Tracing farmers' exploitation, alienation and agency through technology
- Authors: Latham, Amity
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Grain growers are caught in a system of production which is characterised by the privatisation of the farm services sector, global trade, machinery automation, and technologies. The commodity chain is structured so that costs are passed on to farmers through what they buy and sell. As a consequence of this structure, farmers are exploited and subject to the condition of alienation. Previous research has revealed the challenges of farm-scale efficiencies and the demise of rural areas due to farmer-exodus. Since Kautsky’s original publication of The Agrarian Question in 1899, there is still limited material offering a new sociological understanding of farming and the humanistic effects of farm trade. Therefore, this doctoral study is about farmer-exploitation, alienation, and agency, together with the role of political economy, and the function of the commodity chain. It draws upon historical works from labour theorists to seek a better understanding of the humanism of work and participation in commerce in reference to the relations and networks that exist through farming. To trace farmers and their operations, this research uses actor network theory by deploying some of the methods that sit within this approach. Reflexive photography creates a hybrid method with digital images supporting the findings. The photographs in this thesis help to transport the reader to the research setting that is family operated grain growing farms. The key findings are that agency is a property of farmers, land and their machinery. It was found that technology and science facilitated farmer-agency to re-arrange humans and non-humans to hold science stable on farm through strong networks. Technology is responsible for facilitating farmer-agency, which is used as a tool and then it becomes a force, to exert control over farm production. This thesis makes a significant contribution in understanding modern farmer exploitation and how farmers can work to overcome their vulnerability in socio-political economy. This research is place-specific in the dryland agricultural zone of the Wimmera Southern Mallee region of Victoria, but it contributes to a global understanding of what makes farmers act.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Latham, Amity
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Grain growers are caught in a system of production which is characterised by the privatisation of the farm services sector, global trade, machinery automation, and technologies. The commodity chain is structured so that costs are passed on to farmers through what they buy and sell. As a consequence of this structure, farmers are exploited and subject to the condition of alienation. Previous research has revealed the challenges of farm-scale efficiencies and the demise of rural areas due to farmer-exodus. Since Kautsky’s original publication of The Agrarian Question in 1899, there is still limited material offering a new sociological understanding of farming and the humanistic effects of farm trade. Therefore, this doctoral study is about farmer-exploitation, alienation, and agency, together with the role of political economy, and the function of the commodity chain. It draws upon historical works from labour theorists to seek a better understanding of the humanism of work and participation in commerce in reference to the relations and networks that exist through farming. To trace farmers and their operations, this research uses actor network theory by deploying some of the methods that sit within this approach. Reflexive photography creates a hybrid method with digital images supporting the findings. The photographs in this thesis help to transport the reader to the research setting that is family operated grain growing farms. The key findings are that agency is a property of farmers, land and their machinery. It was found that technology and science facilitated farmer-agency to re-arrange humans and non-humans to hold science stable on farm through strong networks. Technology is responsible for facilitating farmer-agency, which is used as a tool and then it becomes a force, to exert control over farm production. This thesis makes a significant contribution in understanding modern farmer exploitation and how farmers can work to overcome their vulnerability in socio-political economy. This research is place-specific in the dryland agricultural zone of the Wimmera Southern Mallee region of Victoria, but it contributes to a global understanding of what makes farmers act.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Trading Places : integrating Indigenous Australian knowledge into the modern economy
- Authors: Newkirk, Karen
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Australia has a 30-billion-dollar knowledge industry, yet this industry barely recognises Indigenous Australian knowledge developed for over 50,000 years. This knowledge is important to understanding life on this planet. A 2012 regional Aboriginal education report noted “These ways of thinking and planning are our great gift to a world that desperately needs solutions...Unfortunately, this gift has not been accepted yet, or even noticed” (NSW Department of Education and Communities). Through continued denial of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience, their knowledge is largely hidden from mainstream Australia and to the rest of the world. This study examines what inhibits appreciation of Indigenous Australian knowledge through two sequential interviews with 26 non-Indigenous senior managers in business, finance and economics. The constructivism research paradigm frames the use of Causal Layered Analysis as a research method to investigate the interview data. A paradox arises between the aspirational discourse for an integrated nation with recognition of Indigenous knowledge as valuable, and ingrained images that erroneously position Indigenous knowledge as only representative of early human development on a linear trajectory toward 21st Century Western thought. From the findings, a spectrum of mainstream Australian society emerges with clear gradation from strong ignorance of Indigenous knowledge to reasonably high awareness. Evident from this spectrum is that for Australian society to embrace Indigenous knowledge, a transition is required to move non-Indigenous individuals significantly to higher awareness. This thesis argues that this transition could be progressed by supportive non-Indigenous individuals taking the next step to improve their understanding of Indigenous knowledge through learning. Thus, Australian society could establish that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge is managed by its custodians, valued and in demand more broadly, is not compromised in the market, and is able to contribute to the management of Homo sapiens on Mother Earth.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Newkirk, Karen
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Australia has a 30-billion-dollar knowledge industry, yet this industry barely recognises Indigenous Australian knowledge developed for over 50,000 years. This knowledge is important to understanding life on this planet. A 2012 regional Aboriginal education report noted “These ways of thinking and planning are our great gift to a world that desperately needs solutions...Unfortunately, this gift has not been accepted yet, or even noticed” (NSW Department of Education and Communities). Through continued denial of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience, their knowledge is largely hidden from mainstream Australia and to the rest of the world. This study examines what inhibits appreciation of Indigenous Australian knowledge through two sequential interviews with 26 non-Indigenous senior managers in business, finance and economics. The constructivism research paradigm frames the use of Causal Layered Analysis as a research method to investigate the interview data. A paradox arises between the aspirational discourse for an integrated nation with recognition of Indigenous knowledge as valuable, and ingrained images that erroneously position Indigenous knowledge as only representative of early human development on a linear trajectory toward 21st Century Western thought. From the findings, a spectrum of mainstream Australian society emerges with clear gradation from strong ignorance of Indigenous knowledge to reasonably high awareness. Evident from this spectrum is that for Australian society to embrace Indigenous knowledge, a transition is required to move non-Indigenous individuals significantly to higher awareness. This thesis argues that this transition could be progressed by supportive non-Indigenous individuals taking the next step to improve their understanding of Indigenous knowledge through learning. Thus, Australian society could establish that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge is managed by its custodians, valued and in demand more broadly, is not compromised in the market, and is able to contribute to the management of Homo sapiens on Mother Earth.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Training and testing of 1v1 agility in Australian football
- Authors: Rayner, Russell
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Little is known of how agility events occur in the sport of Australian football (AF). As a result, appropriate training and testing methods are unknown. This thesis investigated 1v1 agility in AF to evaluate alternative methods for training and testing agility. The thesis was undertaken in three studies. Study one investigated if training and testing practices used in elite AF align with the demands of competition. A notational analysis revealed substantial variation in movement patterns used by, and the cognitive demands of, athletes in agility events. A survey of high-performance managers in the AFL revealed that a mixture of open and closed training methods are used in elite AF, and that subjective agility assessment is preferred to formal testing. Study two assessed the reliability and ecological validity of a field-based test of attacking and defending agility for AF. The text exhibited excellent inter-rater and intra-rater reliability, as well as moderate test-retest reliability. Characteristics of the test were compared to the notational analysis to assess the ecological validity of the test. While the test did not fully replicate the agility demands of AF, the test improved ecological validity when compared to previous tests described in the literature. Study three evaluated the effectiveness of a four-week 1v1 training intervention for improving attacking and defending agility in Australian footballers. In addition, the study assessed the crossover of attacking training to defending agility and defending training to attacking agility. Improvements in attacking agility were found which were greater for attacking-trained athletes. However, no improvements in defending agility were realised. This thesis indicates that 1v1 training and testing is suitable for assessing and developing agility in Australian footballers. However, 1v1 training may be more suitable for improving attacking agility. Further, agility is context-specific, and testing and training should consider the role of the athlete.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Rayner, Russell
