Australian Government Policy Research Articles

A Retrospective Evaluation of Sustainable Yields for Australia's Northern Prawn Fishery

ABSTRACTThe fundamental aim in fisheries management is to determine an optimal fishing effort for sustainably harvesting from a replenishable resource. The current management objective of Australia's Northern Prawn Fishery is to maximize the long‐term net economic return following Australian government policy, resulting in an average recent catch of tiger prawn species of about 1,250 tons only. However, the maximum sustainable catch stated from different studies is around 3,000–4,700 tons. We also evaluated the net profit assuming that there was no buyback scheme in 2005 and the fishing fleet was kept at 89 vessels since 2005 and concluded that 40% more catch on average (2006–2009) and an additional total profit of A$17 million (excluding crew cost) could have been gained in addition to the many millions of dollars of savings in the buyback scheme. These findings have great implications for future management in Australia and elsewhere because there is a grave concern of overfishing worldwide.

Geoethics: a perspective from Australia

This short article is based on the introductory remarks I made in the Geoethics symposium at Geoitalia 2011. I was pleased to be invited to provide a brief address at this meeting because it gave me the opportunity to promote the 34 th International Geological Congress (IGC) that will to be held in Brisbane, Australia, on August 5-10, 2012, and which will have a strong geoethics symposium. My succinct remarks reflect my experience over many years in provision of technical information and advice in support of Australian government decisions and policies on mining, energy and groundwater - all of which have core geoscientific elements. Further, they reflect the situation in a new world country with a strong economy dominated by mining, which differs in many ways from the countries where the field of geoethics has been nurtured and grown. They also outline a dilemma relating to mining in a developing country.

Living and working with the people of ‘the bush’: A foundation for rural and remote clinical placements in undergraduate medical education

Background: The Australian Government's policies and programmes to redress the medical workforce shortage in rural and remote areas focus on recruitment of rural students and provision of rural clinical placements. The University of Notre Dame's Rural and Remote Health Placement Programme (RRHPP) uses an additional approach to address this issue.Aim: This article describes the RRHPP undertaken by all medical students in the first 2-years of their course and examines the educational worth of this approach.Method: Data were obtained from curricular documents, publications about the RRHPP and evaluation questionnaires administered to students and supervisors.Results: The RRHPP provides students with opportunities to develop a patient- and community-centred perspective on the health issues of rural and remote populations by having them live and work with people in these areas prior to clinical placements. It is based on sound educational principles and underpinned by participation of rural/remote communities as experts and equal teaching partners. The RRHPP is valued and perceived by a majority of students and placement hosts as a useful strategy to develop medical students’ understanding of the rural/remote community context and its impact on health.Conclusion: This community participatory approach benefits medical students and rural/remote communities.

Effectiveness of multicultural health workers in chronic disease prevention and self-management in culturally and linguistically diverse populations: a systematic literature review

With a large and increasing culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population, the Australian health care system faces challenges in the provision of accessible culturally competent health care. Communities at higher risk of chronic disease include CALD communities. Overseas, multicultural health workers (MHWs) have been increasingly integrated in the delivery of culturally relevant primary health care to CALD communities. The objective of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of MHW interventions in chronic disease prevention and self-management in CALD populations with the aim to inform policy development of effective health care in CALD communities in Australia. A systematic review protocol was developed and computerised searches were conducted of multiple electronic databases from 1 January 1995 until 1 November 2010. Thirty-nine studies were identified including 31 randomised controlled trials. Many of the studies focussed on poor and underserved ethnic minorities. Several studies reported significant improvements in participants' chronic disease prevention and self-management outcomes and meta-analyses identified a positive trend associated with MHW intervention. Australian Government policies express the need for targeted inventions for CALD communities. The broader systemic application of MHWs in Australian primary health care may provide one of the most useful targeted interventions for CALD communities.

