The life and times of Dr Hermann Beckler (1828-1914) : An Australian - Barvarian Odyssey
- Authors: Dodd, David
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The principal aim of this research thesis has been to reconstruct the life and times of Dr Hermann Beckler (1828-1914), a Bavarian-born scientist and adventurer who spent six years in Australia between 1856 and 1862. This study constitutes the first authoritative analysis of Beckler’s life. It focuses on the various turning points that influenced his odyssey-like journey from Bavaria to Australia and back again, as well as his travels within Australia, his interest in the natural environment and the botany of Australia, and his empathy towards the Indigenous people. Beckler was a product of the Age of Romanticism. He was an enigmatic and contemplative person, yet possessed a degree of toughness and resilience to overcome what appeared to be initially a self-imposed exile, replete with self-recriminations, as he tried to establish himself, firstly as a medical doctor and then as a pharmacist in the pioneering Moreton Bay region of colonial New South Wales. His interests in the natural sciences provided a solution to the problem of employment, and his botanical collecting skills ultimately gained him a position with Dr Ferdinand Mueller of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. He worked as a botanical plant collector in northern New South Wales before his medical qualifications and botanical saw him appointed as medical doctor and botanist to the Victorian Exploring Expedition 1860-1861 led by Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills. Beckler recognized this appointment as an opportunity to explore the hitherto unknown parts of the interior of Australia and while he did his best to fulfill his role, he was frustrated by the mismanagement of the whole expedition by Burke’s erratic leadership and by the ineptitude of the Royal Society of Victoria’s Exploration Committee. He remains one of Australia’s and Germany’s forgotten explorer botanists. This thesis aims to bring to life Beckler’s contribution to this important episode in Australian colonial history.
- Description: Master of Business by Research
- Authors: Dodd, David
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The principal aim of this research thesis has been to reconstruct the life and times of Dr Hermann Beckler (1828-1914), a Bavarian-born scientist and adventurer who spent six years in Australia between 1856 and 1862. This study constitutes the first authoritative analysis of Beckler’s life. It focuses on the various turning points that influenced his odyssey-like journey from Bavaria to Australia and back again, as well as his travels within Australia, his interest in the natural environment and the botany of Australia, and his empathy towards the Indigenous people. Beckler was a product of the Age of Romanticism. He was an enigmatic and contemplative person, yet possessed a degree of toughness and resilience to overcome what appeared to be initially a self-imposed exile, replete with self-recriminations, as he tried to establish himself, firstly as a medical doctor and then as a pharmacist in the pioneering Moreton Bay region of colonial New South Wales. His interests in the natural sciences provided a solution to the problem of employment, and his botanical collecting skills ultimately gained him a position with Dr Ferdinand Mueller of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. He worked as a botanical plant collector in northern New South Wales before his medical qualifications and botanical saw him appointed as medical doctor and botanist to the Victorian Exploring Expedition 1860-1861 led by Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills. Beckler recognized this appointment as an opportunity to explore the hitherto unknown parts of the interior of Australia and while he did his best to fulfill his role, he was frustrated by the mismanagement of the whole expedition by Burke’s erratic leadership and by the ineptitude of the Royal Society of Victoria’s Exploration Committee. He remains one of Australia’s and Germany’s forgotten explorer botanists. This thesis aims to bring to life Beckler’s contribution to this important episode in Australian colonial history.
- Description: Master of Business by Research
10 Days in 2009 : An auto-ethnographical study of "Communical Resistance" taken by international students in Australia
- Authors: Saunders, Owen
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The early millennium saw the rise of an educational system in Australia where unchartered private educational provider institutions teach degree courses via contractual arrangements with parent universities. This study examines an incident where students at several such institutions collectively declined to submit a required online assessment piece to the possible detriment of the successful completion of their degrees. The research questions that arose from this incident were; what went wrong; how can we understand what happened here; and, what does this mean for me personally? Students’ perceptions of an online assessment piece are examined in the study of this incident. The study covers identical units offered at six private providers in three different Australian cities and the parent university. The students at the private institutions were all international students; those at the parent were a mix of international and domestic students. The assessment piece, a mandatory requirement for completion of the degree, was given to a collective cohort of approximately 400 students. The majority of students from four of the private institutions declined to submit the assessment piece. Initial research indicated that the students were uncomfortable with the format of a new blended-learning delivery introduced that year (2009). Upon deeper investigation, it was revealed that the declination to submit was, in fact, a complex situation involving conflicts, cultural clashes, social upheaval, and legislative misunderstandings that combined to create an environment where the students felt they had no option but to openly protest against perceived injustices. The author of this work is also the educator at the centre of this event, thus the thesis has been written in an auto-ethnographical method, viewed through the educator’s lens. To protect sensitive information, pseudonyms have been used and identifying details removed. The parent university at the centre of the event, named Newgarth University, is fictitious. Auto-ethnography has been used to present the empirical data (quantitative and qualitative), and the reader will be taken through a “detective story” that reveals various characters, plots, and protest. The study documents a previously unrecorded incident in the international student education industry in Australia. The study offers explanations as to why this incident occurred and adds to the cumulative knowledge of the international student education industry in Australia by offering suggestions to prevent such incidents occurring again. The study demonstrates that when a group of students are placed in an unfamiliar uncomfortable environment with little or no access to pastoral care or welfare services, they will create support groups of allegiance to protect their interests. These allegiance groups will employ tried and tested methods of communal resistance practised by the dominant culture of that field of endeavour.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Saunders, Owen
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The early millennium saw the rise of an educational system in Australia where unchartered private educational provider institutions teach degree courses via contractual arrangements with parent universities. This study examines an incident where students at several such institutions collectively declined to submit a required online assessment piece to the possible detriment of the successful completion of their degrees. The research questions that arose from this incident were; what went wrong; how can we understand what happened here; and, what does this mean for me personally? Students’ perceptions of an online assessment piece are examined in the study of this incident. The study covers identical units offered at six private providers in three different Australian cities and the parent university. The students at the private institutions were all international students; those at the parent were a mix of international and domestic students. The assessment piece, a mandatory requirement for completion of the degree, was given to a collective cohort of approximately 400 students. The majority of students from four of the private institutions declined to submit the assessment piece. Initial research indicated that the students were uncomfortable with the format of a new blended-learning delivery introduced that year (2009). Upon deeper investigation, it was revealed that the declination to submit was, in fact, a complex situation involving conflicts, cultural clashes, social upheaval, and legislative misunderstandings that combined to create an environment where the students felt they had no option but to openly protest against perceived injustices. The author of this work is also the educator at the centre of this event, thus the thesis has been written in an auto-ethnographical method, viewed through the educator’s lens. To protect sensitive information, pseudonyms have been used and identifying details removed. The parent university at the centre of the event, named Newgarth University, is fictitious. Auto-ethnography has been used to present the empirical data (quantitative and qualitative), and the reader will be taken through a “detective story” that reveals various characters, plots, and protest. The study documents a previously unrecorded incident in the international student education industry in Australia. The study offers explanations as to why this incident occurred and adds to the cumulative knowledge of the international student education industry in Australia by offering suggestions to prevent such incidents occurring again. The study demonstrates that when a group of students are placed in an unfamiliar uncomfortable environment with little or no access to pastoral care or welfare services, they will create support groups of allegiance to protect their interests. These allegiance groups will employ tried and tested methods of communal resistance practised by the dominant culture of that field of endeavour.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Becoming "Brave and Gallant" : Decolonising the myths of Burke and Wills; Cross-cultural exchanges and the co-production of knowledge during the Victorian Exploring Expedition and the subsequent Relief Expeditions
- Authors: Jeffries, Peta
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The history of the Victorian Exploring Expedition (VEE), also known as ‘Burke and Wills’, has commonly been told as a story of ‘brave and gallant men’ who ventured into an unfamiliar landscape and became victims of the ‘ghastly blank’ interior of Australia. Visual artists and historians have memorialised these men as solo-hero explorers who sacrificed their youth and life potential for the sake of Australian nation. The myth of Burke and Wills is a constructed narrative and symbol of glory and achievement that denies the involvement of significant others in exploration and geographical knowledge creation. The path the VEE created through the centre of Australia opened up the broader continent for rapid colonisation and imperial expansion. The tragic legacy of the deaths of Burke and Wills is part of the Australian identity, however, some major aspects of the VEE successes and failures have been sidelined, silenced and even completely ignored in many historical accounts. The historical and visual art accounts that contributed to the memorialisation of Burke and Wills often denied the involvement of other exploration team members, the relief expeditions who went in search of the missing explorers, various intermediaries, guides, go-betweens and significantly Aboriginal peoples’ close involvement and or resistance to interior exploration. Yandruwandha people have been remembered as a friendly and accommodating community who assisted the explorers in their last days and who cared for John King. Within the archives and social memories are examples of agency, power, resistance, and varied perspectives of Burke and Wills. This ethnographic history asks why relations between the explorers, Aboriginal peoples and landscape have been told the way they have and provides examples of encounter and exchange, mutual adaptation and the co-production of knowledge as a way to decolonise the myths of Burke and Wills.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Jeffries, Peta
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The history of the Victorian Exploring Expedition (VEE), also known as ‘Burke and Wills’, has commonly been told as a story of ‘brave and gallant men’ who ventured into an unfamiliar landscape and became victims of the ‘ghastly blank’ interior of Australia. Visual artists and historians have memorialised these men as solo-hero explorers who sacrificed their youth and life potential for the sake of Australian nation. The myth of Burke and Wills is a constructed narrative and symbol of glory and achievement that denies the involvement of significant others in exploration and geographical knowledge creation. The path the VEE created through the centre of Australia opened up the broader continent for rapid colonisation and imperial expansion. The tragic legacy of the deaths of Burke and Wills is part of the Australian identity, however, some major aspects of the VEE successes and failures have been sidelined, silenced and even completely ignored in many historical accounts. The historical and visual art accounts that contributed to the memorialisation of Burke and Wills often denied the involvement of other exploration team members, the relief expeditions who went in search of the missing explorers, various intermediaries, guides, go-betweens and significantly Aboriginal peoples’ close involvement and or resistance to interior exploration. Yandruwandha people have been remembered as a friendly and accommodating community who assisted the explorers in their last days and who cared for John King. Within the archives and social memories are examples of agency, power, resistance, and varied perspectives of Burke and Wills. This ethnographic history asks why relations between the explorers, Aboriginal peoples and landscape have been told the way they have and provides examples of encounter and exchange, mutual adaptation and the co-production of knowledge as a way to decolonise the myths of Burke and Wills.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Reciprocal peer tutoring in an Australian undergraduate clinical skills setting : A mixed methods study
- Authors: Gazula, Swapnali
