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IT WAS John Lawton, I think, who many years ago referred to a tendency of researchers to respond to a question about their research interests with a detailed description of the complex analyses they intended to apply to their data. Sadly, the points of real interest — the organisms they worked on and why they felt the work mattered - were buried under the sediment of statistical sophistication. Such answers still occur, but in my experience they are often replaced by mention of the journal in which the work was (or is hoped to be) published, or citation statistics about the impact of a publication. A typical exchange might be: ‘What is x’s group working on at the moment?’ ‘It’s pretty exciting — they’re working on a Nature paper. They’ve involved y, whose papers routinely receive over 100 citations, so it’s going to be big.’ Of course, one is pleased for x’s group — if the grand plan comes off — but what exactly are they writing about and why is this topic big news? This growing tendency to spout a journal name or ‘citation potential’ instead of discussing the work puts the focus on the social context of doing science rather than the findings.

David Paver Mellor (1903–80) was a physical inorganic chemist of significant influence in coordination chemistry and chemical education in Australia. He retired in 1970 after a brief appointment as dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of New South Wales, having been head of the School of Chemistry there for more than a decade. Mellor had been appointed to the staff of the University of Sydney in 1929 and was one of the first Australians to use X-ray diffraction techniques for the determination of crystal structures. In 1936 he applied for a year of leave to work with Linus Pauling at the California Institute of Technology, particularly to learn more about crystal structure analysis. On sabbatical leave he spent a period of one year across 1937–8 in California where he carried out work on X-ray diffraction in Linus Pauling’s laboratory. Two 1939 articles in Zeitschrift für Kristallographie appeared under his sole authorship as contributions from the California Institute of Technology. Perhaps more significantly, he published a 1938 Journal of the American Chemical Society paper with Charles D. Coryell on the magnetic properties of manganese(II) and cobalt(II) dipyridine chlorides. Mellor returned to Australia fired with enthusiasm for magnetochemistry. He built a magnetic balance and published many papers on the magnetic properties of coordination compounds with collaborators and students. Australian coordination chemistry has a strong tradition in magnetochemistry and that tradition started with Mellor’s work at the University of Sydney.

The Oakden Report documented failures in governance, clinical practice and organisational culture occurring at the Oakden Older Persons’ Mental Health Service and drew national attention to the care of older people with complex clinical needs. Responding to the recommendations of the Report, a working group brought together stakeholders to engage in a codesign process involving literature review, gallery walks and focus groups, under the governance of the Oakden Response Oversight Committee. The working group developed a framework as a blueprint for organisational culture reform built around a central philosophy of compassionate relationship-centred care, supported by four priorities: developing a values-based workforce, cultivating psychological safety, facilitating excellence in care and providing transparent accountability. The purpose of the framework was to provide a way forward for South Australian older persons’ mental health services after The Oakden Report, and it may provide insight into similar processes of codesign and culture change in other service contexts. What is known about the topic? Changes to healthcare systems, requiring improved efficiencies and lower costs, are contributing to increasing challenges with staff satisfaction and wellbeing, and consistent delivery of dignified, meaningful care to people and their families. The need to nurture and lead healthcare organisations characterised by compassionate cultures is an increasingly prominent theme in global healthcare literature. The engagement of people with lived experience at all levels of system design supports effective and ethical service development. What does this paper add? This paper illustrates an approach to positive, compassion-focused organisational culture change, developed through codesign, occurring as a reform process following a crisis in service delivery. The paper applies key concepts in a framework that may be applied in a range of services to achieve positive organisational transformation. What are the implications for practitioners? Committed action to develop positive organisational culture characterised by compassionate relationship-centred care will have benefit for healthcare providers and the people who receive care. Keeping people with lived experience at the centre of design and development will support optimal outcomes for all stakeholders.

We highlight women’s contributions to freshwater ecology by firstly considering the historical context and gender-based barriers faced by women attempting to gain an education and secure research jobs in science over the past 100+ years. The stories of four remarkable, pioneering women in freshwater ecology (Kathleen Carpenter, Ann Chapman, Rosemary Lowe-McConnell and Ruth Patrick) illustrate the impact of barriers, emphasise the significance of their contributions and provide inspiration for the challenges ahead. Women still face barriers to participation in science, and the second part of the paper focuses on a current form of discrimination, which is citation metrics used to measure the ‘quality’ or ‘impact’ of research. We show that arguments that citation metrics reflect research quality are logically flawed, and that women are directly disadvantaged by this practice. Women are also indirectly disadvantaged in ecology because they are more likely to carry out empirical than theoretical research, and publications are generated more slowly from empirical research. Surveys of citation patterns in ecology reveal also that women are less likely to be authors of review papers, which receive three times more citations than do original articles. Unless unfettered use of citation metrics is stopped, research will be damaged, and women will be prominent casualties.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore management understanding of the lived experience required for designated lived experience or peer roles within mental health. MethodThis qualitative study used semi-structured interviews and one focus group with 29 participants employed in diverse management roles from the public and not-for-profit health and community sector in Queensland, Australia. ResultsThe findings indicate a lack of consensus in defining ‘lived experience’, including what lived experience is required to be eligible for designated roles. Although some participants were clear on what designated roles added to the workforce, uncertainty and attempts to avoid stigma led to some participants questioning the need for designated roles. ConclusionThis study suggests the ongoing expansion of the lived experience workforce is affected by challenges in defining ‘lived experience’ as a requirement for designated roles and fears regarding stigmatised identities. What is known about the topic?In the mental health sector, opportunities and challenges exist in attempting to effectively incorporate the emerging lived experience or peer workforce. Research has highlighted the need for support from senior management, the need for role clarity and the risk of ‘othering’ for the lived experience workforce. What does this paper add?This paper responds to the gap in existing research on the experiences of management in defining and articulating their understanding of lived experience and potential impact of uncertainty and inconsistency in understanding for the lived experience workforce. What are the implications for practitioners?This study identifies the need to strengthen management understanding of lived experience to facilitate ongoing development of lived experience roles.

The development of positive workplace culture is important for health services, with implications for patient experience, staff wellbeing and service outcomes. The Oakden Report identified dysfunctional culture in the South Australian state-wide older persons’ mental health service and established an agenda for change through a codesigned culture framework. An innovative culture change project was undertaken at Northgate House, a specialist service commissioned following the Oakden Report. The project built on the culture framework, with emphasis on developing psychological safety and employed principles from the deliberately developmental organisation model. The project resulted in positive outcomes for patients and staff and valuable organisational learning. Insights from the project may inform culture change journeys in a range of healthcare settings. What is known about the topic?There is a growing body of evidence regarding the benefits of psychological safety in the workplace. The development of positive workplace culture at the microsystem level, which is at the frontline where healthcare delivery occurs, contributes to better experiences and outcomes for patients and staff. What does this paper add?This paper provides an example of how teams can approach workplace culture change at a microsystem level. The paper illustrates an innovative culture change program, undertaken within a quality improvement framework, engaging a whole team, irrespective of discipline or position, in order to promote psychological safety and engagement in personal and professional growth. What are the implications for practitioners?Practitioners have the ability to generate and lead culture change at the frontline of health care. This paper illustrates principles and practices that are transferable to multiple settings and can be used by clinical leaders and healthcare practitioners to promote their own journeys of service transformation.