Vocational education and training: the terra incognita of innovation policy

Is what is known from research on systemic innovation reflected in innovation policy, both as guiding principles and as actions? This paper highlights a major paradox in the translation of research on innovation into innovation policy in Australia. The innovation studies literature has established the central role of the vocational education and training (VET) system and VET-trained workers in technology generation, diffusion and incremental innovation. Research has also established that the pattern of innovation in Australia, compared with that in many other OECD countries, makes firms more reliant on VET skills to implement innovation. Despite this recognition in the innovation literature, this paper argues that the VET system is largely excluded from government innovation policy and programmes in Australia. Evidence for this exclusion is derived from a textual analysis of the principal Australian government policy statements and government-sponsored studies of the Australian innovation system, and from an analysis of the interest groups represented on government innovation advisory and policy structures. Tentative explanations are advanced for this exclusion and a number of important benefits are identified for the VET system and the wider innovation system arising from closer integration of VET into innovation policy

Australian Public Opinion on the Israel–Palestine Conflict: Implications in the Context of Arab Revolutions

This article examines the relationship between public opinion and foreign policy making in Australia by turning to the findings of a national survey of Australian public opinion on the Israel–Palestine conflict. The survey findings suggest that the Australian government's policy on the Israel–Palestine conflict is inconsistent with public opinion, and such disparity is explained here in terms of the lack of public attachment to the conflict, the limited media and the absence of any notable public advocacy for policy change. This explanation is informed by in-depth interviews conducted with current and former members of parliament and senior public servants. The article also explores the implications of the survey's findings in relation to the significant political changes taking place across the Middle East region. It suggests that these events may be creating an impetus for policy change that endorses Palestinian self-determination, for which there is significant support among the Australian public.

Redefining the Nonproliferation Norm? Australian Uranium, the NPT, and the Global Nuclear Revival

Optimists maintain that great powers oppose the proliferation of nuclear weapons and have a moral aversion to their use. The Eighth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non‐Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in May 2010 produced a final declaration calling for steps toward complete disarmament. Yet recent optimism belies some contradictory, incremental foreign policy decisions taken by countries like Australia and the United States that could produce a change of meaning for the nuclear nonproliferation norm. Building on the “norm life‐cycle” model developed by Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, this article links a new constructivist model of normative change to decisions by developed states to expand the global nuclear fuel cycle and provide sensitive nuclear assistance to other countries. An exploratory case study of Australian government policies on nuclear energy and uranium exports (2006‐present), including the possible sale of uranium to India, a non‐NPT signatory, suggests an important role for elite agency in norm redefinition.

Sudanese refugees in Victoria: An analysis of their treatment by the Australian Government

Following a brief historical account documenting developments in Australian Immigration politics and refugee and asylum seeker policies, this paper seeks to explain why Sudanese refugees in Victoria have recently been implicated in an increased involvement in crime by politicians and the media. It will be argued that the alleged increase involvement in crime has been constructed by the Government and the media – in order to justify the Australian Government's policy responses to the refugee crisis, to create public acceptance of such policies, and additionally for political gain. These policies were part of the Australian Government's wider policies on maintaining a homogenous Australian identity and have negatively impacted minority groups. Ultimately such policies encouraged racism and segregation in local communities, thus tarnishing Australia's multicultural standing.

Developments in research supervisor training: causes and responses

Within the overall theme of this special issue of re-theorising doctoral education, this article examines the outcomes of a policy adjustment in a centralised higher education system, and its impact on research supervision practices. Using Australian doctoral programs as a case study, the focus here is the rethinking of research supervision, and the training and education of supervisors, as a response to various policy, social and educational changes by the Australian government: in particular, to funding formulae and criteria. Following a brief discussion of developments in Australian government policy related to doctoral education in the past 10–15 years, the article addresses the literature that argues the link between the quality of research supervision and candidate completion times and rates, and candidate satisfaction ratings of supervision. Given the explicit link between supervisor quality and completion, a sample of eight Australian universities' programs for supervisors was analysed to see what pedagogical and theoretical issues the universities considered important to address with their supervisory staff as a means of improving quality. The findings suggest that the universities in the sample had, over the period 2000–2010, introduced a considerable range of workshops and seminars for research supervisors. The most common aspects of the programs included supervisor/student relationships; clarification of various expectations; milestones and monitoring progress; roles and responsibilities of supervisors, candidates and institutions, and policies.

