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Men's sheds are community spaces where older, retired men come together to conduct woodworking and other types of craftwork and DIY activities. There is little research on exploring how technology can help us understand shed members' perceived values associated with men's sheds. In order to investigate this further, we designed and deployed a mobile storytelling application called ShedBox for an Australian men's shed for over six weeks. ShedBox allows shed members to share audio-visual stories. Our analysis of resulting 58 stories and follow-up interviews with 13 shed members unpacked three important themes: a sense of comradery, kinship and companionship present within the shed; material and emotional engagement with the space; and, health and wellbeing of shed members. Our results also highlight a strong masculine culture of the space and how the shed is a site of active learning and engagement for its members. Lastly, our conclusion presents suggestions regarding how such forms of storytelling technology can be leveraged in similar contexts, and also how they can be effectively designed to support different demography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People living in residential aged care homes in Australia often have limited opportunities for meaningful social engagement. The present study aimed to characterize the state of intergenerational programs in residential aged care within a nationwide Australian sample. A total of 572 valid survey responses were received. A large number of aged care homes had existing programs, but only 18.2% had active programs; 44.4% reported their programs as temporarily suspended, predominantly due to COVID-19. The most common activities included singing (67.8%), games (56.8%), reading (51.1%) and craft (41.5%). Mental health and wellbeing, opportunity to socialize, and connection with the community were considered as the main benefits. There is consensus on the benefits of well-placed programming and engagement. Several barriers and challenges to engagement exist, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Aged care homes need adequate information and support to increase their ability to offer intergenerational programs between residents and community members. The survey provides insight into intergenerational programs in Australian aged care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic Staff completing the survey reported positive views of the benefits of the programs to both old and young participants The findings highlight the diversity of participants' ages, places, mode of delivery and types of activities – frequently singing, games, reading and craft, but also dancing and reminiscence, and even robotics. While COVID-19 posed significant challenges, there were creative solutions including written letters and shared journals, virtual interaction and simple strategies such as access to areas where residents could observe children at play or in passing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

That importance of technological knowledge to patternmakers' sense of self is clearly articulated in chapter 4, "Industrial Craft as Design Knowledge." More broadly, I Industrial Craft in Australia i aims to restore industrial craftworkers to our understanding of the modern manufacturing economy, and Stein evokes admiration for the patternmakers' skill and knowledge. I Industrial Craft in Australia i analyzes patternmaker knowledge, demonstrating the persistent role of skilled craftspeople in those processes. [Extracted from the article]