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Little is known of how agility events occur in the sport of Australian football (AF). As a result, appropriate training and testing methods are unknown. This thesis investigated 1v1 agility in AF to evaluate alternative methods for training and testing agility. The thesis was undertaken in three studies. Study one investigated if training and testing practices used in elite AF align with the demands of competition. A notational analysis revealed substantial variation in movement patterns used by, and the cognitive demands of, athletes in agility events. A survey of high-performance managers in the AFL revealed that a mixture of open and closed training methods are used in elite AF, and that subjective agility assessment is preferred to formal testing. Study two assessed the reliability and ecological validity of a field-based test of attacking and defending agility for AF. The text exhibited excellent inter-rater and intra-rater reliability, as well as moderate test-retest reliability. Characteristics of the test were compared to the notational analysis to assess the ecological validity of the test. While the test did not fully replicate the agility demands of AF, the test improved ecological validity when compared to previous tests described in the literature. Study three evaluated the effectiveness of a four-week 1v1 training intervention for improving attacking and defending agility in Australian footballers. In addition, the study assessed the crossover of attacking training to defending agility and defending training to attacking agility. Improvements in attacking agility were found which were greater for attacking-trained athletes. However, no improvements in defending agility were realised. This thesis indicates that 1v1 training and testing is suitable for assessing and developing agility in Australian footballers. However, 1v1 training may be more suitable for improving attacking agility. Further, agility is context-specific, and testing and training should consider the role of the athlete.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Under the influence : identifying determinants of young adults' involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activity to improve drowning prevention efforts
- Authors: Calverley, Hannah
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: BACKGROUND: Young adults are an at-risk group for experiencing an alcohol-related drowning incident. Investigations and drowning prevention efforts have aimed to address young adults’ prevalence in alcohol-related drownings and contribute to understanding their level of risk. Some explanations have concluded young adults’ need for autonomy and independence coincides with their exposure to alcohol and social norm pressures. However, gaps in knowledge remain, specifically young adults’: behaviours, knowledge and attitudes towards alcohol-influenced aquatic activity and the associated risks; and, their awareness and perceptions of alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns. METHODS: This PhD, completed with publications, aimed to address these gaps through four interlinked projects: (i) a systematic review of alcohol education programs to determine evidence-based quality criteria necessary for inclusion in programs to successfully change young adults’ alcohol-related behaviours, knowledge and attitudes; (ii) a program audit of alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns to establish current prevention efforts in high-income countries and areas for improvement; (iii) a survey among young adults from Australia and the United Kingdom to establish their knowledge, attitudes and predictors of intentions and involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activities; and, (iv) interviews to deepen understanding of young adults’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviours relating to alcohol-influenced aquatic activity, their awareness of alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns and their suggestions for improvement. Six publications resulted from this research. RESULTS: Friends influenced frequency of young adults’ involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activity, but involvement was dependent on the characteristics of the peer group, self-confidence and risk disassociation. Attitudes were neutral towards alcohol-influenced aquatic activity, but when participants perceived personal control over the risks it was deemed more acceptable. Alcohol-related safety strategies from other contexts (e.g., driving) were applied to aquatic settings, but specific water safety knowledge/education was low. Stronger swimmers, Australian young adults and those who had received alcohol-specific water safety education displayed more knowledge of alcohol and its effects in aquatic contexts. Participants lacked awareness of alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns, and used campaign logos and names to interpret key messages. Little information was available on the alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns identified in the program audit and only two had evidence of evaluation, limiting progress of future prevention efforts. Ten quality criteria identified from evidence-based literature were considered to be necessary for inclusion in alcohol education programs. Programs included in the systematic review which incorporated these criteria were more likely to report success in influencing behaviour changes among the participants. CONCLUSIONS: To decrease the incidence of alcohol-related drowning among young adults, the findings of the projects included within this thesis result in the following recommendations. For enhanced likelihood of successful outcomes, alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns should align campaign design, implementation and evaluation with best-practice literature. The identified influencers on young adults’ involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activity, such as their peers, should be incorporated into prevention efforts and appropriate information provided to encourage informed decision making. Alcohol education programs (e.g., drink driving education) should include information about alcohol use in aquatic settings to clarify the risks associated with transferring safety strategies between drinking contexts, and appropriate information should be provided about alcohol consumption in aquatic settings.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Calverley, Hannah
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: BACKGROUND: Young adults are an at-risk group for experiencing an alcohol-related drowning incident. Investigations and drowning prevention efforts have aimed to address young adults’ prevalence in alcohol-related drownings and contribute to understanding their level of risk. Some explanations have concluded young adults’ need for autonomy and independence coincides with their exposure to alcohol and social norm pressures. However, gaps in knowledge remain, specifically young adults’: behaviours, knowledge and attitudes towards alcohol-influenced aquatic activity and the associated risks; and, their awareness and perceptions of alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns. METHODS: This PhD, completed with publications, aimed to address these gaps through four interlinked projects: (i) a systematic review of alcohol education programs to determine evidence-based quality criteria necessary for inclusion in programs to successfully change young adults’ alcohol-related behaviours, knowledge and attitudes; (ii) a program audit of alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns to establish current prevention efforts in high-income countries and areas for improvement; (iii) a survey among young adults from Australia and the United Kingdom to establish their knowledge, attitudes and predictors of intentions and involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activities; and, (iv) interviews to deepen understanding of young adults’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviours relating to alcohol-influenced aquatic activity, their awareness of alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns and their suggestions for improvement. Six publications resulted from this research. RESULTS: Friends influenced frequency of young adults’ involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activity, but involvement was dependent on the characteristics of the peer group, self-confidence and risk disassociation. Attitudes were neutral towards alcohol-influenced aquatic activity, but when participants perceived personal control over the risks it was deemed more acceptable. Alcohol-related safety strategies from other contexts (e.g., driving) were applied to aquatic settings, but specific water safety knowledge/education was low. Stronger swimmers, Australian young adults and those who had received alcohol-specific water safety education displayed more knowledge of alcohol and its effects in aquatic contexts. Participants lacked awareness of alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns, and used campaign logos and names to interpret key messages. Little information was available on the alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns identified in the program audit and only two had evidence of evaluation, limiting progress of future prevention efforts. Ten quality criteria identified from evidence-based literature were considered to be necessary for inclusion in alcohol education programs. Programs included in the systematic review which incorporated these criteria were more likely to report success in influencing behaviour changes among the participants. CONCLUSIONS: To decrease the incidence of alcohol-related drowning among young adults, the findings of the projects included within this thesis result in the following recommendations. For enhanced likelihood of successful outcomes, alcohol-themed drowning prevention campaigns should align campaign design, implementation and evaluation with best-practice literature. The identified influencers on young adults’ involvement in alcohol-influenced aquatic activity, such as their peers, should be incorporated into prevention efforts and appropriate information provided to encourage informed decision making. Alcohol education programs (e.g., drink driving education) should include information about alcohol use in aquatic settings to clarify the risks associated with transferring safety strategies between drinking contexts, and appropriate information should be provided about alcohol consumption in aquatic settings.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
When you go looking for me, I am not there : description by absence
- Authors: Crawford, Fiona
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: When women don’t have access to public voices, their stories may be told through symbols and sewing, publicly viewed but understood only by an audience of intimates. My research builds upon my May 2016 residency in Assisi, Italy, and explores description through absence. Punto Assisi, an embroidery tradition predating the Renaissance, is still practised by women of Assisi. Uniquely, the subject matter is empty of detail. The negative space in Punto Assisi work can be seen as echoing the absence of information about the makers. Invisible and indispensable, women and their work have provided the fabric of human society throughout history, yet the names and faces of female artists and artisans are rarely documented. This embroidery style resonated with my interest in women's work and how ubiquitous and anonymous it is. Based on the concept of drawing with thread to manifest content, I explore description through absence, and honour the unknown makers of this art. Studio practice revealed insight into materiality, imagery, form design and palette. The haptic process of sewing gave insight into a universality of the experience of making, a connection crossing time, place and culture. The experience of the maker is highly individual and takes place in diverse contexts. The maker and their experience may be unknown, except to self, however the outcome, the product or the artwork may be indexical of a place, time or the maker, known or unknown. As such, unknown women makers have a presence in their works. The negative space in the uncoloured linen yields a presence and materiality that allows us to engage with what isn’t there. Absence is made material. Materiality, memory, narrative, and identity are themes emerging from this project. In my contemporary application of the style constraints yielded creative freedom. In absence, I found description.