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background Incorporation of active learning approaches in the preparation of nursing students for future educational roles is an imperative. Reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT) is an active teaching/learning approach, in which individuals from similar academic levels rotate teaching/learning roles. This study aimed to explore the outcomes of RPT on undergraduate nursing students learning. Design/Methods A sequential explanatory mixed methods design, incorporating pre-post intervention surveys and focus groups with a convenience sample of 102 final-year students, from a cohort of 132 (RR = 77.3%), from a regional Australian university campus. Prior to attendance, online resources were provided on teaching fundamentals and two selected clinical skills, namely tracheostomy suctioning and intravenous cannulation. Attending participants were randomly allocated into pairs, rotating teaching and learning roles within clinical skills laboratories. Pre-post intervention survey tools examined knowledge and self-reported attitudes to a peer teaching and clinical teaching preferences (Clinical Teaching Preference Questionnaire). Post-intervention measures included a peer teaching experience (Peer Teaching Experience Questionnaire). Focus group interviews (n = 4) were conducted with 22 participants, to further understand students’ RPT experiences. Results There was positive improvement in attitudes to peer teaching (M = 49.2, SD = 10.0 to M = 52.3, SD = 8.2, p < 0.05, [95% CI = 0.7 to 5.4]). Knowledge scores also increased significantly (M = 6.9, SD = 2.0 to M = 9.7, SD = 1.9), p < 0.05 [95% CI = 2.3 to 3.2]. Aggregate mean knowledge scores increased more for peer teachers (M = 3.3) than they did for peer learners (M = 2.2). Thematic outcomes from focus groups indicated challenging yet beneficial journeys, collective learning outcomes, along with benefits of RPT including enhanced teaching, self-confidence, communication, and independent and collaborative learning. Conclusion This study concludes that RPT is effective in clinical skills teaching and sets a foundation for further research.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Gazula, Swapnali
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background Incorporation of active learning approaches in the preparation of nursing students for future educational roles is an imperative. Reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT) is an active teaching/learning approach, in which individuals from similar academic levels rotate teaching/learning roles. This study aimed to explore the outcomes of RPT on undergraduate nursing students learning. Design/Methods A sequential explanatory mixed methods design, incorporating pre-post intervention surveys and focus groups with a convenience sample of 102 final-year students, from a cohort of 132 (RR = 77.3%), from a regional Australian university campus. Prior to attendance, online resources were provided on teaching fundamentals and two selected clinical skills, namely tracheostomy suctioning and intravenous cannulation. Attending participants were randomly allocated into pairs, rotating teaching and learning roles within clinical skills laboratories. Pre-post intervention survey tools examined knowledge and self-reported attitudes to a peer teaching and clinical teaching preferences (Clinical Teaching Preference Questionnaire). Post-intervention measures included a peer teaching experience (Peer Teaching Experience Questionnaire). Focus group interviews (n = 4) were conducted with 22 participants, to further understand students’ RPT experiences. Results There was positive improvement in attitudes to peer teaching (M = 49.2, SD = 10.0 to M = 52.3, SD = 8.2, p < 0.05, [95% CI = 0.7 to 5.4]). Knowledge scores also increased significantly (M = 6.9, SD = 2.0 to M = 9.7, SD = 1.9), p < 0.05 [95% CI = 2.3 to 3.2]. Aggregate mean knowledge scores increased more for peer teachers (M = 3.3) than they did for peer learners (M = 2.2). Thematic outcomes from focus groups indicated challenging yet beneficial journeys, collective learning outcomes, along with benefits of RPT including enhanced teaching, self-confidence, communication, and independent and collaborative learning. Conclusion This study concludes that RPT is effective in clinical skills teaching and sets a foundation for further research.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Managed identities : How do Australian university students who stutter negotiate their studies?
- Authors: Meredith, Grant
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Previous social research focused on people who stutter has problematised and largely ignored the experiences of university students who stutter, relying heavily upon surveys of teachers and peers while almost ignoring the authentic voices of students who stutter. Using a novel bricolage approach incorporating autoethnography, this project posed the question: “How do students who stutter negotiate their university experiences in Australia?” In 2008, a unique, web-based audit of 39 Australian public universities concluded that little publicly accessible information about stuttering support services was available for prospective university students. In many ways, stuttering is absent from disability classifications and service systems in higher education. An online survey of 102 Australian university students who stutter, and follow-up individual interviews with 15 students, revealed how these students manage their social identities from enrolment through to graduation. Only a minority of students reported ever formally disclosing their functional impairment to university support services or academic staff. This meant they rejected and/or avoided the disability label and associated stigma. The students were found to exercise a high degree of individual agency and creativity throughout their university journey. Many employed ‘concessional bargaining’ techniques to effectively navigate the oral assessment requirements during their degrees. Analysis of the interview and survey data is interspersed with critical self-reflection by the author – as a university lecturer who himself stutters. This thesis makes a significant contribution to shaping our understanding of the social identities and trajectories of university students who stutter. These students have been recast as positive, purposeful, resourceful and creative agents whose actions can be largely understood from a social model of disability. A series of recommendations for supporting and teaching these students are made to key stakeholders in higher education.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Meredith, Grant
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Previous social research focused on people who stutter has problematised and largely ignored the experiences of university students who stutter, relying heavily upon surveys of teachers and peers while almost ignoring the authentic voices of students who stutter. Using a novel bricolage approach incorporating autoethnography, this project posed the question: “How do students who stutter negotiate their university experiences in Australia?” In 2008, a unique, web-based audit of 39 Australian public universities concluded that little publicly accessible information about stuttering support services was available for prospective university students. In many ways, stuttering is absent from disability classifications and service systems in higher education. An online survey of 102 Australian university students who stutter, and follow-up individual interviews with 15 students, revealed how these students manage their social identities from enrolment through to graduation. Only a minority of students reported ever formally disclosing their functional impairment to university support services or academic staff. This meant they rejected and/or avoided the disability label and associated stigma. The students were found to exercise a high degree of individual agency and creativity throughout their university journey. Many employed ‘concessional bargaining’ techniques to effectively navigate the oral assessment requirements during their degrees. Analysis of the interview and survey data is interspersed with critical self-reflection by the author – as a university lecturer who himself stutters. This thesis makes a significant contribution to shaping our understanding of the social identities and trajectories of university students who stutter. These students have been recast as positive, purposeful, resourceful and creative agents whose actions can be largely understood from a social model of disability. A series of recommendations for supporting and teaching these students are made to key stakeholders in higher education.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel in Australia : An examination of the role of VFR hosts
- Authors: Yousuf, Mohammad
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel is a significant form of travel in terms of global travel numbers. However, research on VFR travel is small relative to its size. In particular, research regarding the role of hosts of VFR travellers in shaping their trips including travel decisions and activities has been examined by few researchers. No previous research explored the differences in hosting between immigrant and non-immigrant local residents despite VFR travel being commonly associated with migration in existing literature. Before this research, the differences between hosting friends and relatives had been neglected, resulting in VFR hosts being treated as one homogenous group. Previous research also failed to empirically test the influence of destination on the hosting of VFRs. Thus, this is the first study examining the hosting of VFRs through combining how migration, relationship types, and destination types, impact VFR travel experiences for hosts. Given that VFR travel is a significant component of Australia’s visitor numbers, and that it comprises a large immigrant population, Australia is a suitable setting for this study. Considering the multi-dimensional elements in the study, the “VFR Whole Tourism Systems Model” was used as the conceptual model for this study. Quantitative research was conducted nationally with 331 residents, collected through an online survey, assessing the differences and similarities in hosting behaviours. Qualitative research was undertaken through in-depth interviews with 34 local residents in three contrasting destinations in Victoria understanding the social interactions between VFR hosts and their visiting friends/relatives. Significant differences were found between immigrants and nonimmigrants regarding attracting VFRs and hosting experiences. Differences were also noted between hosting friends versus hosting relatives, and it was also determined that the destination types impact VFR hosting. Such findings have provided valuable insights regarding the economic and social benefits of promoting local marketing campaign targeting local residents.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Yousuf, Mohammad
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel is a significant form of travel in terms of global travel numbers. However, research on VFR travel is small relative to its size. In particular, research regarding the role of hosts of VFR travellers in shaping their trips including travel decisions and activities has been examined by few researchers. No previous research explored the differences in hosting between immigrant and non-immigrant local residents despite VFR travel being commonly associated with migration in existing literature. Before this research, the differences between hosting friends and relatives had been neglected, resulting in VFR hosts being treated as one homogenous group. Previous research also failed to empirically test the influence of destination on the hosting of VFRs. Thus, this is the first study examining the hosting of VFRs through combining how migration, relationship types, and destination types, impact VFR travel experiences for hosts. Given that VFR travel is a significant component of Australia’s visitor numbers, and that it comprises a large immigrant population, Australia is a suitable setting for this study. Considering the multi-dimensional elements in the study, the “VFR Whole Tourism Systems Model” was used as the conceptual model for this study. Quantitative research was conducted nationally with 331 residents, collected through an online survey, assessing the differences and similarities in hosting behaviours. Qualitative research was undertaken through in-depth interviews with 34 local residents in three contrasting destinations in Victoria understanding the social interactions between VFR hosts and their visiting friends/relatives. Significant differences were found between immigrants and nonimmigrants regarding attracting VFRs and hosting experiences. Differences were also noted between hosting friends versus hosting relatives, and it was also determined that the destination types impact VFR hosting. Such findings have provided valuable insights regarding the economic and social benefits of promoting local marketing campaign targeting local residents.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The effects of playing Nintendo Wii on depression, sense of belonging, social support, and mood among Australian aged care residents : A pilot study
- Authors: Chesler, Jessica
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Adults aged 65 years or older constitute the fastest growing age group worldwide, leading to greater numbers of people requiring care in residential facilities. Adults in these facilities have higher levels of depression, lower levels of social support, and lower levels of sense of belonging compared with older adults living in the community. Research has begun to assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving the mental health of aged care residents. Within this population, cognitive and physical benefits of playing video games have been documented in the literature, as well as greater social interaction, and decreased loneliness. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of playing Wii bowling twice weekly, with up to 3 other residents, for 6 weeks. An Australian sample of 31 women and 8 men between the ages of 65 and 95 years (Mean age = 85.68, SD = 9.62) were randomised to either a treatment or control group based on their place of residence. The residents completed demographic information, The Veterans Affairs Saint Louis University Mental Status Exam, the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form, the Social Provisions Scale, and three visual analogue scales to measure sense of belonging and mood. These scales were completed pre-intervention (0 weeks), postintervention (6 weeks), and at 2-month follow up (14 weeks). Qualitative data on social interaction between group members was also collected at weeks 1, 3, and 6. Results did not support the use of the Wii to improve residents’ self-reported levels of depression, social support, sense of belonging, or mood. Social interaction increased over the 6 weeks, as measured by interaction analyses and also residents’ comments. Overall, findings indicate that Wii bowling may be a useful intervention as part of a comprehensive care program to increase social interaction within aged care. Pervasive environmental problems associated with aged care, as well as participant characteristics, may have reduced the effectiveness of the intervention program.
