Regional Australian City Research Articles

Public space in the shadow of COVID-19: placemaking for spatial justice in Geelong’s ‘disadvantaged’ neighbourhoods

ABSTRACT Drawing on empirical data from a regional Australian city, this paper investigates how public space is implicated in locational disadvantage, how COVID-19 is impacting inequality, and how placemaking can best serve “disadvantaged” communities. To explore public space’s role during COVID-19, we assessed public open space coverage in three “disadvantaged” Geelong suburbs, interviewed local community workers, and analysed survey data from resident input to a local placemaking project. Findings revealed both quantitative and qualitative shortfalls in local public spaces; that COVID-19 amplified existing inequalities; that public space shortfalls compounded pandemic stressors; and that these shortfalls should be remedied via community-driven placemaking. Findings also yielded common themes linking place stigma, inequality, and place attachment, and underscoring how placemaking can reinforce or challenge existing disparities. We developed a holistic Framework illustrating the dynamic interplay of five important factors that emerged across our data: locational disadvantage, public space, place stigma, place attachment, and placemaking. Illuminating how place-makers might harness these dynamics to advance social goods and minimise social harms, our Framework seeks to support more “spatially just” placemaking. Amidst rising inequality, we argue that a renewed focus on the spatial dimensions of justice will strengthen placemaking’s potential to mitigate the locational aspects of disadvantage.

Childhood obesity in the ED: A prospective Australian study.

To determine (i) the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children presenting to all EDs in a large regional Australian city and (ii) whether age, sex, socioeconomic status (SES) or hospital setting (public vs private) were associated with overweight and obesity. This prospective observational study included children aged ≥2 and <18 years who presented to any of three EDs over an 18 month period who had their height and weight measured. Age, sex and residential postcode were collected. Weight category was determined by sex and age standardised body mass index (BMI) z-score. Weight category was assessed by sex, age, SES and hospital setting with chi-squared tests, and ordinal logistic regression with cluster sandwich error estimators. Results were reported using odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Data were collected for 3827 children, of which 11.6% were obese and 19.8% overweight. The prevalence of obesity was highest in those aged 8-14 years and in those from lower SES postcodes. The likelihood of obesity was higher in the public than the private hospitals (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.51-0.86), whereas the likelihood of overweight was similar (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.83-1.22). Almost one-third of children who presented to EDs were overweight or obese. Obesity was particularly high in those aged 8-14 years and those from lower SES postcodes. In the evolving obesity crisis, the high proportion of children presenting to EDs above a healthy weight might represent an opportunity for EDs to identify and refer children for body weight and lifestyle management.

Whose pain? Whose shame? Integrating heritage and histories in Ballarat, Australia

ABSTRACT For generations a burden of misplaced shame has sat with victim-survivors of children’s institutionalisation. Experiences and memories of family separation, cultural obliteration, mistreatment, hunger, unpaid labour, curtailed educational and professional opportunities, and abuse had come to silently define and destroy the lifelong living experience of childhood incarceration. Meanwhile, institutions and the communities they are part of have been able to effectively ignore the legacies of their own trespasses, through ‘top-down’, celebratory approaches to history and heritage. In recent decades, renewed emphasis on survivor voices and agency has culminated in a range of Commonwealth and state-based reports, Inquiries and Commissions, driven by abundant survivor testimonies and truth-telling. The sense of shame and guilt over these parts of our collective histories has now re-centred on the perpetrators and enablers of abuse and mistreatment. Using interpretive heritage and historical lens this article outlines a theoretical conception of ‘integrated’ approaches to history and heritage, using real-life examples from contemporary urban development and institutional heritage in the regional Australian city of Ballarat. The authors examine changing contemporary representations of institutional Care, neglect and abuse, arguing that shifting cultural and social power is reflected in the urban landscape and cultural fabric of the associated institutions.

