An experimental investigation into the drainage properties of coarse Loy Yang pond ash
- Authors: Stipcevich, Jack
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The Latrobe Valley mines, Victoria, Australia, are facing some major challenges as they approach the end of their mining life. Most of these challenges surround current rehabilitation practice and the ability to create safe and stable landforms for future land uses well after the mines have closed. As there has been no developed alternative use for the brown coal at this stage, stopping power generation leads to the cessation of mining. AGL Loy Yang is undertaking rehabilitation cover trials on exposed coal batters to investigate optimal cover materials that will enable safe and stable batters well beyond mine closure. A series of rehabilitation trials using coarse coal ash have been constructed by AGL to assess the performance of coarse coal ash as a ‘subsurface drainage layer’. One of the trials includes the use of a 1 metre coarse coal ash layer placed below a 1 metre thick clay cover and above a coal surface shaped to approximately 18 degrees (1V:3H). Without a drainage layer, water may percolate through the clay cover or seep through the intact brown coal, resulting in a build of pore water pressure at the coal – clay interface and increasing the potential for slope failure. The aim of this research work was to assess the spatial distribution of ash properties known to affect drainage behaviour at the field scale; to test and calibrate field-monitoring equipment that can be used to assess drainage behaviour at the field-scale; to provide recommendations for further research on the use of coal ash drainage layer; and to provide a benchmark for future testing and monitoring. Through an experimental investigation, it was shown that there no significant variation exists in the coarse fraction of Loy Yang pond ash’s physical and chemical properties. Monitoring equipment used to determine the field drainage performance of the ash included a T8 Tensiometer and EnviroPro (multi-capacitance sensor) that were calibrated and tested in the laboratory. It was determined that monitoring devices used in this study were suitable for measuring the ash’s hydraulic behaviour only once calibrations had been performed. As a result the tested field equipment were included in the design of a future monitoring program.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: Stipcevich, Jack
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The Latrobe Valley mines, Victoria, Australia, are facing some major challenges as they approach the end of their mining life. Most of these challenges surround current rehabilitation practice and the ability to create safe and stable landforms for future land uses well after the mines have closed. As there has been no developed alternative use for the brown coal at this stage, stopping power generation leads to the cessation of mining. AGL Loy Yang is undertaking rehabilitation cover trials on exposed coal batters to investigate optimal cover materials that will enable safe and stable batters well beyond mine closure. A series of rehabilitation trials using coarse coal ash have been constructed by AGL to assess the performance of coarse coal ash as a ‘subsurface drainage layer’. One of the trials includes the use of a 1 metre coarse coal ash layer placed below a 1 metre thick clay cover and above a coal surface shaped to approximately 18 degrees (1V:3H). Without a drainage layer, water may percolate through the clay cover or seep through the intact brown coal, resulting in a build of pore water pressure at the coal – clay interface and increasing the potential for slope failure. The aim of this research work was to assess the spatial distribution of ash properties known to affect drainage behaviour at the field scale; to test and calibrate field-monitoring equipment that can be used to assess drainage behaviour at the field-scale; to provide recommendations for further research on the use of coal ash drainage layer; and to provide a benchmark for future testing and monitoring. Through an experimental investigation, it was shown that there no significant variation exists in the coarse fraction of Loy Yang pond ash’s physical and chemical properties. Monitoring equipment used to determine the field drainage performance of the ash included a T8 Tensiometer and EnviroPro (multi-capacitance sensor) that were calibrated and tested in the laboratory. It was determined that monitoring devices used in this study were suitable for measuring the ash’s hydraulic behaviour only once calibrations had been performed. As a result the tested field equipment were included in the design of a future monitoring program.
- Description: Masters by Research
An exploratory study of the adoption of blockchain technology among Australian organizations : a theoretical model
- Malik, Saleem, Chadhar, Mehmood, Chetty, Madhu, Vatanasakdakul, Savanid
- Authors: Malik, Saleem , Chadhar, Mehmood , Chetty, Madhu , Vatanasakdakul, Savanid
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 17th European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems, EMCIS 2020; Dubai; 25-26 November 2020 Vol. 402, p. 205-220
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Scholarly and commercial literature indicates several applications of Blockchain Technology (BCT) in different industries e.g. health, finance, supply chain, government, and energy. Despite abundant benefits reported and growing prominence, BCT has been facing various challenges across the globe, including low adoption by organizations. There is a dearth of studies that examined the organizational adoption of blockchain technology, particularly in Australia. This lack of uptake provides the rationale to initiate this research to identify the factors influencing the Australian organizations to adopt BCT. To achieve this, we conducted a qualitative study based on the Technology, Organization, Environment (TOE) framework. The study proposes a theoretical model grounded on the findings of semi-structured interviews of blockchain experts in Australia. The proposed model shows that the organizational adoption of blockchain is influenced by perceived benefits, compatibility, and complexity, organization innovativeness, organizational learning capability, competitive intensity, government support, trading partner readiness, and standards uncertainty. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
- Authors: Malik, Saleem , Chadhar, Mehmood , Chetty, Madhu , Vatanasakdakul, Savanid
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 17th European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems, EMCIS 2020; Dubai; 25-26 November 2020 Vol. 402, p. 205-220
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Scholarly and commercial literature indicates several applications of Blockchain Technology (BCT) in different industries e.g. health, finance, supply chain, government, and energy. Despite abundant benefits reported and growing prominence, BCT has been facing various challenges across the globe, including low adoption by organizations. There is a dearth of studies that examined the organizational adoption of blockchain technology, particularly in Australia. This lack of uptake provides the rationale to initiate this research to identify the factors influencing the Australian organizations to adopt BCT. To achieve this, we conducted a qualitative study based on the Technology, Organization, Environment (TOE) framework. The study proposes a theoretical model grounded on the findings of semi-structured interviews of blockchain experts in Australia. The proposed model shows that the organizational adoption of blockchain is influenced by perceived benefits, compatibility, and complexity, organization innovativeness, organizational learning capability, competitive intensity, government support, trading partner readiness, and standards uncertainty. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
