Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne

Spring has arrived, and all over the country the hills and riversides are burnished with the green and gold of Australian wattles, all belonging to the genus Acacia.

It’s a spectacular sight, but not a surprising one as there are about 1,000 Australian species in the Acacia genus ranging from very small shrubs to tall, longed-lived trees. They occur in ecosystems from the arid inland to the wet forests of the east coast.

Read more: Tree ferns are older than dinosaurs. And that’s not even the most interesting thing about them

Wattles have been widely used by Indigenous people for millenia, and celebrated by “Wattle Day” on September 1 for more than a century.

But their lineage may be much older. Australian wattles have relatives in Africa, South America, India and parts of Southeast Asia. This distribution suggests the wattles may have originated in Gondwana before the super-continent fragmented about 180 million years ago.

So let’s take a closer look at what makes these iconic flowers so special.

Don’t blame wattles for your hay fever

Not everyone welcomes the wattles’ golden blooms — many blame wattle pollen for their hay fever or asthma.

However, many species of wattle have aggregated pollen, which means it’s very heavy and tends to fall straight to ground. You have to be virtually under the plant for it to affect you.

They can cause trouble, but it’s more likely your allergy is due to some other inconspicuous plant, such as grass, that you haven’t noticed compared to the bright yellow of the wattles. It’s worth having an allergy test.

Read more: How to manage grass pollen exposure this hay fever season: an expert guide

While a majority of wattles flower in spring and summer, a significant group — such as the sunshine wattle (A. botrycephala), Gawler Range wattle (A. iteaphylla) and flax wattle (A linifolia) — flowers in autumn and winter. This can give the impression in some places that they’re flowering year-round.

What’s more, many species are hardy, and they can help in the process of taking nitrogen from the air and adding to the soil. That means they can be very handy in ancient, nutrient-poor Australian soils.

Many of the smaller shrub wattles may live for only a decade or so, but some, such as mulga (Acacia aneura) can live for centuries and are crucial to the viability and stability of arid inland ecosystems. They can have surprisingly large and deep root systems for such small shrubs or trees. This is to obtain water, but also binds the soil.

However, mulga-munching horses, cattle and other feral grazers threaten the persistence of mulga-dominated communities. If mulga and other inland Acacia species are lost, the soils can become loose and mobile, which results in stable productive land becoming desert.

By any other name

In the early 2000s, there was fierce debate among plant taxonomists about how closely the African and Australian species were related.

The name “Acacia” rightly belonged to the African group, but because there were so many Australian species that would need to be renamed, Australia was allowed to keep the name “Acacia” in 2011 — much to the chagrin of foreign taxonomists.

This resulted in the genus being divided. Australian wattles stayed as Acacia, but African wattles are now in the genera Vachellia or Senegalia, and those from the middle Americas (around Mexico) are Acaciella and Mariosousa.

The different names reflect long, separate histories and different ecological characteristics. (The name changes rankle still with taxonomists!)

There are also weedy wattles in Australia and elsewhere. Many of us know from hard experience that the splendid ornamental tree, Cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyiana), can become a weed if it grows outside its very restricted natural range in New South Wales. And Australia’s black wattle (A. mearnsii) is a significant weed in other parts of the world.

It can come as a bit of a blow to know Australia’s floral emblem, golden wattle (A. pycnantha), can be weedy both at home and when it travels abroad (perhaps like some Australians).

Read more: The black wattle is a boon for Australians (and a pest everywhere else)

Interestingly, most of the Australian wattles lack thorns, unlike their relatives in Africa. In Africa, thorns protect the plants from large mammalian grazers such as giraffes.

Ants love wattles, too

If you don’t like ants, it might be worth checking which species of wattle you have in your backyard, or intend to buy.

Many wattles have a very special relationship with some insects. In Central America, ants penetrate the thorns of Bulls Horn wattle trees and establish their colonies. They then defend the tree against other insects, and if branches of another tree touch the host tree, the ants will cause such damage that the other tree will die back.

In Australia, the relationship between ants and wattles is based on food. The hard wattle seeds have a tasty and oil-rich outgrowth called an “aril”, which is irresistible to some ant species.

The ants harvest the seeds and take them back to their nest, where they’re safe from other hungry grazers until it is damaged by fire or flood and the seeds germinate.

Read more: Why tiny ants have invaded your house, and what to do about it

Some wattles, the mulga among them, have little glands at the base of their phyllodes (the modified leaf stalks). These glands secrete a form of sugary syrup that attracts feeding ants. These ants may also protect host trees or perhaps leave the flowers alone to allow a greater seed set to grow.

