Artykuły w czasopismach na temat „Wetlands – Western Australia – Perth Metropolitan Area”

The Gnangara Mound is an area of elevated sandy soil on the Swan Coastal Plain to the north of Perth. It constitutes a major groundwater resource for metropolitan Perth. Sixteen wetlands on the Mound had total phosphorus concentrations of 12-462�g L-1, the high values being attributed to agricultural and urban activity. Sediment concentrations of total phosphorus and total nitrogen were 61-954 and 1212-16739 �g g-1, respectively. Conductivities were 505-10270 �S cm-1, and pH values were 3.3-9.3. Only one wetland was highly coloured (79.9 8440 m-1), with an E4/E6 ratio of 4.6. Chlorophyll a concentrations were 0.01-130.8�g L-1; in wetlands with low gilvin concentrations, Myxophyceae dominated, whereas wetlands with higher gilvin concentrations had large numbers of diatoms and Chlorophyceae. The highly coloured wetland had the lowest chlorophyll a concentration despite high nutrient concentrations, supporting the hypothesis that the consequent reduction in light or other associated factors are important in maintaining low phytoplankton biomass in dystrophic wetlands of the region, particularly those on Bassendean sands.

Abstract. The groundwater resource contained within the sandy aquifers of the Swan Coastal Plain, south-west Western Australia, provides approximately 60 percent of the drinking water for the metropolitan population of Perth. Rainfall decline over the past three decades coupled with increasing water demand from a growing population has resulted in falling dam storage and groundwater levels. Projected future changes in climate across south-west Western Australia consistently show a decline in annual rainfall of between 5 and 15 percent. There is expected to be a reduction of diffuse recharge across the Swan Coastal Plain. This study aims to quantify the change in groundwater recharge in response to a range of future climate and land cover patterns across south-west Western Australia. Modelling the impact on the groundwater resource of potential climate change was achieved with a dynamically linked unsaturated/saturated groundwater model. A vertical flux manager was used in the unsaturated zone to estimate groundwater recharge using a variety of simple and complex models based on climate, land cover type (e.g. native trees, plantation, cropping, urban, wetland), soil type, and taking into account the groundwater depth. In the area centred on the city of Perth, Western Australia, the patterns of recharge change and groundwater level change are not consistent spatially, or consistently downward. In areas with land-use change, recharge rates have increased. Where rainfall has declined sufficiently, recharge rates are decreasing, and where compensating factors combine, there is little change to recharge. In the southwestern part of the study area, the patterns of groundwater recharge are dictated primarily by soil, geology and land cover. In the sand-dominated areas, there is little response to future climate change, because groundwater levels are shallow and much rainfall is rejected recharge. Where the combination of native vegetation and clayey surface soils restricts possible infiltration, recharge rates are very sensitive to reductions in rainfall. In the northern part of the study area, both climate and land cover strongly influence recharge rates. Recharge under native vegetation is minimal and is relatively higher where grazing and pasture systems have been introduced after clearing of native vegetation. In some areas, the recharge values can be reduced to almost zero, even under dryland agriculture, if the future climate becomes very dry.

Abstract. The groundwater resource contained within the sandy aquifers of the Swan Coastal Plain, south west Western Australia, provides approximately 60% of the drinking water for the metropolitan population of Perth. Rainfall decline over the past three decades coupled with increasing water demand from a growing population has resulted in falling dam storage and groundwater levels. Projected future changes in climate across south-west Western Australia consistently show a decline in annual rainfall of between 5 and 15%. There is expected to be a continuing reduction of diffuse recharge across the Swan Coastal Plain. This study aims to quantify the change in groundwater recharge in response to a range of future climate and land cover patterns across south-west Western Australia. Modelling the impact on the groundwater resource of potential climate change was achieved with a dynamically linked unsaturated/saturated groundwater model. A Vertical Flux Manager was used in the unsaturated zone to estimate groundwater recharge using a variety of simple and complex models based on land cover type (e.g. native trees, plantation, cropping, urban, wetland), soil type, and taking into account the groundwater depth. These recharge estimates were accumulated on a daily basis for both observed and projected climate scenarios and used in a MODFLOW simulation with monthly stress periods. In the area centred on the city of Perth, Western Australia, the patterns of recharge change and groundwater level change are not consistent spatially, or consistently downward. In the Dandaragan Plateau to the north-east of Perth there has been groundwater level rise since the 1970s associated with land clearing, and with rainfall projected to reduce the least in this area the groundwater levels are estimated to continue to rise. Along the coastal zone north of Perth there is an interaction between projected rainfall decline and legislated removal to pine forests. This results in areas of increasing recharge and rising water levels into the future despite a drying climate signal. To the south of Perth city there are large areas where groundwater levels are close to the land surface and not expected to change more than 1m upward or downward over the next two decades; it is beyond the accuracy of the model to conclude any definite trend. In the south western part of the study area, the patterns of groundwater recharge are dictated primarily by soil, geology and land cover. In the sandy Swan (northern boundary) and Scott Coastal Plains (southern boundary) there is little response to future climates, because groundwater levels are shallow and much rainfall is rejected recharge. The profile dries out more in summer but this allows more rainfall to infiltrate in winter. Until winter recharge is insufficient to refill the aquifers these areas will not experience significant falls in groundwater levels. On the Blackwood Plateau however, the combination of native vegetation and clayey surface soils that restrict possible infiltration and recharge mean the area is very sensitive to climate change. With low capacity for recharge and low storage in the aquifers, small reductions in recharge can lead to large reductions in groundwater levels. In the northern part of the study area both climate and land cover strongly influence recharge rates. Recharge under native vegetation is minimal and is relatively higher where grazing and pasture systems have been introduced after clearing of native vegetation. In some areas the low recharge values can be reduced to almost zero, even under dryland agriculture, if the future climate becomes very dry. In the Albany Area the groundwater resource is already over allocated, and the combination of existing permanent native vegetation with decreasing annual rainfall indicate reduced recharge. The area requires a reduction in groundwater abstraction to maintain the sustainability of the existing resource.

North Lake is an urban freshwater wetland, and like other wetlands in the Perth metropolitan region, Western Australia, has become nutrient enriched, with the accompanying problems of algal blooms, decay, odour, infestation with midges and aesthetic deterioration. A study of the water quality of the lake was undertaken to quantify the variation of phosphorus, nitrogen and chlorophyll-a, and the sediments store of nutrients and their release with pH. The dominant algae in the lake, Microcystis, was found to be limited in growth by nitrogen because of the high availability of phosphorus (> 0.1 mg/l), and likely by light because of self-shading (chlorophyll-a > 0.3 mg/l). Sediments released a substantial amount of nutrients as pH rose above 8.5. Together with a parallel study of the nutrient budget of the lake, a management strategy has been derived to overcome the problem of nutrient enrichment that could be applied to other wetlands in the metropolitan region.

This paper indicates new microzonation maps of Perth, Western Australia, utilising microtremor spectral ratios. This metropolitan area has been developing in recent times on Perth Basin which is one of the most active seismic zones in the country. The authors carried out simultaneous measurings of microtremors over most of metropolitan Perth, using a 3 km grid as a basis and hard rock reference site throughout. They calculated spectral ratios of microtremors at deposit site to rock reference site and plotted and contoured on maps for 6 frequency bands from 0.2 to 5.0 Hz. Spectral ratio contours appeared to correlate well with various geological subsurface contours. They also showed that previously estimated earthquake risk estimates underestimated ground motions by up to a factor of two.

Purpose“Asian” is an aggregating descriptive term commonly used in Australian media, politics and everyday speech to describe people of diverse backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to question the extent to which “Asian” Australian residents living in Perth, Western Australia demonstrate spatial or organisational panethnic association.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses quantitative population data from the 2011 Census using GIS to visualise the spatial residential distribution of individuals born in Asian countries and individuals with Chinese ancestry within the Perth metropolitan area. The paper further uses qualitative data drawn from fieldwork conducted in Perth to consider evidence of organisational panethnic association.FindingsFor first generation migrants there is currently little spatial or organisation evidence of “Asian” panethnic association in Perth. Migrants from different ethno-national backgrounds exhibit very different residential patterns. Incipient ethnoburbs are developing that appear to be based on ethnicity rather than panethnicity. Migrant organisation in Perth is likewise arranged primarily on the basis of ethnicity although some panethnic work is observed.Research limitations/implicationsFindings indicate trends towards ethnic residential segregation. Further longitudinal research could expand upon these findings. Qualitative research could determine causes of segregation and implications of (pan)ethnic identities, and explore how individuals from Asian countries respond to the dominant linguistic aggregation of “Asians”.Originality/valueThis paper offers an original analysis of a common frame of reference that has received little critical attention in the Australian context. It applies the framework of Asian panethnicity developed in the USA and finds it wanting, highlighting an inconsistency between the racialised language used in Australia to describe migrants from Asia and the ways these migrants associate.

The Remote Area Developments Group in the Institute for Environmental Science at Murdoch University developed a video and booklet education package on water conservation. The package was developed after research, review of current efforts in water conservation, and consultation with communities showed that there was a need in this area. The package was distributed to all communities within Western Australia. Several different workshops were conducted with Indigenous Environmental Health Workers from around Western Australia in remote areas and in the Perth Metropolitan communities using the package. This paper will briefly describe the opportunities and constraints that exist for water conservation in remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia as well as give an evaluation of the education package based on workshops, trials and survey instrument. This paper will explain the conclusions that have been drawn from the study: that a broad delivery style is the most advantageous style for remote communities, allowing the facilitator to assess the best style of delivery.

Abstract Background There has been concern that patients with malignant disease from remote and regional country areas may have adverse outcomes compared with those from cities. Western Australia (WA) with an area of 2,526,786 square kilometers, is one third the size of Australia. It has a population of 2.6 million of which 92% live in the capital city Perth and the southwest corner. In WA, multiple myeloma is managed in tertiary public hospitals and private physician practice located in Perth. While oral based immunomodulators and alkylators are readily delivered in the regional areas, patients travel to Perth for parenteral chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. The WA state government subsidizes transport and accommodation for patients from regional areas to travel to Perth for treatment and clinical review via the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (PATS). Telehealth through video conferencing is also used for review of patients on oral-based anti-myeloma treatment or during surveillance periods to avoid expensive and time-consuming travel to Perth. The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), a non-profit medical organization, provides prompt transfer of unwell patients from regional and remote areas of WA to Perth. Pathology services in remote regions are provided by the publicly funded PathWest organization. Method We retrospectively reviewed the survival outcomes of patients with multiple myeloma in the WA public healthcare system. Patients diagnosed between 2008 to 2017 were included (n=569). Staging information was extracted from the laboratory information system and the cytogenetic database in PathWest. Patient demographics, complications requiring admission, mortality and follow-up data were extracted from the public hospital patient management systems. Patients were segregated into regional or metropolitan by their residential address postcodes. Patients diagnosed and/or followed-up in the private sector were excluded. Survival was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier curves, Log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards model. Result Median age at diagnosis was 67 years old (range 29 to 98), with 56% above 65 years. 56% were males, 44% were females. Overall median survival was 46 months (95%CI:41,52). 1-year, 3-years and 5-years survival rates were 80%, 56% and 30% respectively. 25% (n=143) of patients resided in regional areas. No statistically significant difference in overall survival time between patients from metropolitan and regional areas was identified (p=0.2): 47 months (95% CI:43,54) and 42 months (95% CI: 33,54) respectively. Subgroup analysis also did not find any significant difference in overall survival of each R-ISS staging between metropolitan and regional areas. Discussion This retrospective study provides real-life survival data of of an Australian-based population in a state with a large land mass and low population density outside the capital city. The overall survival of patients living in regional areas was not significantly different from those living in the capital city. This gives credence to the benefit of the WA government supported regional network of travel, accommodation and Telehealth conferencing overcoming the distance barrier in the provision of comprehensive medical care in the management of a hematological malignancy. Figure. Figure. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Urban remnant vegetation is subject to varying degrees of disturbance that may or may not be proportional to the size of the patch. The impact of disturbance within patches on species with low mobility and dispersal capabilities was investigated in a survey targeting nemesiid species of the mygalomorph spider clade in the Perth metropolitan area, south-western Australia. Nemesiid presence was not influenced by patch size, but presence did negatively correlate with higher degrees of invasive grass and rabbit disturbance. Further, patch size was significantly positively correlated with degree of disturbance caused by rabbits. Compared with quadrats, patches were not as effective as sample units in determining the impact of disturbance on nemesiid presence.

