Australian Metropolitan Areas Research Articles

Understanding the ‘region’ in COVID-19-induced regional migration: mapping Cairns across classification systems

ABSTRACT This paper unpacks the notion of ‘region’ in the current COVID-19 migration debate to understand how the city of Cairns, Queensland fits into a wider geography of internal urban-rural migration in Australia. It unpacks different constructions of ‘region’, showing how they often articulate ‘access’, ‘rural’ and ‘remote’ and a general sense of non-urban entities. We discuss the imagined geographies of different Australian regional classification systems such as the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS), Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area (RRMA) and Modified Monash Model (MMM). We show how definitions and classifications of ‘region’ are constructed in particular ways to address political and social issues such as economic development, health, immigration and wider policy-making agendas. The analysis deployed develops a framework for understanding key dimensions of regionality relevant to migration to Cairns in the COVID-19 moment. A critical interpretive analysis helps shed light on the importance of place/context in relation to Australia’s recent urban--rural internal migration debate, but also provides insights to the counter-urbanisation debate in terms of displacing notions of the ‘rural idyll’.

Beyond the Backyard: GIS Analysis of Public Green Space Accessibility in Australian Metropolitan Areas

During times of stress and social pressure, urban green space provides social, cultural, and economic resources that help individuals and communities cope. Green space accessibility is, therefore, an important indicator related to people’s health and welfare. However, green space accessibility is not even throughout urban areas, with some areas better served with green space than others. Green space patterning is, therefore, a major environmental justice challenge. This research uses GIS approaches to analyze and understand urban green space access of urban communities in the Australian metropolitan areas of Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. We calculate indicators to describe green space access in relation to different green space patterns within different metropolitan zones, including the inner urban, suburban, and peri urban. We use the best available open data from the Australian census of 2017 to calculate green space accessibility. Our results describe the relationship between population density and green space distribution and patterning in the four metropolitan areas. We find that even cities which are generally thought of as liveable have considerable environmental justice challenges and inequity and must improve green space access to address environmental inequity. We also find that a range type of measures can be used to better understand green space accessibility. Accessibility varies greatly both within metropolitan areas and also from city to city. Through improving our understanding of the green space accessibility characteristics of Australian metropolitan areas, the result of this study supports the future planning of more just and equal green cities.

Essential Hypertension Is Associated With Changes in Gut Microbial Metabolic Pathways: A Multisite Analysis of Ambulatory Blood Pressure.

[Figure: see text].

Characteristics of Confidence and Preparedness in Paramedics in Metropolitan, Regional, and Rural Australia to Manage Mental-Health-Related Presentations: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Mental-health-related presentations account for a considerable proportion of the paramedic’s workload in prehospital care. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the perceived confidence and preparedness of paramedics in Australian metropolitan and rural areas to manage mental-health-related presentations. Overall, 1140 paramedics were surveyed. Pearson chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used to compare categorical variables by sex and location of practice; continuous variables were compared using the non-parametric Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Perceived confidence and preparedness were each modelled in multivariable ordinal regressions. Female paramedics were younger with higher qualifications but were less experienced than their male counterparts. Compared to paramedics working in metropolitan regions, those working in rural and regional areas were generally older with fewer qualifications and were significantly less confident and less prepared to manage mental health presentations (p = 0.001). Compared to male paramedics, females were less confident (p = 0.003), although equally prepared (p = 0.1) to manage mental health presentations. These results suggest that higher qualifications from the tertiary sector may not be adequately preparing paramedics to manage mental health presentations, which signifies a disparity between education provided and workforce preparedness. Further work is required to address the education and training requirements of paramedics in regional and rural areas to increase confidence and preparedness in managing mental health presentations.

Study on Hotel Location in Australian Metropolitan Areas

Study on Hotel Location in Australian Metropolitan Areas

Wild horses and horse manure as reservoirs for Clostridiodes difficile in Australia