An exploratory trial implementing a community-based child oral health promotion intervention for Australian families from refugee and migrant backgrounds : A protocol paper for Teeth Tales
- Gibbs, Lisa, Waters, Elizabeth, De Silva, Andrea, Riggs, Elisha, Moore, Laurence, Armit, Christine, Johnson, Britt, Morris, Michal, Calache, Hanny, Gussy, Mark, Young, Dana, Tadic, Maryanne, Christian, Bradley, Gondal, Iqbal, Watt, Richard, Pradel, Veronika, Truong, Mandy, Gold, Lisa
- Authors: Gibbs, Lisa , Waters, Elizabeth , De Silva, Andrea , Riggs, Elisha , Moore, Laurence , Armit, Christine , Johnson, Britt , Morris, Michal , Calache, Hanny , Gussy, Mark , Young, Dana , Tadic, Maryanne , Christian, Bradley , Gondal, Iqbal , Watt, Richard , Pradel, Veronika , Truong, Mandy , Gold, Lisa
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMJ Open Vol. 4, no. 3 (2014), p. 1-14
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Introduction: Inequalities are evident in early childhood caries rates with the socially disadvantaged experiencing greater burden of disease. This study builds on formative qualitative research, conducted in the Moreland/Hume local government areas of Melbourne, Victoria 2006-2009, in response to community concerns for oral health of children from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Development of the community-based intervention described here extends the partnership approach to cogeneration of contemporary evidence with continued and meaningful involvement of investigators, community, cultural and government partners. This trial aims to establish a model for child oral health promotion for culturally diverse communities in Australia. Methods and analysis: This is an exploratory trial implementing a community-based child oral health promotion intervention for Australian families from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Families from an Iraqi, Lebanese or Pakistani background with children aged 1-4 years, residing in metropolitan Melbourne, were invited to participate in the trial by peer educators from their respective communities using snowball and purposive sampling techniques. Target sample size was 600. Moreland, a culturally diverse, inner-urban metropolitan area of Melbourne, was chosen as the intervention site. The intervention comprised peer educator led community oral health education sessions and reorienting of dental health and family services through cultural Competency Organisational Review (CORe). Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval for this trial was granted by the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Research Committee. Study progress and output will be disseminated via periodic newsletters, peer-reviewed research papers, reports, community seminars and at National and International conferences. Trial registration number: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12611000532909).
- Authors: Gibbs, Lisa , Waters, Elizabeth , De Silva, Andrea , Riggs, Elisha , Moore, Laurence , Armit, Christine , Johnson, Britt , Morris, Michal , Calache, Hanny , Gussy, Mark , Young, Dana , Tadic, Maryanne , Christian, Bradley , Gondal, Iqbal , Watt, Richard , Pradel, Veronika , Truong, Mandy , Gold, Lisa
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMJ Open Vol. 4, no. 3 (2014), p. 1-14
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Introduction: Inequalities are evident in early childhood caries rates with the socially disadvantaged experiencing greater burden of disease. This study builds on formative qualitative research, conducted in the Moreland/Hume local government areas of Melbourne, Victoria 2006-2009, in response to community concerns for oral health of children from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Development of the community-based intervention described here extends the partnership approach to cogeneration of contemporary evidence with continued and meaningful involvement of investigators, community, cultural and government partners. This trial aims to establish a model for child oral health promotion for culturally diverse communities in Australia. Methods and analysis: This is an exploratory trial implementing a community-based child oral health promotion intervention for Australian families from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Families from an Iraqi, Lebanese or Pakistani background with children aged 1-4 years, residing in metropolitan Melbourne, were invited to participate in the trial by peer educators from their respective communities using snowball and purposive sampling techniques. Target sample size was 600. Moreland, a culturally diverse, inner-urban metropolitan area of Melbourne, was chosen as the intervention site. The intervention comprised peer educator led community oral health education sessions and reorienting of dental health and family services through cultural Competency Organisational Review (CORe). Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval for this trial was granted by the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Research Committee. Study progress and output will be disseminated via periodic newsletters, peer-reviewed research papers, reports, community seminars and at National and International conferences. Trial registration number: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12611000532909).
Anti-war, radical youth revolt, Victoria, 1965-1975
- Authors: Butler, Nicholas
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis is a political history of the emergence and evolution of selected radical, left, student and workers movements in Victoria between 1965 and 1975. It examines the development of radical alliances, demonstrations and public actions using documentary materials and oral accounts provided during interviews. It argues that the radical left movement in Victoria began within the Monash University Labor Club, which subsequently generated radical groups outside the university. During this timeframe, both military conscription for the Vietnam War and the war itself became focal points for oppositional political mobilisation in Victoria. In 1967, the Monash Labor Club’s disruptive campaign against university authority was sufficiently popular for the club to turn its attention to disrupting the war effort. Soon, its locus of operations shifted into the general anti-war movement and the Labor Club established new, non-student, and avowedly communist and revolutionary organisations. Roughly termed the “Maoists,” by 1970 these organisations coalesced into the Worker Student Alliance (WSA), which grew rapidly to become a “left-wing” body that challenged the leadership of the established “left” organisations. The cessation of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War removed a major cause for radical action and, despite the generation of some important campaigns to replace it, the WSA dissolved itself in 1974.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Butler, Nicholas
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis is a political history of the emergence and evolution of selected radical, left, student and workers movements in Victoria between 1965 and 1975. It examines the development of radical alliances, demonstrations and public actions using documentary materials and oral accounts provided during interviews. It argues that the radical left movement in Victoria began within the Monash University Labor Club, which subsequently generated radical groups outside the university. During this timeframe, both military conscription for the Vietnam War and the war itself became focal points for oppositional political mobilisation in Victoria. In 1967, the Monash Labor Club’s disruptive campaign against university authority was sufficiently popular for the club to turn its attention to disrupting the war effort. Soon, its locus of operations shifted into the general anti-war movement and the Labor Club established new, non-student, and avowedly communist and revolutionary organisations. Roughly termed the “Maoists,” by 1970 these organisations coalesced into the Worker Student Alliance (WSA), which grew rapidly to become a “left-wing” body that challenged the leadership of the established “left” organisations. The cessation of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War removed a major cause for radical action and, despite the generation of some important campaigns to replace it, the WSA dissolved itself in 1974.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Applied aspirations : design and applied art at the Ballarat Technical Art School during the early twentieth century