Objective There continue to be disparate health outcomes for people who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. The aim of the present study was to measure whether there were any differences in in-patient experiences between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and those without an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background. Methods Random samples of people were invited to complete a survey following admission at the hospitals at Peninsula Health, Victoria, Australia. This survey was based on the Victorian Patient Satisfaction Monitor. Open-ended questions were also asked to gauge perspectives on how the services could better meet needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. Results A total of 154 responses was obtained. There were differences between the two groups of participants in the following variables: respect of privacy, representation of culture, assistance with meals and access to a culturally specific worker if needed. This was reflected in thematic analysis, with three main themes identified: (1) interactions with staff; (2) the challenging environment; and (3) not just about me, but my family too. Conclusion There were systemic differences in in-patient experiences. Healthcare services have a responsibility to make systemic changes to improve the health care of all Australians by understanding and reforming how services can be appropriately delivered. What is known about the topic? There is a disparity in health outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and those who do not identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. In addition, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have different interactions within healthcare services. Many rural health services have models that aim to deliver culturally appropriate services, but it is unknown whether the same challenges apply for this group of Australians within metropolitan health services. What does this paper add? This paper identifies the structural supports that are required to help close the gap in health care provision inequality. Many of the key issues identified are not people but system based. Healthcare administrators should consider the factors identified and address these at a whole-of-service level. What are the implications for practitioners? Many practitioners are aware of the challenges of providing culturally appropriate services. This research raises awareness of how traditional healthcare is not a one size fits all and flexibility is required to improve health outcomes.

This paper explores the history of a proposal for an ideas-based museum of ecological concepts, a ‘National Biological Centre' for Canberra in 1965, and its successors.2 The background to the proposal came from changing ideas about zoos in the 1960s, and the emerging discipline of human ecology. The mission of the centre was to explore the relations between humans, other life-forms and their physical environment through what its chief protagonist, Stephen Boyden, called a comprehensive ‘bionarrative'.3 The centre was to facilitate the understanding of biophysical and social worlds as interrelated dynamic systems. The Biological Centre was conceived as a ‘major cultural institution' for the nation, reflecting relations between science and society, and informing culture with science.4 Unlike traditional natural history museums and zoos, collections of objects (or animals) were not its primary mission. This paper considers how the 1965 proposal for the Biological Centre anticipated later ‘museums of ideas', and reviews its relevance to new twenty-first-century museums of the Anthropocene, and how museums and related institutions can shed light on the role of science in society.

Objective This paper examines the perspectives of consumers and their supporters regarding the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health settings. Methods Five focus groups for consumers and five focus groups for supporters were conducted in four Australian cities and in one rural location. The 66 participants were asked about strategies to reduce or eliminate the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health settings. Results All participants supported the reduction of the use of seclusion and restraint. Barriers to reducing these practices related to the environment, the effects of drug and alcohol issues, lack of a human rights focus and poor recognition of trauma, stigma and discrimination. Strategies for reducing or eliminating seclusion and restraint included workforce development, environmental and cultural changes. Conclusions Participants clearly identified that the status quo needs to change and conveyed urgency for action. Participants suggested that the involvement of supporters and a range of consumer roles are integral to reducing the use of seclusion and restraint. The findings support the current policy emphasis of working towards the elimination of these practices. What is known about the topic? Mental health policies across many jurisdictions support the reduction and elimination of restraint and seclusion. Evidence suggests those subjected to restraint and seclusion largely experience a range of harmful consequences. No studies focus on the views of supporters of consumers regarding the reduction and elimination of seclusion and restraint, whereas the views of consumers appear in a minority of international studies. What does this paper add? The research enabled an opportunity to hear from people who have been personally affected by and/or have lived experience of these coercive practices. Participants identified local reforms that can uphold the human rights of consumers. They suggested practices to increase accountability, peer support and family involvement, areas that have not been analysed in depth in any of the seclusion and restraint literature. What are the implications for practitioners? This paper will give healthcare services a deeper insight into how to reduce or eliminate restraint or seclusion from the perspective of those with lived experience.

Conservation scientists increasingly recognise the value of Indigenous knowledge in conservation practice. However, studies of Indigenous knowledge and resource management systems have often tended to overlook the role and agency of more-than-human beings and ceremonial protocols in mediating human–environment relationships. This paper presents results from community-based research with Karen communities in the Salween Peace Park, an innovative Indigenous-led conservation initiative in the autonomous Karen territory of Kawthoolei, on the border between Thailand and Burma, or Myanmar. Our findings detail ways in which relations with more-than-human beings, including spirits, constitute environmental governance in Karen communities. These findings compel externally situated conservation biologists to take relational ontologies seriously, allowing local interlocutors’ lived experience, knowledge, and theory to challenge culturally bound concepts such as resources, management, and conservation. In order to transform conservation biology through Indigenous perspectives, it is essential to pay attention to the relational world in which many Indigenous Peoples live. Doing so helps support a conservation practice attentive to the interdependence of all life in ways that uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights of self-determination, cultural identity, and social relations with their ancestral lands. We argue that attending to these relations is essential to building community-based conservation collaborations with Indigenous Peoples that are more effective, sustainable, and just.

History is replete with debates between health professionals with concerns about practices and products and others who either challenge scientific evidence or believe that the greatest public good is achieved through maintenance of the status quo. This paper provides a 1950s socio-scientific perspective on a recurring problem for health professionals. It analyses dentists' promotion of oral health by discouraging sugar consumption and the sugar industry's defence of its staple product. Despite scientific evidence in support of its case, the dental profession lacked influence with government and large sections of the Australian community. The division of powers within the Australian Constitution, together with the cause, nature and ubiquity of caries and Australians' tolerance of the disease, were relevant to the outcome. In contrast, the sugar industry was a powerful force. Sugar was a pillar of the Australian and Queensland economies. The industry contributed to the history of Queensland and to Queenslanders' collective psyche, and enjoyed access to centralized authority in decision-making. The timing of the debate was also relevant. Under Prime Minister Robert Menzies, the Australian Government was more concerned with promoting industry and initiative than oral health. This was a one-sided contest. Patterns of food consumption evolve from interactions between availability, culture and choice. Food and associated etiquettes provide far more than health, nutrients and enjoyment. They contribute to economic and social development, national and regional identity and the incidence of disease. The growing, milling and processing of sugarcane and the incorporation of sugar into the Australian diet is a case study that illuminates the interface between health professionals, corporations, society and the state. Today, for a variety of reasons, health professionals recommend limits for daily intake of sugar. Calls for dietary reform are not new and invariably arouse opposition. The issue came to the fore between 1945 and 1960, when dentists contended that the consumption of sugar either caused or contributed to a major health problem, namely dental caries (tooth decay). Representatives of the sugar industry defended their staple product against these claims, which emerged at a critical time for the industry. With hindsight, these exchanges can be seen as a precursor to more diverse and recurring debates relating to contemporary health campaigns. This paper documents and analyses the contemporaneous scientific and socio-political backgrounds underpinning these engagements

