Northern Territory Research Articles

Land Assurance Fund Frameworks: An Analytical Study of Relevant Legal Provisions in Malaysia and Australia

Background and Purpose: Registration of title or interest should confer indefeasibility of title to the landowners or interest holders since the fundamental principle of the Torrens system is supposed to guarantee that. Unfortunately, technology and human greed motivate and cause wrongful deprivation of such rights. When this happens, the issue of compensation or remedy will arise. By not adopting the insurance principle as proposed by Sir Robert Torrens, innocent landowners are at risk of being uncompensated. Methodology: This study employs doctrinal legal research. This content legal analysis will study the selected land legislations in New South Wales (Real Property Act 1900 No 25), Victoria (Transfer of Land Act 1958), Queensland (Land Title Act 1994), South Australia (Real Property Act 1886), Western Australia (Transfer of Land Act 1893), Tasmania (Land Titles Act 1980), Northern Territory (Land Titles Act 2000) and Australia Capital Territory (Land Titles Act 1925) on three aspects only. They are about sources of the assurance fund, bases for claim and the limitation period. Findings: An assurance fund exists in all states in Australia, but they bear similarities and differences in their operation and application. As for the sources of fund, some states employ a user-funded scheme, some states use a government-funded approach, and there is also a combination of user and government-funded approach. As for the basis of claim, commonly the law enables claims for the loss that is suffered as a consequence of fraud, and error or mistake of the Registrar. Concerning limitation periods, there are various time limits prescribed by the states, ranging from 6 years, 12 years, 20 years, and to no limit at all. Contributions: Apart from adding to the body of knowledge, this study significantly assist policymakers to draft legal provisions as regards the creation of an assurance fund in Malaysia. Learning from the experience of various states in Australia, this study emphasizes the elements that must be taken into consideration when formulating Malaysian assurance fund.

Australian Youth Self-Harm Atlas: spatial modelling and mapping of self-harm prevalence and related risk and protective factors to inform youth suicide prevention strategies.

Suicide prevention strategies have shifted in many countries, from a national approach to one that is regionally tailored and responsive to local community needs. Previous Australian studies support this approach. However, most studies have focused on suicide deaths which may not fully capture a complete understanding of prevention needs, and few have focused on the priority population of youth. This was the first nationwide study to examine regional variability of self-harm prevalence and related factors in Australian young people. A random sample of Australian adolescents (12-17-year-olds) were recruited as part of the Young Minds Matter (YMM) survey. Participants completed self-report questions on self-harm (i.e., non-suicidal self-harm and suicide attempts) in the previous 12months. Using mixed effects regressions, an area-level model was built with YMM and Census data to produce out-of-sample small area predictions for self-harm prevalence. Spatial unit of analysis was Statistical Area Level 1 (average population 400 people), and all prevalence estimates were updated to 2019. Across Australia, there was large variability in youth self-harm prevalence estimates. Northern Territory, Western Australia, and South Australia had the highest estimated state prevalence. Psychological distress and depression were factors which best predicted self-harm at an individual level. At an area-level, the strongest predictor was a high percentage of single unemployed parents, while being in an area where ≥30% of parents were born overseas was associated with reduced odds of self-harm. This study identified characteristics of regions with lower and higher youth self-harm risk. These findings should assist governments and communities with developing and implementing regionally appropriate youth suicide prevention interventions and initiatives.

Integrating western and Indigenous knowledge to identify habitat suitability and survey for the white-throated grasswren (Amytornis woodwardi) in the Arnhem Plateau, Northern Territory, Australia

Integrating western and Indigenous knowledge to identify habitat suitability and survey for the white-throated grasswren (Amytornis woodwardi) in the Arnhem Plateau, Northern Territory, Australia

Climate change must be factored into savanna carbon- management projects to avoid maladaptation: the case of worsening air pollution in western Top End of the Northern Territory, Australia