It’s clear wattles have a lot going for them. They are diverse in number, habit, size, longevity and flowering season — there’s a wattle for every occasion. For all of these great traits, it’s still that green and gold that endears them to Australians.

– ref. Spring is here and wattles are out in bloom: a love letter to our iconic flowers – https://theconversation.com/spring-is-here-and-wattles-are-out-in-bloom-a-love-letter-to-our-iconic-flowers-146109

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Kristin Merga, Senior Lecturer in Education, Edith Cowan University

Students in Australia and around the world have experienced significant challenges this year, including the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters.

Globally, as many as one in five young people may experience mental-health problems. These can be exacerbated, or even brought on by, stressful life events including economic pressures related to the pandemic.

We know teacher librarians and school libraries play an important role in supporting young people’s reading and broader academic achievement. But school libraries play a more diverse role in students’ lives, among which is to support their well-being.

Here are five ways they do this.

1. They can be safe spaces

Creating a positive, safe and supportive school environment can help schools meet young people’s academic, emotional and social needs.

Whether students are victims of bullying or simply feel like they don’t fit in, school libraries can provide safe spaces in sometimes challenging school environments. In some schools, the library is the only space intentionally created as a refuge for young people.

Both the library as a whole, and spaces in it, can be adapted to be comforting sanctuaries. A quiet space with comfortable furniture can make the library a place to “get away from it all”.

In recent times the school library has been expected to cater to a growing array of diverse purposes such as sports equipment storage and meeting venues, perhaps challenging its ability to be a safe space. It’s important for schools to ensure, within these demands, students still have a special spot to come to for refuge.

2. They provide resources for well-being

When students are experiencing health and other well-being issues, libraries can have valuable resources to help them understand what they are going through and where to get help. School libraries can also potentially provide valuable health resources to the broader community.

Read more: Why every teacher needs to know about childhood trauma

Teacher librarians curate resources (and weed out irrelevant ones) to ensure students get current, quality information. Library staff may also work with teachers and school psychologists to ensure the school community is well resourced for meeting young people’s needs.

3. They help build digital health-literacy skills

The World Health Organisation has emphasised the importance of health literacy and its potential to support better individual and community health outcomes.

Young people need these skills to prevent potentially dangerous misconceptions, such as those that have circulated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a 2017 study, researchers worked with school librarians to improve young people’s digital health-literacy skills. The study showed young people had good digital literacy skills when it came to searching for general information. But they had poor knowledge when it came to evaluating the credibility of websites and health information.

Read more: Teach questions, not answers: science literacy is a crucial skill

School librarians are digital literacy experts. Supporting staff and students with their information skills is part of their job description. School libraries can build students’ digital and information health-literacy skills, helping them evaluate online health information sources.

4. They support reading for pleasure

Reading for pleasure is associated with mental well-being.

School libraries facilitate reading for pleasure by providing comfortable reading spaces, as well as access to interesting texts. Visits to the library encourage young people to read more and positive attitudes toward reading.

Teacher librarians may also make recommendations and read books aloud, which is relaxing for young people.

While much is known about the literacy benefits of reading, keen reading in childhood is also linked to healthy choices and fewer issues with behaviour in the teen years. Reading for pleasure can provide a valuable escape from the challenges of everyday life.

Read more: Love, laughter, adventure and fantasy: a reading list for teens

However, the crowded curriculum can lead to reading for pleasure being undervalued in schools. Students at schools with libraries do not always have regular access to them, which is something schools need to ensure is provided.

5. They encourage healing through reading

Teacher librarians may also support students to engage with literature in healing ways. Known as bibliotherapy, which is “healing through books”, students can deal with issues challenging their well-being from a safe distance when they are experienced by book characters. They can also get guidance on how to cope from the experiences and perspectives of book characters.

Teacher librarians may select specific literature to support students encountering particular challenges. This is one of the numerous benefits of the literature expertise of teacher librarians.

School libraries and staffing are under threat and undervalued. These resources are easy to take for granted, and school libraries often lose out in budget cuts.

Where school libraries do not have the staff and materials they need, this can limit their ability to support student well-being. We need to better understand how our school libraries and staff contribute to student well-being so we can make the most of this valuable resource.

