Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Work environment – Australia'

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Graduate School of Management, 1999.
Bibliography: leaves 353-372.
Introduction and thesis overview -- A clarification of how common terms and key concepts within managerial and organisational discourse are interpreted within the thesis -- Theoretical and philosophical concerns: gender and the discourse of management and organisation(s) -- Contextualising the research: an overview of social, political, economic/business organisational conditions in contemporary Australia and review of literature germane to the empirical research studies -- Research methodology, judgement criteria and framework for analysis and representation -- Women managers: day to day managerial work and behaviour: ethnographic/participant observation studies -- Women's perceptions of their experience as managers: the interview studies -- Conclusions and thesis summary.
This thesis investigates the managerial experience of senior women in contemporary Australian public and private sector organisations and explores the implications this investigation has in relation to the discourse of management and organisation(s). -- The thesis proposes that although women have gained a presence in the ranks of senior management in the last twenty years, they continue to remain marginal to the discourse of management and organisation(s). The reason for this, it is argued, is because of the preoccupation this discourse has with conceptions of rationality and masculinity. This proposition is elaborated in the thesis by tracing the philosophical and sociological interpretations of reason and rationality from ancient Greek philosophy to its embodiment in the contemporary discourse of management and organisation(s). -- Whether for biological, social or psychological reasons, it can be argued that men and women are 'different'. A further proposition, therefore, is that they will have a 'different' experience as managers. On the basis of this proposal, the thesis evaluates contemporary theories of gender and sexual difference, but stops short of defining 'difference' specifically with regard to women's experience as managers. Instead, it allows the empirical research to determine what it is that constitutes 'difference' in such a context. -- The empirical component of the thesis seeks to develop an understanding of how senior women managers in contemporary Australian organisations both experience and interpret their experience in management. This is achieved by the use of two different, but complementary studies. Using an ethnographic/participant observation case study approach, the first of these investigates the day to day managerial activities, over time, of two senior women managers, one from the private and one from the public sector. The second component of the empirical research involves as series of in depth interviews with forty senior women managers in Australian public and private sector organisations, together with a small number of interviews with their immediate superiors and subordinates, and observation, by the researcher, of their workplaces. The location of the empirical research in the late 20th century, some twenty years or so after women started to enter the ranks of management in Australia, allows for a reflection on women's progress in management in this country during this period. It also allows for contemporary social and organisational conditions in Australia to be a consideration in evaluating the research participant's managerial experience. The thesis, therefore, links the empirical research findings to Australian literature and research on women and management, current social trends in this country, characteristics of the Australian business culture, Australian managementand the Australian manager.
The research framework utilised in the thesis is informed by critical, feminist and postmodern approaches to organisational analysis. For this reason the Deetz (1994) schema, which defines organisational reserch from the perspective of four differing discursive spaces - dialog, critical, interpretive and normative is utilised to locate the research orientation of the empirical studies. This schema recognises that overlap between the four discursive spaces is possible and thus can accommodate insights from each of the above mentioned approaches, as well as areas of overlap between them. -- The principal research findings suggest, in summary, that women in senior management in Australia largely conform to the traditional (masculine) norms that are deeply embedded in the discourse of management and organisation(s) and in managerial practice, yet at the same time, they consider themselves to be 'different'. A feminist interpretation of Social Contract theory, together with a feminist analysis of Foucault's (1988) notion of an 'ethics' of the self and the link between this notion and non essentialist feminist theory are used in the discussion of the empirical research findings to construct an interpretation of 'difference' as it applies to women's managerial experience. -- The contribution to knowledge in the field of organisational analysis that the thesis seeks to make includes: adding new grounded empirical research whcih uses alternative approaches to organisational understanding; providing a comprehensive analysis of the philosophical and sociological underpinnings of the relationship between management, rationality and masculinity; providing a platform for future policy development and organisational practice, and adding a perspective on contemporary managerial practice and organisation conditions against which to gauge classical studies of managerial work and behaviour. -- Finally, the thesis can also be seen to provide additional insights into recent critiques of essentialist feminsit theory and the 'feminisation of management'/female advantage literature.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
x, 376, [9] leaves

The study on different extension approaches was undertaken in the Bathurst area of New South Wales, Australia. One hundred farmers were surveyed in random pairs according to those who belong to the formal group, ???Landcare???, and those who did not. The survey included questions on personal, physical resources, ecological and economic factors, farm practices and management (including actual practice, use of extension methods and information sources) Focussing on behavioural change over time, attitudes, perceptions and intentions. The impact of extension approach on different levels of innovation was considered: simple (e.g. tree planting), medium (e.g. pasture development) and complex (soil erosion control) on behavioural change. It was hypothesised that the ???group??? extension approach should be more effective with complex innovations, but the main significant differences found were in level of tree planting (higher in government funded Landcare), money spent on erosion control (including tree planting) and attitudes to the severity of local erosion (all higher in Landcare members). There were no other differences in attitudes, intentions or change in farming practice except that non-Landcare farmers planted more pasture and applied more lime. The outcomes did not support the hypothesis, and it was not possible to distinguish the differences that did occur in performance from extension approach versus access to funds. Field days are an important extension method for the adoption of cropping by landholders. Among the different extension methods, those who conducted erosion control through pastures, preferred government officers and meetings. Those who adopted tree planting and were in Landcare preferred magazines as the extension method. This added further weight to the argument that the formal group extension approach may not be perceived by its members to have any influence on adoption at this level. Generally, mass media was more important in the early stages of adoption and personal influence more important in the evaluation stage. This also applied to simple versus complex innovations. Surprisingly all farmers placed a very high reliance on government officers for information and decision-making, particularly those in Landcare, compared to neighbours or family. Formal group extension still needs assessing but using models other than Landcare.

