Academic literature on the topic 'Evidence, Expert Australia'

SUMMARYEstimates of the proportion of illness transmitted by food for different enteric pathogens are essential for foodborne burden-of-disease studies. Owing to insufficient scientific data, a formal synthesis of expert opinion, an expert elicitation, is commonly used to produce such estimates. Eleven experts participated in an elicitation to estimate the proportion of illnesses due to food in Australia for nine pathogens over three rounds: first, based on their own knowledge alone; second, after being provided with systematic reviews of the literature and Australian data; and finally, at a workshop where experts reflected on the evidence. Estimates changed significantly across the three rounds (P= 0·002) as measured by analysis of variance. Following the workshop in round 3, estimates showed smoother distributions with significantly less variation for several pathogens. When estimates were combined to provide combined distributions for each pathogen, the width of these combined distributions reflected experts’ perceptions of the availability of evidence, with narrower intervals for pathogens for which evidence was judged to be strongest. Our findings show that the choice of expert elicitation process can significantly influence final estimates. Our structured process – and the workshop in particular – produced robust estimates and distributions appropriate for inclusion in burden-of-disease studies.

SUMMARYNipah virus (NiV) is a recently emerged zoonotic virus that causes severe disease in humans. The reservoir hosts for NiV, bats of the genus Pteropus (known as flying-foxes) are found across the Asia-Pacific including Australia. While NiV has not been detected in Australia, evidence for NiV infection has been found in flying-foxes in some of Australia's closest neighbours. A qualitative risk assessment was undertaken to assess the risk of NiV establishing in Australian flying-foxes through flying-fox movements from nearby regions. Events surrounding the emergence of new diseases are typically uncertain and in this study an expert opinion workshop was used to address gaps in knowledge. Given the difficulties in combining expert opinion, five different combination methods were analysed to assess their influence on the risk outcome. Under the baseline scenario where the median was used to combine opinions, the risk was estimated to be very low. However, this risk increased when the mean and linear opinion pooling combination methods were used. This assessment highlights the effects that different methods for combining expert opinion have on final risk estimates and the caution needed when interpreting these outcomes given the high degree of uncertainty in expert opinion. This work has provided a flexible model framework for assessing the risk of NiV establishment in Australian flying-foxes through bat movements which can be updated when new data become available.

Purpose Improving valuation accuracy, especially for sale and acquisition purposes, remains one of the key targets of the global real estate research agenda. Among other recommendations, it has been argued that the use of technology-based advanced valuation methods can help to narrow the gap between asset valuations and actual sale prices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the property valuation methods being adopted by Australian valuers and the factors influencing their level of awareness and adoption of the methods. Design/methodology/approach An online questionnaire survey was conducted to elicit information from valuers practising in Australia. They were asked to indicate their level of awareness and adoption of the different property valuation methods. Their response was analysed using frequency distribution, χ2 test and mean score ranking. Findings The results show that the traditional methods of valuation, namely, comparative, investment and residual, are the most adopted methods by the Australian valuers, while advanced valuation methods are seldom applied in practice. The results confirm that professional bodies, sector of practice and educational institutions are the three most important drivers of awareness and adoption of the advanced valuation methods. Practical implications There is a need for all the property valuation stakeholders to synergise and transform the property valuation practice in a bid to promote the awareness and adoption of advanced valuation methods, (e.g. hedonic pricing model, artificial neural network, expert system, fuzzy logic system, etc.) among valuers. These are all technology-based methods to improve the efficiency in the prediction process, and the valuer still needs to input reliable transaction data into the systems. Originality/value This study provides a fresh and most recent insight into the current property valuation methods adopted in practice by valuers practising in Australia. It identifies that the advanced valuation methods could supplement the traditional valuation methods to achieve good practice standard for improving the professional valuation practice in Australia so that the valuation profession can meet the industry’s expectations.

Internationally, evidence-based practice (EBP) is recognised as a foundational element of healthcare professional education. Achieving competency in this area is a complex undertaking that is reflected in disparities between ‘best EBP’ and actual clinical care. The effective development and implementation of professional education to facilitate EBP remains a major and immediate challenge. To ascertain nuanced perspectives on the provision of EBP education internationally, interviews were conducted with five EBP education experts from the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Definitive advice was provided in relation to (1) EBP curriculum considerations, (2) teaching EBP and (3) stakeholder engagement in EBP education. While a considerable amount of EBP activity throughout health profession education is apparent, effectively embedding EBP throughout curricula requires further development, with a ‘real-world’ pragmatic approach that engenders dialogue and engagement with all stakeholders required.

Background:Australia has joined a growing number of nations that have evaluated the physical activity and sedentary behavior status of their children. Australia received a “D minus” in the first Active Healthy Kids Australia Physical Activity Report Card.Methods:An expert subgroup of the Australian Report Card Research Working Group iteratively reviewed available evidence to answer 3 questions: (a) What are the main sedentary behaviors of children? (b) What are the potential mechanisms for sedentary behavior to impact child health and development? and (c) What are the effects of different types of sedentary behaviors on child health and development?Results:Neither sedentary time nor screen time is a homogeneous activity likely to result in homogenous effects. There are several mechanisms by which various sedentary behaviors may positively or negatively affect cardiometabolic, neuromusculoskeletal, and psychosocial health, though the strength of evidence varies. National surveillance systems and mechanistic, longitudinal, and experimental studies are needed for Australia and other nations to improve their grade.Conclusions:Despite limitations, available evidence is sufficiently convincing that the total exposure and pattern of exposure to sedentary behaviors are critical to the healthy growth, development, and wellbeing of children. Nations therefore need strategies to address these common behaviors.

Social scientists such as anthropologists, linguists and historians play an important role in researching and producing genealogies, reports and other claim materials which are submitted as evidence in native title claims. Being expert witnesses for Aboriginal claimants (or any other party) means that they may also be cross-examined on their evidence by opposing counsel. The recent Federal Court decision Daniel v State of Western Australia (the ‘Daniel case’2) highlights the need to carefully manage communications which occur in the course of researching, documenting and conducting native title claims; the case raises the issue of avoiding (or delaying) the loss of the protection of ‘client privilege’3 for confidential documents such as anthropological field notes and other primary research materials. The central issue is whether various documents can be kept confidential, and if so, for how long.

This article examines the standards governing the admission of new types of expert evidence. Based on the rules of evidence and procedure in Australia, it explains how judges have been largely uninterested in the reliability of expert opinion evidence. Focused on the use of CCTV images and covert sound recordings for the purposes of identification, but relevant to other forensic sciences, the article explains the need for interest in the reliability of incriminating expert opinion evidence. It also explains why many of the traditional trial safeguards may not be particularly useful for identifying or explaining problems and complexities with scientific and technical evidence. In closing, the article argues that those developing new types of evidence and new techniques, whether identification-based or derived from IT, camera or computer forensics, need to be able to explain why it is that the court can have confidence in any opinions expressed.

