Western Australian Town Research Articles

Changing conversations about family violence in regional Western Australia: A primary prevention communication case study

ObjectiveTo illuminate the enablers and challenges of implementing a communication strategy designed to support Community, Respect, Equality (CRE) and a family and domestic violence (FDV) primary prevention plan in a regional Western Australian town. MethodThis research draws on documentation and interviews with members of Leading Lights, an advocacy group arising from a collaboration of local organisations to communicate the goals and priorities of the CRE action plan. Interviews explored how primary prevention messages were promoted to foster supportive community attitudes toward addressing the drivers of FDV. ResultsThe initiative fostered a learning community that coordinated public messaging about the drivers of FDV for organisations pledged to the CRE values. The diffusion of messaging was affected over time by inconsistent staffing, discontinuities in resourcing and individual organisational commitment, and concerns about gender equality messaging. ConclusionThe communications strategy increased awareness of the drivers of FDV among the members of the Leading Lights. In turn, this group produced media content that made visible each organisation’s commitment to addressing the attitudes and behaviours that enable FDV. Implications for public healthCommunity collaborations need time, resourcing, and coordination to sustainably prompt changes in social norms that underpin violence.

Social network analysis of rural medical networks after medical school immersion in a rural clinical school

BackgroundThe impact of new medical graduates on the social dimensions of the rural medical workforce is yet to be examined. Social Network Analysis (SNA) is able to visualize and measure these dimensions. We apply this method to examine the workforce characteristics of graduates from a representative Australian Rural Clinical School.MethodsParticipants were medical graduates of the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia (RCSWA) from the 2001–2014 cohorts, identified as being in rural work in 2017 by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. SNA was used to examine the relationships between site of origin and of work destination. Data were entered into UCInet 6 as tied pairs, and visualized using Netdraw. UCINet statistics relating to node centrality were obtained from the node editor.ResultsSNA measures showed that the 124 of 709 graduates in rural practice were distributed around Australia, and that their practice was strongly focused on the North, with a clear centre in the remote Western Australian town of Broome. Women were strongly recruited, and were widely distributed.ConclusionsRCSWA appears to be a “weak tie” according to SNA theory: the School attracts graduates to rural nodes where they had only passing prior contact. The multiple activities that comprise the social capital of the most attractive, remote, node demonstrate the clear workforce effects of being a “bridge, broker and boundary spanner” in SNA terms, and add new understanding about recruiting to the rural workforce.

Bacillus licheniformis in geogenic dust induces inflammation in respiratory epithelium

Exposure to environmental geogenic (or earth-derived) dust can lead to more frequent and severe infections in the human airway. Particulate matter < 10 µm (PM10) is the component of air pollution that is commonly associated with the exacerbation of respiratory diseases. We have previously demonstrated that mice exposed to geogenic dust PM10 experienced an exacerbation of inflammatory responses to influenza A virus. Whether geogenic dust PM10 also exacerbates respiratory bacterial infection is not yet known, nor are the components of the dust that drive these responses.We treated airway bronchial epithelial cells (NuLi-1) with UV-irradiated geogenic dust PM10 from six remote Western Australian towns. High levels of IL-6 and IL-8 production were observed, as well as persistent microbial growth. 16 S rRNA sequencing of the growth identified the microbe as Bacillus licheniformis, a spore-forming, environmentally abundant bacterium. We next investigated the interaction of B. licheniformis with respiratory epithelium in vitro to determine whether this exacerbated infection with a bacterial respiratory pathogen (non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae, NTHi).Heat treatment (100 °C) of all PM10 samples eliminated B. licheniformis contamination and reduced epithelial inflammatory responses, suggesting that heat-labile and/or microbial factors were involved in the host response to geogenic dust PM10. We then exposed NuLi-1 epithelium to increasing doses of the isolated Bacillus licheniformis (multiplicity of infection of 10:1, 1:1 or 0.1:1 bacteria: cells) for 1, 3, and 24 h. B. licheniformis and NTHi infection (association and invasion) was assessed using a standard gentamicin survival assay, and epithelial release of IL-6 and IL-8 was measured using a bead based immunoassay.B. licheniformis was cytotoxic to NuLi-1 cells at 24 h. At 3 h post-challenge, B. licheniformis elicited high IL-6 and IL-8 inflammatory responses from NuLi-1 cells compared with cells treated with heat-treated geogenic dust PM10 (p < 0.0001). Whilst treatment of cells with B. licheniformis increased inflammation, this did not make the cells more susceptible to NTHi infection. This study highlights that geogenic dust PM10 can harbour viable bacterial spores that induce inflammation in respiratory epithelium. The impact on respiratory health from inhalation of bacterial spores in PM10 in arid environments may be underestimated. Further investigation into the contribution of B. licheniformis and the wider dust microbiome to respiratory infection is warranted.

