School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications

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    Media awards for responsible reporting of suicide: Experiences from Australia, Belgium and Denmark
    Dare, AJ ; Andriessen, KAM ; Nordentoft, M ; Meier, M ; Huisman, A ; Pirkis, JE (BMC, 2011-06-03)
    BACKGROUND: Media awards to encourage responsible reporting of suicide have been introduced in several countries, including Australia, Belgium and Denmark. AIMS: This study aimed to examine the experiences of Australian, Belgian and Danish award recipients in preparing stories on suicide, and consider the impacts of the awards for these recipients and for media professionals more broadly. METHOD: We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with the majority (14 out of 15) of past recipients of the awards in the three countries of interest. RESULTS: Media awards appear to show promise as a method of reinforcing national and international media guidelines on reporting suicide. The recipients of awards were proud to have had their achievements recognized in this way, and had developed a heightened awareness of the issues inherent in reporting suicide. Although relatively few had prepared subsequent stories on suicide, a number had been given opportunities to provide advice to other media professionals about how best to approach this sensitive topic. Recipients viewed the awards as an important means by which good quality reporting can be rewarded, and a springboard for raising community awareness about suicide. CONCLUSION: The experience from Australia, Belgium and Denmark suggests that media awards which recognize responsible reporting of suicide are extremely worthwhile.
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    Quasi-Markets and Service Delivery Flexibility Following a Decade of Employment Assistance Reform in Australia
    Considine, M ; Lewis, JM ; O'Sullivan, S (CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS, 2011-10-01)
    In 1998, we were witnessing major changes in frontline social service delivery across the OECD and this was theorised as the emergence of a post-Fordist welfare state. Changes in public management thinking, known as New Public Management (NPM), informed this shift, as did public choice theory. A 1998 study of Australia’s then partially privatised employment assistance sector provided an ideal place to test the impact of such changes upon actual service delivery. The study concluded that frontline staff behaviour did not meet all the expectations of a post-Fordist welfare state and NPM, although some signs of specialisation, flexibility and networking were certainly evident (Considine, 1999). Ten years on, in 2008, frontline staff working in Australia’s now fully privatised employment sector participated in a repeat study. These survey data showed convergent behaviour on the part of the different types of employment agencies and evidence that flexibility had decreased. In fact, in the ten years between the two studies there was a marked increase in the level of routinisation and standardisation on the frontline. This suggests that the sector did not achieve the enhanced levels of flexibility so often identified as a desirable outcome of reform. Rather, agencies adopted more conservative practices over time in response to more detailed external regulation and more exacting internal business methods.
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    Front-line work in employment services after ten years of New Public Management reform: Governance and activation in Australia, the Netherlands and the UK
    Considine, M ; Lewis, JM (Sage Publications, 2010)
    This study examines the impact of administrative reforms upon the work of front-line staff in the employment services of three reform-oriented countries – Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. These changes have involved greater use of private agents, more detailed performance contracts, clearer expectations about outcomes for job-seekers, and increased competition between agencies seeking government work. The study compares the work characteristics and strategies of front-line staff in agencies in the three systems in 2008 and a decade earlier, using surveys. The results show that there are substantial differences in the level of tailoring and investment in these countries. There are three relatively stable modes of governance in these cases and the most stable of these types across countries and across time is what we term the corporate-market mode – more generally labelled New Public Management (NPM). Despite the expectations of theorists and of reformers, the role of network governance proves neither as stable nor as generalised as expected.
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    Population ageing in a globalizing labour market: Implications for older workers
    Taylor, P ; Jorgensen, B ; Watson, E (Informa UK Limited, 2010-07-01)
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    Walking to wellness in an ageing sedentary university community: Design, method and protocol
    Mackey, MG ; Bohle, P ; Taylor, P ; Di Biase, T ; McLoughlin, C ; Purnell, K (ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC, 2011-03)
    BACKGROUND: Older workers are less physically active and have a higher rate and cost of injury than younger workers and so have reduced work-ability. Concurrently, sedentary behaviour in the workplace, in transport and in the home is increasing and has harmful health effects. Walking is a familiar, convenient, and free form of health-enhancing physical activity that can be integrated into working life and sustained into older age however workplace walking programs targeted at older workers have not been evaluated. PURPOSE: We designed a randomised-controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a phased individually-tailored 10-week walking program on work-day steps, health status and work-ability of employees at an Australian university with an ageing sedentary workforce. METHODS: A convenience sample of 154 academic and administrative employees aged 45-70 years will be recruited and randomly allocated to either an experimental (walking) group or control (maintain usual activity) group. Participants will be provided with a pedometer and complete measures for step count, % body fat, waist circumference, blood pressure, self-reported physical activity, psychological wellbeing and work-ability, at baseline and end-intervention. 'Walkers' will select approaches tailored to their individual preference, psychological characteristics or life circumstances. Two distinct intervention phases will target adoption (weeks 2-5) and adherence (weeks 7-12) using 'Stages of Behaviour Change' principles. An ANOVA will test for effect of treatment on outcome with the baseline value entered as a covariate. DISCUSSION: This study will test whether tailoring worksite walking is an effective means of promoting health-enhancing physical activity in ageing sedentary workers.
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    Older workers and organizational change: corporate memory versus potentiality
    Taylor, P ; Brooke, L ; McLoughlin, C ; Di Biase, T ; Shultz, K (EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LIMITED, 2010)
    Purpose Drawing on the recent work of Sennett and others who considered the position of older workers in dynamic economies subject to rapid change, this paper aims to examine the perceived fit between employees of different ages and their employing organizations in four Australian workplaces. Design/methodology/approach Analysis of qualitative data, collected among workers and managers in four Australian organizations, was performed. Findings Results suggests that potentiality tended to be prized as an asset over corporate memory. While managers were frequently paternalistic towards their older employees, ageing human capital was often devalued as managers tried to balance operational budgets and organizations sought to remain responsive to changing market demands. Originality/value The paper discusses the implications for the prolongation of working lives.
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    North by North West Cape: Eyes on China
    TANTER, R (Nautilus Institute, 2010)
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    Racial Boundaries among Latinos: Evidence from Internet Daters’ Racial Preferences
    LEE, R ; Feliciano, C ; Robnett, B (University of California Press, 2011)
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    Convenient Labels, Inaccurate Representations: Turning Southern Sudanese Refugees into ‘African-Australians
    PHILLIPS, M (The African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific., 2011-12-01)
    This article critiques the label ‘African-Australian,’ which has been widely adopted in both popular and academic discourse without critical attention to its relevance and impact. The blanket application of the label ‘African-Australian’ to new entrants from Southern Sudan in particular, as well as refugees and migrants in general, homogenises their experiences and must be unpacked. Doing this requires consideration of two inter-linked aspects; the meaningfulness of Africa as a label and the impact of imposed bureaucratic labels.
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