Introduction: Australia's largest state, Western Australia (WA), comprises a land area of more than 2.5 million square kilometres, an area than larger than that of Texas and Alaska in the United States combined, with a population of more than 2.6 million. Whilst a large proportion of Western Australians live in the capital city Perth, approximately 20% are dispersed across the state in regional and remote areas. The diagnosis and treatment of myeloma require specialist Haematologist management and frequent follow-up. Access to Haematology specialist services and treatment in WA is centred in metropolitan Perth, with outreach services visiting regional and remote areas limited in location and frequency. Some patients are required to travel long distances or relocate to access treatment. The aim of our study was to assess difference in clinical presentation, treatment and outcomes of myeloma patients living in regional or remote Western Australia compared to metropolitan Perth. Methods: A retrospective chart review of new cases of symptomatic multiple myeloma diagnosed between January 2008 and December 2019 and referred to Royal Perth Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital, two tertiary metropolitan hospitals was conducted. Data was obtained regarding patient demographics, disease characteristics, treatment, response and survival outcomes, through review of patient paper and electronic medical records. Patients were grouped into those living inside or outside the Perth metropolitan area (metro or non-metro) according to area codes obtained from the WA government data suite. Results: Two hundred and seventy-five cases were identified, 218 (79%) metro and 57 (21%) non-metro. Baseline characteristics for the two groups are listed in Table 1. The median age at diagnosis was 68.4 years (range 30-91.5 years) and 47% were female, with no significant difference between the groups. There were a higher number of patients with lytic bone disease at diagnosis in the non-metro cohort (75.4% non-metro vs 60.2% metro, p=0.03) as well as a higher proportion of patients with international staging system (ISS) stage II or III disease (77.8% non-metro vs 55.8% metro, p=0.005). Sixty three percent of patients overall received first line bortezomib based therapy and 27% first line imid based therapy, with no significant difference by location. Overall 41% of patients underwent autologous stem cell transplantation, 70% of those ≤70 years of age, with no significant difference between the groups (33.3% non-metro vs 42.5% metro, p=0.21). The median overall survival (OS) was 47 months for the entire cohort. Survival was lower in the non-metro cohort, although this did not reach statistical significance (median OS 52 months for metro vs 40 months for non-metro, p=0.05) Figure 1. Progression free survival (PFS) was similar between the two groups (median PFS 23 months metro vs 12 months non-metro, p=0.12) Figure 2. Early mortality at 6 and 12 months was higher in the non-metro cohort (Six-month mortality was 21.1% non-metro vs 8.3% metro, p=0.01. Twelve-month mortality was 28.1% non-metro vs 13.4% metro, p=0.01) Figure 3. There was a trend in cause of early mortality due to infection being higher in the metro cohort, and cause of early mortality due to renal failure being higher in the non-metro cohort, Table 1. Conclusions: In our cohort, patients living in non-metropolitan locations were more likely to present with higher ISS stage and lytic lesions at diagnosis. Rates of early mortality were significantly higher in the non-metropolitan cohort. There was a trend towards shorter overall survival although this did not meet statistical significance. These differences may represent delays in clinical presentation and diagnostic workup and highlight the need for optimisation of follow up of patients in non-metropolitan areas particularly during the early time period post diagnosis. Periods of resource constraint and travel restrictions as is faced currently may accentuate these disparities. In addition, the nature of myeloma therapy is evolving with addition of treatments requiring expertise to deliver, such as monoclonal antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor T cells. As these therapies become commercial further studies are needed to assess adequacy of access for patients from non-metropolitan centres. Disclosures Leahy: Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Sidiqi:Celgene: Honoraria, Other: Travel grant; Amgen: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria.

The aim of this study was to investigate the patterns of attendance at School Dental Service (SDS) and reasons for attendance (treatment or prevention) for children in the Perth Metropolitan Area, in particular investigating the first year of SDS attendance and attendance until the year the child turned 12. The first 150 SDS records located for children from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study were used for this study. Patterns of attendance of children at SDS were described, as were associated factors (enrolment, age and nature of first visit, general nature of visits and number of visits) until the end of the year that the child turned 12.The age of the child at the first SDS visit ranged from 4 years 3 months to 14 years 11 months, with a median of 5 years 1 month. First visits were primarily for an examination (98%). Children had a median of 13 visits until 12 years of age, with 10% having less than five visits and 4% having more than 25 visits.These data provide useful information regarding attendance at the SDS in Western Australia which could provide a basis for oral health promotion programs.

The level of commuting in cities is an important indicator of the efficiency of urban spatial structure. Recent research has come out in support of land use policies that promote balancing the number of employment opportunities and residents in local geographical units to reduce excess commuting. This study explores three employment self-sufficiency indices: job-worker balance (JWB), employment self-sufficiency (ESS) and employment self-containment (ESC), as measures for reducing the level of commuting. Using the case of Perth, Western Australia, we perform a trip-based evaluation of these three variables and investigate their effect on commuting time through statistical correlation. The results reveal that JWB, ESS and ESC levels are relatively poor across the metropolitan region. Higher ESS correlates with lower inflow travel time, but better JWB and higher ESC do not necessarily lead to shorter travel times. The findings of this study suggest that policies solely relying on these measures may not be effective in reducing commuting times. ESS and ESC do not account for the component of the trip outside the zone, which can misrepresent the level of commuting in an area. Incorporating travel time in these measures can complement their reliability, and better represent overall commuting levels within an urban structure.

Two hundred and forty nine 12 to 13 year old at-risk and not at-risk male and female high school students randomly selected from five high schools in the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia provided self-reported delinquency data for three consecutive years. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed at-risk students self-reported significantly more involvement in delinquency at the first data collection point than their not at-risk counterparts. Male 12–13 year olds self-reported significantly more involvement in car related crimes, assault, rule infractions, and vandalism compared to their female peers. For some delinquent activities there were significant increases in involvement over time (Motor Vehicle, Drugs, and Public Disorder Offences) while for others (Theft, Rule Infractions, and Vandalism) this was not the case. In the majority of categories of delinquency at-risk students self reported significantly higher rates of involvement.

Purpose. To examine associations between environmental and lifestyle factors and overweight or obesity. Design. A cross-sectional survey and an environmental scan of recreational facilities. Setting. Metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. Subjects. Healthy sedentary workers and homemakers aged 18 to 59 years (n = 1803) living in areas within the top and bottom quintiles of social disadvantage. Measures. Four lifestyle factors, one social environmental factor, and five physical environment factors (three objectively measured). Results. After adjustment for demographic factors and other variables in the model, overweight was associated with living on a highway (odds ratio [OR], 4.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.62–11.09) or streets with no sidewalks or sidewalks on one side only (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.03–1.78) and perceiving no paths within walking distance (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.08–1.86). Poor access to four or more recreational facilities (OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.11–2.55) and sidewalks (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, .98–2.68) and perceiving no shop within walking distance (OR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.01–3.36) were associated with obesity. Conversely, access to a motor vehicle all the time was negatively associated with obesity (OR, .56; 95% CI, .32–.99). Watching 3 or more hours of television daily (ORs, 1.92 and 1.85, respectively) and rating oneself as less active than others (ORs, 1.66 and 4.05, respectively) were associated with both overweight and obesity. After adjustment for individual demographic factors and all other variables in the model, socioeconomic status of area of residence and leisure-time physical activity were not associated with overweight or obesity. Conclusion. Factors that influence overweight and obesity appear to differ, but aspects of the physical environment may be important. Objectively measured neighborhood environment factors warrant further investigation.

Data pertaining to the reputations, self-concepts and coping strategies of thirty-one secondary school Volatile Solvent Users (VSUs), forty-four ex-VSUs, and forty-eight non-VSUs in the Perth Metropolitan area of Western Australia were obtained using the High School Student Activity Questionnaire. Findings revealed that significant differences between current VSUs, ex-VSUs, and non-VSUs were more attributable to factors of reputation enhancement than to factors of either self-concept or coping strategies. Current VSUs identified themselves as both having and wanting to have a more non-confronting reputation, and as admiring drug-related activities significantly more than both ex-VSUs and non-VSUs. Two coping variables were also found to be significant indicating that females use more nonproductive coping strategies and external coping strategies than males. No interaction effects were identified. The implications for drug education and further research are discussed.

Myxomycetes on the bark of dead Banksia attenuata and B. menziesii from the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia were surveyed by the moist chamber technique, to determine whether the flora was similar on both hosts and what were the most important variables that determined the distribution of the most common species. Twenty-seven species of myxomycetes were recovered, including six new records for Australia (Comatricha rigidireta, Echinostelium elachiston, Paradiacheopsis cf. cribrata, P. rigida, Stemonitopsis amoena and S. cf. hyperopta). Members of the order Stemonitales comprised the largest number of species, whereas members of the Liceales occurred on the most bark pieces. The most common species were Licea kleistobolus, Echinostelium minutum, Comatricha elegans, Cribraria minutissima and Paradiacheopsis fimbriata. Overall, B. menziesii and B. attenuata had very similar myxomycete productivity, diversity and species assemblage, as did the tops and bottoms of the logs. It was concluded that they provided very similar microhabitats for myxomycetes. Both pH and the relative moisture content of the bark had an effect on myxomycete productivity. Bark decomposition level, pH and bark surface (top or bottom) were the most important variables determining the distribution of the most common myxomycete species.

AbstractCryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite that causes the diarrhoeal disease, cryptosporidiosis. Although many species have been identified, the majority of human disease worldwide is caused by two species; Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis. In Australia, data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) show that cryptosporidiosis outbreaks occur every few years. To better understand the transmission, trends and nature of cryptosporidiosis outbreaks in Western Australia, epidemiological and genomic data from three cryptosporidiosis outbreaks in 2003, 2007 and 2011 were reviewed. The 2007 outbreak was the largest (n = 607) compared with the outbreaks in 2003 (n = 404) and 2011 (n = 355). All three outbreaks appeared to have occurred predominantly in the urban metropolitan area (Perth), which reported the highest number of case notifications; increases in case notifications were also observed in rural and remote areas. Children aged 0–4 years and non-Aboriginal people comprised the majority of notifications in all outbreaks. However, in the 2003 and 2007 outbreaks, a higher proportion of cases from Aboriginal people was observed in the remote areas. Molecular data were only available for the 2007 (n = 126) and 2011 (n = 42) outbreaks, with C. hominis the main species identified in both outbreaks. Subtyping at the glycoprotein 60 (gp60) locus identified subtype IbA10G2 in 46.3% and 89.5% of C. hominis isolates typed, respectively, in the 2007 and 2011 outbreaks, with the IdA15G1 subtype was identified in 33.3% of C. hominis isolates typed in the 2007 outbreak. The clustering of cases with the IdA15G1 subtype in the remote areas suggests the occurrence of a concurrent outbreak in remote areas during the 2007 outbreak, which primarily affected Aboriginal people. Both the C. hominis IbA10G2 and IdA15G1 subtypes have been implicated in cryptosporidiosis outbreaks worldwide; its occurrence indicates that the mode of transmission in both the 2007 and 2011 outbreaks was anthroponotic. To better understand the epidemiology, sources and transmission of cryptosporidiosis in Australia, genotyping data should routinely be incorporated into national surveillance programmes.