Tourism, Quality of Life, and Residents of A Rural Town

Numerous studies have discussed the potential impacts of tourism on residents' quality of life (QOL). Despite this rich body of research, some researchers have identified the need to investigate this dimension using a qualitative approach as well as in rural areas where tourism is under development. Partly in response to these calls, the present study uses the case of a Western Australian town to investigate QOL through the lens of social exchange theory. Through focus groups, face-to-face interviews, and online questionnaires, qualitative data were gathered among the town's residents. Overall, the impacts of tourism on participants' QOL are positive. Four predominant exchanges related to QOL from tourism's effects emerged: economic, bonding, material, and cultural. Although economic exchanges—including job creation and income—are the main triggers of QOL, bonding exchanges—through volunteering and attending events—are also considered as fundamental. This study discusses key implications and suggests future research avenues.

Spaces to Play, Places to Meet: Welcoming Young Children in Regional Western Australian Towns

Drawing on qualitative data from a study of three towns in the South-West of Western Australia, this article emphasizes participants’ yearning for spaces to play and places to meet by detailing the towns’ narratives of welcome and longing and framing themes of playfulness and hospitality. We argue that towns that see themselves as places of courtesy, curiosity and imagination are well-positioned to construct a vernacular of playfulness and hospitality for their citizens, activating quality of life for people of all ages. We also extend an invitation to early childhood settings to act as public common spaces, places of welcome, encounter and hospitality.

Spaces to Play, Places to Meet: Welcoming Young Children in Regional Western Australian Towns

Spaces to Play, Places to Meet: Welcoming Young Children in Regional Western Australian Towns

Narratives of Childhood in Regional Western Australian Towns: A Trajectory of Hope and Collective Wisdom for Landmark Reforms

THE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION and care reforms in Australia have been heralded as a cause for celebration, greatly anticipated by a sector that has lamented its invisibility. Drawing on qualitative data from a study of three towns in the south-west of Western Australia, this article aims to provoke reflection on where we stand with the celebrated aim of putting young children at the centre of the vision for Australia. The South-West Early Childhood Project investigated how childhood is constructed and how communities welcome families and young children. The study identified several themes: narratives of invisibility/visibility; narratives of sitting still/being active; and narratives of conformity/diversity. The article foregrounds the acclaimed experience of the city of Reggio Emilia (Italy) and extends an invitation to communities in Australia to position themselves on a trajectory of hope by harnessing collective wisdom in support of landmark early childhood reforms.

‘Red dust homelessness’: Housing, home and homelessness in remote Australia

Homelessness is often conceptualised as an urban problem. However, significant numbers of people experiencing homelessness live in regional, rural and remote areas, where distances can be considerable and there are fewer housing options and services available to assist them. Drawing on the perspectives of service providers, this paper discusses contested understandings of home and homelessness as well as housing and service provision in two remote Western Australian mining towns. The key findings were that normative policy definitions of homelessness that focused on ‘living in a house’ as a ‘home’ were not always culturally relevant for local Aboriginal communities, and there was limited access to adequate housing options in both communities. Furthermore, ‘top down’ funding and decisions often occurred without community consultation, which fragmented service delivery, limited ‘grassroots’ participation and constrained opportunities for locally relevant service responses. These findings highlight Westernised and urban assumptions underpinning the policy domain in which housing and homelessness responses are determined, emphasising the limits of current conceptualisations for Aboriginal people and service providers working in remote areas.

