Melbourne Metropolitan Region Research Articles

Urban food planning and management in Melbourne: current challenges and practical insights

ABSTRACT Over the last decades, local governments have begun to develop urban food planning instruments focused on improving public health and environmental sustainability, but shortcomings still exist. This paper builds on the case of the Melbourne Metropolitan Region (Australia) to elaborate on how urban food planning and management can address the challenges exposed by a systemic approach. Challenges include strengthening local food economies, developing a nexus between the urban environment, public health, and sustainability, and the circular management of food production resources. Our study contributes to urban food planning and management practice by identifying how policy instruments have successfully addressed these key challenges, and existing inconsistencies between policies and planning. Furthermore, policies should go beyond incentives for urban gardens and explore new areas of intervention, including integrating local producers and retailers into urban food planning, prioritizing fresh food commercialization over ultra-processed products, and integrating composting into waste management.

The economics of public transport electrification: A case study from Victoria, Australia

We investigate the economic, climate and electricity market implications of public bus fleet electrification based on the Melbourne Metropolitan region. We employ a novel fleet-level analysis, under tariff-based least-cost depot charging to compare the total cost of ownership (TCO) over 12 years of battery electric vehicle (BEV) against diesel bus fleets in a transitioning power sector. We also estimate impacts on electricity demand and carbon emissions, across purchase years between 2022 and 2039. We find that while the upfront costs of BEV bus fleets are considerably higher than diesel, they are more economical to operate in the long run, although our calculations are sensitive to diesel price assumptions. Electricity prices only have a minor impact on the TCO of BEV buses. Using a power sector transition scenario that mirrors Australia's Glasgow (COP26) commitments of net-zero economy wide emissions by 2050, we find that purchasing a BEV fleet in 2022 (0.42 MtCO2e) results in 74% less operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than an equivalent diesel fleet (1.6 MtCO2e). If grid decarbonisation beyond 2022 would not proceed, BEV bus fleet emissions (at 2.03 MtCO2e) would be 27% higher than diesel. This suggests that an average 27% reduction of night-time grid emissions (over the next 12 years) is required for BEV buses to have lower emissions than diesel. One of our key policy recommendations is to co-optimise power and transport sector transitions by ensuring greater pass through of wholesale market pricing signals.

Identification of Embodied Environmental Attributes of Construction in Metropolitan and Growth Region of Melbourne, Australia to Support Urban Planning

As growth regions evolve to accommodate the increasing population, they need to develop a wider variety of residential properties to accommodate the varying needs of the residents. As a result, the new accommodation is denser which involves higher embodied water carbon and energy. This research compares the construction differences in metropolitan and growth regions of Melbourne to identify embodied carbon, water, and energy. Representative areas of 25 km2 are selected from both regions. The growth region has 80% of the built area comprised of 2nd generation low-rise residential buildings whereas the prolific construction type in the Metropolitan region is mixed purpose industrial with 30% of the built area comprising of this type. The methodology implies open-source satellite imagery to build a spatial dataset in QGIS. The visual identification of the constructions in the study areas enables to identity the materials used in their construction. The total embodied carbon, water, and energy for the Metropolitan region are 32,895 tonnes, 4192 mL, and 3,694,412 GJ, respectively, whereas in the growth region, the totals are 179,376 tonnes carbon, 2533 mL water, and 2,243,571 GJ. Whilst Metropolitan has a significantly higher overall footprint when this is compared to the population of each region, it is shown that the growth region with its current construction type has a higher embodied carbon, water, and energy per head. The total per head for Metropolitan is 226.7 GJ energy, 257 kL water, and 20 tonnes carbon, whereas in the growth region, the embodied energy, water, and carbon, respectively, per head is 287.4 GJ, 324.6 kL, and 22 tonnes. The current performance per head of the growth region is considerably lower than that of Metropolitan. Using diverse residential construction types and efficient materials can serve the demanding needs of denser populated areas.

A Brief, Daily, Online Mental Health and Well-being Intervention for University Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Program Description and Outcomes Using a Mixed Methods Design.