– ref. A place to get away from it all: 5 ways school libraries support student well-being – https://theconversation.com/a-place-to-get-away-from-it-all-5-ways-school-libraries-support-student-well-being-145180

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Polly Fong, PhD Candidate in Psychology, The University of Queensland

Physical distancing measures during the first COVID-19 outbreak led to the closure of libraries, theatres, gyms, cafes and community centres across Australia. Venues like these are known as “third places”.

These are the semi-public, semi-private places that people frequent when they are not at home (first places) or at work (second places).

Third places have been recognised as important for forming community identities based on common experiences or shared interests. As Ray Oldenburg first observed, third places are where the heart of communities is found.

Such places are particularly crucial for retirees. For them, third places may substitute for the loss of workplace contacts.

Read more: Many people feel lonely in the city, but perhaps ‘third places’ can help with that

Over the past few years, we have been researching third places with a focus on one particular case study — a suburban bridge club with mainly older adult members. This volunteer-run club of more than 400 members, occupying a small council-owned property, was attended daily by 70-100 people. Most were over the age of 65.

Our research found attending third places supported older adults’ sense of well-being because it helped them feel connected with the wider community.

In particular, the bridge club provided them with meaningful engagement with others through a common interest. So strong was their community spirit that a core group of members has been working tirelessly for years to raise funds, and lobby politicians, for larger facilities to accommodate their steadily growing community.

Bess*, 80, said:

I find it very important to come here every day. It’s the reason to get out of bed…

Read more: This is how to create social hubs that make 20-minute neighbourhoods work

Becoming a virtual club

When we revisited the same bridge club in August for a follow-up study, we found the club and its members had transformed dramatically into a “virtual” third place community. When restrictions on indoor gatherings had closed the doors of their physical club in mid-March, a few members had decided to play bridge online from home.

At first, they played online as individuals with strangers or robots on the Bridge Base Online platform. But they soon started using their phones to communicate and a small group formed to play together online.

When these scheduled games became more regular, three of the members decided to create a new online version of their club. They offered to help anyone who needed technical assistance to play from home. About 200 members now regularly play online in casual games and tournaments.

As John told us:

Playing together online is the next best thing to playing at the club.

Just like other online games, online bridge has its advantages: players can participate mostly for free, and the platform allows them to rewatch their games play-by-play to improve their skills.

Of course, online bridge is not the same as playing in person at the club. It comes with a steep learning curve and unavoidable internet connection issues. Players use their phones between games to speak with others, but they miss out on the casual banter that normally goes on during in-person games at the club.

To play together online, members email the club’s volunteers who co-ordinate the teams of partners and assign them to tables of four in the virtual space. During bridge sessions, which typically last 2-3 hours, bridge partners move from table to table to play different opponents, so it isn’t feasible to use virtual meeting technology like Zoom.

Plus, as one of the volunteers, Helen, noted:

That’s double the technology and not everyone can manage, but some might chat on Whatsapp or call each other on the phone when there is a break between games.

When asked about his experience of online bridge, Peter, 90, said:

I must be honest and tell you that I do not enjoy this substitute for playing bridge and nothing will replace the real thing […] I guess I am just too old to learn new tricks, but will continue to play (online) with people who will put up with me just to pass the time.

Another member, Mary, 75, commented that “it would be nice to see people’s faces”.

Maria, in her 80s, observed:

I feel that (online) bridge has been a saviour from boredom whilst we have been somewhat isolated during the past few months.

Online bridge is not for everyone. Some prefer having in-person games in smaller groups at home. Others have stopped playing altogether.

Read more: Why outer suburbs lack inner city’s ‘third places’: a partial defence of the hipster

How does a virtual third place compare?

As our earlier study showed, it was the experience of sharing spaces, activities and social identities, outside the home, that created a sense of well-being among this group of older adults.

Even with more relaxed rules on indoor gatherings, their clubhouse is too small to reopen because it wouldn’t allow players to follow physical distancing guidelines. The benefit of going virtual has been that club members can play safely at home without going against restrictions.

But when third-place communities like the bridge club go virtual, it raises several interesting questions:

• Could the impact of COVID-19 spell the end of their club, or can their move to online bridge be a way to keep the friendships within the community alive?

• Can virtual third places replicate the same sense of belonging and quality of interaction that they got from the physical bridge club?

• What are the ingredients that enable online platforms to be beneficial for older adults’ sense of well-being?

These are the questions we strive to answer in our research. This research can help policymakers work out how to support those who are most vulnerable to the pandemic. For if we are to tackle the growing problem of community isolation, we all need to learn new tricks.

* Pseudonyms have been used throughout.