The idea that scholarly writing is an integral part of academic and clinical work is not new; however, increasing expectations that health professionals contribute to research output through publication, regardless of level of employment or experience, creates anxiety and dissonance for many novice and sometimes not-so-novice writers. Publications and the impact of scholarly work have become the key indicators not only of the performance of individual health academics, but also of health disciplines and universities more broadly. In Australia, as in many other countries, publications as the measure of research impact and outputs are expected in professional disciplines, universities and schools. Research impact is assessed and rated against other institutions and used as a means of allocating scarce research funding. Publishing has become a matter of professional reputation and sustainability. This paper reports on a project designed to enhance publication rates across health disciplines based at a rural university, where many staff members combine academic work with ongoing clinical roles. Without deliberate and focused support to enhance skills and confidence in writing it was unlikely that these academics and clinical staff members would be able to develop the kind of track record required for a successful academic career or promotion. This paper outlines the development, delivery and outcomes of this university-funded project, which drew on evidence in the literature to increase the publication rates across two Schools (Health and Medicine) at a rural university. What is known about the topic? The dissemination of scholarly work is an expectation in most health disciplines, and there are numerous strategies presented in the literature designed to boost publication rates. However, the expectation to publish becomes more challenging because many teaching positions straddle both clinical and academic roles. This article reports on a project focused on increasing the rate of published work by implementing some of the strategies discussed in the literature. What does this paper add? This paper describes the development, delivery and outcomes of a project focused on implementing strategies discussed in the literature to increase the confidence and competence of clinical and academic health professionals to publish their scholarly, project-based and research work. What are the implications for practitioners? With many health professionals combining clinical and teaching roles, there is an expectation that as they progress through their careers they can demonstrate evidence of scholarly publications. This paper provides an overview of the development and delivery of a strategy to encourage health professionals to publish that may be useful across a range of health settings.

E ulu ē E ulu kini o ke Akua Ulu a‘e ‘o Kāne me Kanaloa Ulu ka ‘Ōhi‘a a lau ka wai Ka ‘Ie‘ie Ulu a‘e ke Akua a noho i kona kahu Eia ka wai lā He wai ola E ola ia‘u i ke kumu E ola i ke po‘o, ke po‘o pua‘a E ola i ka pae, ka paepae E ola i nā haumana, nā haumana a pau ‘Eli‘eli kapu, ‘eli‘eli noa In this Pule Ho‘oulu (prayer for inspiration), we are calling ourselves and you, the reader, to embrace growth and perpetuation of life’s many sacred manifestations, to honour the guardians of our places and the sources of our knowledge, and affirm the profound responsibility that is conservation management. This chant initiates the process of kuahu, an altar of Native Hawaiian spiritual practice within Hālau ‘Ōhi‘a, a ritual-based stewardship program in Hawai‘i led by Kumu (master teacher, a primary holder and source of knowledge for the community) Kekuhi Kealiikanakaoleohaililani. This paper outlines how the kuahu process has advanced learner capacity to embrace the many sacred dimensions of resource stewardship, thereby transforming conservation biology, and related conservation practices, through Indigenous perspectives. We examine themes evoked during the kuahu process at scales spanning the universal, the regional, and the personal. In doing so, we describe how kuahu practice can serve as a coparticipant, catalyst, and portal to sacred conservation, allowing learners to engage and grow more personal relationships with the environment, our communities, and ourselves.

Student-led interprofessional health clinics offer valuable opportunities for student learning and meeting the health care needs of the community. This case study describes the operation of a new interprofessional student-led community health service over its initial 13-month period of operation. This case study also presents an overview of the service provision, student placement opportunities and focuses on the challenges associated with the service and the impact on future planning. What is known about the topic? Interprofessional student-led clinics offer an opportunity to meet clinical placement demands and interprofessional training needs while also providing a community service. What does this paper add? This case study adds to the limited literature around knowledge of service delivery and challenges in the operation of community-based student-led interprofessional health services; future planning to streamline processes is also addressed. What are the implications? There may be relevance to other university–industry partnerships that intend to explore student-led interprofessional service operations designed to address placement shortages, student training and community needs.

Objective Allied health (AH) includes many diverse professions, each with a unique contribution to healthcare, making it possible to consider these professions as person oriented (PO) or technique oriented (TO). This paper explored the personality traits of AH professionals from the perspective of both the PO or TO orientation and the individual professions. Methods AH professionals (n = 562) provided demographic data and completed the Temperament and Character Inventory. Examination of the literature and a consultation process resulted in nine professions classified as PO and 10 classified as TO. Multivariate analyses compared levels of personality traits and demographic variables between the PO (n = 492) and TO (n = 70) groups, and the professions within the groups. Results Professionals in the PO group showed significantly higher levels of traits that emphasise person orientation attributes, such as being sociable, empathic and cooperative, compared with AH professionals in professions with an emphasis on TO. Conclusions Trends in personality traits among AH professionals were congruent with the PO and TO aspects of their chosen profession. This supports the usefulness of the PO and TO concepts in describing AH professions and may provide new clues for policy aiming to enhance job satisfaction, retention and career development. What is known about the topic? The literature suggests that certain medical specialities can be classified as person (PO) or technique oriented (TO) and that individuals attracted to those specialties display traits that are similar to that orientation. There is scant information on the AH professions regarding similar person or technique orientations. What does this paper add? The diversity of professions within AH allows a new approach to describing each profession as either PO (socially dependent, cooperative and relationship focused), or TO (focused on skills and procedures). The trend in personality traits of individuals in certain AH professions is compatible with the orientation of that profession. Findings suggest that individuals may be attracted to professions that favour a similar personality pattern to their own. What are the implications for practitioners? Gaining an improved understanding of the AH professions and individuals who are attracted to them in a climate of workforce shortage and increasing multidisciplinary service demand. The findings provide a new approach to understanding the characteristics of AH professions according to the personalities they attract. This information could guide recruitment and retention policy, and assist in career counselling by providing greater insight into personality profiles that are best suited to certain professions.