BackgroundThe unprecedented changes and isolation measures to contain COVID-19 have had multiple psychological and social impacts, with implications for professional and personal functioning. Evidence-informed interventions that can be rapidly implemented under pandemic conditions to support mental health during such times are urgently needed.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the acceptability and preliminary outcomes of a daily online mental health promotion program for tertiary education staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThe “Victoria University (VU) Elevenses” program was delivered as an uncontrolled intervention at Victoria University (VU) in the western metropolitan region of Melbourne, Australia. In April 2020, an email invitation was sent to all academic and professional staff inviting them to: (1) participate in the program and (2) opt-in to the research component. The “VU Elevenses” program provided 10-15–minute microinterventions comprising lifestyle and well-being strategies to promote mental health via an online meeting platform at 11 AM each weekday. A mixed methods approach was used to evaluate the program, combining structured questionnaires with semistructured interviews to investigate the experiences of staff who participated in the program.ResultsBetween 16 and 90 participants provided weekly program feedback. A total of 106 university staff opted into the longitudinal research component and 10 staff participated in the interviews. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with sessions and perceived benefits for mental health. Approximately one quarter of participants reported moderate to severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress at baseline, with significant reductions in these symptoms in the first 7 weeks of the program, corresponding with easing in mandatory isolation (“lockdown”) restrictions. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress all increased when lockdown measures were reintroduced, but not to the same levels as found during the initial lockdown period. Overall changes in depression and anxiety from baseline to the end of the program were explained by changes in COVID-19–related distress, whereas changes in self-compassion explained changes in stress.ConclusionsWe show that it is feasible and acceptable to develop and deliver a program of brief interventions in a timely manner, using a simple and accessible online platform. Although participation in the program was initially associated with reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, participants’ mental health worsened with the reintroduction of a “lockdown” period. However, as symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress did not return to levels observed at the start of the VU Elevenses program, participation in the uncontrolled intervention may have offered a protective benefit against the impact of the second significant lockdown period.

Australia's push to make residential housing sustainable - Do end-users care?

The Australian construction industry is transitioning to becoming more sustainable. Despite their crucial role, Australian communities as the end-users of this transition have been overlooked. Buildings contribute as much as 30% of the total waste produced and as much as 40% of total greenhouse gases. Residential construction makes up the biggest sector in construction; about 80% by cost. If sustainable construction is to be realised, it must take root in the housing sector. Little progress, however, has been made. Current literature places much of the blame with the owners and occupiers of houses – The line goes that builders would build sustainable houses if people really wanted them. The question arises: are reported societal concerns for sustainability merely superficial or supported by intention and commitment to act. This study aimed to test public resolve for a transition to sustainable residential housing. Three focus groups, drawn from three diverse communities within the greater Melbourne metropolitan region, were engaged in describing and explaining community views on the desirability of sustainable housing. The unanimous consensus is that people want housing to be more sustainable, but that this is not forthcoming because of the intransigence of government and builders to facilitate a needed culture of change within the residential housing sector. This study contributes to the field, providing a model that encapsulates various dimensions of community's, namely, end-users’ perceptions, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Findings provide a sound basis for future researchers to address the challenges identified. The study also raises awareness of policymakers and industry practitioners of the genuine needs and requirements of end-users of residential buildings.

Mapping social-ecological injustice in Melbourne, Australia: An innovative systematic methodology for planning just cities

Social-ecological justice is an emerging field that argues for nature’s agency, social-ecological awareness, recognition of nature’s capabilities, and participation in decision-making processes. A social-ecological justice perspective lifts the analysis out of a distribution of environmental impacts to humans, to a recognition of social-ecological complexities. However, bringing this perspective to urban planning requires a suite of methods and tools in coordination with existing planning methods that do not address issues of social-ecological justice, or, justice for nature. Drawing from existing methods and tools, this paper presents a novel methodology to define, identify, and map social-ecological injustices in urban landscapes. Three dimensions of social-ecological justice (distribution, recognition, and participation) are operationalised into a set of indicators, which are added to create a Social-Ecological Injustices Index that identifies place hotspots. A fourth dimension, capabilities, is discussed, but not operationalised in the paper. The urban region of Melbourne, which has been undergoing intense urbanisation processes, is used as a case study to test the applicability of this index. The geospatial analysis reveals various degrees of social-ecological injustices across the Melbourne Metropolitan region and unveils the location of the most deprived areas. This methodology can be applied as a systematic and effective way for urban planners and decision-makers to identify and target social-ecological injustice hotspots as areas of prioritisation for urban regeneration with nature-based solutions.

