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A study examined impact of the adult and community education (ACE) Amendment to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Australian adult and continuing education (ACE) providers. Telephone interviews were held with representatives of 232 ACE organizations. Most were small businesses; almost half had less than $100,000 annual revenue; two-thirds had less than 500 enrollments. Findings indicated almost half the organizations expected no change to annual turnover, while about equal proportions expected the GST to increase or decrease it; 6 of 10 applied little or no GST to their courses; the annual amount of GST collected on courses was $5,926 per ACE organization, while the equivalent figure for input tax credits was $17,252; 84 percent changed accounting systems and 30 percent changed enrollment systems; GST-related staff training and software upgrading were predominant changes; 90 percent claimed accounting systems and 79 percent enrollment systems were coping with GST reporting requirements; 46 percent reported other problems, including impact on time and workload, impact on cash flow, issues around course classification, reduction in voluntary assistance, and staff turnover; and current attitudes were strongly against GST. Key issues were confusion over the complexity, concern over cash flow, resentment, increased stress levels, and resignation to the GST. (Appendixes include interview schedules and cross-tabulations.) (YLB)

This report synthesizes the findings of a week of focused group discussions during which Australian health care workers currently caring for people with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and tertiary educators involved in designing/delivering curricula in various health and social disciplines shared their views on developing an integrated curriculum to train health care workers in caring for HIV/AIDS patients. The following emerged as major themes of the focus group discussions: (1) HIV/AIDS is, for many reasons, special and distinct from other infectious diseases; (2) health care curricula must include training in both the medical science of HIV/AIDS and the human relations aspects of caring and communication; and (3) it would be better to incorporate HIV/AIDS into existing health care curricula as an exemplar of both clinical practice and the gamut of psychosocial issues of health care work than to establish a separate HIV/AIDS curriculum. Specific ideas for tertiary education curriculum development are also presented. Appended are an executive summary of the first report of HIV/AIDS Program Unit of the South Australia Health Commission and a list of groups represented in the focus group discussions. (MN)

In 1993-94, a random sample of 547 individuals authorized to perform marriages in Australia (marriage celebrants) and 560 couples from across Australia who had married in 1993 were surveyed regarding their views of premarriage education (PME) and the factors enhancing/inhibiting participation in PME programs (PMEPs). Of the marriage celebrants, 313 (57%) were religious. The survey established that PME means different things to different people. Religious celebrants were more likely to refer couples to PMEPs than nonreligious celebrants were. Only 14% of religious celebrants (versus 47% of civil marriage celebrants) believed that encouraging participation in PME was outside their role. The following factors were identified as the biggest barriers to participation in PME: lack of interest; time constraints; lack of family encouragement; lack of program relevance; and previous marriage. Nonparticipants had three reservations about current programs: purported religious nature and intrusiveness, confusion over the difference between counseling and education, and their value for divorcees who are remarrying. Dispositional factors (personal beliefs and attitudes about oneself, couplehood, and marriage) were the most significant reasons for nonparticipation. (Appended are the questionnaires, statistics on marriage by state, and statistical summaries of responses. Contains 66 references.) (MN)

The need for continuing education about human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) was assessed for health care workers in metropolitan South Australia. Seventeen focus group discussions were held to solicit the views and experiences of various persons regarding HIV/AIDS tertiary education. Included in the discussion groups were health care professionals involved in HIV/AIDS provision, HIV-positive persons, health and welfare service providers, policymakers, and advocacy groups. The participants generally agreed that health care workers need a both a workable knowledge about the medical science of HIV/AIDS treatment and insight knowledge of the human side of working and living with HIV/AIDS. The curriculum for HIV/AIDS tertiary education should be developed in consultation and collaboration with HIV-positive persons, and the goal of training should be to present an integrated approach to the management of treatment and care that focuses on both the person and the disease. (Information about HIV/AIDS training for health care and allied workers, summaries of the focus group discussions, a summary of the initial survey of current tertiary HIV/AIDS education programs for health care workers, and the matrix model used to classify data from the discussions are appended.) (MN)

A study to examine quality and standards in distance education identified the elements of quality, indicators that would signify their achievement, and processes that foster the achievement of quality. It focused on perceptions of quality of particular stakeholders. Documentation provided by institutions showed that they define and determine what they mean by quality of distance education against a range of objectives. Recommendations addressed issues of access and equity at national and institutional levels as factors in the quality of distance education. Concerns with appropriate policy, organization, and resource distribution led to recommendations on the following matters: resources for academic staff development; development and use of appropriate technologies; encouragement of excellence in distance teaching; and establishment of guidelines for disbursement of funds. Recommendations designed to foster the quality of processes used in distance education involved consideration of course materials and their teaching and learning arrangements and of interactions among institutions, lecturers, and students. Indicators for monitoring and evaluating the quality of distance education were identified and organized under policy development, organization and resource management, and processes of distance education. (Appendixes include indicators of quality, views of teachers and institutional clients of distance education centers regarding quality and annotations of 57 selected works.) Contains 99 references. (YLB)

Concerns over the high incidence of divorce and domestic violence have prompted many Australian churches and some nonchurch agencies to offer premarriage education programs (PMEPs) to couples planning to marry. Unlike past PMEPs, which were often didactic, Australia's present-day PMEPs tend to be learner-centered programs that encourage participants to reflect on their relationships and marriage and develop the skills needed to build marriages. In the 1970s, educators and coordinators of Australia's PMEPs formed two professional associations to protect, promote, and improve premarriage education (PME). In 1991, the Australian Attorney General's Department funded a comprehensive evaluation of PME. Nearly 1,000 Australian couples who had participated in PMEPs during the first quarter of 1992 were surveyed regarding their views of marriage and PME and the effects of participation in a PMEP. The survey results were synthesized into the following categories: teaching about marriage; dimensions of premarriage education; PMEPs in the 1990s; demographic characteristics and attitudes of PMEP educators and participants; the effects of participation in PME; and challenges facing PME. (Forty-four tables/figures are included. Appended are the survey instruments and tables summarizing the survey results. Contains 56 references.) (MN)

A study addressed the ways in which classroom interaction is structured explicitly and implicitly through a teacher's questions. It examined how this was done through the questions one teacher asked in her adult literacy class and what insights could be gained for adult literacy staff development programs. The research was undertaken in mid-1990 in a technical and further education college in South Australia. Ethnographic methods were used to produce data on classroom interaction; the data, collected from transcripts of classroom discussions, were subjected to analysis informed by critical theory. Contextual data on teaching aims and tensions, teaching session organization, staff development experiences, and reflections on those experiences were used to relate the questions asked and the critical analysis of their consequences to staff development needs for teachers wanting to develop critical educational practices. Findings on questioning practices showed that classroom participation was structured through teacher questions on class procedures, on exploration of knowledge, and on connections between the knowledge explored and students' individual experience. The timing and patterning of questions and feedback to student responses also influenced classroom interaction. In addition, the questions the teacher asked in this study unwittingly constrained discussion. Contains 108 references. Appendixes contain a descriptive report of the study and examples of written passages guiding the discussion. (YLB)