Academic literature on the topic 'Australia-history'

The Master of Fine Art document examines the inception of Matter Painting as it occurred in Europe and it's following in Australia. This document recalls the history and process of this late assimilation through examining the development of abstraction in Australia and the local receptiveness of influence from abroad. Within a climate of increased immigration and international awareness, Matter Painting was encountered by an initiated few. This history firstly begins with practitioners that were not in locale but rather overseas who were in close proximity to the centre of such avant-garde. It is not until the artist and critic Elwyn Lynn returns from his seminal overseas travels in 1959 and his first showing of "Matter" painting's in 1960 that Matter Painting in Australia gathered momentum. Discussed within this document is the history of this movement, the impact that it had on local practitioners and the relevance that it has played within my practice.

This thesis presents a critical framework for historically considering photography in Australia from the 1840s to the 1970s. The approach adopted is to critically map the currently constituted field of photographic history by taking the existing accounts of photography in Australia and the key issues of photographic history as a series of starting points. These are presented, then interrogated by setting them into new evaluative contexts. The basic claim of the thesis, presented in the Introduction, is for the necessity of considering and recognising the constitution of photography in the broadest possible terms, and of addressing "the photographic" as it is located at, and formed within, a diversity of social, economic and cultural sites. Prior to the activity of writing a critical photographic history which maps developments in Australia, photographic history writing itself is problematised. This is proposed in the Introduction and developed in Chapter One, which presents a survey and critical assessment of the different modes, to date, by which photographic history has been produced in Australia. Chapters Two to Ten historically substantiate the main argument of the thesis by presenting a selective, contextualised and chronological account of photography in Australia. The medium is considered as a professional and amateur practice which intersects with and is deployed by a range of institutions and discourses including those of science, the popular press, the instruments of the state and the aesthetically validated spheres of the visual.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Humanities, Department of Modern History, 2003.
Bibliography: p. 417-478.
Introduction: breeding and feeding -- The medical man: sex, science and society -- Confined: women and obstetrics 1880-1899 -- The kindest cut? The caesarean section as turning point -- Reproduction in decline -- Resisting reproduction: women, doctors and abortion -- From obstetrics to paediatrics: the rise of the child -- The breast was best: medicine and maternal breastfeeding -- The deadly bottle and the dangers of the wet nurse: the "artificial" feeding of infants -- Surveillance and the mother -- Mothers and medicine: paradigms of continuity and change.
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw profound changes in Australian attitudes towards maternity. Imbibed with discourses of pronatalism and eugenics, the production of infants became increasingly important to society and the state. Discourses proliferated on "breeding", and while it appeared maternity was exulted, the child, not the mother, was of ultimate interest. -- This thesis will examine the ways wider discourses of population impacted on childbearing, and very specifically the ways discussions of the nation impacted on medicine. Despite its apparent objectivity, medical science both absorbed and created pronatalism. Within medical ideology, where once the mother had been the point of interest, the primary focus of medical care, increasingly medical science focussed on the life of the infant, who was now all the more precious in the role of new life for the nation. -- While all childbirth and child-rearing advice was formed and mediated by such rhetoric, this thesis will examine certain key issues, including the rise of the caesarean section, the development of paediatrics and the turn to antenatal care. These turning points can be read as signifiers of attitudes towards women and the maternal body, and provide critical material for a reading of the complexities of representations of mothers in medical discourse.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
478 p