- Description: Master of Arts (Visual and Performing Arts) (Research)
- Authors: Crawford, Fiona
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: When women don’t have access to public voices, their stories may be told through symbols and sewing, publicly viewed but understood only by an audience of intimates. My research builds upon my May 2016 residency in Assisi, Italy, and explores description through absence. Punto Assisi, an embroidery tradition predating the Renaissance, is still practised by women of Assisi. Uniquely, the subject matter is empty of detail. The negative space in Punto Assisi work can be seen as echoing the absence of information about the makers. Invisible and indispensable, women and their work have provided the fabric of human society throughout history, yet the names and faces of female artists and artisans are rarely documented. This embroidery style resonated with my interest in women's work and how ubiquitous and anonymous it is. Based on the concept of drawing with thread to manifest content, I explore description through absence, and honour the unknown makers of this art. Studio practice revealed insight into materiality, imagery, form design and palette. The haptic process of sewing gave insight into a universality of the experience of making, a connection crossing time, place and culture. The experience of the maker is highly individual and takes place in diverse contexts. The maker and their experience may be unknown, except to self, however the outcome, the product or the artwork may be indexical of a place, time or the maker, known or unknown. As such, unknown women makers have a presence in their works. The negative space in the uncoloured linen yields a presence and materiality that allows us to engage with what isn’t there. Absence is made material. Materiality, memory, narrative, and identity are themes emerging from this project. In my contemporary application of the style constraints yielded creative freedom. In absence, I found description.
- Description: Master of Arts (Visual and Performing Arts) (Research)
Wild Australian shorebirds as reservoirs of pathogenic bacteria and antimicrobial resistance
- Authors: Smith, Hannah
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Many existing and emerging diseases of humans are of zoonotic origin. In addition, the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) presents a serious risk for hospitals, agriculture, and the community. Habitat loss and degradation are forcing many wild animal populations into closer contact with human populations, presenting opportunities for the introduction and transmission of bacterial diseases. In Australia, many shorebird species undertake yearly migrations to and from breeding grounds in the high Artic, and during their migrations they pass over one-third of the human population. To determine if shorebirds are reservoirs of pathogenic bacteria the research presented in this thesis investigated the presence of three common enteric bacterial pathogens in twelve species of wild Australian shorebird; followed by AMR profiles of isolates, and genetic characterisation of selected isolates. In total, 1022 individual birds were sampled across three Australian states and tested for the presence of three potentially zoonotic pathogens; Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp., and Salmonella spp. Two-hundred and six E. coli, 266 Enterococcus, and 20 Salmonella isolates were recovered, with AMR observed in 42% of E. coli isolates, 85% of Enterococcus isolates, and 10% of Salmonella isolates. Sedentary birds were more likely to carry AMR bacteria than migratory birds. A selection of E. coli isolates (n=16) underwent whole genome sequencing, and analysis of their genomes indicated a high level of genetic diversity with each isolate having a unique serotype. A total of 33 recognised virulence genes and eight AMR genes were detected. An important food-borne pathogen, Salmonella enterica serovar Hvittingfoss, was also recovered from one species of bird. This study shows that wild shorebirds can carry pathogenic enteric bacteria. While migratory birds may be less likely to harbour AMR bacteria relative to sedentary birds, they pose the potential to act as vectors for enteric and foodborne pathogens.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Smith, Hannah
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Many existing and emerging diseases of humans are of zoonotic origin. In addition, the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) presents a serious risk for hospitals, agriculture, and the community. Habitat loss and degradation are forcing many wild animal populations into closer contact with human populations, presenting opportunities for the introduction and transmission of bacterial diseases. In Australia, many shorebird species undertake yearly migrations to and from breeding grounds in the high Artic, and during their migrations they pass over one-third of the human population. To determine if shorebirds are reservoirs of pathogenic bacteria the research presented in this thesis investigated the presence of three common enteric bacterial pathogens in twelve species of wild Australian shorebird; followed by AMR profiles of isolates, and genetic characterisation of selected isolates. In total, 1022 individual birds were sampled across three Australian states and tested for the presence of three potentially zoonotic pathogens; Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp., and Salmonella spp. Two-hundred and six E. coli, 266 Enterococcus, and 20 Salmonella isolates were recovered, with AMR observed in 42% of E. coli isolates, 85% of Enterococcus isolates, and 10% of Salmonella isolates. Sedentary birds were more likely to carry AMR bacteria than migratory birds. A selection of E. coli isolates (n=16) underwent whole genome sequencing, and analysis of their genomes indicated a high level of genetic diversity with each isolate having a unique serotype. A total of 33 recognised virulence genes and eight AMR genes were detected. An important food-borne pathogen, Salmonella enterica serovar Hvittingfoss, was also recovered from one species of bird. This study shows that wild shorebirds can carry pathogenic enteric bacteria. While migratory birds may be less likely to harbour AMR bacteria relative to sedentary birds, they pose the potential to act as vectors for enteric and foodborne pathogens.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Young mothers: Discursive constructions of their lives and identities
- Authors: Felstead, Karen
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The notion that early motherhood is a significant problem for society is widely documented in the academic literature, and there is a complicated history surrounding young pregnant and parenting women in social and educational policy contexts. Less is known about young mothers themselves and how they experience the social and material effects of early motherhood. The purpose of this study was to examine how young mothers, who attended a young parent program in Lake City in Victoria Australia, experienced early motherhood and how they contested the social discourses that framed their lives. Using a poststructural lens and drawing on the work of Michel Foucault, this thesis used narrative inquiry and discourse analysis to examine the complex nature of seven young mothers’ lives. Analysis of the narrative data showed that despite the complexities, early motherhood was a significant turning point as the young mothers drew on resources of resistance and responsibility to transform their lives. An analysis of the social welfare policy practices identified surveillance and regulation measures as responses to alleviate long-term welfare dependency but did not account for the structural and economic barriers that young mothers encountered in their lives. In educational contexts, the young mothers in this study had experienced disrupted education trajectories before moving to an alternative setting. The findings highlight that they were ‘invisible’ in mainstream educational contexts and while ‘learning from the margins’ in the young parent program. This study found that the voice of the young mother was missing in the social and educational policy discourses, and the complexities of early motherhood were not accounted for within the policies. This thesis argues that young mothers’ voices need to be included in strategic policy responses to address issues of inequity and reduce the structural and economic barriers faced by young mothers.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Felstead, Karen
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The notion that early motherhood is a significant problem for society is widely documented in the academic literature, and there is a complicated history surrounding young pregnant and parenting women in social and educational policy contexts. Less is known about young mothers themselves and how they experience the social and material effects of early motherhood. The purpose of this study was to examine how young mothers, who attended a young parent program in Lake City in Victoria Australia, experienced early motherhood and how they contested the social discourses that framed their lives. Using a poststructural lens and drawing on the work of Michel Foucault, this thesis used narrative inquiry and discourse analysis to examine the complex nature of seven young mothers’ lives. Analysis of the narrative data showed that despite the complexities, early motherhood was a significant turning point as the young mothers drew on resources of resistance and responsibility to transform their lives. An analysis of the social welfare policy practices identified surveillance and regulation measures as responses to alleviate long-term welfare dependency but did not account for the structural and economic barriers that young mothers encountered in their lives. In educational contexts, the young mothers in this study had experienced disrupted education trajectories before moving to an alternative setting. The findings highlight that they were ‘invisible’ in mainstream educational contexts and while ‘learning from the margins’ in the young parent program. This study found that the voice of the young mother was missing in the social and educational policy discourses, and the complexities of early motherhood were not accounted for within the policies. This thesis argues that young mothers’ voices need to be included in strategic policy responses to address issues of inequity and reduce the structural and economic barriers faced by young mothers.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
‘You can’t hear a child you don’t see’ : Frontline workers’ perspectives on engaging young people in out-of-home care in the decisions affecting their lives.
