Australian Situation Research Articles

The Australian Summertime Cool Change. Part III: Subsynoptic and Mesoscale Model

Observations of the Australian summertime cool change have ranged over both the subsynoptic scale (200–2000 km) and the mesoscale (20–200 km). In this paper, the final in a series of three, a conceptual subsynoptic and mesoscale model is developed. The model suggests that such features as (i) the speed of movement of the surface cold front, (ii) the inflow of moisture into the frontal transition zone, and (iii) the midtropospheric wind field associated with the frontal transition zone are determined largely by the synoptic scale flow. Mesoscale controlled processes occur within the frontal transition zone. The model is consistent with models developed for the Northern Hemisphere. The significant difference between the subsynoptic and mesoscale models appropriate to the United Kingdom and the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the summertime cool change is the lack of low-level moisture in the Australian situation. The model highlights the influence of the hot, dry Australian continent on the development of fronts. The application of the model to forecasting in the Australian region is explored. In particular, it provides a systematic framework for analyzing the weather lines associated with the passage of the frontal transition zone. Further, the conceptual model suggests that the speed of the frontal transition zone should be able to be forecast with some skill by current operational numerical models. Finally, the model predicts the type of surface weather associated with the passage of the frontal transition zone.

Formula Funding and Regional Planning of Health Services in Australia

groups and communities within Australia's scattered population has been problematic for more than a century. When modern scientific medicine was developing its present form, in the 1880s, Australia was composed of six self-governing colonies of the United Kingdom. Half of the population was dispersed in an agricultural and extractive economy supporting a few regional service towns, but commercial, financial, and governmental activities were concentrated in the seaboard capital cities. Numerous small hospitals were established by voluntary initiative in the country towns and voluntary initiative, often aware of a British model if not appealing directly to it, was responsible for a considerable part of the hospital services in the urban metropolitan areas. Dispersed voluntaryism may have worked in the United Kingdom, where landed wealth also was dispersed, but it was not adequate to the Australian situation, where hospital boards quickly fell into the habit of seeking subsidy from the colonial government for their institutions. The trouble with the subsidy was that it created political and financial obligations on governments to maintain institutions over whose establishment and expansion they had no control. The system

Oxide Ores of Nickel — The Australian Situation

This review outlines the general features of the oxide nickel ore industry in Australia in terms of type, location, commercial practice and research and development. For oxide nickel ores that occur in the sulphide province of Western Australia, integration of oxide and sulphide processing routes will offer many economic and technological advantages. For other ores, non-metallurgical factors will have a significant influence on their future development.

The Impact of Infants in Prison on Institutional Life: A Study of the Mother/Infant Prison Programme in Western Australia

The Western Australian prison system, following trends of other prison systems in the western world, has embarked upon a limited programme of accommodating infants with their prisoner mothers during the mother's term of imprisonment. This research canvasses other mother/infant programmes noted in the literature, pointing to the special nature of the Western Australian situation. The focus of the study is on the impact of infants in prison on institutional life and the management problems so engendered. The data indicate that overall, infants have a positive impact on prison life, muting some of the more debilitating effects of institutionalization. The finding that the impact of the mother/infant prison programme is more peripheral to institutional life than expected is explained in the light of the obduracy of the "total institution". The major concerns expressed by those interviewed: prison staff, prisoner mothers and other prisoners, are, respectively: prisoner management, mother/infant prison facilities and family ties, and concerns of justice. With these issues in mind, problems of the current programme are discussed together with suggested resolutions.

Brand names, generic prescribing, and generic substitution.

The terms "generic prescribing" and "generic substitution", and some related terms, are defined. The history of laws concerning these matters is referred to, and the Australian situation is briefly outlined. The arguments for and against generic prescribing and generic substitution are canvassed.

Academic freedom in Australia

I have argued that there are two ways of looking at academic freedom: as personal or individual and as institutional. The idea of personal freedom was seen to be difficult to justify as a special prerogative of academics, and in the Australian situation where it is appealed to, it is as much used to justify ill-treatment of the academic by his or her colleagues as it is to defend a precious right. The situation in respect of institutional academic freedom was seen to be different. It was claimed that the unique structure of the Australian university system together with the conflict with a centralized government over governance and power resulted in serious challenges to this less definable sense of freedom.