- Description: Master of Applied Science by Research (Psychology)
- Authors: Chesler, Jessica
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Adults aged 65 years or older constitute the fastest growing age group worldwide, leading to greater numbers of people requiring care in residential facilities. Adults in these facilities have higher levels of depression, lower levels of social support, and lower levels of sense of belonging compared with older adults living in the community. Research has begun to assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving the mental health of aged care residents. Within this population, cognitive and physical benefits of playing video games have been documented in the literature, as well as greater social interaction, and decreased loneliness. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of playing Wii bowling twice weekly, with up to 3 other residents, for 6 weeks. An Australian sample of 31 women and 8 men between the ages of 65 and 95 years (Mean age = 85.68, SD = 9.62) were randomised to either a treatment or control group based on their place of residence. The residents completed demographic information, The Veterans Affairs Saint Louis University Mental Status Exam, the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form, the Social Provisions Scale, and three visual analogue scales to measure sense of belonging and mood. These scales were completed pre-intervention (0 weeks), postintervention (6 weeks), and at 2-month follow up (14 weeks). Qualitative data on social interaction between group members was also collected at weeks 1, 3, and 6. Results did not support the use of the Wii to improve residents’ self-reported levels of depression, social support, sense of belonging, or mood. Social interaction increased over the 6 weeks, as measured by interaction analyses and also residents’ comments. Overall, findings indicate that Wii bowling may be a useful intervention as part of a comprehensive care program to increase social interaction within aged care. Pervasive environmental problems associated with aged care, as well as participant characteristics, may have reduced the effectiveness of the intervention program.
- Description: Master of Applied Science by Research (Psychology)
Motion picture production : A micro-budget model
- Authors: Owen, Richard
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The film industry plays an important cultural and economic role in Australia. However, the film industry in Australia has struggled for many years under a subsidy-driven government intervention process that creates a high degree of dependence on a subsidy-centric model. Motion picture production costs worldwide have risen dramatically over the last decade with Hollywood production budgets commonly exceeding $100 million. Australia as a nation has a proven capability to produce respectable motion pictures at varying production budgets, although this capacity has become entrenched with taxpayers’ money. Historically, subsidy-driven industries in Australia trend towards collapse due primarily to cyclical fiscal deficits and changing funding imperatives at the Commonwealth level. As a PhD by exegesis, the focus of this research was to create, as well as evaluate, a new model of film production that would not be dependent on subsidies. This study evaluated a number of factors that were relevant to establishing a viable micro-budget model. Micro-budget films have received little research attention, with the focus being on major films. This research examined an alternative model, through the creation of a feature-length micro-budget film, called Stakes, and assessed it across a range of criterion to determine whether Australia’s film industry could be strengthened and potentially become self-sufficient. The resulting motion picture premièred in Australian cinemas on October 29th 2015. The justification, methods and results are discussed in detail throughout this exegesis providing strong evidence in favour of the viability for a micro-budget segment in the Australian film industry. Such a model could reduce the risk of Australia’s film industry collapsing if subsidies are reduced or abolished. Thus, this research has significant implications for Australia’s film industry and also contributes strongly to scholarship through providing crucial information on micro-budget films.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Owen, Richard
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The film industry plays an important cultural and economic role in Australia. However, the film industry in Australia has struggled for many years under a subsidy-driven government intervention process that creates a high degree of dependence on a subsidy-centric model. Motion picture production costs worldwide have risen dramatically over the last decade with Hollywood production budgets commonly exceeding $100 million. Australia as a nation has a proven capability to produce respectable motion pictures at varying production budgets, although this capacity has become entrenched with taxpayers’ money. Historically, subsidy-driven industries in Australia trend towards collapse due primarily to cyclical fiscal deficits and changing funding imperatives at the Commonwealth level. As a PhD by exegesis, the focus of this research was to create, as well as evaluate, a new model of film production that would not be dependent on subsidies. This study evaluated a number of factors that were relevant to establishing a viable micro-budget model. Micro-budget films have received little research attention, with the focus being on major films. This research examined an alternative model, through the creation of a feature-length micro-budget film, called Stakes, and assessed it across a range of criterion to determine whether Australia’s film industry could be strengthened and potentially become self-sufficient. The resulting motion picture premièred in Australian cinemas on October 29th 2015. The justification, methods and results are discussed in detail throughout this exegesis providing strong evidence in favour of the viability for a micro-budget segment in the Australian film industry. Such a model could reduce the risk of Australia’s film industry collapsing if subsidies are reduced or abolished. Thus, this research has significant implications for Australia’s film industry and also contributes strongly to scholarship through providing crucial information on micro-budget films.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Investigations into the ecology and management of the invasive plant Galenia pubescens within the native temperate grasslands of Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Mahmood, Ako
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Plant invasions of natural ecosystems are one of the major threats to the conservation of biological diversity across nearly all biogeographical regions in the world. This thesis focuses on Galenia pubescens (Carpet weed) as a case study of possible approaches to the potential management of environmental weed species. G. pubescens is a woody prostrate perennial plant that is becoming a serious threat to Australian temperate grasslands, surrounding agricultural areas and conservation reserves. It is indigenous to South Africa and was first recorded in Australia in the early 1900s, and it is an aggressive competitor against native species. It is difficult to control, and little information exists about its effects on natural ecosystems, and aspects of its biology and ecology. This study has investigated some important ecological characteristics of G. pubescens’ seeds and has experimented with different management strategies in combination with chemical control. It has also considered the potential for the expansion of the distribution of this species across suitable habitat in Australia under predicted elevated CO2 and drought conditions. Seeds of G. pubescens are shown to be able to germinate over a broad range of temperatures, but short bursts (5 minutes) of high temperatures (80oC to 120oC replicating possible exposures to a fire) reduced seed germination. Seed germination was positively favored by light and declined rapidly in darkness, decreasing by > 80% at a depth of only 0.5 cm in soil. This suggests that fire regimes might be useful in removing mature plants and controlling seed numbers on the surface, and that subsequent native seeding of undisturbed areas may assist in the long-term management of this noxious weed. A trial was conducted to determine the effect of treatment with a plant essential oil (pine oil) to limit the seed germination and seedling emergence of G. pubescens. This trial showed that the effects of pine oil application were significant (P<0.05). Germination was completely inhibited by application of pine oil at 5% or higher concentrations directly to seeds, and seedling emergence was reduced by between 90 and 100% in pot trials. These outcomes demonstrate the potential viability of pine oil as a long-term control option for this species. In field-based experiments, control strategies including herbicide control with glyphosate, organic herbicide control with pine oil, the application of mulch, and the addition of native seeds to the available seedbank (and all possible combinations of these techniques), were tested. The study showed that one single treatment of a G. pubescens infestation without undertaking a secondary treatment is insufficient to control the G. pubescens infestation or to encourage native regeneration, but that a combined strategy, employing all the aforementioned techniques, is more effective. It is however suggested that full regeneration of the area may not be possible unless further restoration programs are instituted after the cycle of G. pubescens’ treatment has been completed. The thesis also assessed the control effects of chemical control combined with a prescribed spring burning. Assessment of the resulting aboveground vegetation of G. pubescens has shown that a combination of chemical control and late-spring burning can reduce the cover of non-native species such as G. pubescens, suggesting that this could be a useful tool in their management. Finally, this study has supported the view that the growth of G. pubescens will be significantly enhanced in a future climate with an enriched atmospheric CO2 concentration. These climatic changes will have important implications for management of this noxious weed in the future.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Mahmood, Ako
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Plant invasions of natural ecosystems are one of the major threats to the conservation of biological diversity across nearly all biogeographical regions in the world. This thesis focuses on Galenia pubescens (Carpet weed) as a case study of possible approaches to the potential management of environmental weed species. G. pubescens is a woody prostrate perennial plant that is becoming a serious threat to Australian temperate grasslands, surrounding agricultural areas and conservation reserves. It is indigenous to South Africa and was first recorded in Australia in the early 1900s, and it is an aggressive competitor against native species. It is difficult to control, and little information exists about its effects on natural ecosystems, and aspects of its biology and ecology. This study has investigated some important ecological characteristics of G. pubescens’ seeds and has experimented with different management strategies in combination with chemical control. It has also considered the potential for the expansion of the distribution of this species across suitable habitat in Australia under predicted elevated CO2 and drought conditions. Seeds of G. pubescens are shown to be able to germinate over a broad range of temperatures, but short bursts (5 minutes) of high temperatures (80oC to 120oC replicating possible exposures to a fire) reduced seed germination. Seed germination was positively favored by light and declined rapidly in darkness, decreasing by > 80% at a depth of only 0.5 cm in soil. This suggests that fire regimes might be useful in removing mature plants and controlling seed numbers on the surface, and that subsequent native seeding of undisturbed areas may assist in the long-term management of this noxious weed. A trial was conducted to determine the effect of treatment with a plant essential oil (pine oil) to limit the seed germination and seedling emergence of G. pubescens. This trial showed that the effects of pine oil application were significant (P<0.05). Germination was completely inhibited by application of pine oil at 5% or higher concentrations directly to seeds, and seedling emergence was reduced by between 90 and 100% in pot trials. These outcomes demonstrate the potential viability of pine oil as a long-term control option for this species. In field-based experiments, control strategies including herbicide control with glyphosate, organic herbicide control with pine oil, the application of mulch, and the addition of native seeds to the available seedbank (and all possible combinations of these techniques), were tested. The study showed that one single treatment of a G. pubescens infestation without undertaking a secondary treatment is insufficient to control the G. pubescens infestation or to encourage native regeneration, but that a combined strategy, employing all the aforementioned techniques, is more effective. It is however suggested that full regeneration of the area may not be possible unless further restoration programs are instituted after the cycle of G. pubescens’ treatment has been completed. The thesis also assessed the control effects of chemical control combined with a prescribed spring burning. Assessment of the resulting aboveground vegetation of G. pubescens has shown that a combination of chemical control and late-spring burning can reduce the cover of non-native species such as G. pubescens, suggesting that this could be a useful tool in their management. Finally, this study has supported the view that the growth of G. pubescens will be significantly enhanced in a future climate with an enriched atmospheric CO2 concentration. These climatic changes will have important implications for management of this noxious weed in the future.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Assessing productive soil - landscapes in Victoria using digital soil mapping
- Authors: Robinson, Nathan
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Spatial soil information is used to support questions on agriculture and the environment from global to local scales. Historically, soil mapping has been used to inform and guide a multitude of land users with their decisions. Demand for specific spatial soil information is increasing in response from a wider range of users operating across agricultural and environmental domains. To satisfy these demands, users must be provided with practical and relevant spatial soil information. Novel approaches are required to deal with global deficiencies in available soil information. A major limitation to this is the plethora of incongruent legacy data with poor spatial and temporal coverage. This research study initially identifies the specific needs of users for spatial soil information with a focus on the requirements of biophysical modellers. Secondly, error sources that hamper Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) are identified, described and assessed using pH in practical and relevant examples. A final aim is to spatially predict soil properties (e.g. clay mineralogy) that underpin soil chemical behaviour. This is achieved by harmonising legacy data in combination with new spectroscopy techniques and a spatial inference approach. The spatial soil information needs of biophysical modellers in Victoria, Australia were found to be consistent with global needs for information including soil water characteristics, organic carbon and effective rooting depth. To accommodate stochastic and epistemic uncertainties in spatial soil information, uncertainty frameworks proved effective to deal with, and understand the limitations of legacy data in spatial inference models. Robust and reliable spectroscopic models for properties that are linked to functions and services delivered by soil were achieved and used in 3D spatial models. These findings will enable a tactical response through the delivery of pertinent spatial soil information that is contemporary, quality assured and sought by users. Learnings presented should enable producers of spatial soil information to be more comprehensive in their delivery of products that are easy to use, accessible and understood by a growing user community.
