Standards In Australia Research Articles

The Negative Impact of ESG on the Australian Minerals Supply Chain

With the full implementation of the ESG standards in Australia, supply chain management in the mining industry faces challenges. This research utilized Mineral Resources Limited (MRL) as an example to discover how environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) factors affect supply chain management. It applies MRL management costs and operations to analyze and integrate with the academic literature on ESG frameworks and supply chain management. It concludes with three points: Environmental management issues affect the delivery of minerals downstream in the supply chain, and an EMS system should be applied to manage them dynamically. Community cooperation and employment equity issues affect the cooperation and operation of mining businesses upstream of the supply chain, so the Community Engagement and Development Program (CEDP) system should be adopted to maintain community communication. Non-transparent governance issues affect both upstream operations and shake downstream investors' confidence. The Governance Enhancement and Compliance Programme (GECP) system can enhance decision-making transparency and compliance with governance policies. This research bridges the gap in negative ESG impacts on the mining industry. It proposes three new systems that serve as a model for future company adoption to cater to ESG standards.

Transitioning a hydrogen facility from project to operations

Preparing any hazardous facility for transition from project to operations requires a rigorous management process. In the area of hydrogen operations, hazards are heightened and there are limited examples of transitioning a hydrogen facility from project to operations outside of large-scale oil refineries. This paper highlights the unique challenges of managing hydrogen process safety through the project to operate phase while maintaining safety standards that meet or exceed the expectations of the asset owner, regulator and the community in which we operate. Our experience transitioning hydrogen operations started in Queensland which has arguably the toughest engineering and safety standards in Australia. This experience has informed our methodologies and the important points of this paper detail for both owner and regulator, what to expect from the operator and what the operator will need to demonstrate compliance with. Hydrogen operations traditionally were on oil refineries which may have been in local communities, unlike remote upstream gas and oil projects far from the major populations. Refineries are typically close to transportation hubs and end users. Our experience is that hydrogen or hydrogen transport fluids such as ammonia, methylcyclohexane (MCH) and others are more likely to reside near major international ports with close access to both clean energy and available workforce which heightens the environmental, social, governance and community risk management requirements. This paper intends to inform regulators, owners and operators of the unique challenges and aspects of getting a hydrogen facility up and running in a safe and community sensitive way.

Joining forces to understand what matters most: qualitative insights into the patient experience of outpatient rheumatology care.

People with rheumatic diseases are frequent, long-term attenders of health-care services. Their care experiences are central to improving services. The aim of this study was to explore real-world experiences and priorities of people attending outpatient rheumatology care and those of health-care professionals (HCPs) providing care. This qualitative study consisted of five semi-structured focus groups. Participants included rheumatology outpatients (n = 16) of two tertiary teaching hospitals and HCPs (n = 14; rheumatologists, rheumatology trainees, physiotherapists, a specialty nurse and a pharmacist). Participants explored priorities when attending outpatient services, real experiences and aspirations for improving future care. Transcripts were coded using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Seven key themes were identified: smooth flow of technical processes, care coordination, individualized care, information sharing, clinical excellence, patient empowerment and comprehensive care. The findings were aligned conceptually with quality standards in Australia and worldwide. Different sub-themes and prioritization of concerns emerged from patient and HCP subgroups. Highly prioritized themes for patients pertained to processes and technical aspects of care. HCPs focused on themes relating to non-technical aspects of service provision: information sharing, individualization of care, patient advocacy and empowerment. This study captured valuable insights into the current experience of outpatient rheumatology care from the perspective of patients and HCPs. It informs a collective understanding of differing and shared priorities, positives of current care and areas requiring change. Themes derived from the study data can be conceptualized in terms of the process, content and impact of care. Such domains can be measured longitudinally by routine implementation of validated patient-reported experience measures in rheumatology.

Nutrient digestibility, rumen parameters, and (cannabinoid) residues in sheep fed a pelleted diet containing green hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) biomass.

The feeding value for ruminants of green hemp biomass, from the low Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) variety of Cannabis sativa L., is unknown. Twelve Merino ewes were individually penned and randomly allocated on a stratified liveweight basis to one of two pelleted dietary treatments, control (0% hemp, n = 6) or hemp (42% green hemp biomass, n = 6) that delivered a diet meeting the nutrient requirements of the animals. The experimental period consisted of 17 d dietary and housing adaptation, followed by 7 d total urine and feces collection for determination of apparent nutrient digestibility. A ruminal fluid sample was collected on day 27 and assessed for pH, ammonia, volatile fatty acid (VFA), and cannabinoid concentrations. A blood sample from the jugular vein and incisional subcutaneous fat biopsy from an area around the base of the tail were collected on day 28 with additional fat biopsies taken 35 d and 140 d post-feeding to measure cannabinoids. The dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) digestibilities, along with total VFA concentration did not differ (P = 0.713) between the two diets; however, acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibilities (P < 0.001), water intake (P = 0.023), and fecal water output (P < 0.001) were significantly lower for the sheep-fed Hemp. Rumen pH did not vary (P = 0.256) between diets, but ruminal ammonia concentration was significantly lower (P = 0.024) for sheep consuming Hemp. Sheep-fed Hemp had significantly greater molar proportions of butyric (P = 0.039) and hexanoic (P = 0.012) acids and lower molar proportions of propionic acid (P = 0.003). There were no differences between diets for N intake (P = 0.175), fecal N output (P = 0.253), and N balance (P = 0.695), with all sheep in positive N balance; however, there was significantly lower (P = 0.001) urinary N output for sheep-fed Hemp. Cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) were detected in plasma of all sheep-fed Hemp. ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol was present in the subcutaneous fat of four of the six sheep on the final day of being fed Hemp, and in all (six) sheep 35 d post-feeding and one sheep 140 d post-feeding Hemp. No cannabinoids were detected in the corresponding samples taken from the sheep-fed Control. Thus, despite green hemp biomass being nutritionally a suitable feed for ruminants, under current Food Standards in Australia, the presence of these cannabinoid residues restricts its use in ruminant diets.

Strides Toward Advancing Spine Surgery: Synergy Between Australasia and the International Society for the Advancment of Spine Sugery.

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, formed in 1927, is a nonprofit organization training surgeons and maintaining surgical standards in Australia and New Zealand. It promotes, teaches, and assesses standards across 9 surgical specialties in Australia and New Zealand: cardiothoracic surgery,

Toward assessment for playful learning in early childhood: Influences on teachers' science assessment practices

AbstractIn many countries, play is the vehicle for teaching and learning, requiring early childhood teachers to recognize and assess children's demonstrations of knowledge and capabilities as they are displayed during play. In the context of science learning, assessing what children know already, referred to as “assessment for learning,” equips teachers with the knowledge required to make purposeful decisions during these playful experiences and guide children's science process skill development while following their interests. Consistent evidence since the introduction of national quality standards in Australia has identified a need to strengthen teacher capabilities in assessment. This research investigated teachers' assessment practices, and the influences on these practices, during the implementation of a suite of playful science experiences in long day care and preschool settings in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia. Teachers were introduced to the NT Preschool Science Games and were supported to apply an assessment tool designed for the observation and development of science process skills. Adopting a multiple case study approach, semistructured interviews from three cases were thematically analyzed. Our findings demonstrate that despite having specific tools to support assessment for learning these were inconsistently applied. Thematic analysis of semistructured interviews revealed that assessment practice was influenced by contextual influences, affective responses and teaching practice. Unpacking these themes further, we identified that following children's interests was associated with the absence of systematic assessment of scientific thinking to inform planning for learning within the informal curriculum. To support teacher practice in early childhood science, and promote the assessment of children's capabilities within playful learning, we propose a model of Assessment for playful learning.

Problems, assumptions and solutions in locomotive design, traction and operational studies

Locomotive design is a highly complex task that requires the use of systems engineering that depends upon knowledge from a range of disciplines and is strongly oriented on how to design and manage complex systems that operate under a wide range of different train operational conditions on various types of tracks. Considering that field investigation programs for locomotive operational scenarios involve high costs and cause disruption of train operations on real railway networks and given recent developments in the rollingstock compliance standards in Australia and overseas that allow the assessment of some aspects of rail vehicle behaviour through computer simulations, a great number of multidisciplinary research studies have been performed and these can contribute to further improvement of a locomotive design technique by increasing the amount of computer-based studies. This paper was focused on the presentation of the all-important key components required for locomotive studies, starting from developing a realistic locomotive design model, its validation and further applications for train studies. The integration of all engineering disciplines is achieved by means of advanced simulation approaches that can incorporate existing AC and DC locomotive designs, hybrid locomotive designs, full locomotive traction system models, rail friction processes, the application of simplified and exact wheel-rail contact theories, wheel-rail wear and rolling contact fatigue, train dynamic behaviour and in-train forces, comprehensive track infrastructure details, and the use of co-simulation and parallel computing. The co-simulation and parallel computing approaches that have been implemented on Central Queensland University’s High-Performance Computing cluster for locomotive studies will be presented. The confidence in these approaches is based on specific validation procedures that include a locomotive model acceptance procedure and field test data. The problems and limitations presented in locomotive traction studies in the way they are conducted at the present time are summarised and discussed.

Enabling Digital Professionalism: Analysis of the Australian and United Kingdom Nursing Education Standards.

Growth in use of digital technology for leisure and learning has created challenges for healthcare environments globally. Its rapid evolution in nursing continues to outpace the more sporadic updating of registered nurse standards, guidelines and codes of professional conduct. Revised standards in Australia and the United Kingdom establish the contemporary governance context for the educational preparation of registered nurses. A document analysis of these standards reveals an omit of guidance regarding the expected knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour of undergraduate nurses about when and how to access and use of digital technology on campus, and during work integrated learning. Documents governing nursing do not currently foster the development of digital professionalism, an essential component of professional identity formation, which is necessary to acquire prior to graduation as a registered nurse.

From Chaplaincy to Spiritual Care: Turning points for an emerging health profession

Objectives: National standards in Australia acknowledge the significance of spiritual care in the provision of holistic care, understanding that peoples’ beliefs and values impact their experience and health outcomes. While spiritual care has been provided in Australian hospitals for many decades little attention has been given to changes in the workforce and the implications for quality of care. This study aimed to further understanding of the key influences and mechanisms for change to ensure safe and high-quality spiritual care provision in Australia by a qualified and credentialed workforce. Methods: This study used a qualitative case study design which included interviews and analysis of archived records. Narrative analysis produced an extensive organisational case study from which a timeline of key changes significant to the spiritual care workforce was constructed to inform this paper. Results: There have been movements towards a professional spiritual care workforce, but progress has been slow, and inconsistency persists across Australia. Five key influences were identified that provide a basis for future progress: the need for evidence, cooperation amongst stakeholders, investment by government and health service management, and leadership and advocacy from spiritual care peak bodies. Conclusions: Attention to historical turning points enables understanding of the influences for change. These can become opportunities for health management to further progress towards a qualified and credentialed spiritual care workforce able to deliver safe and high-quality spiritual care.

TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY FOR INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: AUSTRALIAN AND UKRAINIAN APPROACHES

The paper is devoted to analysing teachers’ professional standards in Australia and Ukraine to reveal the essence and role of inclusive competence as a significant component of quality teacher professional identity. This study aims to examine and compare current policies and practices in both countries to explain why social justice is such a critical element in preparing qualified teachers and is crucial for enhancing quality teaching. According to the current research, quality teaching for inclusive education in Australia, as in Ukraine, has long been a hotly debated national issue – a subject of concern for politicians, lawmakers, the media, and society. A comparative analysis allows us to compare the Ukrainian and Australian contexts in inclusive education by considering professional teacher standards and policy documents that have impacted quality education. An analysis of Australia’s theoretical and practical achievements in defining the professional competencies and personal characteristics of a quality teacher capable of successful work in an inclusive school setting allowed us to map out favourable ways to enhance teacher training and promote inclusive education in Ukraine. The research results may have broad applicability in improving quality teaching in Ukraine as it reaches global education.

Incomplete surveys for environmental impact assessments jeopardise threatened species recovery

Australia’s biodiversity is declining despite two decades of protection for threatened species under the nation’s key environmental legislation, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Among its main functions, the EPBC Act frames the assessment and approval of new developments. However, little research has been conducted into compliance with policy guidelines under the EPBC Act that outline minimum assessment requirements where projects potentially impact threatened species. Focusing on the Endangered northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), we analysed ‘referrals’ (a required preliminary impact (self-)assessment) of proposed projects in the species’ range between 2007–2010 and 2016 onwards (i.e. before and after species-specific assessment guidelines released), to determine (1) the level of compliance with Commonwealth assessment guidelines, and (2) consistency in the type and amount of survey effort between the two time periods. Of the 33 referrals submitted after 2016 that we examined, only six conducted the minimum ‘reconnaissance survey’ requirement comprising a multi-faceted field data collection protocol. The types of surveys conducted also differed, albeit marginally, among referrals submitted between the two periods. Despite our findings of variation in survey approach (both periods), and the overwhelming failure to comply with minimum survey requirements (post-2016 only), all the projects we examined were approved under the EPBC Act without the need for further assessment. We suggest that assessments for threatened species under environmental legislation – including proposed national environmental standards in Australia – be improved through strictly enforced minimum survey requirements, lest inadequate environmental impact assessments jeopardise the recovery of threatened species.

Casual Employment and Labour Standards in Australia

The rise of the phenomenon of « zero hours » contracts, and other forms of irregular casualised engagement in the gig economy, has highlighted the pressing need for greater regulatory protection of precariously engaged workers around the world. Regulatory solutions must be found, to ensure that workers are treated fairly, with dignity, and not treated as disposable commodities, ready to be taken off the virtual « shelf » at the convenience of business. Australia has a history of protective l...

Education agent standards in Australia and New Zealand – government’s role in agent-based international student recruitment

ABSTRACT Australia and New Zealand have enacted legislation to protect international students’ rights and the long-term sustainability of their export education sectors. A pivotal, but under-researched, sub-domain of these legislative frameworks is education agent-based international student recruitment. The principal-agent relationships between governments, education providers and education agents involve complex agency problems that regulators need to consider to safeguard the interests of government and international students. This article evaluates the longitudinal development of Australian and New Zealand education agent standards and other government regulation through the analysis of legislation, policy and other documentary sources. The findings demonstrate how, over time, Australia and New Zealand governments have adopted a more active principal role, seeking to steer and control education providers’ engagement with education agents, predominantly through legislation. The agent standards now contain a wide array of requirements for education providers to fulfil. However, there are a number of limitations that diminish a government’s ability to mitigate providers’ opportunistic behaviour and protect international students. This article concludes by discussing potential future avenues for government regulation in this policy domain.

How Free Is Sow Stall Free? Incremental Regulatory Reform and Industry Co‐optation of Activism

This article critically examines how interactions between social movement activism, supermarkets, and the pork industry led to the voluntary adoption of “sow stall free” standards in Australia. We “backwards map” the regulatory space behind “sow stall free” products to show how the movement against factory farming became selectively focused on the abolition of one form of confinement for sows rather than on other forms of confinement and the conditions of the sows’ offspring, the piglets that are consumed. We argue that this facilitated an incremental shift to “sow stall free” production, allowing the concept of pig welfare to be corporatized in a way that maintains the dominant model of factory farmed pig meat production.

Normative performance of older individuals on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) according to ethno-racial group, gender, age and education level

Objective The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) provides a measure of verbal learning and memory. The aim of this study was to provide normative performance data on the HVLT-R for community-dwelling older individuals according to ethno-racial group, age, gender, and years of completed education, in Australia and the U.S. Method The ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) study recruited 19,114 generally healthy community dwelling individuals aged 70 years and over (65 years and over for U.S minorities), who were without a diagnosis of dementia and scored above 77 on the modified Mini-Mental State (3MS) examination. Included in the analysis presented here were 16,251 white Australians, and in the U.S. 1,082 white, 894 African American and 314 Hispanic/Latino individuals at baseline. Results Performance on each of the components of the HVLT-R (trials 1–3, total, learning, delayed recall, delayed recognition, percentage retention and recognition discrimination index [RDI]) differed by demographic variables. In country and ethno-racial stratified analyses, female gender, younger age and higher education were significantly associated with better total recall, delayed recall and RDI. Among white Australians these characteristics were also associated with better retention. Age, education and gender-specific reference values across ethno-racial categories were determined. Conclusions Ethno-racial, age, gender and education-stratified normative data from this large cohort of community-dwelling older individuals will serve as important reference standards in Australia and the U.S. to assess cognition in older individuals.

Aiming for mediocrity: The case of australian housing thermal performance

Concerns about climate change, energy security and energy productivity are driving countries to improve energy and thermal efficiency of their housing. Australia established a Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) in the mid-1990s to encourage improved energy performance, before regulating minimum energy standards in the 2000s. While minimum standards in Australia have improved, they fall short of requirements for a low carbon future. Resistance to new standards has been predicated on the argument that consumers will drive the market. Others argue that market failures result in lower than optimal house energy performance. There has been limited investigation of this in the Australian context. This paper analyses over 187,000 NatHERS certificates from 2016 to 2018 to determine the response to market desires and the regulatory environment. The research finds 81.7% of housing is designed only to meet minimum standards, and 98.5% falls below the economic and environmental optimum. This demonstrates significant market failure and indicates that building energy regulation is a powerful instrument for delivering improved performance outcomes. If governments are seeking a larger contribution from the housing sector to carbon abatement and other energy policies, systematically raising minimum building energy regulations is probably the most important and effective mechanism.

Shared decision making implementation: a case study analysis to increase uptake in New South Wales.

The aim of this study was to identify potential implementation interventions to increase the uptake of shared decision making (SDM) in clinical practice in New South Wales (NSW) Health. The Agency for Clinical Innovation hosted a full-day SDM masterclass in May 2017 and 53 attendees completed a survey to identify barriers to implementing SDM. The Theoretical Domains Framework, COM-B ('capability', 'opportunity', motivation' and 'behaviour') Model and Behaviour Change Wheel were used to conduct a theoretical analysis of the barriers and identify potential interventions to increase the uptake of SDM. This was supplemented by a purposive review of articles about current international efforts to facilitate SDM. From the theoretical analysis, 9 of the 14 theoretical domains were considered relevant to implementing SDM in the NSW Health context. Multi-faceted interventions including education, training, enablement, modelling, incentivisation, persuasion and environmental restructuring were identified as potential ways to increase SDM. The review of international articles identified communication and marketing, patient and public involvement, research, training, legislation, patient decision aids, service provision, clinical champions, financial incentives and policy as interventions being used to increase the uptake of SDM internationally. Based on current perceptions about barriers for SDM implementation in NSW Health, initial efforts should focus on workforce skills development, motivation, communication and marketing, service provision and creating receptive work environments. Investments into facilitating SDM will require an ongoing commitment to enhancing patient experience, evidence translation and reducing unwarranted variations in care.

Research on the Framework of Water Resources Accounting

The problems of water shortage, serious water pollution and deterioration of water ecological environment in China have become increasingly prominent. However, the economic development has made the demand for water resources in production and life continue to grow. Therefore, the importance of establishing water rights transfer system is self-evident. With regard to water resources accounting, the Australian Water Accounting Standards theory system is the most distinctive. It uses volume as the measurement attribute and based on the accrual basis, and uses the double-entry bookkeeping method to prepare water accounting statements. Based on the theory of water resources accounting at home and abroad and the water accounting standards in Australia, this paper proposes an accounting framework for Chinese water resources accounting entities based on national conditions, laying the foundation for macro resource environment calculation.

A public appetite for poultry welfare regulation reform: Why higher welfare labelling is not enough

This article argues that the growth of free-range labelled egg and chicken shows that the public wish to buy foods produced via higher welfare standards. It summarises the main reasons for dissatisfaction with the current regulation of animal welfare standards in Australia and shows that labelling for consumer choice is not enough to address public concerns. It critically evaluates the degree to which recently proposed new animal welfare standards and guidelines for poultry would address these problems and concludes that the new standards are not sufficient and that more responsive, effective and independent government regulation of animal welfare is required.

Frequency, nature and timing of clinical deterioration in the early postoperative period

To establish the frequency of clinical deterioration in the early postoperative period in patients who have undergone general or orthopaedic surgery. Worldwide, clinical deterioration is a significant problem in acute care settings. Early recognition and response to clinical deterioration is one of the ten National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards in Australia. However, there is limited understanding of the frequency of clinical deterioration in surgical patients. A point prevalence study was conducted from September-October 2014. The records of 100 consecutive in patients admitted for orthopaedic (n=48) or general surgery (n=52) to a health service in Melbourne, Australia, were audited. The frequency of clinical deterioration episodes was summarised using descriptive statistics. Baseline characteristics of the two patient groups were equivalent except that orthopaedic patients were older than the general surgery patients (median age 71 [IQR 19] years vs. 62 [IQR 17] years). There were 17 medical emergency team calls and 23 calls for urgent clinical review in 28 patients. The main indications for emergency calls were hypotension (26%), fever (19%), hypoxia (15%), tachycardia (13%) and altered blood glucose level (11%). The majority of episodes were managed on the ward, and there were one ICU transfer and no cardiac arrest calls. One in four patients experienced early postoperative clinical deterioration. Hypotension was the most common trigger for escalation of care highlighting a need to optimise fluid and haemodynamic management of postoperative patients. Haemodynamic instability leading to the activation of rapid response systems is very common in the immediate postoperative period. There is the need for locally tailored interventions to optimise fluid management and decrease incidence of further complications.