Aim and Background: Occupational Therapists form an essential part of the development and care of infants and families in Neonatal Units (NNU) across the world, however, little is documented about their practice in Australia. This article aims to develop a greater understanding of the role of Occupational Therapy in NNU in Australia, compared with international practice guidelines, and recommends the adoption of UK guidelines until Australia specific guidelines emerge. Method: An online questionnaire was developed from a systematic scoping review and piloted by an expert panel. Invitations were sent to thirty Occupational Therapists working in NNUs around Australia. Data analysis included using descriptive statistics and qualitative themes. Results: Twenty two (73%) of NNU Occupational Therapists responded to the survey, representing all levels of NNU. Results describe the current Occupational Therapy role in Australia as encompassing assessment, intervention, teamwork and a variety of ‘other’ activities, all of which required advanced knowledge, skills and paediatric experience, and involved ongoing high-level professional development. Occupational Therapy has a unique role to play in neonatal units. Future development of the role is reliant upon good advocacy and promotion, specialised training opportunities, prospects for networking, support and mentorship for the many Therapists working part-time, and ongoing research. The Australian Occupational Therapy NNU role compares similarly with those cited internationally (UK & US). The development of guidelines for evidence based clinical practice of neonatal Occupational Therapy in Australia was highly sought by clinicians. The adoption of the ‘Occupational Therapy in neonatal services and early intervention: practice guideline’ (RCOT 2017) is proposed until the emergence of specific Australian guidelines.

This research used the Queensland Police Service, Australia, as a major case study. Information on principles, techniques and processes used, and the reason for the recording, storing and release of audit information for evidentiary purposes is reported. It is shown that Law Enforcement Agencies have a two-fold interest in, and legal obligation pertaining to, audit trails. The first interest relates to the situation where audit trails are actually used by criminals in the commission of crime and the second to where audit trails are generated by the information systems used by the police themselves in support of the recording and investigation of crime. Eleven court cases involving Queensland Police Service audit trails used in evidence in Queensland courts were selected for further analysis. It is shown that, of the cases studied, none of the evidence presented was rejected or seriously challenged from a technical perspective. These results were further analysed and related to normal requirements for trusted maintenance of audit trail information in sensitive environments with discussion on the ability and/or willingness of courts to fully challenge, assess or value audit evidence presented. Managerial and technical frameworks for firstly what is considered as an environment where a computer system may be considered to be operating “properly” and, secondly, what aspects of education, training, qualifications, expertise and the like may be considered as appropriate for persons responsible within that environment, are both proposed. Analysis was undertaken to determine if audit and control of information in a high security environment, such as law enforcement, could be judged as having improved, or not, in the transition from manual to electronic processes. Information collection, control of processing and audit in manual processes used by the Queensland Police Service, Australia, in the period 1940 to 1980 was assessed against current electronic systems essentially introduced to policing in the decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Results show that electronic systems do provide for faster communications with centrally controlled and updated information readily available for use by large numbers of users who are connected across significant geographical locations. However, it is clearly evident that the price paid for this is a lack of ability and/or reluctance to provide improved audit and control processes. To compare the information systems audit and control arrangements of the Queensland Police Service with other government departments or agencies, an Australia wide survey was conducted. Results of the survey were contrasted with the particular results of a survey, conducted by the Australian Commonwealth Privacy Commission four years previous, to this survey which showed that security in relation to the recording of activity against access to information held on Australian government computer systems has been poor and a cause for concern. However, within this four year period there is evidence to suggest that government organisations are increasingly more inclined to generate audit trails. An attack on the overall security of audit trails in computer operating systems was initiated to further investigate findings reported in relation to the government systems survey. The survey showed that information systems audit trails in Microsoft Corporation's “Windows” operating system environments are relied on quite heavily. An audit of the security for audit trails generated, stored and managed in the Microsoft “Windows 2000” operating system environment was undertaken and compared and contrasted with similar such audit trail schemes in the “UNIX” and “Linux” operating systems. Strength of passwords and exploitation of any security problems in access control were targeted using software tools that are freely available in the public domain. Results showed that such security for the “Windows 2000” system is seriously flawed and the integrity of audit trails stored within these environments cannot be relied upon. An attempt to produce a framework and set of guidelines for use by expert witnesses in the information technology (IT) profession is proposed. This is achieved by examining the current rules and guidelines related to the provision of expert evidence in a court environment, by analysing the rationale for the separation of distinct disciplines and corresponding bodies of knowledge used by the Medical Profession and Forensic Science and then by analysing the bodies of knowledge within the discipline of IT itself. It is demonstrated that the accepted processes and procedures relevant to expert witnessing in a court environment are transferable to the IT sector. However, unlike some discipline areas, this analysis has clearly identified two distinct aspects of the matter which appear particularly relevant to IT. These two areas are; expertise gained through the application of IT to information needs in a particular public or private enterprise; and expertise gained through accepted and verifiable education, training and experience in fundamental IT products and system.

Australian lawyers often request psychologists assess plaintiffs for brain injury tort litigation, but it is unknown why they do this and how they use the expert neuropsychological report. It is crucial to know this because international authors argue that the way lawyers use and manage the neuropsychological evidence they commission may introduce unconscious bias into psychologists’ expert opinions. Unconscious bias within such evidence jeopardises the procedural justice of Australian brain injury tort litigation. Therefore, the present study explored how Australian tort litigation lawyers use expert neuropsychological evidence and how plaintiff lawyers advise and prepare their clients for neuropsychological assessments. In Stage One, 10 Western Australian lawyers involved in neuropsychological tort litigation were interviewed and reported that expert neuropsychological evidence primarily assists them to describe a plaintiff’s injury, and to quantify the plaintiff’s level of impairment as caused by the injury. The lawyers also reported that they provide plaintiffs with information about brain injury symptoms and details about the neuropsychological assessment. Stage Two explored whether the Stage One themes were germane to lawyers from other states. Seventy-seven Australian lawyers completed an anonymous web-based survey constructed from the Stage One themes and limited international research literature. The results confirmed the themes applied to lawyers in all Australian legal jurisdictions. The findings suggest that the way Australian lawyers use expert neuropsychological evidence and prepare their clients for neuropsychological assessments may engender unconscious bias within the psychologist’s evidence in favour of the client. The implications of the study’s findings are discussed, emphasising that Australian psychologists must modify their practices to ensure their expert neuropsychological evidence is procedurally fair.