This study attempted to identifj and explore the role the building plays in the organisation culture of nursing homes. To do this a research plan was formulated in which the central plank was a case-study of a seventy-five bed high care nursing home. As part of the case-study, interviews were conducted at the nursing home with ten members of staff, two residents and a daughter of a resident. The study was also informed by interviews with two architects, who specialise in the design of nursing homes and aged care facilities. A theoretical model entitled the 'Conceptual Framework' was developed prior to the case-study. It was tested by applying it to findings related to the physical context and the organisation culture of the case-study venue. The hypothesis that the building does influence the culture of the nursing home environment was explored by studying the manner in which the building influenced the lives of those who work in the nursing home and those who live there. This challenge was met with the use of theoretical contributions from organisation theory and psychodynamics, which together provided a vehicle for analysis of the culture and the building's role in it.

Drawing upon case studies of three organisations operating six call centres in Australia, this thesis explores the manifestations and interplay of employee resistance and accommodation in response to five facets of employer control: electronic monitoring; repetitious work; emotional control; the built environment; and workplace flexibility. Accommodation refers to the ways workers protect themselves from and adapt to the pressures that make up their day-to-day experiences of work. Accommodation, unlike resistance, which implies opposition to control, may superficially resemble consent to control. I argue that resistance and accommodation are not polar opposites; rather they are both reflections of the conflict and tensions that lie at the heart of the employment relationship. At the study sites, employees utilised resistance and accommodation both separately and concurrently. An explanation of these seemingly contradictory responses and of the links among accommodation individual resistance and collective resistance lies in the concept of ???self???. In this thesis, ???self??? refers to workers??? perceptions of fairness, dignity and autonomy. I examine how these notions frame worker discontent and promote employee solidarity. ???Everyday resistance???, a concept first developed by Scott (1985) in relation to peasant struggles, is employed to highlight the existence of subterranean struggles in workplaces that otherwise appear to be harmonious. At the study sites, everyday resistance was a multi-faceted, widely employed strategy whose strength lay primarily in its immediate impact. There was, however, no necessary sequential development from accommodation, through everyday resistance to overt, formal forms of conflict. What was evident was that multiple responses to employer control could co-exist and inhibit or promote one another. But it was through organised collective resistance that more formalised gains were made and widely held grievances addressed. I suggest that, although everyday resistance may lay the groundwork for more formal struggles, one should not conclude that traditional collective resistance is ???genuine??? resistance and everyday resistance is simply a second-best prelude to it. Although conflict is always present, its intensity differs. If we are to understand the complexity of worker responses to managerial control, we need to expand the theoretical frameworks within which we analyse and interpret conflict.

