring public and private wage growth leadership in state-level education and health industries in Australia

ABSTRACT Public sector wage research has evolved beyond the estimation of public sector wage premiums to investigating the nature of interrelationships between public and private wage patterns. This article seeks to extend this wage leadership research to investigate intra-industry linkages and spillovers between public and private sector wage growth in Education and Health industries, using Australia as a case study. The research employs vector error correction models to encompass tests for full wage adaptability, long-run and short-run wage leadership. Results show that the public sector is the long-run leader in all models, regardless of industry and alternative jurisdictions’ public sector wage setting policy. Our findings have important policy implications for public sector wage setting practices, demonstrating that wage policies which may be based on political motivations can have widespread effects on the private sector.

Indicators for measuring and reporting corporate nature-related impacts, dependencies, and risks

Businesses are embedded within nature. Their supply chains, operations, and products fundamentally depend on and impact nature. These impacts and dependencies can give rise to nature-related risks (as well as related opportunities). However, despite growing expectations from stakeholders, most businesses are currently not adequately measuring and reporting on these. To date, it has not been clear whether this requires the development of entirely new indicators, or whether various existing sustainability reporting frameworks could provide sufficient information on nature-related risks. This paper evaluates the decision-usefulness of existing indicators for the softwood plantation forestry industry in Australia. Decision-usefulness is assessed against three criteria: (1) relevance and completeness; (2) faithful representation; and (3) comparability. The results show some potential for adaptation of indicators already used in sustainability-related corporate accounting and reporting, which could help reduce the reporting burden and encourage uptake. However, gaps remain in measuring the financial consequences for business from nature-related risks and in providing sufficient comparable information to evaluate performance across industries and locations. Implications are discussed in relation to recent recommendations from the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) sustainability standards IFRS S1 and S2.

Employment Outcomes for Australian Tourism and Hospitality VET Graduates During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted employment, education, and the vocational education and training (VET) sector across the worldwide economy. This study examines the impact of the pandemic on VET enrollment figures and employment outcomes for graduates in the travel and tourism industry in Australia using data from the Student Outcome Surveys conducted from 2018 to 2021. We seek to determine if the pandemic had a negative impact on enrollment and post-VET employment outcomes in the tourism and hospitality sector. The findings suggest that employment outcomes after training, tourism and hospitality graduates experienced a transitory decline in job prospects particularly during 2020 but recovered substantially during 2021. In the case of hospitality graduates, the probability of employment in 2021 exceeded pre-pandemic levels. We conclude that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on VET enrollments and employment outcomes in the tourism and hospitality sector have been less devastating than public perception would suggest.

Windows of opportunity: The power dynamics in the disposable nappy regime and opportunities for niche innovations

This paper studies niche-regime dynamics in sustainability transitions in the disposable nappy industry in Australia. Disposable nappies generate a disproportionate amount of plastic waste relative to the per capita usage of the product. In the 60 years since disposable nappies were introduced into the market, niche innovators attempting to offer more sustainable solutions have been unable to challenge the dominant market position of disposable nappies. Little attention has been paid to the dynamics of this industry despite the growing plastic waste crisis and the emergence of new niche innovations.In this study, we apply the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) to the disposable nappy category for the first time. We adopt the “windows of opportunity” framework that sits within MLP to understand niche-regime dynamics in the nappy industry. The findings of this study revealed several significant barriers that niche nappy innovators need to overcome to destabilise regime-level actors and become mainstream. Achieving price parity and matching performance and convenience are the most significant factors. A new policy intervention in the Australian state of New South Wales banning the inclusion of compostable biofilms in household Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) waste collections also poses an immediate regulatory barrier.

Investigating the role of blow fly olfaction in flystrike in sheep

Breech flystrike is a painful, debilitating and potentially lethal disease caused by the larvae of the blowfly, Lucilia cuprina, and, despite many years of research, it remains a serious financial and animal-welfare issue for the Merino sheep industry in Australia. The common methods of prevention, namely insecticides, crutching and ‘mulesing’, are problematical, so alternative approaches are needed. Breeding for resistance to breech strike is a fundamentally attractive proposition, but the trait itself is difficult and expensive to quantify in large numbers of sheep in extensive production systems. Several indirect traits are correlated with susceptibility to flystrike, but a large proportion of the variation in susceptibility remains unexplained. The common thread through those indirect traits is odour, so we turned to the biology of insect olfaction and its role in fly–sheep interactions. L. cuprina uses odours to detect and locate potential hosts over long distances, to guide orientation and landing behaviour, and to select egg-laying sites. Preliminary studies demonstrated the importance of confining our work to gravid female L. cuprina, and also validated the use of flies reared in the laboratory for experimentation. Using laboratory-reared flies and a combination of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry with electroantennographic detection, we identified odouriferous compounds from sheep that the antenna of L. cuprina can detect. To determine whether the identified compounds were attractive or repulsive, we needed to use a behaviour test. In preliminary studies, we compared four behaviour bioassays (Y-tube, landing time, visiting frequency, and trap) and found the trap to be the most effective. We observed that L. cuprina was attracted by several compounds in Merino wool, including octanal, nonanal and dimethyl trisulfide. We also found that the wool levels of octanal and nonanal are heritable in Merino sheep, suggesting that these compounds might be useful as traits in selection for flystrike resistance. Another possibility is that these olfactory-active compounds might guide efforts to modify the genome of sheep, or perhaps even L. cuprina. Success in these endeavours could save as much as A$200 m per year for the Australian Merino-based industries, while also improving the image of wool in world markets.

Using social marketing to improve retirement funding for women in Australia and other countries

The objective of this study is to highlight the superannuation industry in Australia as an exemplar and then compare this to other countries. To this end, an overview of the literature in the field considers various countries and their approaches. What emerges is that profound inequities in retirement funding will continue unless policies change. Superannuation tends to work well for males who are employed full time but less well for females in general and other groups such as the long-term unemployed, self-employed, contractors, transient populations, indigenous and people with illness and addictions. Having entire cohorts of citizens cascade into poverty upon retirement is a political embarrassment and a human rights issue. This is effectively a wicked problem that can be addressed by well-designed proactive social marketing and redesigned government and industry policy. Governments and industry should work together to find a way to augment the retirement plans of females and other marginalized groups.

Analyzing MIXUE's Situation in Australia Through SWOT

Against the backdrop of the tea industry gradually going global, MIXUE has moved from China to the world and established offline stores in Australia in 2023, which have received popularity from locals. As a result, the purpose of this research was to examine MIXUE's SWOT analysis of the circumstances that Australian CBD stores are in. This research showed that for locals, product, price, place, and promotion have positive effects on the purchase intention of customers. In this study, MIXUE's location was chosen in the CBD, which provides a certain base of customers for MIXUE. MIXUE's beverages, which are completely lower than the market price, have attracted customers, especially young people. At the same time, the sales method of distributing coupons before opening has also played a good role in the 'warm-up' stage, laying the foundation for the number of customers after opening. In the beverage industry, Customers also attach great importance to product quality. This article has certain reference significance for brands planning to develop the tea industry in Australia in the future.

A Summary of Fatal Injury Surveillance Methods in Australian Agriculture and Their Impact on Safety Policies and Practices

ABSTRACT Agriculture is one of the most important and also hazardous industries in Australia. Having a sound knowledge and understanding of the circumstance of injury events is critical to developing evidence-based intervention programs. This paper aims to provide a brief historical snapshot of the development of data systems underpinning the assessment of fatal farm injury in Australia and how it has impacted on safety policy and practice. The first Australian studies used coronial information to explore agricultural fatalities, these studies reviewed paper-based records (in-situ) and collected the information for analysis and reporting. This task was laborious and costly. When the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) was established in 2000, this allowed access to coronial records online. Information provided about the deceased includes demographics, contextual details on the nature of the fatality and autopsy, toxicology, and police reports, as-well-as the coroner’s finding. Information from the NCIS, along with media reports, have been used to develop the farm fatality database. This information has been used to inform the safety goals and targets for farm commodity groups, identify key risks, provide long-term benchmark indicators and underpin the development of prevention materials and training resources. Without accurate, timely, concise and relevant data about injury occurring on farms, there is no evidence to drive policy and practice or to evaluate programs of work. As such, the continued utilization and extension of the NCIS data will prove crucial to further reducing the burden of preventable fatal injuries on Australian farms.