This thesis answers the following question, ‘Does genetic information alleviate or exacerbate the causal uncertainty in toxic torts?’ In doing so, it provides an original contribution to knowledge, by critically examining Australian and United States (‘US') case law and literature focusing on genetic evidence in toxic torts. A comprehensive analysis of the case law and literature is vital to inform best practice for the future by identifying the past, present and predicted impact and challenges of genetic evidence. The comparative case law analysis has ultimately demonstrated that, if used properly, this evidence could shed light on causation, especially when viewed alongside all the other available evidence. However, without further guidance on the utility of such markers, this evidence will only further confuse and mislead the judge or jury. This could exacerbate the problem of causal indeterminacy, leading to inconsistent case outcomes and posing further obstacles to meritorious claims. This thesis therefore concludes that there is a strong need for practice-oriented instruments designed to assist courts, legal professionals and litigants in considering the strengths and weaknesses of genetic markers as a means of proving or disproving causation. As articulated throughout the thesis, a Reference Guide would help to ensure that the probative value of genetic evidence is properly weighed against any potential harms. The proposed guide would mimic the structure and contents of Chapters 4-7 of this thesis, containing a comprehensive survey of the case law and literature, and a detailed explanation and analysis of both the legal and scientific issues pertaining to genetic evidence. The findings outlined in this thesis extend to a wide variety of legal areas where health-related genetic evidence is likely to be used including medical negligence, employment law, criminal law, family law and insurance claims (such as workers’ compensation or life insurance).

The ability of jurors and juries to comprehend and utilise scientific evidence in Australian criminal trials has been examined. From mock jury surveys relating to DNA profiling evidence, it was determined that most respondents were able to comprehend some basic and applied statistics, although their ability was in part related to their knowledge of English and their level of education. The point at which mock jurors were prepared to convict an accused solely on the basis of DNA profiling evidence was examined and found to be low compared with the strength of DNA profiling evidence commonly presented in Australian courts. Mock jurors also demonstrated the ability to process evidence that was presented in a Bayesian framework; commencing with prior odds, introducing new information and culminating in posterior odds. From a survey of Australian forensic scientists, including fraud investigators, it was found that most practitioners' concerns could be addressed by greater pre-trial consultation between experts and legal advocates. Improved knowledge within the legal profession concerning the jargon, principles, procedures, limitations and conclusions to be drawn from different scientific disciplines, prior to presenting this evidence in court, is recommended as the means by which complex evidence can be better adduced from expert witnesses and better presented to juries in criminal trials. Finally, from interviewing actual jurors in criminal trials in the Australian Capital Territory it was determined that where jurors' expectations of scientific evidence, particularly DNA profiling evidence, are not met, high levels of juror frustration and speculation may culminate in hung juries. The adversarial setting of criminal proceedings was also found to produce an environment in which jurors felt that information that would assist them in reaching a verdict was being deliberately withheld. The ability of the jury to ask questions and the allowed nature of those questions were also examined, with the resultant recommendation that juries be given more explicit information at the commencement of trials to inform them about their rights and obligations when asking questions.

The demand for accounting expert witness services has increased over the past decade, as has the diversity of areas that expert witnesses are required to cover. Consequently, many universities and colleges are currently considering adding forensic accounting courses to their curriculum (Wang et al. 2016, DiGabriele 2010). Identifying appropriate forensic accounting skills will aid both academia and professional bodies to integrate these skills into their accounting curriculum (Bhasin 2016). This will help accounting students of tertiary institutions and professional bodies gain appropriate forensic accounting skills and techniques (Seda & Kramer 2015). Accounting expert witnesses are called to testify in cases related to accounting or financial matters, such as fraud cases, that are beyond the knowledge or understanding of judges and jurors. Their expert testimony is provided as opinion evidence based on the expert’s training, study or experience. Accordingly, forensic accountants (FAs) should acquire skills that enable them to perform their duties as expert witnesses effectively (DiGabriele & Huber 2015; Heitger & Heitger 2008). Analysing the existing literature has revealed a lack of studies focusing on the skills that FAs require, specifically on litigation support services in the context of Australia (Bhasin 2016; van Akkeren & Tarr 2014). Therefore, the present study attempts to fill a knowledge gap and contribute to the development of this professional niche in Australia and the other countries. This study aims to investigate the main skills that FAs should possess to act as expert witnesses in courts from the perception of three stakeholder groups: lawyers, professional accountants and accounting academics. Additionally, this study inspects the factors affecting the admissibility of expert testimony. Further, it inspects the variance in the perceptions of the above three groups regarding the skills required for expert witnesses. Moreover, the research project explores the essential requirements that are required for FAs to practice expert witnessing and litigation support services before the court in the Australian context—including level of education, area of specialisation, forensic accounting credentials, the career pathway of accounting expert witnesses and computer-based forensic techniques. Institutional theory and agency theory are adopted to underpin and explain the objectives of the study. From an institutional perspective, identifying the skills, ethics and other requirements that FAs should possess to act as expert witnesses will improve their work and assist the efforts to standardise forensic accounting as a profession in Australia. This will reduce the institutional pressures on forensic accounting and meet the expectations of those who use these services, thus legitimising and improving the industry. On the other hand, from an agency perspective, improving the skills of FAs will reduce the conflict between the principal (users of FAs services) and the agent (FAs), which thus reduces agency costs by aligning the objectives of principal and agent. The study is a descriptive design utilising a mixed-methods approach with quantitative and qualitative elements. A literature review was conducted to identify the basic skills of accounting expert witnesses, which led to developing a literature-based list of forensic accounting skills (LFAS). The list contains six sets of skills in forensic accounting. A set of hypotheses was formulated and tested by using data collected from a questionnaire and interview survey. The questionnaire was distributed by email using the online survey distribution tool, Survey Monkey, and the interviews were conducted by phone. Data collected from these two techniques were analysed using statistical analysis software, including Excel, the statistical package for social science (SPSS), analysis of variance (ANOVA) and NVivo. The findings from the questionnaire and interviews were used to test and validate the LFAS. The results indicated that the participants agreed on the importance of numerous skills that FAs should possess to practice expert witness services, such as communication skills, auditing skills, investigative flexibility, legal knowledge, ability to simplify information and professional independence. In contrast, the respondents disagreed on the importance of other skills, such as knowledge and understanding of criminology, management, family law knowledge, confidence, a creative mindset and public interest. In the interviews, participants also highlighted the importance of new skills that were not previously addressed by relevant studies or the questionnaires’ results, such as attention to detail, computer skills, critical thinking and valuation skills. Study results also revealed the factors that can affect the admissibility of accounting expert witnesses from the participants’ perspectives. One important result is the objectivity of the expert. A second important result is the view that the experts must comply with the court rules and code of conduct for accounting expert witnesses. A third result was that the experts’evidence must be based on their study, training and experience and that the report evidence submitted to the Court must be relevant, reliable and within the scope of tasks assigned to the experts. Finally, results revealed the belief that the expert’s opinion should be supported by facts and that expert witnesses should demonstrate the methods and documents used to prove these facts. The findings also identified the main requirements for FAs to act as expert witnesses from the perspective of major stakeholders, including that the master’s degree was considered the appropriate level of education for FAs; that law was selected as the preferred discipline for FAs, along with a degree in accounting; that CPA or CA was chosen as the best credentials for expert witnesses in accounting; that obtaining a degree in accounting with practical experience in a related field was the best path for commencing a career as a FA expert; and that special computer skills in forensic and investigation packages were deemed critical for FAs.

Background: Shortages of health care professionals and an ageing nursing workforce are some of the factors leading to the creation and evolution of many new nursing roles. Advanced practice nurses across the globe are working under many different titles and within various contexts, in order to address gaps within current health care systems. Comparison of roles between countries is difficult and possibly inappropriate due to Australia’s unique environmental and demographic characteristics. A context-specific systematic review on the qualitative evidence of the experience of being an advanced practice nurse in Australia has not been undertaken previously, however it is imperative for nursing managers and leaders to understand the complexities of advanced nursing roles in order to effectively utilise and retain these experienced and valuable nurses. Aim: This study aims to provide deeper understanding of the experience of being an advanced practice nurse working in Australian acute settings and identify personal, professional and organisational factors influencing experiences. Methods: A three-step search strategy, following the Joanna Briggs Institute method was used to identify published and unpublished interpretive studies meeting set inclusion criteria. Critical appraisal and data extraction were completed the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instruments. Results: Following the search and appraisal process, four studies were assessed as meeting the inclusion criteria and from these, 216 findings were extracted. Six meta-syntheses under the headings of expert knowledge, confidence, education, relationships, negative experiences and patient centered experience were formed from the findings. Conclusion: This review has increased our understanding about the experience of being an advanced practice nurse in Australian acute care settings and provided evidence of the role being multifactorial and complex. The patient is central to the APN experience but organisational factors impact and influence their experience also. Health care organisations must be aware of the impact they have on the nurse’s experience if they are to commit to nurse retention and patient safety. Nurses must continue to improve articulating their experiences in order to quantify the more intangible aspects of their practice. Implications: There is a pragmatic aspect to this review as implications for practice are specific to the functioning of the advanced practice nurse in the Australian acute care environment. The complexity of the role has been highlighted which may assist to inform future research into other aspects of APN practice.
Thesis (M.Phil.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Nursing, 2013

The health of babies, children and young people is fundamentally different from that of adults, so their healthcare must reflect their unique needs and engage their parents, family members and communities. Paediatric Nursing in Australia and New Zealand introduces nursing students to the care of infants, children, young people and their families in a range of clinical and community settings across Australasia. This third edition includes New Zealand content and an increased focus on families. New chapters cover health services available for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori children, the transition to parenthood for new families, children's sleep patterns and behaviour, and paediatric health in school settings. Case studies and reflective questions encourage students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Written by an expert team, Paediatric Nursing in Australia and New Zealand equips future nurses with the knowledge and skills to provide evidence-based care to babies, children and their families.

The Action Plan for Australian Mammals 2012 is the first review to assess the conservation status of all Australian mammals. It complements The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010 (Garnett et al. 2011, CSIRO Publishing), and although the number of Australian mammal taxa is marginally fewer than for birds, the proportion of endemic, extinct and threatened mammal taxa is far greater. These authoritative reviews represent an important foundation for understanding the current status, fate and future of the nature of Australia. This book considers all species and subspecies of Australian mammals, including those of external territories and territorial seas. For all the mammal taxa (about 300 species and subspecies) considered Extinct, Threatened, Near Threatened or Data Deficient, the size and trend of their population is presented along with information on geographic range and trend, and relevant biological and ecological data. The book also presents the current conservation status of each taxon under Australian legislation, what additional information is needed for managers, and the required management actions. Recovery plans, where they exist, are evaluated. The voluntary participation of more than 200 mammal experts has ensured that the conservation status and information are as accurate as possible, and allowed considerable unpublished data to be included. All accounts include maps based on the latest data from Australian state and territory agencies, from published scientific literature and other sources. The Action Plan concludes that 29 Australian mammal species have become extinct and 63 species are threatened and require urgent conservation action. However, it also shows that, where guided by sound knowledge, management capability and resourcing, and longer-term commitment, there have been some notable conservation success stories, and the conservation status of some species has greatly improved over the past few decades. The Action Plan for Australian Mammals 2012 makes a major contribution to the conservation of a wonderful legacy that is a significant part of Australia’s heritage. For such a legacy to endure, our society must be more aware of and empathetic with our distinctively Australian environment, and particularly its marvellous mammal fauna; relevant information must be readily accessible; environmental policy and law must be based on sound evidence; those with responsibility for environmental management must be aware of what priority actions they should take; the urgency for action (and consequences of inaction) must be clear; and the opportunity for hope and success must be recognised. It is in this spirit that this account is offered. Winner of a 2015 Whitley Awards Certificate of Commendation for Zoological Resource.

Abstract The influence of landscapes – topography, soil, vegetation, geology – on water quality is an inherent part of the global water cycle. Land use has adverse impacts for example when soils are exposed, significant quantities of pollutants are released (including anthropogenic materials added to those naturally present), or pollutants are added directly to the water environment. Those impacts range from industrial development to farming and urbanisation. Whilst inefficient polluting industrial effluents are still tolerated in some countries, and poorly treated sewage globally remains a huge challenge for sanitation and public health, as well as the water environment, diffuse pollution is relatively poorly recognised or understood. The operator of a sewage or trade effluent treatment plant is consciously discharging effluent to the local river. But a farmer is simply growing crops or farming livestock, a city commuter driving to work is unlikely to be thinking how brake pad wear has released copper to the water (and air) environment and hydrocarbons and particulates too; no one is intending to cause pollution of the water environment. The same applies to industrial chemists creating fire-proofing chemicals, solvents, fertilisers, pesticides, cosmetics and many more substances which contaminate the environment. Understanding and ultimately minimising diffuse pollution is in that sense the science of unintended consequences. And the consequences can be severe, for water resources and ecosystems. It's a global problem. This book comprises 18 papers from experts around the globe, presenting evidence from tropical as well as temperate regions, and rural as well as urban land use challenges. The book explores the nature of diffuse pollution and exemplifies the issues at various scales, from high-level national overviews to particular catchment and pollutant issues. By contrast, natural or semi-natural forest cover has long been recognised as safeguarding water quality in reservoirs (examples from Australia to Thailand and UK). The final chapter looks at how landscapes generally, can be designed to minimise pollution risks from particular land-uses, arguing for a more widespread catchment approach to water-aware landscape design, allied with flood risk resilience, place-making for people, and biodiversity opportunities too. ISBN: 9781789061116 (Paperback) ISBN: 9781789061123 (eBook) ISBN: 9781789061130 (ePub)