Since the 1980s, there has been an increasing emphasis on drama, in live theatre and on film, which re-addresses the ways in which the post-colonial histories of Australia and New Zealand have been written. Why is there such a focus on �historical� drama in these countries at the end of the twentieth century and what does this drama contribute to wider debates about post-colonial history? This thesis aims both to explore the connections between drama and history, and to analyse the interface between live and recorded drama. In order to discuss these issues, I have used the work of theatre and film critics and historians, supplemented by reference to writers working in the field of post-colonial and performance theory. In particular, I have utilised the methods of Helen Gilbert and Joanne Tompkins in Post-Colonial Drama: Theory, Practice, Politics, beginning with their claim that in the post-colonial situation history has been seen to determine reality itself. I have also drawn on theorists such as Michel Foucault, Linda Hutcheon and Guy Debord who question the �truth� value of official history-writing and emphasize the role of representation in determining popular perceptions of the past. This discussion is developed through reference to contemporary performance theory, particularly the work of Richard Schechner and Marvin Carlson, in order to suggest that there is no clear separation between performance and reality, and that access to history is only possible through re-enactments of it, whether in written or performative forms. Chapter One is a survey of the development of �historical� drama in theatre and film from New Zealand and Australia. This includes discussion of the diverse cultural and performative traditions which influence this drama, and establishment of the critical methodologies to be used in the thesis. Chapter Two examines four plays which are intercultural re-writings of canonical texts from the European dramatic tradition. In this chapter I analyse the formal and thematic strategies in each of these plays in relation to the source texts, and ask to what extent they function as canonical counter-discourse by offering a critique of the assumptions of the earlier play from a post-colonial perspective. The potential of dramatic representation in forming perceptions of reality has made it an attractive forum for Maori and Aboriginal artists, who are creating theatre which has both a political and a pedagogical function. This discussion demonstrates that much of the impetus towards historiographic drama in both countries has come from Maori and Aboriginal writers and directors working in collaboration with white practitioners. Such collaborations not only advance the project of historiographic drama, but also may form the basis of future theatre practice which departs from the Western tradition and is unique to each of New Zealand and Australia. In Chapter Three I explore the interface between live and recorded performance by comparing plays and films which dramatise similar historical material. I consider the relative effectiveness of theatre and film as media for historiographic critique. I suggest that although film often has a greater cultural impact than theatre, to date live theatre has been a more accessible form of expression for Maori and Aboriginal writers and directors. Furthermore, following theorists such as Brecht and Brook, I argue that such aspects as the presence of the live performer and the design of the physical space shared by actors and audience give theatre considerable potential for creating an immediate engagement with historiographic themes. In Chapter Four, I discuss two contrasting examples of recorded drama in order to highlight the potential of film and television as media for historiographic critique. I question the divisions between the documentary and dramatic genres, and use Derrida�s notion of play to suggest that there is a constant slippage between the dramatic and the real, between the past and the present. In Chapter Five, I summarize the arguments advanced in previous chapters, using the example of the national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, to illustrate that the �performance� of history has become part of popular culture. Like the interactive displays at Te Papa, the texts studied in this thesis demonstrate that dramatic representation has the potential to re-define perceptions of historical �reality�. With its superior capacity for creating illusion, film is a dynamic medium for exploring the imaginative process of history is that in the live performance the spectator symbolically comes into the presence of the past.

In the aftermath of Indian students’ protest in Melbourne in 2009 a heated international debate between Indian and Australian media brought a question at the core of Australian national identity to the centre of national and international attention: is Australia racist? In Australia, public responses to this question have ranged from denial to acknowledgment of the continued existence of racial discrimination in Australia. This binary has been reflected and reproduced in public responses to the problems that international students have been seen to face during their stay in the country: emotional distress, social exclusion and exploitation. Those who have denied that Australia is not a racist country are also those who have depicted international students as “bogus migrants” making themselves vulnerable to exploitation by taking advantage of the loopholes in the Australian migration system. Meanwhile, those who have acknowledged racism in Australia have been also those who, in advocating in favour of international students, have represented them as “victims” of unscrupulous migration and education agents as well as racist Australians. This somewhat generalised overview of the debate highlights what both positions have in common: the absence of critical engagement with the history of international students’ presence in Australia. With no reference to this complex history, the national “problem” of international students has been almost always regarded as an isolated object of worried analysis and anxious governmental intervention in public discourse. To go beyond this binaristic mode of representing international students, this thesis first and foremost aims to historicise the debate erupted on the occasion of the protest of Indian students by undertaking a genealogical account of international students’ history of presence in Australia. In unfolding this history, this thesis also seeks to reveal how internationals students have been the privileged subjects of a doubled economy of discourses, one economic the other affective. In the process, it sheds light on the role of emotions in shaping the territorial and social borders of the Australian nation as well as in sustaining an international order of racialised positions dominated by Western nations due to their alleged capacity to control and act upon their emotions instead of being subsumed by them. To do so, this thesis analyses how the historical investment in the representation of international students as melancholic subjects has created the very conditions for the conversion of sympathetic feelings such as compassion into resentment. Conversely, this thesis will examine how the articulation of resentment into discourse regarding the governance of international students has established over time the level of inclusion of international students in the nation by aligning them with or against other population groups such as skilled migrants and asylum seekers. This thesis concludes by arguing that both the naming of international students as object of national compassion and resentment have stemmed from the same “white fantasy” that social problems and inequalities can be overcome without taking into account the history of structural and symbolic inequalities that has characterised race relations in Australia since its colonisation.