PUBLISHERS have over time played enormous roles in the dissemination of written language and the communication of ideas through and between cultures. Too often they are dismissed as the rubber stamp on the title page or that part of the citations required in a bibliography. They are the least known yet most familiar names on a title page and for too many of us they are just an administrative necessity. The common image of the publisher is that of the business face and the practical production component of the publishing process. Compared to the author and the title of the book their names convey only broad categorical information to the readers. On joining the Pacific Conservation Biology, over ten years ago, I found that this stereotype was not true for Ivor Beatty. While he was all the things mentioned above he also entered into the publishing process with his red ink. His corrections to my manuscript were my first meeting with the man behind the name — he was the Beatty in Surrey Beatty & Sons. His corrections were a point of academic contention that I enjoyed with him; they were lesson well learnt. Many years before my first experience with Ivor’s red ink, on a lower rung of my educational ladder, I had chatted with Joe Forshaw about the disappearance of Australian publishers from the publishing of Australian biota. We could both recite a long list of names of well-known publishers who no longer published in Australia. The small market and prohibitive economic costs had pushed publishing off-shore. Australian science and its communication to Australians and the world were consequently suffering. The story is too familiar to repeat here and it occurs in many areas beyond publishing. However, Ivor Beatty continued publishing biological science in Australia. He provided the forum to get the message across the same forum that provides the authors a place to promote their ideas. Many of us have much to thank him for. It has been said that “It would be impossible to imagine any zoologist, botanist, ecologist or conservation biologist trained in Australia over the last 20 years who has not had their career influenced by contributions from Beatty’s publications” (Saunders et al. 2012). I concur: I cannot believe that any student or conservation biologist would not be citing from the extensive literature than has emanated from his publishing house. A search of any good university library would find many entries from Surrey Beatty & Sons under conservation headings and many with no comparable papers or chapters published elsewhere. As a student I benefited from this literature and as a professional academic my research continues to draw on publications that have moved through Ivor’s hands. While the authors and editors of the papers and chapters are ultimately responsible for the original ideas that are rarely or not published elsewhere, they would not have seen the light of day without Ivor’s hand. At the time of his passing I point to the litany of his publications from his lifetime of dedication to conservation biology and I celebrate his achievements and his life and I recall the publisher that corrected my manuscript with his red pen.

With a special focus on Australia, this paper proposes that plant diversity is fundamentally important for sustainable living at a time of unprecedented global change. The establishment of Australia as a nation is intimately linked with Botany Bay, named by Captain James Cook following the enthusiasm for novel botanical discoveries made by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on the Endeavour’s first Australian landfall in 1770. On returning to England, Banks was introduced to King George III, and they became firm friends, the King inviting Banks to become honorary Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew in west London. Today, Kew is the world’s largest botanical garden, with the most diverse scientific collections of plants on Earth, leading research, and conservation projects like the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. Plant diversity has never been more important than now to help with solutions towards sustainable livelihoods. This paper touches upon global plant diversity patterns, ongoing scientific discovery, and strategies that have helped and will help towards humans living with and sustainably using plant diversity. Such approaches are embraced in the Breathing Planet Programme, Kew’s strategy with partners for inspiring and delivering science-based plant conservation worldwide, aimed at enhancing the quality of life at a time of unprecedented global change. Today’s plant science and cross-cultural learning with Australia’s Aboriginal people are also helping better understand the astounding place that Banks first stepped onto at Botany Bay, and demonstrating that Australia has much to teach the world about plant diversity and human enrichment on ancient landscapes. OCBIL Theory is explored briefly to exemplify this contention; OCBIL is an acronym for ‘old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes’.

How people coexist and interact with animals has become an intensely debated issue in recent times, particularly with the rise of the animal protection movement following the publication of Peter Singer’s book Animal Liberation in 1975. This paper discusses some shortcomings of the philosophical positions taken in this complex debate. Singer has helped put animals on a new footing as a group that cannot morally be ignored, but his focus is mainly on individual, familiar animals that are used or abused by humans. The argument of this paper is that the ethics of managing wildlife hinges on a broader view of animals, and their contexts, than is apparent from Singer’s text. Wildlife managers aim to conserve populations of a wide range of species, and their habitats, but some mechanisms for achieving these aims, such as research and the control of invasive animals, are frequently opposed by elements of the animal protection movement. We need to adapt our attitude to animals, particularly wildlife, away from the traditional legacy of a few familiar species to embrace an ethic that is more ecological and relevant to Australian contexts. The case argued here has been to see the critical role of context — geographical, ecological, historical, relational — as a basis for a degree of reconciliation between conservation-oriented wildlife managers and the rising interest in the ethics of animal use. There is much to be gained for zoologists, wildlife managers and conservation biologists by framing key elements of their case in ethical arguments. Conversely, the challenge for those in the animal protection movement is to expand their philosophical ideas to include the ethical imperative of the conservation of populations of wildlife.

With rapid increases in healthcare spending over recent years, health economic evaluation might be thought to be increasing in importance to decision-makers. Such evaluations are designed to inform the efficient management of healthcare resources. However, research into health policy decisions often report, at best, moderate use of economic evaluation information, especially at the local level of administration. Little attention seems to have been given to the question of why economic evaluations have been underused and why they may yield different results in different contexts. There are many barriers to applying economic evaluations in situations which combine complexity with uncertainty. These barriers call for innovative and creative responses to economic evaluation of healthcare interventions. One response is to view economic evaluations in the context of complex adaptive systems theory. Such theory offers a conceptual framework that takes into account contextual factors, multiple input and output, multiple perspectives and uncertainty involved in healthcare interventions. This article illustrates how complexity theory can enrich and broaden policy-makers’ understanding of why economic evaluations have not always been as successful as health economists would have hoped. It argues for health economists to emphasise contextual knowledge and relativist understanding of decision contexts rather than seeking more technically sound evidence-based reviews including economic evaluations. What is known about the topic? Although it is widely acknowledged that economic evaluation, as presently constituted, is underused in its influence on allocation decisions in healthcare, previous research often ignores the ways multiple factors influence economic evaluations at several inter-related levels of the healthcare systems. Our topic is novel in its application of complexity theory to economic evaluation and attempts to show how allocation decisions reflect concern for economic efficiency in complex situations. What does this paper add? This paper shows that, although there has been a dense body of literature on the theoretical use of economic evaluations in allocation decisions around the world, evidence of successful uptake is limited. The paper shows that current economic evaluation practices oversimplify complex allocation decisions. They often ignore, marginalise or devalue the context and modifying conceptual factors that underlie explanation, meaning, sense making and values of real world contingencies. They insufficiently take notice of contextual factors and relationships in multi-objective, multi-stakeholder resource management situations. One approach is to view economic evaluations through the lens of complex adaptive systems theory, which rarely has been informed by current research. This study is innovative in its approach to using complex adaptive systems theory to investigate economic evaluation in a complex environment. The paper describes a vital step for greater acceptance of economic evaluation through understanding the underlying features of complex adaptive systems theory. It supports a shift away from equilibrium and reductionist thinking into the complex behaviour of natural and social systems. It argues for health economists to emphasise contextual knowledge and relativist understanding of the decision contexts, rather than seeking more and more ‘technically sound’ economic evaluations. What are the implications for practitioners? This study should be of interest to a broad readership, including those interested in health economics, public health policy, healthcare delivery, healthcare resource allocation and decision-making. The paper creates a dialogue about how researchers can better respond to the needs of those making resource allocation decisions in healthcare.