Savanna fires are a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) and particulate pollution globally. Since mid-2006, an Australian Government carbon offset program has incentivised Northern Territory land managers to undertake early dry-season savanna burning with the aim of reducing late dry-season wildfires and associated GHG emissions. The focus of this study is addressing concern that savanna burning carbon abatement projects are causing worsening air pollution in the city of Darwin. Reconstructed concentrations of daily particulate matter of <2.5 μm (PM2.5) since the 1960s showed since 2000s a worsening in PM2.5 in the early dry season (May, June, July), some improvement in the late dry season (August, September, October) with little overall difference for the whole dry season. Remote-sensing PM2.5 estimates in Darwin were correlated with region-wide PM2.5 estimates during the early dry season. Remote-sensing analysis of area burned and intensity of fires since 2002 showed that savanna carbon projects have shifted burning to the early dry season and caused increases in fire intensity compared with non-project areas. Increased fire intensity appears to follow sharply declining fuel moisture, as well as management effects on carbon project areas, which have possibly undermined the efficacy of savanna burning projects in reducing GHG emissions. More thorough evaluation of underlying assumption of savanna burning carbon abatement in Australia and elsewhere in the world is required to avoid maladaptation, such as over-crediting, smoke pollution, and other environmental harms.

Implementing Stay Strong AIMhi for Youth: Protocol for Evaluation

Background: Good mental health and well-being are essential for fulfillment, productivity, and resilience. Mental disorders cause high levels of disability and economic impact worldwide. Vulnerable groups at significantly higher risk include youth and First Nations people. As the demand for mental health support and services increases, there is an urgent need to expand access to culturally appropriate quality mental health services (particularly for young people) and to promote self-care through integration of mobile health technologies. Objectives: This paper describes a protocol to evaluate implementation of the AIMhi for Youth support package into youth wellbeing services in urban, rural, and remote Northern Territory and South Australia. Codesign workshops will tailor the resources to these and other locations. The AIMhi-Y support package will be implemented as an innovative approach to suicide prevention through three years of codesign, training, implementation support and dissemination. Methods: Implementation is guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) incorporating the recent CFIR Outcomes Addendum and including strategies from the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change. The protocol incorporates best practice principles in codesign and First Nations research. It builds on a decade of foundational work of the Stay Strong program implementing digital mental health resources in primary care and specialist settings. Implementation and related outcomes will be evaluated from each participant perspective (user, service provider, decision maker, First Nations people with lived experience and cultural consultants) using surveys and small group discussions. Intervention: AIMhi for Youth is a culturally responsive digital mental health solution codesigned with First Nations leaders and young people. Delivered via mobile device it is a gamified app supporting skills development in mental health literacy, emotional regulation, help seeking and goal setting. The app provides a structured intervention which complements existing services and addresses key risk factors for suicide and compromised mental health. The package includes training workshops and supplementary multimedia resources. Support resources will be hosted on a tailored website creating a seamless accessible ecosystem for users. Discussion: At the time of publication, 514 young people and 363 individual service providers have used the app, and 11 services have engaged in implementation planning discussions. Through our implementation evaluation we will identify why the AIMhi-Y package was implemented successfully in some contexts and not in others and will have an evidence-based strategy for successfully engaging First Nations young people and services in digital mental health solutions. This will inform further AIMhi-Y dissemination and provide a guide for implementation of other innovations in similar contexts. Conclusion: This study prospectively plans, monitors, and evaluates implementation through use of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. This threefold approach potentially strengthens the design and enhances likelihood of implementation success. The emphasis on Indigenist research principles, and the addition of measuring outcomes including reach, impact, adoption, implementation, and sustainment, has potential to contribute to conceptual development and clarification of implementation approaches in First Nations communities.

Virus as a figure of geontopower or how to practice Foucault now?

Elizabeth A. Povinelli, Franz Boas Professor at Columbia University, is a philosopher and anthropologist who has critically engaged with Michel Foucault’s ideas as well as scholarship inspired by his works. Povinelli has been dedicated to research on colonialism within liberalism and is also a filmmaker and founding member of The Karrabing Film Collective. The film collective is part of a larger organization of Aboriginal peoples and artists living in the Australian Northern Territory that refuses ‘fantasies of sovereignty and property’.[1]
 As Povinelli shares with us during the interview, her trajectory was constituted in the middle of the 1980s following her life-changing encounter with the elders in Belyuen in the Australian Northern Territory. In the wake of that encounter, and with urgent issues raised about indigeneity due to changes in Australian law, Povinelli has been working even closer with her Karrabing family. The changes in law both acknowledged Aboriginal peoples' rights to their territory and imposed certain ideas of identity, family and culture, producing an entanglement between rights and government. These efforts to manage differences – cultural, race, gender – are problematized and deciphered in Povinelli’s ethnographic work with a focus on how late settler liberalism has been reconfigured with novel expressions of colonialism and imperialism. Now embedded...

Extending high quality health information to non-government organisations across the Northern Territory: experiences of NT Health Library Services

This paper discusses NT Health Library Services’ initiative to provide resources and services to health professionals who work for non-government organisations across the Territory. In 2009, Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) were established. Since then a website has been created specifically for these MOU members and a recent renewal and upgrade project ensured the agreements were updated and the website security standards were being met. With vendor permission the library currently offers access to the following: eight research databases, two clinical decision support tools, one medication database and five electronic book and journal collections. Marketing has begun to increase awareness among these external clients.

The spectrum of presentations of unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odourless and tasteless gas which can be produced by the incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels. Compared to vehicular CO suicides, unintentional cases (excluding those related to fires) are much less common. Increased education surrounding the risks associated with the accumulation of CO in enclosed spaces has contributed to a reduced incidence of unintentional CO poisonings. However, such cases may remain undetected, particularly in domestic and recreational settings where scene findings are often non-specific. The current study of unintentional CO poisonings in South Australia and the Northern Territory, each with a unique climate (Mediterranean and tropical respectively), demonstrated differences in the circumstances of death. Several cases where individuals used carbon-producing fuel sources for heat, both in domestic and vehicular settings and without adequate ventilation, resulted in fatal outcomes. Less common scenarios involved faults in equipment (e.g. a hot water heater), vehicle faults resulting in the accumulation of fatal levels of CO in enclosed spaces, and inadvertent introduction of CO into a diving oxygen supply in a recreational aquatic setting. In ascertaining the cause of death, other considerations include the potential role of underlying chronic cardiovascular and respiratory disease and age which may increase an individual's susceptibility to CO toxicity. Understanding the wide variety of presentations and contributing factors in cases of fatal CO poisoning including consideration of climate-specific differences in domestic and extra-domestic settings may enable improved detection at autopsy.

Predicting child development and school readiness, at age 5, for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in Australia's Northern Territory.

Positive early development is critical in shaping children's lifelong health and wellbeing. Identifying children at risk of poor development is important in targeting early interventions to children and families most in need of support. We aimed to develop a predictive model that could inform early support for vulnerable children. We analysed linked administrative records for a birth cohort of 2,380 Northern Territory children (including 1,222 Aboriginal children) who were in their first year of school in 2015 and had a completed record from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). The AEDC measures early child development (school readiness) across five domains of development. We fitted prediction models, for AEDC weighted summary scores, using a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) considering four groups of factors-pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, known at birth, and child-related factors. We first assessed the models' internal validity and then the out-of-sample predictive power (external validity) using the PLSpredict procedure. We identified separate predictive models, with a good fit, for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. For Aboriginal children, a significant pre-pregnancy predictor of better outcomes was higher socioeconomic status (direct, β = 0.22 and indirect, β = 0.16). Pregnancy factors (gestational diabetes and maternal smoking (indirect, β = -0.09) and child-related factors (English as a second language and not attending preschool (direct, β = -0.28) predicted poorer outcomes. Further, pregnancy and child-related factors partially mediated the effects of pre-pregnancy factors; and child-related factors fully mediated the effects of pregnancy factors on AEDC weighted scores. For non-Aboriginal children, pre-pregnancy factors (increasing maternal age, socioeconomic status, parity, and occupation of the primary carer) directly predicted better outcomes (β = 0.29). A technical observation was that variance in AEDC weighted scores was not equally captured across all five AEDC domains; for Aboriginal children results were based on only three domains (emotional maturity; social competence, and language and cognitive skills (school-based)) and for non-Aboriginal children, on a single domain (language and cognitive skills (school-based)). The models give insight into the interplay of multiple factors at different stages of a child's development and inform service and policy responses. Recruiting children and their families for early support programs should consider both the direct effects of the predictors and their interactions. The content and application of the AEDC measurement need to be strengthened to ensure all domains of a child's development are captured equally.

Identifying eating disorders at the earliest opportunity: Testing the reliability of an online eating disorder screener (IOI‐S) in primary care and youth mental health settings

AbstractAimEating disorders (EDs) are associated with significant disease burden and unacceptably high mortality rates. Early intervention significantly improves prognosis and can prevent chronic suffering; however, large numbers of people with the illness are not being identified or managed in primary healthcare. The current study aimed to test the reliability of the face‐to‐face, clinician delivery of a previously validated, co‐designed, online screening tool for eating disorders.MethodsIndividuals aged 14 and over who read, English were recruited from the community in either primary care (general practice) settings or headspace youth mental health centres. They completed the InsideOut Institute Screener (IOI‐S) face‐to‐face, delivered verbally by the study researcher clinician and then online by self‐report. The primary outcome was test‐retest reliability as measured by two‐way mixed effects model Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) with absolute agreement.ResultsA total of 83 participants aged 14–81 (M 36.2) completed the study in New South Wales and the Northern Territory, Australia, between April and November 2022. The ICC between successive iterations of the test was significantly positive (0.980), demonstrating strong internal validity and test–retest reliability of the scale.ConclusionsThe IOI‐S is an adaptive 6‐item screening tool designed to ‘start a conversation’ and determine risk using gentle language conceived by individuals with lived experience. Originally designed for online use, the current study broadens its versatility to clinical settings. The screener performs equally well when delivered face‐to‐face in clinical practice. In conjunction with increased practitioner education and improved treatment referral pathways, broad implementation of the screener in early healthcare settings can support timely identification and intervention for those with EDs.

Hyporheic Tateidae (Gastropoda: Truncatelloidea) from the Flinders Ranges, South Australia and Judbarra (Gregory) National Park, western Northern Territory, Australia, with some taxonomic notes on the family

ABSTRACT Four new species of phreatic tateids from stream sediments in Australia are described. One, from intermittent streams in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, is a highly modified species of Austropyrgus, a genus widespread in south-eastern Australia and Tasmania. The other three species are included in the new genus Turricochlea and live in sympatry in gravel in a creek bed in the Gregory National Park in the western part of the Northern Territory. Molecular analysis showed that Turricochlea and ‘Fluviopupa’ kessneri are closely related to Sulawesidrobia from Sulawesi but not Fluviopupa, so the new generic name Austropupa is provided for F. kessneri. Two new family names are proposed for taxa previously included in Tateidae: Beddomeiidae and Ascorhiidae.

Police-recorded adult sexual assault in the Northern Territory, Australia: Alcohol involvement and alcohol policy effects.

Between 2017 and 2018 three major alcohol policy changes were introduced in the Northern Territory (NT): the Banned Drinker Register, an individual-level ban enforced via ID scanners at takeaway outlets; a Minimum Unit Price on alcohol; and Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspectors, who monitor takeaway outlets to prevent purchase by people who do not have a legal place to consume alcohol. We aimed to: (i) describe alcohol-involved adult sexual assault in the NT; and (ii) estimate the impacts of these alcohol policies on police-recorded adult sexual assault. We used victim records for sexual assault where victims were aged 15 years and over. We undertook descriptive analyses for the NT from 2014 to 2020 and used interrupted time series analysis to assess policy impacts across the NT and in Greater Darwin. In 2020, the NT adult victimisation rate was 105 per 100,000. A large minority (40%) of adult sexual assaults involved alcohol. Interrupted time series analyses showed no effect of the Banned Drinker Register or Minimum Unit Price on sexual assault across the NT or in Greater Darwin. The rate of adult sexual assaults in the NT is extremely high and many involve alcohol. Neither the Banned Drinker Register or Minimum Unit Price were associated with changes in police-recorded adult sexual assault in Greater Darwin or across the NT. Due to small counts, we were unable to assess policy impacts in three of the four main towns, highlighting the challenges of assessing impacts of policies on sexual assault in small population areas.

Healing the Psychic Misery of Aboriginal People in Mparntwe (Alice Springs): Who Is Best Placed to Do This?

In this paper, I highlight how I utilise narrative therapy practices in my private practice at Kings Narrative. More specifically, I explore the concept of “psychic misery”, which I recently learned about while studying the Master of Narrative Therapy and Community Work at the University of Melbourne. Psychic misery, a term penned by Adalberto Barreto and Marilene Grandesso in Brazil in 2010, describes what occurs when the skills, experiences, and knowledge of people in the community are not valued in the same way as academic knowledge. I bring attention to the correlation of this work in Brazil to local Aboriginal communities within and surrounding Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. I emphasise how, in my practice at Kings Narrative, I privilege and prioritise the cultural experiences, skills, and knowledge of Aboriginal men as the preferred and desirable skills for employment. Moreover, it is within the cultural skills and knowledge of Aboriginal men that we find solutions and strategies to shift and unpack problem stories within the community. Our Aboriginality is enough: enough to be employed, enough to start a business, and enough to navigate our way successfully through problem stories.

#205 : Pre-Orchidectomy Fertility Preservation in a Regional Queensland Centre - Patient Attitudes to Sperm Banking

Background and Aims: Fertility preservation for testicular cancer remains an essential part of the pre-operative radical orchidectomy discussion. In Australia, testicular cancer is estimated to account for 1.1% of all new male cancer diagnoses, with greater than 800 new cases a year diagnosed in Australia. Toowoomba Hospital and its urology service covers a large geographical area, extending from Toowoomba to the northern territory border. This poses both an access issue for both urological review and subsequent fertility interventions. Despite geographical barriers, pre-operative sperm banking (cryopreservation) remains generally recommended prior to operative intervention. The aim of this study was to investigate adherence to guidelines and identification of barriers or reasons for patients not wanting to engage with fertility preservation. Method: A retrospective analysis of patients undergoing a radical inguinal orchidectomy for the purposes of testicular cancer. Patient records were examined for discussion of fertility preservation and patient outcomes for attending a fertility-consultation. Results: Between 2016-2022, 54 patients underwent a radical orchidectomy at the Toowoomba Hospital. All patients pre-operatively had discussion surrounding fertility preservation and where patient accepted, referrals were made to the closest fertility provider. The majority of patients who refused pre-operative sperm banking had clear reasoning including completion of family. Conclusion: Fertility preservation discussions were part of all interactions pre-operatively where appropriate. Patient reasoning for declining preservation services were varied.

Northern Territory January to June 2023

Northern Territory January to June 2023

Permeable Housing

This article explores how water acts on permeable housing and the documentary infrastructures that mitigate its impact and enable its flows. It does so through consideration of ongoing litigation brought by public housing tenants at the remote communities of Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) and Laramba in the Northern Territory of Australia for incomplete repairs and unsafe drinking water. I offer a distinction between pragmatist and functionalist housing, as competing concepts for framing, respectively, the impact of entrenched low expectations on remote housing performance and management and the minimum amenity that contemporary housing should provide. The litigation by Ltyentye Apurte and Laramba householders is notable for challenging the habitability standard that remote community housing must meet and for introducing the provision of safe drinking water as a matter of habitable housing. While water searches out cracks and refuses expulsion from the housing assemblage, necessitating repairs and maintenance, such mobility provides a challenge for allocating specific obligations to various settler colonial authorities that are collectively involved in maintaining house function. Drawing on close analyses of a series of legal decisions, the article examines how legal frameworks and intra-governmental funding arrangements are employed to eschew responsibility for safe drinking water inside remote community housing.

The development of the territory of the European North by representatives of individual religious groups (on the example of the study by the narodniks of the Old Believers religious group)

The article describes how and in what ways the largest religious group of the Russian Empire — the Old Believers – mastered the northern territory of the European part of Russia. The archives and materials of the well-known narodnik-religious scholar A. S. Prugavin (1850-1920) act as a source of information. In general, A. S. Prugavin's approach to the perception of the Old Believers did not differ from the traditional narodnik one, when this social community was considered a group ready for protest and struggle with the authorities, which only needed to be properly directed. But after being exiled to the European North (Arkhangelsk province), the researcher realized how much the intelligentsia and public figures were mistaken about the understanding of the common people, and changed his attitude to the Old Believers. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism and system analysis of available sources. In particular, the author considered the journalism of A.S. Prugavin through archival materials preserved in the personal fund. The peculiarity of A. S. Prugavin's approach was a global rather than selective immersion in the topic. The religious scholar not only developed a "Program for collecting information about religious movements in the Russian people," he followed it himself and called for a similar approach by others. He often personally contacted religious groups and received information through personal observations and subsequent correspondence with representatives of Old Believers and sectarianism. That is why the Old Believers were perceived not only as a group that was isolated on a spiritual basis, but also as a significant part of the Russian people. The religious scholar came to the conclusion that the socio-economic role of the Old Believers in the peasant environment (contribution to education and economic development) is underestimated, whereas this experience could become a model for the development of the northern village, in search of which there were representatives of various socio-political groups.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS AS A TOOL FOR THE FORMATION OF THE BRAND OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY FOR THE INTERNAL TARGET AUDIENCE

The article considers the communicative potential of corporate social responsibility of subsoil user companies in the northern territories of Russia as a tool for the formation of a territorial brand for the internal target audience living in northern settlements with an unfavorable climate. The purpose of the study is to determine the formation of the KhMAO brand for residents of this territory and the role of corporate social responsibility of subsoil user companies in this process. From the authors’ point of view, the presence of a strong brand of the northern territory, in addition to the population’s knowledge of its heraldic symbols and emotional attachment to the place of residence, is expressed in a high degree of involvement of residents in public life and the desire to continue living in this territory.The study was conducted in October-December 2022 by an online survey, which was attended by residents of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Yugra: large cities and small settlements (n=287).The results of the study show that the KhMAO can be considered as a brand: its residents highlight the unique qualities of the place of residence, about half give it a positive assessment, most know heraldic symbols, about a third plan to continue living in this territory. The study also revealed that knowledge of CSR programs implemented by subsoil user companies and their assessment as eff ective is higher among those residents of the territory who plan to continue living in this territory. This is especially noticeable on the example of the rural settlement of Salym, the data for which were analyzed separately. This approach to the analysis was chosen because a number of large projects are being implemented in the territory of this settlement within the framework of corporate social responsibility by the oil company Salym Petroleum Development.The results of the study allowed us to conclude about the eff ectiveness of corporate social responsibility as a tool for building and strengthening the brand of the northern territory for the internal target audience, to identify the most promising areas of this activity and to show the importance of its information support

A new species of Lorrettina (dokimocephalid trilobite) from the Iverian (Cambrian, Jiangshanian) of the Amadeus Basin, Northern Territory, Australia

A previously unreported dokimocephalid trilobite, Lorrettina waterhousei sp. nov., is described herein from the Iverian (Jiangshanian, Cambrian) upper Goyder Formation, Amadeus Basin, central Australia. This is the first definitive biostratigraphic evidence for rocks of an Iverian (Jiangshanian) age in the Amadeus Basin. Correlation is made with the Chatsworth Limestone (=Gola beds) of the neighbouring Georgina Basin in Australia, as well as internationally to China, based on the generic occurrence. The biostratigraphic age of the unit is also supported by previous carbon isotope chemostratigraphy, further strengthening the interpretation. Patrick M. Smith [Patrick.Smith@austmus.gov.au], Palaeontology Department, Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, 2010, Australia and, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia.

The disease-modifying therapy utilisation and cost trend for multiple sclerosis in Australia between 2013 and 2022

Background: The MS disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) prescribing landscape in Australia have changed over time. Objectives: This study evaluated the utilisation and cost trends of MS-related DMTs in Australia over 10 years and investigated differences between States/Territories. Methods: The prescription and costs of 16 DMTs were extracted from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for 2013–2022. Descriptive approaches analysed the total number of people prescribed DMTs and total DMT costs per 10,000 population, proportions of prescriptions/costs by DMT groups and the number of people prescribed each individual DMT and costs of each DMT over the 10-year period. All estimates were for Australia and each State/Territory individually. Results: The number of people prescribed DMT and costs per 10,000 population had substantial growth between 2013 and 2022: 125%/164% for Australia, and 94%–251%/129%–373% for individual States/Territories. Higher efficacy group accounted for 54% of total people prescribed DMTs in 2013 and 75% in 2022. Fingolimod was the most popular DMT until 2020, then was dominated by ocrelizumab. The trends of individual DMT prescriptions and costs differed between states particularly in Western Australia (WA), Tasmania and Northern Territory (NT). Conclusion: DMT prescriptions and costs continuously increased over the last decade, particularly for higher efficacy DMTs, and their trends differed between States/Territories.