Physical Attraction Measured Through a Body Figure Scale in an Age of Changing Body Ideals

There is a substantial body of research that uses figure rating scales for personal body image assessment and satisfaction. The aim of this research was to determine the difference in attractiveness of physical body image by age of men and women. 460 participants who were representative of the population of a major Australian regional city were sampled using face-to-face interviews and a computer-based figure rating scales survey tool. Women were found likely to identify thin images of women as more attractive to men; and men were found likely to identify more muscular images of men as more attractive to women. These findings replicate similar studies and have implications for clinical treatments related to body image, eating disorders, and compulsive exercise.

Perceptions of Birds by Urban Residents in an Australian Regional City and Implications for Conservation

Given the prevalence of common and threatened bird species within cities, more research is necessary to determine human attitudes to urban birds and how this may affect conservation in urban areas In Australia, few studies have considered the impact of human attitudes on birds; those that have focused primarily on particular species. In this study, we aim to understand the perceptions of urban residents of an Australian city (Ballarat) by examining the ways they categorise birds (using the multiple sorting technique). We found that people were particularly enamored by large, exotic species, but if familiar to them, native species were positively perceived by people. People tended to view aggressive species negatively, but only where this aggression was directed at humans. This approach gained important insight into the attitudes of these urban residents to local birds and their conservation. We used this insight to suggest how attitudes to avian species conservation may inform conservation initiatives and methods for maintaining biological diversity in urban areas.

The role of local government in marketing small city retailing: Examining the gap between perception and reality

ABSTRACT The role of local government in ensuring cities and town centres are attractive options for shoppers is well documented in the international literature. However, there is a paucity of research on the role and responsibility of local governments in tackling the complex marketing issues facing town and city retailing, particularly in regional and rural areas in Australia. Australian retailing differs markedly from retailing in the UK, U.S.A and Europe in a number of ways including fewer large, global retail stores, fewer large shopping centres and malls, and a slower uptake of online shopping. This paper reports a set of findings from a larger published study on consumer and retailer perceptions of the role of local government in the marketing of city-centre shopping and improving the overall experience for visitors in a regional Australian city. This research was commissioned by the local council. Traders and shoppers (N = 367) were surveyed on their perceptions of various aspects of city shopping. Qualitative data were analysed using the software program Leximancer to extract themes and concepts regarding specific actions the local council should take to improve city shopping and market the CBD to better attract shoppers and visitors. Findings show four main themes requiring council attention, as well as four additional and important retail-related factors identified by participants as the responsibility of the local city council, but which are actually not within the remit of local government. The findings of this study extend existing literature on town centre and small city retail marketing and are valuable for local governments, business associations, marketing organisations and individual business owners. Findings will assist efforts in two crucial activities: the marketing of cities and towns as attractive destinations for shoppers and visitors and improving and enhancing communication between councils and key stakeholders about the role of local government in marketing city-centre retail places

Audit of clinical follow-up and complications after acute pulmonary embolism in an Australian Metropolitan Health Service.

We explored post-pulmonary embolism (post-PE) follow-up at a large Australian regional city hospital health service. Over a 12-month period, we identified 195 (49% male) patients with a median age of 62 years. Post-PE follow-up was not organised for 23 patients and delayed for seven patients. Post-PE complication occurred in 21% of all patients reviewed in the clinic after discharge. Follow-up imaging was arranged in 28% of patients. To deliver high-quality care, we recommend implementing a local post-PE follow-up pathway, which balances individual physician preference with available resources and expert recommendations.

Perspectives of Food Insecurity and Service Delivery amongst Emergency Food Relief Clients in a Regional City in Victoria, Australia

