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Until the end of WW2, the Margaret River region (MRR) was a popular domestic destination based on cave explorations. A series of incremental innovations between the 1950s and 1990s reconfigured the destination into a thriving international tourism destination that offers diverse experiences based on wine, surf, and nature. Nonetheless, contemporary external and internal forces are stimulating another shift – one towards sustainability. Apart from the global pro-sustainability agenda, this sustainability transition in tourism is mainly driven by two emerging niches: eco-accreditation and grassroots organisations. This paper adopts the multilevel perspective (MLP) – a commonly adopted framework in the sustainability transitions research field – and combines it with a typology of tourism innovation to examine the evolution of the MRR as a tourist destination. The paper addresses the ongoing sustainability transition in the MRR and discusses both top-down and bottom-up initiatives that stimulate it. In order to provide a holistic view of this transition, the paper also pays attention to the first transition in the destination (i.e. from caves to wine, surf, and nature), and examines its influence on the ongoing sustainability transition. As such, this paper aims to help bridge the gap between tourism geography and the interdisciplinary field of sustainability transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments around the world acted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic through lockdowns and border closures that had specific impacts on temporary residents (migrants, asylum seekers and refugees). In Australia, there were differential responses across states and territories, and a critical distinction made at Federal government level between permanent residents and citizens as compared to temporary migrants. The result has been the continued Othering of certain groups of Australians of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds as well as migrants and refugees on the basis of racial characteristics and visa status. This paper will consider the period where arguably multicultural policies were 'on hold' by investigating the timeline leading up to major policy decisions and the immediate and longer-term after-effects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arguably the way in which multicultural communities were treated has shown the superficial nature of multicultural policies in Australia and the lack of more solid foundations in support of what now demographically constitutes a majority of the country's population. Drawing on secondary data analysis, the paper will outline the distance these actions have put between political leaders and multicultural communities, and queries the implications for a sustained commitment to multicultural policies in an era of temporary migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines school management and policies in Germany and Australia during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, which is comparative and qualitative, explores the interrelationship between different levels of governance and the responses of teacher unions. The inquiry is informed by the perspectives of historical institutionalism and path dependency, and the document analysis is conducted by utilising the justification categories of value, collective, and formal and procedural driven arguments. We argue the contestation which occurred between different levels of school governance and the teacher unions amidst the pandemic created the potential for changes in policy settings and influence over the administration of schooling. However, there is no indication of fundamental shifts in the organisation, policy direction or control over schooling in Germany or Australia. Instead, there is a conformity to established institutional arrangements and path dependencies, which secure and protect the vested interests of the different policy actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools are critical spaces for young men from refugee backgrounds. They play an integral role in literacy development, educational attainment, and providing a sense of belonging. Inclusive education practices for this group are largely absent in Australian schools. Research shows focusing on these young men from a non-deficit position assists with inclusivity. There is a lack of research exploring the agentic practices of young men from refugee backgrounds within schools. This paper explores the symbolic value of swagger for a group of young men from refugee backgrounds at a high school in Australia. A Bourdieusian theoretical framework guided critical awareness of power in schools. This research shows how a group of young men found a meaningful way to acquire social and cultural capital. Despite the school's constraints, this group developed a group identity reflected in their clothing and embodied dispositions referred to here as swagger. Our findings demonstrate the complex power relations at work, including the opportunity for the young men to resist and be included. In the spirit of Bourdieu's concern for reflexivity our findings point to the need for schools, teachers, and education policy makers to consider the workings of power in schools in more considered ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The closure of the Australian passenger vehicle industry in 2017 ended an important phase in the nation's economic history. Closure affected up to 100,000 employees working across the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and the supply chain, with the impacts concentrated in two Australian states. This paper examines both the processes and the outcomes of this closure, making use of a Just Transitions lens to assess the wider impacts of this change. It reviews the measures put in place to assist workers displaced by plant closure, while also drawing on three waves of data from a survey of retrenched workers. The paper argues the process of transition for former employees was shaped by the distinctive characteristics of Australia's system of industrial relations and the ambition of its governments to have as many affected workers find employment as possible. This objective was prioritised over quality of employment or the emerging skill needs of industries. The paper finds that while former auto workers have been able to re-establish themselves in the labour market, the management of this major change does not meet the expectations of a Just Transition as too little attention was directed to the wider societal impacts of this transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores social inclusion approaches implemented by ten secondary schools in Victoria, Australia, to support refugee students' well-being, as articulated in their policies, reports, and other published documents. Using an exploratory, qualitative research design, we found that all schools employed a holistic approach to implementing social inclusion programs for refugee students. This paper reports on the best practices and unique examples of social inclusion programs from all schools involved in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the psychological wellbeing of people with cancer is a key component of assessment and intervention in quality cancer care. However, the unique experiences of rural cancer populations are less often explored than those from urban centres. The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of Australian studies that compared the psychological wellbeing experiences of people with cancer from rural and urban locations. Five