HIGH TECHNOLOGY POLICY AND THE SILICON VALLEY MODEL: AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE

Australia seeks to emerge from the depths of recession and to break free from the syndrome of giving ever-increasing protection to a decaying manufacturing sector, by encouraging high technology industry. Silicon Valley, the home of much of the world's semiconductor industry, is often seen as the appropriate model for the development of such industry. For those used to dealing with the siting and encouragement of conventional industry, it can seem that high technology industry, with no heavy raw material input or bulky product output and requiring no large labour pool or local market, in fact has no special requirements at all. Others look to the Silicon Valley model and plan science or technology parks to reproduce the factors they believe responsible for that phenomenon. For example, great emphasis is generally placed on proximity to universities, apparently in ignorance of the very minor role universities played in the growth of the semiconductor industry, and of the great practical divide between science and technology. Vital factors, such as the ready information flow achieved by high mobility of those in high technology industry, are ignored. The Australian situation is complicated further by competition among the States to attract high technology industry, a competition that tends to emasculate national policy. Yet this situation is really just a local representation of what is happening internationally among countries and among regions within those countries. This desperation to leap blindly into high technology, whatever it is and whatever the cost, by following a model that is scarcely understood, is unlikely to produce the huge rewards so many policy makers anticipate are so readily available.

Why and which university for the diploma in applied psychology: The south australian situation

Why and which university for the diploma in applied psychology: The south australian situation

Intraspecific variation in Echinococcus granulosus: the Australian situation and perspectives for the future

The current status of knowledge of speciation and strain differentiation in Echinococcus is discussed, with particular reference to the Australian scene. A new approach to the problem using morphological, developmental and biochemical differences is described and the importance of correct identification for the practical aspects of controlling the disease is stressed.

The assessment of a Swiss cadastre from an Australian perspective

Abstract As an aid to understanding the application of the concept of multi-purpose cadastres in Australia, a true fully-operational multi-purpose cadastre has been described—the cadastre chosen is that of the Canton de Vaud in Switzerland. In particular the relationship between title registration, cadastral surveying and large scale mapping is discussed. Those aspects of the cadastral system which have relevance to the Australian situation are highlighled and assessed.

Some Thoughts on the Effects on Australian Urban Transport of Structural Economic Change

This paper briefly reviews the existing Australian situation in respect of urban person and freight transport. It identifies those aspects likely to be sensitive to structural economic change and related changes. The extent of such sensitivity is discussed using such empirical evidence as is available. In particular the paper examines the possible effects on urban transport of such factors as changes in the demographic structure, changes in energy, institutional and political change, and technological change, as well as structural economic change.

OIL SPILL PREVENTION AND CONTROL IN AUSTRALIA

ABSTRACT In 1976/77, Australian crude oil consumption was about 590,000 barrels per day (bpd), with indigenous production supplying 423,000 bpd. Some 223,000 bpd were moved by coastal tanker, 167,000 bpd were imported in overseas tankers, and the remainder was transported by pipeline. The Australian oil spill control situation differs from that commonly found in the northern hemisphere. The long coastline, low ratio of population to coastal distance, shipping route isolation, and the low shipping densities, dictated a dispersant-oriented approach to control when it was first contemplated in the 1960s. This paper describes the development of industry and government spill defence organisations, and the establishment of control techniques other than dispersion. The strategic location of materials and equipment, emergency response plans and responsibilities, and interrelationships among organisations are examined. The interface between offshore oil production and other coastal uses is discussed with some forecasts of future developments, including the implications for the very large Australian Fishing Zone which was recently established under current 200 nautical mile offshore proposals.

State Government Management-Union Relations in Victoria and New South Wales

The increasing volume of literature on state government labour relations seems to have neglected a particularly fertile area—the Australian experience. The Australian situation is of special interest because of the early develop ment of government-union bargaining over wages and conditions of employ ment. This study will consider the systems that have evolved in two of the Australian states—New South Wales and Victoria—and highlight certain problem areas. Various implications for state government labour relations, generally, are discussed and it is shown that workable industrial relations in state government can be achieved through different forms and processes.