- Authors: McRae, Lynda
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Traditionally, young people in out-of-home care have been marginalised from the most important decision-making processes that affect their lives. A compelling, contemporary evidence base confirms that this dilemma persists despite the ratification of young people’s participation rights in legislation and policy, which has grave implications for young people’s wellbeing, the quality of decisions and subsequent interventions. This place-based, participatory action research drew on the perspectives of case and program managers at the frontline of out-of-home care service delivery in Inner Gippsland to provide unique insights into the barriers and opportunities to increased inclusion of young people in the decisions being made about them. The study was supported through a university–industry research collaboration within the Inner Gippsland Children and Youth Area Partnership. This thesis contends that a confluence of factors in response to unprecedented demand on the Inner Gippsland child welfare service system has significantly eroded the time and opportunity for face-to-face practice between workers and young people, which is fundamental to the facilitation of young people’s engagement in decision-making. The research process was underpinned by a blend of critical theory and the capability approach. New insights were developed to advocate for diverse, context-specific interventions and broader system reforms to expand the capacity for workers to engage in face-to-face practice with young people. An authorising environment that legitimises participatory practice is required to support connections between workers and young people. This thesis argues that the alignment of rights-based participation principles with critical components of the system—policy, performance management regimes, compliance and administrative practices and professionalisation strategies—could transform decision-making processes for young people. This is especially vital for a growing cohort of young people who live in out-of-home care. Keywords: participation, decision-making processes, face-to-face practice, children, young people, critical theory, capability approach, action research, out-of-home care research
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: McRae, Lynda
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Traditionally, young people in out-of-home care have been marginalised from the most important decision-making processes that affect their lives. A compelling, contemporary evidence base confirms that this dilemma persists despite the ratification of young people’s participation rights in legislation and policy, which has grave implications for young people’s wellbeing, the quality of decisions and subsequent interventions. This place-based, participatory action research drew on the perspectives of case and program managers at the frontline of out-of-home care service delivery in Inner Gippsland to provide unique insights into the barriers and opportunities to increased inclusion of young people in the decisions being made about them. The study was supported through a university–industry research collaboration within the Inner Gippsland Children and Youth Area Partnership. This thesis contends that a confluence of factors in response to unprecedented demand on the Inner Gippsland child welfare service system has significantly eroded the time and opportunity for face-to-face practice between workers and young people, which is fundamental to the facilitation of young people’s engagement in decision-making. The research process was underpinned by a blend of critical theory and the capability approach. New insights were developed to advocate for diverse, context-specific interventions and broader system reforms to expand the capacity for workers to engage in face-to-face practice with young people. An authorising environment that legitimises participatory practice is required to support connections between workers and young people. This thesis argues that the alignment of rights-based participation principles with critical components of the system—policy, performance management regimes, compliance and administrative practices and professionalisation strategies—could transform decision-making processes for young people. This is especially vital for a growing cohort of young people who live in out-of-home care. Keywords: participation, decision-making processes, face-to-face practice, children, young people, critical theory, capability approach, action research, out-of-home care research
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
'You Beauty' Alex Jesaulenko An historical exploration of the migrant who became a legend
- Authors: Eddy, Daniel
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: The Austrian-born Alex Jesaulenko played football in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1967 to 1981. His rise to national prominence emerged during a period of great change within both Australian society and Australian rules football. This thesis, through a critical biographical approach, examines for the first time Jesaulenko’s early life, looking at his migrant experience and the role that Australian rules football played in aiding his integration into Australian society. It is not a kick-and-handball analysis of Jesaulenko’s entire football career; that has been extensively covered within copious amounts of primary and secondary sources. Instead, it explores his migrant journey – an important aspect of Jesaulenko’s life which has been largely overlooked – and the key developmental years of sporting education prior to emerging as a VFL champion. It concludes with one of, if not the most, iconic moments in the game’s history: Jesaulenko’s mark in the 1970 VFL grand final, which cemented his name within the Australian sporting consciousness. Australian rules football, and sport more generally, holds a unique place within society. Footballers, it can be argued, are archetypes for our daily dreams and aspirations; exalted figures that we afford status which few will experience in their everyday lives. Therefore, it is through the prism of Jesaulenko’s journey that we can learn more about the role Australian rules football has played for migrants integrating into Australian society.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A case study of teacher roles in engaging with student aspirations
- Authors: Walker, Amy
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis investigated the complex role teachers play, both formally and informally, in relation to engaging and supporting student aspirations. Due to the links that have been established between aspirations and school completion and involvement in tertiary education, aspirations are important in an educational context. Yet, despite the abundance of aspiration related research, most has focused on student or parent perspectives, with few scholars targeting teacher perceptions of their roles in relation to student aspirations. This research is therefore significant as it addresses this gap through a single case study investigating perceptions of P-12 teachers from a peri-urban independent school in Victoria, Australia. Data were collected from 57 teachers via survey, interviews, and school document analysis. A lens of research-as-bricoleur, incorporating the theoretical frameworks of Bronfenbrenner (1979; 1994), Turner (2001), Gottfredson (1981, 1996), and Patton and McMahon (2015), provided the interpretative basis for the applied thematic analysis of the different data sets. Findings demonstrated differences in the way that teachers conceptualised their role in engaging with student aspirations. While teacher participants identified various formal and informal roles that they played in relation to engaging student aspirations, they also reported a lack of clear guidance or guidelines, necessitating the development of personal processes to direct their involvement. Other important findings highlighted a number of factors that teacher participants perceived as facilitating or impeding possible roles they could play in engaging student aspirations. The understandings emanating from this research provide substantive assistance to stakeholders, including school administrators and teacher educators, in appreciating and appropriately responding to an area of practice which remains misunderstood and without clear policy or guidelines. Ultimately, this research adds to the growing body of research into student aspirations and the concomitant importance of teachers in helping students aspire to and achieve their goals.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Walker, Amy
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis investigated the complex role teachers play, both formally and informally, in relation to engaging and supporting student aspirations. Due to the links that have been established between aspirations and school completion and involvement in tertiary education, aspirations are important in an educational context. Yet, despite the abundance of aspiration related research, most has focused on student or parent perspectives, with few scholars targeting teacher perceptions of their roles in relation to student aspirations. This research is therefore significant as it addresses this gap through a single case study investigating perceptions of P-12 teachers from a peri-urban independent school in Victoria, Australia. Data were collected from 57 teachers via survey, interviews, and school document analysis. A lens of research-as-bricoleur, incorporating the theoretical frameworks of Bronfenbrenner (1979; 1994), Turner (2001), Gottfredson (1981, 1996), and Patton and McMahon (2015), provided the interpretative basis for the applied thematic analysis of the different data sets. Findings demonstrated differences in the way that teachers conceptualised their role in engaging with student aspirations. While teacher participants identified various formal and informal roles that they played in relation to engaging student aspirations, they also reported a lack of clear guidance or guidelines, necessitating the development of personal processes to direct their involvement. Other important findings highlighted a number of factors that teacher participants perceived as facilitating or impeding possible roles they could play in engaging student aspirations. The understandings emanating from this research provide substantive assistance to stakeholders, including school administrators and teacher educators, in appreciating and appropriately responding to an area of practice which remains misunderstood and without clear policy or guidelines. Ultimately, this research adds to the growing body of research into student aspirations and the concomitant importance of teachers in helping students aspire to and achieve their goals.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A framework for sustainability performance assessment for manufacturing processes
- Authors: Singh, Karmjit
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Sustainable manufacturing methods make it possible to develop products in ways which minimize negative environmental impacts, conserve energy and save natural resources whilst being economically sound. The concepts of sustainability in manufacturing being are still fairly broad, in scope, and need to be more focused and firmly established at the process, machine or factory levels. This project proposes a structure for manufacturing with a main objective to develop a sustainability framework which encompasses various production processes. Structured information models for the seamless flow of information across the design and manufacturing domains, for selected manufacturing processes, are defined. The thesis work identifies key performance indicators (KPIs) for the assessment of manufacturing sustainability and performs analysis of selected unit manufacturing processes and their sub-processes with the aim of proposing a methodology for determining science-based measurements of the manufacturing processes affecting these KPIs. The theoretical foundations established are then used to develop a model that could evaluate sustainability of selected manufacturing processes and their respective process plans providing a basis for inter-process comparison and selection of the most sustainable process plan. The proposed framework is presented in form of a manufacturing planning computer-based package which is designed to to consider different influencing factors such as product information, part geometry, material related physical and processing properties and the manufacturing equipment operating data. The thesis presents a number of case studies which have been published in international journals. The case studies present estimates of the manufacturing sustainability KPIs for a number of production methods. These estimates have been verified with available shop floor data. The work in the thesis makes it possible to establish manufacturing industry equipped to deal the challenges of the future when sustainability will be the major factor up on which the quality of success will be determined.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Singh, Karmjit