– ref. New tricks? When COVID forces a bridge club online, what becomes of their community? – https://theconversation.com/new-tricks-when-covid-forces-a-bridge-club-online-what-becomes-of-their-community-144594

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rhonda Sharp, Emeritus Professor, UniSA Justice and Society, University of South Australia

COVID-19 has left women, more than men, economically disadvantaged through unemployment, underemployment, lowered incomes, less secure work, greater household and family demands, and increased risk of domestic violence.

But you’re unlikely to read about it in next week’s budget.

Instead you’re likely to read about new (male dominated) construction projects and more work in the electricity and gas industries. And tax cuts, which predominantly benefit higher earners and so are of less use to females.

Once, the gender impacts of the budget would have been apparent.

Until the first Abbott-Hockey budget in 2014, a statement of budget measures that disproportionately affect women was published at budget time.

At times given different names, the first was delivered with the Hawke government’s 1984 budget.

In its foreword, then Prime Minister Hawke promised that “within the overall economic objectives of the government” important budget decisions would from then on be made “with full knowledge of their impact on women”.

These women’s budget statements shed light on the impact of decisions that might have been thought to have little to do with gender, such as the Hawke government’s reduction of tariffs on imports of clothing, textiles and footwear.

The statement pointed out that two-thirds of the workers in these industries were women and that without special support for retraining (which was given) they would be disproportionately disadvantaged.

Increasingly, and especially during the Rudd and Gillard governments, the statements made visible the economic impact of women’s greater responsibility for unpaid care work.

At its best, the Women’s Statement improved decisions

Much of its success was in raising awareness of the differential impacts of policies on women and men (and on different groups of women and men) which challenged the myth of gender neutral budgets.

Because the gender impact of budget decisions had to be reported in the statements, sometimes these decisions were improved.

Our analysis of each of the statements finds that in the later years they changed their emphasis from an analysis of budget measures to an account of the measures thought to benefit women.

Read more: Gender neutral policies are a myth: why we need a women’s budget

This is unsurprising as governments like to celebrate their achievements. In 2013 the statement was renamed “women’s budget highlights”.

After 2014, the National Foundation of Australian Women has produced its own analysis of the impacts of on women each year as has the Labor opposition.

While these analyses are crucial for encouraging accountability, they are not a substitute for the government undertaking its own analysis of the gender impacts of its budgets and policies and ensuring they are improved.

Outside analysis isn’t the same

For one thing outside analysts don’t have access to the data treasury has. For another, they produce their reports after decisions have been made.

After the current six-year program of tax cuts was announced in 2018, the Parliamentary Budget Office found that A$92 billion of the $144 billion was likely to go to men.

The then treasurer Scott Morrison belittled the calculation, saying

you don’t fill out pink forms and blue forms on your tax return, it doesn’t look at what your gender is any more than it looks at whether you’re left handed or right handed or you barrack for the Sharks or you barrack for the Tigers

Rarely have we needed inside analysis more

COVID-19 has made the need for gender analyses more apparent. It has increased the care needs of households and demonstrated that the response to these needs, most commonly by women, is critical to maintaining the economy.

At times, this need has been acknowledged. The capacity of many parents (most typically mothers) to participate in paid work was undermined when childcare centres and schools shut down.

Recognising this, when childcare centres reopened, fees were cut to zero and places were reserved for the children of essential workers. The subsequent rolling back of these measures once again rendered the economic importance of care invisible, with negative gender impacts.

Read more: Childcare is critical for COVID-19 recovery. We can’t just snap back to ‘normal’ funding arrangements

Gender responsive budgeting could make a substantial contribution, documenting the extent to which investment in childcare and other services is more likely to create jobs, and jobs for women, than spending on construction.

While the current government appears uninterested, the tide is turning.

Almost half of the 37 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development now have some form of gender budgeting. The former head of the International Monetary Fund has declared it good budgeting.

– ref. Each budget used to have a gender impact statement. We need it back, especially now – https://theconversation.com/each-budget-used-to-have-a-gender-impact-statement-we-need-it-back-especially-now-144849

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Bird, DIscipline Leader, Corporate Governance & Senior Lecturer, Swinburne Law School, Swinburne University of Technology

Paying a record A$1.3 billion fine for breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act is one thing, making sure it couldn’t happen again is another.

The fine agreed to by Westpac and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) last week amounts to one-fifth of its 2019 full year net profit.

Although Westpac’s shareholders will suffer through lower dividends, financially it will be able to move on.

But not in other ways. It failed to properly report A$11 billion of international fund transfers and “failed to identify activity potentially indicative of child exploitation” in the words of the agreed statement.

One of the reasons identified in the agreed statement is that its data management and technology systems weren’t up to scratch. They also did not keep enough trained people around to oversee it all.

In 2011 and 2012 fifteen members of the team that was meant to ensure it was happening left to join another bank. These people were not replaced because of resource constraints.

The other explanation is that the board “could have recognised earlier the systemic nature of some of the financial crime issues Westpac was facing,” in the diplomatic language of the panel of expert directors Westpac commissioned to try to work out what went wrong.

Read more: How Westpac is alleged to have broken anti-money laundering laws 23 million times

Although the behaviour in question took place between 2013 and 2019 the expert director’s report draws a line between the work of the board’s risk and compliance sub-committee before and after 2017:

our assessment is that, while not satisfactorily focussed before 2017 and slow off the mark, the board’s response appears to have been appropriate after 2017, though reaction times remained slow.

In 2017 the committee attended a financial crime workshop to provide it with a “greater awareness of the group’s approach to managing, and the current status, of its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations”.

Training helped, but not enough

However, even allowing for the changes from 2017, the report concludes the board

let lagging improvement and risk mitigation efforts continue unchallenged for too long while overseeing risk across the Group probably could have picked these things up

This is a damming finding, given that in 2017 the baord’s committee had specific financial crime compliance training, there had been a significant uplift in resources deployed to financial crime across the bank and new executive and board appointments were made “with relevant international and domain expertise”.

In 2017 AUSTRAC commenced legal action against the Commonwealth Bank for anti-money laundering breaches that ultimately cost it A$700,000. Financial crime issues were everywhere in the media.

Despite this, Westpac’s board allowed the most-risky of its international transfer payment businesses to continue until 2019.

Read more: Westpac’s panicked response to its money-laundering scandal looks ill-considered

That it could have shut it down is evidenced by the fact that it did so, in November 2019 in the week AUSTRAC commenced legal action against it and Westpac let go of its chief executive and chairman.

Its board rightly has a reputation for not taking its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations as seriously as it was bound to.

A $1.3 billion fine, or a bigger one should the federal court not approve the settlement, won’t make any of this go away.

Boards can’t wish away duties

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and Australian Securities and Investments Commission are separately investigating whether Westpac’s directors and senior executives at times breached their duties as directors and accountable officers under the Banking Act and Corporations Act.

Read more: It’s not only Westpac. What’s behind the biggest fine in Australian corporate history

Care needs to be taken to ensure concern about how well the board did its job does not get lost in complaints about whether bank boards are being asked to do too much.

In June this year, John McFarlane, Westpac’s chairman, indicated a willingness to push back on some of AUSTRAC’s allegations, saying “if you bring everything to the board, the board stops focusing on what it really needs to focus on”.

He was speaking before Westpac agreed to pay the $1.3bn fine.

Ultimately, the responsibility for risk oversight of all forms rests with the board. Paying a great big fine won’t fix it.

– ref. A mea culpa, not a fix: Australia’s biggest corporate fine isn’t the end of it for Westpac – https://theconversation.com/a-mea-culpa-not-a-fix-australias-biggest-corporate-fine-isnt-the-end-of-it-for-westpac-146842

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius Sepehri, Doctoral Candidate, Comparative Literature, Religion and History of Philosophy, University of Sydney

Over a thousand years ago, Nuh ibn Mansur, the reigning prince of the medieval city of Bukhara, fell badly ill. The doctors, unable to do anything for him, were forced to send for a young man named Ibn Sina, who was already renowned, despite his very young age, for his vast knowledge. The ruler was healed.

Ibn Sina was an 11th century Persian philosopher, physician, pharmacologist, scientist and poet, who exerted a profound impact on philosophy and medicine in Europe and the Islamic world. He was known to the Latin West as Avicenna.

Avicenna’s Canon of medicine, first translated from Arabic into Latin during the 12th century, was the most important medical reference book in the West until the 17th century, introducing technical medical terminology used for centuries afterwards.

Avicenna’s Canon established a tradition of scientific experimentation in physiology without which modern medicine as we know it would be inconceivable.

For example, his use of scientific principles to test the safety and effectiveness of medications forms the basis of contemporary pharmacology and clinical trials.

Avicenna has been in the news recently due to his work on contagions. He produced an early version of the germ theory of disease in the Canon where he also advocated quarantine to control the transmission of contagious diseases.

Uniquely, Avicenna is the rare philosopher who became as influential on a foreign philosophical culture as his own. He is regarded by some as the greatest medieval thinker.

Read more: Explainer: what Western civilisation owes to Islamic cultures

Maverick and prodigious

He was born Abdallāh ibn Sīnā in 980AD in Bukhara, (present day Uzbekistan, then part of the Iranian Samanid empire). Avicenna was prodigious from youth, claiming in his autobiography to have mastered all known philosophy by 18.

Avicenna’s output was extraordinarily prolific. One estimate of his body of work counts 132 texts. These cover logic, natural philosophy, cosmology, metaphysics, psychology, geology, and more. Some of these texts he wrote while on horseback, travelling from one city to another!

His work was a virtuosic kind of encylopedism, gathering the various traditions of Greek late antiquity, the early Islamic period and Iranian civilisation into one rational knowledge system covering all of reality.

Avicenna’s texts were forged out of the colossal Graeco-Arabic translation movement that took place in medieval Baghdad. They then played a key role in the Arabic to Latin translation movement that brought Aristotle’s philosophy back, in a highly enriched manner, into Western thought.

This was a chapter in the story of large-scale transmission of knowledge from the Islamic world to Europe.

From the 12th century on, Avicenna shaped the thought of major European medieval thinkers. Thomas Aquinas’s writings feature hundreds of quotations from Avicenna regarding issues such as God’s providence. Aquinas also sought to refute some of Avicenna’s positions such as that which argued the world was eternal.

Book of Healing

Avicenna’s Kitāb al-shifā , The Book of Healing, was as influential in Latin as his medical Canon.

Divided into sections covering logic, science, mathematics and metaphysics, it produced highly influential theses on the distinction between essence and existence and the famous Flying Man thought experiment, which aims to establish how the soul is innately aware of itself.

Read more: Four centuries of trying to prove God’s existence

A medical pioneer

Avicenna’s Canon brilliantly synthesises Islamic medicine with that of Hippocrates (460 – 370 BC) and Galen (129 – 200 AD). There are also elements of ancient Persian, Mesopotamian and Indian medicine. This was supplemented by Avicenna’s extensive medical experiences.

In the Canon, Avicenna introduced diagnoses and treatments for illnesses unknown to the Greeks, being the first doctor to describe meningitis. He made new arguments for the use of anaesthetics, analgesics, and anti-inflammatory substances.

Read more: Forget folk remedies, Medieval Europe spawned a golden age of medical theory

Looking forward to modern notions of disease prevention, Avicenna proposed adjustments in diet and physical exercise could heal or prevent illnesses.

Avicenna was also vital to the development of cardiology, pulsology, and our understanding of cardiovascular diseases.

Avicenna’s detailed descriptions of capillary flow and arterial and ventricular contractions in the cardiovascular system (the blood and circulatory system) assisted the Arab-Syrian polymath Ibn al Nafis (1213-1288), who became the first physician to describe the blood’s pulmonary circulation, the movement of blood from the heart to the lungs and back again to the heart.

This happened in 1242, centuries before scientist William Harvey arrived at the same conclusion in 17th century England.

Holistic medicine

Another innovative aspect of Avicenna’s Canon is its exploration of how our body’s well-being depends on the state of our mind, and the interaction between the heart’s health and our emotional life.

This connection has been seen in the last few months, with doctors describing increases in heart damage due to the psycho-emotional pressures of the pandemic.

Avicenna’s advocacy for an interrelated, organic and systems-based understanding of health gives his thought universal, ongoing relevance.

– ref. Avicenna: the Persian polymath who shaped modern science, medicine and philosophy – https://theconversation.com/avicenna-the-persian-polymath-who-shaped-modern-science-medicine-and-philosophy-142667

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology

Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.

If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz

I’m seeing quite a few “climate-friendly” products at the supermarket. Are consumers willing to pay more for these? And how can we encourage people to make good choices?

Shoppers once selected grocery products based simply on price or brand, but now attributes such as “climate-friendly” or “eco-friendly” are part of the consideration.

The latest IAG New Zealand Ipsos poll found almost four out of five people (79%) say climate change is an important issue for them, the same number as last year’s poll.

An international study of 20,000 customers by grocery brand giant Unilever identified one in three (33%) people were choosing to buy from brands they believe are doing environmental good.

Read more: Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials

But research continues to show few consumers who report positive attitudes toward eco-friendly products actually follow through with their wallets.

Green, eco-friendly, climate-friendly products — confused?

Colloquially, use of the word “green” is applied broadly to almost everything related to benefiting the environment, from production and transportation to architecture and even fashion.

Eco-friendly isn’t quite so broad and defines products or practices that do not harm the Earth’s environment.

Climate-friendly defines products that reduce damage specifically to the climate.

All these terms are used in labelling to make us feel good if we buy products claimed to minimise harm to the planet and the environment.

Some brands are even moving beyond simply eco-friendly and now seek to claim their products are climate-neutral.

On Earth Day 2020, the organisation Climate Neutral — an independent non-profit organisation working to decrease global carbon emissions — confirmed 103 brands had completed its certification process in 2020 and 50 other brands were still in the process.

Who says it’s up to standard?

While companies are increasingly using environmental claims to appeal to consumers, they also attract greater scrutiny.

Concerned about allegations of greenwashing — claiming a product is green when it’s not — many brands are turning to organisations such as Climate Neutral, Foundation Myclimate and members of the Global Ecolabelling Network to legitimise their claims.

For example, the climatop label certifies products that generate significantly less greenhouse gas than comparable products. The carbon footprints of the certified products are based on international standards (ISO 14040) and verified by an independent expert.

Environmental Choice New Zealand is the official environmental label body that awards certificates and lists environmentally friendly products for green homes or businesses. Products must meet similar standards (ISO 14020 and ISO 14024). Good Environmental Choice Australia is a similar organisation.

A willingness to pay for eco-friendly products

For years, researchers have examined climate-oriented consumption to see if it wins people’s support.

Reports such as Nielsen Insights suggest the majority (73%) of consumers would change their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment, and almost half (46%) would switch to environmentally friendly products.

But the results should be interpreted cautiously. As US psychologist Icek Ajzen wrote:

Actions, then, are controlled by intentions, but not all intentions are carried out …

Consumer concern about the environment does not readily translate into the purchase of environmentally friendly products. Commercial research says 46% of consumers are more inclined to buy a product if it is eco-friendly. But nearly 60% are unwilling to pay more money for that eco-friendly product.

Academic research has consistently identified this gap between purchase intentions and behaviours. Hence, despite environmental concern and the positive attitude of customers towards sustainability and green products, it’s estimated the market share of green products will reach only 25% of store sales by 2021.

Ultimately, the research that evaluates consumers’ willingness to pay more for green products has been mixed.

For example, one study found Spanish consumers were willing to pay 22–37% more for green products, but Japanese consumers were only willing to pay 8–22% more for green products.

Why green products cost more

From procuring raw materials to shipping the final product, almost all steps of the manufacturing and production process of eco-friendly products cost more than traditional products.

There are several reasons for this. Sustainable materials cost more to grow and manufacture, reputable third-party certifications add further costs and using organic materials is more expensive than alternatives such as mass-produced chemicals.

Simple economies of scale also impact on price. While the demand for such products remains low, the price remains high. More demand would mean more production and lower unit price costs.

As economists say, as price lowers, our willingness and ability to buy an item increase.

The nudge to change behaviour

In a free market economy, it is very difficult to force people to pay more for products. But brands can “nudge” consumers towards more eco-friendly products.

Nudge theory is used to understand how people think, make decisions and behave. It can be used to help people improve their thinking and decisions.

Read more: Speaking with: law professor Cass Sunstein, on why behavioural science is always nudging us

Studies show eco-friendly logos and labels can be used to nudge consumers toward sustainable fashion, food consumption and eco-friendly offerings.

So while not all consumers will pay more for green “climate-friendly” products despite the best of intentions, we can slowly nudge them to make better choices for the planet.

– ref. Climate explained: are consumers willing to pay more for climate-friendly products? – https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-are-consumers-willing-to-pay-more-for-climate-friendly-products-146757

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Morten Gjerde, Associate Professor of Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

The proposed blueprint for how Wellington will develop over the next 30 years puts its finger straight on one of the key issues affecting urban growth and change: residential character.

Specifically, the draft spatial plan, named Our City Tomorrow, recommends the architectural character of some inner suburbs should be given less protection.

The proposal has polarised residents, with those who fear for the character of their suburbs accused of being not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) enemies of progress.

The real issue is that residential character has, until now, been protected by a blanket rule that assumes any dwelling dating to 1930 or earlier contributes to that character within the wider suburb.

In itself this is not an insurmountable restriction on redevelopment of individual properties. However, it has been enough of a barrier to most landowners that the form of these suburbs has been largely unchanged for decades.