Nationalism: Past as Prologue began as a single volume being compiled by Ad Akande, a scholar from South Africa, who proposed it to me as co-author about two years ago. The original idea was to examine how the damaging roots of nationalism have been corroding political systems around the world, and creating dangerous obstacles for necessary international cooperation. Since I (Bruce E. Johansen) has written profusely about climate change (global warming, a.k.a. infrared forcing), I suggested a concerted effort in that direction. This is a worldwide existential threat that affects every living thing on Earth. It often compounds upon itself, so delays in reducing emissions of fossil fuels are shortening the amount of time remaining to eliminate the use of fossil fuels to preserve a livable planet. Nationalism often impedes solutions to this problem (among many others), as nations place their singular needs above the common good. Our initial proposal got around, and abstracts on many subjects arrived. Within a few weeks, we had enough good material for a 100,000-word book. The book then fattened to two moderate volumes and then to four two very hefty tomes. We tried several different titles as good submissions swelled. We also discovered that our best contributors were experts in their fields, which ranged the world. We settled on three stand-alone books:” 1/ nationalism and racial justice. Our first volume grew as the growth of Black Lives Matter following the brutal killing of George Floyd ignited protests over police brutality and other issues during 2020, following the police assassination of Floyd in Minneapolis. It is estimated that more people took part in protests of police brutality during the summer of 2020 than any other series of marches in United States history. This includes upheavals during the 1960s over racial issues and against the war in Southeast Asia (notably Vietnam). We choose a volume on racism because it is one of nationalism’s main motive forces. This volume provides a worldwide array of work on nationalism’s growth in various countries, usually by authors residing in them, or in the United States with ethnic ties to the nation being examined, often recent immigrants to the United States from them. Our roster of contributors comprises a small United Nations of insightful, well-written research and commentary from Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, China, India, South Africa, France, Portugal, Estonia, Hungary, Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the United States. Volume 2 (this one) describes and analyzes nationalism, by country, around the world, except for the United States; and 3/material directly related to President Donald Trump, and the United States. The first volume is under consideration at the Texas A & M University Press. The other two are under contract to Nova Science Publishers (which includes social sciences). These three volumes may be used individually or as a set. Environmental material is taken up in appropriate places in each of the three books. * * * * * What became the United States of America has been strongly nationalist since the English of present-day Massachusetts and Jamestown first hit North America’s eastern shores. The country propelled itself across North America with the self-serving ideology of “manifest destiny” for four centuries before Donald Trump came along. Anyone who believes that a Trumpian affection for deportation of “illegals” is a new thing ought to take a look at immigration and deportation statistics in Adam Goodman’s The Deportation Machine: America’s Long History of Deporting Immigrants (Princeton University Press, 2020). Between 1920 and 2018, the United States deported 56.3 million people, compared with 51.7 million who were granted legal immigration status during the same dates. Nearly nine of ten deportees were Mexican (Nolan, 2020, 83). This kind of nationalism, has become an assassin of democracy as well as an impediment to solving global problems. Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times (2019:A-25): that “In their 2018 book, How Democracies Die, the political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt documented how this process has played out in many countries, from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, to Recep Erdogan’s Turkey, to Viktor Orban’s Hungary. Add to these India’s Narendra Modi, China’s Xi Jinping, and the United States’ Donald Trump, among others. Bit by bit, the guardrails of democracy have been torn down, as institutions meant to serve the public became tools of ruling parties and self-serving ideologies, weaponized to punish and intimidate opposition parties’ opponents. On paper, these countries are still democracies; in practice, they have become one-party regimes….And it’s happening here [the United States] as we speak. If you are not worried about the future of American democracy, you aren’t paying attention” (Krugmam, 2019, A-25). We are reminded continuously that the late Carl Sagan, one of our most insightful scientific public intellectuals, had an interesting theory about highly developed civilizations. Given the number of stars and planets that must exist in the vast reaches of the universe, he said, there must be other highly developed and organized forms of life. Distance may keep us from making physical contact, but Sagan said that another reason we may never be on speaking terms with another intelligent race is (judging from our own example) could be their penchant for destroying themselves in relatively short order after reaching technological complexity. This book’s chapters, introduction, and conclusion examine the worldwide rise of partisan nationalism and the damage it has wrought on the worldwide pursuit of solutions for issues requiring worldwide scope, such scientific co-operation public health and others, mixing analysis of both. We use both historical description and analysis. This analysis concludes with a description of why we must avoid the isolating nature of nationalism that isolates people and encourages separation if we are to deal with issues of world-wide concern, and to maintain a sustainable, survivable Earth, placing the dominant political movement of our time against the Earth’s existential crises. Our contributors, all experts in their fields, each have assumed responsibility for a country, or two if they are related. This work entwines themes of worldwide concern with the political growth of nationalism because leaders with such a worldview are disinclined to co-operate internationally at a time when nations must find ways to solve common problems, such as the climate crisis. Inability to cooperate at this stage may doom everyone, eventually, to an overheated, stormy future plagued by droughts and deluges portending shortages of food and other essential commodities, meanwhile destroying large coastal urban areas because of rising sea levels. Future historians may look back at our time and wonder why as well as how our world succumbed to isolating nationalism at a time when time was so short for cooperative intervention which is crucial for survival of a sustainable earth. Pride in language and culture is salubrious to individuals’ sense of history and identity. Excess nationalism that prevents international co-operation on harmful worldwide maladies is quite another. As Pope Francis has pointed out: For all of our connectivity due to expansion of social media, ability to communicate can breed contempt as well as mutual trust. “For all our hyper-connectivity,” said Francis, “We witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all” (Horowitz, 2020, A-12). The pope’s encyclical, titled “Brothers All,” also said: “The forces of myopic, extremist, resentful, and aggressive nationalism are on the rise.” The pope’s document also advocates support for migrants, as well as resistance to nationalist and tribal populism. Francis broadened his critique to the role of market capitalism, as well as nationalism has failed the peoples of the world when they need co-operation and solidarity in the face of the world-wide corona virus pandemic. Humankind needs to unite into “a new sense of the human family [Fratelli Tutti, “Brothers All”], that rejects war at all costs” (Pope, 2020, 6-A). Our journey takes us first to Russia, with the able eye and honed expertise of Richard D. Anderson, Jr. who teaches as UCLA and publishes on the subject of his chapter: “Putin, Russian identity, and Russia’s conduct at home and abroad.” Readers should find Dr. Anderson’s analysis fascinating because Vladimir Putin, the singular leader of Russian foreign and domestic policy these days (and perhaps for the rest of his life, given how malleable Russia’s Constitution has become) may be a short man physically, but has high ambitions. One of these involves restoring the old Russian (and Soviet) empire, which would involve re-subjugating a number of nations that broke off as the old order dissolved about 30 years ago. President (shall we say czar?) Putin also has international ambitions, notably by destabilizing the United States, where election meddling has become a specialty. The sight of Putin and U.S. president Donald Trump, two very rich men (Putin $70-$200 billion; Trump $2.5 billion), nuzzling in friendship would probably set Thomas Jefferson and Vladimir Lenin spinning in their graves. The road of history can take some unanticipated twists and turns. Consider Poland, from which we have an expert native analysis in chapter 2, Bartosz Hlebowicz, who is a Polish anthropologist and journalist. His piece is titled “Lawless and Unjust: How to Quickly Make Your Own Country a Puppet State Run by a Group of Hoodlums – the Hopeless Case of Poland (2015–2020).” When I visited Poland to teach and lecture twice between 2006 and 2008, most people seemed to be walking on air induced by freedom to conduct their own affairs to an unusual degree for a state usually squeezed between nationalists in Germany and Russia. What did the Poles then do in a couple of decades? Read Hlebowicz’ chapter and decide. It certainly isn’t soft-bellied liberalism. In Chapter 3, with Bruce E. Johansen, we visit China’s western provinces, the lands of Tibet as well as the Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang region, who would most assuredly resent being characterized as being possessed by the Chinese of the Han to the east. As a student of Native American history, I had never before thought of the Tibetans and Uighurs as Native peoples struggling against the Independence-minded peoples of a land that is called an adjunct of China on most of our maps. The random act of sitting next to a young woman on an Air India flight out of Hyderabad, bound