This thesis is an intellectual and personal journey, written not so much to prove a particular point about the relationship between Australia and Japan, but so that I might understand changes which have taken place in my lifetime. As a schoolboy voluntary worker at a military hospital, my earliest impressions of Japan were coloured by meeting victims of the Japanese invasions of Indonesia and New Guinea and the bombing of Darwin. My heroes included members of Sparrow Force, which fought on behind the Japanese lines in Timor, and Julius Tahija, winner of the Orange Cross for a valiant rearguard action in which hundreds of Japanese were killed. By the time I graduated from university my hatred of Japan, like that of most of my generation, had softened as memories of the war faded and Australia entered a period of full employment and rapid growth. Then, while working with a trading house in Indonesia in the late 1950s, I started to relate to Japanese as fellow human beings, as business competitors - and as members of the same golf club. It was not until the 1960s, working in a variety of industries as a management consultant, that I became aware of how much Japan could influence Australia's future: on the one hand as the dominant customer for our wool; and on the other as the maker of such things as synthetic rope which would put Australian rope and twine makers out of business. Upon joining the mining industry, the profitability of my company and my own income were inextricably linked with the success of Japanese industry. And yet my colleagues and I knew little about the country and the people upon whom we were so dependent. The desire to learn more about the strange symbiotic relationship between Japan and Australia was the genesis of this thesis. Its objective is very simple: to trace the history of Australia's relationship with Japan and to identify the role played by governments, the bureaucracy and private individuals as Australia responded to changes in the Japanese economy. It will show that the complementary relationship is dynamic, calling for constant change and adaptation…

The dissertation will investigate how cricket integrated a frontier society whose initial class structures caused divisions within the colony. The colony was founded on the precept that wealth would create further wealth. As a result, class barriers were constructed during the formative years by those who had wealth and influence that dictated the colony’s future fortunes. These fortunes were based on agriculture and horse breeding that created a horseracing society, and became a major factor towards erecting social barriers between the classes. Horseracing was a popular sport, enjoyed by many colonials, but it led to social and economic fissures that kept colonists segregated on the daily and sporting calendar. Consequently, in order for the colony to fuse together and create lasting homogeneity, cohesion and mores it had to participate in a sport that would infiltrate and integrate society and become successful in bonding all classes within the colony. Cricket was the only sport that could achieve this because it was the first organised team sport to be played in the colony. The game was an imperialistic institution that became a common denominator across the broad scope of colonial society, not only in Australia, but also in South Africa and India, eventually reaching the shores of several other countries. Consequently, cricket played a major part in uniting a frontier society that created social harmony and cohesion by blending people from various backgrounds together.

This paper examines the history within Australia of the ‘parklet’, a small architecturally-framed open space installed temporarily on an on-street car-parking space. The paper traces parklets’ varied and evolving forms, materials, production processes and functions. It examines how parklets have adapted to rapidly-changing social needs and priorities for economic activity, health, safety, socialising and on-street parking, and changes in street function. The contemporary parklet began in 2005 as a localised, grassroots activity to temporarily reclaim street space for public leisure, as part of the wider movement of ‘tactical urbanism’. Parklets rapidly became a worldwide phenomenon. Starting in 2008, parklets were absorbed into institutional urban planning practice, as a strategic tool to enhance community engagement, test possibilities, and win support for longer-term spatial transformations. From 2012, commercial parklet programs were developed in Australian cities to encourage local businesses to expand into street parking spaces, to calm traffic and enhance pedestrian amenity. A new generation of commercial ‘café parklets’ has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, facilitated by local governments, to support the heavily-impacted hospitality industry. Their design and construction show ongoing innovation, increasing scale and professionalism, but also standardisation. This paper draws on diverse Australian parklet examples to chart the emergence of varying approaches to their design and construction, which draw upon different materials, skills, local government strategies and international precedents. The findings also illustrate several convergences in the evolution of parklet design across different Australian cities, due to strong similarities in the spatial contexts, needs, risk factors, and technologies that have defined this practice.