Abstract Marine recreational fisheries (MRFs) are often highly spatially heterogenous, with effort concentrated into small areas, and fisheries spanning large environmental gradients. However, spatially resolved catch data is rarely collected in MRFs, preventing the study of spatial heterogeneity in catch. This study uses recreational catch reported in 10 × 10 nm blocks across eight degrees of latitude in Western Australia to map spatial predictions of the probability of a recreational catch on an average trip for two key species: West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum) and snapper (Chrysophrys auratus). Two spatial modelling techniques are compared for the analysis, generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and boosted regression trees (BRTs). We find that BRTs outperform GAMMs, but performance gains are small. We also find marked spatial variations in recreational catch probabilities: high catches of dhufish are found in the north of the study area, and low catches in the Perth Metropolitan area and in the south; snapper catches are highest in the north and low in the south. These patterns are used to identify important spatial processes in the fishery. The analysis also suggests that modelling approach (GAMMs or BRTs) has only a minor effect on outcomes of spatial catch analysis in MRFs.

Involving children and young people in planning, decision making and the evaluation of services and programs inevitably raises the eyebrows of adults working in the areas of service delivery, program development and policy formulation. Some adults may question young people’s ability to see the ‘big picture’ and to make decisions, and even their right to be engaged in the first place. In challenging these ideas, the Western Australian Office for Children and Youth established a Children’s Advisory Group (CAG) in 2004 – the first of its kind to be created within the Western Australia Government, and one of the first such groups to be set up in Australia.The current Children’s Advisory Group (CAG) is a diverse group often primary school children aged 9-12 years from the Perth metropolitan area. They are actively involved in all aspects of the Office’s operation. The CAG has been evaluated throughout its inaugural year of operation, both in terms of process and impact, and has been found to have a significant impact upon government policy and practice. This paper will outline the process for the establishment and implementation of a CAG and the evaluation of a CAG on government policy. It will highlight evaluation findings and discuss future directions.

IntroductionLittle progress has been made to address the increasing obesity prevalence over the past few decades, and there is growing concern about the far-reaching consequences for health and well-being related to obesity on a global scale. Systems thinking is emerging as a suitable approach for obesity prevention, as it allows health researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to systematically synthesise existing data, expose gaps, inform priority setting and identify leverage points in the system. The aim of this study is to trial a systems thinking approach to better understand the local obesity prevention system, and identify gaps and viable opportunities for health promotion activities to strengthen obesity prevention efforts in an Australian metropolitan health service.Methods and analysisA mixed methods design will be undertaken in a metropolitan health service area in Perth, Western Australia in 2019–2020. A systems inventory audit will be used to identify physical activity, nutrition and overweight/obesity prevention activities taking place in the study area. An organisational network survey will be administered, and a social network analysis undertaken to examine relationships between organisations in the network. The relationships and interactions will compare the level and type of interactions each organisation has within the network. Parameters including density, centrality and betweenness will be computed using UCINET and Netdraw.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval has been obtained from the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number HRE2017-0862). Results will be reviewed with members of the advisory group, submitted to relevant journals and presented at relevant conferences to health promotion practitioners and policy-makers. The area health service, as co-producers of the research, will use findings to inform policy and strategy across the study area.

Populations in fragmented urban remnants may be at risk of genetic erosion as a result of reduced gene flow and elevated levels of inbreeding. This may have serious genetic implications for the long-term viability of remnant populations, in addition to the more immediate pressures caused by urbanisation. The population genetic structure of the generalist skink Ctenotus fallens was examined using nine microsatellite markers within and among natural vegetation remnants within a highly fragmented urban matrix in the Perth metropolitan area in Western Australia. These data were compared with samples from a large unfragmented site on the edge of the urban area. Overall, estimates of genetic diversity and inbreeding within all populations were similar and low. Weak genetic differentiation, and a significant association between geographic and genetic distance, suggests historically strong genetic connectivity that decreases with geographic distance. Due to recent fragmentation, and genetic inertia associated with low genetic diversity and large population sizes, it is not possible from these data to infer current genetic connectivity levels. However, the historically high levels of gene flow that our data suggest indicate that a reduction in contemporary connectivity due to fragmentation in C. fallens is likely to result in negative genetic consequences in the longer term.

ABSTRACTGiven global population ageing and the fact that Australia is experiencing a significant increase in the proportion of older adults in its population, research into ageing issues has become a national priority. Whilst body image and self-esteem have been empirically linked, the relationship among older adults has been neglected. This study investigated several body-image variables and their relationship to self-esteem in a sample of 148 men and women aged 65–85 years who were living independently in the Perth Metropolitan Area of Western Australia. They completed the ‘Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale’ and the ‘Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire’. The results indicated, contrary to a common misconception, that body-image concerns are significant to self-esteem in older adulthood, but that these vary by age and gender. Whilst women appear to develop various strategies to counter the effects of ageing, men seem to be more negatively affected, particularly in relation to body functioning. The findings shed light on the meaning of body image in older adulthood. A better understanding of the meaning of body image, of the factors that influence the meaning, and of how these relate to older adults' self-esteem may help older adults develop a positive body image that will contribute to psycho-social strengths and enhance their quality of life.

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The impact of heat on health can be more significant in urban areas with more population and where the microclimate is often unintentionally modified to create the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Extreme heat and UHI pose a risk to the health of vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly, the very young, and those need care. Vulnerability has become a central concept in climate change research and policy. To assess it, many studies have used equal weighted cumulative indices to aggregate multiple factors into a composite HVI (Heat Vulnerability Index) and analyse the differences and intensity across local areas and regions. However, the aggregation and equal weighting rationality, and the disregard of spatial correlation can result in inaccurate explanation on local vulnerabilities.</p><p>This study develops an enhanced index of population heat vulnerability (HVI) in Perth metropolitan area, Western Australia (WA), using environmental, demographic, and health-related risk factors for heat exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capability. Satellite derived urban heat island data and community profiles were integrated by a spatial risk assessment methodology to highlight potential heat health risk areas and build the foundations for mitigation and adaptation plans. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the key risk factors for heat vulnerability. Geographically weighted regression (GWR) were used to model the spatial relationships between temperature and other contributing factors to produce weights for calculating HVI. The index was finally mapped to produce a spatial representation of risk. The maps of spatial heat health vulnerability provide information to target heat-related health risks by aiding policy advisors, healthcare professionals, and ancillary services to develop heatwave preparedness plans at a local scale.</p>

Creating social and physical environments that promote good health is a key component of a social determinants approach. For the parents of young children, a smartphone offers opportunities for social networking, photography and multi-tasking. Understanding the relationship between supervision, mobile phone use and injury in the playground setting is essential. This research explored parent mobile device use (MDU), parent–child interaction in the playground, parent attitudes and perceptions towards MDU and strategies used to limit MDU in the playground. A mixed-methods approach collected naturalistic observations of parents of children aged 0–5 (n = 85) and intercept interviews (n = 20) at four metropolitan playgrounds in Perth, Western Australia. Most frequently observed MDU was scrolling (75.5%) and telephone calls (13.9%). Increased duration of MDU resulted in a reduction in supervision, parent–child play and increased child injury potential. The camera function offered the most benefits. Strategies to prevent MDU included turning to silent mode, wearing a watch and environmental cues. MDU was found to contribute to reduced supervision of children, which is a risk factor for injury. This is an emerging area of injury prevention indicating a need for broader strategies addressing the complex interplay between the social determinants and the developmental younger years.

SUMMARYFrom a population-based birth cohort of 245 249 children born in Western Australia during 1996–2005, we used linkage of laboratory and birth record datasets to obtain data including all respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) detections during infancy from a subcohort of 87 981 singleton children born in the Perth metropolitan area from 2000 to 2004. Using log binomial regression, we found that the risk of infant RSV detection increases with the number of older siblings, with those having ⩾3 older siblings experiencing almost three times the risk (relative risk 2·83, 95% confidence interval 2·46–3·26) of firstborn children. We estimate that 45% of the RSV detections in our subcohort were attributable to infection from an older sibling. The sibling effect was significantly higher for those infants who were younger during the season of peak risk (winter) than those who were older. Although older siblings were present in our cohort, they had very few RSV detections which could be temporally linked to an infant's infection. We conclude that RSV infection in older children leads to less severe symptoms but is nevertheless an important source of infant infection. Our results lend support to a vaccination strategy which includes family members in order to provide maximum protection for newborn babies.

Background:The objective of this study was to develop a multidomain model to identify key characteristics of the primary school environment associated with children’s physical activity (PA) during class-time.Methods:Accelerometers were used to calculate time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during class-time (CMVPA) of 408 sixth-grade children (mean ± SD age 11.1 ± 0.43 years) attending 27 metropolitan primary schools in Perth Western Australia. Child and staff self-report instruments and a school physical environment scan administered by the research team were used to collect data about children and the class and school environments. Hierarchical modeling identified key variables associated with CMVPA.Results:The final multilevel model explained 49% of CMVPA. A physically active physical education (PE) coordinator, fitness sessions incorporated into PE sessions and either a trained PE specialist, classroom teacher or nobody coordinating PE in the school, rather than the deputy principal, were associated with higher CMVPA. The amount of grassed area per student and sporting apparatus on grass were also associated with higher CMVPA.Conclusion:These results highlight the relevance of the school’s sociocultural, policy and physical environments in supporting class-based PA. Interventions testing optimization of the school physical, sociocultural and policy environments to support physical activity are warranted.

Little is known of the breeding behaviour of the Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus banksii naso (FRTBC), a large, iconic forest cockatoo, endemic to the south-west corner of Western Australia, currently listed as Vulnerable under the State Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act and under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. In this paper, we provide details of breeding behaviour of FRTBC based on observations throughout the year over 17 years, together with observations of diet and feeding behaviour over the same period. FRTBC are monogamous hollow-nesters. Breeding was recorded in all months, with peaks in autumn-winter (April– June) and spring (August–October), with few records in January and February. Breeding also varied between years, with little breeding in 1999, 2001 and 2008, but many observations in 2006 and 2009. Breeding occurred at times of fruiting of either of the principal feed trees, Jarrah Eucalyptus marginata or Marri Corymbia calophylla, so it does not depend solely on one or the other of these species. Courtship displays were noted at all times of the day, from before dawn at roost sites to dusk. In total, 205 breeding events were recorded, of which 69 (93%) of 72 nests had breeding confirmed on a second visit. Use of particular nest hollows varied considerably, with some used only once and some up to seven times. Only one egg is laid, which the female incubates for 29 to 31 days, before a nestling hatches weighing between 27 and 32 g. The female remains in the hollow during incubation and only leaves for a short period in the evening to be fed by the male, usually at dusk. The chicks are brooded for up to 10 days, after which the female leaves the nest between dawn and dusk. Pairs of birds appear to recognise each other by calls, not responding to calls by others in the area. Chicks only respond when the parent is heard. Chicks are fully feathered at 48 days. Fledgling success was estimated at 60%. Juveniles remain dependent on the adults 18 months to 2 years. Thirty-seven chicks were banded between 1997 and 2011. Juvenile-immature birds moved on average less than 3 km from their natal tree and older birds were observed moving up to 19 km. This suggests that FRTBC are generally sedentary. Immature birds took up to three times as long as their parents to open Jarrah or Marri nuts and eat the seeds. In recent years there has been an interesting change in foraging behaviour of birds in the northern Darling Range (adjacent to the Perth metropolitan area) with the FRTBC discovering and using a new food source, the introduced Cape Lilac Melia azedarach, and this species is of growing importance as food in the Perth region. In combination, the data on breeding biology and diet highlight the importance of identifying recruitment rates and food availability in managing populations of FRTBC.