databases were searched, and 19 studies, involving 16,947 participants, assessing and comparing the psychological wellbeing of rural and urban populations with cancer were included. The analysis indicated that Australian rural cancer populations have greater odds of worse psychological wellbeing than those from urban areas (OR = 1.54, 95% CI [1.01, 2.35], p = 0.044). This disparity remains when cancer types are analysed separately, with a slightly smaller odds ratio for rural people with breast cancer (OR = 1.29, 95%CI [1.01, 1.64], p = 0.046) and a slightly larger odds ratio when cancers excluding breast cancer were reviewed (OR = 1.78, 95% CI [1.59, 2.01], p = <.001). Significant heterogeneity was found. Despite increasing emphasis in Australia on psychological wellbeing throughout the cancer journey, there remain significant disparities whereby rural people experience greater impacts upon their psychological wellbeing. The wellbeing of Australian rural populations with cancer remains an area in which clinical and political focus is imperative. Whilst screening is a necessary first step, additional clinical implications for improving rural access to appropriately skilled health professionals who provide oncology-specific assessment and intervention are suggested. What is already known: Cancer is a major public health issue, and its psychosocial impacts are substantial, not just on patients but on their families and the broader community. The prevalence of clinically significant psychological distress is higher amongst people with cancer than the general population. However, identification, treatment, and provision of psychological support is inconsistent across services and geographical areas, and notably lacking in rural areas. Disparities in screening, assessment and intervention for psychological wellbeing in people with cancer remain, despite the fact that systematic application of screening, appropriate referral, and intervention can improve quality of life and reduce healthcare costs associated with inpatient and outpatient cancer care. What this paper adds: This article extends outcomes from previous systematic reviews and analyses from Australia and internationally with the addition of meta-analytic methods. It was specifically designed to solely focus on Australian cancer populations. The results suggest that Australian rural populations with cancer may have anywhere from 30% to 70% greater odds of experiencing poorer psychological wellbeing than those from urban areas. This paper highlights ongoing disparities in rural psycho-oncology that may be impacting wellbeing outcomes from rural people in Australia, and urges psychologists, other health professionals, and policy-makers to proactively address these inequities with improved screening, assessment and intervention for their rural populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emphasis on reconciliation as a process of individual reflexivity and institutional reform raises important questions about people's engagement in reconciliation discourses. This paper uses critical discourse analysis to examine how staff at a regional Australian university interpret reconciliation and its application in a workplace context. Many frame their understanding on ideas that are considered foundational to reconciliation in post-colonial Australia. Notions of relationships and coexistence, unity and social harmony, cultural respect and the rightful place of First Nations peoples form the foundation to a revisionist national identity tied to a critical examination and responsiveness to past injustice. Participants recombine and reorder these concepts in ways that speak to their individualised translation, with a greater emphasis on the agency of First Nations peoples in the learning and teaching environment. Such expressions indicate a willingness by respondents to engage in the ideas of reconciliation at the cognitive level. For many, however, reconciliation remains an aspirational or desired activity, and belies a reticence to take personal action that will contribute to wider institutional change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rather than apprehending race or ethnicity as a predetermined social fact that then informs young people's experiences of engagement or inclusion, youth citizenship studies would benefit from more critical perspectives that enable investigation of the racialised construction of what is legible as civic participation or national belonging. Processes of racialisation operate in the production of youth as citizen-subjects in Australian nation-making through approaches in youth policy and research that simultaneously centre and invisibilise whiteness. This paper considers the role of racialisation in ways of knowing and regulating Australian youth as citizens through a critical review of the ways different groups of young people become meaningful and knowable as racialised citizens. It explores the representation and constitution of Indigenous, ethnic minority and white youth citizenship in youth research and policy as in turn non-existent/provisional, integrative/integratable, and vulnerable/healthy, to contribute to deepened understandings of the social construction of youth in the service of white nation-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the experiences of six artists participating in a new Australian creative accelerator programme for emerging media documentary. Attending to the processes, perspectives and frames employed by these artists in developing their early-stage projects, the article explores the diverse practice-based methods employed in developing documentary for emerging media formats. The paper argues for the value of attending to process and practice, as key frameworks that set the context for eventual creative outcomes. In doing so, the paper aims to contribute to knowledge about methods to support artists in developing emerging media documentary in a creative accelerator context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher professional autonomy is important to teachers' work satisfaction, efficiency, well-being, and empowerment. However, it cannot simply be defined as freedom from control because it is relational and contextual. In this paper, we examine the relationality and contextual sensitivity of teacher professional autonomy at 'Newstall' College, a senior secondary government school in Australia. The paper draws on a larger study that examined the social justice implications of school autonomy reform in four Australian state education systems. Newstall College was one of the five case study schools included in this study. Findings generated through in-depth interviews with eighteen staff members (including teachers, professional staff, the deputy principal and the principal) are presented that examine teacher professional autonomy. Conceptualising teacher autonomy as relational and contextual, the paper provides insight into the ways in which teacher autonomy was enabled at this school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to diverse manifestations of racism in Australia, from everyday attacks against Asian Australians to discriminatory policies towards temporary migrants. Since the start of the pandemic, considerable knowledge on pandemic-related racism has been produced. This knowledge has yet to be consolidated, leaving questions about the nature, forms, impacts and trajectories of racism during the pandemic. This paper presents a systematic review and synthesis of research on racism during the pandemic, with an emphasis on pandemic-specific racism. We searched the databases Scopus, MEDLINE and PsycINFO for research published between January 2020 and July 2022. Eighteen research studies were included in the review, along with reports of routine data collection by five organisations. The research reviewed collected data mainly around the pandemic's 'second wave' in Australia (June-October 2020), focusing largely on Asian Australians and temporary migrants nationally and in Victoria. Widely studied forms of COVID-racism were verbal abuse, physical attacks, exclusion and Othering, and institutional racism involving governments, media and employers. We examined the pandemic's health and socio-economic impacts, and variations in experiences of racism over time between ethnic groups. As Australia emerges from the pandemic, we consider the review's implications for pandemic response, anti-racism practice and policy, and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We write as Australian youth work educators. We consider some of the ethical challenges involved in teaching youth work 'in a warm climate', situated in the diaspora of English youth work but where youth work also has a uniquely Australian character, placing us in an ethically liminal space in our teaching between an understanding of youth work that is robustly defended as being both 'good' and 'true', and what we do, which is different from this, and has its own character and strengths. We situate this in the policy history of youth work in Australia, particularly in the 'neoliberal turn' that this has taken in the last four decades which has created ethical challenges for us, just as it has for those elsewhere. Two guiding questions shape this paper. The first is, given our differences, what challenges do we face in maintaining connections with 'good' youth work and its value base as traditionally defined and defended in England, and relatedly, given that policy and funding regimes in the UK seem to be aligning more with an Australian model, is there anything that the youth work community in the UK can learn from the Australian experience? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses embodied geographies of power assisted devices (powered wheelchairs and motorised scooters) for disabled people in Australia to augment understandings of mobile disability politics. Deleuze and Guattari's notion of 'lines' is used to reimagine spatial thinking about mobile disability politics. Disability in this paper is understood as an emplaced, emergent, relational and embodied process that arises in the interaction between ideas, materials and bodies. A focus on the shifting affective capacities of everyday journeys can deepen an understanding of mobile disability politics through attention to sensations. To illustrate the notion of lines we draw on three 'portraits' from a qualitative project on power assisted devices in Ballina Shire, New South Wales, Australia. Each portrait provides an illustration of how mobility experiences of power assisted devices may reinforce and/or challenge normative ideologies and identities, alongside deepening understandings of how ideas and materials come together to produce enabling and/or exclusionary arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the composition, distribution, and history of school funding in Australia through a spatial lens (Soja 2010). We explore multi-scalar school funding policy through three layers of economic maldistribution. We sketch the funding disparities between the three school sectors (public, Catholic, and independent) exposing a spatial injustice in policies of school choice; the spatial and economic maldistribution between state jurisdictions; and the economic maldistribution within state public systems, including the ability of their school communities to contribute funds. Spatial injustice is uncovered in economic maldistribution within and across these policy layers, adding nuance to existing school funding debates. The Australian case is relevant to international explorations of school funding as an example of 'unjust practice' in the hierarchies between schools across sectors, between jurisdictions, and within systems of public [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By examining Bangladesh's educational policies and practices, this paper investigates the transition from technical vocational education and training (TVET) to HE (HE). This study specifically focuses on two areas: how TVET graduates' access to HE looks like in Bangladesh and what role HE institutions can play in boosting TVET graduates' engagement in HE in Bangladesh by taking a cue from the Australian TVET system. Based on Marginson's 'high participation systems' theory, it focuses on how TVET courses can lead to HE and how universities can facilitate TVET diploma holders' access to bachelor's degrees in their fields of study in Bangladesh. The qualitative content analysis of policy documents served as the foundation for this paper. This paper aims to advance our understanding of how structural obstacles (elitism) affect pathways from TVET to HE and how international 'best practices' can be localized in the Bangladeshi context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent passage of the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act (2021) (Cth) opened up the potential for Australia to produce renewable energy at unprecedented scale. Six regions have been identified as potential locations for developing offshore wind projects, promising thousands of new local jobs to legacy industrial regions. This paper charts the regulatory framework for Australia's offshore wind industry and how it positions local economic benefits in the licencing of projects. It then draws on interviews with key stakeholders supported by media and policy analysis to examine the early development of offshore wind capability in one of the proposed regions, the Illawarra, in NSW. Here existing steelmaking capacity positions the region to play a key role in supply chains for local and potentially national projects, but considerable structural and geographical constraints in the labour market will need to be addressed. In light of overseas experience indicating that economic benefits often fall short of promises, greater attention by policy makers is required to ensure hosting communities can develop local skills in the industry and facilitate their relative supply chain capabilities. This paper also calls for careful evaluation of early projects to allow for adjustments to policy settings as the industry matures domestically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Australian Higher Education sector, the gendered, racialised, and heteronormative culture of neoliberalism means that for minoritised teachers the university classroom is always a contested, and often hostile, space. Our gendered and racialised bodies become objects under the gaze of our students and the deafening headwinds of post-truth anti-intellectualism render our stories difficult for our students to hear. This paper probes our experiences as minoritised educators who through a decolonial framework, actively challenge deeply entrenched narratives through critical teaching and consider how that translates into student feedback. We employ a collaborative autoethnographic approach to offer an understanding of how Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) are used as a tool of disciplinary control in the neoliberalised university. We argue that SETs are racialised and gendered tools of power that can be hostile and biased towards minoritised teachers, and urge reconsideration of their overuse in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper highlights that the