Australian Sector Research Articles

Recasting Odysseus: embodied sensemaking among seafaring leaders

ABSTRACTThis article proposes the exploration of how leaders within the Australian offshore marine sector, as an example of a high reliability work context, engage in embodied sensemaking to resolve critical events. Based on an extensive literature review, it prescribes a phenomenological, interpretivist approach to examining embodied sensemaking via semi-structured critical incident interviews with seafaring leaders (Masters and Chief Engineers). By interpreting thick descriptions of their lived experience, it is intended to develop both theoretical understanding as well as practice wisdom for dealing with critical events. High Reliability Organisations (HROs), such as those within the offshore marine sector, face the challenge of maintaining exceptional safety and operational reliability amidst increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). These factors provide for the emergence of critical incidents and events that are not readily anticipated. Weick’s theoretical model of sensemaking is examined in light of contemporary seafarer experience, as well as current theories on embodied cognition that were not available when Weick developed his sensemaking theory. Additionally, the research will challenge a number of archetypal assumptions of maritime command that have prevailed since Homer’s classic Odyssey. An examination of sensemaking of seafaring leaders will recast Homer’s hero, Odysseus, in light of the contemporary maritime context. Pursuing a phenomenological study into seafaring leadership with the view of developing a practice wisdom pedagogy has not been researched, despite its value being identified by the International Maritime Organisation. It is hoped that building wisdom and resilience in terms of how leaders within the Australian offshore marine sector make sense of, and resolve, these unexpected events will contribute towards the preservation of life and the environment.

The role of the Southern Hemisphere semiannual oscillation in the development of a precursor to central and eastern Pacific Southern Oscillation warm events

AbstractThe semiannual oscillation (SAO) is a twice‐yearly northward movement (in May‐June‐July (MJJ) and November‐December‐January (NDJ)) of the circumpolar trough of sea level pressure (SLP) in the Southern Hemisphere with effects throughout the troposphere. During MJJ the second harmonic of SLP, describing the SAO, has low values of SLP north of 50°S in the subtropical South Pacific, while the first harmonic, which is dominant over the Australian sector, increases to its peak. This once‐a‐year peak in negative SLP gradients (decreasing to the east) between Australia and the ocean to its east extends to the equatorial Pacific. Southern Oscillation warm events since 1950, with an intensification of this seasonal cycle, have larger‐amplitude SST anomalies in the eastern equatorial Pacific in MJJ and during the following mature phase in NDJ. Weak amplification of the seasonal cycle in MJJ tends to be followed by larger‐amplitude SST anomalies in the central equatorial Pacific during NDJ.

Diversity and taxonomic identification of Shionodiscus spp. in the Australian sector of the Subantarctic Zone

Diatoms are siliceous phytoplankton that play a major role in global carbon fixation, as well as forming the basis of most marine food webs. In the Southern Ocean, diatoms are responsible for significant volumes of carbon export and sequestration in the deep sea. Diatoms are unicellular and microscopic, thus diatom taxonomy has naturally progressed as imaging and molecular technologies have developed. Despite recent advancements, some aspects of diatom taxonomy remain unclear. The genus Shionodiscus was separated from Thalassiosira in 2006, and possesses, as a group, internal extensions of the marginal strutted processes as well as a labiate process on the valve face, usually distant from the margin. The features distinguishing Shionodiscus from Thalassiosira, and Shionodiscus spp. from each other, are difficult to examine under light microscopy, and most taxonomists will group similar Shionodiscus species together when encountered, rather than discriminating species. As a result, the full extent of Shionodiscus diversity is rarely examined in individual studies. In this study, sediment trap material captured in the Australian sector of the Subantarctic Zone was examined using both light and scanning electron microscopy, and compared to known measurements on Shionodiscus species and varieties. This study had two aims; to catalogue for the first time the diversity of Shionodiscus spp. within the Australian sector, and to create a formalized set of criteria for grouping Shionodiscus species, when only light microscopy analysis is possible. By documenting Shionodiscus diversity in the Australian sector and establishing a standard identification protocol, researchers will be better able to determine the ecological significance of the genus in diatom assemblages.