Developing a robust scientific understanding of rodents because they are agricultural pests, beneficial species within the landscape, harbourers of disease or undesirable inhabitants of built environments remains a challenge for scientists and managers. Despite much basic research over many decades our understanding of many areas of rodent biology – ecology and taxonomy, their interactions with other wildlife, livestock and people, their role in disease transmission and disease reservoirs – is far from complete. While there are many new research tools, these are not necessarily making it any easier to improve our management of the impacts of rodents on people’s lives (e.g. food security) or the impacts of man on rodents (e.g. conservation). In agricultural landscapes there has been promising progress when community groups and biologists collaborate to address specific rodent problems. We will return to this central theme. In terms of agricultural impacts, farmers in many countries continue to state that rodents are one of their top three pests whose impacts they cannot manage. The knock-on effect on food security is high (Meerburg et al. 2009), but there are still too few efforts to prevent rodents taking the food from the table of the more than one billion people who are already undernourished. In April 2010, some 140 scientists from around the world came together at the 4th International Conference on RodentBiology andManagement (4th ICRBM) inBloemfontein, South Africa, to present and discuss research findings and developments across many disciplines from ecology, taxonomy, physiology, sociology, disease, behaviour, and population dynamics to conservation and management. The papers within this special volume comprise an eclectic representation of what was presented and discussed at the conference. Other papers contributed at the conference are being published in Integrative Zoology, African Zoology and Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum, Bloemfontein. What developments have occurred in rodent research since the 3rd ICRBM was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2006? There continues to be exciting progress in taxonomy and phylogenetic analyses, with more scientists applying detailed molecular methods and new species continuing to be identified. One of the questions discussed was whether taxonomic species and ecological species are different. Conservation biologists are attempting to protect endangered species, but in doing so, are they conserving the appropriate level of genetic diversity? At the 3rd ICRBM there was discussion regarding the expectation that a major 50-year bamboo flowering event would occur before the next conference – and it has done so. Between 2007 and 2010, major increases in rodent numbers occurred through the Chittagong Hill tract region of Bangladesh, in Chin State and Rakhine State in Myanmar, and in Mizoram, India. While the impacts of these rodent outbreaks could not be prevented, many researchers were able to gather significant new data relating to the species involved, the population dynamics of the outbreaks, and the social consequences of them. Indeed, the topic of these and other rodent outbreaks around the world was the subject of a special conference in October 2009 (Singleton et al. 2010a, 2010b). Several papers at the 4th ICRBM reported on the data collected and from these it was apparent that there needs to be careful analysis at a landscape scale of the phenomenon of rat ‘floods’ associated with bamboo flowering. However, these rodent outbreaks represent a special subset of a wide range of rodent outbreaks in different parts of theworld. One commonmessage is the need to be able to better understand the factors that lead to a population eruption. In this special issue there are two papers that took on this challenge by considering long-term datasets on the common vole,Microtus arvalis, in Germany. Blank et al. (2011) consider the habitat characteristics and Imholt et al. (2011) the weather parameters that may contribute to population outbreaks. Continuing on the theme of early intervention, Brown et al. (2011) adopted a refreshingly audacious modelling study by combining crop models on rice production with population models of the ricefield rat, Rattus argentiventer. They explore the likely benefits of early management strategies for reducing the impacts of chronically high rodent populations on irrigated rice cropping systems in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. A strengthening area for rodent research is the role played by sociologists and communication specialists in training people to cooperate and adopt management approaches, such as ecologically based rodent management (EBRM) to outsmart rats (Palis et al. 2011; Flor and Singleton 2011). Ecologically based rodent management was a dominant theme that emerged during the conference. Farmers in some countries appear to more readily adopt community management actions following training and extension (e.g. through farmer field schools) and one positive outcome has been a reduction in the use of CSIRO PUBLISHING

The relationship between spirituality/religion and health is receiving increasing academic interest, but few studies have explored the experience of Australians. This paper presents data from an exploratory survey of patients and families in a public teaching hospital in Sydney. The findings show that the majority of hospital service users: •believe there are links between spirituality/religion and health; •believe that rituals and customs can help people when they are sick/suffering; •have valued practices associated with their beliefs; •feel it is helpful for health staff to know their patients’ beliefs; •are willing to be asked about their beliefs; or •want hospital staff to respect and support the beliefs and practices of all patients. Spirituality and religion, and the beliefs and practices associated with them, were found to be eclectic, individualised and evolving in response to life events such as loss and health crises. This paper concludes that a person-centred framework of health practice includes attention to the religious/spiritual dimension of patients and their families. What is known about the topic?There is a rapidly developing body of research that demonstrates an increasing awareness of the important links between religion and health, but is limited in Australian application. What does this paper add?This paper provides contextually relevant qualitative and quantitative data on patient perspectives, including how patients wish to be treated by health staff in relation to their beliefs and practices. The Australian perspective also provides a valuable counterpoint to US-dominated research in the global community. What are the implications for practitioners?The research findings indicate that practitioners need to recognise and respond to the role of religious and spiritual beliefs and practices in patients’ health journeys. The discussion suggests some practical ways of doing this which sit comfortably within the patient-centred approach.

This paper discusses the methodological framework and perspectives that were used in a larger study aiming at examining the experience of working life among female Aboriginal health care workers. Currently, the voice of Aboriginal women who work in the Australian health system has not received much attention. In comparison to other occupations and backgrounds, there is virtually no literature on Aboriginal woman health care workers despite 15% of health care and social service industry employees in Australia being Aboriginal. In this study, we selected female participants because of the fact that of these 15% of health workers in the Victorian health system, 76% of them are women. This paper outlines some of the barriers in researching Indigenous communities. These barriers were overcome in this study by framing the research in feminist theory, decolonising theory, empowerment and by employing the photovoice method. The photovoice method was used because it is relatively unobtrusive and has the capacity to be empowering. All data was extrapolated from the participants’ own narratives that were prompted by the photographs they had taken. The data produced were rich descriptions and narratives that were oral as well as visual. Finally, the article discusses the experience of using the photovoice method from the researcher and participants’ perspective.