In the decades following the war, the spread of international luxury chain hotels was instrumental in shaping the global image of modernity. It was not simply the export of modernist architecture as a style, but rather a process which brought about an overall transformation of the industry and culture surrounding modern domesticity. For Adelaide, well before the arrival of large brand hotel chains like Hilton and Hyatt, this process was initiated by the construction of its first international style hotel in 1960 – Australia Hotel. The proposed paper traces the history of this structure and its impact not only on local design and construction industries but also on domestic culture and lifestyle after the shadow period of recovery after the war. This paper looks at three specific enduring legacies of this structure that went well beyond the modernist aesthetics employed by its original designers, the local firm of Lucas, Parker and Partners. The hotel was one of the first to employ the new technology of lift-slab construction and was recognised by the Head of Architecture at the University of Adelaide, Professor Jensen, as the outstanding building of 1960. It is argued that it was the engagement with such technological and process innovations that has allowed the building to endure through several renovation attempts. In her study of Hilton International hotels, Annabelle Wharton argues how architecture was used for America’s expansion to global economic and political power. Following on from her arguments, this paper explores the implications of the acquisition of the Australia Hotel by the Indian hotel chain Oberoi Hotels in the late 1970s when it became Oberoi Adelaide. The patronage of Indian hotelier Mohan Singh Oberoi came alongside the parallel acquisition of Hotel Windsor in Melbourne, heralding a new era of engagement with Asia. Finally, the paper also highlights the broader impact of this hotel, as a leisure venue for the burgeoning middle class, on the evolving domestic culture of Adelaide.

Over the last forty years feminist historians have commented on the under-representation or marginalisation of women thinkers and makers in design, craft, and material culture. (Kirkham and Attfield, 1989; Attfield, 2000; Howard, 2000: Buckley, 1986; Buckley, 2020:). In response particular strategies have been developed to write women back into history. These methods expand the sites, objects and voices engaged in thinking about making and the space of the everyday world. The problem, however, is even more acute in Australia where we lack secondary histories of many design disciplines. With the notable exception of Julie Willis and Bronwyn Hanna (2001) or Burns and Edquist (1988) we have very few overview histories. This paper will examine women’s contribution to design thinking and making in Australia as a form of cultural history. It will explore the methods and challenges in developing a chronological and thematic history of women’s design making practice and design thinking in Australia from 1870 – 1920 where the subjects are not only designers but also journalists, novelists, exhibiters, and correspondents. We are interested in using media (exhibitions and print culture) as a prism: to examine how and where women spoke to design and making, what topics they addressed, and the ideas they formed to articulate the nexus between women, making and place.

An economic and population boom in the 1890s created opportunities for architects to find work and fame in Western Australia. Architecture, therefore, became a viable profession for the first time, and the number of practicing architects in the colony (and then state) quickly grew. Associations such as the Western Australian Institute of Architects were established to organise the profession, but as the number of architects grew and Western Australian society matured, it became evident that a role for government was required to ensure practice standards and consumer protection. In 1921, therefore, the Architects Act was passed, and, in the following year, the Architects Board of Western Australia was launched. This report traces the evolution and transformation of professional architectural practice since then, and evaluates the role and impact of the Board in its first century.

Professor Leslie R. Marchant was a Western Australian historian of international renown. Richly educated as a child in political philosophy and critical reason, Marchant’s understandings of western political philosophies were deepened in World War Two when serving with an international crew of the merchant navy. After the war’s end, Marchant was appointed as a Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia’s Depart of Native Affairs. His passionate belief in Enlightenment ideals, including the equality of all people, was challenged by his experiences as a Protector. Leaving that role, he commenced his studies at The University of Western Australia where, in 1952, his Honours thesis made an early case that genocide had been committed in the administration of Aboriginal people in Western Australia. In the years that followed, Marchant became an early researcher of modern China and its relationship with the West, and won respect for his archival research of French maritime history in the Asia-Pacific. This work, including the publication of France Australe in 1982, was later recognised with the award of a French knighthood, the Chevalier d’Ordre National du Mèrite, and his election as a fellow to the Royal Geographical Society. In this festschrift, scholars from The University of Notre Dame Australia appraise Marchant’s work in such areas as Aboriginal history and policy, Westminster traditions, political philosophy, Australia and China and French maritime history.