This cross-sectional study examined the experiences of people accessing Emergency Food Relief (EFR) in the regional city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, including determinants, impacts of food insecurity, and service delivery recommendations. The forty-one item survey examined demographics, food security status (six-item adult US-Household Food Security Survey Module), food acquisition, use of charitable food services, and self-rated health. Adults n = 100 accessing meal programs and/or EFR services from three EFR organisations in 2018 were surveyed. Ninety-seven percent of participants received government social security payments. Food insecurity prevalence was 92% (USDA-HFSSM 6 item); of these, 63% were experiencing very low food security. Over half (54%) of households with children (n = 26) reported being sometimes unable to feed their children balanced meals and 50% indicated that they were not eating enough. Participants (47%) relied on EFR services for food between one and five years. Poor self-rated dental health was expressed by over 50% of participants and 97% indicated the importance for services to provide healthy food. Food insecurity prevalence was high and chronic among adults receiving EFR services in a large regional Australian city. Recipients’ poor dental health, chronicity of use of services for food assistance, and calls for healthier food suggest more was needed to secure pathways out of food insecurity. The chronicity of reliance on EFR is a concern. The results of this study are likely to be of interest to providers and funders of EFR, policy makers, academics, and client advocates. Whilst the provision of EFR is not a sustainable solution to the problem of food insecurity, scope exists to improve service delivery to uphold principles of dignity, choice, and access to nutritious food. Furthermore, this highlights that the key strategies to mitigate food insecurity lie beyond simply feeding people.

Media discourses on the socio-spatial rights of older people living with dementia and their carers.

Media discourses about people living with dementia and carers contribute to the ways in which public, social spaces are designed, planned, and used. Negative media discourses play an important role in the socio-spatial exclusion of people living with dementia and stigmatising and dehumanising language prevents the achievement of genuine, rights-based dementia-friendly environments. Because the media plays a powerful role in shaping public attitudes, there is a need to understand media constructions of people living with dementia and carers in relation to their socio-spatial rights, which is the aim of this paper. A Foucauldian-inspired discourse analysis (FDA) was conducted on the public news media texts of one regional Australian city, to identify discourses relating to the socio-spatial rights of people living with dementia and carers. Lefebvre's (1996) 'right to the city' concept was used as a conceptual framework, to define socio-spatial rights. Analysis revealed discourses relating to the right to urban citizenship, the right to difference and socio-spatial justice. Representations of participatory democracy, important to urban citizenship, are absent, as are the voices of people living with dementia. Through advocacy from others and a lens of citizenship, socio-spatial rights for people living with dementia, and in one instance carers, are recognised, in the context of dementia-awareness and dementia-friendly initiatives. While a lens of personhood constructs people living with dementia as historical and relational beings, a citizenship lens adds a spatial dimension. Advocacy and the lenses of personhood and citizenship are important in creating positive constructions of people living with dementia, however, their participation in decision-making processes would confer an active citizenship status, and the inclusion of their authentic voices in media discourse would contribute to raising awareness towards rights-based dementia-friendly communities.

Overcoming obstacles to accessibility and inclusivity in an Australian regional city: A transdisciplinary research approach

ABSTRACT This paper describes research asking what is required to overcome entrenched obstacles to accessibility and inclusivity in an Australia regional city, in particular for those living with disability. A transdisciplinary, systems thinking approach allowed a range of stakeholders, including many with lived experiences of disability, to create a collective plan of action. This plan included interdependent interventions, independent and ahead of national governance, connecting urban planning policy to education, public transport, housing provision, co-design of public buildings, community infrastructure and inclusive employment practices. Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity within regional planning research was seen as impacting the process and outcomes.

Casework comparison of DNA sampling success from steering wheels and car seats in tropical Australia

ABSTRACT Investigations of unlawful use of motor vehicle (UUMV) offences often rely on detection of the offender’s DNA inside the vehicle. Steering wheels are likely to retain the DNA of a recent driver; however, they often recover insufficient DNA for forensic DNA profiling or complex mixed DNA profiles unsuitable for comparison. In contrast, samples taken from the driver’s side seat often included the recent driver’s profile, with less DNA from other individuals. Further, in warmer climates, offenders are likely to dress in lightweight clothing, including shorts, which increases skin contact with car seats, particularly during the warmer months. Thus, to test the suitability of sampling car seats in comparison with steering wheels in a casework context, we employed a paired sampling approach to every suitable vehicle examined by forensic officers in a tropical Australian regional city over a six-month period. There was a significant difference between the overall DNA sampling results from car seats and steering wheels; however, there was little difference in the numbers of uploadable profiles or offender identifications between the sampled areas. These data contribute substantially to our knowledge of DNA transfer under real-world conditions and inform operational practices aimed at maximizing evidence recovery from crime scenes.

