School-based apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia
- Authors: Smith, Erica , Wilson, Lou
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Education + Training Vol. 46, no. 2 (2004), p. 64-74
- Full Text: false
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- Description: In Australia, as in many other countries, initiatives are constantly being developed which aim to assist school students’ transition into work. One such initiative, which was introduced towards the end of the 1990s, was the introduction of school-based apprenticeships and traineeships, often referred to by the umbrella term “school-based new apprenticeships” (SBNAs). Students taking part in these programs, normally in the final two years of schooling (Years 11 and 12), combine part-time work, study towards a vocational education and training (VET) qualification, and normal attendance at school. This paper reports on the first large-scale research study of school-based apprentices and trainees, which was carried out in late 2001 through a survey of students involved in the programs. The survey was carried out in the three Australian States with the highest numbers of school-based apprentices and trainees, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. The paper commences with a description of the nature of school-based apprenticeships and a description of their introduction and rapid growth. It then gives an overview of the young people’s jobs, their learning and training, and concludes by discussing four problematic areas.
- Description: 2003008056
Old dogs, new tricks : Training mature-aged manufacturing workers
- Authors: Smith, Erica , Smith, Andy , Selby Smith, Chris
- Date: 2010
- Type: Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Workplace Learning Vol. 22, no. 5 (2010), p. 277-291
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- Description: Purpose – This paper aims to examine the employment and training of mature-aged workers, so that suggestions for improving training for mature-aged workers may be offered. Design/methodology/approach – Six expert interviews were carried out by telephone, and three case studies involving company site visits were completed. Each company case study involved interviews with managers, trainers and mature-aged workers. The study was confined to the manufacturing industry. Findings – Mature-aged workers bring many advantages to workplaces and some employers show a definite preference for them over younger workers; but in some cases training needs to take account of lack of confidence and literacy and health issues. However, there is great diversity among mature-aged workers. Research limitations/implications – The research is confined to shop-floor workers in manufacturing, and does not address training of mature-aged managers and professionals. The research is small-scale but provides new insights, and importantly the voices of the workers themselves. Practical implications – The paper identifies managerial and training practices that can immediately be implemented. Originality/value – The paper identifies some issues that can be taken up at a policy level as well as within companies. For example, the preference for qualification-based training at a national level is not necessarily consistent with what mature-aged workers prefer.
A review of twenty years of competency-based training in the Australian vocational education and training system
- Authors: Smith, Erica
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Training and Development Vol. 14, no. 1 (2010), p. 54-64
- Full Text: false
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- Description: In this paper, the author reflects, both as an academic researcher and as a senior practitioner, on the experience of competency-based training (CBT) in the Australian vocational education and training system. She seeks to draw conclusions about the Australian experience using a typology drawn from the academic literature which focuses on the philosophical, educational, technical and market aspects of CBT. She concludes that, despite many improvements over the past 10 years, some potential problems remain. The system is controlled overly tightly by the interests of industry and it also exhibits some inflexibilities. Both of these act to disadvantage some groups of learners. Teachers and trainers do not have adequate skills to work skilfully and critically with CBT, leading to thin pedagogy and a narrow focus on assessment of individual items of performance. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Does the availability of vocational qualifications through work assist social inclusion?