To maintain a competitive edge in the tourism and hospitality industries, considerable emphasis has been placed on providing quality services for customers. While the work attitudes and behaviours of staff who deliver these services can influence the experiences of service by customers, little is known how internal and external aspects of the environment of an organisation with a controversial service affect the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of its employees. The aim of the present program of research was to identify employees' perceptions of the salient aspects of the internal and external environment of an organisation delivering a controversial service, gambling, and to examine the impact of these environmental aspects on the empowerment, commitment and well-being of its employees. Working in any service organisation can be demanding for employees, exacerbated when employees deliver a controversial service such as gambling, and work in close proximity to people who gamble. Research indicates that delivery of a gambling service differs from the delivery of other recreational pursuits due to the negative personal, social, and financial impacts of gambling on problem gamblers and others. These negative costs of gambling have generated long standing ethical or moral objections within the community, and, because of the range of community views about gambling, employees who deliver gambling services are likely to be confronted with opposing community views. By interacting with patrons, employees may also question their values and attitudes to gambling, and feel concerned about those patrons who they consider may have a problem with gambling. Organisational resources that facilitate the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of employees may exist, however, and reduce the negative effects of any gambling-related influences on employees. A mixed methods research design, consisting of two sequential phases, was used. The methods complemented each other, and minimised the disadvantages of using only one approach. A qualitative method was used in the first phase of the program to collect rich descriptions of the experiences of twenty staff working in seven Queensland clubs with gambling services in South East Queensland. The in-depth interviews helped to identify gambling-related challenges and climate-based resources of the internal and external work environments of the service organisation. The gambling-related challenges included community and media attitudes to gambling, peoples' demands on clubs, and staff beliefs about patrons who gamble. The climate-based resources included the organisational welfare of employees, expressed as meeting employees' needs for respect, developing supportive relationships with staff, encouraging open and clear communication, and the provision of social support. Organisational emphasis on quality service and meeting the needs of patrons also served as a climate-based resource for employees. The qualitative process additionally examined the impact of these factors on the empowerment, commitment and well-being of the employees, allowing the development of a conceptual model of the environmental factors of a gambling industry predicting employees' empowerment, commitment, and well-being. In the second phase of the research program, the conceptual model was tested using a cross-sectional survey. A complex, stratified, random sampling technique allowed access to a sample of clubs and participants that best represented registered and licensed clubs in Queensland. A self-administered mail questionnaire was sent to 468 employees over 41 Queensland clubs with 25 to 280 poker machines. After firstly establishing the soundness of the measurement properties of the model using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling was used to test the utility of the conceptual model developed in Study 1. Overall, Study 2 supported several of the proposed links, suggesting that the conceptual model developed in Study 1 was useful for examining the salient aspects of the external and internal environments of a club that influence staff empowerment, commitment, and well-being. The study showed the role of climate-based resources in a gambling industry by indicating that those employees who had positive perceptions about employee relations, positive beliefs about patron welfare, and felt supported by their supervisors, felt more empowered, and reported higher commitment and reduced emotional exhaustion. Employee relations was the most influential construct in predicting empowerment, and indirectly affected commitment and well-being (mediated by the empowerment dimensions). Study 2 also confirmed that gambling-based challenges of the external and internal environments impacted on the empowerment and well-being of employees. Those employees who believed that the community supported gambling reported an increased sense of influence over their work environment. The employees who held positive beliefs about patrons who gamble, reinforced gambling in clubs, and attributed the causes of problems in gambling onto sources outside themselves (mostly to the patrons), reported more positive well-being. Employees who perceived that people were demanding, and were not appreciative of what clubs did for the community reported reduced meaningfulness, a reduced sense of influence over their duties and work environment, and reduced well-being. Findings also illustrated the key role of influence, and, in particular, the meaningfulness dimension, in the empowerment, commitment, and well-being of employees in an industry delivering a gambling service. The findings of this research have implications for managerial interventions designed to promote the empowerment, commitment and well-being of employees who deliver a gambling service. By developing and strengthening the organisational resources that facilitate the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of employees, managers are also likely to reduce the negative effects of the demands and conflicting influences of the external and internal gambling-related challenges on employees. This research program is distinctive in that research has not previously examined the impact of internal and external challenges and resources of a gambling industry on the empowerment, work attitudes, and well-being of its employees. There has, also, been no prior research focused on the work attitudes of employees in the Queensland club industry. Future research needs to replicate the findings of the present research program. The challenges and resources that were found to affect employees in the club industry, however, may be organisation specific. There is, therefore, a need for further research that compares the impact of factors related to the delivery of a gambling service in the club industry with different gambling industries, such as the hotel and casino industries. To provide further insight into the effects of empowerment on employees' work outcomes, a performance measure, such as patron satisfaction could be included. Future studies could also examine group differences in perceptions of climate-based and gambling-related influences on the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of employees, as a function of their occupational level. The interviews of the present research program implied that employees in different organisational positions might respond differently to both the external and internal environmental factors of the organisation.

Doctor of Philosophy
This thesis examines the transmission of Protestantism to Australia by the early British colonists and its consequences for their engagement with the land between 1788 and 1850. It explores the ways in which colonists gave religious meaning to their surrounds, particularly their use of exile and exodus narratives to describe journeying to the colony and their sense of their destination as a site of banishment, a wilderness or a Promised Land. The potency of these scriptural images for colonising Europeans has been recognised in North America and elsewhere: this study establishes and details their significance in early colonial Australia. This thesis also considers the ways in which colonists’ Protestant values mediated their engagement with their surrounds and informed their behaviour towards the land and its indigenous inhabitants. It demonstrates that leading Protestants asserted and acted upon their particular values for industry, order, mission and biblicism in ways that contributed to the transformation of Aboriginal land. From the physical changes wrought by industrious agricultural labour through to the spiritual transformations achieved by rites of consecration, their specifically Protestant values enabled Britons to inhabit the land on familiar material and cultural terms. The structural basis for this study is provided by thematic biographies of five prominent colonial Protestants: Richard Johnson, Samuel Marsden, William Grant Broughton, John Wollaston and John Dunmore Lang. The private and public writings of these men are examined in light of the wider literature on religion and colonialism and environmental history. By delineating the significance of Protestantism to individual colonists’ responses to the land, this thesis confirms the trend of much recent British and Australian historiography towards a more religious understanding of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Its overarching argument is that Protestantism helped lay the foundation for colonial society by encouraging the transformation of the environment according to the colonists’ values and needs, and by providing ideological support for the British use and occupation of the territory. Prominent Protestants applied their religious ideas to Australia in ways that tended to assist, legitimate or even necessitate the colonisation of the land.