- Authors: Whetter, Elise
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Applied art and design schools operate at the nexus of art, industry, and education. During the early decades of the twentieth century, the regionally located Ballarat Technical Art School (BTAS) was the leading institution of its kind in Victoria, Australia, amid shifting economic, cultural, and pedagogical conditions. Emerging from a 1907 amalgamation of institutions, and subsequently administrated by the School of Mines Ballarat (SMB), BTAS was equipped with the assets, experience, and historic reputation necessary to surpass its provincial and metropolitan rivals. This micro-historical case-study employs qualitative analysis of primary sources to investigate the aims, outputs, and importance of BTAS, contextualised by the expectations and influences it operated under during the inaugural principalship of artist and educator, Herbert Henry Smith. Smith oversaw the training of designers, craftspeople, artists, and teachers from 1907 until his retirement in early 1940—a period of tumultuous events, fiscal obstacles, and social and cultural debate. The institution was accountable to diverse stakeholders and arbiters of taste, and successive cohorts learned in a contested space between tradition, origination, and modernisation. Pierre Bourdieu’s cultural theory serves to navigate this web of hierarchies, assumptions, and tensions, while secondary sources help contextualise findings. This thesis also discusses the suite of drawing, design and material-based disciplines delivered at BTAS as single subjects, full courses, and supplementary art-trade training. Throughout, featured students provide examples of regionally trained, Australian designer-maker and artist-teacher experiences. BTAS students learned from ambitious and skilled men and women, benefited from strong professional networks, and fostered a notable esprit-de-corps. The school was significant for its contribution to female technical training. The school’s pre-eminent position was modified during the late 1920s, when much art and art-teacher training was re-centred in Melbourne. Yet, the valuable, compelling, and widespread influence of Ballarat Technical Art School graduates resonated for decades.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Whetter, Elise
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Applied art and design schools operate at the nexus of art, industry, and education. During the early decades of the twentieth century, the regionally located Ballarat Technical Art School (BTAS) was the leading institution of its kind in Victoria, Australia, amid shifting economic, cultural, and pedagogical conditions. Emerging from a 1907 amalgamation of institutions, and subsequently administrated by the School of Mines Ballarat (SMB), BTAS was equipped with the assets, experience, and historic reputation necessary to surpass its provincial and metropolitan rivals. This micro-historical case-study employs qualitative analysis of primary sources to investigate the aims, outputs, and importance of BTAS, contextualised by the expectations and influences it operated under during the inaugural principalship of artist and educator, Herbert Henry Smith. Smith oversaw the training of designers, craftspeople, artists, and teachers from 1907 until his retirement in early 1940—a period of tumultuous events, fiscal obstacles, and social and cultural debate. The institution was accountable to diverse stakeholders and arbiters of taste, and successive cohorts learned in a contested space between tradition, origination, and modernisation. Pierre Bourdieu’s cultural theory serves to navigate this web of hierarchies, assumptions, and tensions, while secondary sources help contextualise findings. This thesis also discusses the suite of drawing, design and material-based disciplines delivered at BTAS as single subjects, full courses, and supplementary art-trade training. Throughout, featured students provide examples of regionally trained, Australian designer-maker and artist-teacher experiences. BTAS students learned from ambitious and skilled men and women, benefited from strong professional networks, and fostered a notable esprit-de-corps. The school was significant for its contribution to female technical training. The school’s pre-eminent position was modified during the late 1920s, when much art and art-teacher training was re-centred in Melbourne. Yet, the valuable, compelling, and widespread influence of Ballarat Technical Art School graduates resonated for decades.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Arid land vegetation dynamics after a rare flooding event : influence of fire and grazing
- Westbrooke, Martin, Florentine, Singarayer, Milberg, Per
- Authors: Westbrooke, Martin , Florentine, Singarayer , Milberg, Per
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Arid Environments Vol. 61, no. 2 (Apr 2005), p. 249-260
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Arid vegetation is subjected to more or less frequent fire, drought, and sporadic flooding events and grazing. Whilst fire, drought and grazing have been the subject of considerable research, little is known of the impact of flooding in arid environments. In this study we examined opportunistically the effects of a flooding event, and its interaction with fire and grazing on moulding arid vegetation in New South Wales, Australia. We assessed vegetation approximately 2 and 5 years after recession of the water in fenced and unfenced plots subjected to different combinations of flooding and fire. Number of species per area dropped from 11.8 to 5.7 per 625 m(2). Vegetation in plots left open to grazing by vertebrates differed from fenced plots, but the amount of variation explained was small compared with flooding and the change over time. The taxa mostly associated with flooding were Eragrostis spp., Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum and the exotic Nicotiana glauca. Major flooding events not only trigger native species' germination and recruitment but may also create an avenue for exotic species to invade. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001050
- Authors: Westbrooke, Martin , Florentine, Singarayer , Milberg, Per
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Arid Environments Vol. 61, no. 2 (Apr 2005), p. 249-260
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Arid vegetation is subjected to more or less frequent fire, drought, and sporadic flooding events and grazing. Whilst fire, drought and grazing have been the subject of considerable research, little is known of the impact of flooding in arid environments. In this study we examined opportunistically the effects of a flooding event, and its interaction with fire and grazing on moulding arid vegetation in New South Wales, Australia. We assessed vegetation approximately 2 and 5 years after recession of the water in fenced and unfenced plots subjected to different combinations of flooding and fire. Number of species per area dropped from 11.8 to 5.7 per 625 m(2). Vegetation in plots left open to grazing by vertebrates differed from fenced plots, but the amount of variation explained was small compared with flooding and the change over time. The taxa mostly associated with flooding were Eragrostis spp., Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum and the exotic Nicotiana glauca. Major flooding events not only trigger native species' germination and recruitment but may also create an avenue for exotic species to invade. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001050
