Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abela Mahimbo, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, University of Technology Sydney

Health outcomes for refugees and people with humanitarian visas are far worse than the general Australian population. They are more likely to self-report long-term conditions, including diabetes (80% higher), kidney disease (80%), stroke (40%) and dementia (30%).

Among hospitalisations for refugees and humanitarian migrants, one in 14 are for potentially preventable conditions. New data shows that when it comes to COVID, they are five times more likely than permanent migrants to be hospitalised.

And those who’ve been held for long periods in immigration detention shoulder significant health-care costs – an estimated 50% higher than other asylum seekers.

Why is the health of refugees and humanitarian entrants so much worse than the rest of the country? And what can we do about it?

Higher risk of physical and mental health issues

Health is a fundamental human right. But refugees and humanitarian entrants in Australia face multiple challenges that limit their ability to fully enjoy this right.

Compared with the rest of the population, people in Australia who hold humanitarian visas are at a higher risk of physical and mental health issues. Factors contributing to this are complex, interrelated and interconnected.

People fleeing persecution are more likely to have experienced significant human rights violations, torture and trauma, which impacts their mental health and wellbeing.

While in exile, they are also likely to have experienced precarious living conditions with limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as food insecurity and limited access to basic health care.

These can lead to significant health issues. The most common include:

• mental illnesses
• nutritional deficiencies
• infectious diseases
• under-immunisation
• poor oral and eye health
• poorly managed chronic diseases
• delayed growth and development in children.

These conditions may require immediate care or long-term management – or both.

One study measured the burden of mental health diseases – such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – on refugees and humanitarian migrants in Australia over five years. It found more than 34% had either PTSD or elevated psychological distress.

Persistent mental illness was associated with loneliness, discrimination, insecure housing, financial hardship and chronic health conditions.

3 gaps for refugees

People from refugee backgrounds have unique health and cultural beliefs, practices, and needs that are often not well understood by health-care providers. These unique needs can affect the quality of care they receive.

1. Language barriers

Most refugees and humanitarian entrants have limited English proficiency and some have limited written literacy in their own languages.

This can make navigating health-care settings a challenge. Difficulties understanding diagnoses, treatment options, and the need for follow-up can especially complicate chronic health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which need ongoing monitoring and treatment.

While the government funds translating and interpreting services, research shows they are often underused and inefficient. Accessing interpreting for smaller or emerging groups can also be more challenging, as services tend to cater to established language groups.

Language barriers can also limit job opportunities and lead to financial pressure, with a ripple effect in overall health and wellbeing.

2. Health literacy

Health literacy is the ability to access, understand and use health information to make more informed decisions about our health. It is linked to improved self-reported health status, lower health-care costs, increased health knowledge, and reduced hospitalisation.

Some refugees and humanitarian entrants have limited health literacy, associated with poor health outcomes.

A study we undertook during the early stages of the pandemic with Arabic, Karen, Dari and Dinka-speaking refugees showed participants with lower health literacy were less willing to receive COVID vaccines. Their scepticism about the vaccine and the virus was further affirmed by conspiracy theories and misinformation online.

3. Continuity of care

Patients from refugee backgrounds can fall through the cracks when services are not well coordinated or can’t be followed up.

For example, Australia’s National Immunisation Program schedule for children is very comprehensive compared with other countries. But many childhood vaccinations require multiple doses over time. When the need for follow-up appointments is not communicated properly – or recall systems aren’t culturally appropriate – they may be missed.

Looking to the future

Improving health and wellbeing for refugees and humanitarian entrants is complex. We need strong foreign policy that promotes stability and basic services overseas, as well as humanitarian aid for crises.

In Australia, non-medical factors also influence health outcomes. They include housing, secure employment, working conditions, social inclusion, safety from discrimination and general literacy, as well as health literacy.

We need to recognise and draw on the protective factors that are strongly linked to the health and wellbeing of people from refugee backgrounds. These include things such as social connectedness, resilience, a sense of belonging and identity, and adapting to a new culture.

We need further research into what helps and hinders refugee health and wellbeing. It must involve people of refugee backgrounds, community organisations and academic institutions.

Our health-care services need to be responsive, sensitive and inclusive. This is imperative in meeting the unique cultural and social needs of people of refugee backgrounds.

Abela Mahimbo receives funding from NHMRC.

Andrew Hayen receives funding from the NHMRC, MRFF and UNICEF.

Angela Dawson receives funding from NHMRC and the Department of Health and Aged Care

– ref. Refugees in Australia are miles behind in health and wellbeing outcomes. Here’s why – https://theconversation.com/refugees-in-australia-are-miles-behind-in-health-and-wellbeing-outcomes-heres-why-235652

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Stubbs, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney

Endometriosis is a condition that affects women and girls. It occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus ends up in other areas of the body. These areas include the ovaries, bladder, bowel and digestive tract.

Endometriosis will affect nearly one million Australian women and girls in their lifetime. Many high-profile Australians are affected by endometriosis including Bindi Irwin, Sophie Monk and former Yellow Wiggle, Emma Watkins.

Symptoms of endometriosis include intense pelvic, abdominal or low back pain (that is often worse during menstruation), bladder and bowel problems, pain during sex and infertility.

But women and girls wait an average of seven years to receive a diagnosis. Many are living with the burden of endometriosis and not receiving treatments that could improve their quality of life. This includes physiotherapy.

How is endometriosis treated?

No treatments cure endometriosis. Symptoms can be reduced by taking medications such as non-steriodal anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen, aspirin or naproxen) and hormonal medicines.

Surgery is sometimes used to diagnose endometriosis, remove endometrial lesions, reduce pain and improve fertility. But these lesions can grow back.

Whether they take medication or have surgery, many women and girls continue to experience pain and other symptoms.

Pelvic health physiotherapy is often recommended as a non-drug management technique to manage endometriosis pain, in consultation with a gynaecologist or general practitioner.

The goal of physiotherapy treatment depends on the symptoms but is usually to reduce and manage pain, improve ability to do activities, and ultimately improve quality of life.

What could you expect from your first appointment?

Physiotherapy management can differ based on the severity and location of symptoms. Prior to physical tests and treatments, your physiotherapist will comprehensively explain what is going to happen and seek your permission.

They will ask questions to better understand your case and specific needs. These will include your age, weight, height as well as the presence, location and intensity of symptoms.

You will also be asked about the history of your period pain, your first period, the length of your menstrual cycle, urinary and bowel symptoms, sexual function and details of any previous treatments and tests.

They may also assess your posture and movement to see how your muscles have changed because of the related symptoms.

They will press on your lower back and pelvic muscles to spot painful areas (trigger points) and muscle tightness.

If you consent to a vaginal examination, the physiotherapist will use one to two gloved fingers to assess the area inside and around your vagina. They will also test your ability to coordinate, contract and relax your pelvic muscles.

What type of treatments could you receive?

Depending on your symptoms, your physiotherapist may use the following treatments:

General education

Your physiotherapist will give your details about the disease, pelvic floor anatomy, the types of treatment and how these can improve pain and other symptoms. They might teach you about the changes to the brain and nerves as a result of being in long-term pain.

They will provide guidance to improve your ability to perform daily activities, including getting quality sleep.

If you experience pain during sex or difficulty using tampons, they may teach you how to use vaginal dilators to improve flexibility of those muscles.

Pelvic muscle exercises

Pelvic muscles often contract too hard as a result of pain. Pelvic floor exercises will help you contract and relax muscles appropriately and provide an awareness of how hard muscles are contracting.

This can be combined with machines that monitor muscle activity or vaginal pressure to provide detailed information on how the muscles are working.

Yoga, stretching and low-impact exercises

Yoga, stretching and low impact aerobic exercise can improve fitness, flexibility, pain and blood circulation. These have general pain-relieving properties and can be a great way to contract and relax bigger muscles affected by long-term endometriosis.

These exercises can help you regain function and control with a gradual progression to perform daily activities with reduced pain.

Hydrotherapy (physiotherapy in warm water)

Performing exercises in water improves blood circulation and muscle relaxation due to the pressure and warmth of the water. Hydrotherapy allows you to perform aerobic exercise with low impact, which will reduce pain while exercising.

However, while hydrotherapy shows positive results clinically, scientific studies to show its effectiveness studies are ongoing.

Manual therapy

Women frequently have small areas of muscle that are tight and painful (trigger points) inside and outside the vagina. Pain can be temporarily reduced by pressing, massaging or putting heat on the muscles.

Physiotherapists can teach patients how to do these techniques by themselves at home.

What does the evidence say?

Overall, patients report positive experiences pelvic health physiotherapists treatments. In a study of 42 women, 80% of those who received manual therapy had “much improved pain”.

In studies investigating yoga, one study showed pain was reduced in 28 patients by an average of 30 points on a 100-point pain scale. Another study showed yoga was beneficial for pain in all 15 patients.

But while some studies show this treatment is effective, a review concluded more studies were needed and the use of physiotherapy was “underestimated and underpublicised”.

What else do you need to know?

If you have or suspect you have endometriosis, consult your gynaecologist or GP. They may be able to suggest a pelvic health physiotherapist to help you manage your symptoms and improve quality of life.

As endometriosis is a chronic condition you may be entitled to five subsidised or free sessions per calendar year in clinics that accept Medicare.

If you go to a private pelvic health physiotherapist, you won’t need a referral from a gynaecologist or GP. Physiotherapy rebates can be available to those with private health insurance.

The Australian Physiotherapy Association has a Find a Physio section where you can search for women’s and pelvic physiotherapists. Endometriosis Australia also provides assistance and advice to women with Endometriosis.

Thanks to UTS Masters students Phoebe Walker and Kasey Collins, who are researching physiotherapy treatments for endometriosis, for their contribution to this article.

Professor Caroline Wanderley Souto Ferreira is affiliated with Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (Federal University of Pernambuco)-Brazil. She is a professor of women’s health physiotherapy for undergraduate and graduate students.

Peter Stubbs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Thinking about trying physiotherapy for endometriosis pain? Here’s what to expect – https://theconversation.com/thinking-about-trying-physiotherapy-for-endometriosis-pain-heres-what-to-expect-236328

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Intifar Chowdhury, Lecturer in Government, Flinders University

When Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled in the face of a mass uprising last week, a power vacuum was left in the 170 million-person country.

After Hasina left the country, the army took over and swiftly established an interim government to steer Bangladesh towards free and fair elections within three months.

Amid hopes for genuine societal reform, however, people are still wary. Is the three-month timeline sufficient to transform a politically fraught Bangladesh into a substantive democracy that can resist sliding back into autocracy?

Bangladesh at a critical juncture

For the past 15 years, heavy-handed, one-party rule in Bangladesh has squeezed opposition parties out of the political system and deprived citizens of true democracy.

The breaking point came when nationwide, student-led protests against an unfair government job quota transformed into a defiant movement to oust Hasina.

The 84-year-old Nobel laureate and entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus has now been appointed head of the transitional government, bringing much-needed credibility and economic expertise to a fragile moment.

The interim government also includes rights activists, professors, lawyers, former government officials and prominent members of Bangladesh’s civil society. Promisingly, it includes two 26-year-old student leaders – Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud. This move elevates young voices to a position of political decision-making.

Previously sidelined parties are getting back in the game, as well, such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party. The public, however, has little appetite for these old players.

And the country that the interim government inherits is far from stable. High inflationary pressures, endemic corruption and the undermining of democratic institutions have left Bangladesh in an economic mess.

On the security front, Hasina’s departure has unleashed a wave of violence, with attacks on Bangladesh’s Hindu minority population, in addition to looting and arson attacks around the country.

Yunus now shoulders the weight of a nation’s hopes, facing monumental expectations of uniting a fractured society, restoring the economy and reestablishing law and order.

Caretaker government: toothless or transformative?

The interim government will likely try to steer the country towards significant constitutional reform, either by drafting a new constitution or amending the existing one.

But the very existence of an interim government – let alone exercising power to amend the constitution – is unconstitutional in and of itself.

Following the 15th constitutional amendment enacted in 2011, the current constitution no longer provides for caretaker governments. This creates a legal paradox, even though the interim government’s role in addressing the current crisis is widely seen as necessary.

Another critical decision facing the caretaker regime is when to hold elections. The constitution mandates a three-month deadline, but if the interim government rushes into an election, it likely won’t begin to resolve any of the underlying issues that led to the protests.

Legal experts have recommended delaying the elections to allow more time for essential political reforms.

One of the most vital tasks is restoring the independence of vital institutions, including the election commission.

Under Hasina, the parliament acted merely as a rubber stamp, the civil service and judiciary were deeply politicised and the media and civil society were tightly controlled. While some institutions may quickly thrive in a more open environment, others will bear the scars of the past for years.

Amtul Chowdhury, a 28-year-old lawyer in District and Session Judges Court in Chittagong, told me the interim government shouldn’t be bound by the existing constitution. She views it as a problematic document in need of reform – a task the caretaker government lacks the parliamentary power to enact.

Instead of rushing to call an election within 90 days, the focus should be on restoring law and order, freeing the judiciary from political biases, and ensuring its independence to uphold the rule of law. Right now, the judicial system is rotten.

According to Chowdhury, more time is required to create space for new, visionary political parties to emerge.

If our only choices are the old political parties we’re unhappy with, there will never be any real reform.

Looking forward

Bangladesh has seen this cycle of political turmoil before – autocrats or governments forced out by popular uprisings, only to be replaced by regimes that ultimately fail to meet public expectations.

What is different this time around is the student-led movement was not carried out under the banner of a specific political party; its success was due to the neutrality and participation of all people.

As a student protester in the capital Dhaka told me,

After years of irregularities imposed by previous governments, rebuilding a progressive and fair system would require intensive support and collaboration among both the interim government and citizens of Bangladesh. [We need] to unlearn the toxic process that has been existing for decades and to relearn healthy and constructive ways of life for the betterment of our country.

Much of the transition to a substantive democracy will rely on the powerful sense of solidarity, hope and civic consciousness that the country’s youth has been embracing.

However, the challenges facing this generation are immense. The interim government, and any future leadership, must address the growing inequality in society and lack of employment opportunities for young people.

With nearly 40% of the population under 18, there is a pressing need to turn this demographic into an asset rather than a burden. Continued investment in the country’s youth is also essential for the government to move away from its past autocratic tendencies. And there’s no doubt that young people, given the chance, will give back to their country.

As my niece Arnaz Tariq, who is a 20-year-old Bangladeshi student at Mississippi State University in the US, told me:

The interim government needs to realise that since 1971, Bangladesh hasn’t really listened to its youth. We are ready to speak our minds, to be heard, and to be part of change-making. Our generation is connected to the world – we know the dream of a better government isn’t just a fantasy.

We have ideas that are in step with global standards, ideas that could transform our country into a place where the youth want to build their future, and not seek it elsewhere. The dream is to reform Bangladesh, not to leave it.

Intifar Chowdhury does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. ‘The dream is to reform Bangladesh’: can a new leader steer the country towards democracy? – https://theconversation.com/the-dream-is-to-reform-bangladesh-can-a-new-leader-steer-the-country-towards-democracy-236678

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

Former prime minister Paul Keating has launched a war of words against veteran US Democratic politician Nancy Pelosi, after she accused him of making a “stupid” comment.

The exchange began with Keating last week telling the ABC’s 7.30 that “Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest” and it was “Chinese real estate”.

Pelosi, a former speaker of the US House of Representatives, said Keating’s claim about Taiwan was “ridiculous”. She told the ABC:

It is not Chinese real estate and he should know that. Taiwan is Taiwan and it is the people of Taiwan who have a democracy there. I think that that was a stupid statement… I don’t know what his connection is to China that he would say such a thing. But it is really not in the security interest of the Asia-Pacific region for people to talk that way.

In a Tuesday statement headed “Pot calling the kettle black”, Keating slammed Pelosi’s claim that his comment was not in the security interest of the region, and harked back to her controversial visit to Taiwan, which at the time escalated China–US tensions.

“This is from the former leader of the US House of Representatives who, in a recklessly indulgent visit to Taiwan in 2022, very nearly brought the United States and China to a military confrontation – for the first time since the Second World War,” Keating said.

“Pelosi had to be warned by her president, Joe Biden, and with him, the Pentagon, of the military risks of her visit… But this is the same Nancy Pelosi who thinks my remarks about ‘One China’ – a policy which the whole world recognises as one country, China and Taiwan – are in some way out of line.”

Keating said both the US and Australia subscribed to the “One China” policy and had done so for decades.

“Both our countries believe it is in no one’s interest for Taiwan to be subject of some sort of violent takeover. This is why I said on 7.30 last week that Chinese and Taiwanese interests will get resolved socially and politically over time. That’s what will happen there.”

Keating said that in being asked “a truncated question by 7.30”, Pelosi would have been unaware he’d also said Taiwan “will get resolved socially and politically over time … between the two parties, without the need of confrontation or violence”.

Keating said in making public comment, he represented Australia’s national interests, not those of the US, or the interests of Taiwan.

“I have remarked a number of times that so-called democratic choices by
Taiwan are not central or interests vital to Australia any more than say, the absence of democratic forms in countries like Cambodia or Laos are vital to Australia.”

In a swipe at the ABC, Keating said the national broadcaster “would do better to represent Australian strategic interests when it has the opportunity, rather than being excited by sensationalist comment from a person who shares not a jot of identity with Australian national interests”.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Paul Keating takes on Nancy Pelosi, after she accused him of ‘ridiculous’ comment about Taiwan – https://theconversation.com/paul-keating-takes-on-nancy-pelosi-after-she-accused-him-of-ridiculous-comment-about-taiwan-236691

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marcus Harmes, Professor in Pathways Education, University of Southern Queensland

Nuns are a staple of pop culture. Think of The Sound of Music (1965), Sister Act (1992), The Nun’s Story (1959), The Bells of St Mary’s (1945), Heaven Knows Mr. Allison (1957) and Black Narcissus (1947).

Last year brought us The Nun II (following 2018’s The Nun), The New Boy, Deliver Us and Sister Death. This year, we’ve had Immaculate and The First Omen. Most of this current crop are horror films or dark dramas – a long way from the wholesomeness of the postulant (or trainee-nun) Maria in the Sound of Music, the upbeat singing of Sister Act, or the knockabout comedy of Nuns on the Run (1990).

But away from the silver screen, we are seeing the disappearance of nuns.

Nuns are vanishing in two ways. Many no longer wear a habit, opting instead for conservative everyday clothing, a shift prompted by the modernising Second Vatican Council. Nuns now pass unrecognised in the community, rather than being marked out by a habit.

The other way is that there are simply not many nuns left, especially in the western world in countries such as the United States, and most of those who remain are in their 80s.

So why are we so perennially fascinated by nuns on film?

A dying vocation

In 2020, there were about 650,000 women in Catholic religious orders around the world – down 100,000 from just ten years earlier.

It was famously said of the Irish that every family had at least one nun in it: in Ireland, there were more than 13,000 nuns in the 1960s. There are now less than 4,000, and they have an average age of over 80.

Since 1965, the number of nuns in the United States has fallen by 65%. In Australia there were over 14,000 nuns in 1966, but now only 3,500.

But you would not notice that decline in cinema.

The meeting of nuns and horror

In Immaculate, Sydney Sweeney battled depravity and defilement in an isolated convent. In Consecration, a young doctor finds murder and conspiracy in (once again) an isolated convent.

Nuns in horror films are not anything new.

Nuns have been characters in horror cinema since 1922 when the famous silent movie Haxen appeared.

The roots are even deeper and 17th and 18th century literature. Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun (1689) and Matthew Lewis’s The Monk (1796) linked nuns with murder, bigamy, kidnap and satanism, among other themes.

Horror classics (and some not so classic) such as The Devils (1971), The Omen (1976, and remade in 2006), Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) and The Killer Nun (1979) have kept nuns and horror together.

Why are nuns still so darkly fascinating, even though real nuns are now small groups of elderly women? And why are so many filmmakers turning to horror to tell stories about nuns?

One reason is the age-old fascination with the inner world and inner lives of nuns. While few religious sisters wear the dark habit, in cinema the habit is indispensable.

With their bodies encased in dark habits, and their lives enveloped in enclosed convents, voyeurism and horror find a natural meeting place in nuns.

The creative desire to look inside the cloistered world of nuns is not always sensationalist. The acclaimed Australian miniseries Brides of Christ (1991) was a sensitive account of the inner spiritual and institutional lives of nuns. But recent films like Consecration and Immaculate show filmmakers are fascinated by nuns as a source of exploitation, showing them as violated and sexual objects.

Narratives around nuns have shifted.

In the 1960s and 1970s, especially, nuns in popular culture were sunny and wholesome (such as Maria in The Sound of Music or Sister Bertrille in the 1960s sitcom The Flying Nun), or a reassuring presence (like the singing nun in 1974’s Airport 1975).

In years since, the world has learned more about events that took place inside convents after survivors came forward and investigative journalists uncovered a range of scandals in America, Ireland, Australia and elsewhere.

These events were then dramatised in films such as The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and Philomena (2013), which mark a decisive turn away from wholesome and happy nuns to convents as places of abuse and neglect, especially of babies and young women.

This darker turn in nun films is based on the true horror of abuse, not the supernatural horrors of Consecration and Immaculate. But both types of horror – the reality of abuse and the fantasy of the supernatural – are at odds with what nuns should be: holy, spiritual and pure.

This contrast is irresistible to filmmakers and results in striking themes and visuals.

Some orders of nuns are becoming extinct – but for now they live on in our popular culture.

But what we see is disconnected from reality. Nuns in full habits and gothic convents in film are not like the plain clothed nuns of reality, who are more likely to be found in a community centre than a creepy old convent.

But these dark fantasies are deeply embedded in our cultural imagination and have endured despite drastic real world changes in the Church. The number of nuns continues to dwindle. It is quite possible that, in the future, the only nuns we will ever see are these cinematic sisters.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Nuns are a staple on the Hollywood screen – even as they disappear from real life. What’s behind our timeless obsession? – https://theconversation.com/nuns-are-a-staple-on-the-hollywood-screen-even-as-they-disappear-from-real-life-whats-behind-our-timeless-obsession-235662

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Bower, Associate Professor in Zoology and Ecology, University of New England

Australia’s unique biodiversity is under siege. The national list of species threatened with extinction is growing, with eight animals and five plants added just last month.

Among them is the pig-nosed turtle, a peculiar creature found in catchments of the Northern Territory. Once teeming with life, these seasonal floodplains are now fragmented and degraded from land clearing, water extraction and feral animals.

The crisis facing the pig-nosed turtle is a microcosm of the broader challenges confronting Australia’s wildlife. A staggering 2,224 species and ecological communities are currently threatened with extinction, with turtles among the most vulnerable.

The survival of the pig-nosed turtle and countless other species depends on our ability to act decisively. By prioritising environmental protection and making sustainable choices, we can ensure a future in which Australia’s unique biodiversity thrives.

More endearing features of the pig-nosed turtle

The pig-nosed turtle is the last of its kind. It is the only remaining species in its family.

The species is found in the tropical northern rivers of Australia and the southern rivers of New Guinea.

Its peculiarities are not confined to its strange nose. The top of its shell is covered with skin, which means it is more delicate than most turtles. It can even get sunburnt.

Most freshwater turtles simply have paws with webbed fingers, whereas sea turtles have flippers with fused bones. But pig-nosed turtles are different again, with flippers mostly made of elongated fingers. This makes them the bats of the turtle world.

Mother turtles lay eggs in the sandy bank beside the water and then leave them alone. When the water level rises and the eggs are swamped, the baby turtles hatch out explosively.

Species such as these unique turtles are culturally important and have been part of First Nations culture for thousands of years. So their decline represents a loss not just for the environment but also for Australia’s cultural heritage.

Turtle troubles

In the Northern Territory, pig-nosed turtle populations have very low genetic diversity. This makes them highly susceptible to threats such as diseases.

Their range is already restricted to relatively few locations, leaving them more at risk from disturbances.

Along with climate change, damage to nesting areas by Asian water buffalo and cattle, and the possible future threats of disease and water extraction, these factors all contributed to the new listing of pig-nosed turtles as vulnerable to extinction.

Climate change has already altered flood patterns, contributing to a decline in habitat quality. But it threatens to make the turtle’s existence even more perilous in the future, because temperature during egg incubation determines a hatchling’s sex. If it’s too warm, they all become female.

We have previously reported on the threatened species listing process including particular challenges for freshwater turtles in Australia. We noted the pig-nosed turtle’s dependence on continuous water flows, even in the dry season. This is threatened by development of Australia’s northern rivers.

Until recently, Australia recognised eight (32%) of its 25 freshwater turtle species as threatened with extinction. But we believe almost half (48%) of all Australian freshwater turtle species now meet the criteria for listing as threatened with extinction under Commonwealth legislation.

Unfortunately there are some species for which no scientific research has been done, and others for which we simply don’t have enough data to evaluate their status adequately. So the true number of threatened species could be greater still.

Conservation efforts undone by weak environmental laws

Citizen science initiatives such as the 1 Million Turtles Community Conservation Program show that Australians care deeply about turtles and are willing to contribute to their survival.

People all over Australia are rescuing turtles from roads and creating islands to protect turtle eggs from foxes. Building on this enthusiasm, we can create a powerful movement to protect these iconic animals.

But the progress of conservation programs can be easily undone if we don’t put better legislation in place to protect our wildlife.

How we can turn things around

Australia has the worst mammal extinction record in the world. We cannot afford to repeat this mistake with our turtles, frogs or other unique wildlife. And yet the number of threatened species continues to grow, pushing us further from the “zero extinctions” goal.

The pig-nosed turtle was added to the threatened species list along with three freshwater fish, three lizards, one frog, one rainforest tree, two flowering shrubs, a daisy and an orchid species. That brings the total to 661 animals, 1,457 plants and 106 ecological communities.

Current environmental laws are clearly inadequate. Tougher penalties for habitat destruction, more investment in conservation, and greater efforts to tackle climate change will be crucial if we are to halt and reverse species decline.

Australia has an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to protecting natural and cultural heritage. This will require a collaborative effort involving governments, scientists, Indigenous communities and the public. It’s not too late for our beloved pig-nosed turtle, but the window of opportunity is closing.

Deborah Bower receives government funding from New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and the Commonwealth. She is employed by the University of New England and a principal investigator of the 1 Million Turtles citizen science program.

Carla Eisemberg receives funding from the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Government.

Ricky Spencer receives funding from ARC, Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, WIRES and Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife

– ref. The plight of the pig-nosed turtle, one of the unlucky 13 added to Australia’s threatened species list – https://theconversation.com/the-plight-of-the-pig-nosed-turtle-one-of-the-unlucky-13-added-to-australias-threatened-species-list-236411

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Krumholz, Professor, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University

When my colleagues and I set to work on a century-old cosmic mystery, we found an unexpected celestial laboratory in Terzan 5, a dense star cluster currently plunging through our galaxy at breakneck speed.

This stellar oddity has allowed us to study the behaviour of cosmic rays – high-energy particles whose erratic paths through space have baffled astronomers since their discovery in 1912.

By observing radiation produced by Terzan 5’s cosmic rays, we’ve achieved a scientific first: measuring how quickly these particles change direction due to fluctuations in interstellar magnetic fields. Our research is published today in Nature Astronomy.

Fast-moving radiation from outer space

Cosmic rays are something no one expected to be there. When radioactivity was first discovered in the 1890s, scientists thought all sources of radiation were on Earth.

But in 1912, Austrian-American physicist Victor Hess measured the ambient radiation level in a high-altitude balloon and discovered it was much higher than at ground level, even during an eclipse when the Sun was blocked. This meant the radiation had to be coming from space.

Today we know the mysterious radiation Hess discovered as cosmic rays: atomic nuclei and elementary particles such as protons and electrons that have somehow been accelerated to nearly the speed of light. These particles zip through interstellar space, and thanks to their high energies a small fraction of them can penetrate the upper atmosphere, as Hess discovered.

But we cannot easily tell where they come from. Cosmic rays are charged particles, which means their direction of travel changes when they encounter a magnetic field.

The staticky picture of the cosmic ray cosmos

The magnetic deflection effect provides the basic technology for old cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and televisions, which use it to steer electrons toward the screen to create a picture. Interstellar space is full of magnetic fields, and those fields are constantly fluctuating, deflecting cosmic rays in random directions – sort of like a broken CRT in an old TV that only shows static.

So instead of cosmic rays coming straight to us from their source like light does, they wind up spreading out almost uniformly across the galaxy. Here on Earth we see them coming almost equally from all directions in the sky.

While we now understand this general picture, most of the details are missing. The uniformity of cosmic rays across the sky tells us that cosmic ray directions randomly change, but we have no good way of measuring how fast this process happens.

Nor do we understand the ultimate source of the magnetic fluctuations. Or we didn’t, until now.

Terzan 5 and the displaced gamma rays

That’s where Terzan 5 comes in. This star cluster is a copious producer of cosmic rays, because it contains a large population of rapidly rotating, incredibly dense and magnetised stars called millisecond pulsars – which accelerate cosmic rays up to extremely high speeds.

These cosmic rays don’t make it all the way to Earth, thanks to those fluctuating magnetic fields. However, we can see a telltale sign of their presence: some of the cosmic rays collide with photons of starlight and convert them into high-energy uncharged particles called gamma rays.

The gamma rays travel in the same direction as the cosmic ray that created them, but unlike the cosmic rays, the gamma rays are not deflected by magnetic fields. They can travel in a straight line and reach Earth.

Because of this effect, we often see gamma rays coming from powerful sources of cosmic rays. But in Terzan 5, for some reason the gamma rays don’t exactly line up with the positions of the stars. Instead, they seem to be coming from a region about 30 light-years away, where there is no obvious source.

A galactic-scale ‘comet’

This displacement has been an unexplained curiosity since it was discovered in 2011, until we came up with an explanation.

Terzan 5 is close to the centre of our galaxy today, but it isn’t always. The star cluster is actually moving in a very wide orbit that keeps it far off the plane of the galaxy most of the time.

It just happens to be plunging through the galaxy right now. Because this plunge takes place at hundreds of kilometres per second, the cluster sweeps up a cloak of magnetic fields around itself, like the tail of a comet plunging through the solar wind.

Cosmic rays launched by the cluster initially travel along the tail. We don’t see any of the gamma rays these cosmic rays produce, because the tail isn’t pointed directly at us – these gamma rays are beamed along the tail and away from us.

And here is where the magnetic fluctuations come in. If the cosmic rays stayed well-aligned with the tail, we would never see them, but thanks to magnetic fluctuations their directions start to change.

Eventually, some of them start to point toward us, producing gamma rays we can see. But this takes roughly 30 years, which is why the gamma rays don’t seem to be coming from the cluster itself.

By the time enough of them are pointing at us for their gamma rays to be bright enough to be visible, they have travelled 30 light-years down the magnetic tail of the cluster.

Cosmic rays and interstellar magnetic fields

So thanks to Terzan 5, for the first time we have been able to measure how long it takes magnetic fluctuations to change cosmic ray directions. We can use this information to test theories for how interstellar magnetic fields work and where their fluctuations come from.

This brings us a big step closer to understanding the mysterious radiation from space discovered by Hess more than 100 years ago.

Mark Krumholz receives funding from the Australian Research Council and supercomputer time from the National Computational Infrastructure (Australia), the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre (Australia), and the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (USA).

– ref. A galactic ‘comet’ called Terzan 5 just illuminated a 100-year-old puzzle about cosmic rays – https://theconversation.com/a-galactic-comet-called-terzan-5-just-illuminated-a-100-year-old-puzzle-about-cosmic-rays-236575

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zhaoli Dai-Keller, Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, University of Sydney; Nutritional epidemiologist and Lecturer, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney

The number of centenarians around the world rose from 151,000 in 2000 to 573,000 in 2021. People are living longer, and we can expect to see more people reach 100 in the years to come.

Centenarians exemplify successful ageing, often experiencing fewer chronic diseases and maintaining independence in daily life well into their 90s. While genetics contribute to longevity, modifiable factors account for more than 60% of successful aging.

But what sort of factors specifically contribute to living to 100? To find out, we reviewed lifestyle and health habits of centenarians and near-centenarians (those aged 95–99) worldwide.

Our recent review included 34 observational studies published since 2000. Here are four key factors we found contribute to extreme longevity.

1. A diverse diet with controlled salt intake

Centenarians and near-centenarians typically had a balanced and diverse diet. We found, on average, they consumed between 57% and 65% of their energy intake from carbohydrates, 12% to 32% from protein, and 27% to 31% from fat. Their diets included staple foods (such as rice and wheat), fruits, vegetables, and protein-rich foods like poultry, fish and legumes, with moderate red meat consumption.

This dietary pattern, similar to the Mediterranean diet, is linked to lower risks of physical function impairment and death.

Most centenarians also preferred a low-salt diet. While only one study in our review measured the mean daily sodium intake, finding 1.6 grams, this was within the World Health Organization’s recommendation of less than 2g of sodium per day (equivalent to about 5g of salt). The traditional Okinawan diet, known for its consumption by Japanese centenarians on Okinawa Island, contains an estimated 1.1g of sodium.

We found higher salt intake (those who preferred salty food or added extra salt to meals) had a 3.6-fold increased risk of physical function impairment compared to those without a preference for salt.

Practically, these findings suggest we should include plenty of wholegrains, root vegetables, beans, legumes, fruits and vegetables in our diet, minimise red meat consumption and opt for lean poultry, fish, and plant-based protein, and monitor salt in our food.

2. Lower medication use

Centenarians are not free from chronic conditions but typically develop them much later than average adults. More than half of the people in our review experienced common issues such as hypertension (high blood pressure), dementia, or cognitive impairment.

We found people in our review took an average of 4.6 medications. The most frequently used medications included blood pressure medications and drugs for heart disease. This is similar to the results of a large health register-based study in Spain, which found centenarians took an average of 4.9 medications. Non-centenarians in this study took 6.7 medications on average.

The fact centenarians appear to take fewer medications may indicate better health with fewer medical conditions. However, data on medication use is often self-reported and so may not be entirely accurate, especially among those with cognitive impairment.

Polypharmacy is often defined as taking five or more medications simultaneously, and is common in older adults. Inappropriate polypharmacy is associated with increased risks of adverse events such as falls, cognitive impairment and hospitalisation, due to harmful drug interactions.

While the type or number of prescribed medications may not be within a patient’s control, it’s important for doctors to prescribe medications only when necessary, fully inform patients about benefits and risks, and regularly review treatment plans.

3. Getting good sleep

Sleep quality and quantity affect the immune system, stress hormones, and cardiometabolic functions such as obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Good sleep is associated with extended years of good health and reduced risks of chronic diseases.

In our review, 68% of the centenarians were satisfied with their sleep quality. In a survey of adults’ sleep satisfaction in 13 countries in 2020, sleep satisfaction ranged from 29% to 67%.

The optimal sleep duration is between seven and eight hours per night. Tips to achieving better sleep include keeping a regular sleep routine, creating a restful environment, exercising regularly and managing stress.

4. Living environment

More than 75% of the centenarians and near-centenarians in our review lived in rural areas. This is a pattern reflected in “blue zones”, areas known for high concentrations of centenarians, such as Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, and Ikaria in Greece.

This may be partly related to the connection between nature and health and wellbeing. For example, exposure to green space has been associated with lower stress, depression, blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, potentially increasing life expectancy.

Other important factors

We didn’t look at all lifestyle factors associated with longevity in our review. Research also shows not smoking, avoiding alcohol or drinking moderately, staying physically active and maintaining social connections are important for boosting a person’s chances of living to 100.

Of course, adopting the lifestyle changes discussed in this article won’t guarantee you’ll reach the ripe old age of 100. And on the flip side, some centenarians have shared questionable health habits.

But many older adults are seeking to adopt healthier lifestyles to prevent and manage chronic conditions, while health-care professionals are similarly recognising the value of lifestyle medicine.

The earlier you can adopt positive lifestyle changes and healthier habits, the better placed you’ll be to achieve a long and healthy life. Becoming a centenarian is a lifelong endeavour.

Zhaoli Dai-Keller is a full-time academic, as a Lecturer at the School of Population Health and affiliated with the Ageing Futures Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales. She is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, University of Sydney.

Perminder Sachdev is Scientia Professor of Neuropsychiatry at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and co-director of Centre of Healthy Brain Ageing in the School of Clinical Medicine at UNSW Sydney. He is also Director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at the Prince of Wales Hopsital, Randwick, NSW. He receives funding from NHMRC Australia and NIH, USA.

– ref. We reviewed the health habits of centenarians. These 4 things could lead to a longer life – https://theconversation.com/we-reviewed-the-health-habits-of-centenarians-these-4-things-could-lead-to-a-longer-life-235100

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cherine Fahd, Associate Head of School, School of Design, University of Technology Sydney

It is the season of university open days and study decisions for Year 12 students.

As an academic, the question I get asked most by students and parents is, “will this degree lead to a job?”.

It is understandable. However, it isn’t necessarily the right question to ask as young people consider what course will suit them best.

Focusing solely on immediate job prospects (“degree equals job”) can limit the understanding of what university courses actually provide.

Read more:
Uni is not just about lectures. When choosing a degree, ask what supports are available to you

What is a degree for?

A degree isn’t merely a gateway to employment, it’s the foundation for a life of professional and personal development.

Students often begin a university course with a specific career path in mind, only to discover new interests that lead them in unexpected directions.

For example, a student might start a design degree dreaming of becoming a fashion designer, only to find the demands of the industry clash with their introverted nature. Instead, they might discover a passion for sustainable textiles, a field requiring meticulous material research.

Their design degree didn’t lead to one end point, but gave them the opportunities to learn what they were really suited to, and the skills to pursue this.

Not about becoming an expert in one thing

University education is also not just about mastering a subject, it’s about acquiring transferable skills, such as problem solving, communication and the ability to work in diverse situations with diverse people.

It is also about developing critical thinking and the ability to assess evidence. These skills can then be applied to many ideas and issues.

In today’s unpredictable, technology-driven world, new jobs emerge quickly, while others fade away. A university degree should equip students with the adaptability to navigate these changes, rather than simply slotting into existing job categories.

So, instead of asking whether a degree will directly lead to a job, consider these following five questions.

1. What skills will I develop in this program?

Creative degrees, for example, encourage critical thinking, creativity, technical skills, and the ability to articulate and present ideas, skills that are highly valued across many fields.

An arts or health sciences degree may also encourage valuable critical thinking and research skills.

2. Are there opportunities for practical experience?

Look for courses that offer internships, industry projects and practical workshops. These experiences help students build professional networks and gain insights about what they really like (and don’t like) about different types of work.

3. Will the course expose me to diverse cultural contexts?

Consider programs that offer international exchange opportunities. These experiences can be transformative, broadening students’ cultural perspectives and enhancing their sensitivity and awareness to diverse cultural environments. They also cultivate maturity and independence by challenging students to navigate unfamiliar environments with their peers.

4. How does this course encourage resilience and lifelong learning?

Seek out courses that emphasise creativity, experimentation, independent thinking and teach in hands-on learning environments.

Such courses teach students to cope with change – a skill they will need in fast-evolving workplaces. It also prepare students for a lifetime of continuous learning, which is essential for sustained career growth and personal development.

5. What have recent graduates done with this degree?

Exploring the diverse paths of graduates can provide a realistic view of a degree’s possibilities.

On open days, seek out workshops and current students and staff. Ask about further study options – do students in a certain course often need (or want) to do postgraduate study?

And remember

Whatever students choose to study it’s important they do something they are truly interested in. Education can and should be enjoyable.

Read more:
Unsure what to study next year? 6 things to consider as you make up your mind

Cherine Fahd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. ‘Will this degree lead to a job?’ is the wrong question. Here’s what you should ask instead – https://theconversation.com/will-this-degree-lead-to-a-job-is-the-wrong-question-heres-what-you-should-ask-instead-236393

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Mares, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University

If overseas-born Australians want to sponsor a parent to join them permanently in Australia, they can go down one of two routes.

The expensive path is a contributory parent or aged parent visa with a price tag of close to $50,000 per person. The cheaper option is a standard parent or aged parent visa, which costs “only” $5,125, but takes much longer.

The government sets an annual cap of 8,500 parent visas, with about eight in ten granted to “contributory” applicants. This is 4,000 more places than the Coalition granted in its last year in office, but is still way too few to meet demand.

As a result, the logjam grows. On June 30 2023, Home Affairs had 140,615 parent visa applications on hand. A year later, it was 151,596.

A year ago, Home Affairs advised new applicants that a contributory parent visa “may take at least 12 years to process”. Now it says the time frame is 14 years. This is ridiculous, but the wait for the cheaper, standard visa is beyond absurd — it’s now stretched to 31 years.

Many applicants will die before their cases are considered. They, and their Australian families, are condemned to live in limbo, clinging to forlorn hope.

“Providing an opportunity for people to apply for a visa that will probably never come seems both cruel and unnecessary,” said the expert panel reviewing the migration system.

Overhauling the system

Early in its tenure, the government commissioned the panel that found the migration system “not fit for purpose”.

A second report by former Victorian police commissioner Christine Nixon revealed “grotesque” visa abuses.

Former Home Affairs minister Clare O’Neil declared the system broken and unveiled a new migration strategy that aspired to wholesale reform instead of further tinkering.

She and then immigration minster Andrew Giles set in train significant work, including an overhaul of the points system used to select permanent skilled migrants and a review of settings intended to attract them to regional Australia.

But they prioritised fixing skilled migration ahead of addressing family migration, particularly the dysfunctional system of parent visas. It’s a long-term mess that keeps getting worse.

Political distractions

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says he was in almost constant briefings in the days after becoming home affairs minister, his focus on a pending High Court decision that could again declare government policy unlawful.

The opposition hammered the government over its handling of the November ruling that indefinite immigration detention was unconstitutional. Burke doesn’t want to be caught out if the court upholds a challenge to the legislation it passed in response.

Lawyers for stateless man known as YBFZ, argue imposing curfews and ankle bracelets on all released detainees breaches the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary.

But managing the political fallout from legal battles distracts from other profound problems in Australia’s migration system, including the tens of thousands awaiting parent visas.

What’s the solution?

As I wrote previously, the expert panel suggested shifting to a lottery system as New Zealand has in place. New Zealand grants 2,000 places annually to parents who entered its immigration processing queue before October 2022. Applications submitted after that date go into a pool with 500 spots up for grabs in a ballot. Once New Zealand clears its backlog, it can implement a lottery for all parent visas.

Australia could do something similar. It could grant 7,500 visas a year to parents waiting in the queue and offer 1000 by ballot. At that rate, though, it would still take two decades to clear the backlog.

Drawing names from a hat would at least remove the inequity of allowing those who can stump up $50,000 to jump forward in the visa line. But tens of thousands of families would still be denied a visa.

Canada introduced to a lottery system in 2015 and its parent program offers 20,500 places.

The chances of winning remain slim — about one in seven. More than 100,000 applicants miss out and disappointed families will probably keep trying, year after year. They may not be stuck at the back of an endless queue, but they too are left hoping against hope for a visa that may never come.

An alternative is to scrap permanent parent migration altogether. Extended families could still come together using temporary parent visas. While expensive and problematic, the temporary parent visa allows an initial stay of three to five years, time to be in Australia while grandchildren are very young or to provide support in times of need.

Scrapping permanent parent migration would be the honest approach, since neither Labor nor the Coalition will expand the parent visa program to meet demand. Skilled migration is their top priority. They see parents as a drain on the system, consuming more in services than they contribute through work and taxes.

Politics vs policy

But Labor and the Coalition know scrapping permanent parent migration would upset overseas-born voters in marginal seats. This is central to the parent conundrum: the major parties’ immigration policies sit in tension with their electoral strategies.

Whatever government decides to do in the long-term, as a new minister, Burke has an opportunity to act decisively and stop the problem getting worse. He could freeze new applications for permanent parent visas pending a thorough review of the options while Home Affairs nibbles away at the backlog of 150,000 applications.

It is unconscionable to let the queue grow longer, fostering hope for a visa that will never come. Eventually hard decisions will have to be made.

Previous ministers have kicked this can down the road for more than a decade. Now it’s at Burke’s feet.

Peter Mares received funding from The Scanlon Foundation Research Institute to research and write The Parent Conundrum, an extensive narrative on parent migration to Australia published in July 2023, but the views in this article are the views of the author alone and do not represent the position of the Scanlon Foundation. Peter Mares is a fellow at the Centre for Policy Development, a sessional moderator with Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership, and sits on the advisory committee to the Centre for Equitable Housing. He is a regular contributor to Inside Story magazine.

– ref. Parents are waiting more than 30 years for an Australian visa. The new home affairs minister needs to act – https://theconversation.com/parents-are-waiting-more-than-30-years-for-an-australian-visa-the-new-home-affairs-minister-needs-to-act-236312

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelsey Chapman, Research Fellow, Dignity Project, Griffith University

Updated figures show Australia has witnessed a significant surge in disability prevalence, marking a pivotal moment in the nation’s understanding and measurement of disability.

According to the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, gathered in 2022, the number of Australians living with a disability increased to 5.5 million or 21.4% of the population.

This is a striking increase from 17.7% in 2018, a figure that had remained relatively consistent for two decades (15% in 1998). The rise was seen across genders, with a notable uptick in the number of people reporting profound or severe disability. The proportion of primary carers with disability also dramatically increased from 32.1% to 43.8%.

So what is driving the increase? Are these numbers truly reflective of reality, or influenced by changes in how data is collected?

About the survey

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) conducts the survey every three years, providing detailed insights into the lives of people with disability, those aged 65 and over, and primary carers.

Released last month, the 2022 survey collected data from over 13,700 households and 1,100 care accommodations and group dwellings between June and the following February.

Although the criteria for defining disability have remained consistent over the years, the latest survey introduced some methodological changes that could have influenced the reported rates.

One of the most significant changes was the introduction of an online participation option, which 41% of households used. This shift to a more private and comfortable mode of data collection may have encouraged disclosure of disability and discussion of sensitive needs.

Nevertheless, this increase likely reflects a more accurate representation of the population. Some argue greater willingness to disclose disability could lead to greater increase than the rates collected over the years. Disability disclosure often limits collection of accurate data, particularly in employment, where up to 56.9% of employed people with disability did not disclose to their employer.

A real increase

Several factors might contribute to the upward trend, including heightened public awareness, better diagnostic criteria, and an increase in long-term health conditions with disabling impacts.

Notably, this survey was the first conducted in the “post-COVID” era. COVID was the leading cause of disease burden globally in 2021, and has lasting health impacts that may contribute to the rising disability rates.

Australia’s ageing population is often cited as a key driver of increasing disability rates.

Older Australians (who made up 17.1% of the population in 2022, up from 15.9% in 2018) have higher disability rates than younger people, with 52.3% of older Australians reporting a disability in 2022, compared to 49.6% in 2018.

Despite the rising number of older Australians with disability, their proportion within the total disabled population actually decreased from 44.5% in 2018 to 41.7% in 2022. So although ageing contributes to the trend, other factors are at play.

Younger people

The most striking increases in disability prevalence were observed among children aged 0–4 years and young people aged 15–24 years. In these groups, prevalence rates jumped from 3.7% and 9.3% in 2018 to 5.7% and 13.9% in 2022, respectively.

One significant contributor to this rise is the increase in autism spectrum disorder diagnoses, which climbed by 41.8%, from 205,200 people in 2018 to 290,900 people in 2022.

Autism is the leading cause of disability for children under 5 years of age and the increase is largely attributed to increased awareness, improved diagnostic criteria and expanded screening efforts. These allow for earlier and more accurate identification of autism, a trend that mirrors global patterns.

Increased awareness, changing attitudes

The growing prevalence of disability also signals a broader societal shift. Our research shows community attitudes and education about disability are slowly improving. Most Australians have reasonably positive attitudes about disability, although that varies between types of disability.

The gradual shift towards greater inclusion and reduced stigma may lead to more people recognising and reporting disability in surveys like this one.

And this brings with it an obligation for Australia to provide better services, more inclusive public spaces, responsive health-care systems, and greater economic opportunities for people with disability.

Defining disability

Statistics are crucial for understanding trends, but they don’t always capture the full picture. The Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers defines disability as any “long-term limitation or restriction resulting from an impairment lasting at least six months that impacts daily activities”.

Although widely accepted, this definition has been criticised for perpetuating a deficit-based view of disability.

Many in the disability sector advocate for a strengths-based approach, emphasising the mismatch between impairments and the environments in which people live and interact.

The language and categories used in surveys can impact response rates and, consequently, prevalence figures. It is important to recognise people with disability have diverse experiences that do not always fit neatly into predefined boxes.

Two people with the same diagnosis may experience vastly different impacts on their lives, shaped by personal, social and environmental influences. Acknowledging this diversity is crucial for developing more nuanced information and shaping policies and services that truly cater to the needs of people with disability.

The trends in this latest survey highlight the complexity of disability and the need for more inclusive and comprehensive approaches to defining and assessing it.

As these trends continue to evolve, exploration and adaptation will be essential to ensure the rights and needs of all people with disability are fully realised.

Kelsey Chapman receives funding from the Queensland Government, Queenslanders with Disability Network, and the Hopkins Centre to conduct research on disability inclusion and the improvement of mainstream systems and services for people with disability.

Elizabeth Kendall receives funding from Motor Accident Insurance Commission, Queensland Government, NHMRC and ARC.

– ref. The percentage of Australians with disability has surged in a few years. Here’s why – https://theconversation.com/the-percentage-of-australians-with-disability-has-surged-in-a-few-years-heres-why-236230

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Hodge, Adjunct professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University

Queensland’s Labor government turned heads last week with a bold new election promise. If returned to power, it would set up 12 state-owned petrol stations and limit fuel price rises to just five cents a litre on any given day.

The proposal certainly tapped into a pain point for Queenslanders – Brisbane topped national petrol price rankings last year.

But it was quickly met with a predictable pile on from opposing political commentators, industry bodies and some economists, attracting labels like “risky” and “dumb and stupid”.

Mark McKenzie, chief executive of the Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association, called it a “wildly bizarre intervention” in the retail fuel market.

So is the Queensland premier really out of his mind, trying to win votes less than three months out from an election? Or is there actually some merit to this proposal?

Despite all the alarmism, I strongly suspect the latter.

Our love affair with privatisation

When I first travelled to Denmark two decades ago, I was surprised to discover government-owned petrol stations operating all around the place. At the time, Statoil Fuel and Retail was majority-owned by the Norwegian government.

But there was also little belief that governments ought to privatise and contract out the functions of the public sector.

While the 1990s and early 2000s saw Australia sell off an array of utilities and start up the national electricity market, for example, the Danish were more cautious of such public sector reforms.

History tells us that both our privatisation policies and the economic regulation they entailed were naive and simplistic. Our electricity regulators, for example, were so focused on the detailed structure of our markets that they lost sight of the very thing that mattered most to consumers – the price of electricity.

Investors certainly did well overall through Australia’s privatisations, and financial markets were thrilled. But more often than not, Australia’s citizens found themselves little better off if at all. This turned out to be a common international experience for other countries privatising their utilities.

As it turned out, it was easier to advocate for private markets than to implement them.

Queensland trying to change direction

The Queensland government’s proposal is certainly a bold policy initiative, and it’s worth unpacking.

For a start, it is not a promise to wholly nationalise retail fuel supplies. To the premier’s credit, he reportedly clarified:

We want to first support independents into the market, but where that fails, or where that doesn’t happen quickly enough, we are going to set up state-owned petrol stations.

In other words, the threat of state-owned petrol stations is a warning to existing market players; it’s an option of last resort.

And while it is unclear how a price rise cap would operate and whether this on its own would reduce prices in any case, let’s be honest here. Loud complaints from an industry currently enjoying high petrol prices are completely predictable.

A shifting philosophy

This announcement is best understood as a symbolic move from a government in tune with the views of many voters still grappling with the high cost of living.

It may even be a smart move politically, like we saw with the Victorian government’s promise to reboot the publicly owned State Electricity Commission (SEC) after years of unnecessarily high electricity prices, or the federal government’s 2022 intervention in the national commercial gas market to limit prices.

These policies tapped into voters’ increasing distrust in neo-liberal market ideology – and in the efficiency-obsessed promises of economic advisers and financiers who push the “private sector is always better” rhetoric while taking their cut.

The bigger picture here is important, too. We now live in an age where governments are increasingly constrained by current expenditures, and yet are also subject to higher expectations than ever before.

They come under intense daily pressure from educated and active interest groups and citizens, amid demands for answers in a voracious media cycle full of colourful crises.

It seems like a paradox. While governments today deliver fewer utility services than they ever did historically, we expect them to provide policy directions and solve an expanding array of new policy issues.

These directions range from fixing an already privatised internet dominated by powerful platforms to dealing with private banks who refuse to quickly pass on lower interest rates. Not to mention the colossal new challenges presented by climate change.

What should the public own?

What belongs in the public and private sectors, and the role our government should play in capitalist markets, continue to be issues of immense public interest. It is great to see these debates.

It is also inevitable that governments – whether facing looming elections or not – will search for novel policy ideas, particularly those that resonate with the growing scepticism of Australians.

The use of over-the-top rhetoric and distorted exaggerations by critics of this proposal is disappointing, but in some ways not surprising.

There is no doubt that the Queensland announcement is a modest initiative that punches well above its weight in terms of visibility and power to attract votes.

The reality is that the threat of increasing competition by building 12 petrol stations is hardly an earth-shattering socialist revolution. It is more likely a symbolic slap in the face for market ideologues which has hurt their pride.

Read more:
Queensland government splashes the cash around – but it’s unlikely to save it in the October election

Graeme Hodge does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Queensland’s premier wants publicly owned petrol stations – is that a good idea? – https://theconversation.com/queenslands-premier-wants-publicly-owned-petrol-stations-is-that-a-good-idea-236408

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle

Food prices are adding pressure on household budgets, especially for Australians on the lowest incomes.

To help save money on the weekly groceries, consider adding these five staples to your shopping trolley: eggs, oats, carrots, UHT milk and apples. These foods rate highly on the nutrient-rich foods index and on cost, meaning they represent good value for money when it comes to buying nutritious food.

Loading up on these items helps push more expensive, less nutritious foods out of your trolley. Keeping a supply at your place will also save extra trips to the shops, which saves petrol and time.

1. Eggs

Eggs are extremely good value at around A$6 a dozen (50 cents an egg).

Meat, chicken and fish prices vary from $12 a kilo for mince, $12–$20 a kilo for chicken, to $20–$50 a kilo for steak and fish depending on cut or type. Selecting the cheapest cuts still costs $2–$3 a serve, compared to two eggs at a $1 serve.

When you swap a red meat meal for an eggy dish, this can add up to a big saving. Try our egg recipes on the No Money No Time website, from fritters, to omelettes, or fried rice. These recipes also help use up other items you have in the pantry, fridge and veggie crisper.

Eggs are a good source of protein and also contain choline, lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamins A, B2, B12, D, E and folate, and minerals iron, zinc, iodine and selenium.

For people concerned about eggs raising cholesterol, a recent review of research evidence concluded there wasn’t likely to be any adverse effect on overall disease risk when consuming up to one egg a day.

2. Rolled oats

Rolled oats vary a lot in price from about $2 a kilogram for “own brand”, up to $9 for premium varieties.

Oats are really versatile. For breakfast you can make porridge, overnight oats, DIY muesli or granola.

Oats make a pastry substitute for a quick and easy quiche base. Or blitz them in a food processor and use as a breadcrumb substitute.

For dessert, you can use them to top a comforting apple crumble.

Oats are a wholegrain, meaning they retain every part of the original grain – the germ, bran and outer layers – and hence more fibre and nutrients.

Oats are a rich in beta-glucan, a soluble fibre that helps lower blood cholesterol levels by binding with bile acids in the gut, meaning they can’t be converted into LDL (bad) cholesterol.

They also contain B vitamins of thiamin (b1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pyridoxine (B6), pantothenic acid (B5) and folate (B9), as well as vitamin E and the minerals iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.

3. Carrots

It’s hard to get better value than a bag of carrots at about $2.50 a kilo. They last for ages in the fridge and can be eaten raw, as carrot sticks or with carrot dip, or baked to make carrot veggie “chips”.

Try grating carrot as an extra on a salad roll or burger, or mixed into grated cheese to extend it when topping tacos, pasta or pizza, or even a dish like mac and cheese.

Other versatile uses include soup, carrot mash, roasted carrots or, for something sweet, carrot muffins or bliss balls.

Carrots are rich in the carotenoids alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, which get converted into vitamin A in the body and used in antibody production and to maintain healthy functioning of your eyes, skin, lungs and gut.

4. Longlife skim milk

Longlife skim milk costs about $1.60 a litre.

While some fresh varieties are around the same price, the value of longlife milk is that you can keep a store of it in the cupboard, meaning you never run out and it has a long shelf life.

Milk makes great smoothies and is an essential ingredient in dishes from quiche to cauliflower cheese to lemon delicious pudding.

Milk contains protein, calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium and vitamins A, B2 and B12.

Research shows regular milk consumption is associated with a lower risk of developing osteoporosis, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and colon cancer.

5. Apples

A bag of apples costs about $4 or 60 cents an apple and $4–$5 for a large can of stewed apple.

Apples make a portable snack. Add them to porridge, serve with pork, in coleslaw or in apple crumble.

Apples contain dietary fibre and pectin, vitamin B6 and C, and the minerals potassium, calcium, nitrogen, magnesium and traces of zinc, iron and copper.

In observational studies, people who ate more apples had a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and death from any cause.

For easy, tasty, economical meals that are quick to prepare, without too much effort, along with our food budget tips, visit our team’s No Money No Time website.

Clare Collins AO is a Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle, NSW and a Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) affiliated researcher. She is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow and has received research grants from NHMRC, ARC, MRFF, HMRI, Diabetes Australia, Heart Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, nib foundation, Rijk Zwaan Australia, WA Dept. Health, Meat and Livestock Australia, and Greater Charitable Foundation. She has consulted to SHINE Australia, Novo Nordisk, Quality Bakers, the Sax Institute, Dietitians Australia and the ABC. She was a team member conducting systematic reviews to inform the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines update, the Heart Foundation evidence reviews on meat and dietary patterns and current Co-Chair of the Guidelines Development Advisory Committee for Clinical Practice Guidelines for Treatment of Obesity.

– ref. 5 foods to add to your shopping list to save money – and they’re good for you too – https://theconversation.com/5-foods-to-add-to-your-shopping-list-to-save-money-and-theyre-good-for-you-too-229903

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Vincent, Professor of Optometry and Vision Science, Queensland University of Technology

When you think of John Lennon from The Beatles, you’re likely to picture him with his circular, wire-rimmed glasses.

But at times, he wore contact lenses, or at least he tried to. They kept pinging out of his eyes.

Why and what Lennon did to help his contacts stick is part history and part vision science.

As I propose in my paper, it also involved smoking a lot of pot.

Lennon didn’t like wearing glasses

Before 1967, Lennon was rarely seen in public wearing glasses. His reluctance to wear them started in childhood, when he was found to be shortsighted at about the age of seven.

Nigel Walley was Lennon’s childhood friend and manager of The Quarrymen, the forerunner to The Beatles. Walley told the BBC:

He was as blind as a bat – he had glasses but he would never wear them. He was very vain about that.

In 1980, Lennon told Rolling Stone magazine:

I spent the whole of my childhood with […] me glasses off because glasses were sissy.

Even during extensive touring during Beatlemania (1963–66), Lennon never wore glasses during live performances, unlike his hero Buddy Holly.

Then Lennon tried contacts … ping!

Roy Orbison’s guitarist Bobby Goldsboro introduced Lennon to contact lenses in 1963.

But Lennon’s foray into contact lenses was relatively short-lived. They kept on falling out – including while filming a comedy sketch, on stage (when a fan threw a jelly baby on stage that hit him in the eye) and in the pool.

Why? That’s likely a combination of the lenses available at the time and the shape of Lennon’s eye.

The soft, flexible contact lenses worn by millions today were not commercially available until 1971. In the 60s, there were only inflexible (rigid) contact lenses, of which there were two types.

Large “scleral” lenses rested on the white of the eye (the sclera). These were partially covered by the eyelids and were rarely dislodged.

But smaller “corneal” lenses rested on the front surface of the cornea (the outermost clear layer of the eye). These were the type more likely to dislodge and the ones Lennon likely wore.

Why did Lennon’s contact lenses regularly fall out? Based on the prescription for glasses he wore in 1971, Lennon was not only shortsighted, but had a moderate amount of astigmatism.

Astigmatism is an imperfection in the curvature of the cornea, in Lennon’s case like the curve of a rugby ball lying on its side. And it was Lennon’s astigmatism that most likely led to his frequent loss of contact lenses.

At the time, manufacturers did not typically modify the shape of the back surface of a contact lens to accommodate the shape of a cornea with astigmatism.

So when a standard rigid lens is fitted to a cornea like Lennon’s, the lens is unstable and slides down when someone raises their upper eyelid. That’s when it can ping from the eye.

What’s pot got to do with it?

Lennon realised he could do one thing to keep his contact lenses in. According to an interview with his optometrist, Lennon said:

I tried to wear them, but the only way I could keep them in my bloody eyes was to get bloody stoned first.

So how could smoking pot help with his contact lenses?

This likely led his upper eyelids to droop (known as ptosis). We don’t know how exactly cannabis is related to the position of the eyelid. But several animal experiments
have reported cannabis-related ptosis. Cannabis may reduce the function of the levator palpebrae superioris, the muscle that raises the upper eyelid.

So while Lennon was stoned, his lowered eyelids would have helped secure the top of the lens in place.

Lennon wore contact lenses from late 1963 to late 1966. This coincides with The Beatles’ peak use of cannabis. For instance, Lennon refers to their 1965 Rubber Soul album as “the pot album”.

Back to glasses

Ultimately, Lennon’s poorly fitting contact lenses led him to abandon wearing them by 1967 and he began wearing glasses in public.

His frustrating experience with contact lenses may have played a role in the genesis of his iconic bespectacled look, which is still instantly recognisable over half a century later.

Steve Vincent has received research funding from Alcon, CooperVision, and Menicon.

– ref. John Lennon wore contact lenses that kept on pinging out. Then he smoked pot and the rest is history – https://theconversation.com/john-lennon-wore-contact-lenses-that-kept-on-pinging-out-then-he-smoked-pot-and-the-rest-is-history-235595

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Hare, Adjunct Professor of Energy, Murdoch University

Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of fossil fuels. While this coal and gas is burned beyond our borders, the climate-warming carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions affect us all.

My colleagues and I at global research and policy institute Climate Analytics were commissioned to find out just how big Australia’s carbon footprint really is. Our detailed analysis of the nation’s fossil fuel exports and associated emissions is the most comprehensive to date. The report, released today, clearly shows Australia plays a major role in climate change.

We found Australia is the world’s third-largest fossil fuel exporter, after Russia and the United States. But it gets worse when the fuel is used. Australia exports so much coal that our nation is the second-largest exporter of fossil fuel CO₂ emissions.

Unfortunately, just when we need to be cutting emissions, Australia is doubling down on fossil gas extraction mainly for LNG production and export. Federal government policies enabling and/or promoting continued high fossil fuel exports threaten to sabotage international efforts to limit global warming.

Australia’s fossil fuel carbon footprint

Australia’s contribution to global warming can only be understood by considering its fossil fuel exports alongside its domestic emissions.

Our research found Australia’s coal and gas exports were responsible for 1.15 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions in 2023. An additional 46 million tonnes of CO₂ were emitted domestically in the process of extracting, processing and distributing those fossil fuels purely for export. That takes the total to 1.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ attributable to fossil fuel exports.

In other words, Australia’s global fossil fuel carbon footprint is three times larger than its domestic footprint. Around 80% of the damage is done overseas.

The International Energy Agency has clearly said there should be no new fossil fuel development if the world is to limit warming to 1.5°C – the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal. Yet Australia continues to approve new fossil fuel exploration and production.

Overall, exports of Australian fossil fuels – and hence fossil fuel CO₂ emissions – are expected to continue at close to current levels through to 2035, under current government policies.

Thermal coal exports, which are burned mainly for electricity production, are expected to slightly decline by 2035 from their all-time high in 2023. But exports of metallurgical coal, used in steel-making, and LNG are expected to stay about the same in 2035 as they are today.

Blowing the carbon budget

Between 2023 and 2035, Australia’s fossil fuel exports alone would consume around 7.5% of the world’s estimated remaining global carbon budget of about 200 billion tonnes of CO₂. This is the amount of CO₂ that could still be emitted from 2024 onwards if we are to limit peak warming to 1.5°C with 50% probability.

But rather than decreasing, CO₂ emissions from Australia’s fossil fuel exports are set to increase under current government policies. In other words, in the next 11 years, by 2035, exported fossil fuel CO₂ emissions will exceed by 50% that of the entire 63 year period from 1961 to 2023.

If we include domestic CO₂ emissions from current policies, this means by 2035 Australia, with 0.3% of the world’s population, would consume 9% of the total remaining carbon budget.

Undermining the Paris Agreement

In December, at the COP28 international climate conference in Dubai, governments including Australia agreed on the first “global stocktake” of greenhouse gas emissions. It called for:

transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.

The stocktake also called on all countries to align their nationally determined contributions with the 1.5°C limit.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s response at the time was to call for Australia to be a “renewable energy superpower”. But his government appears to believe this includes embracing a gas export strategy.

Current government policy is not aligned with Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit. Our new report shows the government’s focus on maintaining high levels of fossil fuel exports is completely inconsistent with reducing global CO2 emissions to levels compatible with the 1.5°C goal.

Australia mainly exports fossil fuels to Japan, China, South Korea and India. These countries, which accounted for about 43% of fossil fuel CO₂ emissions in 2022, are also signatories to the Paris Agreement. So they have set 2030 emissions reduction targets and net-zero goals of their own. Continuing to import fossil fuels is incompatible with their own commitments.

Japan’s LNG imports fell 8% in 2023 to their lowest levels since 2009 and are expected to drop by a further 25% by 2030. Given the current energy security and LNG debate, it should be noted Japanese companies on-sold more LNG in 2020–22 than they purchased from Australia.

Thwarting national emissions reduction efforts

Australia’s planned expansion of fossil fuels, notably its gas exports, will add to the country’s domestic emissions and make it harder for it to meet even its own domestic target. That’s because a sizeable chunk of domestic fossil fuel CO₂ emissions (7.5%) comes from processing gas for export.

Our analysis also shows Australia’s plans are completely inconsistent with the global stocktake’s call for a transition away from fossil fuels. The government and gas industry’s arguments that more fossil gas is needed to get to net zero are also at odds with the science.

Time for a fossil fuel phase-out

Australia has a massive interest in the world as a whole decarbonising fast enough to limit warming to 1.5°C.

For example, children born in Australia today face much more extreme heat, floods and other disasters during their lifetimes than previous generations. This exposure can be very substantially reduced by limiting warming to 1.5°C. The choices Australia, as a major fossil fuel exporter, makes now in this critical decade will determine what happens to them.

By failing to initiate an orderly phase-out of fossil fuel exports, Australia also risks undermining its own stated ambition of becoming a renewable energy superpower.

It is in our nation’s interests to develop and implement an orderly exit – just as we are doing for our domestic emissions – working cooperatively with affected communities and overseas buyers. Doing anything less will only hurt us in the end.

Bill Hare receives funding from the European Climate Foundation, Climate Works Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropy, and the IKEA Foundation. This work was funded by the Australia Institute of Human Rights at the University of New South Wales.

– ref. Dug up in Australia, burned around the world – exporting fossil fuels undermines climate targets – https://theconversation.com/dug-up-in-australia-burned-around-the-world-exporting-fossil-fuels-undermines-climate-targets-236248

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian A. Wright, Associate Professor in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University

The growth of cities worldwide is contributing to more intense drought conditions in many cities, including Sydney, a new Chinese study has found. This is adding to urban heat and water stress. These important findings point to the need to improve how we design and build cities to make them more liveable and resilient.

The study has used a massive 40 years of weather station data collected from urban and rural areas around the globe. Larger cities and those with less green cover are associated with even greater worsening of drought.

The Greater Sydney region was one of six cities selected from around the world for additional, more detailed model simulations. These explore how urbanisation is making local drought conditions worse in Sydney and the other cities. On January 4 2020, the western Sydney suburb of Penrith was the hottest place on Earth that day. It reached a scorching 48.9°C degrees.

A few parts of the world, such as the US west coast, Mediterranean and South-East Queensland, bucked the global trends. This was attributed to cities that cluster near the coast in areas where the ocean cools the land and sea breezes bring moisture to these cities.

How cities affect heat and moisture levels

This new investigation is highly relevant as more than half of the world’s people (56%) now live in cities.

The study adds to our growing knowledge that urban development has many adverse impacts on the natural environment. We know cities affect local microclimates in many ways. Urban areas have previously been shown to influence cloud development.

And it’s well known urban areas can be hotter than non-urban areas. It’s called the urban heat island effect.

This effect is due to the loss of natural vegetation and its replacement by man-made materials. Buildings, roads, parking areas and other infrastructure absorb the sun’s heat during the day and reflect heat in the day and night, increasing the overall temperature of the city.

Urban development also changes the movement and storage of water in urban catchments. Known as the urban stream syndrome, it’s largely due to the human-made impervious surfaces. Roads, roofs, parking areas, footpaths and other artificial surfaces cover much of our cities.

Impervious surfaces reduce the natural soaking of rainwater into the soil. As a result, these hard man-made surfaces contribute to dry and hot urban soils.

There is a close link between air temperature and the amount of moisture the air can hold. This is a function of physics. As air temperature rises (as it does in urban areas) the air can hold about 7% more water vapour for every 1°C degree increase.

This is having far-reaching effects around the world. One result is that heavy rain and storms are becoming more common and intense.

For a short time after heavy rain, hard urban surfaces transform most of the rain into runoff. This can cause flash flooding in cities. But afterwards the soils and few remaining plants and trees often still need watering to make up for the lack of water soaking into the ground.

Loss of urban plants has big impacts

The new study adds to our knowledge by showing urban areas might also suffer more intense droughts due to the effects of urban development itself. This is linked to higher air temperatures as a result of the urban heat island effect and also to dryer conditions from the closely related urban dry island effect.

Important exceptions were found, including South-East Queensland cities, where urban areas can be strongly influenced by being close to the ocean.

The research highlights the substantial role plants play in urban air temperature and air moisture. This is due to plant evapotranspiration. This process drives their uptake of moisture from the soil.

The water flows through their tissues to their leaves and then is released as water vapour into the surrounding air. As well as providing the plant with nutrients, this process of “evapotranspiration” helps cool the plant. At the same time, evaporating water from the leaves adds moisture to the air and has a natural cooling effect.

The research paper states:

[T]he loss of vegetation often associated with urbanization further decreases urban evapotranspiration, resulting in the intensification of local atmospheric dryness.

Shading by plants, and particularly trees, also has a major influence by cooling air, soil and urban materials.

As urban growth leads to fewer plants and more buildings and artificial surfaces, this reduces the cooling effects from plants. Fewer plants transpiring also results in a loss of air moisture.

What’s the solution for cities?

This research is very complex. But, importantly, it has used real data from a large number of weather stations in cities and surrounding rural areas worldwide. The data used daily rainfall and temperature records collected over four decades (1980-2020).

Analysis of real data has been used to substantiate the theory that urban areas can increase the intensity of droughts.

Why is this important? Many cities are already struggling to provide enough water for their residents. Even mega-cities, such as Mexico City, are approaching “day zero” when they could effectively run out of water.

What can we do about this? We need to apply our knowledge about the broad benefits of urban green spaces. These parks, reserves and gardens are important for urban communities to connect with nature.

This new study shows how important these urban green spaces also are to help reduce the severity of droughts.

Ian A. Wright has received funding from local state and Australian Government and the water industry. He previously worked for Sydney Water and Sydney Catchment Authority.

– ref. Urban growth is leading to more intense droughts for most of the world’s cities – and Sydney is a case study for areas at risk – https://theconversation.com/urban-growth-is-leading-to-more-intense-droughts-for-most-of-the-worlds-cities-and-sydney-is-a-case-study-for-areas-at-risk-236315

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marnee Shay, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow School of Education, The University of Queensland

The recent Closing the Gap report had some promising news for education, with a 25% increase in Aboriginal children enrolled in childcare over the past seven years.

But other report figures show there are still big issues to solve in schools. This includes only 68% of Indigenous people aged 20-24 finishing Year 12.

This comes on top of regular reporting of poor or “lagging” educational outcomes for Indigenous students.

However, we still don’t have clear data on one factor that may be influencing this: the high – and unacceptable – rates of Indigenous students been excluded from school.

What are exclusions?

School exclusion usually involves a student being prevented from attending school. This can be on a short-term basis (suspension) or permanently (exclusion/expulsion). Students who are past the compulsory age of schooling may have their enrolment cancelled, instead of being expelled.

Whatever form exclusions take, it means students are away from school and are not learning. This can understandably make it hard for students to stay engaged with education and it can hurt their learning outcomes.

Exclusions are meant to be a last resort for schools in managing student behaviour and can sometimes be framed as being about student/staff “safety”.

A history of excluding Indigenous students

In March this year, a National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition report told a disturbing story of the systematic exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from education from the early 19th century to the present day.

The report outlined explicit policies that sought to exclude Indigenous peoples from education, including segregated schooling. This formed part of wider government policies to exclude Indigenous people from the same opportunities for non-Indigenous people.

It also showed while these policies were eventually replaced, the practice of excluding Indigenous students remains a problem today.

How bad is the problem?

State and territory governments collect data on school suspensions and exclusions. Only some make them publicly available.

In Queensland public schools in 2023, there were 81,918 incidents that lead to a suspension, expulsion or enrolment cancellation. Of these, 20,924 (26%) involved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, even though Indigenous students only make up only 11% of the student population.

We are not sure how many Indigenous students received more than one suspension. However, we do know 171 suspensions were given to Indigenous students who were in the first year of school (called prep in Queensland). Additionally, there was a 98% increase in “disciplinary absences” given to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students when moving from Year 6 to Year 7. These rates remained high in Years 8 and 9.

Just over a quarter (27%) of Year 11 students who had their enrolments cancelled were Indigenous.

In New South Wales in 2022, Aboriginal students made up 9% of government school enrolments but accounted for 25% of the total number of suspensions. This included 417 children in the first three years of school (up to Year 2) receiving short suspensions (up to four school days). A further 84 young children received long suspensions averaging 8.7 school days.

There is nothing to suggest Queensland and NSW results would differ from other states. But not all states and territories make these data available, or make them easy for the public to find. So the full extent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students being subjected to suspensions or other disciplinary absences is unclear.

The US example

We also know suspension and exclusionary practices disproportionately impact Black and minority students in the United States. Research shows these contribute to poorer educational outcomes, impacts on employment and increased risk of engagement with police and the justice system. Critically, it also leads to school-induced racial trauma.

Racial trauma, sometimes also defined as “race-based traumatic stress”, refers to the distress, compromised wellbeing and emotional trauma that results from racism. Research shows racial trauma in schools can harm children’s development and academic performance.

What can we do?

Accessing the data to understand the extent of the problem is important, but addressing these alarming rates of exclusionary discipline is urgent.

Research shows some schools are having success at reducing suspensions across all student populations.

For example, the Positive Behaviour for Learning framework is used in about one third of Australian schools. It offers graduated levels of support to keep students engaged at school. Restorative practices see teachers facilitate conversations with students after an incident, shifting the focus from punishment to the impact of their behaviour and making amends. Mentoring programs help students learn the social and behavioural skills to be successful at school and feel a sense of belonging.

Academic interventions involve supporting students to keep up with their academic work with the aim of also reducing behaviour issues. In-school suspensions can see a student suspended from their regular routine but still engaged at school with other activities, often isolated from their peers.

However, we do not know how effective these interventions are for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Or if they have been adapted to be culturally responsive.

What should happen next?

There is a dire lack of evidence about how to address Indigenous school exclusion.

Not having clear data also means we don’t know if certain groups are disproportionately affected. For example, Indigenous students with disability or Indigenous students in out-of-home care.

What we do know is solutions must include Indigenous leadership, be co-designed and evidence based. Co-design has the potential to address power imbalances, with Indigenous people leading the identification of problems and creating new solutions.

Marnee Shay receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian government and the Queensland government.

Shiralee Poed receives funding from a number of government and Catholic education departments across Australia. She is the immediate past chair of the Association for Positive Behaviour Support Australia and has previously served as an ex-officio on the International Association for Positive Behaviour Support.

– ref. Aboriginal children as young as 5 are getting suspended from school. We can’t ‘close the gap’ if this is happening – https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-children-as-young-as-5-are-getting-suspended-from-school-we-cant-close-the-gap-if-this-is-happening-235889

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hilary A Smith, Honorary Research Fellow (Linguistics), Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University

From the beginning of the 2025 school year, all schools will be required to use structured literacy – also known as “phonics” or the “science of reading” – to teach children how to read. But the very nature of this approach to reading could cause bilingual children to lose their second language.

Structured literacy teaches children to decode the relationships between sounds and letters. Readers use decoding to “sound out” words they don’t recognise.

But teaching children decoding in English is different from teaching reading in other languages, which have different sound systems. Losing these second languages will be to the detriment of students, with research repeatedly highlighting the benefits of bilingualism.

Looking beyond English

According to the 2018 Census, the four most common languages after English were te reo Māori, Samoan, Northern Chinese including Mandarin, and Hindi.

These all have different sound systems, and in the case of Chinese or Hindi, their writing scripts represent sounds in a completely different way from the English alphabet.

Reading instruction needs to take into account the many varied language backgrounds of children in Aotearoa, including Deaf children who use our other official language, New Zealand Sign Language, as well as those who have special needs.

Doing this will not only encourage the retention of a child’s mother tongue. Research has shown education approaches that support children’s first languages also result in benefits for the students’ English acquisition.

For example, a 2017 review of bilingual education found that “strong additive bilingual approaches”, such as those focusing on supporting both Pasifika languages and English, outperformed other programmes.

My own research in Papua New Guinea examined the best ways of developing children’s literacy. We found that introducing a large number of culturally relevant English books accounted for statistically significant literacy gains in both English and Tok Pisin (English-based creole).

The literacy benefits of books that are interesting to the reader are widely supported by global research.

The benefits of bilingualism

International research clearly shows bilingualism has cognitive, academic, social, cultural and economic benefits.

But an increased focus on phonics and structured literacy in Aotearoa cannot adequately support bilingualism because the materials used here are mostly – if not all – based on English.

Research found the focus on English in schools means many bilingual children who enter schools speaking their heritage languages shift to English only and leave school monolingual.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Many teachers work to support the range of languages spoken by each of the children they teach, using differentiated and individualised approaches.

These teachers may not know the children’s languages themselves, so they use a variety of strategies in their teaching. This can include “translanguaging”, which explicitly encourages children to move between their two (or more) languages.

Such activities might include reading and reciting religious texts such as the Bible, or reading books or online newspapers in their heritage languages.

Making room for other languages

New Zealand should use some of the flexibility possible in the “science of reading” to support approaches such as translanguaging to encourage bilingual learning.

Some international approaches based on the “science of reading”, such as Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan’s work with bilingual Spanish and English children in the United States, are focusing on multiliteracy through structured literacy.

These approaches advocate a range of effective practices for teachers to respond to the multilingual needs of students, such as learning as much as possible about their languages so they can compare different sound and spelling systems.

Expanding mandates

Current research and practice in English language literacy in Aotearoa based on structured literacy approaches is too often independent of our other strong research programs in second language acquisition and bilingualism.

Bringing these traditions together would support children’s learning to read and write in both English and any other languages they speak. It would also leverage the benefits bilingualism can bring to their English acquisition.

Rather than mandates for literacy programs which focus only on English, the government should instead consider supporting programs which will build and develop the literacy of all children in Aotearoa.

Hilary A Smith is co-convenor of the Languages Alliance Aotearoa NZ and president of Applied Linguistics in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is a past president of the Teachers to Speakers of Other Languages Aotearoa New Zealand. She received funding from the PNG-Australia Partnership through the University of Canberra.

– ref. Bilingualism under threat: structured literacy will make it harder for children to hold on to their mother tongue – https://theconversation.com/bilingualism-under-threat-structured-literacy-will-make-it-harder-for-children-to-hold-on-to-their-mother-tongue-236140

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University

The new Stan Original Australian crime series, Critical Incident, joins a long and impressive list of local crime dramas from streaming platforms, including Scrublands (2023) and Binge’s recent release High Country.

This time, the camera zooms in on various multicultural locations across Western Sydney – providing a compelling aesthetic as the backdrop. That said, the story itself misses some key opportunities to engage in more in-depth discussions about the role (and justification) of policing in diverse communities.

A high-stakes pursuit

Set in Western Sydney and starring Akshay Khanna and Zoë Boe, along with Simone Kessell and Erik Thomson, Critical Incident unpacks the psychological turmoil that occurs when things go horribly wrong for Senior Constable Zilficar “Zil” Ahmed (played by Khanna) while on the job.

Following a long and exhausting night on the beat – and out of uniform – Zil pursues Dalia (Zoë Boe), who matches a description given over his police walkie-talkie: a teenage girl of Asian appearance, wearing a red top, who minutes earlier threatened police officers with a flick knife. She is considered dangerous.

Zil hollers for Dalia to stop, but she runs. He gives chase. They soon find themselves running down a busy peak-hour train platform at Blacktown Railway Station. In close pursuit, Zil accidentally knocks a commuter who, caught off balance, falls onto the tracks and is struck by the oncoming train.

Dalia is cornered by two uniformed police officers at the other end of the station. She is arrested, but is determined not to be the suspect.

A simplistic police narrative

Dalia’s reason for running from Zil sets up a series of complex questions about racial profiling and policing within the highly multicultural City of Blacktown, Sydney.

The scenario also asks fascinating questions of gender and age dynamics. If a plain clothed man yells “stop, police” to a teenage girl, is it reasonable for her to be suspicious and run? Another question raised here concerns the weight of the police uniform, wherein an officer disrobed of his loses all sense of societal authority.

The first two episodes – with their broad societal questions about police relations within communities such as Blacktown – are both gripping and excellently paced. However, the show pivots to something less interesting as it subsequently starts to focus on Zil’s determination to prove Dalia isn’t all she seems to be.

As Dalia moves deeper into the criminal underbelly of drug pushing, Zil is eventually vindicated for his hunch to pursue her at all costs.

The narrative seems to reinforce the idea that police officers only pursue “bad” people. But what are the consequences when they pursue the wrong person? This seems a far more interesting question than what is explored in later episodes.

Authentic aesthetics

The producers of Critical Incident have made a point of saying “this is not a cop show. This is not an organised crime show. This is drama. A drama about when things go wrong on the job and it just so happens your job is being a police officer”.

Nevertheless, considering where the show goes with its plotting of police procedure and crooked cops, it plays out very much like a cop drama – and will certainly appeal to fans of such cat-and-mouse scenarios.

Those wanting more of a psychological drama set within policing, such as BBC’s The Responder (2022), may be left feeling unsatisfied with where Critical Incident ultimately goes.

Another criticism of the show is that it struggles to elicit any meaningful sense of empathy with the central characters. It is hard to feel very deeply for these characters when they are hurt, endangered or even killed.

Part of the issue is the speed for which the show is plotted. Things move at a breakneck pace, without the necessary screen time needed to build rapport between the audience and the characters.

The teenager Zil accidentally pushes onto the train tracks is barely mentioned or drawn into the story in any satisfactory way. This seems like an odd oversight considering this character becomes collateral damage in Zil and Dalia’s reckless chase, which begs the question of when police pursuits are justified – and when they merely put civilians at risk.

Visually, Critical Incident has an authentic aesthetic, with filming taking place on location in Western Sydney’s suburbs of Blacktown, Granville, Parramatta and Greenacre. As such, it draws obvious comparison to the critically acclaimed SBS police series, East West 101 (2007–11), also set in Sydney’s industrial and multicultural areas.

If Critical Incident continues past its first season, it would be interesting to see it expand beyond the familiar interior police drama narrative and dig deeper into the multicultural aspects of its locations and characters, in a similar way to East West 101.

Critical Incident is streaming on Stan from today.

Stephen Gaunson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Critical Incident: new series set in Western Sydney examines the role of policing in diverse communities – with mixed results – https://theconversation.com/critical-incident-new-series-set-in-western-sydney-examines-the-role-of-policing-in-diverse-communities-with-mixed-results-234686