This research program on burnout and work environment perceptions in personnel working directly with unemployed individuals in Australia is reported in three studies. Using a survey methodology and taking a quantitative approach, burnout was investigated using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach & Jackson, 1986) on two occasions, before and after the privatisation of Australia's employment services industry (Job Network). The most widely accepted survey instrument measuring burnout (Lee & Ashforth, 1996), the MBI defines this stress related syndrome in terms of three subscales, Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalisation and Personal Accomplishment. Perceptions of the work environment experienced by employment service staff were concurrently surveyed using the Real form of the Work Environment Scale (Moos, 1994). Heeding advice of researchers from the job stress area (e.g., Mccrae, 1990), this program of research also concurrently investigated the personality trait Neuroticism, the disposition to perceive and report negative experiences. In 1995, burnout in two groups of public sector personnel engaged in assisting individuals experiencing unemployment were compared. Staff employing a case management style of service delivery and staff engaging in an over-the-counter production-line style of service were surveyed and their responses on the MBI, the WES and the Neuroticism subscale of the revised short form edition of the Eysenck Personality Questionnare (EPQR/ s; Eysenck & Eysenck, 1991) compared. As hypothesised, case managers reported significantly higher burnout scores on all three subscales of the MBI, and perceptions of higher work pressure. The personality trait Neuroticism was found to account for significant variance in the burnout scores of the public sector respondents. The second study was conducted in 1999 after the full privatisation of the Australian employment services industry. At this time (T1 ), burnout in case managers throughout Australia was investigated with a postal survey which sampled 86 case managers from 38 different private sector organisations providing case management services to the long-term unemployed. The same respondents were surveyed again after six months (T2}. Study 2 demonstrated that case manager burnout levels in the new Job Network were significant. The design also allowed for the prediction of future burnout (T2) from personality and work environment data collected at an earlier time (T1) to be correctly modelled. As hypothesised Neuroticism was a significant predictor of all three MBI subscales both at T1 and T2. In what amounts to a comparison of public and private sector personnel, the third study compared the burnout levels and work environment perceptions of case managers surveyed in 1995 with the responses of case managers surveyed in 1999. Case managers from the public and private sector reported similar high levels of Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalisation. Private sector case managers also reported significantly higher mean Personal Accomplishment scores, corresponding to a lower mean burnout level, and significantly higher levels of involvement and commitment to their work than public sector case managers. The results of these studies addressed a significant gap in the burnout literature which had hitherto failed to report investigations into employment service personnel, and highlighted the importance of considering the personality trait of Neuroticism in future burnout research. Results were discussed in the contexts of the evaluation of the current Job Network and the process model of burnout (Leiter, 1993).

Fashion is not essential to completing an effective and productive day's work. Suits, shoulder pads and power dressing are images and phrases that encircle working women and are too often relegated to the empty cubicles of 1980s and 1990s history. The proliferation of internet-mediated commerce meant - in fictional narratives at least - women swapped their Claiborne for geek chic and 'up all night' hair, the preferential wear for New Economy employees.1 In the 2000s, the Australian employment industry - fractured, non-standard and fluid - is promoting a new 'creative' work order. What are the consequences of this transformation of ideology and iconography for workplace dressing and the bodies of the women who wear it? This doctoral thesis examines the relationship between fashion, clothes, women and work. The goal and methodology of this thesis is the alignment of work theory, with discourses of clothing and fashion, oral history, policy documents and popular culture. Such a research project requires interdisciplinary scholarship that activates debates about women's bodies, the state of the contemporary working environment and the dissonance in literacies between body and workplace. Through the application of semiotic and cultural studies, as well as drawing on theories of media, gender, labour, leisure, literacy and fashion, I investigate the position of women and their bodies within the contemporary Australian workplace. This thesis deploys oral histories to illuminate how women function in the changing Australian workplace. I have compiled these oral sources in order to capture specific experiences and portray the successes and struggles that are faced by the women employed in these sectors. The function of these histories in this thesis is to provide a memory of, to and for working women, revealing many of the unspoken assumptions and characteristics of the contemporary Australian workforce, such as the New Economy, an increasing non-standard workforce, the myth of 'work/life balance', lifestyle, dissonant bodies in the workplace, and the compartmentalization of work from other social function including family life. Within the nine chapters of this thesis, the research objective is to explore how women's bodies are located within and negotiate the contemporary Australian workforce. It begins with an examination of the conflation between 'self-help' and feminist texts, to map the troubled relationship between gender, power and the female body. The disparate functions of dress and bodies are important focuses in this research. The use of oral history, popular memory theory and the textual analysis of magazines is a way to interrogate the role of women's bodies and fashion in history. The use of oral and popular cultural sources is intentional. The goal is to develop an alternative system for remembering bodies and clothing, with the aim of transforming their historical relevance. The focal point of this thesis is assessing women's bodies and fashion in the workplace. By evaluating contemporary trends in women's work attire, I expose the disparity in the work clothes market in relation to quality, accessibility, functionality and price. This doctoral thesis deploys work theory and the ideologies of the 'New' and 'Old' Economy. Throughout this project, I trace the differences in workplace customs and representations. The purpose of the thesis - and indeed the original contribution to knowledge - is to demonstrate that women and men must be literate in not only the workplace, but also in workplace clothing. Only when moving from everyday to reflexive literacies can relevant models of discrimination and oppression within the 'New Economy' be revealed and addressed. While presenting the voices and views of working women, this research proposes a strategy for a change in education and the requirement of mentoring in relation to careers and the 'new' work order. The latter chapters are focussed on tracing working life in the new knowledge economy within Australia. They explore the notion of 'supplementary' work in relation to 'lifestyle' change and investigates the creative industries, the creative class and ponders the dilemma of the creative industries in Australia. The objective of this thesis is to not only to critique, but also to gather and deploy the words of women in the contemporary workplace, as both inspiration and model for the strategies required to instigate change. The final chapters capture a proactive desire to not only discuss difference, but make a difference. The probing of dissonant literacies in the workplace opens the tight and troubling relationship between women and bodies.