proliferation of Indigenous sport research has not been focused on examining Indigenous games and sports. Additionally, no one has to date produced a framework for understanding them on their own merits even though these games now form part of a national physical education curriculum. The overwhelming majority of research focuses on Indigenous engagement with the British imports of cricket, the rugby codes, soccer, and Australian Rules football. We argue that this focus serves to diminish Indigenous cultures and adaptability to colonial forces, that, while disruptive, never eliminated Indigenous games and sports which go back as far as 60,000 years. We lay out such a framework in the hopes that future research will ensure that Indigenous games and sports are understood historically and in the present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian collecting institutions and heritage agencies have been returning Ancestral Remains and secret-sacred objects to Australian First Nations communities for over 30 years. In recent years, calls for repatriation have expanded to include what have often been called 'secular' objects. This paper considers the varying levels of sacredness potentially inherent in the types of 'traditional' secular objects that are characteristic of many museum collections. In museum collection management typologies, objects are often divided into discrete categories of secular, ceremonial and sacred. This paper considers how the divide between sacred and secular objects is actually far more complex, with associated impacts for collection management and repatriation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasingly complex and demanding research landscape has seen university libraries rapidly evolve their services. While research data management, bibliometrics, and research impact services have predominantly featured in the literature to date, the full scope of support libraries are currently providing to their institutions is unknown. This paper aims to present an up-to-date view of the scope and extent of research support services by university libraries across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. A coding process analyzed content data from university library websites. Eleven research support areas were identified. Service delivery is split between synchronous and asynchronous modes. This paper describes a lived experience of an evidence-based library and information practice approach to improving research support services at two Australian university libraries, and while it highlights continued maturation of research support services, more research is needed to better understand influences on service development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable food practices are increasingly of interest to scholars and practitioners concerned with the impacts of food production, consumption, and waste in an age of climate change. Attention has been paid to households as actors in addressing sustainability concerns. This paper draws on a national survey of Australian sustainable household practices to offer insights into the ways households are practicing sustainability across three everyday entanglements with food: (1) growing food, (2) consuming food and (3) wasting/disposing of food. The paper explores the types of practices enacted across the three entanglements and provides an understanding of the prevalence and barriers for households adopting sustainable food practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing urbanization is driving rapid growth in residential multi-owned properties (RMOPs) worldwide. Concerns about the quality of these buildings are also growing in many countries. Yet research into the quality of RMOPs (particularly apartments) remains scant and under-theorized. Addressing this knowledge gap, this paper reports the results of research which employed information asymmetry theory to provide new insights into the prevalence and risks of building defects in the Australian RMOP construction market. Using data about defects in 635 RMOPs built in Sydney between 2008 and 2017 and semi-structured interviews with sixty-six experienced practitioners, the results highlight the severity of the defects crisis. The research identified two types of information asymmetries which exacerbate the risk of buying into a defective building for RMOP customers: data fragmentation and data robustness. From a policy and practical perspective, this highlights the challenges faced by consumers in undertaking 'due diligence' and the need for reforms that address these information asymmetries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract\nKEY POINTSHigh-purity quartz (HPQ) is the only naturally occurring and economically viable source for the production of silicon. Silicon is a critical mineral, and a key component in modern technologies such as semiconductors and photovoltaic cells. Critical minerals support the move towards a greater reliance on electrification, renewable energy sources and economic security. The global transition to net zero carbon emissions means there is a growing need for new discoveries of HPQ to supply the silicon production chain. HPQ deposits are identified in a multitude of geological settings, including pegmatites, hydrothermal veins, sedimentary accumulations and quartzite; however, deposits of sufficient volume and quality are rare. Quartz is abundant throughout Australia, but the exploration and discovery of HPQ occurrences are notably under-reported, making assessment of the HPQ potential in Australia extremely difficult. This paper presents a much-needed summary of the state of the HPQ industry, exploration and deposit styles in Australia.High-purity quartz (HPQ) is a key material for the manufacture of photovoltaic cells, semiconductors and other high-technology applications.HPQ can be recovered from a variety of different source rocks in a range of geological settings.Currently, the HPQ industry in Australia is under-utilised for high-technology applications, and historical exploration and mining records are under-reported and opaque.This review presents an outline of the characteristics, processing requirements and end uses of HPQ, and a summary of the operations, deposits, exploration targets and known occurrences of HPQ in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the strategies used by Aboriginal young people to build positive relationships and sexual wellbeing. It does so to counter the risk-focussed narratives present in much existing research and to showcase the resourcefulness of Aboriginal young people. We used peer-interview methods to collect qualitative data from 52 Aboriginal young people living in western Sydney, Australia. Participants reported a strong desire to stay safe and healthy in their sexual relationships and to achieve this they relied heavily on oral communication and yarning strategies. Participants viewed communication as a way to gain or give advice (about bodies, infections, pregnancy, relationships); to assess the acceptability and safety of potential partners; to negotiate consent with partners; to build positive relationships; and to get themselves out of unhealthy relationships. Participants also discussed 'self-talk' as a strategy for building sexual wellbeing, referring to narratives of self-respect and pride in culture as important in establishing Aboriginal young people's positive views of self and as deserving of respectful and safe sexual relationships. These findings suggest that future programmes and interventions based on yarning could be well-regarded, given it is a cultural form of pedagogy and a strategy