- Description: Doctor of Philosphy
- Authors: Robinson, Nathan
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Spatial soil information is used to support questions on agriculture and the environment from global to local scales. Historically, soil mapping has been used to inform and guide a multitude of land users with their decisions. Demand for specific spatial soil information is increasing in response from a wider range of users operating across agricultural and environmental domains. To satisfy these demands, users must be provided with practical and relevant spatial soil information. Novel approaches are required to deal with global deficiencies in available soil information. A major limitation to this is the plethora of incongruent legacy data with poor spatial and temporal coverage. This research study initially identifies the specific needs of users for spatial soil information with a focus on the requirements of biophysical modellers. Secondly, error sources that hamper Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) are identified, described and assessed using pH in practical and relevant examples. A final aim is to spatially predict soil properties (e.g. clay mineralogy) that underpin soil chemical behaviour. This is achieved by harmonising legacy data in combination with new spectroscopy techniques and a spatial inference approach. The spatial soil information needs of biophysical modellers in Victoria, Australia were found to be consistent with global needs for information including soil water characteristics, organic carbon and effective rooting depth. To accommodate stochastic and epistemic uncertainties in spatial soil information, uncertainty frameworks proved effective to deal with, and understand the limitations of legacy data in spatial inference models. Robust and reliable spectroscopic models for properties that are linked to functions and services delivered by soil were achieved and used in 3D spatial models. These findings will enable a tactical response through the delivery of pertinent spatial soil information that is contemporary, quality assured and sought by users. Learnings presented should enable producers of spatial soil information to be more comprehensive in their delivery of products that are easy to use, accessible and understood by a growing user community.
- Description: Doctor of Philosphy
The contribution of silverfish (insecta: zygentoma) to Australian invertebrate biodiversity and endemism
- Authors: Smith, Graeme
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Silverfish (Order Zygentoma) are quite abundant in Australia but have been largely overlooked. This thesis examines the biodiversity of the Australian fauna at the level of genus, describing at least one representative species from each named genus and some new genera. The endemism of the fauna is evaluated and likely zoogeographic origins proposed. Over 4000 specimens were examined, either collected by the author, borrowed from or examined within museum collections or supplied by organisations and individuals conducting fauna surveys. Twenty- seven new native species are described and two redescribed, bringing the number of named species recorded in Australia to 74. Five new genera are described and four additional genera recorded in Australia for the first time including autochthonous representatives of three subfamilies previously unrecognised as native to Australia (Acrotelsatinae, Lepismatinae and Coletiniinae). No representatives of the families Maindroniidae, Tricholepidiidae and Protrinemuridae were found. The subfamily Acrotelsatinae was redefined following a revision of the enigmatic genus Anisolepisma Paclt, 1967 with the unique structure of the thoracic sterna identified as diagnostic for the subfamily. Contrary to existing opinion, it is suggested that this is a fundamentally different and plesiomorphic character, rather than an apomorphic reduction of the free thoracic sterna. A monograph of the Australian Zygentoma is presented, including a summary of the biology of the order, a key to and diagnoses of the genera, as well as information on the known habitat and distribution of each genus and a discussion of their zoogeography. At the suprageneric level the fauna is less diverse than seen in other zoogeographic regions but appears to be rich in the number of species. The fauna displays a high degree of endemism with 91% of described species and 52% of the genera known only from Australia. Some genera appear to be ancient and probably represent a Pangean element in the Australian fauna. Others appear to have emerged in the late Jurassic when Africa was still joined to Gondwana, while some may have appeared in the Cretaceous or Palaeocene when Australia and South America were connected to Gondwana. More recent links with the Asian fauna are limited and there appears to be no widespread highly mobile global species other than the six introduced anthropophilic species. Maps of the worldwide distribution records extracted from the taxonomic literature are used to discuss the zoogeography of the subfamilies and tribes present in Australia. Molecular data using two mitochondrial genes (16S and COI) as well as a nuclear gene (28S) were compared with detailed morphological and morphometric analysis to examine populations initially determined as Heterolepisma sclerophylla or close to it. Distances of 0.9– 1.8% or greater in 28S, and 7.2–14% in COI were associated with morphologically distinct species. A southern Queensland population was found to be genetically, morphometrically and morphologically very distinct from those collected in NSW and was described as new (Heterolepisma sp. B). Six well-defined barcode clusters (“lineages”) were identified within the NSW populations, each with >4% divergence in COI sequences and each geographically restricted. Intracluster divergences are also large, and despite the well-supported phylogeny no clear “barcode gap” (distinction between intracluster and intercluster distances) was found for three of the six NSW populations. The 28S data distinguished only four of the six COI clusters from NSW with essentially no variation within each cluster. The 28S data generally aligned well with morphological evidence, clearly identifying Heterolepisma sp. B as a distinct species, and supporting also the description of Heterolepisma sp. A even though it only appears to differ from H. sclerophylla in the number of styli. Similar genetic distances are observed in 28S data for H. sclerophylla populations from North Nowra, Glenbrook/Burralow/Nattai and Megalong, however the Broulee and Wellington populations have identical 28S sequences. The low levels of variation in 28S sequences between NSW populations accord with the lack of unambiguous morphological differences.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Smith, Graeme
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Silverfish (Order Zygentoma) are quite abundant in Australia but have been largely overlooked. This thesis examines the biodiversity of the Australian fauna at the level of genus, describing at least one representative species from each named genus and some new genera. The endemism of the fauna is evaluated and likely zoogeographic origins proposed. Over 4000 specimens were examined, either collected by the author, borrowed from or examined within museum collections or supplied by organisations and individuals conducting fauna surveys. Twenty- seven new native species are described and two redescribed, bringing the number of named species recorded in Australia to 74. Five new genera are described and four additional genera recorded in Australia for the first time including autochthonous representatives of three subfamilies previously unrecognised as native to Australia (Acrotelsatinae, Lepismatinae and Coletiniinae). No representatives of the families Maindroniidae, Tricholepidiidae and Protrinemuridae were found. The subfamily Acrotelsatinae was redefined following a revision of the enigmatic genus Anisolepisma Paclt, 1967 with the unique structure of the thoracic sterna identified as diagnostic for the subfamily. Contrary to existing opinion, it is suggested that this is a fundamentally different and plesiomorphic character, rather than an apomorphic reduction of the free thoracic sterna. A monograph of the Australian Zygentoma is presented, including a summary of the biology of the order, a key to and diagnoses of the genera, as well as information on the known habitat and distribution of each genus and a discussion of their zoogeography. At the suprageneric level the fauna is less diverse than seen in other zoogeographic regions but appears to be rich in the number of species. The fauna displays a high degree of endemism with 91% of described species and 52% of the genera known only from Australia. Some genera appear to be ancient and probably represent a Pangean element in the Australian fauna. Others appear to have emerged in the late Jurassic when Africa was still joined to Gondwana, while some may have appeared in the Cretaceous or Palaeocene when Australia and South America were connected to Gondwana. More recent links with the Asian fauna are limited and there appears to be no widespread highly mobile global species other than the six introduced anthropophilic species. Maps of the worldwide distribution records extracted from the taxonomic literature are used to discuss the zoogeography of the subfamilies and tribes present in Australia. Molecular data using two mitochondrial genes (16S and COI) as well as a nuclear gene (28S) were compared with detailed morphological and morphometric analysis to examine populations initially determined as Heterolepisma sclerophylla or close to it. Distances of 0.9– 1.8% or greater in 28S, and 7.2–14% in COI were associated with morphologically distinct species. A southern Queensland population was found to be genetically, morphometrically and morphologically very distinct from those collected in NSW and was described as new (Heterolepisma sp. B). Six well-defined barcode clusters (“lineages”) were identified within the NSW populations, each with >4% divergence in COI sequences and each geographically restricted. Intracluster divergences are also large, and despite the well-supported phylogeny no clear “barcode gap” (distinction between intracluster and intercluster distances) was found for three of the six NSW populations. The 28S data distinguished only four of the six COI clusters from NSW with essentially no variation within each cluster. The 28S data generally aligned well with morphological evidence, clearly identifying Heterolepisma sp. B as a distinct species, and supporting also the description of Heterolepisma sp. A even though it only appears to differ from H. sclerophylla in the number of styli. Similar genetic distances are observed in 28S data for H. sclerophylla populations from North Nowra, Glenbrook/Burralow/Nattai and Megalong, however the Broulee and Wellington populations have identical 28S sequences. The low levels of variation in 28S sequences between NSW populations accord with the lack of unambiguous morphological differences.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Rainfall prediction in Australia : Clusterwise linear regression approach
- Authors: Mahmood, Arshad
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Accurate rainfall prediction is a challenging task because of the complex physical processes involved. This complexity is compounded in Australia as the climate can be highly variable. Accurate rainfall prediction is immensely benecial for making informed policy, planning and management decisions, and can assist with the most sustainable operation of water resource systems. Short-term prediction of rainfall is provided by meteorological services; however, the intermediate to long-term prediction of rainfall remains challenging and contains much uncertainty. Many prediction approaches have been proposed in the literature, including statistical and computational intelligence approaches. However, finding a method to model the complex physical process of rainfall, especially in Australia where the climate is highly variable, is still a major challenge. The aims of this study are to: (a) develop an optimization based clusterwise linear regression method, (b) develop new prediction methods based on clusterwise linear regression, (c) assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models in predicting monthly and weekly rainfall in Australia, (d) determine the combined influence of meteorological variables on rainfall prediction in Australia, and (e) carry out a comparative analysis of new and existing prediction techniques using Australian rainfall data. In this study, rainfall data with five input meteorological variables from 24 geographically diverse weather stations in Australia, over the period January 1970 to December 2014, have been taken from the Scientific Information for Land Owners (SILO). We also consider the climate zones when selecting weather stations, because Australia experiences a variety of climates due to its size. The data was divided into training and testing periods for evaluation purposes. In this study, optimization based clusterwise linear regression is modified and new prediction methods are developed for rainfall prediction. The proposed method is applied to predict monthly and weekly rainfall. The prediction performance of the clusterwise linear regression method was evaluated by comparing observed and predicted rainfall values using the performance measures: root mean squared error, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute scaled error and the Nash-Sutclie coefficient of efficiency. The proposed method is also compared with the clusterwise linear regression based on the maximum likelihood estimation, linear support vector machines for regression, support vector machines for regression with radial basis kernel function, multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks with and without hidden layer and k-nearest neighbours methods using computational results. Initially, to determine the appropriate input variables to be used in the investigation, we assessed all combinations of meteorological variables. The results confirm that single meteorological variables alone are unable to predict rainfall accurately. The prediction performance of all selected models was improved by adding the input variables in most locations. To assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models and to compare the prediction performance of models, we trained models with the best combination of input variables and predicted monthly and weekly rainfall over the test periods. The results of this analysis confirm that the prediction performance of all selected models varied considerably with geographic regions for both weekly and monthly rainfall predictions. It is found that models have the lowest prediction error in the desert climate zone and highest in subtropical and tropical zones. The results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding the patterns and trends of the observations for monthly and weekly rainfall predictions in all geographic regions. In desert, tropical and subtropical climate zones, the proposed method outperform other methods in most locations for both monthly and weekly rainfall predictions. In temperate and grassland zones the prediction performance of the proposed model is better in some locations while in the remaining locations it is slightly lower than the other models.