Fashion is not essential to completing an effective and productive day's work. Suits, shoulder pads and power dressing are images and phrases that encircle working women and are too often relegated to the empty cubicles of 1980s and 1990s history. The proliferation of internet-mediated commerce meant - in fictional narratives at least - women swapped their Claiborne for geek chic and 'up all night' hair, the preferential wear for New Economy employees.1 In the 2000s, the Australian employment industry - fractured, non-standard and fluid - is promoting a new 'creative' work order. What are the consequences of this transformation of ideology and iconography for workplace dressing and the bodies of the women who wear it? This doctoral thesis examines the relationship between fashion, clothes, women and work. The goal and methodology of this thesis is the alignment of work theory, with discourses of clothing and fashion, oral history, policy documents and popular culture. Such a research project requires interdisciplinary scholarship that activates debates about women's bodies, the state of the contemporary working environment and the dissonance in literacies between body and workplace. Through the application of semiotic and cultural studies, as well as drawing on theories of media, gender, labour, leisure, literacy and fashion, I investigate the position of women and their bodies within the contemporary Australian workplace. This thesis deploys oral histories to illuminate how women function in the changing Australian workplace. I have compiled these oral sources in order to capture specific experiences and portray the successes and struggles that are faced by the women employed in these sectors. The function of these histories in this thesis is to provide a memory of, to and for working women, revealing many of the unspoken assumptions and characteristics of the contemporary Australian workforce, such as the New Economy, an increasing non-standard workforce, the myth of 'work/life balance', lifestyle, dissonant bodies in the workplace, and the compartmentalization of work from other social function including family life. Within the nine chapters of this thesis, the research objective is to explore how women's bodies are located within and negotiate the contemporary Australian workforce. It begins with an examination of the conflation between 'self-help' and feminist texts, to map the troubled relationship between gender, power and the female body. The disparate functions of dress and bodies are important focuses in this research. The use of oral history, popular memory theory and the textual analysis of magazines is a way to interrogate the role of women's bodies and fashion in history. The use of oral and popular cultural sources is intentional. The goal is to develop an alternative system for remembering bodies and clothing, with the aim of transforming their historical relevance. The focal point of this thesis is assessing women's bodies and fashion in the workplace. By evaluating contemporary trends in women's work attire, I expose the disparity in the work clothes market in relation to quality, accessibility, functionality and price. This doctoral thesis deploys work theory and the ideologies of the 'New' and 'Old' Economy. Throughout this project, I trace the differences in workplace customs and representations. The purpose of the thesis - and indeed the original contribution to knowledge - is to demonstrate that women and men must be literate in not only the workplace, but also in workplace clothing. Only when moving from everyday to reflexive literacies can relevant models of discrimination and oppression within the 'New Economy' be revealed and addressed. While presenting the voices and views of working women, this research proposes a strategy for a change in education and the requirement of mentoring in relation to careers and the 'new' work order. The latter chapters are focussed on tracing working life in the new knowledge economy within Australia. They explore the notion of 'supplementary' work in relation to 'lifestyle' change and investigates the creative industries, the creative class and ponders the dilemma of the creative industries in Australia. The objective of this thesis is to not only to critique, but also to gather and deploy the words of women in the contemporary workplace, as both inspiration and model for the strategies required to instigate change. The final chapters capture a proactive desire to not only discuss difference, but make a difference. The probing of dissonant literacies in the workplace opens the tight and troubling relationship between women and bodies.

Western Australia was founded as Australia’s first free colony in June 1829. The colony was not as successful as those in eastern Australia, and many of the settlers argued that the poor progress was due in part to a shortage of labourers. By 1849 the colonists had decided that their only way forward was to become a penal colony and the first ship arrived in June 1850 carrying 75 convicts.The thesis explores the impact that convicts had on the built environment of Western Australia. To understand the convicts’ contribution to the building industry this thesis begins with a study of buildings constructed before 1850. Extensive research was undertaken into the types of buildings erected by the settlers between 1829 and 1850: such as the types of materials used, the design and who actually constructed the buildings. The study found that before the arrival of the convicts the colony had a shortage of men with skills in the building trade. One of the major factors that enabled the convicts to contribute to the development of the colony’s building industry was vocational training, in areas such as bricklaying, brickmaking, carpentry and masonry that they obtained during their incarceration in public works prisons in Britain.This training was provided by the British government before the convicts were transported to a penal colony, as part of a new system of penal discipline. Following their arrival in Western Australia, soldiers of the Royal Engineers continued the convicts’ training on public works projects in the colony.This thesis expands our knowledge of how the convict system operated in Western Australia, especially how it differed from that used in Australia’s eastern colonies. It highlights the integral part that the Royal Engineers had in the convicts’ training, a role not previously investigated. The examination of how ticket--‐of--‐leave men (convicts out on parole) were utilised by private settlers indicated that there were considerable flow--‐on effects for the private citizen, not just for public projects. In particular, the research has shown that the skills gained by the convicts while erecting government colonial buildings were of direct benefit to the settlers. One important and far--‐reaching benefit was the substitution of brick for rammed earth or wattle and daub.Finally, the thesis used an archaeological methodology to analyse and compare two groups of buildings; those constructed before 1850 and those constructed after 1850. This use of archaeological methods to analyse standing structures is considerably under--‐utilized in Western Australia.