Aboriginal young people already use to build positive relationships and identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compelling international evidence illustrates the potential of reading for pleasure for enhancing student reading achievement along with other learning and wellbeing outcomes. Yet profound challenges exist for nations seeking to encompass attention to students' volitional reading. In this paper we critically review the growing research evidence in this area by drawing systematically on cognitive psychological studies of reading attainment and motivation, educational studies of classroom practice, and the work of literary scholars and medical professionals. We consider and critique the methodologies deployed and read between the lines, exposing contradictions and complexities across this interdisciplinary field before considering the demands of operationalising this agenda in education. Through a dual focus on England and Australia, where, exemplifying international trends, young people's voluntary reading continues to decline, we examine difficulties and dilemmas which play out in policy and practice contexts. Our points of commonality and comparison surface key issues for consideration in countries working to reconcile the push and pull of performativity and reading for pleasure agendas in order to nurture children's volitional reading. To conclude, we examine ways forward for research, policy and practice which deserve increased global attention, and offer future-focused recommendations to advance this significant social justice agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culturally modified trees (CMTs) are a unique form of archaeology and cultural heritage. There are several factors affecting the survival of culturally modified trees in Australia, and these will all likely be exacerbated by climate change. Boab trees (Adansonia gregorii), which are endemic to northwest Australia, have been subject to modification by Indigenous people both prior to and following the settlement of the Kimberley region by European and Anglo-Australians. Many of the potential impacts of climate change on boab tree survival are yet to be determined, but a range of new threats are emerging as potential endangerment. Through the insights of Indigenous knowledge, this paper discusses one particularly significant boab tree in Nyikina Country and how its demise may be linked to erroneous human actions in the recent past. This provides a unique perspective on how the complexities of climate change may be conceptualised through living knowledge and experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convergent environmental crises have triggered scholarly attention towards the question of how great powers understand and engage with the environment, given their role as systemic actors within the international order. Environmental great powers – those that can employ both positive and negative powers to advance or block environmental cooperation – are typically limited to those who have the capability to influence environmental issues, and the responsibility to do so legitimately. Using a constructivist lens, this paper extends this analysis to the role of middle powers, who can influence environmental issues through their support for international cooperation, backed by their actions. We focus on Australia, an oft-cited middle power known for supporting the international rules-based order. By examining Australia's record on two current, interlinked environmental crises, climate change and biodiversity, we show that although it provides legal support for environmental cooperation, it also engages in, and conceals, significant political obstruction to meeting its obligations. Given the need for all states to address the surpassing of safe limits of planetary boundaries, and for its contribution to the destruction of systems upon which humanity depends, we argue that Australia might be deemed an ecocidal middle power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concern exists that the growing over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) across Australia is perpetuating historical, discriminatory child removal policies and practices. The disproportionate number of Indigenous children in OOHC is increasing at the same time as growing multi-jurisdictional policy and legal mandate for Indigenous self-determination, leadership, and cultural connectedness in the OOHC space. This study aims to provide evidence and instruction to social work educators, policymakers and practitioners in Australia's complex child protection, wellbeing, and justice systems about why and how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-controlled organizations are best placed to lead OOHC service delivery for Indigenous children, their family and community. The qualitative research, located in Queensland, engages the knowledge and experience of Elders, Indigenous child safety professionals and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young adults who have recently exited OOHC to explore the importance of Indigenous-led OOHC service provision for generating genuine, intergenerational systemic change. Ten themes or authoritative Directives to non-Indigenous stakeholders are elicited and discussed. The paper concludes with three recommendations that press for a shift in the Western values and practices that underscore the monitoring and evaluation of Indigenous-led OOHC service providers by government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As governments encourage circular economy (CE) initiatives, markets for waste recirculation are taking shape. But implementation is in its infancy and material circuits are emergent. Early food waste CEs shaped by commercial players emphasise capital investment, routinised forms of waged labour, processing sites distant from food waste sources, and transactional relationships. Less well understood is the potential for vernacular circularity beyond market-based, transactional frames. This paper reports from a collaborative research exercise with a non-profit community farm in nonmetropolitan Australia, seeking to connect with cafés to access food waste for composting. Cafés are a nexus of production and consumption, ubiquitous in the contemporary multicultural Australian context, and therefore ideal for grassroots CEs. Ten local cafes participated, reviewing existing food waste practices, motivations for circularity, and contextual factors including the regional setting. We found that food waste circularity emerges via divergent pathways related to enterprise type and scale, environmental values of actors, place embeddedness, and local relationships. These pathways reflect the place-based attributes and diverse sustainability values of residents and businesses in the coastal, industrial city of Wollongong, where the study is based. Contrasting distant, transactional circuits, are more-than-transactional food waste pathways, developed by microscale actors shaping vernacular material flows and "hacking" public provision of Food Organic and Garden Organic (FOGO) waste services to mobilise environmental values and community relationships. Overlooked by "big policy" more-than-transactional relationships bind producers, intermediaries and consumers in closer loops and, in so doing, enrich place and facilitate an ethic of care for soil and land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing experience of international students has attracted increasing academic attention in recent years. Australia's large international student population is largely reliant on lightly-regulated private rental