The rapid expansion of urban areas worldwide is leading to native habitat loss and ecosystem fragmentation and degradation. Although the study of urbanisation’s impact on biodiversity is gaining increasing interest globally, there is still a disconnect between research recommendations and urbanisation strategies. Expansion of the Perth metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain in south-western Australia, one of the world’s thirty-six biodiversity hotspots, continues to affect the Banksia Woodlands (BWs) ecosystem, a federally listed Threatened Ecological Community (TEC). Here, we utilise the framework of a 1989 review of the state of knowledge of BWs ecology and conservation to examine scientific advances made in understanding the composition, processes and functions of BWs and BWs’ species over the last 30 years. We highlight key advances in our understanding of the ecological function and role of mechanisms in BWs that are critical to the management of this ecosystem. The most encouraging change since 1989 is the integration of research between historically disparate ecological disciplines. We outline remaining ecological knowledge gaps and identify key research priorities to improve conservation efforts for this TEC. We promote a holistic consideration of BWs with our review providing a comprehensive document that researchers, planners and managers may reference. To effectively conserve ecosystems threatened by urban expansion, a range of stakeholders must be involved in the development and implementation of best practices to conserve and maintain both biodiversity and human wellbeing.

The rapid expansion of urban areas worldwide is leading to native habitat loss and ecosystem fragmentation and degradation. Although the study of urbanisation's impact on biodiversity is gaining increasing interest globally, there is still a disconnect between research recommendations and urbanisation strategies. Expansion of the Perth metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain in south-western Australia, one of the world's thirty-six biodiversity hotspots, continues to affect the Banksia Woodlands (BWs) ecosystem, a federally listed Threatened Ecological Community (TEC). Here, we utilise the framework of a 1989 review of the state of knowledge of BWs ecology and conservation to examine scientific advances made in understanding the composition, processes and functions of BWs and BWs' species over the last 30 years. We highlight key advances in our understanding of the ecological function and role of mechanisms in BWs that are critical to the management of this ecosystem. The most encouraging change since 1989 is the integration of research between historically disparate ecological disciplines. We outline remaining ecological knowledge gaps and identify key research priorities to improve conservation efforts for this TEC. We promote a holistic consideration of BWs with our review providing a comprehensive document that researchers, planners and managers may reference. To effectively conserve ecosystems threatened by urban expansion, a range of stakeholders must be involved in the development and implementation of best practices to conserve and maintain both biodiversity and human wellbeing.

Few would doubt the need, in today's world, to promote behaviours that actively conserve environmental resources. At a general level, this often involves encouraging behaviours that involve a short-term cost for the individual in order to avoid a long-term negative outcome for the community. Examples of such behaviour are, taking the trouble to turn off lights to save electricity and fixing leaking taps to conserve water. It is these latter kinds of behaviours, namely those associated with the efficient use of water resources, which are the focus of this paper.Faced with the high economic and practical costs of attempting to supply unlimited amounts of water for the Melbourne metropolitan area, the Board of Works has sought, by a number of means, to persuade its consumers to use water more efficiently. One aspect of its strategy was to promote water conservation within the educational curriculum by designing various educational materials and programs for different school levels. These and other promotional materials were made available to schools in the Melbourne metropolitan area in 1988. Prior to the distribution of this material, the data reported in this paper were gathered as the first stage of a longitudinal evaluation of the Board's education strategy.The assumption underlying the Board of Works' educational program was that behaviour change is preceded by changes in knowledge. For example, it was assumed that a person, knowing something about the water cycle, and the system by which water is fed into our taps, would believe that it is important not to waste water. The result would be active water conservation in daily life. Some basis for this assumption has been provided by the report on domestic water use in Perth, Western Australia (Metropolitan Water Authority, 1985), where knowledge and attitudes were found to be predictors of actual water consumption. Such an assumption is based in a general way on a cognitive or information processing model of behaviour change, in which changes in behaviour are seen as proceeding from changes in relevant information or knowledge. This cognitive model is the basis for many social education programs both in schools and in the community. For example, the Quit Campaign and the AIDS campaign have both used strategies that aimed to inform the public about particular health-related behaviours.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the monetary valuation implications arising from local government tree trimming, by calculating the loss of local government authority’ monetary tree value arising from trimming trees under power lines. Design/methodology/approach A city council model of estimation of the monetary value of city trees in a sample of three streets in a suburb of the Perth Metropolitan Area in Western Australia is applied to ascertain the loss of monetary value to the local government authority arising from tree trimming. Findings Using a sample of 274 city trees, the results of the study show that 156 city trees did not get trimmed thus incurring no monetary loss. However, the average loss of monetary value from 118 city trees that were trimmed was AU$2,816 per tree, suggesting a substantial loss of value to the council. Research limitations/implications The use of monetary tree valuation should be treated with caution as there is a focus on monetary calculations rather than non-monetary evaluations of trees. Further, the analysis does not take into account increases in value of city trees resulting from their growth. Practical implications In trimming trees, monetary value and canopy cover of trees may be reduced. In terms of property management, it may be helpful for the city council to take into account loss of city tree value from tree trimming when considering a cost-benefit analysis of the above ground/underground trade-off of power line installation. Social implications With increasing populations and demand on services, local government authorities may use monetary valuation techniques of trees to provide an accountability to ratepayers. Originality/value The results highlight the value loss of trimming a tree. The study’s originality rests in providing local government authority a valuation.

Context Translocation as a tool for management of nuisance or ‘problem’ snakes near urban areas is currently used worldwide with limited success. Translocated snakes experience modified behaviours, spatial use and survivorship, and few studies have investigated the impacts of translocation within a metropolitan area. Aims In the present study, we investigated the impacts of translocation on the most commonly encountered snake in Perth Western Australia, the dugite (Pseudonaja affinis, Elapidae), by comparing the space use of resident and translocated snakes. Methods We captured 10 dugites and attached telemetry packages, composed of a radio-telemetry transmitter and global positioning system (GPS) data-logger, externally to their tails. Snakes were either released within 200 m of their initial capture sites (residents, n = 6) or moved to new unconnected habitat at least 3 km away (translocated, n = 4). Spatial-use data were analysed using general linear models to identify differences between resident and translocated dugites. Key results Translocation influenced space use of dugites and detrimentally affected their survivorship. Translocated snakes had larger activity ranges than did residents, and there was a trend towards travelling greater distances over time. Mortality for all snakes was high: 100% for translocated snakes, and 50% for residents. Conclusions Urban dugites face many threats, and snakes were negatively affected by translocation. The GPS technology we used did not improve the quality of the data over traditional radio-telemetry methods, owing to the cryptic nature of the snakes that spent much of their time under cover or underground. Implications These findings support the growing body of evidence that translocating ‘problem’ snakes is a not a humane method of animal management, and alternatives such as public education, may be more appropriate.

Abstract. Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) impact the quality of life in many urban centres. Metropolitan areas of Australian cities and urbanised regional centres, in particular, show vulnerability towards UHIs due to challenging climatic conditions and the model of greater subdivision of established properties whereby backyards and mature trees are replaced with more residential dwellings and sealed areas. The measurements for the UHI mitigation, such as imposing reforestation, employing sustainable and medium density housing build form typology must be quantified. Simulation-based identification and mitigation of UHIs can be used for planning decisions. There are several advantages to use simulations. For instance, alternative subdivision design, building design and the placement of trees and other measures is only required in the digital twin. Experimenting with the digital twin saves resources and maximises the outcome by being able to quantify the heat reduction. The aim of this work is to quantify the impact of the current urban infill methods on UHI. We focus on an area that has gone through a process of re-subdivision that is bounded by roads within Perth, Western Australia. For the same area we propose an alternative design with an urban infill model based on a medium density housing guidelines with an improved green space allocation. While the current model shows significant effects of UHIs we could mitigate those effects in the alternative proposed model. In our simulation the hottest surfaces are roads with a temperature of approximately 45 °C at 2PM in the afternoon. In the current model close to 100% of the road surfaces reach this temperature. In contrast, in the alternative model only 45% of all road surfaces reach this temperature, significantly reducing the impact of UHI for pedestrian walking close by to those roads. At 2PM, the most frequent temperature of all surfaces for the current model is around 44 °C while the alternative’s model the most frequent temperature is approximately 28 °C – a difference of 16 °C.

Objective: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) has been developed to screen for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption. It has been used among a variety of primary care, general population and general hospital populations. However, with the exception of one study undertaken by the author and colleagues, the use of the AUDIT in general hospital psychiatric patients has not been reported. This paper reports on a substudy of this larger study whose aim was to determine the frequency of hazardous alcohol use and dependence among patients admitted to the psychiatric units of general hospitals in Perth, Western Australia, and discusses major reasons for non-AUDIT screening among this group. Method: In a 12-month period 990 patients aged 18–64 years and residing in the Perth metropolitan area were admitted to the psychiatric unit of the two hospitals. Using the AUDIT alcohol use in patients with four major types of psychiatric disorder, namely mood, adjustment, anxiety and psychotic disorders, was assessed. Results: Of the 834 admissions targeted for AUDIT screening 263 were not screened. This non-screening represented 27–42% of patients in each of the major diagnostic categories. There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients screened versus not screened for mood, adjustment or schizophrenia/psychosis. There were however, significantly fewer patients with anxiety disorder screened compared with mood disorder. Those non-screened patients in major psychiatric groups had significantly shorter hospital stays than their diagnostic counterparts who were screened. The major reason for non-screening in all groups was due to patients leaving the psychiatric facility before they could be accessed. This included discharge before screening, transfer to another psychiatric facility and short admission. To a lesser extent cognitive dysfunction accounted for non-screening among major diagnostic groups. Conclusions: Failure to screen patients was largely due to short hospital stays. Screening was impeded by the brief window period, commonly 1 or 2 days, between the absence of acute psychiatric sequelae and discharge. This situation contrasts dramatically to the medical or surgical admission where major sequelae are largely resolved in 2–3 days and AUDIT screening can take place over the remaining 3–4 days prior to discharge. To be effective in the general hospital psychiatric setting, alcohol screening needs to be incorporated into the routine ward assessment procedures. The brevity of the AUDIT makes this possible. This would maximize the time available to implement an intervention programme to those found to be consuming alcohol at a hazardous or harmful level.