In many parts of Australia the climate is such that people are working long hours in the heat. Consequences of excessive environmental heat stress range from reduction in safety due to impairment of concentration, to heat illness, which in extreme cases can be fatal. A critical factor in tolerance of workers to environmental heat stress is their level of hydration. Maximising productivity without compromising the health and safety of the work force requires quantification of the degree of stress posed by the thermal environment. For this purpose a number of heat stress indices have been developed. A recently introduced index is the Thermal Work Limit (TWL), which has been widely adopted and implemented in the underground mining industry in Australia. The field use of TWL and protocols in the mining industry with resultant reduction in heat illness and lost production is a practical endorsement of the index, and its validity under controlled conditions has been confirmed by a preliminary study. The further work needed to complete this validation forms part of this thesis. TWL was found to reliably predict the limiting workload in the controlled environment, reinforcing the validity of the algorithm and its application in the workplace. To date TWL has largely been used in the underground environment, however as the algorithm is equally applicable to the above ground environment where radiant heat forms a significant component of the thermal load, field studies were carried out at mining installations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to evaluate this application of the index. The current industry standard index of heat stress is the Wet bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT).The shortcomings of this index are widely acknowledged and in practice it is frequently ignored as it is seen to be unnecessarily conservative in many situations. The sensitivity of TWL to the cooling effect of air movement implied that TWL would be more relevant than WBGT as a predictor of the impact of environmental heat stress in outdoor work environments and this was supported by the results. On the strength of this, recommended management protocols linked to TWL similar to those already in place in many underground workplaces, were developed for the management of thermal risk in outdoor work environments. Maintaining adequate hydration is the single most important strategy to counteract the effects of thermal stress. No heat stress index can protect workers from the combined effects of dehydration and thermal stress. To document the hydration status of the outdoor workforce in the Pilbara, the hydration level of groups of workers was assessed from the specific gravity of their urine. To further evaluate whether the fluid replacement behaviour of the workers is adequate to replace fluids lost in sweat, a fluid balance study was carried out to quantify average fluid intakes and sweat fluid losses. The majority of workers were found to be inadequately hydrated at the start of the shift and their fluid intakes were in general well below the requirements to replace sweat losses - let alone improve hydration. Recommendations for fluid intakes based on documented rates of sweat loss are included in the thesis. Based on the findings of this study workable management strategies have been recommended to minimise the risk to outdoor workers in thermally stressful environments.

In many parts of Australia the climate is such that people are working long hours in the heat. Consequences of excessive environmental heat stress range from reduction in safety due to impairment of concentration, to heat illness, which in extreme cases can be fatal. A critical factor in tolerance of workers to environmental heat stress is their level of hydration. Maximising productivity without compromising the health and safety of the work force requires quantification of the degree of stress posed by the thermal environment. For this purpose a number of heat stress indices have been developed. A recently introduced index is the Thermal Work Limit (TWL), which has been widely adopted and implemented in the underground mining industry in Australia. The field use of TWL and protocols in the mining industry with resultant reduction in heat illness and lost production is a practical endorsement of the index, and its validity under controlled conditions has been confirmed by a preliminary study. The further work needed to complete this validation forms part of this thesis. TWL was found to reliably predict the limiting workload in the controlled environment, reinforcing the validity of the algorithm and its application in the workplace. To date TWL has largely been used in the underground environment, however as the algorithm is equally applicable to the above ground environment where radiant heat forms a significant component of the thermal load, field studies were carried out at mining installations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to evaluate this application of the index. The current industry standard index of heat stress is the Wet bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT).
The shortcomings of this index are widely acknowledged and in practice it is frequently ignored as it is seen to be unnecessarily conservative in many situations. The sensitivity of TWL to the cooling effect of air movement implied that TWL would be more relevant than WBGT as a predictor of the impact of environmental heat stress in outdoor work environments and this was supported by the results. On the strength of this, recommended management protocols linked to TWL similar to those already in place in many underground workplaces, were developed for the management of thermal risk in outdoor work environments. Maintaining adequate hydration is the single most important strategy to counteract the effects of thermal stress. No heat stress index can protect workers from the combined effects of dehydration and thermal stress. To document the hydration status of the outdoor workforce in the Pilbara, the hydration level of groups of workers was assessed from the specific gravity of their urine. To further evaluate whether the fluid replacement behaviour of the workers is adequate to replace fluids lost in sweat, a fluid balance study was carried out to quantify average fluid intakes and sweat fluid losses. The majority of workers were found to be inadequately hydrated at the start of the shift and their fluid intakes were in general well below the requirements to replace sweat losses - let alone improve hydration. Recommendations for fluid intakes based on documented rates of sweat loss are included in the thesis. Based on the findings of this study workable management strategies have been recommended to minimise the risk to outdoor workers in thermally stressful environments.