Assessing productive soil - landscapes in Victoria using digital soil mapping
- Authors: Robinson, Nathan
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Spatial soil information is used to support questions on agriculture and the environment from global to local scales. Historically, soil mapping has been used to inform and guide a multitude of land users with their decisions. Demand for specific spatial soil information is increasing in response from a wider range of users operating across agricultural and environmental domains. To satisfy these demands, users must be provided with practical and relevant spatial soil information. Novel approaches are required to deal with global deficiencies in available soil information. A major limitation to this is the plethora of incongruent legacy data with poor spatial and temporal coverage. This research study initially identifies the specific needs of users for spatial soil information with a focus on the requirements of biophysical modellers. Secondly, error sources that hamper Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) are identified, described and assessed using pH in practical and relevant examples. A final aim is to spatially predict soil properties (e.g. clay mineralogy) that underpin soil chemical behaviour. This is achieved by harmonising legacy data in combination with new spectroscopy techniques and a spatial inference approach. The spatial soil information needs of biophysical modellers in Victoria, Australia were found to be consistent with global needs for information including soil water characteristics, organic carbon and effective rooting depth. To accommodate stochastic and epistemic uncertainties in spatial soil information, uncertainty frameworks proved effective to deal with, and understand the limitations of legacy data in spatial inference models. Robust and reliable spectroscopic models for properties that are linked to functions and services delivered by soil were achieved and used in 3D spatial models. These findings will enable a tactical response through the delivery of pertinent spatial soil information that is contemporary, quality assured and sought by users. Learnings presented should enable producers of spatial soil information to be more comprehensive in their delivery of products that are easy to use, accessible and understood by a growing user community.
- Description: Doctor of Philosphy
- Authors: Robinson, Nathan
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Spatial soil information is used to support questions on agriculture and the environment from global to local scales. Historically, soil mapping has been used to inform and guide a multitude of land users with their decisions. Demand for specific spatial soil information is increasing in response from a wider range of users operating across agricultural and environmental domains. To satisfy these demands, users must be provided with practical and relevant spatial soil information. Novel approaches are required to deal with global deficiencies in available soil information. A major limitation to this is the plethora of incongruent legacy data with poor spatial and temporal coverage. This research study initially identifies the specific needs of users for spatial soil information with a focus on the requirements of biophysical modellers. Secondly, error sources that hamper Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) are identified, described and assessed using pH in practical and relevant examples. A final aim is to spatially predict soil properties (e.g. clay mineralogy) that underpin soil chemical behaviour. This is achieved by harmonising legacy data in combination with new spectroscopy techniques and a spatial inference approach. The spatial soil information needs of biophysical modellers in Victoria, Australia were found to be consistent with global needs for information including soil water characteristics, organic carbon and effective rooting depth. To accommodate stochastic and epistemic uncertainties in spatial soil information, uncertainty frameworks proved effective to deal with, and understand the limitations of legacy data in spatial inference models. Robust and reliable spectroscopic models for properties that are linked to functions and services delivered by soil were achieved and used in 3D spatial models. These findings will enable a tactical response through the delivery of pertinent spatial soil information that is contemporary, quality assured and sought by users. Learnings presented should enable producers of spatial soil information to be more comprehensive in their delivery of products that are easy to use, accessible and understood by a growing user community.
- Description: Doctor of Philosphy
At last count : Engineering undergraduates in 21st Century Australia
- Authors: Dobson, Ian
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education Vol. 10, no. 4 (2013), p. 253-257
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The number of enrolments in undergraduate programmes in engineering has grown at more than the national average this century. The main areas of enrolment growth in Australian higher education have been of women and overseas students, and the latter group has been particularly relevant in the case in engineering. The analysis undertaken for this article is based on statistical data from the ministry responsible for Australia's tertiary education. However, women remain underrepresented in engineering programmes, and there is a risk that the high proportion of overseas students means that Australia is exporting engineering talent at a cost to the development of its own knowledge-intensive labour force. © 2012 WIETE.
- Description: 2003010825
- Authors: Dobson, Ian
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education Vol. 10, no. 4 (2013), p. 253-257
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The number of enrolments in undergraduate programmes in engineering has grown at more than the national average this century. The main areas of enrolment growth in Australian higher education have been of women and overseas students, and the latter group has been particularly relevant in the case in engineering. The analysis undertaken for this article is based on statistical data from the ministry responsible for Australia's tertiary education. However, women remain underrepresented in engineering programmes, and there is a risk that the high proportion of overseas students means that Australia is exporting engineering talent at a cost to the development of its own knowledge-intensive labour force. © 2012 WIETE.
- Description: 2003010825
Australia and the Keynesian revolution
- Authors: Millmow, Alex
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: The seven dwarfs and the age of the mandarins : Australian government administration in the post-war reconstruction era Chapter 3 p. 53-79
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: When the Nobel prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz visited Australia in 2010 he commended the Rudd Government’s policy response to the Global Financial Crisis as a proper and effective pre-emptive measure. The stimulus, which staved off any creeping sign of recession, bore a considerable Treasury imprint; and it could be said that the official family of economic advisers, that is, the Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia, were in their concerted action never so Keynesian in practice. It is appropriate then to visit the Keynesian revolution in post-war Australia recalling that three of the mandarins, Roland Wilson, John Crawford and H.C. ‘Nugget’ Coombs, were professionally trained economists. Moreover, as J.K. Galbraith reminds us, the Keynesian revolution was really a ‘mandarin revolution’, that is, an intellectually powered one.