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Description: Accurate rainfall prediction is a challenging task because of the complex physical processes involved. This complexity is compounded in Australia as the climate can be highly variable. Accurate rainfall prediction is immensely benecial for making informed policy, planning and management decisions, and can assist with the most sustainable operation of water resource systems. Short-term prediction of rainfall is provided by meteorological services; however, the intermediate to long-term prediction of rainfall remains challenging and contains much uncertainty. Many prediction approaches have been proposed in the literature, including statistical and computational intelligence approaches. However, finding a method to model the complex physical process of rainfall, especially in Australia where the climate is highly variable, is still a major challenge. The aims of this study are to: (a) develop an optimization based clusterwise linear regression method, (b) develop new prediction methods based on clusterwise linear regression, (c) assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models in predicting monthly and weekly rainfall in Australia, (d) determine the combined influence of meteorological variables on rainfall prediction in Australia, and (e) carry out a comparative analysis of new and existing prediction techniques using Australian rainfall data. In this study, rainfall data with five input meteorological variables from 24 geographically diverse weather stations in Australia, over the period January 1970 to December 2014, have been taken from the Scientific Information for Land Owners (SILO). We also consider the climate zones when selecting weather stations, because Australia experiences a variety of climates due to its size. The data was divided into training and testing periods for evaluation purposes. In this study, optimization based clusterwise linear regression is modified and new prediction methods are developed for rainfall prediction. The proposed method is applied to predict monthly and weekly rainfall. The prediction performance of the clusterwise linear regression method was evaluated by comparing observed and predicted rainfall values using the performance measures: root mean squared error, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute scaled error and the Nash-Sutclie coefficient of efficiency. The proposed method is also compared with the clusterwise linear regression based on the maximum likelihood estimation, linear support vector machines for regression, support vector machines for regression with radial basis kernel function, multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks with and without hidden layer and k-nearest neighbors methods using computational results. Initially, to determine the appropriate input variables to be used in the investigation, we assessed all combinations of meteorological variables. The results confirm that single meteorological variables alone are unable to predict rainfall accurately. The prediction performance of all selected models was improved by adding the input variables in most locations. To assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models and to compare the prediction performance of models, we trained models with the best combination of input variables and predicted monthly and weekly rainfall over the test periods. The results of this analysis confirm that the prediction performance of all selected models varied considerably with geographic regions for both weekly and monthly rainfall predictions. It is found that models have the lowest prediction error in the desert climate zone and highest in subtropical and tropical zones. The results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding the patterns and trends of the observations for monthly and weekly rainfall predictions in all geographic regions. In desert, tropical and subtropical climate zones, the proposed method outperform other methods in most locations for both monthly and weekly rainfall predictions. In temperate and grassland zones the prediction performance of the proposed model is better in some locations while in the remaining locations it is slightly lower than the other models.
- Authors: Mahmood, Arshad
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Accurate rainfall prediction is a challenging task because of the complex physical processes involved. This complexity is compounded in Australia as the climate can be highly variable. Accurate rainfall prediction is immensely benecial for making informed policy, planning and management decisions, and can assist with the most sustainable operation of water resource systems. Short-term prediction of rainfall is provided by meteorological services; however, the intermediate to long-term prediction of rainfall remains challenging and contains much uncertainty. Many prediction approaches have been proposed in the literature, including statistical and computational intelligence approaches. However, finding a method to model the complex physical process of rainfall, especially in Australia where the climate is highly variable, is still a major challenge. The aims of this study are to: (a) develop an optimization based clusterwise linear regression method, (b) develop new prediction methods based on clusterwise linear regression, (c) assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models in predicting monthly and weekly rainfall in Australia, (d) determine the combined influence of meteorological variables on rainfall prediction in Australia, and (e) carry out a comparative analysis of new and existing prediction techniques using Australian rainfall data. In this study, rainfall data with five input meteorological variables from 24 geographically diverse weather stations in Australia, over the period January 1970 to December 2014, have been taken from the Scientific Information for Land Owners (SILO). We also consider the climate zones when selecting weather stations, because Australia experiences a variety of climates due to its size. The data was divided into training and testing periods for evaluation purposes. In this study, optimization based clusterwise linear regression is modified and new prediction methods are developed for rainfall prediction. The proposed method is applied to predict monthly and weekly rainfall. The prediction performance of the clusterwise linear regression method was evaluated by comparing observed and predicted rainfall values using the performance measures: root mean squared error, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute scaled error and the Nash-Sutclie coefficient of efficiency. The proposed method is also compared with the clusterwise linear regression based on the maximum likelihood estimation, linear support vector machines for regression, support vector machines for regression with radial basis kernel function, multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks with and without hidden layer and k-nearest neighbours methods using computational results. Initially, to determine the appropriate input variables to be used in the investigation, we assessed all combinations of meteorological variables. The results confirm that single meteorological variables alone are unable to predict rainfall accurately. The prediction performance of all selected models was improved by adding the input variables in most locations. To assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models and to compare the prediction performance of models, we trained models with the best combination of input variables and predicted monthly and weekly rainfall over the test periods. The results of this analysis confirm that the prediction performance of all selected models varied considerably with geographic regions for both weekly and monthly rainfall predictions. It is found that models have the lowest prediction error in the desert climate zone and highest in subtropical and tropical zones. The results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding the patterns and trends of the observations for monthly and weekly rainfall predictions in all geographic regions. In desert, tropical and subtropical climate zones, the proposed method outperform other methods in most locations for both monthly and weekly rainfall predictions. In temperate and grassland zones the prediction performance of the proposed model is better in some locations while in the remaining locations it is slightly lower than the other models.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Description: Accurate rainfall prediction is a challenging task because of the complex physical processes involved. This complexity is compounded in Australia as the climate can be highly variable. Accurate rainfall prediction is immensely benecial for making informed policy, planning and management decisions, and can assist with the most sustainable operation of water resource systems. Short-term prediction of rainfall is provided by meteorological services; however, the intermediate to long-term prediction of rainfall remains challenging and contains much uncertainty. Many prediction approaches have been proposed in the literature, including statistical and computational intelligence approaches. However, finding a method to model the complex physical process of rainfall, especially in Australia where the climate is highly variable, is still a major challenge. The aims of this study are to: (a) develop an optimization based clusterwise linear regression method, (b) develop new prediction methods based on clusterwise linear regression, (c) assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models in predicting monthly and weekly rainfall in Australia, (d) determine the combined influence of meteorological variables on rainfall prediction in Australia, and (e) carry out a comparative analysis of new and existing prediction techniques using Australian rainfall data. In this study, rainfall data with five input meteorological variables from 24 geographically diverse weather stations in Australia, over the period January 1970 to December 2014, have been taken from the Scientific Information for Land Owners (SILO). We also consider the climate zones when selecting weather stations, because Australia experiences a variety of climates due to its size. The data was divided into training and testing periods for evaluation purposes. In this study, optimization based clusterwise linear regression is modified and new prediction methods are developed for rainfall prediction. The proposed method is applied to predict monthly and weekly rainfall. The prediction performance of the clusterwise linear regression method was evaluated by comparing observed and predicted rainfall values using the performance measures: root mean squared error, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute scaled error and the Nash-Sutclie coefficient of efficiency. The proposed method is also compared with the clusterwise linear regression based on the maximum likelihood estimation, linear support vector machines for regression, support vector machines for regression with radial basis kernel function, multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks with and without hidden layer and k-nearest neighbors methods using computational results. Initially, to determine the appropriate input variables to be used in the investigation, we assessed all combinations of meteorological variables. The results confirm that single meteorological variables alone are unable to predict rainfall accurately. The prediction performance of all selected models was improved by adding the input variables in most locations. To assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models and to compare the prediction performance of models, we trained models with the best combination of input variables and predicted monthly and weekly rainfall over the test periods. The results of this analysis confirm that the prediction performance of all selected models varied considerably with geographic regions for both weekly and monthly rainfall predictions. It is found that models have the lowest prediction error in the desert climate zone and highest in subtropical and tropical zones. The results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding the patterns and trends of the observations for monthly and weekly rainfall predictions in all geographic regions. In desert, tropical and subtropical climate zones, the proposed method outperform other methods in most locations for both monthly and weekly rainfall predictions. In temperate and grassland zones the prediction performance of the proposed model is better in some locations while in the remaining locations it is slightly lower than the other models.