The Institutionalization of Community Radio as a Social Movement Organization: 4ZZZ as a Radical Case Study

The Australian community radio sector has played an important role in the social movement of media democratization, both locally and more broadly, however, little attention has been paid to this sector as a social movement. This research maps the organizational history of Brisbane community radio station, 4ZZZ, to examine the impacts of institutionalism on the station, viewed as a social movement organization (SMO). It argues that while SMOs typically move from an oppositional position of protest to one that is increasingly institutional, this does not necessarily dilute the effectiveness of SMOs over time.

CONNECTING INTERNATIONAL EQUITY AND ACCESS HEALTHCARE POLICY TO THE AUSTRALIAN CONTEXT

Improved equity of access, and thus participation, in healthcare for older people with particular individual diversity characteristics is a key objective of higher income healthcare systems. A human rights framework and core values of respect, dignity and inclusion consistently guide work undertaken by organisations such as the World Health Organization, the U.S. Institute of Medicine and Kings Fund (U.K.). Health equity is seen as achievable through action on the social determinants of health, addressing bias and prejudice. However, policies and standards often focus on specific groups of people, risking the prioritisation of one aspect of an older person over another and growing fatigue related to the increasing number of ‘care delivery’ lenses. In response, the concept of intersectionality is considered, that human experience moves beyond a single characteristic, with interplay of characteristics highly variable. The Australian healthcare sector is strategically planning for informed practice that is responsive to diversity characteristics.

Phytoplankton community responses to iron and CO2 enrichment in different biogeochemical regions of the Southern Ocean

The ongoing rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration is causing rapid increases in seawater pCO2 levels. However, little is known about the potential impacts of elevated CO2 availability on the phytoplankton assemblages in the Southern Ocean’s oceanic regions. Therefore, we conducted four incubation experiments using surface seawater collected from the subantarctic zone (SAZ) and the subpolar zone (SPZ) in the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean during the austral summer of 2011–2012. For incubations, FeCl3 solutions were added to reduce iron (Fe) limitation for phytoplankton growth. Ambient and high (~750 µatm) CO2 treatments were then prepared with and without addition of CO2-saturated seawater, respectively. Non-Fe-added (control) treatments were also prepared to assess the effects of Fe enrichment (overall, control, Fe-added, and Fe-and-CO2-added treatments). In the initial samples, the dominant phytoplankton taxa shifted with latitude from haptophytes to diatoms, likely reflecting silicate availability in the water. Under Fe-enriched conditions, increased CO2 level significantly reduced the accumulation of biomarker pigments in haptophytes in the SAZ and AZ, whereas a significant decrease in diatom markers was only detected in the SAZ. The CO2-related changes in phytoplankton community composition were greater in the SAZ, most likely due to the decrease in coccolithophore biomass. Our results suggest that an increase in CO2, if it coincides with Fe enrichment, could differentially affect the phytoplankton community composition in different geographical regions of the Southern Ocean, depending on the locally dominant taxa and environmental conditions.

The Creative Industries Concept: Stakeholder Reflections on Its Relevance and Potential in Australia

ABSTRACTThe creative industries concept or term continues to attract attention in both developed and developing economies worldwide. However, it is not universally applied, with other terms such as cultural industries, arts and culture, copyright industries, or the experience economy used in various global locations. There is also ongoing debate and critique in relation to the creative industries concept, given that it emphasises employment and wealth creation and gathers together a range of disparate disciplines. This article explores these issues via interviews with twenty-two key leaders representing fifteen different industry organisations, advocacy groups, and government funding bodies in the Australian creative industries sector. The findings reveal only a moderate level of understanding and application of the creative industries concept, with a range of views on its relevance and utility for those working in the sector. In addition, the findings propose that there is significant potential and need for the sector to work towards a stronger advocacy position and profile within the broader economy. However, this represents a major challenge for the creative industries sector, given the existing vertical and horizontal power structures within this complex and diverse area of the economy.

Preparing work-ready nurses: reflexive learning for diverse students in the Australian vocational education and training sector

ABSTRACTThis paper highlights a disjuncture between training frameworks designed to meet work-based competencies, and educational flexibility desirable to prepare diverse learners for fluid workplaces and roles. We describe a pilot study that explored teaching and learning practices in a vocational education and training Diploma of Nursing program. The study used qualitative approaches framed by a social view of learning as a reflexive process. Frictions emerged in how teaching and learning was fostered and how knowledge and skills were contextualised through nursing-accredited training packages. A case is made to enhance critical thinking and reflexive approaches to prepare work-ready nurse graduates.

Biogeochemical flux and phytoplankton succession: A year-long sediment trap record in the Australian sector of the Subantarctic Zone

The Subantarctic Zone (SAZ) plays a crucial role in global carbon cycling as a significant sink for atmospheric CO2. In the Australian sector, the SAZ exports large quantities of organic carbon from the surface ocean, despite lower algal biomass accumulation in surface waters than other Southern Ocean sectors. We present the first analysis of diatom and coccolithophore assemblages and seasonality, as well as the first annual quantification of bulk organic components of captured material at the base of the mixed layer (500m depth) in the SAZ. Sediment traps were moored in the SAZ southwest of Tasmania as part of the long-term SAZ Project for one year (September 2003 to September 2004). Annual mass flux at 500m and 2000m was composed mainly of calcium carbonate, while biogenic silica made up on average <10% of material captured in the traps. Organic carbon flux was estimated at 1.1gm−2 y−1 at 500m, close to the estimated global mean carbon flux. Low diatom fluxes and high fluxes of coccoliths were consistent with low biogenic silica and high calcium carbonate fluxes, respectively. Diatoms and coccoliths were identified to species level. Diatom and coccolithophore sinking assemblages reflected some seasonal ecological succession. A theoretical scheme of diatom succession in live assemblages is compared to successional patterns presented in sediment traps. This study provides a unique, direct measurement of the biogeochemical fluxes and their main biological carbon vectors just below the winter mixed layer depth at which effective sequestration of carbon occurs. Comparison of these results with previous sediment trap deployments at the same site at deeper depths (i.e. 1000, 2000 and 3800m) documents the changes particle fluxes experience in the lower “twilight zone” where biological processes and remineralisation of carbon reduce the efficiency of carbon sequestration.

Our energy future: the power of collaboration to transform Australia's energy resources sector

After decades of sustained economic growth, Australia is experiencing declining productivity, accelerating technological change and disruption. At the same time, the energy sector is emerging from a massive investment phase, while facing its own perfect storm of disruptive challenges. The industry must navigate these challenges to remain globally competitive. Continuing old practices is a sure pathway to stagnation and decline; we must urgently find different ways to do things. Global benchmarking of the Australian energy resources sector, undertaken recently on behalf of NERA, indicated substantial room to improve the efficiency and productivity of the sector. The report outlines more than AU$5 billion of value through improvements across the following four key areas: supply chain, research and innovation, workforce and regulatory reform, and collaboration is the key. Over the past 24 months, Australian energy-resource companies have focussed on lowering capital cost and improving profitability through efficiency, ensuring the industry has the fundamentals needed to be globally competitive. However, transformational change is needed if the sector is to survive and thrive in this age of innovation and disruption. Further, Australia’s energy resources marketplace is too small to focus only internally. Industry, suppliers, innovators and knowledge experts must collaborate locally, forming connections to access the global marketplace. The size of the prize is significant for everyone. The Australian energy resources sector has the potential to continue to meet the regions energy-resource needs for many years, generate substantial revenue for the nation and grow an export-orientated service and technology sector.

Future aviation research in Australia: addressing air transport safety, efficiency and environmental sustainability

This editorial discusses the main areas of research concentration in the Australian air transport sector with a focus on the associated challenges and opportunities. The main topics include improved efficiency and capacity of airports, integrated air traffic management (ATM) systems, cost-effective through-life support of new and ageing aircraft, alternative fuels and low emission technologies. Additionally, advancements in aviation safety and security are identified as a strategic area for the Australian aviation sector. Both short-term and long-term initiatives are necessary to increase the economic and environmental sustainability of the sector and are therefore being targeted by various industrial and government organisations in Australia.

Pro-environmental behaviours in improving energy performance of the Australian housing

The residential sector is the main energy consumer in the Australian building sector and has significant impact on greenhouse gases emission in this country. The sector confronts a number of non-technological barriers, e.g., diversity of products and stakeholders, which detract from the leverage of mitigation plans in this area of building industry. This paper aims at explaining the application of occupants' pro-environmental behaviour in overcoming such barriers in the Australian housing industry. Accordingly, the main objectives are to explain the housing characteristics, and then to find out to what extent pro-environmental behaviour is capable of moderating the barriers. Looking at the housing characteristics is a proper source for explaining the housing preferences, which are indicators of end-users' environmental perceptions and attitudes. Conducting graphical analyses on secondary data compiled from a number of online sources by Excel software resulted in drawing graphical profiles from the Australian housing, explaining the occupants' preferences. The results showed that the occupants' preferences are strictly responsible for the current direction of housing development; hence, their environmental attitudes and perceptions should gain centrality in future planning.

Chapter 14 Cambrian–Devonian stratigraphy of the Shan Plateau, Myanmar (Burma)

Myanmar is divided by the approximately north–south-aligned major Shan Boundary Fault of Tertiary age, which separates the West Burma Plate to the west from the older Sibumasu Terrane to the east. The West Burma Plate consists of Triassic–Recent rocks only and will not be considered further here, but Sibumasu includes a high proportion of Cambrian–Devonian rocks. Palaeozoic rocks cover much of the eastern highlands of Myanmar, the Shan Plateau, Kaya, Kayin, Mon and Tanintharyi, and the Main Range–Tenasserim–Shan Massif (Hutchison 1982). This region, together with the adjacent part of Yunnan Province, China forms a major sector at the northern end of the Palaeozoic microcontinent termed Sibumasu (or occasionally Shan–Thai or Sinoburmalaya), which extends southwards through much of western Thailand and western Malaysia, and whose southern end just reaches into Indonesia (Metcalfe 1984, 1986). Although Sibumasu clearly represents a real tectonic unit, it has only been so since Middle Permian times when Sibumasu became an independent terrane with the opening of the Neotethys Ocean. Prior to the Permian, the Sibumasu area was an integral part of the vast continent of Gondwana (Torsvik & Cocks 2017). Probably in the Early Cambrian, and certainly by the Middle Cambrian at about 510 Ma, the Myanmar part of the Sibumasu sector of Gondwana straddled the equator and was situated close to the northwestern Australian sector of that vast palaeocontinent. Although there are some Cambrian volcanics (including the Bawdwin Volcanic Formation described below), they are acidic in composition and apparently peri-continental. Perhaps then, and certainly from the Early Ordovician onwards until the end of the Carboniferous, the Sibumasu edge of Gondwana was a passive margin throughout, a conclusion reinforced by the neodymium isotopic composition of Late Devonian seawater in western Thailand (Dopieralska et al. 2012). Sibumasu remained at low southern tropical palaeolatitudes from the …

Resistance and reality: exploring symbolic fracturing, reality construction, and democratic dialogue within the community radio form

ABSTRACTGovernment and the private sector persistently prioritise the need to assess the impact of social and political processes against criteria based on capital production and economic efficiency. How valuable is this within media ecologies that seek to prioritise democratic contributions or counter-hegemonic practice? Community radio globally was established to promote participation and increase democratic communication. This study adopts a citizens’ media approach within a critical political economy of communication epistemology to investigate social change impacts related to symbolic fracturing, reality construction, and democratic dialogue within community radio practice. Based on a case study of 3CR Community Radio in Melbourne, Australia, this study identifies social discourse rupture, recoding, and critical participation as key themes that emerge through qualitative interviews with station founders, current practitioners, and listeners. While numerous studies have documented the Australian community radio sector’s contribution to media participation and diversity, this paper considers the counter-hegemonic outcomes of a station that seeks to resist and subvert social injustices and to deepen the democratisation of the media. Results reveal that listeners and practitioners engage in counter-hegemonic media practice through the community radio form.

Australian VET Sector – A Critical Evaluation

The Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) system is a comprehensive, national framework designed to provide quality outcomes for learners and meet the needs of potential employers. The interdependent checks and balances provide mechanisms for validating quality and relevance. Regular national surveys demonstrate that both students and employers are satisfied with their experience of the VET sector. However, whilst positive feedback is necessary it is not of itself sufficient. In effect it is a false benchmark. To provide best practices in teaching and learning necessitates lecturers having the appropriate skills and underpinning knowledge something that the mandatory Certificate IVE in Training and Assessment does not provide. A more valid benchmark is an objective analysis of the quality using a learning taxonomy such as SOLO. This preliminary analysis of a range of VET courses unequivocally found that course material was well below best practices expectations. However further work is needed.

Time Slicing the Cooper Basin

An efficient and practical method of generating composite time slices using all available, non-confidential 3D seismic data recorded in the South Australian sector of the Cooper Basin has been developed. Twenty georeferenced tiff images of time slices between 1000 ms and 2900 ms at 100 ms intervals have been prepared and are intended to be made publicly available through the Department of State Development SARIG website. 2D seismic data has also been used in this project in an attempt to ‘fill in’ some of the gaps between 3D datasets. Forty eight 3D and 5076 2D seg-y data files were utilised in this project. All 3D and 2D segy files were scaled to normalise amplitude levels for gridding and imaging. The ability to time slice 3D volumes of seismic seg-y data is a basic method employed in seismic interpretation. This method is usually applied to a single survey as commonly used software packages are not designed to view and analyse multiple 3D surveys at the same time or such functionality is not yet well implemented. For large scale regional interpretation, such constraint limits interpreting potential, especially in terms of basin wide correlation of main structural features. Whilst the methodology developed in this project retains the quality and resolution inherent in the variety of surveys used, it provides a cost effective method of generating basin wide time slice images, compared to costly reprocessing required in merging of 3D data sets into one 3D volume. The time slice data suite prepared complements other value-added regional datasets prepared by the Department of State Development to stimulate petroleum exploration in South Australia.

Facilitating Network Technology Training in the Australian Vocational Education Sector

Within the Australian Further Education sector for lecturers in the IT field it is not uncommon to use vendor based curriculum. The advantages to this approach are that students can graduate not only with a national award (Certificate or Diploma) and also an internationally recognized vendor qualification. Furthermore, the larger vendors supply comprehensive course materials, resources and assessment tools all of which have been extensively tested. In effect lecturers do not have to write their own course materials. Whilst it is recognized that lecturers may well facilitate student learning the quality of the educational outcomes is highly dependent on the quality of the vendor based materials. In the case of the Cisco Network Academy Program (CNAP) course materials did not provide a consistent diagrammatic representation of networking devices and protocols. Educational theory strongly suggests that such a model is the basis of quality teaching and learning. In this study student learning was evaluated using the State Model Diagram (SMD) method and the interpreted using the SOLO taxonomy. The results clearly demonstrate that there are considerable advantages to using the SMD method.

ENSO controls interannual fire activity in southeast Australia

AbstractEl Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main mode controlling the variability in the ocean‐atmosphere system in the South Pacific. While the ENSO influence on rainfall regimes in the South Pacific is well documented, its role in driving spatiotemporal trends in fire activity in this region has not been rigorously investigated. This is particularly the case for the highly flammable and densely populated southeast Australian sector, where ENSO is a major control over climatic variability. Here we conduct the first region‐wide analysis of how ENSO controls fire activity in southeast Australia. We identify a significant relationship between ENSO and both fire frequency and area burnt. Critically, wavelet analyses reveal that despite substantial temporal variability in the ENSO system, ENSO exerts a persistent and significant influence on southeast Australian fire activity. Our analysis has direct application for developing robust predictive capacity for the increasingly important efforts at fire management.

Alternatives to LiDAR-derived canopy height models for softwood plantations: a review and example using photogrammetry

ABSTRACTAirborne LiDAR data is now commonly acquired by the Australian plantation sector in order to generate accurate digital terrain models and canopy height models at high spatial resolution for resource assessment estimates. However, these airborne surveys are relatively expensive and there is a desire to identify more affordable options for collecting or updating this information. This review presents alternative approaches to deriving canopy height models, including the use of stereo optical imagery from satellites, manned and unmanned airborne platforms, and the use of synthetic aperture radar. In addition, we illustrate the potential of airborne photogrammetry with multi-view dense point matching to produce an accurate, hybrid photo-LiDAR canopy height model at high spatial resolution along a transect covering stands of several softwood tree species.

Understanding The Key Attributes for a Successful Innovation Culture

This paper presents the results and findings of a research project on innovation culture in Australian information technology sector organisations. The primary objective of this study was to establish the determinants of a successful enterprise innovation culture in organisations with a strong industry reputation for radical innovation initiatives. The authors obtained 244 responses from 102 member organisations of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA). The survey explored the internal and external characteristics of a successful innovative organisation. Both employees' and competitors' perspectives on “what makes a particular organisation a successful innovator” were the main focus. The authors' findings indicated that the absence of a successful innovation culture is a serious impediment to growth and success. However, preferences for the key innovation culture attributes varied significantly by executive functions, size of the organization and type of ownership structure. Thus, a mix of key innovation attributes should be deployed and tailored to each organisation, based on their industry and strategic objectives.