Partnerships bring actors together to make horizontal connections between organisations. This has proven to be an effective model at the local level in Ireland. This paper explores possibilities for local partnerships to come together through a network to make vertical connections to national policy processes. It is written as a practice and innovation paper by the national coordinator of the Community Partnership Network in Ireland. A review of current practice and expectations of the Community Partnership Network indicates there has been greater success in providing support to members compared with impacts from strong vertical connections. This experience is common for a range of local actors in the community development sector in Ireland who find that there are insufficient meaningful connections between local and national institutions. This limits the opportunity for transfer of knowledge from the local level to inform national policy. Going forward, the notion of network advantage is explored as a means to make the necessary vertical connections. It is proposed that the outcomes from a network should cover the dimensions of: joint value creation, mutual capacity development and collective engagement with decision makers. There is real opportunity to apply this in Ireland as the three networks representing local development are about to merge into a single representative body for what are now local integrated development partnerships. Thinking about network advantage also provides possible application for creating stronger vertical linkages between local partnerships in Victoria, Australia and bodies at the state level, including the Victorian State Government.

It is with growing sadness (but with expectations of time for some new activities in my life) that I announce that this is my final issue as editor of Australian Health Review (AHR). The new editor, Dr Gary Day from Griffith University in Queensland, is well suited to take over, with continued support from Dr Deborah Roberts, the Models of Care editor, and from the Editorial Board. Australian Health Review is over 30 years old and has achieved growing recognition both nationally and internationally. It has been a pleasure to have contributed to this excellent journal. The landscape of Australian health policy and management journals has changed over the past few years and further changes, to better meet the needs of authors and readers, are in store for AHR in 2010 and beyond. Over my tenure as editor, with much assistance from Professor Judith Dwyer, Dr Deborah Roberts, Dr Gary Day, Prue Power and the Editorial Board, and the publishing team at the Australasian Medical Publishing Company, we have achieved many milestones. Amalgamation of AHR with other journals will continue to strengthen the Australian presence in international scholarly publications. The online manuscript service has proved an efficient and effective mechanism for authors, reviewers and editors. The number of papers submitted for consideration has continued to grow, with over 100 papers submitted each year, of which about 60% are published. This large number of papers has meant that I am enormously grateful to the AHR reviewers. The 2009 reviewers are acknowledged in this issue (page 696). Thank you for volunteering your precious time to this most important task. The large number of papers has also meant that the page numbers of each issue have crept up to try to ensure authors do not have to wait too long to see their work in print. This year we established the Australian Health Review student paper awards, and in this issue we have published the undergraduate (page 541) and postgraduate (page 549) student award papers. Please ensure you read these excellent papers by Australian students. We have had an impressive set of guest editors who demonstrate the importance of AHR in Australian health policy and management and who enabled the journal to present at the forefront of key developments in these areas. This issue has a wide variety of papers on topics such as health information, health service utilisation, models of care, public health, quality and safety and workforce ? areas of critical importance for health policy and management now and into the future. Best wishes for the future. Signing off now, Sandra G Leggat, Editor Australian Health Review.

This paper examines the experience of poverty and child maltreatment among New Zealand?s children as compared with international statistics. New Zealand was a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993, yet indicators suggest that implementation of the Articles of the Convention is limited. In the league of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries it ranks 23rd out of 26 for child poverty and 24th out of 27 for the child maltreatment death rate. A case will be made for coordination of existing and new services for children and families through a dedicated children?s centre, modelled on the United Kingdom?s Sure Start and Children?s Centre program that was modelled in part on the Head Start program of the United States. The paper reports on Wellsford, a rural community north of Auckland, which has embraced the children?s centre concept and is investigating ways to obtain funding to implement the idea.

Occasionally a paper comes along that challenges the past interpretations of experimental data. This will typically invoke a strong defence from those who feel their data are being challenged, and if these happen to be among those chosen to review the paper, the chances of the paper being recommended for publication are likely to be limited. The editor is not in a position to make such judgements and must clearly be guided by the referees’ recommendations. There are often several ways to interpret experimental findings, and there is frequently a schism between researchers noted for a strong theoretical focus and those who are more strongly experimentalist. In this case, the paper by Raewyn Town and Herman van Leeuwen[1] challenged the past interpretations of adsorptive stripping voltammetric studies of iron complexation in seawater. Not surprisingly, this received a critical response from Stan van den Berg[2] and Keith Hunter,[3] both of whom had worked in the area, although other referees were less disparaging. Rejecting the paper seemed a rather extreme move, when on the face of it the theory seemed reasonable. Given that this material was likely to be presented in other forums (e.g. conferences), where the opportunity for scientific debate may be limited, it seemed highly appropriate to use this journal as the vehicle for this debate so that others might read the criticisms and the authors’ response and judge the merits of the paper for themselves. This progressed with the editor asking the authors to address in their revised manuscript only those suggestions not germane to the scientific disagreements. Stan and Keith were asked to write up their criticisms in articles for publication. These were then sent to Raewyn and Herman, who were given a written right-of-reply.[4] All of this would normally take place in the review/resubmission process facilitated by the editors. Here, the scientific dialogue is open. The opportunity for robust scientific debate occurs too infrequently, and it was felt appropriate that, as a new journal, Environmental Chemistry might take the opportunity to foster rather than prevent such debate where the opportunity presented itself. The following papers are our first science offering in this arena.

Federal and state elections provide opportunity for health advocacy. Prior to the elections political parties reformulate their policies, many of which are relevant to public health. The adverse effects of gambling have been minimised in Western Australia (WA) compared to other states and territories in Australia due to strict policies that limit the availability of electronic gaming machines (EGMs). In the lead-up to the 2001 state election, aggressive lobbying of politicians was undertaken in an attempt to allow the expansion of poker machines to hotels and licensed clubs throughout the state. The proponents of this were representatives of the hoteliers and licensed clubs who claimed their continued economic viability was dependent on such a move. Opponents consisted of a coalition of community groups and professional associations. This paper is a summary of the approach taken by health advocates that ultimately contributed to written endorsement of the two main political parties to maintain the moratorium on the expansion of poker machines in WA. Focus of the paper is given to one approach involving direct contact with political candidates. This approach holds promise for effective advocacy for other public health issues.