housing, a market sector subject to extreme turbulence during COVID-19. However, while aspects of Australian student housing stress during the pandemic have been already investigated, the specific issues affecting a substantial component of the broader cohort have yet to be examined. Around 130,000 Australian international students were stranded overseas for two years (2020-22) by international border closures. Their experiences cast new light on vulnerable renter precarity in lightly-regulated markets. Via an online survey and in-depth interviews, this paper examines the challenges posed for stranded international students in terms of their Australian tenancies, and how these were handled. Three main findings emerge: 1) uncertainty deriving from travel restrictions reduced student bargaining power in the rental market; 2) inability to terminate leases, unfavourable rent negotiation outcomes and welfare exclusion caused serious financial stress; and 3) widespread subletting exposed students to eviction and exploitation. These findings foreground important downsides of Australia's long-existing neoliberal university regime and inadequate student housing provision that endanger the fundamental purposes of higher education, and risk tarnishing Australia's reputation as an international student destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote Education Tutors (RETs) enact crucial roles in Australian distance schooling, by living with families who reside in geographically isolated locations and supporting their school age children's learning. As part of a larger research project, this paper presents a study of four RETs derived from semi-structured interviews conducted in their respective home schoolrooms. Informed conceptually by Bronfenbrenner's socio-ecological systems theory (1979, 1986), the thematic analysis generated four substantive themes related to the participants' lives and work: pedagogical competencies; healthy relational dynamics; optimism with a solution focus; and substantive occupation. More broadly, the RETs contribute indispensably to the educational success and the lifestyle sustainability of the school age children with whom they work, yet currently there is no formal recognition of that contribution, just as there is no viable career pathway for RETs seeking to become qualified teachers. Accordingly, they are as occupationally invisible as the remote living families whom they serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines young women's experiences of early motherhood focusing on their aims and goals for the future. Young mothers face a particularly complex set of life circumstances by virtue of entering parenthood outside the normative age of motherhood and are likely to experience discrimination, stereotyping and economic disadvantage. We report data from a small-scale qualitative study designed to gather evidence about the experiences, goals and aspirations of young mothers. While the main programs supporting young mothers in Australia focus on education and employment support, we find that young mothers prioritise mothering and focus on the importance of providing full-time care to their children. We find evidence that parenthood is potentially a catalyst for transitioning to more rewarding employment, but this is a secondary goal after motherhood priorities. We also find evidence of active resistance to stereotyping and the challenges these women face as they navigate motherhood outside the standard normative age for this transition. Our findings highlight the need for longitudinal work that can provide evidence of journeys through motherhood, heterogeneity in outcomes, support programs that cater for changing needs and greater recognition of the value of unpaid mothering and care work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fair political representation is an important goal of democratic governments, yet Australia lags behind many democracies in women's representation in elected politics. Attacks against women in public spaces through harassment and verbal abuse have long constrained women's ease in physical spaces and, in the digital age, this has extended into online spheres. This paper examines the impact of on- and offline incivility on women's experiences in local politics. It focuses on Australia's southern state of Victoria and its 79 local government municipalities. We conduct two surveys of men and women elected representatives (N1 = 222, N2 = 205) to determine their experiences during the campaigning period and first year on council. We follow up with in-depth interviews with women who have experienced gender harassment (n = 10) to further understand its impacts. We offer new insights in to a 'push factor' that contribute to women leaving elected local government and their political underrepresentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little research comparatively assessing prevalence of pain between older people either with or without intellectual disability. This paper explores health and social factors associated with chronic pain in these two groups. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. Inclusion criteria were adults either with or without intellectual disability, aged 60 years and older, and currently living in community-settings. Univariate and multivariable analyses were undertaken on a sample of 391 adults with intellectual disability and 920 adults without intellectual disability. Key findings included higher prevalence of pain in the intellectual disability group, along with higher rates of osteoarthritis, falls, oral health problems, and mood disorders. Mitigating risk factors for conditions that cause chronic pain in older adults is crucial. As longevity increases, the healthcare sector needs to prioritise chronic pain management for people with intellectual disabilities through appropriate treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a systematic review that assessed the different types of mental health programs and interventions available for young people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds in Australia, and identified core elements of practice for supporting the mental health of CALD youth, and key barriers that preclude CALD youth from engaging with mental health services. A total of 19 articles met inclusion criteria and a total of six distinct practices were identified: (1) personalization, identity and recognition of trauma; (2) creative expression; (3) cultural competence; (4) self-efficacy and empowerment; (5) social connections and relationships; and (6) information and content delivery. Key barriers related to engagement with CALD youth mental health programs included language and literacy barriers, stigma and shame, and service providers' limited cultural competency, and lack of diverse understandings of wellbeing. The findings from this review suggest several avenues for ensuring practice that effectively meets the unique mental health needs of CALD young people and reduces barriers to their access and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automating workplaces that results in a loss of jobs has become a topic of public debate and study but has paid little attention to differential impacts on age groups. This paper applies OECD data on the risk of jobs being automated to Australian longitudinal survey data following 15 years old students over a ten-year period as they enter the job market. Whilst in the early stages of their working lives, these young Australians often worked in jobs projected to be at high risk of automation, they gradually moved into jobs and occupations projected to be less exposed to