- Authors: Millmow, Alex
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: The seven dwarfs and the age of the mandarins : Australian government administration in the post-war reconstruction era Chapter 3 p. 53-79
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: When the Nobel prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz visited Australia in 2010 he commended the Rudd Government’s policy response to the Global Financial Crisis as a proper and effective pre-emptive measure. The stimulus, which staved off any creeping sign of recession, bore a considerable Treasury imprint; and it could be said that the official family of economic advisers, that is, the Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia, were in their concerted action never so Keynesian in practice. It is appropriate then to visit the Keynesian revolution in post-war Australia recalling that three of the mandarins, Roland Wilson, John Crawford and H.C. ‘Nugget’ Coombs, were professionally trained economists. Moreover, as J.K. Galbraith reminds us, the Keynesian revolution was really a ‘mandarin revolution’, that is, an intellectually powered one.
Australian children's literature
- Authors: Mills, Alice
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: A companion to Australian literature since 1900 Chapter 30 p. 417-428
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: B1
- Description: 2003005825
Australian media and Islamophobia : Representations of asylum seeker children
- Patil, Tejaswini, McLaren, Helen
- Authors: Patil, Tejaswini , McLaren, Helen
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Religions Vol. 10, no. 9 (2019), p. 1-14
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Australian media invests considerable attention in asylum seekers and their children, especially those arriving by boat. In this paper, we provide an analysis of Australian newsprint media published during the term of Australia's Gillard's government (2010-2013). This period is critical as it coincides with rising numbers of boat arrivals to Australian shores, fear towards Muslims, and growing Islamophobia. At the time, there were government promises to move children from offshore immigration detention into community-based detention, that would involve living among mainstream Australian society. A data set of 46 articles from major Australian newspapers articles was subject to a discourse analysis of representations of children in both the written texts and in silences. Manipulative tactics of 'risk framing' and 'dispersed intentionality' were identified as discursive acts aimed to confuse compassion and deviancy with respect to asylum seeker children presumed to be from Islamic backgrounds. We argue that this was achieved through binary characterizations in which Muslim parents and people smugglers were constructed as deviant alongside intentional silences, that may have otherwise elicited compassion for asylum seeker children. We propose that this period of media reporting is foundational to understanding the rise of Islamophobic discourses and the implication of Muslim children in Australia.
- Authors: Patil, Tejaswini , McLaren, Helen
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Religions Vol. 10, no. 9 (2019), p. 1-14
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Australian media invests considerable attention in asylum seekers and their children, especially those arriving by boat. In this paper, we provide an analysis of Australian newsprint media published during the term of Australia's Gillard's government (2010-2013). This period is critical as it coincides with rising numbers of boat arrivals to Australian shores, fear towards Muslims, and growing Islamophobia. At the time, there were government promises to move children from offshore immigration detention into community-based detention, that would involve living among mainstream Australian society. A data set of 46 articles from major Australian newspapers articles was subject to a discourse analysis of representations of children in both the written texts and in silences. Manipulative tactics of 'risk framing' and 'dispersed intentionality' were identified as discursive acts aimed to confuse compassion and deviancy with respect to asylum seeker children presumed to be from Islamic backgrounds. We argue that this was achieved through binary characterizations in which Muslim parents and people smugglers were constructed as deviant alongside intentional silences, that may have otherwise elicited compassion for asylum seeker children. We propose that this period of media reporting is foundational to understanding the rise of Islamophobic discourses and the implication of Muslim children in Australia.
Australian plays for the colonial stage
- Authors: Tasker, Meg
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature Vol. 6, no. (2007), p. 128-131
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005795
- Authors: Tasker, Meg
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature Vol. 6, no. (2007), p. 128-131
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005795
Australian women's stories of work and play
- Authors: Newton, Janice
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Oral history Vol. 30, no. 1 (2002), p. 54-62
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: In the 1920s and 1930s working-class people from the inner suburbs of Melbourne, Australia took to the foothills of the nearby Dandenong ranges on weekends and public holidays to enjoy a bush picnic or holiday. It was a time in both Britain and Australia when working people were able to take family holidays in greater numbers. Unstructured interviews with former female visitors began with the purpose of gaining an insight into the leisure of the time. Information obtained along the way about working lives reinforced the importance of thinking about work and leisure in association with each other. The incidents that some women remembered from their working lives presented a strong and autonomous view of themselves. While such power could be seen as a realistic view of their holidays in the bush, it appears that the context of the interview relationship contributed to the highlighting of an assertive and lively work identity.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000092
- Authors: Newton, Janice
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Oral history Vol. 30, no. 1 (2002), p. 54-62
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: In the 1920s and 1930s working-class people from the inner suburbs of Melbourne, Australia took to the foothills of the nearby Dandenong ranges on weekends and public holidays to enjoy a bush picnic or holiday. It was a time in both Britain and Australia when working people were able to take family holidays in greater numbers. Unstructured interviews with former female visitors began with the purpose of gaining an insight into the leisure of the time. Information obtained along the way about working lives reinforced the importance of thinking about work and leisure in association with each other. The incidents that some women remembered from their working lives presented a strong and autonomous view of themselves. While such power could be seen as a realistic view of their holidays in the bush, it appears that the context of the interview relationship contributed to the highlighting of an assertive and lively work identity.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000092
Avenue and Arch : Ballarat's commemoration. How are community attitudes to war and peace reflected in the civic management of the Avenue of Honour and the Arch of Victory?