Background: Clostridiodes (Clostridium) difficile poses an ongoing threat as a cause of diarrhoea in both human and animal populations. Recent emergence of human disease caused by strains of C. difficile found in animals adds to mounting evidence that C. difficile infection (CDI) is a zoonosis. In Australia, horses represent a unique mix of companion and wild animals. While C. difficile is regularly isolated from domesticated horses, little is known about C. difficile in wild horses, known as brumbies in Australia. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of C. difficile in wild horse populations, and in publicly available horse manure to evaluate its potential as a source of C. difficile in the community. Methods and materials: One hundred and twenty-six wild horse faecal samples were collected from Western and South-Eastern Australia and 60 publicly available horse manure samples were collected from Western Australian metropolitan areas. Samples were cultured in enrichment broth followed by alcohol shock and subsequent plating onto differential agar. C. difficile isolates were characterised by ribotyping using capillary electrophoresis, and toxin profiling by PCR. Results: The overall C. difficile prevalence was 15.1% in wild horses and 31.7% in publicly available horse manure, a statistically significant difference (P = 0.048). Thirty-one ribotypes (RTs) were identified across all samples; the most prevalent were RTs 0.10 (a non-toxigenic strain), 0.54, 0.56 and 0.15. These RTs have been previously isolated from vegetables, livestock and humans in WA. Two additional noteworthy isolates included an esculin hydrolysis negative strain and a non-toxigenic RT078 strain. Conclusion: This study is the first known investigation into C. difficile in wild horse populations and the first to look specifically at C. difficile in horse manure available for public use. Prevalence of C. difficile was higher than previously reported in horses, and some unusual strains that require further investigation were isolated. The study provides preliminary information on the epidemiology of C. difficile in wild horses and support the hypothesis that horse manure represents a potential reservoir of C. difficile in the community.

Wild horses and horse manure as reservoirs for Clostridiodes difficile in Australia

Background: Clostridiodes (Clostridium) difficile poses an ongoing threat as a cause of diarrhoea in both human and animal populations. Recent emergence of human disease caused by strains of C. difficile found in animals adds to mounting evidence that C. difficile infection (CDI) is a zoonosis. In Australia, horses represent a unique mix of companion and wild animals. While C. difficile is regularly isolated from domesticated horses, little is known about C. difficile in wild horses, known as brumbies in Australia. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of C. difficile in wild horse populations, and in publicly available horse manure to evaluate its potential as a source of C. difficile in the community. Methods and materials: One hundred and twenty-six wild horse faecal samples were collected from Western and South-Eastern Australia and 60 publicly available horse manure samples were collected from Western Australian metropolitan areas. Samples were cultured in enrichment broth followed by alcohol shock and subsequent plating onto differential agar. C. difficile isolates were characterised by ribotyping using capillary electrophoresis, and toxin profiling by PCR. Results: The overall C. difficile prevalence was 15.1% in wild horses and 31.7% in publicly available horse manure, a statistically significant difference (P=0.048). Thirty-one ribotypes (RTs) were identified across all samples; the most prevalent were RTs 010 (a non-toxigenic strain), 054, 056 and 015. These RTs have been previously isolated from vegetables, livestock and humans in WA. Two additional noteworthy isolates included an esculin hydrolysis negative strain and a non-toxigenic RT078 strain. Conclusion: This study is the first known investigation into C. difficile in wild horse populations and the first to look specifically at C. difficile in horse manure available for public use. Prevalence of C. difficile was higher than previously reported in horses, and some unusual strains that require further investigation were isolated. The study provides preliminary information on the epidemiology of C. difficile in wild horses and support the hypothesis that horse manure represents a potential reservoir of C. difficile in the community.

Emotionally reflexive labour in end-of-life communication

Within palliative care, clear and open communication about death is encouraged. Euphemisms are discouraged as threats to promoting clear understanding of the prognosis; to opening communication about what a good death means to individual patients and families; and to fostering collaborative planning aimed at achieving this ‘good death’. Principles of patient-centred and culturally competent care, however, which reflect trends of individualisation, plurality and multiculturalism that are characteristic of late modernity, encourage respect for and support of patients' and families' preferences. These may include wishes to avoid open communication, preferences for euphemisms, and definitions of a ‘good death’ that vary from the practitioner's, and within families. The aim of this study was to examine how physicians navigate these competing priorities. Analysis is based on interviews with 23 doctors, ranging in experience from medical students through to senior palliative care specialists, and eight recorded observations of palliative care multidisciplinary team meetings with 52 clinicians collected in 2017 at two hospitals in one Australian metropolitan area. Findings show that synonyms familiar to clinicians are often used to communicate prognoses in multidisciplinary meetings. In communication with patients and families, doctors rely on emotional and cultural cues to decipher the preferred terminology and response. Drawing on a late modern re-imagination of emotion management, we conceptualise the work performed in this context as emotionally reflexive labour. These findings suggest that blanket protocols for direct communication overlook the complexity of end-of-life communication in an era where a ‘good death’ is understood to be culturally relative.

Principles of multifunctional agriculture for supporting agriculture in metropolitan peri-urban areas: The case of Greater Melbourne, Australia

Abstract Agriculture in metropolitan peri-urban areas is influenced by structural changes associated with increased input costs, an aging farming population, difficulty in retaining labour, and fluctuations in market conditions. In the absence of clear planning policies, the proximity to the city has fuelled land fragmentation, encroachment, and increased land value, thus increasing pressure on existing farms. Using the case of Greater Melbourne in Victoria, we argue that metropolitan planning policies have diminished the agricultural potential of peri-urban agriculture by creating a precedent for more urban uses in otherwise agricultural landscapes. The future of peri-urban agriculture requires alternative models that address emerging issues of resilience and viability. The concept of Multifunctional Agriculture (MFA) presents a useful model to re-evaluate metropolitan peri-urban agriculture beyond food production functions by integrating the environmental and socio-cultural role into local and regional economies. Based on the adopted definition and broad characterisation of MFA as implemented in the European Union, we discuss a set of six principles of multifunctionality: flexibility, collaboration, smaller-can-be-better, long-term strategies, use of technology, and circular resource use. These principles aim to expose the fundamental processes required for transforming agriculture in Australian metropolitan peri-urban areas.

SAT-032 WASTED TIME: HOW LONG DO AUSTRALIANS SPEND TRAVELLING TO HAEMODIALYSIS TREATMENTS?

Travel to HD treatment has been identified as a substantial burden for haemodialysis (HD) patients, but Australian-specific data on travel distance and time to HD is lacking. We examined the distance and time spent by patients travelling to HD treatments in Australian metropolitan areas.

Symposium I:Recent Change in Australian Metropolitan Areas

Symposium I:Recent Change in Australian Metropolitan Areas

Examining geography as a predictor of students’ university intentions: a logistic regression analysis

ABSTRACTWhile improving educational aspirations has been positioned by various stakeholders (e.g. governments, researchers, educators) as an important part of increasing higher education participation, there appears to be disagreement in the literature about this relationship. If a key goal of eliciting students’ educational aspirations is to reliably predict future university participation, researchers should choose aspiration measures supported by evidence regarding their predictive validity. In this article, the authors examine students’ university intentions considering past research has demonstrated the relative strength of its predictive validity. The key aim of this article is to investigate if, and to what extent, distance predicts students’ intentions to attend university. Over 9400 Australian students are included in the analysis. Findings indicated students from provincial areas were significantly less likely to report intent to study at university when compared with metropolitan students. Furthermore, remote students were less likely to report an intention to attend university than students in the metropolitan category. Controlling for socio-economic status (SES), as distance increases from an Australian metropolitan area, the likelihood of students reporting intentions to study at university decreases.

Prenatal Alcohol Consumption Between Conception and Recognition of Pregnancy.

Current estimates of the rates of alcohol-exposed pregnancies may underestimate prenatal alcohol exposure if alcohol consumption in early trimester 1, prior to awareness of pregnancy, is not considered. Extant literature describes predictors of alcohol consumption during pregnancy; however, alcohol consumption prior to awareness of pregnancy is a distinct behavior from consumption after becoming aware of pregnancy and thus may be associated with different predictors. The purpose of this study was therefore to examine prevalence and predictors of alcohol consumption by women prior to awareness of their pregnancy, and trajectories of change to alcohol use following pregnancy recognition. Pregnant women (n=1,403) were prospectively recruited from general antenatal clinics of 4 public hospitals in Australian metropolitan areas between 2008 and 2013. Women completed detailed interviews about alcohol use before and after recognition of pregnancy. Most women (n=850, 60.6%) drank alcohol between conception and pregnancy recognition. Binge and heavy drinking were more prevalent than low-level drinking. The proportion of women who drank alcohol reduced to 18.3% (n=257) after recognition of pregnancy. Of women who drank alcohol, 70.5% ceased drinking, 18.3% reduced consumption, and 11.1% made no reduction following awareness of pregnancy. Socioeconomic status (SES) was the strongest predictor of alcohol use, with drinkers more likely to be of high rather than low SES compared with abstainers (OR=3.30, p<0.001). Factors associated with different trajectories (either cessation, reduction, or continuation of drinking) included level of alcohol use prior to pregnancy recognition, age, pregnancy planning, and illicit substance use. In this sample of relatively high SES women, most women ceased or reduced drinking once aware of their pregnancy. However, the rate of alcohol-exposed pregnancies was higher than previous estimates when the period prior to pregnancy recognition was taken into account.

Identifying the Transport Needs of the Transport Disadvantaged Groups in Rural Areas of New South Wales, Australia: A Case Study

Purpose: The current paper aimed at developing a transport need index to measure the needs of transport disadvantaged groups in rural areas of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. This transport supply index, in turn, assesses the provision of transport services in these areas.Methods: We adopted the index methods developed for Australian metropolitan areas to reflect the extent of the rural transport problem, the range of social needs groups of the rural areas, and the specialized types of services used in rural areas. A geographical information system is used to quantify the index values, assess transport needs and the spatial distribution of identified gaps between the levels of service supply. Results: The results of the current study highlighted that transport needs were spatially distributed across rural areas, but concentrated in certain coastal and inland areas, particularly the North-Western parts of NSW. These areas had very poor public transport options that were not likely to be improved without targeted community transport type projects and provisions of social services. Conclusion: The developed indexes present a quantitative basis on which the extent of transport need and transport supply in an area can be compared with other areas. They are a robust mechanism for government and non-government agencies to address community needs in rural NSW through specialised transportation services, and allocate appropriate funding levels in a consistent and equitable manner. The ready availability of census data and other transport level of service data facilitate the application of this approach.

Demand and service impacts of competition for the market – Australian urban bus case studies

In the urban bus sector, the international literature on the effects of competition for the market (through competitive tendering) has focused mainly on the resulting efficiency gains and public sector cost savings. Relatively little attention has been paid to the effects of the competitive environment on the quantity, quality and customer focus of the services provided and on the resultant patronage impacts.This paper contributes to addressing this knowledge gap, focussing on assessment of the service and demand-side effects of introducing competitive tendering for bus services in two Australian metropolitan areas – Adelaide and Perth. In both areas, a government monopoly operator was replaced (in the late 1990s) by competitively-tendered gross cost (area) contracts with operator incentives to enhance service quality and increase patronage.The following aspects of experience with these contracts are addressed:• Contract design aspects, focussing on performance standards and operator incentives, and their effectiveness in influencing the quantity, quality and customer focus of the services provided, leading to increases in patronage.• Roles and responsibilities of the public authorities and operators relating to these aspects.• Views of operators and authorities on the effectiveness of the contract incentives in ‘driving’ service enhancements and patronage increases.

Station choice for Australian commuter rail lines: Equilibrium and optimal fare design

We examine how park-and-ride commuters living along a rail line compete for seats when they travel to their workplace in Australian metropolitan areas. First, we prove that at user equilibrium in which each commuter minimizes her expected travel cost, there exists one station on the rail line at which some commuters could find a seat and the others have to stand; all of the commuters boarding at its upstream stations have seats and all of the commuters boarding at its downstream stations must stand in the train. We derive a solution algorithm for obtaining a user equilibrium, which involves solving an equation with only one variable. We demonstrate that more than one user equilibrium may exist. Second, we examine the system optimal station choice that assumes all of the commuters cooperate and minimizes their total travel cost. An analytical solution approach is proposed based on the structure of the problem. Third, we investigate the optimal train fare design that leads to the system optimal station choice. We prove that the optimal train fare satisfies: there exists a particular train station that has some seats and the train is full after this station. All of its upstream stations have the same fare, which is higher than or equal to the fare of this particular station; and all of its downstream stations have the same fare, which is lower than the fare of this particular station.

Conceptualising consumer regiocentrism: Examining consumers' willingness to buy products from their own region

The key objective of the study is to address the gaps by building a theoretically based conceptual model to examine the influence of consumer regiocentrism and its moderators, and community involvement on consumers’ willingness to buy products from their own region. A mail survey of 2000 consumers from the Western Australian metropolitan area, supported four of the five proposed hypotheses. The results revealed that consumer regiocentric tendencies and community involvement positively influenced consumers’ willingness to buy products from their own region. Community involvement was also found to positively influence consumer regiocentric tendencies. Although perceived product necessity moderated the relationship between consumer regiocentrism and consumers’ willingness to buy products from their own region, perceived economic/personal threat did not moderate the relationship between consumer regiocentrism and consumers’ willingness to buy products from their own region. The study offers several implications to public policy makers as well as strategic and communication managers of regional products and brands.

Dynamics of Housing Mobility in Australian Metropolitan Areas, 2001–2010: A Longitudinal Study

A lack of understanding of the dynamics of housing mobility and its difference across the major cities in Australia can have significant policy ramifications. In particular, a spatial mismatch in the demand and supply of higher density housing will arise if planning for resource allocations continues to be based on urban density targets without a complete understanding of the dynamics of housing mobility patterns. Therefore through the application of a unique 3-fold longitudinal study this paper examines the housing mobility patterns over time by measuring changes in housing characteristics of housing tenure, dwelling type and location using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA). It was found that the most typical transition to a higher dwelling density in Australia is from a detached house to multi-storeyed units under 3 storeys. Downsizing moves for retirees are most frequent and a decrease in household income is closely related to downsizing. Also notable is the significantly higher level of downsizing moves found in Melbourne when compared to other cities over the past decade.

주택담보대출 상환방식 선택에 따른 차입자 특성분석

주택담보대출 상환방식 선택에 따른 차입자 특성분석

호주의 밀도상향정책이 저렴주거 확대에 미친 영향- 5개 대도시권의 주거이동패턴과 임대료를 중심으로

호주의 밀도상향정책이 저렴주거 확대에 미친 영향- 5개 대도시권의 주거이동패턴과 임대료를 중심으로