An experimental investigation into the drainage properties of coarse Loy Yang pond ash
- Authors: Stipcevich, Jack
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The Latrobe Valley mines, Victoria, Australia, are facing some major challenges as they approach the end of their mining life. Most of these challenges surround current rehabilitation practice and the ability to create safe and stable landforms for future land uses well after the mines have closed. As there has been no developed alternative use for the brown coal at this stage, stopping power generation leads to the cessation of mining. AGL Loy Yang is undertaking rehabilitation cover trials on exposed coal batters to investigate optimal cover materials that will enable safe and stable batters well beyond mine closure. A series of rehabilitation trials using coarse coal ash have been constructed by AGL to assess the performance of coarse coal ash as a ‘subsurface drainage layer’. One of the trials includes the use of a 1 metre coarse coal ash layer placed below a 1 metre thick clay cover and above a coal surface shaped to approximately 18 degrees (1V:3H). Without a drainage layer, water may percolate through the clay cover or seep through the intact brown coal, resulting in a build of pore water pressure at the coal – clay interface and increasing the potential for slope failure. The aim of this research work was to assess the spatial distribution of ash properties known to affect drainage behaviour at the field scale; to test and calibrate field-monitoring equipment that can be used to assess drainage behaviour at the field-scale; to provide recommendations for further research on the use of coal ash drainage layer; and to provide a benchmark for future testing and monitoring. Through an experimental investigation, it was shown that there no significant variation exists in the coarse fraction of Loy Yang pond ash’s physical and chemical properties. Monitoring equipment used to determine the field drainage performance of the ash included a T8 Tensiometer and EnviroPro (multi-capacitance sensor) that were calibrated and tested in the laboratory. It was determined that monitoring devices used in this study were suitable for measuring the ash’s hydraulic behaviour only once calibrations had been performed. As a result the tested field equipment were included in the design of a future monitoring program.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: Stipcevich, Jack
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The Latrobe Valley mines, Victoria, Australia, are facing some major challenges as they approach the end of their mining life. Most of these challenges surround current rehabilitation practice and the ability to create safe and stable landforms for future land uses well after the mines have closed. As there has been no developed alternative use for the brown coal at this stage, stopping power generation leads to the cessation of mining. AGL Loy Yang is undertaking rehabilitation cover trials on exposed coal batters to investigate optimal cover materials that will enable safe and stable batters well beyond mine closure. A series of rehabilitation trials using coarse coal ash have been constructed by AGL to assess the performance of coarse coal ash as a ‘subsurface drainage layer’. One of the trials includes the use of a 1 metre coarse coal ash layer placed below a 1 metre thick clay cover and above a coal surface shaped to approximately 18 degrees (1V:3H). Without a drainage layer, water may percolate through the clay cover or seep through the intact brown coal, resulting in a build of pore water pressure at the coal – clay interface and increasing the potential for slope failure. The aim of this research work was to assess the spatial distribution of ash properties known to affect drainage behaviour at the field scale; to test and calibrate field-monitoring equipment that can be used to assess drainage behaviour at the field-scale; to provide recommendations for further research on the use of coal ash drainage layer; and to provide a benchmark for future testing and monitoring. Through an experimental investigation, it was shown that there no significant variation exists in the coarse fraction of Loy Yang pond ash’s physical and chemical properties. Monitoring equipment used to determine the field drainage performance of the ash included a T8 Tensiometer and EnviroPro (multi-capacitance sensor) that were calibrated and tested in the laboratory. It was determined that monitoring devices used in this study were suitable for measuring the ash’s hydraulic behaviour only once calibrations had been performed. As a result the tested field equipment were included in the design of a future monitoring program.
- Description: Masters by Research
A financial stress index to model and forecast financial stress in Australia
- Authors: Mukulu, Sandra
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The series of financial crises that cascaded through and rocked much of the world over the past decade created opportunities to draw meaning from the pattern of countries succumbing to crisis and those who appear to be wholly or partially immune. This thesis examines the case of Australia, a developed country that has seldom experienced an endogenous crisis in the last few decades, but has experienced crisis by contagion. This study designs a financial stress index to measure and forecast the health of the Australian economy and proposes a custom-made stress index to: Gauge the potential for a crisis; and Signal when a timely intervention may minimise fear and contagion losses in the Australian financial market. Financial and economic data is used to design indicators for stress in the banking sector and equity, currency and bond markets. Further, this study explores how movements in equity markets of key trading partners of Australia can be used to predict movements in the Australian equity market. The variance-equal weights (VEW) and principal components approach (PCA) are used to subsume 22 stress indicators into a composite stress index. The VEW and PCA stress indexes were examined to determine monitoring and their forecasting capabilities. It was found that the VEW stress index performed better than the PCA stress index, because it provided more consistent estimates for the level of Australian financial stress. Although, both models show some promise, each model fell short of giving adequate forecasts in financial stress especially at the peak time of the 2007-2009 GFC. Thus, more research is needed to understand the complex nature of financial crisis, how crises develop and the techniques that can be used to predict the onset of financial crises.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Mukulu, Sandra
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The series of financial crises that cascaded through and rocked much of the world over the past decade created opportunities to draw meaning from the pattern of countries succumbing to crisis and those who appear to be wholly or partially immune. This thesis examines the case of Australia, a developed country that has seldom experienced an endogenous crisis in the last few decades, but has experienced crisis by contagion. This study designs a financial stress index to measure and forecast the health of the Australian economy and proposes a custom-made stress index to: Gauge the potential for a crisis; and Signal when a timely intervention may minimise fear and contagion losses in the Australian financial market. Financial and economic data is used to design indicators for stress in the banking sector and equity, currency and bond markets. Further, this study explores how movements in equity markets of key trading partners of Australia can be used to predict movements in the Australian equity market. The variance-equal weights (VEW) and principal components approach (PCA) are used to subsume 22 stress indicators into a composite stress index. The VEW and PCA stress indexes were examined to determine monitoring and their forecasting capabilities. It was found that the VEW stress index performed better than the PCA stress index, because it provided more consistent estimates for the level of Australian financial stress. Although, both models show some promise, each model fell short of giving adequate forecasts in financial stress especially at the peak time of the 2007-2009 GFC. Thus, more research is needed to understand the complex nature of financial crisis, how crises develop and the techniques that can be used to predict the onset of financial crises.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Injury epidemiology among Australian female cricketers
- Authors: Perera, Nirmala
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Cricket is a male-dominated sport; however, its popularity among females is increasing. Like other sports, participation in cricket poses the risk of injury to players. Injury problems for female cricketers are virtually unknown, as studies examining cricket injuries include almost exclusively male participants. In other sports, the types of injuries experienced by men and women are known to be different. Therefore, a clear understanding of the extent and types of injuries sustained by female cricket players is required, to underpin appropriately targeted injury prevention strategies. This thesis provides the first detailed epidemiological profile of cricket injuries sustained by women, by: 1. conducting a systematic review describing injuries in competitive team bat or stick sports in women, to enable cricket injuries to be viewed within the perspective of wider, but relevant, injury data, 2. evaluating existing data sources relating to hospital admissions from Victoria and Queensland and successful insurance claims across Australia, 3. examining the nature and incidence of cricket injuries in elite female players using Cricket Australia’s Athlete Management System, and 4. conducting a nationwide self-report survey of injuries during the 2014–15 season. This PhD research represents participants from different levels of play, across age groups and across Australia. The findings indicate that incidence of injuries for female cricketers were higher than expected based on previous findings in comparable sports, except when considered in relation to insurance claims. The cricket injury rate across hospital presentations, insurance claims, the AMS (Fair Play AMS 2016) and self-reported survey data, each of which represents different level of the sports injury pyramid, identified all-rounders and pace bowlers as having a higher incidence of injury than players in other positions. The highest frequency of reported injuries were in the head, hands, knees and ankles. The nature of the most common injuries were dislocations/sprains/strains, fractures, muscle injury, joint injury and gradual onset injuries. At the elite-level, lumber spine stress fractures accounted for a significant amount of time-loss from the sport. In this thesis, findings from the insurance claims, self-reported survey and AMS (Fair Play AMS 2016) data indicated that most injuries were of a low severity and were more likely to be treated outside of healthcare facilities such as hospitals. In summary, patterns of the most common injuries, in terms of anatomical location and nature of the injuries, were consistent throughout community-level players with some similarities to elite-level players. However, the injury mechanisms and risk factors may differ depending on the level of competition and player’s skill. Recommendations are that ongoing injury surveillance should be conducted at all levels of the sport, and surveillance methodology should be tailored to the specific setting, personnel and available resources. Therefore, before implementing an injury surveillance system at the community-level of the sport, more research is needed to fully understand what type of injury surveillance system might be feasible and suitable in this context.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Perera, Nirmala