Our recent paper (Tsey, Patterson, Whiteside, Baird, & Baird, 2002) analysed the early stages of a participatory action research process (PAR) designed to support members of a rural Aboriginal men?s group to take greater control and responsibility for the factors influencing their health and wellbeing. This follow-up paper focusses on key challenges and opportunities associated with the PAR process. Among other things, the paper highlights: a need for training providers and policy-makers to give more attention to the issue of community development skills and how to promote the uptake of such skills more widely in Indigenous settings; the importance of taking a ?solution-focussed approach? in line with the principles of PAR when doing community development work; a need for relevant training and creation of real employment opportunities to be central to strategies designed to support rural Aboriginal men to take their rightful place; a need for the men?s group to promote the broad spectrum of its activities more widely so as to minimise an image problem that the men?s group is only for men having problems; and, above all, an urgent need for the men?s group organisers to play leadership roles through, for example, dialogue with local gay men so as to jointly come up with ideas to make the men?s group more accessible for all men, including gay men.

In this paper I will establish that the SGS constituted not one, but many interrelated social spaces within which the science performance was undertaken. These different social spaces comprised their own unique boundaries, their own narratives, and their own contestations and negotiations between SGS actors. The implications of the claims made in this paper are pertinent to analysts of science attempting to understand the social dynamics involved in complex research programs common in today's research environment. The notion of single arenas, agoras, fields or other social spaces of contestation attempting to embrace the full complexity of science performance, as discussed in much of the sociology of science literature, is too simplistic to adequately deal with the multi-dimensional and temporal nature of the social relations involved in modern science. This paper moves away from such notions and shines light on science in practice within multiple social spaces.

This study is a qualitative evaluation of the experiences of 12 young heroin dependent persons who failed to comply with court mandated treatment orders. Based on a phenomenological method of inquiry, the paper explores their perceptions of both compulsory treatment and an outreach intervention. Reasons reported by participants for non-compliance with court directives included (i) their belief that treatment cannot be mandated but must be driven by personal motivation for change, (ii) a lack of confidence in the efficacy of some treatment services, and (iii) lifestyle issues which create barriers to compliance. Outreach interventions were viewed positively by all participants due to (i) convenience and accessibility, (ii) capacity to engender a sense of achievement, and (iii) humanistic orientation. In addition to providing a voice for these young offenders, the paper identifies the potential for their attitudes and behaviours to be explored within a framework characterised by the struggle that some young people experience in an attempt to retain integrity and experience personal power within a context of systemic powerlessness.

Despite the expense associated with rehabilitation following stroke, dissatisfaction with psychosocial outcomes is common (Thomas & Parry, 1996). The rehabilitation system has been critiqued as lacking a theoretical base for psychosocial interventions (Goldberg, Segal, Berk, Schall, & Gershkoff, 1997). The current paper examines the possible role of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program ([CDSMP] Lorig, 1996) in contributing to the psychosocial rehabilitation of people with stroke. This paper focuses on the analysis of incidental comments made by participants about a version of the CDSMP, tailored for people with stroke. These comments, collected over an 18-month follow-up period, provide interesting insights into the key aspects of the program. Six informative themes emerged from the more specific comments, namely (1) the importance of social contact and comparison, (2) increased awareness and knowledge about stroke, (3) motivation to pursue goals and activities, (4) a sense of achievement, (5) maintenance of gains, and (6) the paradoxical nature of social support. According to participants, the program was associated with enhanced self-efficacy. Other reported benefits (such as social support and enhanced knowledge) were indirectly associated with the program and appeared to reflect social aspects of the group and its stroke-specific focus. Maintenance of gains made by participants was seen as a crucial issue.

Objective The aim of this study was to identify an Aboriginal community’s aspirations for health service improvement during implementation of the Commonwealth’s Health Care Homes (HCH) reform. Methods This study was a qualitative study consisting of Aboriginal-controlled phenomenological enquiry in a large Aboriginal community in north-central Arnhem Land. Results A representative sample of 60 Aboriginal health service users identified shortcomings in their current experience of primary health care, including low cultural security. These shortcomings reduced access to care. Participants described several ways that care could be reorientated to match their needs during HCH implementation. Principally, patients voiced the need for: (1) restructuring care teams to foster culturally secure relationship-based care; and (2) reorientating the Aboriginal Health Practitioner role from acute care to strength-based competencies as the focal point of care continuity: self-management support, care coordination and navigation, health coaching and cultural mentorship for non-Aboriginal staff. Conclusions For HCH to be successful, service providers need to engage with service users to identify and implement patient-centred strategies to improve access, acceptability and patient activation. What is known about the topic? Success of the Commonwealth’s HCH reform is contingent on improving care access and patient activation to better manage chronic conditions What does this paper add? This is the first opportunity that this Aboriginal community has had to articulate their aspirations for high quality healthcare. Beyond the strong alignment with the HCH building blocks, their care preferences posit practical and achievable workforce and delivery system reforms that may improve primary health care in other remote Aboriginal communities. What are the implications for practitioners? The long-term success of the HCH reform will require iterative engagement with service users to identify and implement patient-centred strategies to improve access and acceptability of care. Service model alignment with patient care preferences will improve patient activation and is particularly important when working with vulnerable populations.

This paper is the first of two papers that explore subjective explanations for ill health among Korean migrant men in Australia. The "amnesty" and "skilled" migrants believe they have suffered from physical ill health because of their heavy involvement in manual work and the stress of migrant life. Business migrants say they enjoy better physical health because they spend considerable amounts of time on sporting activities, such as golf. However, all three groups reported experiencing mental health problems. The focus of this paper is Korean "amnesty migrants".

The paper "Caring about carepaths" by Pearson and Macintosh (2001) is an interesting article for those considering the implementation of clinical pathways. The authors have attempted to describe the experiences and lessons learned in trying to introduce clinical pathways at Cairns Base Hospital (CBH). The paper is not a research report. Rather, it is a story of what was hoped to be achieved versus what actually was achieved. Hence, the term "experiment" was used in a non-technical sense. In our commentary of that paper below, we also outline our own experience in clinical pathways at The Alfred by way of comparison, drawing upon lessons learnt that may be of interest to other hospitals.

This paper discusses the current state of play in Victorian municipal public health planning and practice. It questions whether a legislative vehicle is still appropriate to realise local government's potential to affect its populations' health. The paper draws on four recent studies focused on the metropolitan experience. The impact of the radical local government restructuring in the mid-1990s and Compulsory Competitive Tendering were evident in the overlapping findings. These included: increased legitimacy for planning; an ambivalent policy environment; inconsistent support within councils; a paradox about external collaboration; limited community participation; and confusion about models for municipal health planning. However, there was a complex tapestry of positive and negative stories, perspectives, capacities and public health practices, reflecting the sectors' inherent geographical and political diversity. The continuing constraints on effective practice suggest that a reliance on State government legislation as the driving force for councils' approach to public health might no longer be the most productive approach. Public health advocates within and across councils need to help councils develop their own local rationales for action. To support this, the State government should act to create a more supportive and consistent policy environment.