‘Problematising’ Australian policy representations in responses to the physical health of people with mental health disorders

Australia, like other jurisdictions, is recognising the poorer physical health of people with mental health disorders. This paper explores policy responses to this issue through discourse analysis of 22 Australian Federal and State government policy documents published in 2006–2011. The paper utilises Bacchi's ‘what's the problem represented to be?‘ approach to explore policy solutions in relation to the representation of the issue, enabling identification of issues which are not problematised and policy solutions that have not been considered. The poor physical health of people with mental health disorders is attributed in policy to poor lifestyle habits and limited access to monitoring of physical health care. Three policy solutions are offered: collaborative care delivery involving greater use of fee‐for‐service primary care to manage physical health; the monitoring of physical health status by mental health teams; and the promotion of lifestyle change. These solutions fail to address ongoing issues with collaboration between specialist mental health and primary care services. Reliance upon fee‐for‐service primary mental health care may, in fact, reduce rather than increase access to services. The strategies are discussed in light of neoliberal ideals of governance and personhood which are underpinned by informed consumer choice and personal responsibility for health.

The avian influenza pandemic: Discourses of risk, contagion and preparation in Australia

This paper examines the construction of avian influenza in Australian media and federal government policy, with a focus placed on discourses of contagion, preparedness and risk. The threat of an infectious disease outbreak, such as avian influenza, on social life is surrounded by a range of collective narratives which attempt to make it explicable. These narratives socially define the disease and provide explanations for its existence. The paper demonstrates that central to these narratives are depictions of the source of the outbreak and suggestions of appropriate responses to the threat. Methodologically, a narrative analysis of print media and government documents was conducted. This showed that conceptually both government and media discourses could be understood in terms of risk, contagion and blame. Furthermore, it was found that narratives linking the risk of avian influenza with globalised interconnectedness and contagion by the developing world underpin discourses of causation and frame the reactions to and preparation for a potential outbreak.

Resource nationalism or resource liberalism? Explaining Australia's approach to Chinese investment in its minerals sector

Since 2005, a burgeoning wave of Chinese investments has set off a new ‘minerals boom’ in the Australian iron ore and coal mining sectors. While normally a welcome development, the state-owned and strategic nature of the investors has raised concerns in Australia about how these should be regulated. As a result, in February 2008 the Australian government declared an intention to more closely screen foreign direct investment (FDI) from state-owned sources, which both supporters and detractors alike have claimed is evidence of ‘resource nationalism’ in Australia's approach towards its trade and investment relationships with China. This article challenges this understanding through an examination of the characteristics of Chinese mining FDI, the dilemmas these present to the Australian government, and the relatively restrained nature of its response. Through this, Australia's FDI policy is explained as a defensive move against the potential for strategic behaviour by Chinese investors resulting from their state ownership, rather than any national program to subject minerals trade and investment to political control. On this basis, the article argues that Australian government policy instead evidences a ‘resource liberalism’ approach, which intends to ensure that the governance of Australia's minerals trade and investment with China remain market-based processes.

Analysis of the Australian and Canadian Governments’ Aboriginal Policies

The Australian and Canadian Aboriginal communities are strikingly similar vis-à-vis traditional lifestyles, social structures and histories of victimization during colonization (Morrisette, McKenzie, & Morrisette, 2010). A cultural context, then, means “an emphasis on historical reconstruction based on an understanding of colonialism to alter the stereotypes and false beliefs given to Aboriginal people, and on culture and traditions as restorative to an individual's identity and self-esteem” (Morrisette et al., 2010, p. 98). At present, both communities suffer similar problems of unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse, sex abuse, mental illness, suicide and racism. In this paper we explore the contribution of Australian Government policies to the lack of progress in Australia.

Australian Uranium and India: Ideology versus Pragmatism

This article is a study of the Australian government's policy of not selling uranium to India. Successive Australian governments have used the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to refuse India's repeated requests for uranium. This study looks at the Indian response to this policy and asks how long Australia can sustain its stand in the face of climate change, economic growth and growing bilateral relations between two democracies with shared interests.

Continuity of midwifery care and gestational weight gain in obese women: a randomised controlled trial

BackgroundThe increased prevalence of obesity in pregnant women in Australia and other developed countries is a significant public health concern. Obese women are at increased risk of serious perinatal complications and guidelines recommend weight gain restriction and additional care. There is limited evidence to support the effectiveness of dietary and physical activity lifestyle interventions in preventing adverse perinatal outcomes and new strategies need to be evaluated. The primary aim of this project is to evaluate the effect of continuity of midwifery care on restricting gestational weight gain in obese women to the recommended range. The secondary aims of the study are to assess the impact of continuity of midwifery care on: women's experience of pregnancy care; women's satisfaction with care and a range of psychological factors.Methods/DesignA two arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted with primigravid women recruited from maternity services in Victoria, Australia. Participants will be primigravid women, with a BMI≥30 who are less than 17 weeks gestation. Women allocated to the intervention arm will be cared for in a midwifery continuity of care model and receive an informational leaflet on managing weight gain in pregnancy. Women allocated to the control group will receive routine care in addition to the same informational leaflet. Weight gain during pregnancy, standards of care, medical and obstetric information will be extracted from medical records. Data collected at recruitment (self administered survey) and at 36 weeks by postal survey will include socio-demographic information and the use of validated scales to measure secondary outcomes.DiscussionContinuity of midwifery care models are well aligned with current Victorian, Australian and many international government policies on maternity care. Increasingly, midwifery continuity models of care are being introduced in low risk maternity care, and information on their application in high risk populations is required. There is an identified need to trial alternative antenatal interventions to reduce perinatal risk factors for women who are obese and the findings from this project may have application in other maternity services. In addition this study will inform a larger trial that will focus on birth and postnatal outcomes.Trial RegistrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12610001078044.

The Impact of Mental Health Nursing Education on Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Attitudes to Consumer Participation

Consumer participation in all aspects of mental health service delivery, including the education of mental health professionals, is now a policy expectation in Australia. Whether education programs introducing nurses to mental health nursing lead to more favourable attitudes towards consumer participation is yet to be examined in pre-registration nursing programs in Australia. The current evaluation examined changes in scores for the Consumer Participation Survey for undergraduate nursing students (n = 68) in an Australian University. Data were analysed, using repeated measures t-test, to compare the pre- and post-test scores. There was a significant improvement in views on consumers participating as staff members. There were no statistically significant changes in attitudes towards consumer capacity and consumer involvement in care processes. Consumer participation in mental health care is now clearly articulated in Australian Government policy. For this to be successfully implemented a more comprehensive understanding of the ability of education to influence attitudes is required.

Young Carers in Australia:Understanding the Advantages and Disadvantages of Their Care Giving

Young Carers in Australia:Understanding the Advantages and Disadvantages of Their Care Giving

Building the National Broadband Network

The current Australian Government policy calls for every house, school and business in Australia to get access to 'affordable fast broadband' over an eight-year period in a National Broadband Network. There has been much discussion about the viability of this policy and the associated NBN Co, but much less about the technical implementation of this policy.The article looks at the techniques likely to be used to provide fast broadband to individual dwellings, techniques which will have to provide access to over 4000 dwellings each day to realise the Australian Governments policy.

Building the National Broadband Network

The current Australian Government policy calls for every house, school and business in Australia to get access to 'affordable fast broadband' over an eight-year period in a National Broadband Network. There has been much discussion about the viability of this policy and the associated NBN Co, but much less about the technical implementation of this policy.The article looks at the techniques likely to be used to provide fast broadband to individual dwellings, techniques which will have to provide access to over 4000 dwellings each day to realise the Australian Governments policy.

Losing sight of Humboldt: a synoptic review of Australian government policy over the last 35 years

Over the last 35 years Australian higher education policy, like that of most countries, has undergone radical changes. This article reviews these changes in terms of four key periods, beginning with the abolition of student fees, through to the recent unprecedented levels of government control and intervention. Policies are compared with each other and common themes across periods, attempts at reinvigorating or reintroducing old ideas, and genuinely new policies are discovered. Finally, the impact of these policies over the last 35 years on the higher education sector, particularly its academics and institutions, is discussed.