“The dual diagnosis attitudes survey”: understanding the attitudinal impact of training across mental health and alcohol and drug service systems

PurposeAnecdotal feedback obtained from alcohol and drug and mental health staff across the eastern metropolitan region of Melbourne, Australia suggests that attitudes towards working with people experiencing a dual diagnosis are becoming more positive. The purpose of this paper is to understand if dual diagnosis-specific training delivered to staff within mental health and alcohol and other drug services was a factor positively influencing attitudes.Design/methodology/approachNo formal evaluation assessing the impact of dual diagnosis-specific training on staff attitudes had previously occurred within this region of Australia. Access to staff on two occasions from three distinct sectors provided an opportunity to examine if and, to what degree, attitudes can be influenced by dual diagnosis-specific training. Using a co-designed attitudes survey, information was gathered from mental health and alcohol and drug staff on their attitudes to working with people with co-occurring mental health and substance use problems.FindingsTwo surveys were conducted involving 186 staff in 2012 and 110 staff in 2016. The dual diagnosis attitudes survey showed that positive attitudes to working with people experiencing a dual diagnosis were associated with recency of training. While attitudes may be improved by dual diagnosis training, these findings cannot exclude the impact of other dual diagnosis capacity building activities.Originality/valueThis study highlights the benefits of a regional partnership between mental health and alcohol and drug services and people with lived experience of dual diagnosis and the benefit of recent co-designed dual diagnosis training on longitudinally assessed worker attitudes.

Effect of Sand Content on the Liquefaction Potential and Post-Earthquake Behaviour of Coode Island Silt

Traditionally, sandy soils are known to be the only type of soils susceptible to liquefaction. However, liquefaction has also been observed in silty and clayey soils. As one of the most problematic soft soils in the state of Victoria, Australia, Coode Island Silt (CIS) extends from the northern shoreline of Port Phillip Bay to the south and west of Melbourne central business district and contains a considerable and variable amount of sand. Although this material covers an area of more than 20 km2 at a depth varying from ground level to 30 m below the ground level in the metropolitan region of Melbourne, the effect of sand content on the liquefaction potential and post-earthquake behaviour of CIS has never been studied properly. Through an extensive set of monotonic, cyclic and post-cyclic triaxial tests, this paper explores the earthquake and post-earthquake response of CIS containing variable sand content. Based on the test results, it is found that the sand content up to 60% does not affect the liquefaction potential of CIS under the tested cyclic stress ratio. Also, it is found that although the applied cyclic loading does not considerably alter the internal friction of CIS-sand mixtures, the post-cyclic secant stiffness increases dramatically.

Gender norms in the Chinese community in Melbourne, Australia: Family and community roles

ObjectiveThe Chinese community in the Eastern metropolitan region of Melbourne forms one of the largest migrant communities in Victoria, yet the factors that influence their social, family, and work life are not clear. An understanding of the cultural underpinnings of the family and social dynamics will enable health service providers in the region to develop culturally appropriate strategies for promoting gender equity. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to explore the impact of gender norms on the family, employment, and social life of the Chinese community.MethodFour focus groups with men and women (older and younger) of the community were conducted in Mandarin and/or Cantonese. The data was transcribed and thematic analysis of the data was undertaken.ResultsThere are differences in the gender norms between the Chinese men and women with the men focusing on the family‐oriented role of women and their own economic contribution to the family, and the women emphasising their homemaker‐provider role within the family and the impact of family responsibilities on their career advancement. The influence of Australian laws on their marital relationships was also explored.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that health service providers could play an advanced role in improving the gender parity between members of the Chinese community by developing culturally relevant programs. Future research should explore the factors that influence the drivers of gender equity among culturally diverse communities.

Temperature Variability Differs in Urban Agroecosystems across Two Metropolitan Regions

Climatically similar regions may experience different temperature extremes and weather patterns that warrant global comparisons of local microclimates. Urban agroecosystems are interesting sites to examine the multidimensional impacts of climate changes because they rely heavily on human intervention to maintain crop production under different and changing climate conditions. Here, we used urban community gardens across the California Central Coast metropolitan region, USA, and the Melbourne metropolitan region, Australia, to investigate how habitat-scale temperatures differ across climatically similar regions, and how people may be adapting their gardening behaviors to not only regional temperatures, but also to the local weather patterns around them. We show that, while annual means are very similar, there are strong interregional differences in temperature variability likely due to differences in the scale and scope of the temperature measurements, and regional topography. However, the plants growing within these systems are largely the same. The similarities may be due to gardeners’ capacities to adapt their gardening behaviors to reduce the adverse effects of local temperature variability on the productivity of their plot. Thus, gardens can serve as sites where people build their knowledge of local weather patterns and adaptive capacity to climate change and urban heat. Climate-focused studies in urban landscapes should consider how habitat-scale temperature variability is a background for interesting and meaningful social-ecological interactions.