The effects on mortality and the associated financial costs of wood heater pollution in a regional Australian city.

To estimate the annual burden of mortality and the associated health costs attributable to air pollution from wood heaters in Armidale. Health impact assessment (excess annual mortality and financial costs) based upon atmospheric PM2.5 measurements. Armidale, a regional Australian city (population, 24504) with high levels of air pollution in winter caused by domestic wood heaters, 1 May 2018 - 30 April 2019. Estimated population exposure to PM2.5 from wood heaters; estimated numbers of premature deaths and years of life lost. Fourteen premature deaths (95% CI, 12-17 deaths) per year, corresponding to 210 (95% CI, 172-249) years of life lost, are attributable to long term exposure to wood heater PM2.5 pollution in Armidale. The estimated financial cost is $32.8million (95% CI, $27.0-38.5million), or $10930 (95% CI, $9004-12822) per wood heater per year. The substantial mortality and financial cost attributable to wood heating in Armidale indicates that effective policies are needed to reduce wood heater pollution, including public education about the effects of wood smoke on health, subsidies that encourage residents to switch to less polluting home heating (perhaps as part of an economic recovery package), assistance for those affected by wood smoke from other people, and regulations that reduce wood heater use (eg, by not permitting new wood heaters and requiring existing units to be removed when houses are sold).

The impact of excess alcohol consumption on health care utilisation in regional patients with chronic disease – a retrospective chart audit

ObjectiveTo understand the impact of alcohol consumption on the health utilisation of people with chronic diseases. MethodsA retrospective chart audit was undertaken in two primary care settings in a regional Australian city. Three indicator conditions were selected: type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic kidney disease. The audits were analysed to examine the impact of alcohol consumption on primary care and hospital‐based health utilisation. ResultsA total of 457 records were audited. Alcohol consumption decreased engagement in the primary care setting, with fewer visits, prescriptions and lower primary care costs. There was a U‐shaped association between alcohol consumption and hospital attendance rates and costs. Admission rates were unchanged but a decrease in length of stay was observed in non‐smokers in the highest alcohol consumption category. ConclusionExcess alcohol consumption decreases engagement in primary care and results in increased emergency department attendance, but not admissions to hospital. In those who are admitted to hospital, alcohol is associated with a decreased length of stay. Implications for public healthAlcohol consumption should be considered as a potential cause of decreased engagement in primary care. Follow‐up and recall of patients may reduce shifting of care to the hospital environment.

The effect of alcohol consumption on clinical outcomes in regional patients with chronic disease: a retrospective chart audit

ObjectiveTo better understand the impact of alcohol consumption on the clinical management of chronic diseases in a regional general practice setting. MethodsA retrospective chart audit was undertaken of individual patient records at two large group general practices in Townsville, a regional Australian city. Three common indicator chronic diseases were selected that have clear management guidelines for general practice: type 2 diabetes; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and chronic kidney disease. The audits were analysed using SPSS software to examine the association between alcohol consumption on acquisition of clinical management targets and primary disease intermediate outcomes (haemoglobin A1c fraction; per cent of normal forced expiratory volume at one second; and estimated glomerular filtration rate). ResultsA total of 457 records were audited. Higher‐risk alcohol consumption is associated with reduced ability of patients to reach management targets (F[3,453]=3.68; p=0.012) and decreased standardised primary disease outcome (F[3,403]=2.86; p=0.037). ConclusionHigher‐risk alcohol consumption is associated with reduced attainment of chronic disease management targets and worse chronic disease outcomes. Implications for public healthAlcohol consumption should be assessed frequently in people with chronic disease, especially when there is difficulty acquiring management targets or worsening of disease outcomes without a clear explanation. Better education about the potential associations between alcohol use and chronic disease would benefit those managing these complex conditions, both clinicians and patients.