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Cricket is a male-dominated sport; however, its popularity among females is increasing. Like other sports, participation in cricket poses the risk of injury to players. Injury problems for female cricketers are virtually unknown, as studies examining cricket injuries include almost exclusively male participants. In other sports, the types of injuries experienced by men and women are known to be different. Therefore, a clear understanding of the extent and types of injuries sustained by female cricket players is required, to underpin appropriately targeted injury prevention strategies. This thesis provides the first detailed epidemiological profile of cricket injuries sustained by women, by: 1. conducting a systematic review describing injuries in competitive team bat or stick sports in women, to enable cricket injuries to be viewed within the perspective of wider, but relevant, injury data, 2. evaluating existing data sources relating to hospital admissions from Victoria and Queensland and successful insurance claims across Australia, 3. examining the nature and incidence of cricket injuries in elite female players using Cricket Australia’s Athlete Management System, and 4. conducting a nationwide self-report survey of injuries during the 2014–15 season. This PhD research represents participants from different levels of play, across age groups and across Australia. The findings indicate that incidence of injuries for female cricketers were higher than expected based on previous findings in comparable sports, except when considered in relation to insurance claims. The cricket injury rate across hospital presentations, insurance claims, the AMS (Fair Play AMS 2016) and self-reported survey data, each of which represents different level of the sports injury pyramid, identified all-rounders and pace bowlers as having a higher incidence of injury than players in other positions. The highest frequency of reported injuries were in the head, hands, knees and ankles. The nature of the most common injuries were dislocations/sprains/strains, fractures, muscle injury, joint injury and gradual onset injuries. At the elite-level, lumber spine stress fractures accounted for a significant amount of time-loss from the sport. In this thesis, findings from the insurance claims, self-reported survey and AMS (Fair Play AMS 2016) data indicated that most injuries were of a low severity and were more likely to be treated outside of healthcare facilities such as hospitals. In summary, patterns of the most common injuries, in terms of anatomical location and nature of the injuries, were consistent throughout community-level players with some similarities to elite-level players. However, the injury mechanisms and risk factors may differ depending on the level of competition and player’s skill. Recommendations are that ongoing injury surveillance should be conducted at all levels of the sport, and surveillance methodology should be tailored to the specific setting, personnel and available resources. Therefore, before implementing an injury surveillance system at the community-level of the sport, more research is needed to fully understand what type of injury surveillance system might be feasible and suitable in this context.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Algae-based models to configure consumptive flows for ecological benefit in the highly regulated MacKenzie River, south-east Australia
- Authors: Atazadeh, Ehsan
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Many river ecosystems, especially those in arid and semi-arid, are experiencing severe stress due to the increasing demands on the ecosystem services they provide, coupled with anthropogenic catchment impacts and factors associated with climate change and weather extremes. The flow regime of the Mackenzie River was substantially modified since the construction of a water supply reservoir on its upper reach in 1887. Water is now regulated at several locations downstream of the reservoir, creating a substantially modified flow regime, impacting key environmental values of the river. The river receives an environmental flow allocation and the river channel is used to transfer water dedicated for consumptive use. Water Quality and algal monitoring formed the basis of models that were developed evaluate the ecological condition of this working river under base flow and before, during and after freshes that deliver water to users. Samples of diatoms, soft algae and measurements of water quality were analysed at ten sampling sites for three years (between February 2012 and November 2014) along the MacKenzie River in different seasons and under different flow regimes to understand the spatial and temporal variation in the relationship between algal communities and water quality, and so stream condition. Baseline information on algal communities and water quality was collected during base flow conditions, while experiments on the effect of water releases on algal communities were based on flow regime variations (manipulated flow regimes), specifically on the algae community structure, water quality and ecosystem function. These comprised cease to flow (0 ML/day), low flows (10-15 ML/day), freshes (35-40 ML/day) and high flow (55ML/day) conditions. Physical and chemical characteristics of water, including pH, temperature, turbidity, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen, phosphorus and cations and anions were measured. Biological properties of the algal periphyton communities, including dry mass, ash-free dry mass, chlorophyll-a concentration and species composition, were also measured. Furthermore, the DSIAR (Diatom Species Index for Australian Rivers) score was calculated to classify the condition of the waterway. The results showed the algal species composition changed under different flow regimes along the river. The sensitivity of diatoms to changes in water quality and flow rates deemed them useful indicators of river condition. The results indicated that flows tended to improve DSIAR scores and diatoms versus green algae and cyanobacteria biomass measures in the mid and lower reaches. The biological properties of the algal periphyton communities, and the species composition, varied between sites under different flow regimes. The accumulation of dry mass (not ash-free) decreased downstream during freshes, however the accumulation of AFDM (ash-free dry mass) gradually increased downstream. The results showed that the concentration of chlorophyll-a decreased downstream under water release events. The Pearson’s correlation matrix revealed flow regimes had a significant influence on the water chemistry characteristics and biological properties. The principal component analysis (PCA) illustrated that upstream species of algae were associated with low pH and temperature and higher DO. In contrast downstream species were associated with higher turbidity, TSS, conductivity, TN, and TDS. The correspondence analysis (CA) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) showed a split between algal assemblages during water release events in comparison with before and after water release. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) identified five significant environmental variables including pH, TSS, Turbidity, TN and TP explaining algal assemblage and structure along the river. The collected data were used to develop ecological response models based on algae communities living under different flow regimes in the MacKenzie River. The algae-based models across a hydraulic gradient may be useful in water management efforts to find sustainable solutions in the river by balancing environmental and human values. The empirical data and models showed the lower reaches of the river to be in poor condition under low flows, but this condition improved under flows of 35 ML/day, as indicated by the reduction in green algae and cyanobacteria and improvement in DSIAR scores. The results are presented to tailor discharge and duration of the river flows by amalgamation of consumptive and environmental flows to improve the condition of the stream thereby supplementing the flows dedicated to environmental outcomes. Ultimately the findings can be used by management to configure consumptive flows to enhance the for ecological condition of the MacKenzie River.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Atazadeh, Ehsan
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Many river ecosystems, especially those in arid and semi-arid, are experiencing severe stress due to the increasing demands on the ecosystem services they provide, coupled with anthropogenic catchment impacts and factors associated with climate change and weather extremes. The flow regime of the Mackenzie River was substantially modified since the construction of a water supply reservoir on its upper reach in 1887. Water is now regulated at several locations downstream of the reservoir, creating a substantially modified flow regime, impacting key environmental values of the river. The river receives an environmental flow allocation and the river channel is used to transfer water dedicated for consumptive use. Water Quality and algal monitoring formed the basis of models that were developed evaluate the ecological condition of this working river under base flow and before, during and after freshes that deliver water to users. Samples of diatoms, soft algae and measurements of water quality were analysed at ten sampling sites for three years (between February 2012 and November 2014) along the MacKenzie River in different seasons and under different flow regimes to understand the spatial and temporal variation in the relationship between algal communities and water quality, and so stream condition. Baseline information on algal communities and water quality was collected during base flow conditions, while experiments on the effect of water releases on algal communities were based on flow regime variations (manipulated flow regimes), specifically on the algae community structure, water quality and ecosystem function. These comprised cease to flow (0 ML/day), low flows (10-15 ML/day), freshes (35-40 ML/day) and high flow (55ML/day) conditions. Physical and chemical characteristics of water, including pH, temperature, turbidity, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen, phosphorus and cations and anions were measured. Biological properties of the algal periphyton communities, including dry mass, ash-free dry mass, chlorophyll-a concentration and species composition, were also measured. Furthermore, the DSIAR (Diatom Species Index for Australian Rivers) score was calculated to classify the condition of the waterway. The results showed the algal species composition changed under different flow regimes along the river. The sensitivity of diatoms to changes in water quality and flow rates deemed them useful indicators of river condition. The results indicated that flows tended to improve DSIAR scores and diatoms versus green algae and cyanobacteria biomass measures in the mid and lower reaches. The biological properties of the algal periphyton communities, and the species composition, varied between sites under different flow regimes. The accumulation of dry mass (not ash-free) decreased downstream during freshes, however the accumulation of AFDM (ash-free dry mass) gradually increased downstream. The results showed that the concentration of chlorophyll-a decreased downstream under water release events. The Pearson’s correlation matrix revealed flow regimes had a significant influence on the water chemistry characteristics and biological properties. The principal component analysis (PCA) illustrated that upstream species of algae were associated with low pH and temperature and higher DO. In contrast downstream species were associated with higher turbidity, TSS, conductivity, TN, and TDS. The correspondence analysis (CA) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) showed a split between algal assemblages during water release events in comparison with before and after water release. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) identified five significant environmental variables including pH, TSS, Turbidity, TN and TP explaining algal assemblage and structure along the river. The collected data were used to develop ecological response models based on algae communities living under different flow regimes in the MacKenzie River. The algae-based models across a hydraulic gradient may be useful in water management efforts to find sustainable solutions in the river by balancing environmental and human values. The empirical data and models showed the lower reaches of the river to be in poor condition under low flows, but this condition improved under flows of 35 ML/day, as indicated by the reduction in green algae and cyanobacteria and improvement in DSIAR scores. The results are presented to tailor discharge and duration of the river flows by amalgamation of consumptive and environmental flows to improve the condition of the stream thereby supplementing the flows dedicated to environmental outcomes. Ultimately the findings can be used by management to configure consumptive flows to enhance the for ecological condition of the MacKenzie River.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A conceptual re-alignment of methodology underpinning tax effect accounting : An Australian exploration of the contemporary normalising effect
- Authors: Morton, Elizabeth
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This research examines the presence and effectiveness of the ‘normalising effect’, traditionally offered as the main justification for tax effect accounting’s (TEA) adoption. TEA can be seen as a technical facet of accounting practice, ‘normalising’ the timing differences between the accounting and taxation systems. That is, income tax is recognised according to when transactions are recognised for accounting purposes in order to ‘normalise’ reported profits, thereby reflecting an income statement focus. It has been contended that this will improve the usefulness of financial reports by ‘correcting’ misleading and ‘unreal’ fluctuations in income tax. Australia’s adoption of AIFRS in 2005 entailed a major conceptual re-alignment of the methodology underpinning TEA, moving away from the income statement focus in favour of a balance sheet focus. This implied a different normalisation emphasis. It is within this contemporary setting, based on a study of 90 companies over the two regulatory periods between 2002 and 2011 (AGAAP and AIFRS), that a quantitative measure of the presence and effectiveness of the normalising effect was undertaken, additionally considering the subsequent balance sheet impact. Effective normalisation was revealed during the AGAAP period, whilst only effective after the removal of loss makers during the AIFRS period. These findings suggest that the relaxation of recognition criteria under AIFRS may have had a meaningful impact on the effectiveness of the new standard. However, when normalisation was given a more narrow definition in light of prima facie tax, deferred taxes had a more substantial impact, particularly during the AIFRS period. Such findings are consistent with the notion thatTEA enables reported tax to be ‘as if’ it were a function of accounting, without a substantial build up on the balance sheet as a consequence. These findings have implications for evaluating the efficacy of TEA and comprehending the nature of contemporary financial statements.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Morton, Elizabeth