A new paradigm of youth recovery: Implications for youth mental health service provision

The recovery model and practice orientation is promoted as a central feature of mental health service provision across the English speaking world. Yet the model relies on adult frameworks and its applicability to the youth recovery experience has not been established. The current qualitative study explored the common themes in the recovery experiences of 15 young people aged 18–23-years with severe mental health conditions from the Eastern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne, Australia. The aim of the study was to develop a thematic model of youth recovery utilising the experiences of young people with severe mental illness. These findings are then discussed in relation to common themes found in adult recovery research and in regard to the current understanding of young people and recovery. Qualitative data was inductively coded into a thematic model of youth recovery forming two overarching themes. The first was defined as ecological systems (ES) including three subthemes (personal, systemic, and macro). The second was defined as youth recovery processes drawing narratives from across the ES to form five subthemes (self‐belief and resilience; responsibility and personal agency; identity, awareness and acceptance; connection; and hope and positive expectations). The resulting themes revealed the critical importance of the ecological context in the personal recovery experiences of young people. It is contended that recovery in this stage of the lifespan is best conceptualised within this ecological framework. Implications for youth recovery conceptualisation and mental health service delivery are discussed.

Seeking Help From Police for Intimate Partner Violence: Applying a Relationship Phase Framework to the Exploration of Victims' Evolving Needs.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive social problem requiring multiple levels of intervention across sectors. Women experiencing IPV often seek assistance from police. Such help-seeking efforts are frequently perceived as problematic by both victims and police. A deeper understanding of victims' needs than is currently evident in the literature is needed to facilitate an appropriate, victim-centered police response across a diverse range of victim presentations. Applying a symbolic interactionist and feminist perspective and guided by a constructivist grounded theory approach, this qualitative study aimed to explore the application of Landenburger's model of entrapment in and recovery from violent relationships to understand victims' help-seeking needs when accessing police services. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 female victims residing in the culturally diverse Western metropolitan region of Melbourne, Australia. Fourteen victims participated in follow-up interviews. All victims primarily sought to stop the violence and hoped to find a powerful ally in police. Additional help-seeking needs were identified; subtle variations in victims' aspirations for safety, ego-support, and justice were found across the binding, enduring, disengaging, and recovery relationship phases. Victims progressed from focusing only on the immediate violent event during the binding phase to seeking to maintain long-term safety and exert their rights to protection and freedom from abuse in the recovery phase. While the operational response of police is dependent on level of violence and immediate concerns for victims' physical safety, victims' help-seeking aims are very much contingent upon their relationship phase and the associated strategies for managing the violence they use. In particular, this study provides insight into the needs of women in the enduring relationship phase, when factors such as diminished agency and low expectations of legal protection were found to constrain victims' help-seeking aspirations, sometimes eventuating in a cycle of chronic police intervention.

Key lessons for designing health literacy professional development courses.

Health literacy courses for health professionals have emerged in response to health professionals' perceived lack of understanding of health literacy issues, and their failure to routinely adopt health literacy practices. Since 2013 in Victoria, Australia, the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health has delivered an annual health literacy demonstration training course that it developed. Course development and delivery partners included HealthWest Partnership and cohealth. The courses are designed to develop the health literacy knowledge, skills and organisational capacity of the health and community services sector in the western metropolitan region of Melbourne. This study presents key learnings from evaluation data from three health literacy courses using Wenger's professional educational learning design framework. The framework has three educational learning architecture components (engagement, imagination and alignment) and four educational learning architecture dimensions (participation, emergent, local/global, identification). Participatory realist evaluation approaches and qualitative methods were used. The evaluations revealed that the health literacy courses are developing leadership in health literacy, building partnerships among course participants, developing health literacy workforce knowledge and skills, developing ways to use and apply health literacy resources and are serving as a catalyst for building organisational infrastructure. Although the courses were not explicitly developed or implemented using Wenger's educational learning design pedagogic features, the course structure (i.e. facilitation role of course coordinators, providing safe learning environments, encouraging small group work amongst participants, requiring participants to conduct mini-projects and sponsor organisation buy-in) provided opportunities for engagement, imagination and alignment. Wenger's educational learning design framework can inform the design of future key pedagogic features of health literacy courses.