for New Delhi taught me that the Tibetans had something to share with the Lakota, the Iroquois, and hundreds of other Native American states and nations in North America. Active resistance to Chinese rule lasted into the mid-nineteenth century, and continues today in a subversive manner, even in song, as I learned in 2018 when I acted as a foreign adjudicator on a Ph.D. dissertation by a Tibetan student at the University of Madras (in what is now in a city called Chennai), in southwestern India on resistance in song during Tibet’s recent history. Tibet is one of very few places on Earth where a young dissident can get shot to death for singing a song that troubles China’s Quest for Lebensraum. The situation in Xinjiang region, where close to a million Muslims have been interned in “reeducation” camps surrounded with brick walls and barbed wire. They sing, too. Come with us and hear the music. Back to Europe now, in Chapter 4, to Portugal and Spain, we find a break in the general pattern of nationalism. Portugal has been more progressive governmentally than most. Spain varies from a liberal majority to military coups, a pattern which has been exported to Latin America. A situation such as this can make use of the term “populism” problematic, because general usage in our time usually ties the word into a right-wing connotative straightjacket. “Populism” can be used to describe progressive (left-wing) insurgencies as well. José Pinto, who is native to Portugal and also researches and writes in Spanish as well as English, in “Populism in Portugal and Spain: a Real Neighbourhood?” provides insight into these historical paradoxes. Hungary shares some historical inclinations with Poland (above). Both emerged from Soviet dominance in an air of developing freedom and multicultural diversity after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed. Then, gradually at first, right wing-forces began to tighten up, stripping structures supporting popular freedom, from the courts, mass media, and other institutions. In Chapter 5, Bernard Tamas, in “From Youth Movement to Right-Liberal Wing Authoritarianism: The Rise of Fidesz and the Decline of Hungarian Democracy” puts the renewed growth of political and social repression into a context of worldwide nationalism. Tamas, an associate professor of political science at Valdosta State University, has been a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and a Fulbright scholar at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. His books include From Dissident to Party Politics: The Struggle for Democracy in Post-Communist Hungary (2007). Bear in mind that not everyone shares Orbán’s vision of what will make this nation great, again. On graffiti-covered walls in Budapest, Runes (traditional Hungarian script) has been found that read “Orbán is a motherfucker” (Mikanowski, 2019, 58). Also in Europe, in Chapter 6, Professor Ronan Le Coadic, of the University of Rennes, Rennes, France, in “Is There a Revival of French Nationalism?” Stating this title in the form of a question is quite appropriate because France’s nationalistic shift has built and ebbed several times during the last few decades. For a time after 2000, it came close to assuming the role of a substantial minority, only to ebb after that. In 2017, the candidate of the National Front reached the second round of the French presidential election. This was the second time this nationalist party reached the second round of the presidential election in the history of the Fifth Republic. In 2002, however, Jean-Marie Le Pen had only obtained 17.79% of the votes, while fifteen years later his daughter, Marine Le Pen, almost doubled her father's record, reaching 33.90% of the votes cast. Moreover, in the 2019 European elections, re-named Rassemblement National obtained the largest number of votes of all French political formations and can therefore boast of being "the leading party in France.” The brutality of oppressive nationalism may be expressed in personal relationships, such as child abuse. While Indonesia and Aotearoa [the Maoris’ name for New Zealand] hold very different ranks in the United Nations Human Development Programme assessments, where Indonesia is classified as a medium development country and Aotearoa New Zealand as a very high development country. In Chapter 7, “Domestic Violence Against Women in Indonesia and Aotearoa New Zealand: Making Sense of Differences and Similarities” co-authors, in Chapter 8, Mandy Morgan and Dr. Elli N. Hayati, from New Zealand and Indonesia respectively, found that despite their socio-economic differences, one in three women in each country experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence over their lifetime. In this chapter ther authors aim to deepen understandings of domestic violence through discussion of the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of theit countries to address domestic violence alongside studies of women’s attitudes to gender norms and experiences of intimate partner violence. One of the most surprising and upsetting scholarly journeys that a North American student may take involves Adolf Hitler’s comments on oppression of American Indians and Blacks as he imagined the construction of the Nazi state, a genesis of nationalism that is all but unknown in the United States of America, traced in this volume (Chapter 8) by co-editor Johansen. Beginning in Mein Kampf, during the 1920s, Hitler explicitly used the westward expansion of the United States across North America as a model and justification for Nazi conquest and anticipated colonization by Germans of what the Nazis called the “wild East” – the Slavic nations of Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, and Russia, most of which were under control of the Soviet Union. The Volga River (in Russia) was styled by Hitler as the Germans’ Mississippi, and covered wagons were readied for the German “manifest destiny” of imprisoning, eradicating, and replacing peoples the Nazis deemed inferior, all with direct references to events in North America during the previous century. At the same time, with no sense of contradiction, the Nazis partook of a long-standing German romanticism of Native Americans. One of Goebbels’ less propitious schemes was to confer honorary Aryan status on Native American tribes, in the hope that they would rise up against their oppressors. U.S. racial attitudes were “evidence [to the Nazis] that America was evolving in the right direction, despite its specious rhetoric about equality.” Ming Xie, originally from Beijing, in the People’s Republic of China, in Chapter 9, “News Coverage and Public Perceptions of the Social Credit System in China,” writes that The State Council of China in 2014 announced “that a nationwide social credit system would be established” in China. “Under this system, individuals, private companies, social organizations, and governmental agencies are assigned a score which will be calculated based on their trustworthiness and daily actions such as transaction history, professional conduct, obedience to law, corruption, tax evasion, and academic plagiarism.” The “nationalism” in this case is that of the state over the individual. China has 1.4 billion people; this system takes their measure for the purpose of state control. Once fully operational, control will be more subtle. People who are subject to it, through modern technology (most often smart phones) will prompt many people to self-censor. Orwell, modernized, might write: “Your smart phone is watching you.” Ming Xie holds two Ph.Ds, one in Public Administration from University of Nebraska at Omaha and another in Cultural Anthropology from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, where she also worked for more than 10 years at a national think tank in the same institution. While there she summarized news from non-Chinese sources for senior members of the Chinese Communist Party. Ming is presently an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, West Texas A&M University. In Chapter 10, analyzing native peoples and nationhood, Barbara Alice Mann, Professor of Honours at the University of Toledo, in “Divide, et Impera: The Self-Genocide Game” details ways in which European-American invaders deprive the conquered of their sense of nationhood as part of a subjugation system that amounts to genocide, rubbing out their languages and cultures -- and ultimately forcing the native peoples to assimilate on their own, for survival in a culture that is foreign to them. Mann is one of Native American Studies’ most acute critics of conquests’ contradictions, and an author who retrieves Native history with a powerful sense of voice and purpose, having authored roughly a dozen books and numerous book chapters, among many other works, who has traveled around the world lecturing and publishing on many subjects. Nalanda Roy and S. Mae Pedron in Chapter 11, “Understanding the Face of Humanity: The Rohingya Genocide.” describe one of the largest forced migrations in the history of the human race, the removal of 700,000 to 800,000 Muslims from Buddhist Myanmar to Bangladesh, which itself is already one of the most crowded and impoverished nations on Earth. With about 150 million people packed into an area the size of Nebraska and Iowa (population less than a tenth that of Bangladesh, a country that is losing land steadily to rising sea levels and erosion of the Ganges river delta. The Rohingyas’ refugee camp has been squeezed onto a gigantic, eroding, muddy slope that contains nearly no vegetation. However, Bangladesh is majority Muslim, so while the Rohingya may starve, they won’t be shot to death by marauding armies. Both authors of this exquisite (and excruciating) account teach at Georgia Southern University in Savannah, Georgia, Roy as an associate professor of International Studies and Asian politics, and Pedron as a graduate student; Roy originally hails from very eastern India, close to both Myanmar and Bangladesh, so he has special insight into the context of one of the most brutal genocides of our time, or any other. This is our case describing the problems that nationalism has and will pose for the sustainability of the Earth as our little blue-and-green orb becomes more crowded over time. The old ways, in which national arguments often end in devastating wars, are obsolete, given that the Earth and all the people, plants, and other animals that it sustains are faced with the existential threat of a climate crisis that within two centuries, more or less, will flood large parts of coastal cities, and endanger many species of plants and animals. To survive, we must listen to the Earth, and observe her travails, because they are increasingly our own.