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Sustainable manufacturing methods make it possible to develop products in ways which minimize negative environmental impacts, conserve energy and save natural resources whilst being economically sound. The concepts of sustainability in manufacturing being are still fairly broad, in scope, and need to be more focused and firmly established at the process, machine or factory levels. This project proposes a structure for manufacturing with a main objective to develop a sustainability framework which encompasses various production processes. Structured information models for the seamless flow of information across the design and manufacturing domains, for selected manufacturing processes, are defined. The thesis work identifies key performance indicators (KPIs) for the assessment of manufacturing sustainability and performs analysis of selected unit manufacturing processes and their sub-processes with the aim of proposing a methodology for determining science-based measurements of the manufacturing processes affecting these KPIs. The theoretical foundations established are then used to develop a model that could evaluate sustainability of selected manufacturing processes and their respective process plans providing a basis for inter-process comparison and selection of the most sustainable process plan. The proposed framework is presented in form of a manufacturing planning computer-based package which is designed to to consider different influencing factors such as product information, part geometry, material related physical and processing properties and the manufacturing equipment operating data. The thesis presents a number of case studies which have been published in international journals. The case studies present estimates of the manufacturing sustainability KPIs for a number of production methods. These estimates have been verified with available shop floor data. The work in the thesis makes it possible to establish manufacturing industry equipped to deal the challenges of the future when sustainability will be the major factor up on which the quality of success will be determined.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Advocates or corporates : constructions of clinical nursing practice in Australia with regards to the idealisation of advocacy and autonomy
- Authors: Cole, Clare
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Although the idealisation of nurses as advocates is popularised in nursing literature and supported within nursing frameworks, codes and standards, there has been little critical examination of these ideas within contemporary Australian healthcare settings and nursing practice. The Australian Healthcare system is a complicated system of interacting service providers and consumers. Institutions that regulate healthcare professionals and organisations normalise understandings of nursing and nursing practice, including conceptualisations of the importance of autonomy and advocacy and how each is to be supported and/or practised. This study used the perceptions of practising Registered Nurses (RNs) to examine the actualities of advocacy and support for autonomy as they are carried out within clinical practice, and to highlight, problematise and then analyse differences between the rhetoric and realities of practice. Firstly, a phenomenological lens, including an ethnographic model of observation, was used to thematically map and examine the RNs’ lived experience of their practice, paying particular attention to their conceptions of and responsibilities toward advocacy and autonomy. This thematic analysis brought to the fore a range of assumptions that, although clearly normative within nursing practice, are in evident tension with one other. These were then re-examined using a range of Michel Foucault’s concepts concerning the construction and maintenance of regimes of truth. Designed to unpack the operations of power and knowledge, and to make visible the techniques of disciplinarity and governmentality that inform and support them, an engagement of these concepts has allowed this thesis to critically examine the normative constructions and enactments of nursing practice with regards to ideas and practices concerning advocacy and autonomy. What this thesis provides is a detailed examination of the contrasting constructions of power and knowledge within nursing practice in relation to advocacy and autonomy, how and why these concepts have been operationalised within nursing practice, and how they could be re-visioned into the future.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Cole, Clare
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Although the idealisation of nurses as advocates is popularised in nursing literature and supported within nursing frameworks, codes and standards, there has been little critical examination of these ideas within contemporary Australian healthcare settings and nursing practice. The Australian Healthcare system is a complicated system of interacting service providers and consumers. Institutions that regulate healthcare professionals and organisations normalise understandings of nursing and nursing practice, including conceptualisations of the importance of autonomy and advocacy and how each is to be supported and/or practised. This study used the perceptions of practising Registered Nurses (RNs) to examine the actualities of advocacy and support for autonomy as they are carried out within clinical practice, and to highlight, problematise and then analyse differences between the rhetoric and realities of practice. Firstly, a phenomenological lens, including an ethnographic model of observation, was used to thematically map and examine the RNs’ lived experience of their practice, paying particular attention to their conceptions of and responsibilities toward advocacy and autonomy. This thematic analysis brought to the fore a range of assumptions that, although clearly normative within nursing practice, are in evident tension with one other. These were then re-examined using a range of Michel Foucault’s concepts concerning the construction and maintenance of regimes of truth. Designed to unpack the operations of power and knowledge, and to make visible the techniques of disciplinarity and governmentality that inform and support them, an engagement of these concepts has allowed this thesis to critically examine the normative constructions and enactments of nursing practice with regards to ideas and practices concerning advocacy and autonomy. What this thesis provides is a detailed examination of the contrasting constructions of power and knowledge within nursing practice in relation to advocacy and autonomy, how and why these concepts have been operationalised within nursing practice, and how they could be re-visioned into the future.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Barriers and enablers to women's access to services during childbearing in Timor-Leste
- Authors: King, Rosemary
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background: In Timor-Leste the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is one of the highest in Southeast Asia, in some districts only 15-25% of women birth in a facility with a skilled birth attendant (SBA). Care from SBA is the international benchmark for quality maternity care. Purpose: Determine the barriers and enablers to women's access to services during childbearing in Timor-Leste, including women’s expectations and needs. Methodology: Qualitative research using focused ethnography, data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, focus groups and participant observation. Seventeen stakeholders and thirty women from three districts in Timor-Leste participated. Thematic analysis and coding of data with triangulation of the findings between separate participant groups. Results: Barriers to woman’s access to SBA include poor roads, lack of transport, costs associated with accessing SBA, lack of availability and poor quality services. Lack of privacy, multiple care-givers and poor interpersonal communication from SBA were also noted. Stakeholders emphasise health promotion and antenatal care to counteract the influence of traditional beliefs and promote demand for SBA. Many women demonstrate their agency in health seeking behaviours and choices for care during pregnancy and childbirth. Discussion: Women understand that pregnancy and childbirth poses potential risks to their health. Rural women, women from low socio-economic and other marginalised groups have less access to services. Perceptions of poor quality services also reduce women’s demand. Conclusion: Barriers and enablers to woman’s access to services are identified using an amended AAAQ framework introducing the domain of Antecedents in addition to domains of Access, Availability, Acceptability and Quality (AAAQA). Further expenditure on health service infrastructure, staff training and community outreach will improve access and quality SBA. Culturally safe SBA services may also improve the uptake of SBA service in Timor-Leste. Key words: Timor-Leste, Skilled birth attendance, cultural safety, women’s agency, quality maternity care.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: King, Rosemary
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background: In Timor-Leste the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is one of the highest in Southeast Asia, in some districts only 15-25% of women birth in a facility with a skilled birth attendant (SBA). Care from SBA is the international benchmark for quality maternity care. Purpose: Determine the barriers and enablers to women's access to services during childbearing in Timor-Leste, including women’s expectations and needs. Methodology: Qualitative research using focused ethnography, data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, focus groups and participant observation. Seventeen stakeholders and thirty women from three districts in Timor-Leste participated. Thematic analysis and coding of data with triangulation of the findings between separate participant groups. Results: Barriers to woman’s access to SBA include poor roads, lack of transport, costs associated with accessing SBA, lack of availability and poor quality services. Lack of privacy, multiple care-givers and poor interpersonal communication from SBA were also noted. Stakeholders emphasise health promotion and antenatal care to counteract the influence of traditional beliefs and promote demand for SBA. Many women demonstrate their agency in health seeking behaviours and choices for care during pregnancy and childbirth. Discussion: Women understand that pregnancy and childbirth poses potential risks to their health. Rural women, women from low socio-economic and other marginalised groups have less access to services. Perceptions of poor quality services also reduce women’s demand. Conclusion: Barriers and enablers to woman’s access to services are identified using an amended AAAQ framework introducing the domain of Antecedents in addition to domains of Access, Availability, Acceptability and Quality (AAAQA). Further expenditure on health service infrastructure, staff training and community outreach will improve access and quality SBA. Culturally safe SBA services may also improve the uptake of SBA service in Timor-Leste. Key words: Timor-Leste, Skilled birth attendance, cultural safety, women’s agency, quality maternity care.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Bitcoin : users’ characteristics, motivations and investment behaviours
- Authors: Carter, Corey
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In less than a decade, the cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin has gone from a fringe phenomenon to a topic of increasing interest to academia and mainstream investors. However, despite the growing body of research seeking to understand Bitcoin, the pseudonymous, decentralised, and globally-diffused nature of its user base means that the individuals who use it remain poorly understood. In particular, the motivations, risk-appreciation, and investment behaviours of early adopters and innovators are subject to supposition in the absence of data derived from the user base. This thesis seeks to address this gap in knowledge by employing a multi-stage, mixed methodology approach and a theoretical framework to understand the Bitcoin user base. Utilising semantic analysis, a survey of online cryptocurrency communities, and econometric time-series analysis, this thesis addresses the extent and nature of Bitcoin in hedging; how individual users perceive their own motivations, uses, and risks that have driven their behaviour; and the nature of the relationship between the prices of cryptocurrency and indices of confidence. Analysis of the data determined that the use of Bitcoin as an instrument of hedging is limited, and influenced by political and institutional factors. Likewise, its motivations, uses, and risks are reflective of the users’ political ideology, with the community and marketplace becoming more sophisticated as they evolve over time. Additionally, despite several case studies demonstrating risk-averse adoption of Bitcoin, there is no relationship between its prices and confidence.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Carter, Corey
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In less than a decade, the cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin has gone from a fringe phenomenon to a topic of increasing interest to academia and mainstream investors. However, despite the growing body of research seeking to understand Bitcoin, the pseudonymous, decentralised, and globally-diffused nature of its user base means that the individuals who use it remain poorly understood. In particular, the motivations, risk-appreciation, and investment behaviours of early adopters and innovators are subject to supposition in the absence of data derived from the user base. This thesis seeks to address this gap in knowledge by employing a multi-stage, mixed methodology approach and a theoretical framework to understand the Bitcoin user base. Utilising semantic analysis, a survey of online cryptocurrency communities, and econometric time-series analysis, this thesis addresses the extent and nature of Bitcoin in hedging; how individual users perceive their own motivations, uses, and risks that have driven their behaviour; and the nature of the relationship between the prices of cryptocurrency and indices of confidence. Analysis of the data determined that the use of Bitcoin as an instrument of hedging is limited, and influenced by political and institutional factors. Likewise, its motivations, uses, and risks are reflective of the users’ political ideology, with the community and marketplace becoming more sophisticated as they evolve over time. Additionally, despite several case studies demonstrating risk-averse adoption of Bitcoin, there is no relationship between its prices and confidence.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Effects of brown coal fly ash on 30% monoethanolamine CO₂ capture systems
- Authors: Chowdhury, Mohammad
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Accumulation of fly ash during post-combustion capture (PCC) of CO2 is an emerging concern. This work assesses concerns that soluble ash components (e.g. Na, Ca, Mg) increase conductivity of amine systems increasing corrosion rates, and decreasing CO2 capture e ciency; slightly soluble metals ions (e.g. Fe) may catalyse amine oxidation; and insoluble ash components cause erosion and blockages in the PCC plants as well as providing catalytic surfaces. Loy Yang brown-coal y ashes (using XRD, SEM, EDS and ICP-MS) are rst characterised and separated into soluble, insoluble and char fractions. The e ect of each fraction on MEA oxidation (measured by UV-vis and organic acid formation) and corrosion is determined using lab-scale experiments in static and stirred pressurised reactors at simulated PCC stripper conditions. Fly ash was three times more soluble in severely oxidising conditions compared to mild 30% MEA extractions. Vantho te represents 10-20% of the y ash and was the main source of sodium, calcium and magnesium ions while Szmolnockite was a source of iron. Iron solubility was dependent on conditions, with 5% soluble in aqueous MEA and 10% in simulated desorber conditions. The soluble fraction was the only ash fraction to signi cantly promote MEA oxidation. Aged pall rings from a PCC pilot plant had severe grain boundary corrosion and chromiumoxide depletion. Grain boundary corrosion was less severe in pall rings under severely oxidising conditions. The e ects of soluble ash were unclear while organic acids promoted pitting. Fly ash is an important source of soluble sodium, calcium and iron into 30% MEA. The insoluble fraction had minimal impact on MEA oxidation and corrosion, suggesting that it was inert. Soluble ash fractions increased corrosion severity and promoted MEA oxidation. This work shows that deep y ash removal prior to PCC is particularly important for ashes with high solubility in the CO2 absorption system.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Chowdhury, Mohammad
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Accumulation of fly ash during post-combustion capture (PCC) of CO2 is an emerging concern. This work assesses concerns that soluble ash components (e.g. Na, Ca, Mg) increase conductivity of amine systems increasing corrosion rates, and decreasing CO2 capture e ciency; slightly soluble metals ions (e.g. Fe) may catalyse amine oxidation; and insoluble ash components cause erosion and blockages in the PCC plants as well as providing catalytic surfaces. Loy Yang brown-coal y ashes (using XRD, SEM, EDS and ICP-MS) are rst characterised and separated into soluble, insoluble and char fractions. The e ect of each fraction on MEA oxidation (measured by UV-vis and organic acid formation) and corrosion is determined using lab-scale experiments in static and stirred pressurised reactors at simulated PCC stripper conditions. Fly ash was three times more soluble in severely oxidising conditions compared to mild 30% MEA extractions. Vantho te represents 10-20% of the y ash and was the main source of sodium, calcium and magnesium ions while Szmolnockite was a source of iron. Iron solubility was dependent on conditions, with 5% soluble in aqueous MEA and 10% in simulated desorber conditions. The soluble fraction was the only ash fraction to signi cantly promote MEA oxidation. Aged pall rings from a PCC pilot plant had severe grain boundary corrosion and chromiumoxide depletion. Grain boundary corrosion was less severe in pall rings under severely oxidising conditions. The e ects of soluble ash were unclear while organic acids promoted pitting. Fly ash is an important source of soluble sodium, calcium and iron into 30% MEA. The insoluble fraction had minimal impact on MEA oxidation and corrosion, suggesting that it was inert. Soluble ash fractions increased corrosion severity and promoted MEA oxidation. This work shows that deep y ash removal prior to PCC is particularly important for ashes with high solubility in the CO2 absorption system.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Extremality and stationarity of collections of sets : metric, slope and normal cone characterisations
- Bui, Hoa
- Authors: Bui, Hoa
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Variational analysis, a relatively new area of research in mathematics, has become one of the most powerful tools in nonsmooth optimisation and neighbouring areas. The extremal principle, a tool to substitute the conventional separation theorem in the general nonconvex environment, is a fundamental result in variational analysis. There have seen many attempts to generalise the conventional extremal principle in order to tackle certain optimisation models. Models involving collections of sets, initiated by the extremal principle, have proved their usefulness in analysis and optimisation, with non-intersection properties (or their absence) being at the core of many applications: recall the ubiquitous convex separation theorem, extremal principle, Dubovitskii Milyutin formalism and various transversality/regularity properties. We study elementary nonintersection properties of collections of sets, making the core of the conventional definitions of extremality and stationarity. In the setting of general Banach/Asplund spaces, we establish nonlinear primal (slope) and linear/nonlinear dual (generalised separation) characterisations of these non-intersection properties. We establish a series of consequences of our main results covering all known formulations of extremality/ stationarity and generalised separability properties. This research develops a universal theory, unifying all the current extensions of the extremal principle, providing new results and better understanding for the exquisite theory of variational analysis. This new study also results in direct solutions for many open questions and new future research directions in the fields of variational analysis and optimisation. Some new nonlinear characterisations of the conventional extremality/stationarity properties are obtained. For the first time, the intrinsic transversality property is characterised in primal space without involving normal cones. This characterisation brings a new perspective on intrinsic transversality. In the process, we thoroughly expose and classify all quantitative geometric and metric characterisations of transversality properties of collections of sets and regularity properties of set-valued mappings.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Bui, Hoa
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Variational analysis, a relatively new area of research in mathematics, has become one of the most powerful tools in nonsmooth optimisation and neighbouring areas. The extremal principle, a tool to substitute the conventional separation theorem in the general nonconvex environment, is a fundamental result in variational analysis. There have seen many attempts to generalise the conventional extremal principle in order to tackle certain optimisation models. Models involving collections of sets, initiated by the extremal principle, have proved their usefulness in analysis and optimisation, with non-intersection properties (or their absence) being at the core of many applications: recall the ubiquitous convex separation theorem, extremal principle, Dubovitskii Milyutin formalism and various transversality/regularity properties. We study elementary nonintersection properties of collections of sets, making the core of the conventional definitions of extremality and stationarity. In the setting of general Banach/Asplund spaces, we establish nonlinear primal (slope) and linear/nonlinear dual (generalised separation) characterisations of these non-intersection properties. We establish a series of consequences of our main results covering all known formulations of extremality/ stationarity and generalised separability properties. This research develops a universal theory, unifying all the current extensions of the extremal principle, providing new results and better understanding for the exquisite theory of variational analysis. This new study also results in direct solutions for many open questions and new future research directions in the fields of variational analysis and optimisation. Some new nonlinear characterisations of the conventional extremality/stationarity properties are obtained. For the first time, the intrinsic transversality property is characterised in primal space without involving normal cones. This characterisation brings a new perspective on intrinsic transversality. In the process, we thoroughly expose and classify all quantitative geometric and metric characterisations of transversality properties of collections of sets and regularity properties of set-valued mappings.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Harvesting stormwater : Testing the paradigm by assessing the impacts with an inter-disciplinary case study
- Authors: Ebbs, David
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) is often proposed as a framework for comprehensively managing the water cycle in urban areas. One of the tenets of IUWM is that, due to increased impervious area, stormwater runoff in excess of the natural flow could be captured and used to supplement the water supply, while mitigating the environmental impact. This thesis tests that theory through an inter-disciplinary case study utilising legacy data for the regional city of Ballarat, Australia. The case study approach has enabled the water balance of an urbanised catchment to be better understood in various ways and provided for five tightly nested research projects, being: 1. Does the long-term development of water management within a city provide insight into what drives decisions, therefore informing future progress? 2. Can the drivers of water use be adequately determined from a community wide, historical analysis such that future regulatory decisions can be informed? 3. Will assessment of the long-term streamflow of a river, combined with an urban water balance of the catchment, enable the identification of additional stormwater flow due to urbanisation, in excess of the natural flow? 4. Can the impact of urbanisation on groundwater be identified (i.e. trends quantified or qualified) from the city’s legacy data or any available data sources, or models? 5. Is it possible to establish a comparative analysis technique that accounts for the uncertainty of information which changes over time, maintains intellectual rigour and is understandable and easily presented? IUWM was found, perhaps unsurprisingly, to be a complex problem with the challenges being very contextual on the particular catchment and city being studied. This research revealed that evidence of greater volumes of water being generated from increasingly urbanised impervious catchments is not easy to find. This finding may challenge conventional thinking and means that decisions on stormwater harvesting and WSUD practices more broadly should first be informed by evidence of the water balance. This research also revealed some very significant challenges in the water industry with finding and effectively using very dispersed data sets which are held and managed across multiple water agencies in various digital and hard copy formats. Information and data availability is critical to all aspects of IUWM, including in the measurement of its success, and so this research reminds the water industry of the importance of its data management practices.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Ebbs, David
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) is often proposed as a framework for comprehensively managing the water cycle in urban areas. One of the tenets of IUWM is that, due to increased impervious area, stormwater runoff in excess of the natural flow could be captured and used to supplement the water supply, while mitigating the environmental impact. This thesis tests that theory through an inter-disciplinary case study utilising legacy data for the regional city of Ballarat, Australia. The case study approach has enabled the water balance of an urbanised catchment to be better understood in various ways and provided for five tightly nested research projects, being: 1. Does the long-term development of water management within a city provide insight into what drives decisions, therefore informing future progress? 2. Can the drivers of water use be adequately determined from a community wide, historical analysis such that future regulatory decisions can be informed? 3. Will assessment of the long-term streamflow of a river, combined with an urban water balance of the catchment, enable the identification of additional stormwater flow due to urbanisation, in excess of the natural flow? 4. Can the impact of urbanisation on groundwater be identified (i.e. trends quantified or qualified) from the city’s legacy data or any available data sources, or models? 5. Is it possible to establish a comparative analysis technique that accounts for the uncertainty of information which changes over time, maintains intellectual rigour and is understandable and easily presented? IUWM was found, perhaps unsurprisingly, to be a complex problem with the challenges being very contextual on the particular catchment and city being studied. This research revealed that evidence of greater volumes of water being generated from increasingly urbanised impervious catchments is not easy to find. This finding may challenge conventional thinking and means that decisions on stormwater harvesting and WSUD practices more broadly should first be informed by evidence of the water balance. This research also revealed some very significant challenges in the water industry with finding and effectively using very dispersed data sets which are held and managed across multiple water agencies in various digital and hard copy formats. Information and data availability is critical to all aspects of IUWM, including in the measurement of its success, and so this research reminds the water industry of the importance of its data management practices.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Histories of the Ballarat District Orphan Asylum, Ballarat Orphanage and Ballarat Children’s Home, 1866-1983
- Authors: McGinniss, David
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The thesis outlines the development of three children’s residential institutions on the site of 200 Victoria Street, Ballarat East: the Ballarat District Orphan Asylum (1866-1909), the Ballarat Orphanage (1909-1968), and the Ballarat Children’s Home (1968-1983). These institutions are the historical precursors to the contemporary community service organisation now known as Child and Family Services Ballarat, or simply Cafs. The thesis focuses particularly on the shifting cultures of these institutions, to identify waves of change, surging and receding to form long patterns of alternating reform and repose. Established ways of operating overlapped with new and developing ideas, to create a dynamic environment constantly negotiating its relationships with government, communities and of course the families and children who came to rely on them. As a result, when transformative change occurred, it was difficult for leaders and policy-makers to recognise it as such at the time, as it was often experienced more as crisis and response. This provides a useful set of historical examples for current leadership and practitioners to learn from. Most critically, however, it locates the thousands of children who were institutionalised - eating, sleeping, playing, learning and working – as central to the narrative formation of identity for the historic institutions themselves, the contemporary organisation they have become, and the communities of Ballarat and beyond. Children were sent to these institutions from all over Victoria and Australia and made their homes in many different places when they left. Nevertheless, the stories and lives of the children from these institutions and the adults they have become are a key part of contemporary collective identity. The institutions are remembered with complex and contradictory mixtures of regret, loss, trauma and fondness, reflecting the mixed legacies that these institutions have left in contemporary Ballarat and beyond.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: McGinniss, David
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The thesis outlines the development of three children’s residential institutions on the site of 200 Victoria Street, Ballarat East: the Ballarat District Orphan Asylum (1866-1909), the Ballarat Orphanage (1909-1968), and the Ballarat Children’s Home (1968-1983). These institutions are the historical precursors to the contemporary community service organisation now known as Child and Family Services Ballarat, or simply Cafs. The thesis focuses particularly on the shifting cultures of these institutions, to identify waves of change, surging and receding to form long patterns of alternating reform and repose. Established ways of operating overlapped with new and developing ideas, to create a dynamic environment constantly negotiating its relationships with government, communities and of course the families and children who came to rely on them. As a result, when transformative change occurred, it was difficult for leaders and policy-makers to recognise it as such at the time, as it was often experienced more as crisis and response. This provides a useful set of historical examples for current leadership and practitioners to learn from. Most critically, however, it locates the thousands of children who were institutionalised - eating, sleeping, playing, learning and working – as central to the narrative formation of identity for the historic institutions themselves, the contemporary organisation they have become, and the communities of Ballarat and beyond. Children were sent to these institutions from all over Victoria and Australia and made their homes in many different places when they left. Nevertheless, the stories and lives of the children from these institutions and the adults they have become are a key part of contemporary collective identity. The institutions are remembered with complex and contradictory mixtures of regret, loss, trauma and fondness, reflecting the mixed legacies that these institutions have left in contemporary Ballarat and beyond.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Intelligent sewer blockage detection system using Internet of Things
- Authors: Buurman, Benjamin
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Despite being a common issue in both developed and developing countries, wastewater blockages have severe potential consequences. Blockages can be located at sewer mains or individual properties and can also be classified as partial or full. Full blockages completely obstruct a wastewater asset, and partial blockages will often develop into full blockages if left unattended. Currently, blockages are managed by routine manual inspections to wastewater assets on a round-robin schedule. This is highly inefficient and costly, as blockages that form between these inspections and progress to effluent breaches will go undetected. In this thesis we present an Internet of Things (IoT) solution capable of simultaneously monitoring an entire wastewater infrastructure for blockages while still remaining inexpensive, reliable, and practical. Wireless motes use float switch sensors to detect blockages and transmit this to a central system using either LoRa or Wi-Fi communications. Making both LoRa and Wi-Fi available ensures the system can be adapted in any situation across a variety of geographic and economic restrictions. The central system determines whether a surcharge is caused by a blockage or simply the result of regular activity not requiring intervention. Detection of false positives is critical, as deployment of field technicians is an expensive process that moves resources from other skilled work. If a surcharge is determined to be caused by a blockage, the central system will classify it as full or partial before estimating the property or length of main between properties it is located at. Following this, relevant parties will be notified so field technicians can be deployed to resolve the blockage. We performed both practical laboratory testing and simulation modelling on our proposed system, and confirmed it is indeed capable of detecting, classifying, and locating blockages across a wide urban area. Our choice of hardware, software and network equipment ensures that the proposed IoT-based solution is inexpensive, workable, and easily deployable.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: Buurman, Benjamin
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Despite being a common issue in both developed and developing countries, wastewater blockages have severe potential consequences. Blockages can be located at sewer mains or individual properties and can also be classified as partial or full. Full blockages completely obstruct a wastewater asset, and partial blockages will often develop into full blockages if left unattended. Currently, blockages are managed by routine manual inspections to wastewater assets on a round-robin schedule. This is highly inefficient and costly, as blockages that form between these inspections and progress to effluent breaches will go undetected. In this thesis we present an Internet of Things (IoT) solution capable of simultaneously monitoring an entire wastewater infrastructure for blockages while still remaining inexpensive, reliable, and practical. Wireless motes use float switch sensors to detect blockages and transmit this to a central system using either LoRa or Wi-Fi communications. Making both LoRa and Wi-Fi available ensures the system can be adapted in any situation across a variety of geographic and economic restrictions. The central system determines whether a surcharge is caused by a blockage or simply the result of regular activity not requiring intervention. Detection of false positives is critical, as deployment of field technicians is an expensive process that moves resources from other skilled work. If a surcharge is determined to be caused by a blockage, the central system will classify it as full or partial before estimating the property or length of main between properties it is located at. Following this, relevant parties will be notified so field technicians can be deployed to resolve the blockage. We performed both practical laboratory testing and simulation modelling on our proposed system, and confirmed it is indeed capable of detecting, classifying, and locating blockages across a wide urban area. Our choice of hardware, software and network equipment ensures that the proposed IoT-based solution is inexpensive, workable, and easily deployable.
- Description: Masters by Research
Investigating factors affecting restoration of native grassland in ex-cropland
- Authors: Shakir, Shakir Bahaddin
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Native grasslands are one of the most endangered ecosystems in Australia. Approximately 99% of native grasslands have been disturbed for agriculture and pastoralism. Today, however, many agricultural and grazing lands have been abandoned. Restoring abandoned areas to native grassland is a challenge that must be met if these systems are to persist. This thesis sought to gain a better understanding of the biotic and abiotic barriers to restoring native grasslands in ex-cropping land, and to investigate novel techniques to overcome them in degraded native grassland in the Victorian Volcanic Plains. Firstly, I compared ex-cropland to high-quality remnant grassland, and showed that excropland supports a high number of exotic weeds, a lack of native species propagules, high nutrient levels (especially phosphorus and nitrogen), and an absence of organic carbon—all barriers which must be overcome if native grassland restoration is to succeed. I conducted a replicated field experiment in ex-cropland, to investigate four restoration approaches to overcoming barriers to restoration: (i) adding urban green waste to heat and kill the exotic seed bank (ii) adding sugar and/or mulch to promote microorganism and draw down soil nitrogen, (iii) using a modified clay product called Phoslock to reduce soil phosphorus levels, and (iv) scalping of topsoil 10 cm on ex-cropland site to remove the exotic seed bank and high nutrient soil. After each treatment, native grass seed was added, and the vegetation, seed bank, soil nutrients and microbial activity were monitored over 2.5 years. The hot mulch, scalping and sugar treatments all achieved significantly greater cover of native grasses than the control treatments. The hot waste treatment also effectively eliminated the exotic weed seed bank, but the soil N levels increased dramatically, which is counterproductive to the long-term goals of grassland restoration. Scalping out-performed all other treatments with regard to reducing soil N and P. All treatments suffered from reinvasion by exotic species, suggesting that any grassland restoration technique needs to be coupled with ongoing exotic weed management. Abstract ii High soil phosphorus is a difficult barrier to restoration of native grassland. A possible way to address this is to use plants with high P uptake to help draw down soil P. Native grassland taxa from the genus Ptilotus have been shown to have high P-uptake. I conducted two studies of Ptilotus macrocephalus and Ptilotus polystachyus to investigate their potential in this role. The first of these was an examination of techniques to break their seed dormancy, and to find their optimum germination conditions. I tested their response to smoke water, heating shock, cold stratification and gibberellic acid. The highest germination rates (62% and 38% for P. microcephalus and P. polystachyus, respectively) were achieved when the seeds were pre-treated with GA500 and exposed to a temperature range of (20/18OC) and a 12h dark/12h light regime. Smoke water, heat shock and the removal of floral bracts also improved germination rates, but not at the same magnitude as GA. The second study of Ptilotus was a glasshouse trial that examined the effectiveness of the two taxa at reducing available soil phosphorus. This trial included a third high P-uptake species (Lupinus albus) for comparison, and also investigated if the addition of Phoslock® could bind soil P into insoluble forms. P. macrocephalus and P. polystachyus accumulated high amounts of soil P. Thus, several years of seeding and harvesting of these plants is anticipated to provide a useful option for soil P reduction. Phoslock® reduced soil available P, but only at high concentration of Phoslock 1500 g/m2 and at very high soil P concentrations; it was less effective at levels that typically expect in ex-cropping paddocks. The findings of this thesis have advanced our current knowledge of the restoration of excropland. The research has tested methods to overcome biotic and abiotic barriers to restoration of the Victorian Volcanic Plains grasslands, and has demonstrated some practical approaches to begin the treatment. It was suggested that many of the methods and techniques used in this study could be useful technique in broad areas of grassland restoration within Australia as well as in similar situations in temperate climate conditions across the globe.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Shakir, Shakir Bahaddin
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Native grasslands are one of the most endangered ecosystems in Australia. Approximately 99% of native grasslands have been disturbed for agriculture and pastoralism. Today, however, many agricultural and grazing lands have been abandoned. Restoring abandoned areas to native grassland is a challenge that must be met if these systems are to persist. This thesis sought to gain a better understanding of the biotic and abiotic barriers to restoring native grasslands in ex-cropping land, and to investigate novel techniques to overcome them in degraded native grassland in the Victorian Volcanic Plains. Firstly, I compared ex-cropland to high-quality remnant grassland, and showed that excropland supports a high number of exotic weeds, a lack of native species propagules, high nutrient levels (especially phosphorus and nitrogen), and an absence of organic carbon—all barriers which must be overcome if native grassland restoration is to succeed. I conducted a replicated field experiment in ex-cropland, to investigate four restoration approaches to overcoming barriers to restoration: (i) adding urban green waste to heat and kill the exotic seed bank (ii) adding sugar and/or mulch to promote microorganism and draw down soil nitrogen, (iii) using a modified clay product called Phoslock to reduce soil phosphorus levels, and (iv) scalping of topsoil 10 cm on ex-cropland site to remove the exotic seed bank and high nutrient soil. After each treatment, native grass seed was added, and the vegetation, seed bank, soil nutrients and microbial activity were monitored over 2.5 years. The hot mulch, scalping and sugar treatments all achieved significantly greater cover of native grasses than the control treatments. The hot waste treatment also effectively eliminated the exotic weed seed bank, but the soil N levels increased dramatically, which is counterproductive to the long-term goals of grassland restoration. Scalping out-performed all other treatments with regard to reducing soil N and P. All treatments suffered from reinvasion by exotic species, suggesting that any grassland restoration technique needs to be coupled with ongoing exotic weed management. Abstract ii High soil phosphorus is a difficult barrier to restoration of native grassland. A possible way to address this is to use plants with high P uptake to help draw down soil P. Native grassland taxa from the genus Ptilotus have been shown to have high P-uptake. I conducted two studies of Ptilotus macrocephalus and Ptilotus polystachyus to investigate their potential in this role. The first of these was an examination of techniques to break their seed dormancy, and to find their optimum germination conditions. I tested their response to smoke water, heating shock, cold stratification and gibberellic acid. The highest germination rates (62% and 38% for P. microcephalus and P. polystachyus, respectively) were achieved when the seeds were pre-treated with GA500 and exposed to a temperature range of (20/18OC) and a 12h dark/12h light regime. Smoke water, heat shock and the removal of floral bracts also improved germination rates, but not at the same magnitude as GA. The second study of Ptilotus was a glasshouse trial that examined the effectiveness of the two taxa at reducing available soil phosphorus. This trial included a third high P-uptake species (Lupinus albus) for comparison, and also investigated if the addition of Phoslock® could bind soil P into insoluble forms. P. macrocephalus and P. polystachyus accumulated high amounts of soil P. Thus, several years of seeding and harvesting of these plants is anticipated to provide a useful option for soil P reduction. Phoslock® reduced soil available P, but only at high concentration of Phoslock 1500 g/m2 and at very high soil P concentrations; it was less effective at levels that typically expect in ex-cropping paddocks. The findings of this thesis have advanced our current knowledge of the restoration of excropland. The research has tested methods to overcome biotic and abiotic barriers to restoration of the Victorian Volcanic Plains grasslands, and has demonstrated some practical approaches to begin the treatment. It was suggested that many of the methods and techniques used in this study could be useful technique in broad areas of grassland restoration within Australia as well as in similar situations in temperate climate conditions across the globe.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy