School of Geography - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 9 of 9
-
ItemModern Aboriginal land management: a Victorian perspective( 1999)The aim of this research was to find out what land management activities are being undertaken by Aboriginal communities in Victoria and what barriers these communities face in doing so. Six Victorian Aboriginal communities were contacted and representatives were interviewed about the land management activities undertaken by their communities. Those involved were Ballarat, Framlingham, Healesville, Mildura, Orbost and Swan Hill. Information gathered from these interviews revealed a number of patterns in Victorian Aboriginal land management. First, there is a wide range of land management activities undertaken across the State that have been little documented. In this thesis they are described under these headings: conservation and land management activities; cultural heritage management; environmental and cultural tourism and education; and native title. This research has shown that communities that have title to land or are near areas of national park are likely to be more involved in land management than those surrounded by private property. Secondly, it was found that many of the works undertaken also involve an element of cultural heritage management. Finally the research revealed that Aboriginal land management activities in Victoria are likely to involve modem techniques of land management rather than what might be thought of as 'traditional' methods. This thesis also identifies the barriers that communities face in becoming involved in land management. The main causes are financial, lack of access to land and the lack of employment opportunities in the area land management. Most of these barriers are the result of political decisions and institutional arrangements. This thesis has only scratched the surface of this large issue and should be seen as a starting point. It raises many more questions that need to be asked if Aboriginal communities in Victoria are to realise their goals of managing and caring for the land.
-
ItemDevelopment of a five star Landcare rating system for grazing properties in south west Victoria( 1999)A five star rating system has been developed to reward landholders for managing the physical features of their farm including land, water and vegetation in an environmentally sustainable manner. The Landcare movement largely relies on the goodwill of current land managers to undertake measures to ensure sustainable catchment management for future generations. The five star Landcare rating system has been devised to recognise the efforts of farmers in South West Victoria in working towards sustainable agricultural systems. The system can be adopted by graziers as a benchmarking system for continuous improvement, by local government in rate rebate schemes or used as a product marketing tool. The development of indicators as a measure of catchment health is a relatively new science and most systems developed to date are not practical for regular assessment at a farm level. The five star Landcare rating system uses easily measured and proven indicators that can be used by farmers at a farm scale. The system recognises the requirement for continued research to develop benchmarks for individual resource management units. Over time, measurement of indicators under the system can cumulate into long term measures of environmental outcomes.
-
ItemQuality of life as a business objective( 1999)The main purpose of this study was to design and implement an instrument to measure the success of a company if its objective was to improve the quality of life of the people involved in it. The fundamental premise of the research is that companies, being one of the most important institutions of our time, could be more beneficial to humans if it's main objective was to improve their quality of life instead of the creation of profit and wealth. Throughout the thesis I have given theoretical and empirical evidence to support this idea. To analyse the full implications of such a change would require years of research. Because of this, the present study only seeks to answer the following question: How can the success of a company be assessed if its main objective was to improve the quality of life of the people involved in it? Based on the existing literature on quality of life measures, a questionnaire of 82 items and a report of the company's policies was produced to describe what is the influence of an organisation on its members' quality of life. This instrument was applied to a small Melbourne based company. It proved to be an effective tool to provide the company with the required information. The work done in this thesis has implications at two different levels. First, and perhaps most important, it has questioned the generalised idea that the main objective of a company's activities is to make money. Secondly, a first step has been taken towards the achievement of this change in objectives. There is now a specific instrument to measure the success of a company if its objective was to improve the quality of life of its members.
-
ItemGender, power and leadership: a comparison of male and female managers in Melbourne( 1998)This study is an exploratory research project that investigated the relationship between gender, power and leadership style. A modified version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Rosener, 1990) was used to measure transformational and transactional leadership. A 31 item scale developed by Rosener (1990) was used to measure the five bases of power. The respondents were 18 male and 13 female managers from Melbourne. The median age of the respondents was 30 - 39 years. The majority of the respondents (84%) had tertiary qualifications ranging from a TAFE diploma up to a doctorate. The average number of staff reporting directly to each manager was 10. Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) was used for data analyses and no significant sex differences were found in both leadership style and use of power, p>0.05 for all the factors.
-
ItemTelework and child-care : life stage factors and preference for telework( 1996)Telework is a type of work practice that is claimed will provide many employees the opportunity to more satisfactorily balance their work and family commitments, whilst also providing benefits to employers and society. Past research indicates that telework has so far been mostly taken up by women (Huws et al 1990 p.96; Schneider De Villegas 1990, p.425), and suggests that telework, as practiced overseas has been of particular interest to women with young children (Kraut 1989 Fig.2; DuBrin 1991 p. 1230; Yap & Tng 1990 p.234; Dawson & Turner 1989 pi8; Korte 1988 p.168). The reasons which are proposed by this previous research for the interest which mothers of pre-school children have in teleworking, centre on their need or desire to combine employment with the care of their young children (eg. Huws et al 1990 p.145). It is surprising therefore, that none of these studies have considered the impact of telework on the conventional strategies employed by individuals to accommodate child-care responsibilities. The impetus for this thesis was the passing of the Australian Public Service Home Based Work Interim Award in February 1994, for federal public service employees. The award is Australia's, and possibly the world's, first. Much of the media fanfare surrounding this award has concentrated on the notion that telework provides a good opportunity for women to combine work and child-care (quotes from press articles are provided in Appendix 1). However, the research literature which addresses women and telework is inconclusive as to whether women with young children in Australia will view telework as a superior alternative to their existing child-care options. This gap in the research literature was reflected in a 1989 report by the Department of Employment, Education and Training in Australia (Dawson & Turner 1989 p.64), which recommended that research was required to answer the questions:- "Is increasingly 'flexible' employment protecting and encouraging full and equitable participation by women in the [Australian] workforce? Are there other employment options which should be encouraged?" Given that no empirical research had emerged with which to answer these questions, it seemed appropriate for the present study to review the current situation, and contribute in a practical way to the discourse on telework in Australia. This study therefore aims to explore women's attitudes to telework across life cycle stages (expanding from Huws et al 1990); it explores key factors which are likely to influence demand for telework among women; and it compares preference for telework with preference for other work/no work options (updating Vandenheuval 1991). The sample for the study is restricted to computer professionals (programmers, systems analysts, and data processing managers). This study therefore, does not consider 'clerical teleworking' by clerical/secretarial and data entry staff, but only 'professional teleworking' by higher paid staff. This is a significant point, as the two forms exhibit different characteristics (Tomaskovic-Devey & Risman 1993; DiMartino & Wirth 1990 p.537; Weijers, et al. 1992 p.1049; Huws et al , 1990 p. 176; and Bailyn 1988 p.144). Bailyn (ibid) posits that "some of the confusion in the discussion of working from home has resulted from not clearly differentiating these two types of employees". In respect to this point therefore, the focused approach of this study provides some needed specificity.
-
ItemThe participation of people of non-English speaking backgrounds in SkillShare( 1994)Targeting is the practice of according disadvantaged groups, including people of non-English Speaking Backgrounds, priority access to government services and programs. In 1992, SkillShare, a community based labour market program for long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged groups, withdrew its obligation to target people of non-English Speaking Backgrounds. This thesis investigates the effects of this decision on the participation rates of people of non-English Speaking Backgrounds in SkillShare and explores the implications of denying them priority access. Data collected from the Department of Employment Education and Training, from SkillShare Project Manager interviews, and from SkillShare participant surveys, suggest that participation rates have decreased, while barriers to access have increased. The results of these findings conflict with the Department of Employment Education and Training's renewed statements of commitment towards securing better access to labour market programs for people of non-English Speaking Backgrounds in view of the disproportionately high rate of unemployment experienced by this group.
-
Item
-
ItemThe efficacy of rent assistance : an affordability benchmark in the year 2000?( 1993)No abstract available
-
ItemSpeleothem-based explorations of millennial-scale climate change in southern Australasia( 2018)Understanding the way Earth responds to rapid climate change is critical for understanding future climate scenarios. The best natural examples of rapid climate change are found in millennial-scale climate events recorded in Greenland ice cores over the Last Glacial Period (120-12 ka). These occur concurrently with similarly-paced, gradual warming events recorded in Antarctic ice cores. Understandings of the transition between Greenland-like and Antarctic-like millennial-scale climate events are limited by a lack of appropriate records from the southern mid-latitudes. However, calcite cave formations (speleothems) have the potential to record high-resolution millennial-scale climate change in this region. This study looks at three southern mid-latitude cave sites, develops or improves palaeoclimate reconstructions from each, compares these to external records of millennial-scale climate change, and assesses the suitability of each site for future millennial-scale palaeoclimate reconstructions. Palaeoclimate reconstructions were produced based on U-Th dating, stable isotope analysis and trace element analysis techniques. The first ever high-resolution palaeoclimate record from Naracoorte, Australia from the Last Glacial Period was produced, which suggested that millennial-scale climate change here was influenced by changes in the activity of the southern westerlies. The first ever palaeoclimate record from Wombeyan, Australia was produced, which suggested that millennial-scale climate change here was confounded by both tropical and mid-latitude climate effects. An existing palaeoclimate record from Nettlebed was improved upon and reinterpreted, which supported previous findings that millennial-scale climate in Nettlebed is influenced by the intensity of the southern westerlies. Naracoorte and Nettlebed demonstrated good potential for future millennial-scale palaeoclimate reconstructions, although Naracoorte is limited by a lack of speleothem samples from the Last Glacial Period. Wombeyan demonstrated poor potential for future millennial-scale palaeoclimate reconstructions due to its confounded climate signature, and high U-Th age uncertainties due to low speleothem uranium concentrations. These findings have implications for the future study of millennial-scale climate change, by presenting brand new millennial-scale palaeoclimate reconstructions and demonstrating how future millennial-scale palaeoclimate reconstructions can be developed from a critically under-sampled region.