AbstractAustralia remains a heteronormative society, with many of our social, legal, and moral structures still assuming and reinforcing heterosexuality as the default norm. The impacts of heteronormativity on the family lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) Australians can be profound. In this chapter, we draw from the lifecourse principles of linked lives, trajectories and turning points to examine how family dynamics produce disadvantage in the lives of LGB Australians. We begin by documenting trajectories of satisfaction, closeness, and support in relationships between LGB children and their parents. We then test associations between the quality of the parent-child relationship and LGB people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing across the life course. Next, we turn our attention to LGB people’s desires and expectations to have children of their own, and test whether relationships with parents play a role in shaping these. Overall, we find evidence that family dynamics continue to be a source of disadvantage in the lives of some LGB Australians. On average, LGB people are less likely to report a positive relationship with their parents than heterosexual people, and negative relationships with parents appear to suppress desires for having children of one’s own. Further, gay men who desire to have children are significantly less likely to expect to fulfill those desires the more dissatisfied they are with their relationships with their parents. Our findings demonstrate how social structures have the power to shape our most important, personal relationships and, through these, our mental health and wellbeing.

This article examines the standards governing the admission of new types of expert evidence. Based on the rules of evidence and procedure in Australia, it explains how judges have been largely uninterested in the reliability of expert opinion evidence. Focused on the use of CCTV images and covert sound recordings for the purposes of identification, but relevant to other forensic sciences, the article explains the need for interest in the reliability of incriminating expert opinion evidence. It also explains why many of the traditional trial safeguards may not be particularly useful for identifying or explaining problems and complexities with scientific and technical evidence. In closing, the article argues that those developing new types of evidence and new techniques, whether identification-based or derived from IT, camera or computer forensics, need to be able to explain why it is that the court can have confidence in any opinions expressed.

Novel scientific evidence challenges courts in terms of how they can evaluate reliability for the purposes of making admissibility decisions and assigning probative value to information that is adduced before them. An example of such problematic evidence is forensic gait analysis evidence which is in its infancy as a discipline of forensic science. This chapter reviews how objections to forensic gait analysis evidence have been handled in judicial decisions at first instance and on appeal in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. It identifies vulnerabilities in such evidence, especially when jurors are required to incorporate expert opinions (often from podiatrists) about the similarities in gait between that of the accused and a person seen on CCTV footage. The chapter expresses concern about the current scientific basis for such evidence in the absence of well developed databases in relation to gait characteristics, difficulties that characterise interpretation of CCTV footage, and the role that subjective issues can play in analyses by experts in gait interpretation. It notes a United Kingdom initiative in formulating a code of practice for forensic gait analysts but calls for caution in relation to reception and weight to be attached to such evidence until its scientific status becomes more developed.

Earth mounds are Late Holocene sites that have received little interpretation in Northern Australia’s archaeological record due to their visible similarity to natural features. This chapter will show how Indigenous traditional knowledge, coupled with new analytical techniques, has expanded the study of these sites in new directions. Indigenous communities’ engagement with their landscape and cultural epistemologies have provided concepts and evidence-based practices that take the interpretation of these sites beyond the biased lens of Western suppositions. The archaeology of listening is paramount in the interpretation of both the past and present meanings of these sites in Indigenous Australian communities.

This chapter studies the connections between repeated assessments of policy failure, the catalysts of deinstitutionalisation, and subsequent opportunities for system-wide policy learning and reform. Selected evidence from the reform trajectory of Australian health insurance policy from the mid-1970s to late-1990s is used to explore these possible relationships. Here, failure delegitimised health policy institutions, making them increasingly vulnerable and giving them weak learning capacity to reform in anything but a suboptimal way. The result is a cycle of failure and dysfunctional learning. The Australian health insurance case allows one to catalogue at least one pattern of the relationships between policy failure, deinstitutionalisation, and learning. Three core analytical arguments underpin this pattern. First, policy failures create opportunities for learning at a system-wide level, only after institutions have been eroded and exhausted by repeated failure. Second, this first claim holds in both the expert and political inquiry dimensions of policy failure. Third, learning processes are related to the particular sequence of deinstitutionalisation processes; in particular, initial deinstitutionalisation in the expert domain creates the conditions for political learning processes.