There is a fraught history to the relationship between creative industries on the one hand and innovation and entrepreneurship policy and programs on the other. Such policy and program frameworks have rarely been inclusive of creative industries... This is, however, what we see happening in South Australia.

This paper examines renewable energy developments on Aboriginal lands in North-West Western Australia at three scales. It first examines the literature developing in relation to large scale renewable energy projects and the Native Title Act (1993)Cwlth. It then looks to the history of small community scale standalone systems. Finally, it examines locally adapted approaches to benefit sharing in remote utility owned networks. In doing so this paper foregrounds the importance of Aboriginal agency. It identifies Aboriginal decision making and economic inclusion as being key to policy and project development in the 'scaling up' of a transition to renewable energy resources in the North-West.

Dear Reader, the newly born AsiaChem magazine echoes the voice of the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS). We believe that this biannual, free-access magazine will attract worldwide attention because it comprises diverse articles on cutting-edge science, history, essays, interviews, and anything that would interest the broad readership within the chemical sciences. All articles are authored by scientists who were born in Asian countries or actively working in Asia. Thus, eight FACS countries, including Australia, China, India, Israel, Jordan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey, are represented in this inaugural issue.

The Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) is a landmark study for our nation. The ACMS research team has generated the first nationally representative data on the prevalence of each of the five types of child maltreatment in Australia, and their associated health impacts through life. We also identified information about the context of maltreatment experiences, including how old children are when it occurs, and who inflicts it. This knowledge about which children are most at risk of which types of abuse and neglect, at which ages, and by whom, is needed to develop evidencebased population approaches required to reduce child maltreatment in Australia. The concerning prevalence of maltreatment and its devastating associated outcomes present an urgent imperative for nation-building reform to better protect Australian children and reduce associated costs to individuals, families, communities and broader society. The ACMS collected data from 8500 randomly selected Australians aged 16-65 years and older. We included an oversample of 3500 young people 16-24 years of aged to generate particularly strong data about child maltreatment in contemporary Australian society, to assess its associated impacts in adolescence and early adulthood, and to allow future prevalence studies to detect reductions in prevalence rates over time. Our participants aged 25 and over enabled us to understand prevalence trends at different times in Australian history, and to measure associated health outcomes through life. Participants provided information on childhood experiences of each of the five types of child abuse and neglect, and other childhood adversities, mental health disorders, health risk behaviours, health services utilisation, and more. Our findings provide the first nationally representative data on the prevalence of child maltreatment in Australia. Moreover, the ACMS is the first national study globally to examine maltreatment experiences and associated health and social outcomes of all five forms of child maltreatment. Taken together, our findings provide a deep understanding of the prevalence, context and impact of child abuse and neglect in Australia and make an important contribution to the international field. This brief report presents the main findings from the ACMS for a general public audience. These main findings are further detailed in seven peer-reviewed scholarly articles, published in a special edition of the Medical Journal of Australia, Australia’s leading medical journal. Forthcoming work will examine other important questions about the impacts of specific maltreatment experiences to generate additional evidence to inform governments and stakeholders about optimal prevention policy and practice. There is cause for hope. In recent years, there have been reductions in physical abuse, and in some types of sexual abuse. These reductions are extremely important. They mean that fewer children are suffering, and they indicate that change is possible. Policies and programs to reduce these types of maltreatment are having an effect. Yet, there are other concerning trends, with some types of maltreatment becoming even more common, including emotional abuse, some types of sexual abuse, and exposure to domestic violence. And new types of sexual victimisation are also emerging. As a society, we have much work to do. We know that child maltreatment can be reduced if we work together as governments, service sectors, and communities. We need to invest more, and invest better. It is a moral, social and economic imperative for Australian governments to develop a coordinated long-term plan for generational reform. We have found that: 1. Child maltreatment is widespread. 2. Girls experience particularly high rates of sexual abuse and emotional abuse. 3. Child maltreatment is a major problem affecting today’s Australian children and youth – it is not just something that happened in the past. 4. Child maltreatment is associated with severe mental health problems and behavioural harms, both in childhood and adulthood. 5. Child maltreatment is associated with severe health risk behaviours, both in childhood and adulthood. 6. Emotional abuse is particularly harmful, and is much more damaging than society has understood.