Measuring Walking Accessibility in Metropolitan Areas

Promoting walking trips is considered a key element of achieving more sustainable transportation. This paper presents a new index for measuring walkability in metropolitan areas. This index measures walkability levels for diversity and intensity of uses in spatial areas while considering the travel distance and time as travel impedance between origins and destinations. A walking access index (WAI), which is a location-based measure for accessibility, is formulated for quantifying accessibility within local areas in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Geographic information system software was employed to compute distances between origins and destinations. The Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity (VISTA) was used to evaluate the new index and examine the association between walking trips and levels of accessibility within the metropolitan region of Melbourne. Furthermore, the new index is compared with one of the most common approaches using the VISTA data set. Key findings indicate that the WAI has a stronger association with recorded walking trips, with more walking trips recorded in areas with higher values of the WAI.

Evaluating safety effectiveness of surface treatment at signalised intersections: a before and after study

In a metropolitan region of Melbourne, Australia, 136 signalised intersections were identified to have been resurfaced with asphalt over the period 2005–2010. In this study, the safety effectiveness of surface treatment was evaluated using Empirical Bayes (EB) approach to account for regression to the mean bias and traffic volume change through using safety performance function (SPF). Safety effects were estimated for total casualty, high severity (fatality and serious injury) and other injury crashes. For conducting EB method a reference group was selected with similar traffic volumes and site characteristics to the treated sites. Negative Binomial regression was applied to develop SPFs that were used to predict the expected number of crashes at the treated sites. The results of EB approach revealed that the treatment effect was found to be significant at 95% confidence level for all crash severity levels. The evaluation results also showed that total casualty crashes were reduced by 21.3% with a standard error of 3.13% and high severity (fatality and serious injury) crashes were reduced by 15.3% with a standard error of 5.56%. Pavement surface treatment was found to reduce other injury crashes by 21.4% with a standard error of 3.75%.

Public transport accessibility in metropolitan areas: A new approach incorporating population density

Improving public transport accessibility can be considered an effective way of reducing the external costs and negative side effects of motorized commuting. Although there have been many studies conducted that have measured access levels to public transport stops/stations, there has been limited research on measuring accessibility that integrates population density within geographical areas. This study develops a new measure that considers public transport service frequency and population density as an important distributional indicator. A public transport accessibility index (PTAI) is formulated for quantifying accessibility within local areas in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. A public transport network model is applied to identify the service coverage of public transport modes using a Geographical Information System (GIS). A consistent method is introduced for evaluating public transport accessibility for different levels of analysis, from single elements, including public mode stops to network analysis. The Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity (VISTA) is used to evaluate the index and examine the association between commuting trips undertaken by public transport and the level of accessibility within the Melbourne metropolitan region. Furthermore, the new index is compared with two existing approaches using the VISTA dataset. Key findings indicate that the PTAI had a stronger association whilst showing more use of public transport in areas with higher values of the PTAI.

Private general paediatric care availability in Melbourne.

Objective The aims of the present study were to determine the actual availability of private general paediatric appointments in the Melbourne metropolitan region for children with non-urgent chronic illnesses and the cost of such care. Methods A 'secret shopper' method was used. Telephone calls were made to a random sample of 47 private paediatric clinics. A trained research assistant posed as a parent, requesting the first available appointment with a specific paediatrician. Data regarding appointment availability, total potential charges and net charges after the Medicare rebate were collected. Results Appointments were available in 79% (n=37) of clinics, with 72% (n=34) able to offer an appointment with the requested general paediatrician. The number of days until available appointments varied from same day appointments to a wait of 124 days, with an average wait of 33 days. Of practices that provided information about the appointment cost (n=42), five bulk-billed for the consultation, whereas the remainder (n=37) were fee-paying clinics. The potential maximum charge for an initial consultation in the fee-paying clinics ranged from A$177 to A$430, with an average cost of A$279. The potential maximum out-of-pocket cost for patients ranged from A$40 to A$222, with an average out-of-pocket cost of A$128. Conclusions Private paediatric care in the Melbourne metropolitan region is generally available. The out-of-pocket cost of private paediatric out-patient care may present a potential economic barrier for some families. What is known about the topic? In Australia, out-of-pocket expenses for private specialist care are not covered by private health insurance. There are no data available on the actual cost of private paediatric consultations that are based on real-time assessments. Data collected in 1998 suggested that the average waiting time for a first standard consultation with a general paediatrician in a private room was 14.1 days. There are no recent empirical data on appointment availability and waiting time for appointments with general paediatricians in Australia. What does this paper add? There is high availability of paediatric consultations in the private sector. Waiting times for an appointment vary considerably from same day appointments to a wait of 124 days, with an average wait of 33 days. The cost of a private paediatric consultation in Australia to the patient is considerable, with an average potential maximum up-front charge for an initial consultation of A$279 and an average potential maximum out-of-pocket cost of A$128. What are the implications for practitioners? Data on the availability and cost of private paediatric consultations are imperative to formulate evidence-informed policy and better understand variations in the availability of public and private care.