<em>Abstract</em>.—The flow regime is considered the primary driver of physical processes in riverine ecosystems; thus we expect that the trait composition of fish assemblages might respond similarly to hydrologic variability, even at broad spatial scales. Here, we test the hypothesis that freshwater fish life history strategies on two continents (southern United States and eastern Australia) converge along gradients of hydrologic variability and primary productivity at the drainage scale. Our results show that the fishes of the United States and Australia conform to the three-dimensional adaptive space arising from the trade-offs among three basic demographic parameters of survival, fecundity, and onset and duration of reproductive life. Species from both continents represent the endpoints in adaptive space defining the periodic (19% versus 33% for the United States and Australia, respectively), opportunistic (69% versus 52%), and equilibrium life history strategies (12% versus 15%). We found evidence that fish life history composition of drainage basins in the two continents have converged across similar gradients of hydrologic variability and productivity despite phylogenetic and historical differences. Moreover, these relationships were largely consistent with predictions from life history theory. Increasing hydrologic variability has promoted the greater prevalence of opportunistic strategists (a strategy that should maximize fitness in environmental settings dominated by unpredictable environmental change) while concurrently minimizing the persistence of periodic-type species (a strategy typically inhabits seasonal, periodically suitable environments). Our study provides a conceptual framework of management options for species in regulated rivers because life history strategies are the underlying determinants for population responses to environmental change and therefore can be used to classify typical population responses to flow alteration or mitigation via environmental flow prescriptions.

The movement of humans around the earth has been associated with an amazing redistribution of a variety of organisms to new continents and exotic islands. The natural biodiversity of native communities is threatened by new invasive species, and many of the most serious insect and weed pests are exotics. Classical biological control is one approach to dealing with nonindigenous species. If introduced species that lack natural enemies are competitively superior in exotic habitats, introducing some of their predators (herbivores), diseases, or parasitoids may reduce their population densities. Thus, the introduction of more exotic species may be necessary to reduce the competitive superiority of nonindigenous pests. The intentional introduction of insects as biological control agents provides an experimental arena in which adaptations and interactions among species may be tested. We can use biological control programs to explore such evolutionary questions as: What characteristics make a natural enemy a successful biological control agent? Does coevolution of herbivores and hosts or predators (parasitoids) and prey result in few species of natural enemies having the potential to be successful biological control agents? Do introduced natural enemies make unexpected host range shifts in new environments? Do exotic species lose their defense against specialized natural enemies after living for many generations without them? If coevolution is a common force in nature, we expect biological control interactions to demonstrate a dynamic interplay between hosts and their natural enemies. In this chapter, I consider biological control introductions to be experiments that might yield evidence on how adaptation molds the interactions between species and their natural enemies. I argue that the best biological control agents will be those to which the target hosts have not evolved resistance. Classical biological control is the movement of natural enemies from a native habitat to an exotic habitat where their host has become a pest. This approach to exotic pests has been practiced since the late 1800s, when Albert Koebele explored the native habitat of the cottony cushion scale, Icrya purchasi, in Australia and introduced Vadalia cardinalis beetles (see below) to control the cottony cushion scale on citrus in California. This control has continued to be a success.

Abstract The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) is Australia's independent expert regulator for health and safety, structural (well) integrity and environmental management for all offshore oil and gas operations and greenhouse gas storage activities in Australian waters, and in coastal waters where regulatory powers and functions have been conferred. The Australian offshore petroleum industry has been in operation since the early 1960s and currently has approximately 57 platforms, 11 floating facilities, 3,500km of pipelines and 1000 wells in operation. Many offshore facilities are now approaching the end of their operational lives and it is estimated that over the next 50 years decommissioning of this infrastructure will cost more than US$40.5 billion. Decommissioning is a normal and inevitable stage in the lifetime of an offshore petroleum project that should be planned from the outset and matured throughout the life of operations. While only a few facilities have been decommissioned in Australian waters, most of Australia's offshore infrastructure is now more than 20 years old and entering a phase where they require extra attention and close maintenance prior to decommissioning. When the NOGA group of companies entered liquidation in 2020 and the Australian Government took control of decommissioning the Laminaria and Corallina field development it became evident that there were some fundamental gaps in relation to decommissioning in the Australian offshore petroleum industry. There are two key focus areas that require attention. Firstly, regulatory reform including policy change and modification to regulatory practice. Secondly, the development of visible and robust decommissioning plans by Industry titleholders. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance and benefit of adopting good practice when planning for decommissioning throughout the life cycle of a petroleum project. Whilst not insurmountable, the closing of these gaps will ensure that Australia is well placed to deal with the decommissioning challenge facing the industry in the next 50 years.

Conceptually, the management of safety at roadworks can be seen in a three level framework. At the regulatory level, roadworks operate at the interface between the work environment, governed by workplace health and safety regulations, and the road environment, which is subject to road traffic regulations and practices. At the organizational level, national, state and local governments plan and purchase road construction and maintenance which are then delivered in-house or tendered out to large construction companies who often subcontract multiple smaller companies to supply services and labor. At the operational level, roadworks are difficult to isolate from the general public, hindering effective occupational health and safety controls. This study, from the State of Queensland, Australia, examines how well this tripartite framework functions. It includes reviews of organizational policy and procedures documents; interviews with 24 subject matter experts from various road construction and maintenance organizations, and on-site interviews with 66 road construction personnel. The study identified several factors influencing the translation of safety policies into practice including the cost of safety measures in the context of competitive tendering, lack of firm evidence of the effectiveness of safety measures, and pressures to minimize disruption to the travelling public.

Higher education programs need to prepare their graduates for the practical challenges they can expect to face upon entering the workforce. Students can be better prepared if their academic learning is reinforced through authentic workplace experience, where the link between theory and professional practice can be realized. Increasingly, such learning in the workplace is being seen as an integral part of the university curricula as evidenced through the implementation of the Learning the Workplace & Community (LiWC) Policy at Victoria University, Australia. This policy mandates a minimum of 25% content and assessment of all academic programs be related to work-integrated learning. Recognizing the need for authentic workplace experience in the IT undergraduate program, a review found that the existing work-related learning component accounted for only half the required 25% LiWC commitment. Currently, the LiWC component is an industry-based capstone project that spans two semesters in the final year of study. These projects allow students to work on real-life software development tasks where they experience the practical challenges of building software systems whilst appreciating the needs of a business client. In a search of the literature, campus-located industry projects were identified as one of the two most common work-related learning experiences in IT programs, the other being internships sited in the workplace. By retaining the current project-based component, it was decided to add an internship to the program to further bolster the student learning experience and graduate outcomes. This paper details the existing program structure and explores two possible implementations for the achievement of the LiWC policy. The first approach necessitates the addition of one academic year of cooperative education internship to be placed strategically between the current second and third years. Alternatively, the second proposal sacrifices several elective units to accommodate a final semester internship experience. The paper discusses both alternatives against various issues under consideration: staffing and administration, assessment, industry partnerships, professional accreditation and its impact upon differing cohorts of students.