Drawing on Milbank and Agamben, a politico-juridical anthropology matrix can be drawn describing the relations between ius and bios (justice and political life) on the one hand and dominium and zoe (private power and ‘bare life’) on the other hand. Mapping movements in the basic configurations of this matrix over the long sweep of Western cultural history enable us to see where we are currently situated in relation to the nexus between politico-juridical authority (sovereignty) and the emergency use of executive State powers in the context of biosecurity. The argument presented is that pre-19th century understandings of ius and bios presupposed transcendent categories of Justice and the Common Good that were not naturalistically defined. The very recent idea of a purely naturalistic naturalism has made distinctions between bios and zoe un-locatable and civic ius is now disappearing into a strangely ‘private’ total power (dominium) over the bodies of citizens, as exercised by the State. The very meaning of politico-juridical authority and the sovereignty of the State is undergoing radical change when viewed from a long perspective. This paper suggests that the ancient distinction between power and authority is becoming meaningless, and that this loss erodes the ideas of justice and political life in the Western tradition. Early modern capitalism still retained at least the theory of a Providential moral order, but since the late 19th century, morality has become fully naturalized and secularized, such that what moral categories Classical economics had have been radically instrumentalized since. In the postcapitalist neoliberal world order, no high horizon of just power –no spiritual conception of sovereignty– remains. The paper argues that the reduction of authority to power, which flows from the absence of any traditional conception of sovereignty, is happening with particular ease in Australia, and that in Australia it is only the Indigenous attempt to have their prior sovereignty –as a spiritual reality– recognized that is pushing back against the collapse of political authority into mere executive power.