Filmmaking as empirical research: working with people from refugee backgrounds to share stories about food

This article is an examination of the potential of visual research methods used in a collaborative way with people from refugee backgrounds to share narratives of lived experiences in an ethical and reciprocal manner. The interdisciplinary study drawing on sociology and anthropology relies on community collaboration and ethnographic research methods to produce a documentary depicting the sociocultural role of food for Myanmar people with a refugee background, now residing in an Australian regional city. The creation of the documentary, The Last Refuge: Food Stories from Myanmar to Coffs Harbour, allowed these food stories to be shared in a multi-dimensional, textural way that depicted and engaged multiple senses associated with food interactions. Apart from its academic value, the documentary was also aimed at a wider audience through screenings at local, national and international film festivals. The use of collaborative research methods allowed the film to develop into something deeply connected to the participants. It became their film, their medium to tell their stories; as well as an opportunity to stand up in their new community and be proud of their culture. Reflecting on the filmmaking journey highlights the grounded nature of this research and the need to re-evaluate and be informed by participants. The author surveys the pre-production, production and output phases. The documentary, or ‘end product’, did not, however, signify the end of the journey. Understanding the film’s impact on the participants, the filmmaker and audiences continue to extend the scope of the project.

The Effect of High Storage Temperature on the Stability and Efficacy of Lyophilized Tenecteplase.

Tenecteplase is a thrombolytic protein drug used by paramedics, emergency responders, and critical care medical personnel for the prehospital treatment of blood clotting diseases. Minimizing the time between symptom onset and the initiation of thrombolytic treatment is important for reducing mortality and improving patient outcomes. However, the structure of protein drug molecules makes them susceptible to physical and chemical degradation that could potentially result in considerable adverse effects. In locations that experience extreme temperatures, lyophilized tenecteplase transported in emergency service vehicles (ESVs) may be subjected to conditions that exceed the manufacturer's recommendations, particularly when access to the ambulance station is limited. This study evaluated the impact of heat exposure (based on temperatures experienced in an emergency vehicle during summer in a regional Australian city) on the stability and efficacy of lyophilized tenecteplase. Vials containing 50mg lyophilized tenecteplase were stored at 4.0°C (39.2°F), 35.5°C (95.9°F), or 44.9°C (112.8°F) for a continuous period of eight hours prior to reconstitution. Stability and efficacy were determined through assessment of: optical clarity and pH; analyte concentration using UV spectrometry; percent protein monomer and single chain protein using size-exclusion chromatography; and in vitro bioactivity using whole blood clot weight and fibrin degradation product (D-dimer) development. Heat treatment, particularly at 44.9°C, was found to have the greatest impact on tenecteplase solubility; the amount of protein monomer and single chain protein lost (suggesting structural vulnerability); and the capacity for clot lysis in the form of decreased D-dimer production. Meanwhile, storage at 4.0°C preserved tenecteplase stability and in vitro bioactivity. The findings indicate that, in its lyophilized form, even relatively short exposure to high temperature can negatively affect tenecteplase stability and pharmacological efficacy. It is therefore important that measures are implemented to ensure the storage temperature is kept below 30.0°C (86.0°F), as recommended by manufacturers, and that repeated refrigeration-heat cycling is avoided. This will ensure drug administration provides more replicable thrombolysis upon reaching critical care facilities.

The Two Subalterns: Perceived Status and Violent Punitiveness

From the mid-twentieth century, state and public conceptions of deviance and crime control have turned increasingly punitive (Hallett 115; Hutchinson 138). In a Western context, criminal justice has long been retributive, prioritising punishment over rehabilitation (Wenzel et al. 26). Within that context, there has been an increase in punitiveness—understood here as a measure of a punishment’s severity—the intention of which has been to help restore the moral imbalance created by offending while also deterring future crime (Wenzel et al. 26). Entangled with the global spread of neoliberal capitalism, punitiveness has become internationally pervasive to a near-hegemonic degree (Sparks qtd. in Jennings et al. 463; Unnever and Cullen 100). The punitive turn has troubling characteristics. Punitive policies can be expensive, and increased incarceration stresses the criminal justice system and leads to prison overcrowding (Hutchinson 135). Further, punitiveness is not only applied unequally across categories such as class, race, and age (Unnever and Cullen 105-06; Wacquant 212) but the effectiveness of punitive policy relative to its costs is contested (Bouffard et al. 466, 477; Hutchinson 139). Despite this, evidence suggests public demand is driving punitive policymaking, but that demand is only weakly related to crime rates (Jennings et al. 463). While discussion of punitiveness in the public sphere often focuses on measures such as boot camps for young offenders, increased incarceration, and longer prison sentences, punitiveness also has a darker side. Our research analysing discussion taking place on a large, regional, crime-focused online forum reveals a startling degree and intensity of violence directed at offenders and related groups. Members of the discussion forum do propose unsurprising measures such as incarceration and boot camps, but also an array of violent alternatives, including beating, shooting, dismemberment, and conversion into animal food. This article draws on our research to explore why discussion of punitiveness can be so intensely violent.