Sleep apnea and 20-year follow-up for all-cause mortality, stroke, and cancer incidence and mortality in the Busselton Health Study cohort.

To ascertain whether objectively measured obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) independently increases the risk of all cause death, cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke or cancer. Community-based cohort. 400 residents of the Western Australian town of Busselton. OSA severity was quantified via the respiratory disturbance index (RDI) as measured by a single night recording in November-December 1990 using the MESAM IV device, along with a range of other risk factors. Follow-up for deaths and hospitalizations was ascertained via record linkage to the end of 2010. We had follow-up data in 397 people and then removed those with a previous stroke (n = 4) from the mortality/ CVD/CHD/stroke analyses and those with cancer history from the cancer analyses (n = 7). There were 77 deaths, 103 cardiovascular events (31 strokes, 59 CHD) and 125 incident cases of cancer (39 cancer fatalities) during 20 years follow-up. In fully adjusted models, moderate-severe OSA was significantly associated with all-cause mortality (HR = 4.2; 95% CI 1.9, 9.2), cancer mortality (3.4; 1.1, 10.2), incident cancer (2.5; 1.2, 5.0), and stroke (3.7; 1.2, 11.8), but not significantly with CVD (1.9; 0.75, 4.6) or CHD incidence (1.1; 0.24, 4.6). Mild sleep apnea was associated with a halving in mortality (0.5; 0.27, 0.99), but no other outcome, after control for leading risk factors. Moderate-to-severe sleep apnea is independently associated with a large increased risk of all-cause mortality, incident stroke, and cancer incidence and mortality in this community-based sample.

Hidden Men: Bearing witness to mandatory detention in Australia

The Australian government policy of mandatory immigration detention has been the subject of critique by human rights bodies and civil society. With many immigration detention facilities being located in remote sites, distance and expense means that few people get to observe detention practices in Australia directly. Through direct observations and through the voices of three men detained in the Curtin Immigration Detention Centre outside of the remote Western Australian town of Derby, the human costs of mandatory detention are presented and discussed. This is done through positioning this discussion as part of the process of bearing witness to mandatory detention in Australia.

The Bronx in Australia

This paper contributes to the literature on the stigmatization of Australian public housing tenants and to the literature on Australian housing metaphors, explaining the usage of “the Bronx” as a means of stigmatizing country town and suburban localities dominated by public housing. It compares four Australian situations where the marginalization of the poor is expressed through the typification of the area in which they live as “the Bronx” by local usage, the media or both, comparing these with a fifth situation that matched the signal characteristics of this typification but escaped being so labeled. An examination of the Bronx’s (New York City) history shows the development of its reputation as a metaphor for the urban ghetto. The results of qualitative fieldwork undertaken in the Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie, Carnarvon, and Broome are compared with media representations of analogous stigmatizations in New South Wales.

Snoring Is Not Associated With All-Cause Mortality, Incident Cardiovascular Disease, or Stroke in the Busselton Health Study

To ascertain whether objectively measured snoring increases mortality, cardiovascular disease, or stroke risk over the effects of obstructive sleep apnea and other established risk factors. Community-based cohort. 400 residents of the Western Australian town of Busselton. N/A. Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea were quantified via the percentage of the night spent snoring and the respiratory disturbance index as measured by a single night recording in November-December 1990 by a home sleep apnea monitoring device (MESAM IV), along with a range of cardiovascular disease risk factors. Follow-up for deaths and cardiovascular hospitalizations was ascertained via record linkage until the end of 2007. Our analytical sample of 380 people was made up of the 397 people for whom the authors had follow-up data, minus 17 people who reported a previous stroke or heart attack at baseline (n = 380/400 = 95% of cohort). Snoring was observed for a mean/median of 32.0/27.4% of the night (standard deviation = 23.9%; range = 0-97.2%). There were 46 deaths, 68 cardiovascular events, and 24 strokes during 17 yr of follow-up. Snoring as either a categoric or continuous variable was not significantly associated with death, incident cardiovascular disease, or stroke in both unadjusted Cox regression models and in models that adjusted for obstructive sleep apnea and other risk factors. No measure of snoring was associated with all-cause mortality, or incident cardiovascular disease or stroke over 17 yr in this community-based sample.

Community blood lead survey with emphasis on preschool children following lead dust pollution in Esperance, Western Australia

To assess the impact of airborne lead dust on blood lead levels in residents of Esperance, a regional Western Australian town, with particular reference to preschool children. Following identification of significant airborne lead contamination, residents were notified that a blood lead clinic was available to all, with testing of preschool children encouraged. About 40% (333 children) of the preschool group and about 20% of the remaining population were tested. The main measures were blood lead levels, prevalence of elevated results and comparisons to other Western Australian surveys. In preschoolers, 2.1% (seven children) had blood lead levels exceeding the current 10 μg/dL level of concern. This was not significantly different to two previous community-based surveys elsewhere in Western Australia. However, at a lower cut-off of 5 μg/dL, the prevalence of elevated lead levels was 24.6%, significantly higher than children tested in a previous Western Australian survey. The prevalence of blood lead levels of 10 μg/dL or greater in adults was 1.3% (26 adults), not significantly different from a previous Western Australian survey. The prevalence of preschool children with blood lead levels exceeding the current level of concern was not significantly increased. However, the increased prevalence of children with lead levels at or above 5 μg/dL demonstrates exposure to lead dust pollution. This episode of lead dust contamination highlights the need for strict adherence to environmental controls and effective monitoring processes to ensure the prevention of future events.

Reproducing temples in Fremantle

This paper explores the production and reproduction of a sacred-soliciting built environment in the Western Australian port town of Fremantle, drawing attention to temple iconography produced in the first century of European settlement and its preservation and reproduction at the hands of local and national heritage movements since the 1970s. I show how Fremantle’s High Street solicits a sense of the sacred in its visitors, operating in a similar fashion to temple complexes such as Sukuh in Java. From purifying passage through the Whalers Tunnel under the Round House (the temple’s porch), the visitor will be guided up High Street through an assemblage of neoclassical facades to Kings Square (the temple’s house) with its mix of artefacts for Anglican, Masonic and nation-building narratives. The reading continues up High Street to the War Memorial on Monument Hill (the temple’s Holy of Holies) for which a draft conservation plan was released in 2010.

Living downwind from corporate social responsibility: a community perspective on corporate practice

This paper critiques dominant corporate social responsibility (CSR) theory, which claims that commercial and social goals overlap and coincide. It is suggested that this uncritical portrayal and treatment of complex industry–community relations risks neglecting the potential tensions that may arise should these goals diverge or be in conflict. In this context, the experiences of residents in a small Western Australian town are presented to describe a long‐running conflict between community members and their corporate neighbour. The data point to a range of community impacts as a result of corporate activities and unearth strong differences between ‘local’ and ‘corporate’ understandings of CSR. Based on the perceived shortcomings of an economically underpinned CSR approach, we question the possibility of meeting local needs by means of economic efficiency. Calls are made for critical reflection on the key assumptions underlying dominant CSR theory and consideration is given to questions of guidance for CSR practitioners.

Is Sleep Apnea an Independent Risk Factor for Prevalent and Incident Diabetes in the Busselton Health Study?

Cross-sectional analyses of North American population-based cohorts and one nonsignificant longitudinal analysis have suggested that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a risk factor for diabetes mellitus. However, this observation has yet to be replicated outside the USA or be observed lonigitudinally. Residents of the Western Australian town of Busselton had their OSA quantified by the respiratory disturbance index (RDI) overnight in their own homes (MESAM IV device). Diabetes was defined as either a fasting blood glucose > or = 7 mmol/L or physician diagnosed diabetes. Of 399 participants at baseline, 295 had complete data and did not have diabetes at baseline; 9 incident cases were observed within 4 years. At baseline moderate-severe OSA was associated with a univariate, but not multivariate, increased risk of diabetes (odds ratio = 4.37, 95% CL = 1.12, 17.12). Longitudinally, moderate-severe OSA was a significant univariate and independent risk factor for incident diabetes (fully adjusted OR = 13.45, 95% CL = 1.59, 114.11). Moderate-severe sleep apnea was a significant risk factor for incident diabetes in this Australian population-based cohort. However, the confidence intervals were wide and meta-analyses or studies with greater power will be required to verify the relationship between sleep apnea and the incidence of diabetes in community-based populations.

Sleep Apnea as an Independent Risk Factor for All-Cause Mortality: The Busselton Health Study

Previously published cohort studies in clinical populations have suggested that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a risk factor for mortality associated with cardiovascular disease. However, it is unknown whether sleep apnea is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in a community-based sample free from clinical referral bias. Residents of the Western Australian town of Busselton underwent investigation with a home sleep apnea monitoring device (MESAM IV). OSA was quantified via the respiratory disturbance index (RDI). Mortality status was determined in 397/400 participants (99.3%) after up to 14 years (mean follow-up 13.4 years) by data matching with the Australian National Death Index and the Western Australian Death Register. Univariate analyses and multivariate Cox proportional hazards modelling were used to ascertain the association between sleep apnea and mortality after adjustment for age, gender, body mass index, mean arterial pressure, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, diabetes, and medically diagnosed angina in those free from heart attack or stroke at baseline (n = 380). Among the 380 participants, 18 had moderate-severe OSA (RDI > or = 15/hr, 6 deaths) and 77 had mild OSA(RDI 5 to < 15/hr, 5 deaths). Moderate-to-severe OSA was independently associated with greater risk of all-cause mortality (fully adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 6.24, 95% CL 2.01, 19.39) than non-OSA (n = 285, 22 deaths). Mild OSA (RDI 5 to < 15/hr) was not an independent risk factor for higher mortality (HR = 0.47, 95% CL 0.17, 1.29). Moderate-to-severe sleep apnea is independently associated with a large increased risk of all-cause mortality in this community-based sample.

Rural residents' utilisation of health and visiting specialist health services

The purpose of the study was to identify the demographic and health service characteristics impacting on rural residents' utilisation of health and visiting specialist services in Western Australia. Focus group discussions were held with an age-stratified, randomly selected group of forty-eight residents in four rural Western Australian towns between May and June 2000. Discussions revealed a preference to use local health services for basic care and to travel for the treatment of major or severe illnesses. The focus group participants supported visiting specialist services, indicating a willingness to use them for consultations, diagnostic and minor procedures. Utilisation of visiting services was conditional on the provision of information on specialist reputation, service outcomes, integration of the service into local facilities, and recommendation by the local general practitioner. Numerous factors influence the service-seeking behaviour of rural patients. These factors need to be recognised and considered in the design and promotion of resident and visiting specialist services if the migration for health care is to be rationalised.

Deserts of industry, gardens of desire: landscape transformation and enterprising character in a Western Australian town

In the hills above Perth, the Mundaring Weir is the first and by far the largest of a number of reservoirs forming an extensive water catchment and distribution scheme completed in I903, just two years after Australia's federation. From Mundanng, a steel pipeline of some 30 mches diameter strikes out across the landscape of Western Australia, through the eucalypt forests of the Darling Ranges, across the valley of the A von River and then on through the broad wheat belt past agricultural towns such as Northam, Merredin and Kellerberrin, before finally reaching the arid Goldfields 351 miles away (figure I). Placed amid picnic areas and lookout points at Mundaring, commemorative plaques descnbe the structure and history of the Goldfields water scheme and argue its role in the economic development of the state, while a museum is dedicated to Charles O'Connor, the engineer who designed and built the scheme. Through scenography and considered curatorship, VIsitors are treated to a grandiose spectacle of the triumph of science and technology over an untamed landscape. A pilgrimage to Mundaring allows one, in the words of then Premier, Sir John Forrest, at the armouncement of the scheme in 1895, ‘some share of the noble work of converting arid country into a flourishing garden’. Of Forrest's promise to bring a river of pure water to the mining town of Coolgardie, a local historian recorded that: ‘“Future generations,” he had said, “will bless us for our farseeing patriotism; and it will be said of us, as Isaiah said of old, ’They made a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert’”’.1

Opinion formation as political process: The public sector, aborigines, and white attitudes in a western Australian town

Opinion formation as political process: The public sector, aborigines, and white attitudes in a western Australian town