automation. Young Australians were also less likely to work in jobs at risk of automation than the average Australian. Besides socio-demographic factors, including educational attainment but also domestic wealth, the incidence and kind of computer use at home were associated with working in jobs at a higher or lower risk of automation, as were young workers' type of employment contract and whether young employees changed employers. Whilst suggestions of large-scale job losses owing to automation may be exaggerated, the socio-economic divide that extends to exposure to at risk occupations ought to be a matter of policy concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many studies that have focussed on the different dimensions of employment in several industries during COVID-19. However, the impact of the pandemic on employment in the tourism industries has been underexplored. Moreover, we are not aware of any study that has considered the impact of the pandemic on employment in different sub-sectors within the tourism industries. This paper analyzes the effect of COVID-19 on employment in Australian tourism industries using fractional integration. Using quarterly data (2004-2021) and disaggregating data by sectors, we examine two samples, one ending in December 2019 and the other one in December 2021. The novelty of this study is the consideration of the effect of this pandemic on employment in different sub-sectors that constitute the tourism industry. Our results indicate that the current pandemic has not produced significant changes in the persistence of the series. The only significant changes take place for the retail trade industry that moves from mean reversion to lack of it, and the cafes and restaurants in the opposite direction. One of the implications of the results is that interventions before the pandemic, such as concerted marketing efforts, are useful to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on tourism related industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings from an ethnographic study of families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families in Australia caring for children with disability. The study aimed to contribute insights into the unique experiences, challenges and supports that characterise experiences of families of a child with disability living in a country where the mainstream culture is different from their own. Four families from different cultural backgrounds participated in the study over a period of nine months. During this time, they participated in a series of semi-structured interviews during which they shared their encounters with formal early intervention services and reflected on important informal supports. Findings presented here indicate three key areas associated with accessing informal supports that can pose challenges for families who hold values that are different from those of the dominant culture: lack of social support; cultural adaptations, and socialization problems and coping strategies. The findings indicate that formal services could ameliorate feelings of social isolation by enabling parents to access informal supports such as parenting groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1964 UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is often presented as a pivotal moment in the post-Second World War relations between the Global North and Global South. At this conference, Australian policymakers devised a Middle Zone policy that sought to present Australia as neither 'developed' nor 'developing'. This had significant consequences for the colonial administration of Papua New Guinea (PNG), which Australia administered as a UN Trust Territory. In the two decades following the Second World War, Australia had administered PNG in a way that promoted gradual development, arguing that the road to independence would be a slow one. By 1964, however, international pressure (exemplified by the call for UNCTAD) had made this policy less viable. This article examines the impact of UNCTAD on the decolonisation of PNG, as it sparked an acceleration of calls for PNG independence in the second half of the 1960s. The Conference also prompted indigenous leaders within PNG to engage with the increasingly diverse field of development in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Local leaders, such as Michael Somare, became increasingly prominent as decolonisation loomed large. Their developmental approaches, informed by other movements within the Global South, steadily became a part of the plan for an independent PNG. UNCTAD can be seen as a starting point for this process. By examining the connections between the 1964 UNCTAD and the decolonisation of PNG, this paper adds a new dimension to the scholarship of the Conference as well as the process of decolonisation in the Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a market leader in international education however, research suggests that it predominantly serves elite populations (Bunnell, T., M. Donnelly, H. Lauder, and S. Whewall. 2020. "International Mindedness as a Platform for Class Solidarity." Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. Published online: 24 August 2020. doi:). Drawing on data from the IB and the Australian government, we explore the growth of the IB in Australia for a period of 11 years (2008 to 2019). Data analysis highlights the narrow growth of the IB amongst relatively homogenous schools, suggesting a period of 'distinction and expansion' that represents a troubling contradiction of the IB's stated goal to increase diversity in IB schools and contributes to the reproduction of class disparity in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asylum seeker and refugee supporters work to provide services, legal advice, home visits; engage in advocacy; and protest the harsh immigration context that is associated with the Australian government. The passion supporters feel for the 'cause' burns bright, yet years and sometimes decades of support can take a personal toll. This article draws on ethnographic data collected between July 2019 and October 2020 in Adelaide, South Australia, with asylum seeker and refugee supporters. We argue that despite displaying many of the features classically associated with notions of burnout, supporters are more likely to 'burn down', rather than out. This is because the passion associated with the commitment to asylum seeker and refugee causes is hard to extinguish. We suggest that supporters suffer from 'passion fatigue,' yet through the mitigating practices of retreat and debriefing they can protect themselves from the worst forms of burnout and permanent disengagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments and other agencies seeking to tackle racism have been calling for better empirical evidence, including complaint data based on reports by people who have experienced racism. This approach requires much of those who face racism, often while offering little effective support or redress for them. There is a need to understand reporting or not reporting experiences of racism as a result of a complex interplay between different factors – as a (non-) reporting journey, rather than as a singular moment of decision. Reporting is at risk of remaining an ineffective strategy for responding to racism where the reporting pathways and support services are not sufficiently aligned with the expectations and needs of those who experience racism. This article discusses the findings of three place-based community engagement and research projects across four local municipalities in Melbourne. The projects examined locally specific