TAX SHARING IN AUSTRALIA AND WEST GERMANY*

Abstract: Certain aspects of the new Australian tax sharing arrangements are analysed against the background of West German experiences. Emphasis is laid on Federal‐State relations in outlining the basic characteristics of the German machinery and the Australian arrangements. Compared to the Australian situation, the tax sharing base in West Germany is much broader and has indeed contributed to the safeguarding of State autonomy to a large extent. On the other hand, the German States have no individual power to legislate on taxes or tax surcharges. Although tax sharing is a powerful instrument in mitigating financial imbalances in a federation, it tends to conflict with the idea of a centrally controlled stabilization and distribution policy. In Germany, tax sharing is complemented by a complex coordination machinery stabilizing joint decision making of the Federal government and the States. In areas such as demand management, financial planning and allocation policies there seems to be need for such complementary arrangements, since tax sharing alone cannot achieve sufficient coordination among the different administrative levels of a federation.

Coordination in Urban Settings

In recent years a number of programmes have been developed which focus on the urban community rather than the individual as the beneficiary of welfare allocations. Working on the assumption that different views of social malaise will generate different programme types, this paper takes an analytical framework developed by Roland Warren and applies it to an Australian situation. The problem at stake is one of creating conditions in which a newly formed organization can enter an urban situation and begin to coordinate local activity. This paper discusses the difficulty a new organization has in breaking into the inter‐organizational field, the difficulty of achieving legitimacy, and means by which its activities may be prevented, blunted and repelled. These are illustrated with examples in metropolitan Adelaide.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION IN FIELDWORK: AUSTRALIAN STUDIES

The Australian situation offers special insights for cross-cultural psychiatric research. The two cultures that "crossed" in Australia were diametrically opposed in their characteristics. Suffering, which is considered to be the raison d'être of cross-cultural psychiatry, became pandemic among Aborigines, not only because the invading society was ruthlessly aggressive, but also because the invaded society did not have the social institutions and modal personality patterns enabling it to adapt to the introduced culture. It is suggested that no applied science makes more demands of more scientific disciplines than does cross-cultural psychiatry. Psychiatry itself is a multidisciplinary science. The amount of information needed by the cross-cultural extension of psychiatry is further expanded. Only a multidisciplinary approach can furnish the necessary level of information. An outline is given of multidisciplinary field work in Australia, indicating advantages and difficulties inherent in it. Attention is drawn to literature in which details of the results may be found. The Australian work leads to the conclusion that if the relief of suffering is the aim then greater involvement is needed in cross-cultural psychiatry from the culture that has been "crossed".

An Appraisal of the South Australian Sheltered Workshop Situation

An Appraisal of the South Australian Sheltered Workshop Situation

Multi-Cultural Education Programs in the Kindergarten

A multi-cultural education program has been followed in the Augusta Park Kindergarten for the past six months, with such pleasing results that, if introduced in all kindergartens, it could reduce the misunderstandings arising out of ignorance in a multi-cultural environment. This program was based on similar courses in Scandinavia, Germany, the U.S.S.R., Canada and New Zealand, all combined and adapted to the situation in Port Augusta and the Australian situation generally. The basic idea was for the learning to be a two-way process between the Euro-Australian children and the two dominant cultural groups, the Aboriginal and Italian children.

Are Australian fish in hot water?

To try to answer that question, ‘Climate change and the aquatic environment: the future for fish and fisheries’ was the subject of a focused scientific symposium held in Melbourne in July by the Australian Society for Fish Biology. The symposium’s key findings, which have been published in a special issue of the journal, Marine and Freshwater Research, provide an up-to-date synthesis of the Australian situation.

Urban Dispersal in Australia

In a recent issue of the Journal, Professor R. E. Lonsdale argued that the relatively successful American experience of decentralization suggests serious difficulties in attempting a comparable programme in Australia. His comparisons, while illuminating many of the problems which must be faced by a realistic regional development policy, are unduly pessimistic in their assessment of the Australian situation. The barriers to urban dispersal in Australia lie less in economic and social conditions than in political attitudes and governmental structures.