Australian government assimilation policy envisaged that voluntary organisations would play a major role in facilitating the swift absorption of migrants into postwar Australia. Scholarship has focused upon the disjuncture between the rhetoric employed in describing the process of assimilation and the implementation of policy, but is yet to examine the viewpoint of ordinary settler-Australian volunteers. Through an analysis of the experience of members of the Country Women's Association of NSW, one of the voluntary organisations which undertook to organise assimilation activities, I explore the nature of assimilation from a rural Australian perspective. CWA members modelled feminine, rural Australian values to migrant women through a suite of gender-specific core activities undertaken in the public realm, including handicraft and baby health care. Members remained reluctant, however, to initiate or sustain personal contact with migrants if it did not affirm the centrality of rural Australian values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current epidemiological data highlight the potential detrimental associations between sedentary behaviours and health outcomes, yet little is known about temporal trends in adult sedentary time. This study used time use data to examine population trends in sedentary behaviours in non-occupational domains and more specifically during leisure time. Methods: We conducted secondary analysis of population representative data from the Australian Time Use Surveys 1992, 1997 and 2006 involving respondents aged 20 years and over with completed time use diaries for two days. Weighted samples for each survey year were: n = 5851 (1992), n = 6419 (1997) and n = 5505 (2006). We recoded all primary activities by domain (sleep, occupational, transport, leisure, household, education) and intensity (sedentary, light, moderate). Adjusted multiple linear regressions tested for differences in time spent in nonoccupational sedentary behaviours in 1992 and 1997 with 2006 as the reference year. Results: Total non-occupational sedentary time was slightly lower in 1997 than in 2006 (mean = 894 min/2d and 906 min/2d, respectively; B = −11.2; 95%CI: -21.5, -0.9). Compared with 2006, less time was spent in 1997 in sedentary transport (B-6.7; 95%CI: -10.4, -3.0) and sedentary education (B = −6.3; 95%CI: -10.5, -2.2) while household and leisure sedentary time remained stable. Time engaged in different types of leisure-time sedentary activities changed between 1997 and 2006: leisure-time computer use increased (B = −26.7; 95%CI: -29.5, -23.8), while other leisure-time sedentary behaviours (e.g., reading, listening to music, hobbies and crafts) showed small concurrent reductions. In 1992, leisure screen time was lower than in 2006: TV-viewing (B = −24.2; 95%CI: -31.2, -17.2), computer use (B = −35.3; 95%CI: -37.7, -32.8). In 2006, 90 % of leisure time was spent sedentary, of which 53 % was screen time. Conclusions: Non-occupational sedentary time has increased slightly from 1997 to 2006 in the Australian adult population. This seems to be the result of small increases in sedentary transport and education time while sedentary household and leisure time were stable over this time period. However, almost all leisure time is spent sedentary and the composition of sedentary leisure time changed between 1992 and 2006 towards a larger proportion being screen-based activities. This could be an important observation for public health, as most of the evidence on the detrimental effects of sedentary behaviour is around watching television and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five Australian interdisciplinary practitioners, working across fashion, craft, art and design, in Sydney and Melbourne in the 1970s-80s, shared friendships, aesthetic ideas and public presentation of their work. The ways they chose to make and disseminate their work were influenced by historically reclaimed visual conventions and craft discourses of the time, along with related circumstances of curatorship, collecting and dealing. All of this was foregrounded by contemporary interest in issues of identity and subjectivity as part of a postmodern re-orienting of 'what was what' in visual culture. The essay examines the multi-dimensional 'relationality' of these interconnections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a recent UNESCO workshop in Chile, important questions were asked about the relation between globalization and traditional craft. With the emergence of transnational craft practices, there is increasing "outsourcing" of craft techniques from consumer societies to the Global South. This contradicts the widely held perception of craft as a self-contained cultural expression, where form and content are bonded closely together. It can be argued that such partnerships promote an exogamy that can strengthen craft traditions. But in order to resist the commodification that can elide its craft origins, there needs to be a set of standards to ensure recognition of the producer. These new encounters between traditional and modern worlds are the subject of a growing conversation across the South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article relates how three mothers in Australia use craft to express themselves, improve their quality of life and achieve a sense of relief from the challenges of motherhood. All mothers said that craft-making is relaxing to them and regard its challenges as fun. They also feel joy whenever their give their handmade craft as gifts to others especially to their children. They admit that craft-making runs in their family.

This paper aims to critique current occupational therapy practice and theory using Indigenous Australian people as a case example. Critical race theory will be used to help question the privileged position of an occupational therapist from a dominant Westernized culture. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 (eight female and seven male) Indigenous Australian young people about their perspectives of health and physical activity. In addition, the Kawa model was used as an alternative data-collection tool and detailed field notes and researcher reflections were used as data sources. Preliminary analysis of data is used to illustrate the ways in which critical race theory can inform occupational therapy practitioners and researchers about the ways Indigenous Australian young people view their health. Methodological dilemmas are also discussed. The paper is based on preliminary findings and further analysis needs to continue. Cross-cultural research is inherently complex but can offer those from the dominant culture valuable insights into their taken-for-granted assumptions. Further use of critical race theory may prove useful as the occupational therapy profession continues to evolve its understanding of cultural safety. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In postwar Australia, rapid population growth increased the demand for teachers. The colleges at Ballarat and Bendigo were revived and expanded by the Victorian Government. At Bendigo in 1955 F. M. Courtis, Head of Art Education, acquired art works initiating a valuable and significant teaching resource at the College. The study of the Courtis Collection raised obvious questions about the role of collections in the early teaching colleges and what events or factors led to their beginnings. This case study will be situated within a broader picture of art and craft collections in institutions across three states. My discussions in this paper are framed by some of Raymond Williams' notions about country and city and the ‘contrast between country and city, as fundamental ways of life’. I hope to demonstrate the important role art and craft collections have played in visual arts education in country institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]