Background Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death worldwide.(1) It is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia (12,741 cases diagnosed in 2018) and the leading cause of cancer death.(2) The number of years of potential life lost to lung cancer in Australia is estimated to be 58,450, similar to that of colorectal and breast cancer combined.(3) While tobacco control strategies are most effective for disease prevention in the general population, early detection via low dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening in high-risk populations is a viable option for detecting asymptomatic disease in current (13%) and former (24%) Australian smokers.(4) The purpose of this Evidence Check review is to identify and analyse existing and emerging evidence for LDCT lung cancer screening in high-risk individuals to guide future program and policy planning. Evidence Check questions This review aimed to address the following questions: 1. What is the evidence for the effectiveness of lung cancer screening for higher-risk individuals? 2. What is the evidence of potential harms from lung cancer screening for higher-risk individuals? 3. What are the main components of recent major lung cancer screening programs or trials? 4. What is the cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screening programs (include studies of cost–utility)? Summary of methods The authors searched the peer-reviewed literature across three databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Embase) for existing systematic reviews and original studies published between 1 January 2009 and 8 August 2019. Fifteen systematic reviews (of which 8 were contemporary) and 64 original publications met the inclusion criteria set across the four questions. Key findings Question 1: What is the evidence for the effectiveness of lung cancer screening for higher-risk individuals? There is sufficient evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of combined (pooled) data from screening trials (of high-risk individuals) to indicate that LDCT examination is clinically effective in reducing lung cancer mortality. In 2011, the landmark National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST, a large-scale randomised controlled trial [RCT] conducted in the US) reported a 20% (95% CI 6.8% – 26.7%; P=0.004) relative reduction in mortality among long-term heavy smokers over three rounds of annual screening. High-risk eligibility criteria was defined as people aged 55–74 years with a smoking history of ≥30 pack-years (years in which a smoker has consumed 20-plus cigarettes each day) and, for former smokers, ≥30 pack-years and have quit within the past 15 years.(5) All-cause mortality was reduced by 6.7% (95% CI, 1.2% – 13.6%; P=0.02). Initial data from the second landmark RCT, the NEderlands-Leuvens Longkanker Screenings ONderzoek (known as the NELSON trial), have found an even greater reduction of 26% (95% CI, 9% – 41%) in lung cancer mortality, with full trial results yet to be published.(6, 7) Pooled analyses, including several smaller-scale European LDCT screening trials insufficiently powered in their own right, collectively demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in lung cancer mortality (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.73–0.91).(8) Despite the reduction in all-cause mortality found in the NLST, pooled analyses of seven trials found no statistically significant difference in all-cause mortality (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.90–1.00).(8) However, cancer-specific mortality is currently the most relevant outcome in cancer screening trials. These seven trials demonstrated a significantly greater proportion of early stage cancers in LDCT groups compared with controls (RR 2.08, 95% CI 1.43–3.03). Thus, when considering results across mortality outcomes and early stage cancers diagnosed, LDCT screening is considered to be clinically effective. Question 2: What is the evidence of potential harms from lung cancer screening for higher-risk individuals? The harms of LDCT lung cancer screening include false positive tests and the consequences of unnecessary invasive follow-up procedures for conditions that are eventually diagnosed as benign. While LDCT screening leads to an increased frequency of invasive procedures, it does not result in greater mortality soon after an invasive procedure (in trial settings when compared with the control arm).(8) Overdiagnosis, exposure to radiation, psychological distress and an impact on quality of life are other known harms. Systematic review evidence indicates the benefits of LDCT screening are likely to outweigh the harms. The potential harms are likely to be reduced as refinements are made to LDCT screening protocols through: i) the application of risk predication models (e.g. the PLCOm2012), which enable a more accurate selection of the high-risk population through the use of specific criteria (beyond age and smoking history); ii) the use of nodule management algorithms (e.g. Lung-RADS, PanCan), which assist in the diagnostic evaluation of screen-detected nodules and cancers (e.g. more precise volumetric assessment of nodules); and, iii) more judicious selection of patients for invasive procedures. Recent evidence suggests a positive LDCT result may transiently increase psychological distress but does not have long-term adverse effects on psychological distress or health-related quality of life (HRQoL). With regards to smoking cessation, there is no evidence to suggest screening participation invokes a false sense of assurance in smokers, nor a reduction in motivation to quit. The NELSON and Danish trials found no difference in smoking cessation rates between LDCT screening and control groups. Higher net cessation rates, compared with general population, suggest those who participate in screening trials may already be motivated to quit. Question 3: What are the main components of recent major lung cancer screening programs or trials? There are no systematic reviews that capture the main components of recent major lung cancer screening trials and programs. We extracted evidence from original studies and clinical guidance documents and organised this into key groups to form a concise set of components for potential implementation of a national lung cancer screening program in Australia: 1. Identifying the high-risk population: recruitment, eligibility, selection and referral 2. Educating the public, people at high risk and healthcare providers; this includes creating awareness of lung cancer, the benefits and harms of LDCT screening, and shared decision-making 3. Components necessary for health services to deliver a screening program: a. Planning phase: e.g. human resources to coordinate the program, electronic data systems that integrate medical records information and link to an established national registry b. Implementation phase: e.g. human and technological resources required to conduct LDCT examinations, interpretation of reports and communication of results to participants c. Monitoring and evaluation phase: e.g. monitoring outcomes across patients, radiological reporting, compliance with established standards and a quality assurance program 4. Data reporting and research, e.g. audit and feedback to multidisciplinary teams, reporting outcomes to enhance international research into LDCT screening 5. Incorporation of smoking cessation interventions, e.g. specific programs designed for LDCT screening or referral to existing community or hospital-based services that deliver cessation interventions. Most original studies are single-institution evaluations that contain descriptive data about the processes required to establish and implement a high-risk population-based screening program. Across all studies there is a consistent message as to the challenges and complexities of establishing LDCT screening programs to attract people at high risk who will receive the greatest benefits from participation. With regards to smoking cessation, evidence from one systematic review indicates the optimal strategy for incorporating smoking cessation interventions into a LDCT screening program is unclear. There is widespread agreement that LDCT screening attendance presents a ‘teachable moment’ for cessation advice, especially among those people who receive a positive scan result. Smoking cessation is an area of significant research investment; for instance, eight US-based clinical trials are now underway that aim to address how best to design and deliver cessation programs within large-scale LDCT screening programs.(9) Question 4: What is the cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screening programs (include studies of cost–utility)? Assessing the value or cost-effectiveness of LDCT screening involves a complex interplay of factors including data on effectiveness and costs, and institutional context. A key input is data about the effectiveness of potential and current screening programs with respect to case detection, and the likely outcomes of treating those cases sooner (in the presence of LDCT screening) as opposed to later (in the absence of LDCT screening). Evidence about the cost-effectiveness of LDCT screening programs has been summarised in two systematic reviews. We identified a further 13 studies—five modelling studies, one discrete choice experiment and seven articles—that used a variety of methods to assess cost-effectiveness. Three modelling studies indicated LDCT screening was cost-effective in the settings of the US and Europe. Two studies—one from Australia and one from New Zealand—reported LDCT screening would not be cost-effective using NLST-like protocols. We anticipate that, following the full publication of the NELSON trial, cost-effectiveness studies will likely be updated with new data that reduce uncertainty about factors that influence modelling outcomes, including the findings of indeterminate nodules. Gaps in the evidence There is a large and accessible body of evidence as to the effectiveness (Q1) and harms (Q2) of LDCT screening for lung cancer. Nevertheless, there are significant gaps in the evidence about the program components that are required to implement an effective LDCT screening program (Q3). Questions about LDCT screening acceptability and feasibility were not explicitly included in the scope. However, as the evidence is based primarily on US programs and UK pilot studies, the relevance to the local setting requires careful consideration. The Queensland Lung Cancer Screening Study provides feasibility data about clinical aspects of LDCT screening but little about program design. The International Lung Screening Trial is still in the recruitment phase and findings are not yet available for inclusion in this Evidence Check. The Australian Population Based Screening Framework was developed to “inform decision-makers on the key issues to be considered when assessing potential screening programs in Australia”.(10) As the Framework is specific to population-based, rather than high-risk, screening programs, there is a lack of clarity about transferability of criteria. However, the Framework criteria do stipulate that a screening program must be acceptable to “important subgroups such as target participants who are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from disadvantaged groups and people with a disability”.(10) An extensive search of the literature highlighted that there is very little information about the acceptability of LDCT screening to these population groups in Australia. Yet they are part of the high-risk population.(10) There are also considerable gaps in the evidence about the cost-effectiveness of LDCT screening in different settings, including Australia. The evidence base in this area is rapidly evolving and is likely to include new data from the NELSON trial and incorporate data about the costs of targeted- and immuno-therapies as these treatments become more widely available in Australia.