"Back injuries have consistently been the most common types of injuries suffered by people at work. They have been a significant worker injury problem in most, if not all, industrialised countries for many years and manual handling has long been established as a significant task related back injury causal factor.[...] This research project established that the manufacturers of the jet airlines used by the airlines in this study had not previously been acquainted with the issue of baggage handler back injuries.[...] This study also canvassed the opinion of airline safety professionals and airline baggage handlers concerning baggage handling tasks and working environment related causal factors. [...] A major focus of this research project was also to measure the effect of ACE and Sliding Carpet, two commercially available retro-fit baggage systems, on the risk of back injuries to baggage handlers stacking baggage within Boeing B737 narrow-body aircraft."
Doctor of Philosophy

"Back injuries have consistently been the most common types of injuries suffered by people at work. They have been a significant worker injury problem in most, if not all, industrialised countries for many years and manual handling has long been established as a significant task related back injury causal factor.[...] This research project established that the manufacturers of the jet airlines used by the airlines in this study had not previously been acquainted with the issue of baggage handler back injuries.[...] This study also canvassed the opinion of airline safety professionals and airline baggage handlers concerning baggage handling tasks and working environment related causal factors. [...] A major focus of this research project was also to measure the effect of ACE and Sliding Carpet, two commercially available retro-fit baggage systems, on the risk of back injuries to baggage handlers stacking baggage within Boeing B737 narrow-body aircraft."
Doctor of Philosophy

Recruitment and staff retention have become a substantial problem in the Australian professional accountancy environment. Although this issue has been canvassed in the professional literature, little academic research has been conducted into the area. By contrast, staffing problems have been a fertile field for research in foreign countries, especially the US. This thesis presents the results of a survey of practitioners employed by the 20 largest public accountancy firms in Eastern Australia. The method of the survey, ' is broadly similar to that used by some US researchers. These authors have cross-correlated the demographic characteristics of respondents, with their responses to attitudinal questions regarding an array of factors which affect their propensity to enter, and stay within, the profession. Such factors include salary remuneration, working conditions, job satisfaction and working pressure. Hypotheses development is based on contentious issues contemporary to the professional environment, and is divided functionally into the demographic areas of educational background, gender, country of origin, and size of firm. The results provide substantive evidence on a wide field of issues, including: the ability and motivation of university compared with non-university graduates, barriers to female accountants, and the merits and demerits of working in a larger or smaller accountancy firm.

At a time of rapid change in the political involvement of young people, the creation of structures to facilitate the participation of young people in decision-making processes has been on the rise globally (Badham & Wade 2010; Farrow 2015). Youth councils are often created with the aim of representing the interests of young people in the community through advocacy, lobbying and provision of advice to decision-making bodies. At the same time the landscape of youth councils, particularly at a local government level, is varied and often lacking the evidence of best practice, an enabling environment and coordination. This mixed-methods comparative case study research analysed the current environment and context in which youth councils are operating, and the experiences of former and current members of youth councils and the professionals that support their work, in the Australian state of Victoria and in Estonia. Semi-structured interviews and an online survey across the two countries and in two languages were employed from 2016 until 2017 to map the experiences and identify youth councils’ successes, gaps and potential for improvement. Qualtrics software was used to collect, analyse and code the survey data; data from semi- structured interviews was coded manually. The coding process identified key nodes and sub- nodes. The results revealed that local level youth councils in Victoria and Estonia share many similarities, particularly in their aims, commonly undertaken activities and aspirations; however, there are also noticeable differences which can largely be attributed to the relevant legislative framework, policies, coordination mechanisms and resourcing for youth councils that exist in Estonia but not in Victoria. Through the results of this study, a framework for an enabling environment for youth councils was identified and conceptualised, using the Enabling Environment Index developed by CIVICUS (2013), the World Alliance for Citizen Participation, as a guide. The findings of this research also sought to provide an understanding of how the work of local level youth councils can be better supported and organised by policy, organisational and legislative measures to increase the effectiveness and benefits of these structures for young people and the community.