- Authors: Smith, Erica , Smith, Andy
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Education and Training Vol. 53, no. 7 (2011), p. 587-602
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss whether the availability of qualifications through work-based traineeships in Australia assists social inclusion. Design/methodology/approach: Industry case studies, of the finance and cleaning industries, were undertaken as part of a national research project on quality in traineeships. The two industry case studies were analysed to provide data on social inclusion aspects. A general discussion on the "pros" and "cons" of gaining qualifications through work, from a social inclusion point of view, is included. Findings: The industry case studies show many advantages of work-based qualifications for people who have had disadvantaged economic and social backgrounds. The study presents a model showing how work-based qualifications help to meet the twin social inclusion goals of employment and education. However in economic hard times, the need to have a job may rule out some people. Also, some doubts about quality in work-based delivery may mean that qualifications gained through work may be of lower value than those gained at least partly through formal study. Research limitations/implications: The models put forward are tentative, based on the findings in the research study that has been described and the authors' earlier research. Further research is necessary to establish the social inclusion benefits of this means of gaining qualifications. In particular longitudinal research with disadvantaged people who have gained qualifications through this route is needed to evaluate whether their completion of qualifications through employment has assisted their broader economic and social engagement, and in what ways. In addition, research is needed to compare the quality and utility of qualifications gained through work and those through education providers as a poor-quality qualification may be of limited long-term use to an individual. Practical implications: Work-based qualifications are shown to be a useful investment of public resources. The research also analyses some shortcomings of this method of gaining qualifications so that they can be addressed by employers and training providers. Social implications: The research establishes the social inclusion utility of work-based qualifications, providing insights useful for education systems and social welfare organisations. Originality/value: This is one of very few scholarly studies of the large-scale use of work-based qualifications. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Employer training in Australia : Current practices and concerns
- Authors: Smith, Erica , Callan, Victor , Tuck, Jacquiline , Smith, Andy
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Training and Development Vol. 23, no. 2 (2019), p. 169-183
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- Description: This paper presents and analyses results from a research project on current trends in employer training in Australia. While the formal vocational education and training (VET) system is well-researched, the everyday training that happens in workplaces is relatively under-researched in Australia. Using some of the results of an employer survey undertaken in 2015, the paper describes and analyses employer-based training across a range of industry areas. The survey included groups of questions on a range of matters, including the reasons why employers train, and how these relate to employers' perceptions of their operating environment, and the structures they have in place to manage and organize training. Detailed data are provided about three specific forms of training: in-house training and learning; the use that employers make of external providers of training; and employers' use of nationally recognised training - training from the VET system. Finally the paper reports what managers said about the barriers to providing more training. The paper analyses the findings in relation to the literature and also identified changes over time in training practices in Australian companies. Implications for training policy and practice, as well as for future research, are identified.
The development of employer training in Australia
- Authors: Smith, Andy
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Education and Training Vol. 48, no. 4 (2006), p. 252-261
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the statistical evidence for the extent of employer training in Australia and analyse this information in the light of three major qualitative projects that have been undertaken into employer training since the mid-1990s.
- Description: 2003007198
New management practices and enterprise training in Australia
- Authors: Smith, Andy , Oczkowski, Edward , Noble, Charles , Macklin, Robert
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Manpower Vol. 24, no. 1 (2003), p. 31-47
- Full Text: false
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- Description: The widespread implementation of new management practices (NMPs) in industrialised countries has had a significant impact on employee training. Examines five NMPs: the learning organisation; total quality management; lean production/high performance work organisations; teamworking; and business process re-engineering. Focuses on the relationship between organisational change and training at the enterprise level. The research identified important findings in six key areas: small business; the use of the vocational education and training system; the importance of the individual; the nature of training; the importance of behavioural skills; and organisational change. The study confirmed that workplace change is a major driver of improved training provision in enterprises. It showed unambiguously that most NMPs are associated with higher levels of training. The integration of training with business strategy was found to be the most important factor in driving training across a wide range of training activities and appears to lead to an across the board boost to enterprise training in all its forms.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003007186
The provision of sexual health education in Australia : primary school teachers' perspectives in rural Victoria
- Authors: Smith, Amanda , Fotinatos, Nina , Duffy, Bernadette , Burke, Jenene
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sex Education Vol. 13, no. 3 (2013), p. 247-262
- Full Text: false
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- Description: In Australian schools, one significant component of whole-school learning in sexuality education is to provide students with developmentally appropriate curriculum and learning opportunities, with the intention of influencing positive health and well-being. In the situation where the usual classroom teacher is under-prepared or unwilling to teach sexuality education to their students, the use of external providers who are experts in puberty and sexual health is crucial. While the provider is a key influential factor in any sexual health programme, reliance on external providers for the provision of sexuality education in regional Australian cities is not well documented. This mixed-method study aims to address this gap in the literature with a specific focus on Ballarat, where the provision of sexuality education, particularly in primary schools, is heavily reliant on several external providers. Participant schools highlight the need for further positive synergies between the classroom teachers, external agencies and the accessibility of a rigorous curriculum to sustain the delivery of an effective programme to young people in schools. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
- Description: 1117 Public Health And Health Services
- Description: 1302 Curriculum And Pedagogy
- Description: 1699 Other Studies in Human Society
- Description: 2003010671
Walnut rootstock selection for calcareous soils in Southeastern Australia and the potential for expanding the walnut industry in the region
- Authors: Sluiter, Ian , McKenzie, Lachie , Mitchell, Jeff
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Acta Horticulturae Vol. 1050, no. (2014), p. 105-112
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Persian walnuts are grown over relatively small area within irrigated settlements of the Murray Lowlands Province of Southeastern Australia compared with traditional crops such as grapes and citrus or emerging crops such as almonds. Poor walnut tree health usually associated with wrong rootstock selection, or growth in areas with inadequate topsoil depth, have inculcated a strong traditional resistance amongst growers and horticultural developers to walnuts as a viable alternative crop for the region. Recent trials comparing Juglans hindsii, a traditional rootstock for the area, with a new selection of Paradox rootstock, have shown the Paradox 'entity' significantly outperforms J. hindsii in terms of scion growth in the first year. The Paradox hybrid has also been shown to grow vigorously in soils with shallow topsoil depth above calcareous B horizon subsoils. This suitability of the Paradox hybrid to calcareous soils provides the potential to expand the walnut industry into parts of the Murray Lowland Province characterized by Calcarosol soils with as little as 30 cm topsoil.
A new perspective on Late Eocene and Oligocene vegetation and paleoclimates of South-eastern Australia
- Authors: Sluiter, Ian , Holdgate, Guy , Reichgelt, Tammo , Greenwood, David , Kershaw, A. P. , Schultz, Nick
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Vol. 596, no. (2022), p.
- Full Text: false
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- Description: We present a composite terrestrial pollen record of latest Eocene through Oligocene (35.5–23 Ma) vegetation and climate change from the Gippsland Basin of south-eastern Australia. Climates were overwhelmingly mesothermic through this time period, with mean annual temperature (MAT) varying between 13 and 18 °C, with an average of 16 °C. We provide evidence to support a cooling trend through the Eocene–Oligocene Transition (EOT), but also identify three subsequent warming cycles through the Oligocene, leading to more seasonal climates at the termination of the Epoch. One of the warming episodes in the Early Oligocene appears to have also occurred at two other southern hemisphere sites at the Drake Passage as well as off eastern Tasmania, based on recent research. Similarities with sea surface temperature records from modern high southern latitudes which also record similar cycles of warming and cooling, are presented and discussed. Annual precipitation varied between 1200 and 1700 mm/yr, with an average of 1470 mm/yr through the sequence. Notwithstanding the extinction of Nothofagus sg. Brassospora from Australia and some now microthermic humid restricted Podocarpaceae conifer taxa, the rainforest vegetation of lowland south-eastern Australia is reconstructed to have been similar to present day Australian Evergreen Notophyll Vine Forests existing under the sub-tropical Köppen-Geiger climate class Cfa (humid subtropical) for most of the sequence. Short periods of cooler climates, such as occurred through the EOT when MAT was ~ 13 °C, may have supported vegetation similar to modern day Evergreen Microphyll Fern Forest. Of potentially greater significance, however, was a warm period in the Early to early Late Oligocene (32–26 Ma) when MAT was 17–18 °C, accompanied by small but important increases in Araucariaceae pollen. At this time, Araucarian Notophyll/Microphyll Vine Forest likely occurred regionally. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
Coercive control of money, dowry and remittances among Indian migrant women in Australia
- Authors: Singh, Supriya , Sidhu, Jasvinder
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: South Asian Diaspora Vol. 12, no. 1 (2020), p. 35-50
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper examines how coercive control underlies financial abuse as men re-interpret the gender of money, stripping it of its moral safeguards. Financial abuse denies women access and agency over money. It works through male reinterpretation of how money is gendered–that is the way men and women own, inherit, use, manage and control money. Recent Indian migrant women experience coercive control when the male control of money is exercised without responsibility for the welfare of the wife and children. The family boundary of money becomes a way of extorting money from the wife’s family. Sending money home, a sign of filial responsibility, becomes abusive when the wife is not consulted, leaving the family in Australia without sufficient money for their settlement needs. This paper extends the theoretical and geographic breadth of studies of family violence among Indian women in the diaspora. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Why Australia needs an effective national campaign to reduce coastal drowning
- Authors: Sherker, Shauna , Brander, Rob , Finch, Caroline , Hatfield, Julie
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 11, no. 2 (2008), p. 81-83
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: 2003006677
The association between social support and medication adherence in patients with hypertension : a systematic review
- Authors: Shahin, Wejdan , Kennedy, Gerard , Stupans, Ieva
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Pharmacy Practice Vol. 19, no. 2 (2021), p.
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- Description: Background: Medication adherence is a primary determinant of treatment success in hypertensive patients. One of the challenges for healthcare providers that has received little attention is the impact of patients’ social supports on medication adherence. Objective: This review evaluates the impact of patients’ social supports on medication adherence in hypertensive patients. Methods: A systematic review methodology was used. Pubmed, CINAHL, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were searched systematically for relevant articles. The outcome measure in the studies was medication adherence in hypertension. Results: From 1155 articles, 238 were retained for further assessment, and finally, 14 met the inclusion criteria. Statistically significant positive associations between medication adherence and social support were found in nine studies (p<0.05). Conclusions: This review evaluated the impact of social support on medication adherence and highlighted gaps in the literature regarding the impact of social support on adherence. Family members or peer support may promote better adherence in some patient groups. This review suggests that healthcare providers may need to consider whether patients have appropriate social supports in place which will assist them adhering to and benefiting from treatment recommendations. © the Authors.
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
Cardiac emergency preparedness in health/fitness facilities in Australia
- Authors: Sekendiz, Betul , Gass, Gregory , Norton, Kevin , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: The Physician and sportsmedicine Vol. 42, no. 4 (November 2014), p. 14-19
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058737
- Full Text: false
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- Description: BACKGROUND: Health/fitness facilities are popular venues for physical activity, where increasingly more individuals at risk of cardiovascular events exercise to achieve positive health outcomes. The aim of our study was to analyze cardiac emergency preparedness in health/fitness facilities in Queensland, Australia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of health/fitness facilities in Queensland. METHODS: A risk management questionnaire was administered over 7 months, July 2009 to January 2010, using an online or paper-based version. The data are presented as the proportion of survey respondents giving specific responses to questionnaire items related to cardiac emergency preparedness, especially the provision of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). RESULTS: Fifty-two health/fitness facility managers responded to the survey. Most of the surveyed facilities conducted pre-activity screening (92%). Of those with a written emergency plan (79%), only 37% physically rehearsed their emergency response systems at regular intervals. Ninety-five percent of the facilities had fitness employees with a current first aid/cardiopulmonary resuscitation certificate and training. Of the 10 (19%) facilities with an on-site AED, only 6 had staff qualified to use the AED in an emergency, and only 6 had the AED as part of a public access defibrillator program. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to report that cardiac emergency preparedness is not optimal in the health/fitness facilities in Australia. Development of policies and procedures for training health/fitness professionals in emergency procedures is needed to minimize the risk when exercise-induced cardiac events occur at health/fitness facilities.
Exploring ways in which social networkers contribute to online groups : A case study of one facebook group's discussion of australian broadcaster channel 9 during the 2010 winter olympic games
- Authors: Scott, Olan , Bradshaw, Ryan , Larkin, Paul
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: First Monday Vol. 18, no. 4 (2013), p.
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- Description: The advent of the Internet has allowed consumers more opportunities to communicate than ever before. The emergence of the Internet has decreased the gate-keeping role of the media in that Internet users can interact with media outlets and other users in real time. This study breaks ground in the analysis of media messages as one Facebook group is studied to uncover how Internet users virtually protested media outlets on social networking Web sites. © First Monday. 2013, Olan Kees Martin Scott, Ryan Bradshaw, and Paul Larkin.
- Description: 2003011106
Prospective application of a five-step regulatory assessment model to a proposed federal sperm donor registry in Australia: Is it in the public interest?
- Authors: Sawyer, Neroli
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of law and medicine Vol. 17, no. 4 (2010), p. 608-616
- Full Text:
- Description: It has been proposed that a nationally mandated donor registry be established in Australia to provide data for estimating the possible number of inadvertent half-sibling matings resulting from the multiple use of anonymous donors in donor insemination and to assist identity-release donors and their donor-inseminated children to establish contact. A five-step regulatory assessment model, as described by Johnson and Petersen in 2008, was applied prospectively to the proposed donor registry to identify public interest issues. The resultant issues concern the public ethical interest in child welfare; the public health interest in avoiding genetic abnormalities/disease; public socio-political and legal interests in avoiding inadvertent consanguineous relationships; public ethical and health interests in avoiding identity issues in the donor-inseminated child; and public socio-ethical interests in providing nationally mandated, comprehensive records of donor insemination outcomes. These results provide a basis for further discussion in regard to donor insemination legislation at the federal level.
Removing the "relative" uncertainty within the Australian donor insemination network
- Authors: Sawyer, Neroli
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of law and medicine Vol. 17, no. 2 (2009), p. 270-279
- Full Text:
- Description: In Australia there is no federal legislation limiting the use of donor sperm. However, it is important to place limits on the multiple use of sperm donors to reduce the risk of inadvertent half-sibling mating between the offspring of anonymous donors and to control for the consequences of contact between identity-release donors and their donor-inseminated offspring. A nationally mandated donor registry should be established to enable, first, the calculation of updated variable values for use in the development and implementation of a predictive model to estimate the probability of half-siblings mating and provide policy-makers with empirical evidence to inform the setting of anonymous donor limits; and secondly, the linking of identity-release donors to their donor-inseminated offspring and an investigation into the psychosocial consequences of that linking so as to be able to implement suitable donor limits as well as management strategies and support systems for these new "extended families" within the donor insemination network.
Virtual care initiatives for older adults in Australia : scoping review
- Authors: Savira, Feby , Gupta, Adyya , Gilbert, Cecily , Huggins, Catherine , Browning, Colette , Chapman, Wendy , Haines, Terry , Peeters, Anna
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Journal of Medical Internet Research Vol. 25, no. (2023), p.
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- Description: Background: There has been a rapid shift toward the adoption of virtual health care services in Australia. It is unknown how widely virtual care has been implemented or evaluated for the care of older adults in Australia. Objective: We aimed to review the literature evaluating virtual care initiatives for older adults across a wide range of health conditions and modalities and identify key challenges and opportunities for wider adoption at both patient and system levels in Australia. Methods: A scoping review of the literature was conducted. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, AgeLine, and gray literature (January 1, 2011, to March 8, 2021) to identify virtual care initiatives for older Australians (aged
High childhood obesity in an Australian population
- Authors: Sanigorski, Andrea , Bell, Colin , Kremer, Peter , Swinburn, Boyd
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Obesity Vol. 15, no. 8 (2007), p. 1908-1912
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Objective: The objective was to determine the prevalences of overweight and obesity in regional Australian children and to examine the association between BMI and indicators of socioeconomic status (SES). Research Methods and Procedures: Regionally representative cross-sectional survey of 2184 children, 4 to 12 years of age, was conducted, and the socio-demographic characteristics of their parents from regional Victoria, Australia, 2003 to 2004, were obtained. Results: The prevalences of overweight and obesity were 19.3 ± 0.8% (proportion ± standard error) and 7.6 ± 0.6%, respectively, using international criteria, and the proportion of overweight/obese girls was significantly higher than that of boys (29.6 ± 1.4% vs. 23.9 ± 1.3%,
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005678