- Authors: Roberts, Philip
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis examines the importance of memory, commemoration, heritage and militarism in relation to Ballarat’s Avenue of Honour and Arch of Victory. Inspired by Ken Inglis and other historians who have analysed war commemoration, the thesis argues that, led by the Lucas clothing company, Ballarat civic leaders and community members commemorated the war service and sacrifice of local soldiers, airmen, sailors and nurses by planting the 22-kilometre Avenue during 1917–19 and by constructing the prominent Arch in 1920. Although Ballarat voted against conscription in 1916 and 1917 and was a ‘divided’ society, the Avenue and Arch were able to unite members of the local community. From the 1920s, through memory and mythology during the civic maintenance of the Avenue and Arch, Australian community attitudes to war and peace were reflected, and a determined effort was made to remember the service and sacrifice of military personnel for all Australian wars. Discussion of the need for peace remained in the background until recent years. Important influences on the civic management were the collective memory of the so-called Lucas Girls, a group of former female employees of the Lucas clothing company, and of the members of the Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour Committee. Increasingly, the embracing of the Anzac legend and an emphasis on loss and grief was reflected in the civic management. By 2017 the Avenue and Arch were in pristine condition and, through the Garden of the Grieving Mother, had transformed to symbolise the importance of remembering the sacrifices and grief of war and the need for peace. The project was based on documentary research and oral history, using an examination of newspaper and other documentary accounts from 1917–2017, a study of Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour Committee papers and conservation management plans, research of relevant books and articles, landscape fieldwork and interviews with 26 people.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Roberts, Philip
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis examines the importance of memory, commemoration, heritage and militarism in relation to Ballarat’s Avenue of Honour and Arch of Victory. Inspired by Ken Inglis and other historians who have analysed war commemoration, the thesis argues that, led by the Lucas clothing company, Ballarat civic leaders and community members commemorated the war service and sacrifice of local soldiers, airmen, sailors and nurses by planting the 22-kilometre Avenue during 1917–19 and by constructing the prominent Arch in 1920. Although Ballarat voted against conscription in 1916 and 1917 and was a ‘divided’ society, the Avenue and Arch were able to unite members of the local community. From the 1920s, through memory and mythology during the civic maintenance of the Avenue and Arch, Australian community attitudes to war and peace were reflected, and a determined effort was made to remember the service and sacrifice of military personnel for all Australian wars. Discussion of the need for peace remained in the background until recent years. Important influences on the civic management were the collective memory of the so-called Lucas Girls, a group of former female employees of the Lucas clothing company, and of the members of the Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour Committee. Increasingly, the embracing of the Anzac legend and an emphasis on loss and grief was reflected in the civic management. By 2017 the Avenue and Arch were in pristine condition and, through the Garden of the Grieving Mother, had transformed to symbolise the importance of remembering the sacrifices and grief of war and the need for peace. The project was based on documentary research and oral history, using an examination of newspaper and other documentary accounts from 1917–2017, a study of Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour Committee papers and conservation management plans, research of relevant books and articles, landscape fieldwork and interviews with 26 people.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Barriers to higher education for Australian rural students
- Authors: Sewell, Jessica
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Rural Social Work and Community Practice Vol. 10, no. 2 (2006), p. 23-27
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- Description: This article considers the barriers to higher education currently faced by rural students in Australia. Three barriers to participation in higher education for rural students that appear consistently in the literature are financial pressures, family and community attributes, and physical location. Results of recent studies in this area suggest that these factors often coexist to create one, complex and intertwined barrier which needs to be approach by all involved in a collaborative and cooperative way in order to provide rural people with equitable access to higher education.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001979
Becoming "Brave and Gallant" : Decolonising the myths of Burke and Wills; Cross-cultural exchanges and the co-production of knowledge during the Victorian Exploring Expedition and the subsequent Relief Expeditions
- Authors: Jeffries, Peta
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The history of the Victorian Exploring Expedition (VEE), also known as ‘Burke and Wills’, has commonly been told as a story of ‘brave and gallant men’ who ventured into an unfamiliar landscape and became victims of the ‘ghastly blank’ interior of Australia. Visual artists and historians have memorialised these men as solo-hero explorers who sacrificed their youth and life potential for the sake of Australian nation. The myth of Burke and Wills is a constructed narrative and symbol of glory and achievement that denies the involvement of significant others in exploration and geographical knowledge creation. The path the VEE created through the centre of Australia opened up the broader continent for rapid colonisation and imperial expansion. The tragic legacy of the deaths of Burke and Wills is part of the Australian identity, however, some major aspects of the VEE successes and failures have been sidelined, silenced and even completely ignored in many historical accounts. The historical and visual art accounts that contributed to the memorialisation of Burke and Wills often denied the involvement of other exploration team members, the relief expeditions who went in search of the missing explorers, various intermediaries, guides, go-betweens and significantly Aboriginal peoples’ close involvement and or resistance to interior exploration. Yandruwandha people have been remembered as a friendly and accommodating community who assisted the explorers in their last days and who cared for John King. Within the archives and social memories are examples of agency, power, resistance, and varied perspectives of Burke and Wills. This ethnographic history asks why relations between the explorers, Aboriginal peoples and landscape have been told the way they have and provides examples of encounter and exchange, mutual adaptation and the co-production of knowledge as a way to decolonise the myths of Burke and Wills.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Jeffries, Peta
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The history of the Victorian Exploring Expedition (VEE), also known as ‘Burke and Wills’, has commonly been told as a story of ‘brave and gallant men’ who ventured into an unfamiliar landscape and became victims of the ‘ghastly blank’ interior of Australia. Visual artists and historians have memorialised these men as solo-hero explorers who sacrificed their youth and life potential for the sake of Australian nation. The myth of Burke and Wills is a constructed narrative and symbol of glory and achievement that denies the involvement of significant others in exploration and geographical knowledge creation. The path the VEE created through the centre of Australia opened up the broader continent for rapid colonisation and imperial expansion. The tragic legacy of the deaths of Burke and Wills is part of the Australian identity, however, some major aspects of the VEE successes and failures have been sidelined, silenced and even completely ignored in many historical accounts. The historical and visual art accounts that contributed to the memorialisation of Burke and Wills often denied the involvement of other exploration team members, the relief expeditions who went in search of the missing explorers, various intermediaries, guides, go-betweens and significantly Aboriginal peoples’ close involvement and or resistance to interior exploration. Yandruwandha people have been remembered as a friendly and accommodating community who assisted the explorers in their last days and who cared for John King. Within the archives and social memories are examples of agency, power, resistance, and varied perspectives of Burke and Wills. This ethnographic history asks why relations between the explorers, Aboriginal peoples and landscape have been told the way they have and provides examples of encounter and exchange, mutual adaptation and the co-production of knowledge as a way to decolonise the myths of Burke and Wills.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Beyond hydrogeologic evidence : Challenging the current assumptions about salinity processes in the Corangamite region, Australia
- Dahlhaus, Peter, Cox, Jim, Simmons, Craig, Smitt, C. M.