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Health.
[Background] There are workforce shortages in the nursing and midwifery professions in Australia. Many factors have been associated with these shortages such as high workloads, an inadequate skill mix, low nurse/midwife-to-patient/woman ratios, and heightened acuity, all of which can lead to professional burnout for staff. Connected to these shortages are perceptions of inadequate remuneration, experiences of bullying and work-related stresses, the lack of managerial action to tackle these issues and a perceived lack of opportunities for career diversity and progression. Much of this is well known in the nursing discipline, however it is unclear how these factors are similarly impacting midwifery and therefore, research into the workforce experiences of Australian midwives is timely. [Objective / Purpose] To explore early workforce participation trends, experiences and choices of midwives who graduated from one Australian university (graduating years 2007 and 2008). Participants were educated either in Bachelor of Midwifery or Graduate Diploma of Midwifery programs (n = 113). Further objectives of the study were to identify work environment and personal factors that may influence workforce experiences, and to compare any workforce trends by midwifery course. [Methods] A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was conducted. Phase 1 survey collected mainly quantitative demographic and workforce participation data. Three validated instruments were also used: Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI); Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI); and Perceptions of Empowerment in Midwifery scale (PEMS). Due to sample size restrictions, analysis was restricted to non-parametric measures including frequency distribution and simple correlations (p ≤ 0.01). Phase 2 was a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with qualitative content and contextual analysis. [Results] In Phase 1, the survey response rate was 66 percent (n = 75). Fifty-nine were working as midwives, half of them in full-time employment. Personal factors contributing to workforce choices were only a cause of concern for a small number of midwives. The main reason for having exited from the profession was child rearing. There was a low degree of burnout and high levels of empowerment. Inadequate clinical resources and ineffective managerial support in the workplace were also identified. Bachelor of Midwifery participants were older than the Graduate Diploma midwives but no other relationship between the midwifery course and any of workforce measure existed. In Phase 2, 28 participants were interviewed. Three themes, each comprising of subthemes, were generated: (i) ‘sinking and swimming’; (ii) ‘needing a helping hand’; and (iii) ‘being a midwife… but’. The initial transition into midwifery was overwhelming for most participants, particularly when providing intrapartum care. Coping within the experience was dependent upon support. Job satisfaction was strongly related to the midwife-woman relationship and working to the full scope of practice ability, both which encouraged midwives to remain in midwifery. Dissatisfaction stemmed from poor remuneration, inflexibility of rostering, high workloads and poor managerial approaches. Experiences of bullying were ubiquitous. Factors inducing midwives to stay in the midwifery profession were not the absence of those that caused dissatisfaction. The midwife-woman relationship sustained their practice despite those factors that generated job dissatisfaction. [Conclusion] Elements of the early workforce experiences of these midwives paralleled many of those evident in the Australian nursing profession and similar workforce factors contributing to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction were identified. The midwife-woman relationship was a source of job satisfaction and inspired these midwives to remain in midwifery. Exiting the profession- temporarily or permanently- was mainly due to child rearing. [Implications for practice] Any vacuum created by eliminating factors of job dissatisfaction will require an amplified investment of factors that bring job satisfaction in order to have genuine content in midwives. Strategies that deliver transitional support, rostering flexibility, leadership training and address workplace bullying, will be ameliorative in the face of staffing shortages. Employment models that enhance relational aspects of midwifery are integral for job satisfaction in midwives. Health systems and services have a duty to support the continued professional development and accessibility of career progression for midwives, to allow individuals to cultivate their midwifery skills and work to their potential.

This research examines the experiences of disenfranchised workers in the Australian Public Service. The best methodology for my study is a hybrid. A hybrid that takes the wisdom of ethnographic case studies, phenomenology, feminist post-structuralism and narrative theories to make sense of the stories of people working within organisations that have failed, traumatised, belittled, ignored, bullied and destroyed them. The study looks at the experiences of twenty disenfranchised workers who labelled themselves as disenfranchised. This thesis is about the abused, the mistreated, and the disenfranchised. Of opportunities lost and perceived injustices. I believe the voices of the disenfranchised public servants are silenced by supervisors, colleagues and the system itself. This study aims to give legitimacy to their complaints, document their stories and chronicle their mistreatment at the hands of public supervisors who are often brutalised themselves. The Public Service workplace becomes like a violent family. We all learn what we see, not what we read or are told. And so the culture of dysfunction is passed from underling to boss and workers suffer. These actions ripple throughout public servants’ lives. Literature around the disenfranchised worker is growing. This study documents the experiences of disenfranchised workers and unmutes their voices. These experiences are important and contemporary issues to enable people to live a life of consequence.

This study was concerned with determining the competencies required and the subsequent education needed for the implementation of inclusive practices within the park and recreation industry. With 3.6 million people or 19 percent of its total population possessing a disability, Australia is experiencing a transformation of its programs and practices as they relate to the inclusion of people with disabilities. Especially noteworthy is the impact that inclusion is having on the park and recreation industry. In order for park and recreation professionals to achieve a cutting edge standard of service delivery to people of all abilities, a study was undertaken to determine the skills, ability and knowledge that are needed to ensure inclusive practices. Parks and Leisure Australia agreed, through its National Board of Directors, for its members to serve as participants in this study. The data analysed to obtain the results of the study was gathered from a questionnaire that was mailed to a random sample of eight hundred Parks and Leisure Australia members. It sought information in the following areas: • The importance of competencies to park and recreation professionals' jobs for including people with disabilities. • The level of perceived competence park and recreation professionals possess for including people with disabilities. • The professional development needed by park and recreation professionals for implementation of inclusive practices. This study examined the results of a needs assessment of Parks and Leisure Australia members and provides a list of recommendations for continuing education programs that will assist the park and recreation industry to break down existing barriers to inclusive practice. The results of this study will provide important opportunities for the enhancement of the professional development requirements of modern day park and recreation professionals and the promotion of the rights of people with disabilities and their families.