community perspectives and expectations in relation to reporting pathways and support services for those experiencing racism. The analysis of this community input resulted in anti-racism roadmaps specific for each local area, which were co-developed with local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Southeastern Australia's marine waters are notably warming, surpassing global averages. This region has emerged as a strategic location for researching planktic microfossils, particularly dinoflagellate cysts, in modern and Late Quaternary sediments, offering crucial insights into the biophysical properties of mid-latitude waters. This study examined cyst distribution in marine sediment cores near Maria Island, Tasmania, southeastern Australia, up to 9000 years before present (kyrs BP). Dominant cysts included Protoceratium reticulatum, Protoperidinium spp. (P. avellana, P. conicum, P. oblongum, P. subinerme, P. shanghaiense), and Spiniferites spp. (S. bulloideus, S. hyperacanthus, S. membranaceus, S. mirabilis, S. pachydermus, and S. ramosus). Inshore, Spiniferites spp. constituted a higher proportion (up to 61%), while offshore was dominated by P. reticulatum (up to 80%). Impagidinium spp. and Nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus were exclusively found offshore and displayed increased abundance from ∼6 kyrs BP, suggesting a shift from a shallow to a deep-water habitat. Alexandrium tamarense species complex cysts were present over 140 years inshore and approaching 9 kyrs BP offshore, indicating a longstanding endemic presence. Gymnodinium catenatum cysts were detected exclusively inshore from ∼50 years ago, indicating a relatively recent bloom phenomenon. The East Australian Current's limited southward reach is suggested by the absence of the warm-water cyst-producing taxon Lingulodinium polyedra. Similarly, the non-detection of the cold-water species Spiniferites antarctica and Impagidinium pallidum reflects Subtropical Front boundaries against subantarctic incursions from the south. In contrast to coccolithophores in the same core, no noticeable shift from cold to warm-water dinoflagellate cyst species was observed. This documentation of dinoflagellate cysts aids in predicting environmental impacts on local communities and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on data from a large-scale sample survey conducted in 2016 within the contemporary ethnic Japanese migrant community in Sydney, Australia, this article focuses on demographics and the political culture of this community to determine the context for Japanese migrants' attitudes, with a focus on gender. Findings suggest that the Japanese community is statistically less politically involved than the wider Australian population, possibly reflecting general attitudes towards politics in Japan, and unique social profiles within the Australian community. Superficially, the lack of interest in political commitment appeared to signify less integration into Australian society. However, our triangulation of the data, combined with follow-up interviews found a new form of political engagement within the Japanese community in contemporary Australia. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of the Japanese ethnic community in Australia and overseas, as well as broadening scholarship about the political awareness and activities of ethnic communities in settler societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Health service providers need to set their own research priorities to ensure investment of limited resources into projects relevant to their setting. Rural health services may face additional challenges in identifying research priorities if they comprise a research-naeïve workforce. This study examines the methods employed by one health service to identify research priorities across a multidisciplinary health service in regional Australia. Method A modified 3-round Delphi method was employed, with panellists from clinical divisions, management, and consumer groups. Modifications included delivery via etechnology; inclusion of a reference group; a large panel who were selected without prior consultation; provision for non-sequential engagement in rounds by panellists; and group level feedback between rounds. Results In total 270 panellists were enlisted from across the health service, representing all levels of management, clinicians with and without research experience, and consumers. Valid research priorities for the whole of service were successfully identified using the modified Delphi method. Conclusion This study demonstrates how a regional health service with minimal research experience, was able to utilise a modified Delphi methodology to facilitate research priority setting across a widespread and multidisciplinary health service. Modifications to the Delphi methodology and their utility within the research setting are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are growing public discussions about racism in Australia with renewed government commitment to addressing it. Robust evidence and high-quality data are important for informing anti-racism. However, current data have serious limitations that impact our knowledge about the nature, prevalence and impact of racism in Australia. To examine the state and limitations of data on racism in Australia, we conducted a stocktake review of quantitative racism data collected nationally until July 2022. This article reports on 32 survey-based research studies and six ongoing organisational reporting initiatives. We organise and classify existing data based on study designs and participant characteristics, as well as the settings, targets, perpetrators, responses to and effects of racism. We identify data gaps and recommend how they may be bridged. First, we recommend further analysis of existing, under-utilised data, to address outstanding questions about perpetrators' demographics, priority localities, and the health and socio-economic outcomes of racism. Second, we recommend new data collection on emerging settings where racism occurs, under-explored forms, cohorts experiencing racism, and responses to racism. We propose this study as a foundation for a national anti-racism research agenda and data management plan in Australia, and as a template for stocktakes in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education of students with disability has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Universal declarations and conventions have underpinned many of these changes at both an international level and within Australia. In the early 1970s, the philosophy of John Rawls provided a theory of justice to preserve social justice and individual liberty within communities. This mirrored attempts to advance education to ensure social justice, rights and access to education for learners with disability. This micro-historical ethnography provides a review spanning the past half century in Australia of changes to the education of students with disability. Underpinned by an ethnographic epistemology through interviews with the presentism of eight educators involved in Western Australian education for learners with disability, and viewed through an interpretivist lens, major elements of change are identified. An analytical framework deduced from the work of Rawls is used to reflect upon the changes and discuss the degree that Rawls' justice as fairness has been enacted in education for learners with disability from 1970 to 2021 in Australia. Key words: Australia, learners with disability, special education, inclusion, Rawls, equity, social justice [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]