Power through the semiotic landscape

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to advance an understanding of power in linguistic landscape research. After setting out and discussing the concepts of ‘power over’, ‘power to’ and ‘power through’, we present a case study of Chinese semiotic assemblages in the Australian regional city of Bendigo. Our research includes ethnographic details of the processes of sign production and consumption, and illustrates the ways in which power relations have been experienced through semiotic objects specific to the Chinese culture. Importantly, such objects are contextualised as to provide insights into inclusion, values, ownership and literacy by those in this specific linguistic landscape. To conclude, we argue that a close examination of the linguistic landscape can inform various forms and interpretations of power relations in diasporic contexts.

‘The Chinese Doctor James Lamsey’: performing medical sovereignty and property in settler colonial Bendigo

ABSTRACTThis article traces the spatially grounded operation of ‘medical sovereignty' by reading property alongside medical practice and regulation in a settler colonial city. It does so through the lens of the Antipodean life of one Canton-born doctor, James Lamsey, who was a prolific proprietor in the regional Australian city of Bendigo and used his interlinked proprietorial and medical powers to mediate between the Bendigo Chinese community and white settlers and doctors. Reading medical power through the lens of Lamsey’s life, shaped, as it was, by European-made laws, shows how settler medical sovereignty was enacted in a dynamic relation with Chinese medical sovereignty, performed here in the urban context of Bendigo, on unceded Indigenous Dja Dja Wurrung land. With support from the common law system, health-related boards were, in the late nineteenth century, intensifying a settler sovereignty, where board members and doctors practised increasingly exclusive forms of discretionary power and exercised the right to exclude non-white people from membership. At the same time, Lamsey was enacting a diasporic medical sovereignty that drew on Chinese imperial and British colonial authority. He leveraged his medical sovereignty towards promoting collective Chinese entitlements to health and to counter the exclusions of a whitening settler sovereignty.

New approach for the measurement of long-term alcohol consumption trends: Application of wastewater-based epidemiology in an Australian regional city

BackgroundWastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) provides complementary information to traditional self-report methods for estimating substance use within a population. WBE was applied to estimate the consumption of alcohol in an Australian rural city (population estimated 100,000) over 6 years. MethodsA total of 352 wastewater samples were analysed from a wastewater treatment plant located in South-East Queensland, Australia, from 2012 to 2017. The concentration of an alcohol biomarker, ethyl sulphate, was quantified by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and used to estimate per-capita consumption. The WBE results were compared with alcohol consumption estimates based on national taxation data and self-reported national survey data in Australia. ResultsAverage daily alcohol consumption estimated by WBE was between 19 and 30 mL/person/day for the population aged 15 years and older during the six-year period. Alcohol consumption decreased 4 % per annum on average over the study period. Our data showed higher rates of consumption on weekends and public holidays when compared to consumption between Monday and Thursday. The comparative trend of WBE data was consistent with the national alcohol survey and taxation statistics on alcoholic beverages over the same period. ConclusionsA clear decline in alcohol consumption in the catchment was observed during the sampling period, which reflected similar changes in consumption from taxation statistics and self-report survey data. Expected variations in weekly consumption and public holidays were also identified. This study demonstrates the potential of WBE for long-term monitoring of alcohol consumption in evaluating the effectiveness of local and national alcohol policies and prevention programs.