AbstractThis research investigated Education for Sustainability (EfS) at an independent Montessori primary school, located in the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia. A longitudinal case study involving analysis of data from a 20-year period was conducted to determine the effectiveness of EfS. Historical information about EfS at the school from 1990 to 2005 was examined, with the main focus of the study being on the impact of the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI) between 2005 and 2009. AuSSI promotes a whole school, whole systems thinking approach to EfS.Three school-based issues in EfS were studied. First, the research aimed to determine what elements of EfS were in operation in the school prior to involvement in AuSSI. Second, student outcomes including engagement with whole systems thinking, attitudes and values, knowledge and understandings, and skills and behaviours related to EfS, were investigated during the first 5 years of participation in AuSSI. Third, teacher perceptions of the EfS program, including engagement with whole systems thinking, were examined during this same time period.A case study approach was employed to enable in-depth investigation of EfS in the life of the school prior to, during and post implementation of AuSSI. This approach facilitated revelation of participants’ lived experiences, their perceptions and understandings of EfS, as well as detailed information about student outcomes in EfS. Case study methodology was also compatible with the culture and processes of the participating school and provided an opportunity for utilising a whole systems thinking approach. Data was gathered from a range of sources, through surveys, interviews, observation and document analysis over a 5-year period. The total participants included 11 teachers and 75 students.The research identified particular antecedents of EfS in the Montessori method of education that existed in the school prior to AuSSI, including the whole child approach, together with the Montessori learning environment, curriculum and values. Following participation in AuSSI, student attitudes and values, knowledge and understandings, and skills and behaviours related to EfS were enhanced for all year levels. However, after 3 years, when specific EfS actions and projects ceased, student EfS outcomes were limited. Furthermore, students’ thinking and behaviour indicated a ‘silo’, rather than whole systems thinking approach to EfS. Teachers perceived the EfS program as highly effective in the initial 3 years after joining AuSSI. Key elements that enhanced EfS included EfS staff champions who had access to EfS networks, leadership support, and active school community involvement in all EfS processes. However, after 3 years of being an AuSSI school, the culmination of reduced leadership support for EfS, lack of staff training, vague designation of staff with EfS responsibilities and inadequate community involvement, resulted in cessation of the EfS program. Teacher perceptions on whole systems thinking revealed alignment between Montessori philosophy, EfS and whole system thinking was more in theory than in practice.Through an in-depth longitudinal case study of a school this research highlighted the importance of whole school EfS professional learning, embedding EfS and whole systems thinking across the curriculum at all year levels, whole school support, and the usefulness of a sustainability continuum that recognises the complex, dynamic interplay of issues involved in a school's EfS journey. It is strongly recommended that improvements to pre-service teacher education in EfS are implemented, and a review of the AuSSI toolkit is conducted to refine EfS evaluation processes and to target the specific EfS needs of teachers at different stages of schooling, as well as to enhance understanding and implementation of the whole systems thinking approach. Finally, EfS professional learning for all school staff in all schools is warranted to enhance depth of EfS engagement.