- Authors: Dahlhaus, Peter , Cox, Jim , Simmons, Craig , Smitt, C. M.
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Hydrogeology Journal Vol. 16, no. 7 (2008), p. 1283-1298
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: In keeping with the standard scientific methods, investigations of salinity processes focus on the collection and interpretation of contemporary scientific data. However, using multiple lines of evidence from non-hydrogeologic sources such as geomorphic, archaeological and historical records can substantially add value to the scientific investigations. By using such evidence, the validity of the assumptions about salinity processes in Australian landscapes is challenged, especially the assumption that the clearing of native vegetation has resulted in rising saline groundwater in all landscapes. In the Corangamite region of south-west Victoria, salinity has been an episodic feature of the landscapes throughout the Quaternary and was present at the time of the Aboriginal inhabitants and the first pastoral settlement by Europeans. Although surface-water salinity has increased in some waterways and the area of salinised land has expanded in some landscapes, there is no recorded evidence found which supports significant rises in groundwater following widespread land-use change. In many areas, salinity is an inherent component of the region's landscapes, and sustains world-class environmental assets that require appropriate salinity levels for their ecological health. Managing salinity requires understanding the specific salinity processes in each landscape. © Springer-Verlag 2008.
- Authors: Dahlhaus, Peter , Cox, Jim , Simmons, Craig , Smitt, C. M.
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Hydrogeology Journal Vol. 16, no. 7 (2008), p. 1283-1298
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: In keeping with the standard scientific methods, investigations of salinity processes focus on the collection and interpretation of contemporary scientific data. However, using multiple lines of evidence from non-hydrogeologic sources such as geomorphic, archaeological and historical records can substantially add value to the scientific investigations. By using such evidence, the validity of the assumptions about salinity processes in Australian landscapes is challenged, especially the assumption that the clearing of native vegetation has resulted in rising saline groundwater in all landscapes. In the Corangamite region of south-west Victoria, salinity has been an episodic feature of the landscapes throughout the Quaternary and was present at the time of the Aboriginal inhabitants and the first pastoral settlement by Europeans. Although surface-water salinity has increased in some waterways and the area of salinised land has expanded in some landscapes, there is no recorded evidence found which supports significant rises in groundwater following widespread land-use change. In many areas, salinity is an inherent component of the region's landscapes, and sustains world-class environmental assets that require appropriate salinity levels for their ecological health. Managing salinity requires understanding the specific salinity processes in each landscape. © Springer-Verlag 2008.
Bird responses to targeted revegetation : 40 years of habitat enhancement at Clarkesdale Bird sanctuary, central-western Victoria
- Loyn, Richard, Faragher, J. T., Coutts, D. C., Palmer, Grant
- Authors: Loyn, Richard , Faragher, J. T. , Coutts, D. C. , Palmer, Grant
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Field Ornithology Vol. 26, no. 3 (2009), p. 53-75
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A program of planting Australian shrubs and trees has been conducted in degraded farmland at the Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary (central-western Victoria) since the 1960s, to address the issue of declining native birds, as perceived by the late landowner Gordon Clarke. The shrubs and trees were selected to attract birds, and included many species that were not native to the region. This form of management is often practised by private landholders (at various scales), but its effects are rarely documented. Bird surveys were conducted for this study between 1999 and 2001 at 27 sites: 11 in native eucalypt forest on ridges and slopes, 13 in planted areas on ridges and slopes, and three in planted areas on river-flats and a small gully (with three supplementary sites in a pine plantation). Total bird abundance and species per count were highest in the planted sites on river-flats and gully, and higher in the planted sites on ridges and slopes than in native forest on similar topography. Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae), Superb Fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus, open-country birds, seed-eating birds and five insectivorous guilds reached their maximum abundance in planted sites. Barkforaging insectivores, canopy-foraging insectivores, frugivores and a generalist insectivore were marginally more common in native forest than in planted sites. Introduced birds were uncommon. Generalised linear modelling showed that total bird abundance was positively related to the cover of planted native vegetation, native low shrubs and young wattles Acacia spp. and to the presence of indigenous Cherry Ballart Exocarpos cupressiformis. Various guilds showed positive relationships with the cover of planted native vegetation, native low shrubs, young wattles, original old wattles, original old eucalypts and trees with small or large hollows. The planting program has provided new habitat for many native forest birds. A greater challenge is to address the needs of some uncommon species that have declined locally, such as the Brown Treecreeper Climacteris picumnus and Speckled Warbler Chthonicola sagittata.
- Authors: Loyn, Richard , Faragher, J. T. , Coutts, D. C. , Palmer, Grant
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Field Ornithology Vol. 26, no. 3 (2009), p. 53-75
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A program of planting Australian shrubs and trees has been conducted in degraded farmland at the Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary (central-western Victoria) since the 1960s, to address the issue of declining native birds, as perceived by the late landowner Gordon Clarke. The shrubs and trees were selected to attract birds, and included many species that were not native to the region. This form of management is often practised by private landholders (at various scales), but its effects are rarely documented. Bird surveys were conducted for this study between 1999 and 2001 at 27 sites: 11 in native eucalypt forest on ridges and slopes, 13 in planted areas on ridges and slopes, and three in planted areas on river-flats and a small gully (with three supplementary sites in a pine plantation). Total bird abundance and species per count were highest in the planted sites on river-flats and gully, and higher in the planted sites on ridges and slopes than in native forest on similar topography. Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae), Superb Fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus, open-country birds, seed-eating birds and five insectivorous guilds reached their maximum abundance in planted sites. Barkforaging insectivores, canopy-foraging insectivores, frugivores and a generalist insectivore were marginally more common in native forest than in planted sites. Introduced birds were uncommon. Generalised linear modelling showed that total bird abundance was positively related to the cover of planted native vegetation, native low shrubs and young wattles Acacia spp. and to the presence of indigenous Cherry Ballart Exocarpos cupressiformis. Various guilds showed positive relationships with the cover of planted native vegetation, native low shrubs, young wattles, original old wattles, original old eucalypts and trees with small or large hollows. The planting program has provided new habitat for many native forest birds. A greater challenge is to address the needs of some uncommon species that have declined locally, such as the Brown Treecreeper Climacteris picumnus and Speckled Warbler Chthonicola sagittata.
Building research capacity in gerontology : Experiences and lessons form Australia
- Bartlett, Helen, Carroll, Matthew
- Authors: Bartlett, Helen , Carroll, Matthew
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: The Asian gerontologial experience : Capacity building in social gerontology training and translational research in Asia Chapter 4 p. 76-90
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Over the past decade, increased policy attention on the consequences of demographic ageing in Australia has led to a more focused research agenda on ageing, greater funding opportunities and raised awareness and recognition of gerontology as an important field of study. Research capacity building efforts in ageing have been considerable and have improved collaboration between the policy, research and service sectors, raising expectations of research funding streams and translation of research into policy and practice. The discourse on ageing has also shifted gradually from a deficit model to focus more on healthy, active or productive ageing, indicating a broader multidisciplinary approach and more positive perceptions of ageing. This shift in focus has enabled social gerontology to flourish in Australia, with a number of ageing research centres having social gerontology streams. While much has been achieved over this period, there are ongoing challenges in sustaining the progress made to date and in building research capacity that has longer-term strategic prospects. This paper outlines Australia’s efforts to build research capacity in gerontology over the past decade, examining key successes and future challenges, with consideration of how this experience may be relevant to Asia.
- Authors: Bartlett, Helen , Carroll, Matthew
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: The Asian gerontologial experience : Capacity building in social gerontology training and translational research in Asia Chapter 4 p. 76-90
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Over the past decade, increased policy attention on the consequences of demographic ageing in Australia has led to a more focused research agenda on ageing, greater funding opportunities and raised awareness and recognition of gerontology as an important field of study. Research capacity building efforts in ageing have been considerable and have improved collaboration between the policy, research and service sectors, raising expectations of research funding streams and translation of research into policy and practice. The discourse on ageing has also shifted gradually from a deficit model to focus more on healthy, active or productive ageing, indicating a broader multidisciplinary approach and more positive perceptions of ageing. This shift in focus has enabled social gerontology to flourish in Australia, with a number of ageing research centres having social gerontology streams. While much has been achieved over this period, there are ongoing challenges in sustaining the progress made to date and in building research capacity that has longer-term strategic prospects. This paper outlines Australia’s efforts to build research capacity in gerontology over the past decade, examining key successes and future challenges, with consideration of how this experience may be relevant to Asia.
Cancer incidence and soil arsenic exposure in a historical gold mining area in Victoria, Australia : A geospatial analysis
- Pearce, Dora, Dowling, Kim, Sim, Malcolm
- Authors: Pearce, Dora , Dowling, Kim , Sim, Malcolm
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology Vol. 22, no. 3 (2012), p. 248-257
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Soil and mine waste around historical gold mining sites may have elevated arsenic concentrations. Recent evidence suggests some systemic arsenic absorption by residents in the goldfields region of Victoria, Australia. Victorian Cancer Registry and geochemical data were accessed for an ecological geographical correlation study, 1984-2003. Spatial empirical Bayes smoothing was applied when estimating standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) for cancers in 61 statistical local areas. The derived soil arsenic exposure metric ranged from 1.4 to 1857 mg/kg. Spatial autoregressive modelling detected increases in smoothed SIRs for all cancers of 0.05 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.02-0.08) and 0.04 (0.01-0.07) per 2.7-fold increase in the natural log-transformed exposure metric for males and females, respectively, in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas; for melanoma in males (0.05 (0.01-0.08) adjusted for disadvantage) and females (0.05 (0.02-0.09) in disadvantaged areas). Excess risks were estimated for all cancers (relative risk 1.21 (95% CI, 1.15-1.27) and 1.08 (1.03-1.14)), and melanoma (1.52 (1.25-1.85) and 1.29 (1.08-1.55)), for males and females, respectively, in disadvantaged areas in the highest quintile of the exposure metric relative to the lowest. Our findings suggest small but significant increases in past cancer risk associated with increasing soil arsenic in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas and demonstrate the robustness of this geospatial approach. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology advance online publication, 21 March 2012.
- Authors: Pearce, Dora , Dowling, Kim , Sim, Malcolm
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology Vol. 22, no. 3 (2012), p. 248-257
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Soil and mine waste around historical gold mining sites may have elevated arsenic concentrations. Recent evidence suggests some systemic arsenic absorption by residents in the goldfields region of Victoria, Australia. Victorian Cancer Registry and geochemical data were accessed for an ecological geographical correlation study, 1984-2003. Spatial empirical Bayes smoothing was applied when estimating standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) for cancers in 61 statistical local areas. The derived soil arsenic exposure metric ranged from 1.4 to 1857 mg/kg. Spatial autoregressive modelling detected increases in smoothed SIRs for all cancers of 0.05 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.02-0.08) and 0.04 (0.01-0.07) per 2.7-fold increase in the natural log-transformed exposure metric for males and females, respectively, in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas; for melanoma in males (0.05 (0.01-0.08) adjusted for disadvantage) and females (0.05 (0.02-0.09) in disadvantaged areas). Excess risks were estimated for all cancers (relative risk 1.21 (95% CI, 1.15-1.27) and 1.08 (1.03-1.14)), and melanoma (1.52 (1.25-1.85) and 1.29 (1.08-1.55)), for males and females, respectively, in disadvantaged areas in the highest quintile of the exposure metric relative to the lowest. Our findings suggest small but significant increases in past cancer risk associated with increasing soil arsenic in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas and demonstrate the robustness of this geospatial approach. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology advance online publication, 21 March 2012.