Terrorist attacks using explosives and CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) materials have been present throughout history. While the frequency of CBRN terrorist attacks is relatively low compared to those with explosives and other types of weapons, it is crucial to treat the efforts of both terrorist organizations and individuals with appropriate gravity in order to avert catastrophic consequences. Identifying warning signs that indicate criminal behaviour is crucial for preventing planned crimes or terrorist attacks, and there is a need for more precise coverage of potential risk indicators related to CBRN and explosive crimes. This research aimed at examining and scrutinizing possible warning signs associated with planning and conducting terrorist attacks using CBRN and explosive materials. The research was implemented in three phases. First, comprise the systematic literature review. In the second phase, the case studies and CCTV records from past cases from Europe, USA, Australia and Asia were analysed and the aim was to create a list of risk indicators and categories for future reference by developing a methodological tool. The last phase represented a survey in which the practitioners from European Law enforcement and Intelligence Agencies critically assessed the list of risk indicators and their categories created based on the previous two steps of the research. The last goal was to gain the agreement and endorsement of law enforcement officials from different European nations regarding the validity and importance of recognized risk indicators and their categories, as well as their ranking for use in operational tasks, investigations, and training. The majority of the respondents found the identified categories and risk indicators as reliable and relevant for their operational activities and investigations. For the second research question, the survey results prioritized categories of risk indicators that are most suitable for the detection tactics of investigators and intelligence officers. The third research question examined the ease of observing identified risk indicators, with the category of technological detection/air sampling alarm risk indicators ranking as the easiest to detect. Finally, the survey found that the identified risk indicators are useful for training activities of security entities. Several final comments and recommendations from participants were also discussed, emphasizing the importance of considering multiple factors when identifying risk indicators and the value of the comprehensive list of identified risk indicators. The publication also examines some terrorist theories, the advantages, limitations, and the ongoing debate surrounding the use of profiling in protective security.