Climate change induced sea-level rise (SLR) is on its increase globally. Regionally the lowlands of China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and islands of the Malaysian, Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos are among the world’s most threatened regions. Sea-level rise has major impacts on the ecosystems and society. It threatens coastal populations, economic activities, and fragile ecosystems as mangroves, coastal salt-marches and wetlands. This paper provides a summary of the current state of knowledge of sea level-rise and its effects on both human and natural ecosystems. The focus is on coastal urban areas and low lying deltas in South-East Asia and Vietnam, as one of the most threatened areas in the world. About 3 mm per year reflects the growing consensus on the average SLR worldwide. The trend speeds up during recent decades. The figures are subject to local, temporal and methodological variation. In Vietnam the average values of 3.3 mm per year during the 1993-2014 period are above the worldwide average. Although a basic conceptual understanding exists that the increasing global frequency of the strongest tropical cyclones is related with the increasing temperature and SLR, this relationship is insufficiently understood. Moreover the precise, complex environmental, economic, social, and health impacts are currently unclear. SLR, storms and changing precipitation patterns increase flood risks, in particular in urban areas. Part of the current scientific debate is on how urban agglomeration can be made more resilient to flood risks. Where originally mainly technical interventions dominated this discussion, it becomes increasingly clear that proactive special planning, flood defense, flood risk mitigation, flood preparation, and flood recovery are important, but costly instruments. 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Special Care Notice This article contains images of deceased people that might cause sadness or distress to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers. Introduction Like many cities, Perth was founded on wetlands that have been integral to its history and culture (Seddon 226–32). However, in order to promote a settlement agenda, early mapmakers sought to erase the city’s wetlands from cartographic depictions (Giblett, Cities). Since the colonial era, inner-Perth’s swamps and lakes have been drained, filled, significantly reduced in size, or otherwise reclaimed for urban expansion (Bekle). Not only have the swamps and lakes physically disappeared, the memories of their presence and influence on the city’s development over time are also largely forgotten. What was the site of Perth, specifically its wetlands, like before British settlement? In 2014, an interdisciplinary team at Edith Cowan University developed a digital visualisation process to re-imagine Perth prior to colonisation. This was based on early maps of the Swan River Colony and a range of archival information. The images depicted the city’s topography, hydrology, and vegetation and became the centerpiece of a physical exhibition entitled Re-imagining Perth’s Lost Wetlands and a virtual exhibition hosted by the Western Australian Museum. Alongside historic maps, paintings, photographs, and writings, the visual reconstruction of Perth aimed to foster appreciation of the pre-settlement environment—the homeland of the Whadjuck Nyoongar, or Bibbulmun, people (Carter and Nutter). The exhibition included the narrative of Fanny Balbuk, a Nyoongar woman who voiced her indignation over the “usurping of her beloved home ground” (Bates, The Passing 69) by flouting property lines and walking through private residences to reach places of cultural significance. Beginning with Balbuk’s story and the digital tracing of her walking route through colonial Perth, this article discusses the project in the context of contemporary pressures on the city’s extant wetlands. The re-imagining of Perth through historically, culturally, and geographically-grounded digital visualisation approaches can inspire the conservation of its wetlands heritage. Balbuk’s Walk through the City For many who grew up in Perth, Fanny Balbuk’s perambulations have achieved legendary status in the collective cultural imagination. In his memoir, David Whish-Wilson mentions Balbuk’s defiant walks and the lighting up of the city for astronaut John Glenn in 1962 as the two stories that had the most impact on his Perth childhood. From Gordon Stephenson House, Whish-Wilson visualises her journey in his mind’s eye, past Government House on St Georges Terrace (the main thoroughfare through the city centre), then north on Barrack Street towards the railway station, the site of Lake Kingsford where Balbuk once gathered bush tucker (4). He considers the footpaths “beneath the geometric frame of the modern city […] worn smooth over millennia that snake up through the sheoak and marri woodland and into the city’s heart” (Whish-Wilson 4). Balbuk’s story embodies the intertwined culture and nature of Perth—a city of wetlands. Born in 1840 on Heirisson Island, Balbuk (also known as Yooreel) (Figure 1) had ancestral bonds to the urban landscape. According to Daisy Bates, writing in the early 1900s, the Nyoongar term Matagarup, or “leg deep,” denotes the passage of shallow water near Heirisson Island where Balbuk would have forded the Swan River (“Oldest” 16). Yoonderup was recorded as the Nyoongar name for Heirisson Island (Bates, “Oldest” 16) and the birthplace of Balbuk’s mother (Bates, “Aboriginal”). In the suburb of Shenton Park near present-day Lake Jualbup, her father bequeathed to her a red ochre (or wilgi) pit that she guarded fervently throughout her life (Bates, “Aboriginal”).Figure 1. Group of Aboriginal Women at Perth, including Fanny Balbuk (far right) (c. 1900). Image Credit: State Library of Western Australia (Image Number: 44c). Balbuk’s grandparents were culturally linked to the site. At his favourite camp beside the freshwater spring near Kings Park on Mounts Bay Road, her grandfather witnessed the arrival of Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Irwin, cousin of James Stirling (Bates, “Fanny”). In 1879, colonial entrepreneurs established the Swan Brewery at this significant locale (Welborn). Her grandmother’s gravesite later became Government House (Bates, “Fanny”) and she protested vociferously outside “the stone gates guarded by a sentry [that] enclosed her grandmother’s burial ground” (Bates, The Passing 70). Balbuk’s other grandmother was buried beneath Bishop’s Grove, the residence of the city’s first archibishop, now Terrace Hotel (Bates, “Aboriginal”). Historian Bob Reece observes that Balbuk was “the last full-descent woman of Kar’gatta (Karrakatta), the Bibbulmun name for the Mount Eliza [Kings Park] area of Perth” (134). According to accounts drawn from Bates, her home ground traversed the area between Heirisson Island and Perth’s north-western limits. In Kings Park, one of her relatives was buried near a large, hollow tree used by Nyoongar people like a cistern to capture water and which later became the site of the Queen Victoria Statue (Bates, “Aboriginal”). On the slopes of Mount Eliza, the highest point of Kings Park, at the western end of St Georges Terrace, she harvested plant foods, including zamia fruits (Macrozamia riedlei) (Bates, “Fanny”). Fanny Balbuk’s knowledge contributed to the native title claim lodged by Nyoongar people in 2006 as Bennell v. State of Western Australia—the first of its kind to acknowledge Aboriginal land rights in a capital city and part of the larger Single Nyoongar Claim (South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council et al.). Perth’s colonial administration perceived the city’s wetlands as impediments to progress and as insalubrious environments to be eradicated through reclamation practices. For Balbuk and other Nyoongar people, however, wetlands were “nourishing terrains” (Rose) that afforded sustenance seasonally and meaning perpetually (O’Connor, Quartermaine, and Bodney). Mary Graham, a Kombu-merri elder from Queensland, articulates the connection between land and culture, “because land is sacred and must be looked after, the relation between people and land becomes the template for society and social relations. Therefore all meaning comes from land.” Traditional, embodied reliance on Perth’s wetlands is evident in Bates’ documentation. For instance, Boojoormeup was a “big swamp full of all kinds of food, now turned into Palmerston and Lake streets” (Bates, “Aboriginal”). Considering her cultural values, Balbuk’s determination to maintain pathways through the increasingly colonial Perth environment is unsurprising (Figure 2). From Heirisson Island: a straight track had led to the place where once she had gathered jilgies [crayfish] and vegetable food with the women, in the swamp where Perth railway station now stands. Through fences and over them, Balbuk took the straight track to the end. When a house was built in the way, she broke its fence-palings with her digging stick and charged up the steps and through the rooms. (Bates, The Passing 70) One obstacle was Hooper’s Fence, which Balbuk broke repeatedly on her trips to areas between Kings Park and the railway station (Bates, “Hooper’s”). Her tenacious commitment to walking ancestral routes signifies the friction between settlement infrastructure and traditional Nyoongar livelihood during an era of rapid change. Figure 2. Determination of Fanny Balbuk’s Journey between Yoonderup (Heirisson Island) and Lake Kingsford, traversing what is now the central business district of Perth on the Swan River (2014). Image background prepared by Dimitri Fotev. Track interpolation by Jeff Murray. Project Background and Approach Inspired by Fanny Balbuk’s story, Re-imagining Perth’s Lost Wetlands began as an Australian response to the Mannahatta Project. Founded in 1999, that project used spatial analysis techniques and mapping software to visualise New York’s urbanised Manhattan Island—or Mannahatta as it was called by indigenous people—in the early 1600s (Sanderson). Based on research into the island’s original biogeography and the ecological practices of Native Americans, Mannahatta enabled the public to “peel back” the city’s strata, revealing the original composition of the New York site. The layers of visuals included rich details about the island’s landforms, water systems, and vegetation. Mannahatta compelled Rod Giblett, a cultural researcher at Edith Cowan University, to develop an analogous model for visualising Perth circa 1829. The idea attracted support from the City of Perth, Landgate, and the University. Using stories, artefacts, and maps, the team—comprising a cartographer, designer, three-dimensional modelling expert, and historical researchers—set out to generate visualisations of the landscape at the time of British colonisation. Nyoongar elder Noel Nannup approved culturally sensitive material and contributed his perspective on Aboriginal content to include in the exhibition. The initiative’s context remains pressing. In many ways, Perth has become a template for development in the metropolitan area (Weller). While not unusual for a capital, the rate of transformation is perhaps unexpected in a city less than 200 years old (Forster). There also remains a persistent view of existing wetlands as obstructions to progress that, once removed, are soon forgotten (Urban Bushland Council). Digital visualisation can contribute to appreciating environments prior to colonisation but also to re-imagining possibilities for future human interactions with land, water, and space. Despite the rapid pace of change, many Perth area residents have memories of wetlands lost during their lifetimes (for example, Giblett, Forrestdale). However, as the clearing and drainage of the inner city occurred early in settlement, recollections of urban wetlands exist exclusively in historical records. In 1935, a local correspondent using the name “Sandgroper” reminisced about swamps, connecting them to Perth’s colonial heritage: But the Swamps were very real in fact, and in name in the [eighteen-] Nineties, and the Perth of my youth cannot be visualised without them. They were, of course, drying up apace, but they were swamps for all that, and they linked us directly with the earliest days of the Colony when our great-grandparents had founded this City of Perth on a sort of hog's-back, of which Hay-street was the ridge, and from which a succession of streamlets ran down its southern slope to the river, while land locked to the north of it lay a series of lakes which have long since been filled to and built over so that the only evidence that they have ever existed lies in the original street plans of Perth prepared by Roe and Hillman in the early eighteen-thirties. A salient consequence of the loss of ecological memory is the tendency to repeat the miscues of the past, especially the blatant disregard for natural and cultural heritage, as suburbanisation engulfs the area. While the swamps of inner Perth remain only in the names of streets, existing wetlands in the metropolitan area are still being threatened, as the Roe Highway (Roe 8) Campaign demonstrates. To re-imagine Perth’s lost landscape, we used several colonial survey maps to plot the location of the original lakes and swamps. At this time, a series of interconnecting waterbodies, known as the Perth Great Lakes, spread across the north of the city (Bekle and Gentilli). This phase required the earliest cartographic sources (Figure 3) because, by 1855, city maps no longer depicted wetlands. We synthesised contextual information, such as well depths, geological and botanical maps, settlers’ accounts, Nyoongar oral histories, and colonial-era artists’ impressions, to produce renderings of Perth. This diverse collection of primary and secondary materials served as the basis for creating new images of the city. Team member Jeff Murray interpolated Balbuk’s route using historical mappings and accounts, topographical data, court records, and cartographic common sense. He determined that Balbuk would have camped on the high ground of the southern part of Lake Kingsford rather than the more inundated northern part (Figure 2). Furthermore, she would have followed a reasonably direct course north of St Georges Terrace (contrary to David Whish-Wilson’s imaginings) because she was barred from Government House for protesting. This easier route would have also avoided the springs and gullies that appear on early maps of Perth. Figure 3. Townsite of Perth in Western Australia by Colonial Draftsman A. Hillman and John Septimus Roe (1838). This map of Perth depicts the wetlands that existed overlaid by the geomentric grid of the new city. Image Credit: State Library of Western Australia (Image Number: BA1961/14). Additionally, we produced an animated display based on aerial photographs to show the historical extent of change. Prompted by the build up to World War II, the earliest aerial photography of Perth dates from the late 1930s (Dixon 148–54). As “Sandgroper” noted, by this time, most of the urban wetlands had been drained or substantially modified. The animation revealed considerable alterations to the formerly swampy Swan River shoreline. Most prominent was the transformation of the Matagarup shallows across the Swan River, originally consisting of small islands. Now traversed by a causeway, this area was transformed into a single island, Heirisson—the general site of Balbuk’s birth. The animation and accompanying materials (maps, images, and writings) enabled viewers to apprehend the changes in real time and to imagine what the city was once like. Re-imagining Perth’s Urban Heart The physical environment of inner Perth includes virtually no trace of its wetland origins. Consequently, we considered whether a representation of Perth, as it existed previously, could enhance public understanding of natural heritage and thereby increase its value. For this reason, interpretive materials were exhibited centrally at Perth Town Hall. Built partly by convicts between 1867 and 1870, the venue is close to the site of the 1829 Foundation of Perth, depicted in George Pitt Morrison’s painting. Balbuk’s grandfather “camped somewhere in the city of Perth, not far from the Town Hall” (Bates, “Fanny”). The building lies one block from the site of the railway station on the site of Lake Kingsford, the subsistence grounds of Balbuk and her forebears: The old swamp which is now the Perth railway yards had been a favourite jilgi ground; a spring near the Town Hall had been a camping place of Maiago […] and others of her fathers' folk; and all around and about city and suburbs she had gathered roots and fished for crayfish in the days gone by. (Bates, “Derelicts” 55) Beginning in 1848, the draining of Lake Kingsford reached completion during the construction of the Town Hall. While the swamps of the city were not appreciated by many residents, some organisations, such as the Perth Town Trust, vigorously opposed the reclamation of the lake, alluding to its hydrological role: That, the soil being sand, it is not to be supposed that Lake Kingsford has in itself any material effect on the wells of Perth; but that, from this same reason of the sandy soil, it would be impossible to keep the lake dry without, by so doing, withdrawing the water from at least the adjacent parts of the townsite to the same depth. (Independent Journal of Politics and News 3) At the time of our exhibition, the Lake Kingsford site was again being reworked to sink the railway line and build Yagan Square, a public space named after a colonial-era Nyoongar leader. The project required specialised construction techniques due to the high water table—the remnants of the lake. People travelling to the exhibition by train in October 2014 could have seen the lake reasserting itself in partly-filled depressions, flush with winter rain (Figure 4).Figure 4. Rise of the Repressed (2014). Water Rising in the former site of Lake Kingsford/Irwin during construction, corner of Roe and Fitzgerald Streets, Northbridge, WA. Image Credit: Nandi Chinna (2014). The exhibition was situated in the Town Hall’s enclosed undercroft designed for markets and more recently for shops. While some visited after peering curiously through the glass walls of the undercroft, others hailed from local and state government organisations. Guest comments applauded the alternative view of Perth we presented. The content invited the public to re-imagine Perth as a city of wetlands that were both environmentally and culturally important. A display panel described how the city’s infrastructure presented a hindrance for Balbuk as she attempted to negotiate the once-familiar route between Yoonderup and Lake Kingsford (Figure 2). Perth’s growth “restricted Balbuk’s wanderings; towns, trains, and farms came through her ‘line of march’; old landmarks were thus swept away, and year after year saw her less confident of the locality of one-time familiar spots” (Bates, “Fanny”). Conserving Wetlands: From Re-Claiming to Re-Valuing? Imagination, for philosopher Roger Scruton, involves “thinking of, and attending to, a present object (by thinking of it, or perceiving it, in terms of something absent)” (155). According to Scruton, the feelings aroused through imagination can prompt creative, transformative experiences. While environmental conservation tends to rely on data-driven empirical approaches, it appeals to imagination less commonly. We have found, however, that attending to the present object (the city) in terms of something absent (its wetlands) through evocative visual material can complement traditional conservation agendas focused on habitats and species. The actual extent of wetlands loss in the Swan Coastal Plain—the flat and sandy region extending from Jurien Bay south to Cape Naturaliste, including Perth—is contested. However, estimates suggest that 80 per cent of wetlands have been lost, with remaining habitats threatened by climate change, suburban development, agriculture, and industry (Department of Environment and Conservation). As with the swamps and lakes of the inner city, many regional wetlands were cleared, drained, or filled before they could be properly documented. Additionally, the seasonal fluctuations of swampy places have never been easily translatable to two-dimensional records. As Giblett notes, the creation of cartographic representations and the assignment of English names were attempts to fix the dynamic boundaries of wetlands, at least in the minds of settlers and administrators (Postmodern 72–73). Moreover, European colonists found the Western Australian landscape, including its wetlands, generally discomfiting. In a letter from 1833, metaphors failed George Fletcher Moore, the effusive colonial commentator, “I cannot compare these swamps to any marshes with which you are familiar” (220). The intermediate nature of wetlands—as neither land nor lake—is perhaps one reason for their cultural marginalisation (Giblett, Postmodern 39). The conviction that unsanitary, miasmic wetlands should be converted to more useful purposes largely prevailed (Giblett, Black 105–22). Felicity Morel-EdnieBrown’s research into land ownership records in colonial Perth demonstrated that town lots on swampland were often preferred. By layering records using geographic information systems (GIS), she revealed modifications to town plans to accommodate swampland frontages. The decline of wetlands in the region appears to have been driven initially by their exploitation for water and later for fertile soil. Northern market gardens supplied the needs of the early city. It is likely that the depletion of Nyoongar bush foods predated the flourishing of these gardens (Carter and Nutter). Engaging with the history of Perth’s swamps raises questions about the appreciation of wetlands today. In an era where numerous conservation strategies and alternatives have been developed (for example, Bobbink et al. 93–220), the exploitation of wetlands in service to population growth persists. On Perth’s north side, wetlands have long been subdued by controlling their water levels and landscaping their boundaries, as the suburban examples of Lake Monger and Hyde Park (formerly Third Swamp Reserve) reveal. Largely unmodified wetlands, such as Forrestdale Lake, exist south of Perth, but they too are in danger (Giblett, Black Swan). The Beeliar Wetlands near the suburb of Bibra Lake comprise an interconnected series of lakes and swamps that are vulnerable to a highway extension project first proposed in the 1950s. Just as the Perth Town Trust debated Lake Kingsford’s draining, local councils and the public are fiercely contesting the construction of the Roe Highway, which will bisect Beeliar Wetlands, destroying Roe Swamp (Chinna). The conservation value of wetlands still struggles to compete with traffic planning underpinned by a modernist ideology that associates cars and freeways with progress (Gregory). Outside of archives, the debate about Lake Kingsford is almost entirely forgotten and its physical presence has been erased. Despite the magnitude of loss, re-imagining the city’s swamplands, in the way that we have, calls attention to past indiscretions while invigorating future possibilities. We hope that the re-imagining of Perth’s wetlands stimulates public respect for ancestral tracks and songlines like Balbuk’s. Despite the accretions of settler history and colonial discourse, songlines endure as a fundamental cultural heritage. Nyoongar elder Noel Nannup states, “as people, if we can get out there on our songlines, even though there may be farms or roads overlaying them, fences, whatever it is that might impede us from travelling directly upon them, if we can get close proximity, we can still keep our culture alive. That is why it is so important for us to have our songlines.” Just as Fanny Balbuk plied her songlines between Yoonderup and Lake Kingsford, the traditional custodians of Beeliar and other wetlands around Perth walk the landscape as an act of resistance and solidarity, keeping the stories of place alive. Acknowledgments The authors wish to acknowledge Rod Giblett (ECU), Nandi Chinna (ECU), Susanna Iuliano (ECU), Jeff Murray (Kareff Consulting), Dimitri Fotev (City of Perth), and Brendan McAtee (Landgate) for their contributions to this project. The authors also acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands upon which this paper was researched and written. References Bates, Daisy. “Fanny Balbuk-Yooreel: The Last Swan River (Female) Native.” The Western Mail 1 Jun. 1907: 45.———. “Oldest Perth: The Days before the White Men Won.” The Western Mail 25 Dec. 1909: 16–17.———. “Derelicts: The Passing of the Bibbulmun.” The Western Mail 25 Dec. 1924: 55–56. ———. “Aboriginal Perth.” The Western Mail 4 Jul. 1929: 70.———. “Hooper’s Fence: A Query.” The Western Mail 18 Apr. 1935: 9.———. The Passing of the Aborigines: A Lifetime Spent among the Natives of Australia. London: John Murray, 1966.Bekle, Hugo. “The Wetlands Lost: Drainage of the Perth Lake Systems.” Western Geographer 5.1–2 (1981): 21–41.Bekle, Hugo, and Joseph Gentilli. “History of the Perth Lakes.” Early Days 10.5 (1993): 442–60.Bobbink, Roland, Boudewijn Beltman, Jos Verhoeven, and Dennis Whigham, eds. Wetlands: Functioning, Biodiversity Conservation, and Restoration. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2006. Carter, Bevan, and Lynda Nutter. Nyungah Land: Records of Invasion and Theft of Aboriginal Land on the Swan River 1829–1850. Guildford: Swan Valley Nyungah Community, 2005.Chinna, Nandi. “Swamp.” Griffith Review 47 (2015). 29 Sep. 2015 ‹https://griffithreview.com/articles/swamp›.Department of Environment and Conservation. Geomorphic Wetlands Swan Coastal Plain Dataset. Perth: Department of Environment and Conservation, 2008.Dixon, Robert. Photography, Early Cinema, and Colonial Modernity: Frank Hurley’s Synchronized Lecture Entertainments. London: Anthem Press, 2011. Forster, Clive. Australian Cities: Continuity and Change. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.Giblett, Rod. Postmodern Wetlands: Culture, History, Ecology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1996. ———. Forrestdale: People and Place. Bassendean: Access Press, 2006.———. Black Swan Lake: Life of a Wetland. Bristol: Intellect, 2013.———. Cities and Wetlands: The Return of the Repressed in Nature and Culture. London: Bloomsbury, 2016. Chapter 2.Graham, Mary. “Some Thoughts about the Philosophical Underpinnings of Aboriginal Worldviews.” Australian Humanities Review 45 (2008). 29 Sep. 2015 ‹http://www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/Issue-November-2008/graham.html›.Gregory, Jenny. “Remembering Mounts Bay: The Narrows Scheme and the Internationalization of Perth Planning.” Studies in Western Australian History 27 (2011): 145–66.Independent Journal of Politics and News. “Perth Town Trust.” The Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News 8 Jul. 1848: 2–3.Moore, George Fletcher. Extracts from the Letters of George Fletcher Moore. Ed. Martin Doyle. London: Orr and Smith, 1834.Morel-EdnieBrown, Felicity. “Layered Landscape: The Swamps of Colonial Northbridge.” Social Science Computer Review 27 (2009): 390–419. Nannup, Noel. Songlines with Dr Noel Nannup. Dir. Faculty of Regional Professional Studies, Edith Cowan University (2015). 29 Sep. 2015 ‹https://vimeo.com/129198094›. (Quoted material transcribed from 3.08–3.39 of the video.) O’Connor, Rory, Gary Quartermaine, and Corrie Bodney. Report on an Investigation into Aboriginal Significance of Wetlands and Rivers in the Perth-Bunbury Region. Perth: Western Australian Water Resources Council, 1989.Reece, Bob. “‘Killing with Kindness’: Daisy Bates and New Norcia.” Aboriginal History 32 (2008): 128–45.Rose, Deborah Bird. Nourishing Terrains: Australian Aboriginal Views of Landscape and Wilderness. Canberra: Australian Heritage Commission, 1996.Sanderson, Eric. Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2009.Sandgroper. “Gilgies: The Swamps of Perth.” The West Australian 4 May 1935: 7.Scruton, Roger. Art and Imagination. London: Methuen, 1974.Seddon, George. Sense of Place: A Response to an Environment, the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia. Melbourne: Bloomings Books, 2004.South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council and John Host with Chris Owen. “It’s Still in My Heart, This is My Country:” The Single Noongar Claim History. Crawley: U of Western Australia P, 2009.Urban Bushland Council. “Bushland Issues.” 2015. 29 Sep. 2015 ‹http://www.bushlandperth.org.au/bushland-issues›.Welborn, Suzanne. Swan: The History of a Brewery. Crawley: U of Western Australia P, 1987.Weller, Richard. Boomtown 2050: Scenarios for a Rapidly Growing City. Crawley: U of Western Australia P, 2009. Whish-Wilson, David. Perth. Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2013.

This paper describes the processes involved in establishing a genuinely collaborative and participatory role for nine Aboriginal Elders in a five-year participatory action research project focused on early child development in the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia. The project goals are to better inform and align policy and program design with Aboriginal values, world views and concepts of childhood. The Elder’s authority in the design, conduct and outputs of the research are intended to adhere to a decolonising approach, whereby Aboriginal people have power and voice in ways that are aligned to their values and beliefs. Requirements for research that is collaborative, relational, participatory and reflexive are not straightforward or easily achieved, and the process of working with the nine Elders in their roles as Co-researchers has not been without its challenges. This paper explores the challenges and opportunities of working with Aboriginal Elders as Co-researchers and seeks to enhance understanding of the necessity of incorporating an Aboriginal worldview and knowledge framework in this way.

ObjectivesAcute stroke is a medical emergency. Identifying patients suffering a stroke is crucial if paramedics are to maximize delivery of appropriate management. One suggested stroke recognition tool is ‘FAST’ (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) but the accuracy of identifying stroke is unknown. We aimed to (1) examine how paramedics identify patients with stroke; (2) compare paramedic identification of stroke with the Emergency Department (ED) discharge diagnosis of stroke.Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted in the Perth metropolitan area in Western Australia between July 2012 and June 2014 using linked data from ambulance and ED databases. Patients aged 45+ years, transported to ED by road ambulance and assigned the ambulance problem code or ED discharge diagnosis of stroke were selected. Positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), specificity and sensitivity were calculated. Text fields were examined for documentation that patients met FAST criteria.Results There were 2,217 patients were identified as stroke by paramedics. Of 1834 patients diagnosed as stroke in ED, 876 patients were not identified as stroke by paramedics. Sensitivity for identification of stroke was 958/1834 (52.2%). Of 2,096 patients who were identified as stroke by paramedics and had an ED record, 958 patients were identified as stroke by paramedics and in ED. PPV was 958/2096 (45.7%), NPV 99.5% and specificity 99.4%. Paramedics recorded 2 or 3 stroke signs and symptoms in 1,137 (51%) patients.Conclusion A systematic approach is needed to better identify patients with stroke in the prehospital setting.

Abstract Background Limited resources make prevention of complex population-level issues such as obesity increasingly challenging. Collaboration and partnerships between organisations operating in the same system can assist, however, there is a paucity of research into how relationships function at a local level. The aim of this study was to audit initiatives, explore networks, and identify potential opportunities for improving the obesity prevention system in a Health Service area of Western Australia (WA). Methods A mixed-methods study was undertaken in a metropolitan Health Service in Perth, WA in 2019–20. Structured face-to-face interviews (n = 51) were conducted with organisations engaged in obesity prevention, to identify prevention initiatives and their characteristics using a Systems Inventory tool. The Research Team identified the 30 most active organisations during the Systems Inventory, and an online Organisational Network Survey was administered to explore: relationships across six domains; partnership duration; frequency of interaction with other organisations; barriers to implementation; and key contributions to obesity prevention. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise barriers, contributions and Systems Inventory data. Organisational Network Survey data were analysed using social network analysis through UCINET 6 for Windows and Netdraw software. Whole network and cohesion scores were calculated: average degree; density; diameter; and degree centralization. Core-periphery analysis was conducted to identify densely connected core and sparsely connected periphery organisations. Results The Systems Inventory identified 189 unique prevention initiatives, mostly focusing on individual-level behaviour change. Fifty four percent (n = 15) of the Organisational Network Survey respondent organisations and most core organisations (67%, n = 8) were government. The information and knowledge sharing network had a density of 45% indicating a high level of information and knowledge exchange between organisations. The lowest densities were found within the receiving (3.3%), providing (5.5%) and sharing (5.6%) funding networks, suggesting that these formal relationships were the least established. Conclusion Applying a systems thinking lens to local obesity prevention revealed that initiatives conducted focused on individual-level behaviour change and that collaboration and communication between organisations focused on information sharing. Capturing the extent and nature of initiatives and the way partnerships operate to improve obesity prevention can help to identify opportunities to strengthen the networks.

This article makes a case for the everyday while on tour and argues that the ability to continue with everyday routines and social relationships, while at the same time moving through and staying in liminal or atypical zones of tourist locales, is a key part of some kinds of tourist experience. Based on ethnographic field research with grey nomads (retirees who take extended tours of Australia in caravans and motorhomes) everyday life while on tour is examined, specifically the overlap and intersection between the out-of-the-ordinary “tourist zone” and the ordinariness of the “everyday zone.” The “everyday zone” and “tourist zone” can be readily differentiated by their obvious geospatial boundaries (being at home or being away on holiday). More specifically, the “everyday zone” refers to the routines of quotidian life, or the mundane practices which make up our daily, at-home lives. These practices are closely connected with the domestic realm and include consumption practices (clothing, cooking, mass media) and everyday social interactions. The “tourist zone” is similarly concerned with consumption. In this zone, however, tourists are seen to consume places; the culture, landscape, and peoples of exotic or out-of-the-ordinary tourist locales. Needless to say this consumption of place also includes the consumption of services and objects available in the tourist destinations (Urry, “The Consuming of Place” 220). The notion of tourists being away from home has often been contrasted with constructions of home—with the dull routines of everyday life—by social scientists and tourist marketers alike in an effort to illuminate the difference between being “away” and being at “home.” Scott McCabe and Elizabeth Stokoe suggest that peoples’ notion of “home” takes into account the meaning of being away (602). That is to say that when people are away from home, as tourists for example, they often compare and contrast this with the fundamental aspects of living at home. Others, however, argue that with the widespread use of mobile communication technologies, the distinction between the notion of being at “home” and being “away” becomes less clear (White and White 91). In this sense, the notion of home or the everyday is viewed with an eye towards social relationships, rather than any specific geographical location (Jamal and Hill 77–107; Massey 59–69; Urry, “The Tourist Gaze” 2–14; White and White 88–104). It can be argued, therefore, that tourism entails a fusion of the routines and relationships associated with the everyday, as well as the liminal or atypical world of difference. This article is based on semi-structured interviews with 40 grey nomads, as well as four months of ethnographic fieldwork carried out in rural and remote Australia—in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and South Australia. Grey nomads have been part of Australian senior culture for at least four decades. They are a relatively heterogeneous group of tourists encompassing a range of socio-economic backgrounds, preferred activities, health status, and favoured destinations (Davies et al. 40–1; Economic Development Committee 4; Holloway 117–47), as well age cohorts—including the frugal generation (1910–1932), the silent generation (1931–1946), and the baby boomer generation (1946–65). Grey nomads usually tour as spousal couples (Tourism Research Australia 26; Onyx and Leonard 387). Some of these couples live solely on government pensions while others are obviously well-resourced—touring in luxury motorhomes costing well over half a million dollars. Some prefer to bush camp in national parks and other isolated locations, and some choose to stay long term in caravan parks socialising with other grey nomads and the local community. All grey nomads, nonetheless, maintain a particularly close link with the everyday while touring. Mobile communication technologies anchor grey nomads (and other tourists) to the everyday—allowing for ready contact with existing family and friends while on tour. Grey nomads’ mobile dwellings, their caravans and motorhomes, integrate familiar domestic spaces with a touring life. The interior and exterior spaces of these mobile dwellings allow for easy enactment of everyday, domestic routines and the privatised world of adult spousal relationships. This peripatetic form of dwelling, where the dwelling itself accommodates both travel and an everyday domestic life further blurs the distinctions between the “everyday zone” and the “tourist zone”. In this sense grey nomads carry out a lifestyle that is both anchored and mobile; anchored in the everyday domestic life while at the same time being nomadic or geographically unstable. This blurring of the boundaries between the “everyday zone” and “tourist zone” is attractive to senior tourists, offering them a relatively safe and comfortable incursion into tourist locales, where established routines and patterns of everyday life can be maintained. Other homes-away-from-homes such as serviced apartments, holiday homes and house swaps also offer greater connection to the everyday, but are geographically anchored to specific tourism spaces. The caravan or motorhome allows this at-home connection for the peripatetic tourist offsets the relative rigours of outback touring in remote and rural Australia. Everyday Social Relationships in the “Tourist Zone” When tourists go away from home, they are usually thought of as being away from both place (home) and relationships (family and friends). Nowadays, however, being away from home does not necessarily mean being away from family and friends. This is because the ease and speed of today’s telecommunication technologies allows for instantaneous contact with family and friends back home—or the virtual co-presence of family and friends while being away on tour. In the past, those friends and relations who were geographically isolated from each other still enjoyed social contact via letters and telegrams. Such contacts, however, occurred less frequently and message delivery took time. Long distance telephone calls were also costly and therefore used sparingly. These days, telecommunication technologies such as mobile phones and the Internet, as well as the lower cost of landline phone calls, mean that everyday social contact does not need to be put on hold. Keeping in contact is now a comparatively fast, inexpensive, and effortless activity and socialising with distant friends and relatives is now a routine activity (Larsen 24). All grey nomads travel with a mobile phone device, either a digital mobile, Next G or satellite phone (Obst, Brayley and King 8). These phones are used to routinely keep in contact with family and friends, bringing with them everyday familial relationships while on tour. “We ring the girls. We’ve got two daughters. We ring them once a week, although if something happens Debbie [daughter] will ring us” (Teresa). Grey nomads also take advantage of special deals or free minutes when they scheduled weekly calls to family or friends. “I mainly [use] mobile, then I ring, because I’ve got that hour, free hour” (Helen). E-mail is also a favoured way of keeping in contact with family and friends for some grey nomads. This is because the asynchronicity of e-mail interaction is very convenient as they can choose the times when they pick up and send messages. “Oh, thank goodness for the e-mail” (Pat). Maintaining social contact with family and friends at a distance is not necessarily as straightforward as when grey nomads and other tourists are at home. According to discussants in this study and the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee, mobile phone coverage within Australia is still rather patchy when outside major metropolitan areas. Consequently, the everyday task of kin keeping via the phone can be somewhat intermittent, especially for those grey nomads who spend a great deal of time outside major towns in rural and remote Australia. “You can never get much [reception] but [...] they can just ring the mobile and just leave a message and we will get that message [later]” (Rena). Similarly, using the Internet to e-mail family and friends and catch up with online banking can only be carried out when passing through larger towns. “I do it [using the Internet] like every major town we went through. I’d stop and do a set of e-mails and I used to do my banking” (Maureen). The intermittent phone coverage in remote and rural Australia was not always viewed as an inconvenience by discussants in this study. This is because continuing engagement with family and friends while on tour may leave little respite from the ongoing obligations or any difficulties associated with family and friends back home, and encroach on the leisure and relaxation associated with grey nomad touring. “I don’t want the phone to ring […] That’s one thing I can do without, the phone ringing, especially at 4:00 in the morning” (Rena). In this way, too much co-presence, in the form of mobile phone calls from family and friends, can be just as much a nuisance when away from home as when at home—and impinge on the feeling of “being away from it all.” Naomi White and Peter White also suggest that “being simultaneously home and away is not always experienced in a positive light” (98) and at times, continued contact (via the phone) with friends and family while touring is not satisfying or enjoyable because these calls reiterate the “dynamics evident in those that are [usually] geographically proximate” (100). Thus, while mobile communication technologies are convenient tools for grey nomads and other tourists which blur the boundaries between the “everyday zone” and “tourist zones” in useful and pleasurable ways, their overuse may also encroach on tourists’ away time, thus interfering with their sense of solitude and quiescence when touring in remote or rural Australia. The “Everyday Zone” of the Caravan or Motorhome Being a tourist involves “everyday practices, ordinary places and significant others, such as family members and friends, but co-residing and at-a-distance” (Larsen 26). While tourism involves some sense of liminality, in reality, it is interspersed with the actuality of the everyday routines and sociabilities enacted while touring. Tim Edensor notes that; Rather than transcending the mundane, most forms of tourism are fashioned by culturally coded escape attempts. Moreover, although suffused with notions of escape from normativity, tourists carry quotidian habits and responses with them: they are part of the baggage. (61) Grey nomads go further than this by bringing on tour with them a domestic space in which everyday routines and sociabilities are sustained. Travelling in this manner “makes possible, and probably encourages, greater continuity with everyday routine than many other kinds of holiday making” (Southerton et al. 6). To be able to sleep in your own bed with your own pillow and linen, or perhaps travel with your dogs, makes caravanning and motorhoming an attractive touring option for many people. Thus, the use of caravans or motorhomes when travelling brings with it a great deal of mobile domesticity while on tour. The caravan or motorhome is furnished with most of the essentially-domestic objects and technologies to enable grey nomads to sleep, eat, relax, and be entertained in a manner similar to that which they enjoy in the family home, albeit within smaller dimensions. Lorna: We have shower, toilet. We had microwave, stereo. We have air conditioning and heating.Eric: Yeah, reverse cycle air conditioning.Lorna: Reverse cycle. What else do we have?Eric: Hot water service. Gas or 240 volt. 12 volt converter in that, which is real good, it runs your lights, runs everything like that. You just hook it into the main power and it converts it to 12 volt. Roll out awning plus the full annex.Lorna: Full annex. What else do we have? There’s a good size stove in it. The size of caravans and motorhomes means that many domestic tasks often take less time or are simplified. Cleaning the van takes a lot less time and cooking often becomes simplified, due to lack of bench and storage space. Women in particular like this aspect of grey nomad travel. “It is great. Absolutely. You don’t have toilets to clean, you don’t have bathrooms to clean. Cooking your meals are easier because everything is all […] Yeah. It’s more casual” (Sonya). This touring lifestyle also introduces new domestic routines, such as emptying chemical toilets, filling water tanks, towing and parking the van and refilling gas tanks, for example. Nonetheless grey nomads, spend significantly less time on these domestic tasks when they are touring. In this sense, the caravan or motorhome brings with it the comforts and familiarity of home, while at the same time minimising the routine chores involved in domestic life. With the core accoutrements of everyday life available, everyday activities such as doing the dishes, watching television, preparing and eating a meal—as well as individual hobbies and pastimes—weave themselves into a daily life that is simultaneously home and away. This daily life, at home in the caravan or motorhome, brings with it possibilities of a domestic routinised lifestyle—one that provides welcome comfort and familiarity when travelling and a retreat from the demands of sightseeing. On the farm I used to make jam and cakes, so I do it again [in the caravan]. I make jam, I made marmalade a couple of weeks ago. We’d often stay home [in the caravan], I’d just clean or do a bit of painting. (Jenny) Touring in a caravan or motorhome allows for some sense of predictability: that you own and control the private spaces of your own mobile dwelling, and can readily carry out everyday domestic routines and sociabilities. “We go for a long walk. We come back and we see friends and we stop and have a coffee with them, and then you come home in the caravan at 2.30 and you can still have lunch” (Yvonne). Touring in a caravan or motorhome also frees grey nomads from dependence on prearranged tourist experiences such as organised tours or hotel meal times where much of the tourist experience can be regimented. We always went in hotels and you always had to dress up, and you had to eat before a certain time, and you had your breakfast before a certain time. And after 2.30 you can’t have lunch anymore and sometimes we have lunch at 2 o’clock. I like the caravan park [better]. (Donald) Despite the caravan or motorhome having close links with everyday life and the domestic realm, its ready mobility offers a greater sense of autonomy while touring: that you are unfettered, not bound to any specific place or timetable, and can move on at whim. Grey nomads often cross paths with other tourists dependent on guided bus tours. “They go in [to Kakadu] on a bus trip. All they do is go in on the main road, they’re in there for the day and there’re back. That’s absolutely ridiculous” (Vance). This autonomy, or freedom to structure their own tourist experiences, allows grey nomads the opportunity to travel at a leisurely pace. Even those grey nomads who travel to the same northern destination every year take their time and enjoy other tourist locations along the way. We take our time. This time, last time, we did three weeks before we got in [to] Broome. We spent a lot [of time] in Karratha but also in Geraldton. And when we came back, in Kalbarri, [we had] a week in Kalbarri. But it’s nice going up, you know. You go all through the coast, along the coast. (John) Caravan or motorhome use, therefore, provides for a routinised everyday life while at the same time allowing a level of autonomy not evident in other forms of tourism—which rely more heavily on pre-booking accommodation and transport options. These contradictory aspects of grey nomad travel, an everyday life of living in a caravan or motorhome coupled with freedom to move on in an independent manner, melds the “everyday zone” and the “tourist zone” in a manner appealing to many grey nomads. Conclusion Theories of tourism tend to pay little attention to the aspects of tourism that involve recurrent activities and an ongoing connectedness with everyday life. Tourism is often defined: by contrasting it to home geographies and everydayness: tourism is what they are not. [...] The main focus in such research is on the extraordinary, on places elsewhere. Tourism is an escape from home, a quest for more desirable and fulfilling places. (Larsen 21) Nonetheless, tourism involves everyday routines, everyday spaces and an everyday social life. Grey nomads find that mobile phones and the Internet make possible the virtual co-presence of family and friends allowing everyday relationships to continue while touring. Nonetheless, the pleasure of ongoing contact with distant family and friends while touring may at times encroach on the quietude or solitude grey nomads experienced when touring remote and rural Australia. In addition to this, grey nomads’ caravans and motorhomes are equipped with the many comforts and domestic technologies of home, making for the continuance of everyday domiciliary life while on tour, further obfuscating the boundaries between the “tourist zone” and the “everyday zone.” In this sense grey nomads lead a lifestyle that is both anchored and mobile. This anchoring involves dwelling in everyday spaces, carrying out everyday domestic and social routines, as well as maintaining contact with friends and family via mobile communication technologies. This anchoring allows for some sense of predictability: that you own and control the private spaces of your own mobile dwelling, and can readily carry out everyday domestic routines and sociabilities. Conversely, the ready mobility of the caravan or motorhome offers a sense of autonomy: that you are unfettered, not bound to any specific place and can move on at whim. 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