GEODESIGN AND SIMULATION OF TWO AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITIES 2016–2050: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD ARE THEY SUSTAINABLE OR NOT?

This paper demonstrates the ability of visualization and simulation techniques to aid, and simulate current and future directions in coastal planning. Two communities examined are the coastal city of Hobsons Bay on Port Phillip Bay within the Melbourne metropolitan region and the coastal rural town of Apollo Bay, in Australia, are interrogated through a progression of projections and simulated forecasts from 2014 to 2050. The purpose is to comprehend their growth risks as it relates to their coastal edges and land use planning mechanisms in addressing these changes. The analysis uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) associated with planning application software, and the paper offers recommendations in progressing this inquiry.

Are clients' performances on the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale associated with their functional performance? A preliminary investigation

Introduction The process of selecting the most appropriate cognitive assessments to use with clients presenting with symptoms of dementia is an important consideration. Are cognitive assessment results associated with the functional performance of clients presenting suspected cognitive decline? The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale was associated with the functional performance of clients with suspected dementia. Method A within-subjects quantitative research design was employed whereby a sample of 30 participants suspected of having dementia were recruited from three acute care hospital sites in the Melbourne metropolitan region. The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale was used to assess participants' cognitive abilities, while the Functional Independence Measure was the functional scale used. Linear regression analyses were completed. Results The six Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale items were found to be significantly linked with the Functional Independence Measure total score (adjusted R2 = 0.298, p < 0.05), the Functional Independence Measure ‘cognition’ subscale score (adjusted R2 = 0.349, p < 0.05) and the Functional Independence Measure ‘physical’ subscale score (adjusted R2 = 0.244; p < 0.05). Conclusion The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale appears to be associated with the functional performance of clients with suspected dementia. The findings provide an insight into the link between cognition and everyday functional performance.

A longitudinal study of the effect of psychosocial factors on exclusive breastfeeding duration

Objectiveto examine the effect of psychosocial factors on exclusive breastfeeding duration to six months postpartum Designlongitudinal, prospective questionnaire based study. Settingparticipants were recruited from a publically funded antenatal clinic located in the western metropolitan region of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and asked to complete questionnaires at three time points; 32 weeks pregnancy, two months postpartum and six months postpartum. Participantsthe participants were 125 pregnant women aged 22–44 years. Measurements and findingspsychosocial variables such as breastfeeding self-efficacy, body attitude, psychological adjustment, attitude towards pregnancy, intention, confidence and motivation to exclusively breastfeed and importance of exclusive breastfeeding were assessed using a range of psychometrically validated tools. Exclusive breastfeeding behaviour up to six months postpartum was also measured. At 32 weeks gestation a woman׳s confidence to achieve exclusive breastfeeding was a direct predictor of exclusive breastfeeding duration to six months postpartum. At two months postpartum, psychological adjustment and breastfeeding self-efficacy were predictive of exclusive breastfeeding duration. Finally, at six months postpartum, psychological adjustment, breastfeeding self-efficacy, confidence to maintain and feeling fat were directly predictive of exclusive breastfeeding duration. Key conclusionspsychosocial factors are significantly predictive of exclusive breastfeeding duration. Self-efficacy, psychological adjustment, body image, motivation and confidence are all important psychosocial factors implicated in a woman׳s ability to maintain exclusive breastfeeding over time. Implications for practiceIndividualised antenatal breastfeeding education and support may be strengthened by strategies that build a woman׳s confidence to exclusive breastfeeding. Implementing psychosocial supports and methods providing positive feedback that increase a women׳s self-efficacy to exclusively breastfeed to six months are also important two months postpartum.