The paper describes and assesses the development of the 2000 to 2005 Victorian Women's Health Plan; a policy overtaken by a range of political processes. It provides a working example of health promotion policy development including mapping the history and context behind the development of the policy. The paper is written from the author's view that good health policy behind funding arrangements is critical for good health practice. It is also important for health service providers to have an understanding of the politics and processes surrounding health policy development and implementation surrounding their practice and to work with this understanding to improve health outcomes. This is particularly the case with health promotion policy because outcomes are generally only identifiable in the longer term. Within Victoria, during the period 1995-1998, a number of things occurred to provide an environment for renewal of interest and potential for progress in women's health policy development. This included an increasing understanding of the relationship between gender and health outcomes. The complex economic, political and environmental elements, understanding of opportunities available, actions developed and taken, and the results are all expanded upon in the paper. The activity resulted in the launch, in August 1999, of the five-year Victorian Women's Health Plan. It was hailed by the then Victorian Premier on the launch occasion as the 'first comprehensive women's health plan to be developed by any Australian state, which leads the way for other States to follow'. The launch coincided with the calling of a State government election. Four weeks later there was a change of government and the process to develop policy has began again.

While there is a tradition of recognising and contending with the emotional content of ethnography (e.g. informant emotions, researcher empathy), there are few accounts of research which illustrate clearly the emotional work done by researchers, and the value of such work as an analytical tool. Yet, in the human services, and especially where trauma is involved, ignoring emotional dynamics actually runs the risk of 'dumbing down' our analyses. The current paper draws on ethnographer experiences during an evaluation of a youth suicide prevention project at the Connexions agency in inner-city Melbourne. The organisation, which is a part of Jesuit Social Services, provides outreach, therapy and other services (e.g. drop-in, labour market program) to marginalised young people. The paper argues that researcher emotions are actually important to isolate and examine in order to adequately capture the meanings participants attribute to their realities and actions. Nevertheless, through the exploration of specific dilemmas, it is shown that recognising and processing difficult emotions can be a confronting yet rewarding exercise for researchers, both personally and in terms of research outcomes. The paper also discusses how the ethnographer managed to conduct research in a setting involving trauma.

The paper examines the health implications of gambling for women living in the Western Metropolitan Region of Melbourne. The research is unique in that it focuses on the health impact of gambling for women from different cultures and age groups within one regional setting. It seeks to explore how women view gambling in their lives and to develop and evaluate strategies to assist women and health agencies to reduce the negative impacts of gambling on women's health. The paper focuses on the findings of the study to date and the methodological and political difficulties involved in researching a sensitive women's health issue.

The paper by Nonie Sharp on the "right to fish" generated some interesting comments among the referees. As is now journal policy, the paper was sent to three referees for review. In the case of Nonie's paper, it went to a biologist who has commented on a range of conservation and cultural issues, and to two social anthropologists. All referees endorsed publication, the two anthropologists did so with enthusiasm, while the biologist, whose opinion I greatly respect, thought the paper was inappropriate for the readership of Pacific Conservation Biology. The biologist's opinion was more or less along the lines that biologists were the primary readers of the journal and that they would not be particularly interested in the issues discussed in Nonie's paper. There were also some concerns about a different writing style and the use of jargon that most biologists might not be comfortable with. These were all points that I agreed with, but I did not think they were grounds for not publishing the paper. The problem of style and jargon was largely corrected by the author's revision, but the issue of interest among readers cannot, of course, be dictated or even easily changed.

This issue introduces a new feature of Pacific Conservation Biology ? a theme issue. In this case the theme is "Landscape Ecology", a developing field in conservation biology which is strong in Australia and which, as these papers indicate, has considerable application to practical conservation. The papers are of high quality ? all were subject to critical review and revision ? and demonstrate the breadth of disciplines contributing to Landscape Ecology. A particularly pleasing feature is the range of organizations from which the authors come; Universities, CSIRO, State conservation agencies and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. This approaches the ideal we have set for the journal. The papers were submitted subsequent to a symposium on the topic at the 1993 meeting of the Ecological Society of Australia and were edited by Richard Hobbs; my thanks to him for the original suggestion and his extraordinary efficiency! I expect that we will have more such theme issues in the future, perhaps one a year, and I would welcome suggestions.

There are numerous examples illustrating the integration of Aboriginal knowledge and participation in rangelands management. At the 2019 Australian Rangelands Conference we aimed to explore how Aboriginal culture and its core values have something deeper to contribute to rangelands management. We explore this through a Yungadhu (Malleefowl) cultural depiction and story. The depiction and story explain the often cited, but not well understood, concepts of Kinship, Country, Lore, and Dreaming. The story provides insight into Aboriginal people’s world view and is used in this paper to illustrate how well it aligns with current thinking about resilience in rangelands landscapes and communities. Significantly, we explain how the deep wisdom that resides in Aboriginal cultures has something meaningful to contribute to achieving the conditions for resilience.

Objective This study examined strategic human resource management (SHRM) activities in two case hospitals relative to their approach to greenfield site success. Methods A comparative case study analysis approach was used, with documents sourced from public, open-access sites. The theoretical framework of crisis management theory’s (CMT) proactive management and open communication channels was used to examine the documents, which were annual reports addressing both hospitals’ first year of performance, union publications and transcripts of relevant parliamentary inquiries. Results The hospital that effectively used CMT in its first 12 months was demonstratively more ‘successful’ than the hospital that reported to not have effectively used CMT. ‘Success’ in this project was articulated as the hospital’s ability to consolidate operations, without ongoing negative media attention, after 12 months. Conclusion This study provided an identification of how the use of CMT in a hospital’s greenfield stage can increase the hospital’s chances of ‘success’. What is known about the topic? Journal and media articles illustrated a gap in greenfield human resource management (HRM) regarding successful consolidation, especially the healthcare context. Although manufacturing firms are addressed in academic literature in a greenfield context, there is a lack of knowledge concerning successful greenfield HRM in a healthcare context. What does this paper add? This study is among the first to identify the role of CMT in successful greenfield site establishment by identifying its presence in management activities. What are the implications for practitioners? The findings of this study suggest a potential link between the implementation of CMT and greenfield site success. This could allow future greenfield healthcare sites to operate with less cost and risk. The lack of stakeholder participation in the present study limits the applicability of its findings. However, archival document analysis provides a strong foundation for future studies.

This paper scrutinizes criticisms of Mark Oliphant and his quest to build a cyclo-synchrotron in Canberra in the 1950s by analysing various portrayals of him, paying particular attention to the ways these portrayals, despite being written in different decades, are teleologically driven and reinforce a perception of failure. It addresses the key criticisms levelled at Oliphant: his ‘difficult' personality, his perceived political naïveté and his inability to adjust to the new technological paradigm of Big Science. It questions whether these portrayals represent legitimate criticism or ideological positioning.