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This research examines the presence and effectiveness of the ‘normalising effect’, traditionally offered as the main justification for tax effect accounting’s (TEA) adoption. TEA can be seen as a technical facet of accounting practice, ‘normalising’ the timing differences between the accounting and taxation systems. That is, income tax is recognised according to when transactions are recognised for accounting purposes in order to ‘normalise’ reported profits, thereby reflecting an income statement focus. It has been contended that this will improve the usefulness of financial reports by ‘correcting’ misleading and ‘unreal’ fluctuations in income tax. Australia’s adoption of AIFRS in 2005 entailed a major conceptual re-alignment of the methodology underpinning TEA, moving away from the income statement focus in favour of a balance sheet focus. This implied a different normalisation emphasis. It is within this contemporary setting, based on a study of 90 companies over the two regulatory periods between 2002 and 2011 (AGAAP and AIFRS), that a quantitative measure of the presence and effectiveness of the normalising effect was undertaken, additionally considering the subsequent balance sheet impact. Effective normalisation was revealed during the AGAAP period, whilst only effective after the removal of loss makers during the AIFRS period. These findings suggest that the relaxation of recognition criteria under AIFRS may have had a meaningful impact on the effectiveness of the new standard. However, when normalisation was given a more narrow definition in light of prima facie tax, deferred taxes had a more substantial impact, particularly during the AIFRS period. Such findings are consistent with the notion thatTEA enables reported tax to be ‘as if’ it were a function of accounting, without a substantial build up on the balance sheet as a consequence. These findings have implications for evaluating the efficacy of TEA and comprehending the nature of contemporary financial statements.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Proceedings of the Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership Symposium
- Authors: Kattel, Giri
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Full Text:
- Description: This publication is a compilation of short papers presented at the Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership Symposium, held in China at the Nanjing International Conference Hotel, 24 March 2014. The symposium, jointly organised by the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) of Federation University Australia and the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS), brought together a range of scientists including the neo-ecologists, palaeoecologists and hydrologists from both Australia and China. More than 100 students and scientists from across China attended the symposium. A majority of papers presented at the symposium have overlapping themes between ecology and hydrology of the large river and wetland systems that are exposed to a range of impacts posed by humans and recent climate change. The research focus of this volume is around the topic highlighting the conservation and management of degraded wetlands in Australia and China and the maintenance of a long term ecological resilience.
- Authors: Kattel, Giri
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Full Text:
- Description: This publication is a compilation of short papers presented at the Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership Symposium, held in China at the Nanjing International Conference Hotel, 24 March 2014. The symposium, jointly organised by the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) of Federation University Australia and the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS), brought together a range of scientists including the neo-ecologists, palaeoecologists and hydrologists from both Australia and China. More than 100 students and scientists from across China attended the symposium. A majority of papers presented at the symposium have overlapping themes between ecology and hydrology of the large river and wetland systems that are exposed to a range of impacts posed by humans and recent climate change. The research focus of this volume is around the topic highlighting the conservation and management of degraded wetlands in Australia and China and the maintenance of a long term ecological resilience.
Percy : A life in China - The life and times of Percy Nettle : 1886-1964
- Authors: Nettle, Rodney
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis is about the transnational life of Percival Edward Nettle (1886-1964), a young man born in Ballarat who moved from Australia to Shanghai at the end of 1906 on his way to San Francisco. He never did get to San Francisco but lived in and out of China until he died in 1964. This thesis tells his story and also addresses the perennial human management problem of achieving a co-operative fit between people from different cultural backgrounds. Percy Nettle achieved this fit with the Chinese through developing an exceptional rapport with Chinese people from the time he commenced working with them in 1907 on engineering projects, and later during and through wars and other civil engagements. He was a great success in China, the key to which was his skill with the language and later from his ability to culturally adapt and empathise with the people in the environments in which he was living at the time. Percy also found that his ‘Wesleyan’ approach to people conveniently dovetailed with the ‘Confucian’ values approach of the Chinese. Percy was able to communicate with Chinese people from Viceroys to infantry men and bandits and could win their trust regardless of social levels. Percy documented his ‘fitting in’ experience with the Chinese in his diaries, letters and journals over a fifty-five-year period until his death in Hong Kong in 1964. The analysis and contextualisation of his original records form the basis of this thesis and what is learned from this study of his exceptional life is the importance of achieving a very high level of cultural empathy and understanding with the people we deal with beginning with learning how to speak with them in their own language. Percy was also able to demonstrate the universal efficacy of strong ethical values even when they are transposed from one cultural setting to another.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Nettle, Rodney
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis is about the transnational life of Percival Edward Nettle (1886-1964), a young man born in Ballarat who moved from Australia to Shanghai at the end of 1906 on his way to San Francisco. He never did get to San Francisco but lived in and out of China until he died in 1964. This thesis tells his story and also addresses the perennial human management problem of achieving a co-operative fit between people from different cultural backgrounds. Percy Nettle achieved this fit with the Chinese through developing an exceptional rapport with Chinese people from the time he commenced working with them in 1907 on engineering projects, and later during and through wars and other civil engagements. He was a great success in China, the key to which was his skill with the language and later from his ability to culturally adapt and empathise with the people in the environments in which he was living at the time. Percy also found that his ‘Wesleyan’ approach to people conveniently dovetailed with the ‘Confucian’ values approach of the Chinese. Percy was able to communicate with Chinese people from Viceroys to infantry men and bandits and could win their trust regardless of social levels. Percy documented his ‘fitting in’ experience with the Chinese in his diaries, letters and journals over a fifty-five-year period until his death in Hong Kong in 1964. The analysis and contextualisation of his original records form the basis of this thesis and what is learned from this study of his exceptional life is the importance of achieving a very high level of cultural empathy and understanding with the people we deal with beginning with learning how to speak with them in their own language. Percy was also able to demonstrate the universal efficacy of strong ethical values even when they are transposed from one cultural setting to another.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Capital budgeting practices and firm performance : A comparative study of Australia and Sri Lanka
- Puwanenthiren, Pratheepkanth
- Authors: Puwanenthiren, Pratheepkanth
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis disentangles two elements from the complex interdependent suite of key drivers of firm sophistication in capital-budgeting. Specifically, the relative sophistication of a firm (i.e. its nature) and the development level of the nation in which a firm is embedded (i.e. the nurture experienced by the firm). This research should enhance the development focus and process of nations (e.g., to what degree should national development be about raising the ability of individual firms or will raising national development act as a rising tide [that] raises all boats). The comparative data used in this study comes from 150 Australian (ASX200-index-listed) firms and 150 Sri Lankan (Colombo-stock-exchange-listed firms). The research questions are answered via a quantitative research design that uses primary and secondary data. The response rate to the questionnaire survey of firms was, 45 and 73 completed questionnaires from, respectively, Australia and Sri Lanka (an effective response rate of, respectively, 31.5 and 48.7 percent). Secondary data for 2003-12 are obtained from the ASX, CSE’s and SIRCA databases and are used to calculate return on assets, return on equity, Tobin Q, and earnings per share for the sampled firms. It was found that Australian firms tend to rely heavily on sophisticated capital-budgeting practices, but Sri Lankan relatively small firms prefer simple analysis methods and the larger firms tend to be as adept at sophisticated capital budgeting as their Australian counterparts. The choice of whether to use more sophisticated practices or simpler alternatives varies with a firm’s attributes as well as the level of economic and financial market development in its environment. Also, Australian firms tend to use capital-budget models with good-to-strong predictive power (except for ROE) and Sri Lankan firms tend to use capital-budget models with fair-to-poor predictive power. Further, the analysis of Australian firms tends to yield stronger and more statistically-significant results, than those generated by Sri Lankan firms.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Puwanenthiren, Pratheepkanth
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis disentangles two elements from the complex interdependent suite of key drivers of firm sophistication in capital-budgeting. Specifically, the relative sophistication of a firm (i.e. its nature) and the development level of the nation in which a firm is embedded (i.e. the nurture experienced by the firm). This research should enhance the development focus and process of nations (e.g., to what degree should national development be about raising the ability of individual firms or will raising national development act as a rising tide [that] raises all boats). The comparative data used in this study comes from 150 Australian (ASX200-index-listed) firms and 150 Sri Lankan (Colombo-stock-exchange-listed firms). The research questions are answered via a quantitative research design that uses primary and secondary data. The response rate to the questionnaire survey of firms was, 45 and 73 completed questionnaires from, respectively, Australia and Sri Lanka (an effective response rate of, respectively, 31.5 and 48.7 percent). Secondary data for 2003-12 are obtained from the ASX, CSE’s and SIRCA databases and are used to calculate return on assets, return on equity, Tobin Q, and earnings per share for the sampled firms. It was found that Australian firms tend to rely heavily on sophisticated capital-budgeting practices, but Sri Lankan relatively small firms prefer simple analysis methods and the larger firms tend to be as adept at sophisticated capital budgeting as their Australian counterparts. The choice of whether to use more sophisticated practices or simpler alternatives varies with a firm’s attributes as well as the level of economic and financial market development in its environment. Also, Australian firms tend to use capital-budget models with good-to-strong predictive power (except for ROE) and Sri Lankan firms tend to use capital-budget models with fair-to-poor predictive power. Further, the analysis of Australian firms tends to yield stronger and more statistically-significant results, than those generated by Sri Lankan firms.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy