Queensland Case Research Articles

Activity‐based funding reform and the performance of public hospitals: The case of Queensland, Australia

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of activity‐based funding (ABF) on the performance of hospitals by exploiting a natural experiment that happened in the state of Queensland, Australia. To examine the outcome of the reform, the performance of hospitals is measured by the technical efficiency estimated from data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. We try to identify the causal effect of ABF on the technical efficiency of hospitals by incorporating difference‐in‐differences approach in the popular two‐stage DEA framework. We find empirical evidence that ABF improves the technical efficiency of hospitals.

Building knowledge and capacity for climate change risk management in the health sector: The case of Queensland

In 2019, the Queensland Department of Health and National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility at Griffith University co-produced three resources to support Queensland Hospital and Health Service (HHS) staff to identify and manage present-day and future risks from climate change. The first resource is two templates to be completed in order to develop a risk management plan: the high-level Scan Cycle template, and the Detailed Cycle template for evaluation of serious risks requiring urgent action. Second, the Guidelines lead the user through the process. Third, an Almanac provides supporting information and links to additional resources. Together, these resources deliver a comprehensive set of tools, known as the ‘Guidance’, to support and guide HHS staff to address their climate change risks. A programme of training workshops was carried out throughout Queensland, taking staff from all HHS sectors through the templates and providing opportunity for in-depth discussion of their risks. Some gaps in the Guidance were identified in the workshops, for example the need to include humidity in the climate scenarios for Queensland’s subtropical and tropical environments, and to consider system-wide interdependencies when identifying effective adaptation strategies for the highly complex HHSs. Some barriers to effective utilisation of the Guidance include, for example its complexity balanced against the time available to staff. The Guidance is an effective tool to promote and guide adaptation action, but in itself is insufficient – it requires senior management support and financing, and possibly regulatory reporting requirements, in order to properly fulfil its role.

Mapping pasture dieback impact and recovery using an aerial imagery time series: a central Queensland case study

Mapping pasture dieback impact and recovery using an aerial imagery time series: a central Queensland case study

Renewable hydrogen requirements and impacts for network balancing: A Queensland case study

Hydrogen is the gas of the moment: an abundant element that can be created using renewable energy, transported in gaseous or liquid form, and offering the ability to provide energy with only water vapour as an emission. Hydrogen can also be used in a fuel blend in electricity generation gas turbines providing a low carbon option for providing the peak electricity to cover high demand and firming.While the electricity grid is itself transforming to decarbonising, hard-to-abate industries such as cement and bauxite refineries are slower to reduce emissions, constrained by their high temperature process requirements. Hydrogen offers a solution allowing onsite production, process heat, with waste heat recovery supporting blended gas turbine generation for onsite electricity supply.This article builds on decarbonisation pathway simulation results from an ANEM model of the electricity grid identifying the amount of peak demand energy required from gas turbines. The research then examines the quantity, flow rate, storage requirements and emissions reduction if this peak generation were supplied by open cycle hydrogen capable gas turbines.

Risk management strategies for common residential construction defects: the case of Queensland, Australia

This study investigates the defect management strategies of small and medium residential building enterprises (SMEs) in Queensland, Australia, towards developing a model for the risk management of most recurring defects. A defects causation topology retrieved from the literature is combined with the results of a questionnaire survey of 427 residential construction trade respondents and validated by a focus group of experienced building practitioners. The results show 42 taxonomies grouped into three main categories: management strategies to organizational influences, defective supervision, and preconditions for defective acts. Communication and information sharing about defects are essential, as the industry relies on individual experience to solve defects-related problems. The most recurring defects for the Builder trade are Concrete driveways and paths, guttering and eaves construction defects, and Stormwater drainage pipework installation and workmanship defects. The most popular management strategies for the Carpentry trade are cupboard installation and workmanship defects, stairs and balustrade defects, and timber doors and windows defects. The findings suggest that residential construction trades face repetitive difficulties in implementing on-site defect management strategies, with SMEs resistant to new trends and continuing to use conventional practice methods based on ‘known ways of doing things’ rather than innovation and updated defect management strategies.

Urban land use transitions: Examining change over 19 years using sequence analysis. The case of South-East Queensland, Australia

The land use mosaic that characterises our urban environments is complex and subject to regular and on-going change and transition. Land use change takes place as cities seek to meet ever evolving population, economic, social, and environmental objectives. However, our empirical capacity to map, measure and monitor the geographical shifts in land use at a fine spatial granularity and how these aggregate across the urban environment remain very limited. In this paper, we draw on parcel level land use data for a large metropolitan region in Australia for a 19-year period and employ sequence analysis to delineate the location and timing of shifts in land use. Results reveal both similarities between jurisdictional regions alongside the unique land use transitions that go some way to highlight context specific mechanisms. This study demonstrates the utility of our empirical approach in its capacity to inform regional development strategies through revealing the type, timing and location of land use change in relation to land use policy and planning goals.

Integrated GIS-AHP-based approach for off-river pumped hydro energy storage site selection

Pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) solutions enable greater diffusion of renewable energy into the electricity grid. However, accelerated development of PHES is complex due to the numerous spatially relevant technical, environmental, social, and economic criteria that must be assessed to determine a pumped hydro sites feasibility. With the goal to rapidly narrow down feasible sites from a large land area, this study developed a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based technique to autonomously identify PHES sites based on a range of environmental and technical criteria. Following GIS-AHP analysis, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) scenario analysis was conducted with a limited number of feasible sites, as well as their carbon abatement potential. The developed approach was demonstrated for the case of Northern Queensland (NrQLD), Australia. The developed GIS-AHP PHES site selection approach identified 14 potentially feasible sites. For the base case scenario, these sites could generate 366.94 TWh over their lifetime while abating 300 ktCO2eq. The LCOE of these 14 PHES sites ranged between 0.04 AU$/kWh and 0.27 AU$/kWh for the base case scenario. The developed approach has implications for energy planning managers seeking to efficiently narrow down feasible PHES sites, which are essential storage enablers for transitioning to a zero-emissions economy.

Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws: a single centre, Far North Queensland case series.

Medication‐related osteonecrosis of the jaws (MRONJ) is a painful debilitating condition which is considered rare in the medical literature available to prescribers. Dentists, however, are likely to trigger this condition through extractions and implants. Anecdotally MRONJ appears more common than first thought. This paper presents 13 cases of MRONJ diagnosed and treated by a single oral and maxillofacial surgeon based in Cairns, Far North Queensland, in a 2‐year period. The management of these cases is presented. The two cases where MRONJ resulted in the loss of dental implants are highlighted. © 2022 Australian Dental Association

Using big data to identify if an off-peak fares policy within a multi-modal system can influence travellers’ boarding time preferences and improve modal integration: the case of South-East Queensland, Australia

Using big data to identify if an off-peak fares policy within a multi-modal system can influence travellers’ boarding time preferences and improve modal integration: the case of South-East Queensland, Australia

Managing moral reformation: the case of Queensland's reformatory for boys, 1871–1919

PurposeThis article explores the case of the Queensland's reformatory for boys through the years 1871–1919 to analyse how the institution negotiated the complex, and at times competing, goals of reforming, educating and punishing its inmate population.Design/methodology/approachThe article relies on documentary evidence, including archival material produced by the institution and newspaper records published between 1865, when the legislation allowing the institution to be created was passed, to 1919, when the institution ceased to be known as a “reformatory”.FindingsThis research demonstrates that, despite considerable changes during the studied period, the overarching goal of reforming criminal and potentially criminal young people continuously relied on achieving a balance between reformative techniques such as religious instruction and work placements, providing a useful education and punishing offenders. It also demonstrates that, despite efforts to achieve this balance, the institution was often described as unsuccessful.Originality/valueDue to the paucity of available archival evidence, there is still relatively little known about how the reformatories of late-19th- and early-20th-century Australia attempted to carry out programmes of moral reformation. This paper contributes to the field through an analysis of an institution which faced unusual challenges as a result of a complex inmate population.

The economic and social benefit of coal mining: the case of regional Queensland

This paper examines economic impacts of coal mining across local government areas (LGAs) in Australia. Three main distinguishing features of this research are a) the analysis through the mining boom and bust cycle, b) a focus on small regional areas within one state in Australia and c) the use of socio‐economic indicators in addition to the standard income and employment indicators. An analysis of socio‐economic changes in the LGAs during the business cycle provides insights as to how coal mining affects sustainable development of regions in the long run. Focus on one state reduces endogeneity in statistical analyses. The use of various socio‐economic indicators helps understanding of the reported negative impacts of mining on local economies. The results show that the coal mining sector creates a spillover effect resulting in an increase in non‐mining employment. The income indicators suggest that the coal mining sector creates positive impacts as indicated by the decreased share of low‐income families in the area. However, some potential risks to housing are found since an increase in coal mining employment leads to increased financial stress due to increased rental costs for low‐income households.

Women’s selection into parliament: the interplay between formal rules and informal practices

ABSTRACT Political processes are shaped by the gendered ways in which women and men are selected to run for political office. This paper examines the increase in women entering the parliamentary arena and employs a feminist historical institutionalism approach to understand how and why change in female representation occurs. We examine the interplay between formal rules and informal practices on candidate selection through the case of Queensland, Australia. Drawing on policy developments and analysis of election reports, we explore the difficulties in changing the gendered nature of political parties, the formal and informal processes, the pace of change and the political struggles and opportunities along the way. Factors supporting increased representation included leadership, sanctions, placement mandates, as well as vacancies and a ‘glass cliff’ political environment. Support for formal rules and quotas – despite resistance at the informal level – has gradually improved opportunities for women in one political party in this jurisdiction and achieved very positive outcomes. In contrast, the other major party has opposed quotas relying instead on informal practices and rules, which result in less positive outcomes for women.

A Geographical Information System based framework to identify optimal location and size of biomass energy plants using single or multiple biomass types

The highly dispersed nature of biomass sources and limited tools with which to exploit geographically explicit data to minimise delivery costs are major barriers to the initiation of biomass energy projects. This paper presents a geographical information system based approach in combining suitability analysis, spatial biomass assessment and optimality analysis to locate plants for bioelectricity generation with sustainable availability of single or multiple biomass. First, fuzzy multi-criteria analysis was employed to identify the suitability of plants’ locations, using local economic, environmental, and social sustainability criteria. As well, the availability of multiple types of biomass was assessed. Biomass availability information and land use data were combined to generate high-resolution spatial biomass information with user-defined resolution. Next, a location-allocation model was used to identify optimal locations for biomass energy plants by considering both road networks and spatially distributed biomass availability. Additionally, different scenarios were analysed to optimise plant sizes, biomass delivery costs and total number of plants for the region under both single biomass and multi-biomass approaches. The developed model was demonstrated for a Queensland case study using sugarcane waste alone and combined sugarcane waste and forest waste. Results using sugarcane waste in Queensland identified optimally located plants with sizes from 57 MW to 185 MW and average transportation distances of 27 km to 64 km. By combining sugarcane waste with forest waste, the plant sizes increased, depending on spatial biomass availability. This methodology can be extended to evaluate optimum configuration and optimum combination of different biomass types at a plant level.

District offices fostering educational change through instructional leadership practices in Australian Catholic secondary schools

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how Catholic district offices support school leaders’ instructional leadership practices at times of major reform.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs the theory of practice architectures as a lens through which to examine local site-based responses to system-wide reforms in two Australian Catholic secondary schools and their district offices. Data collection for these parallel case studies included semi-structured interviews, focus groups, teaching observations, classroom walkthroughs and coaching conversations.FindingsFindings suggest that in the New South Wales case, arrangements of language and specialist discourses associated with a school improvement agenda were reinforced by district office imperatives. These imperatives made possible new kinds of know-how, ways of working and relating to district office, teachers and students when it came to instructional leading. In the Queensland case, the district office facilitated instructional leadership practices that actively sought and valued practitioners’ input and professional judgment.Research limitations/implicationsThe research focussed on two case studies of district offices supporting school leaders’ instructional leadership practices at times of major reform. The findings are not generalizable.Practical implicationsPractically, the studies suggest that for excellent pedagogical practice to be embedded and sustained over time, district offices need to work with principals to foster communicative spaces that promote explicit dialogue between teachers and leaders’ interpretive categories.Social implicationsThe paper contends that responding to the diversity of secondary school sites requires district office practices that reject a one size fits all formulas. Instead, district offices must foster site-based education development.Originality/valueThe paper adopts a practice theory approach to its study of district support for instructional leader’ practices. A practice approach rejects a one size fits all approach to educational change. Instead, it focusses on understanding how particular practices come to be in specific sites, and what kinds of conditions make their emergence possible. As such, it leads the authors to consider whether and how different practices such as district practices of educational reforming or principals’ instructional leading might be transformed, or conducted otherwise, under other conditions of possibility.

Multi‐stage co‐planning framework for electricity and natural gas under high renewable energy penetration

This study develops a new multi-stage (dynamic) approach for the co-planning of power and gas systems to deal with variable renewable energy resources (VREs). The model is formulated using a stochastic programming framework to accurately capture the unfolding of both short and long-term uncertainties faced by power and gas systems. The effects of high renewable energy penetration and renewable energy uncertainty in both systems are assessed while determining the optimal investment and operation decisions in several stages of the planning horizon. To prove the benefits of the proposed approach, the authors compare the results of the authors' framework with other methods used in the literature. The effectiveness of the framework is validated on a realistic case of Queensland, Australia, in which both networks are driven to capture the link between these systems and to accommodate the state's unique features of renewable availability. The results demonstrate that their dynamic approach provides more robust outcomes compared to other methods as it allows adapting the expansion plans to unexpected changes in the future. The analysis also shows that a transition towards renewable energy presents a higher cost, different investment strategies, and lower gas-fired consumption compared to the terminal renewable target.

A multi‐stage transition toward high renewable energy penetration in Queensland, Australia

This study deals with new challenges in the long-term planning of power systems in the presence of high variable renewable energy resources (VRE). To this end, a stochastic multi-stage planning model is proposed, through which the investment decisions on the new generation and transmission systems are made in several stages of the planning horizon considering the attributes of VRE resources. The model takes into account both long-term and short-term uncertainties through their plausible scenario realisations. The proposed model is formulated as a mixed-integer programming approach that co-optimises generation and transmission investments under uncertainty for alternative renewable policy targets. The model is applied in a realistic case of Queensland, Australia in which an equivalent network of the state is driven to accurately capture the existing and new generation candidates. The model results demonstrate that a 50% renewable energy target may increase the system costs - mostly through an increase in capital costs of cleaner technologies - by three to four times. The analysis also shows that the complementarity of solar photovoltaic and wind and their locations in the power system are important factors in deciding the optimal renewable-based investments.

Preparing preservice teachers to be data literate: a Queensland case study

ABSTRACTData driven pedagogy has been introduced into Australian schools over the last decade to improve student learning outcomes, but are teacher educators preparing preservice teachers to be data literate? We used a survey to investigate ready-to-graduate preservice teachers’ beliefs regarding their knowledge and skills in data literacy. Before entering a course on data literacy their belief responses indicated that they had basic data interpretation knowledge, but they were unsure of how to translate that knowledge into the classroom to improve student outcomes. The survey was administered again after a data literacy course, which included a five-week supervised professional experience task of observing data being used in schools to drive pedagogy. The post-course survey responses showed students increased confidence in their ability to interpret and use data, suggesting that a data literacy course linked to the professional experience task improves teachers’ sense of preparedness to use data in the classroom. Keywords: Data literacy; professional learning.

The Role of Petitions in the Mobilization of Women for the Right to Vote: The Case of Queensland, Australia, 1894, 1897

Women across the western world began to focus on obtaining the vote in the last decades of the nineteenth century. One of the first strategies of the specifically dedicated Women’s Equal Franchise Association (WEFA) in Brisbane, Australia was to collect signatures calling for “one woman, one vote.” The very wording of the petition became a point of contention in challenges over leadership of the new association. A subsequent, non-partisan breakaway group formed and also collected signatures. This article addresses the initiation, collection, and submission of the WEFA petition and the 1897 petition collected by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Addressing forms of political intervention amid contentious politics allows a more nuanced analysis of the broader women’s movement’s engagement with petitions, which were crucial in the formation of the more narrowly focused associations and participants’ ongoing strategies. The often-vituperative representation of suffragists in the press highlights their achievements in mobilizing mass support for the vote and establishing a measure of legitimacy.

Mixed farming diversification may be costly: southern Queensland case study

Many farmers in Australia and in other countries have a choice of crop or livestock production, and many choose a mixture of both, based on risk preference, personal interests, markets, land resources and local climate. Mixed farming can be a risk-spreading strategy, especially in highly variable climates, but the right scales of each enterprise within the mix may be critical to farm profitability. To investigate expected farm profits, the probability of breaking even, as well as the worst and best case scenarios, we used farm data and APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator) to simulate the production of a typical, semi-arid, mixed-farm in southern Queensland. Three farming system scenarios were investigated: I, livestock and more intensive cropping; II, current production system of livestock and minimal cropping; and III, livestock only. We found that the expected profits were in the order system I > system III > system II. The key reason for the lower profits of system II was the high overhead cost of capital to continue some cropping, with low annual cropping income. Under the worst case scenario, in years with low rainfall, system I had the greatest downside risk with far greater financial losses. Systems I and III had similar probabilities of breaking even, and higher than system II, which incurs cropping overheads and limited cropping returns. Therefore, system II was less desirable than either system I or III. This case study helps farmers and advisors of semi-arid mixed farming enterprises to be better informed when making decisions at the paddock and whole-farm level, in both the short and long term, with respect to profit and risk. The method used in this paper can be applied to other mixed farms, in Australia and elsewhere.

Putting the Cartel before the House? Public Funding of Parties in Queensland

Political funding laws as the state level have been a source of innovation in recent years. This paper examines the curious case of Queensland, which has veered from mimicking the Commonwealth's light touch regulation, to highly regulated, and back to light regulation, in barely one electoral cycle (2011-14). In each of the two instances of reform, first ALP then LNP governments have driven through generous and duopolistic party funding laws. This paper will explore the legislative gist, history and context of these developments, and in particular the limited consultation and review involved in these reforms given Queensland's unicameral system. It will also briefly compare and contrast the Queensland approach to contemporaneous reform in New South Wales (with largely monopartisan outcomes) and in South Australia (which achieved multipartisan agreement).