Old, draughty and cold

Despite their location in highly valued neighbourhoods, many of these properties have been poorly looked after. To borrow from the real estate lexicon, they’re often the “worst house in the best street”.

A not insignificant number of older houses have not been upgraded to meet rising standards for thermal insulation. But in Wellington’s scarce housing market almost any property can be rented. Landlords have little incentive to upgrade.

Read more: Cities will endure, but urban design must adapt to coronavirus risks and fears

These older properties, particularly those outside the proposed boundaries of character areas, are ripe for redevelopment. The new plan would mean the council will no longer have to ask whether they contribute to residential character.

While this might upset those intent on preserving the past, it bodes well for the health and well-being of future residents. There is no question that more can and should be done to eliminate cold and damp housing in New Zealand.

It’s easy to say “just bring the houses up to code”, and there are many examples of older homes that have been properly upgraded. But this is not always feasible. In those cases where the owner can’t make the financial case for improving their older property, it’s good to know they will soon have the opportunity to redevelop.

The case for density

The current housing crisis affecting Wellington and other New Zealand cities certainly provides a good incentive to redevelop. Building more densely, many experts believe, will leverage existing infrastructures such as sewers, roads and schools. More people living in an area will also enhance social vitality.

Indeed, the changes proposed by the Wellington City Council are largely aimed at enabling this. Central government is also targeting housing intensification through the recently adopted National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPSUD).

The NPSUD requires Wellington (and others cities with severe housing shortages) to provide for housing up to six storeys in height in areas within easy walking distance to the central city. This could lead to significant changes in characterful inner-city suburbs such as Wellington’s Mt Victoria.

However, replacing one blanket rule — restricting demolition of pre-1930s houses — with another blanket rule providing for tall buildings in fringe residential areas seems wrong.

Read more: Healthy, happy and tropical – world’s fastest-growing cities demand our attention

Firstly, zoning rules are a blunt planning instrument that make it difficult for councils to regulate responsively. Every site and its setting is unique, yet the rules don’t allow for this. This is likely to create extreme height differences, where new six-storey buildings adjoin older one- and two-storey houses.

Such disparities will diminish the visual quality of the street. Many of Wellington’s older streets are relatively narrow. If built to the proposed plan, new buildings could diminish the spatial quality of these streets.

International research has found the best streets are at least as wide as the heights of the buildings along their edges. But buildings constructed under the new rules could rise up to one-and-a-half times the width of the street.

The not-so-high life

A second and perhaps more important issue is the reduction in quality of life that comes with living in taller buildings. Studies have found psychological strain increases with floor level, and people’s engagement with the street and neighbourhood drops off when living above the third floor.

Jan Gehl, an international expert on building cities for people, suggests housing above the fifth floor no longer even belongs to the city. Given the evidence that housing should not be taller than four or five storeys, it’s not clear why the government has advocated for housing up to six storeys.

There can be little doubt more needs to be done to encourage housing that is healthy and located where people want to live. And the draft spatial plan’s two-pronged approach — relaxing the pre-1930s demolition rule and enabling higher densities — addresses the housing shortage around Wellington’s city centre.

But, while there is plenty to recommend removing protection for some older buildings, simply replacing them with buildings up to six storeys high seems a step too far.

NB: public submissions on the draft plan close on October 5.

– ref. Wellington’s older houses don’t deserve blanket protection — but 6-storey buildings aren’t always the answer – https://theconversation.com/wellingtons-older-houses-dont-deserve-blanket-protection-but-6-storey-buildings-arent-always-the-answer-146302

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

Federal Health Department Secretary Brendan Murphy has admitted some COVID deaths in aged care might have been prevented if there had been a quicker public health response.

Murphy, Chief Medical Officer until mid year, told the COVID Senate committee “if the public health response had been more prompt, then we might have avoided some of the scale of the outbreaks in Victoria”.

He said some of the spread among facilities might have been avoided if the federal-state Victorian Aged Care Response Centre (initiated by the Commonwealth) had been stood up earlier – “if we’d been aware, had prior warning, that the public health response may have been compromised”.

It was not possible to say what proportion of aged care deaths could have been prevented, he said.

“As we have said on many occasions, once you had widespread community outbreaks, wide aged care outbreaks and unfortunately, deaths, particularly of people who are very frail and close to end of life, are inevitable.

“But quite likely that with the benefit of hindsight and responding with a response centre … a little bit earlier, we may well have been able to prevent some of the spread.”

Murphy was treading on sensitive ground for the federal government. Aged care is a federal responsibility. The states have responsibility for public health (although the Commonwealth, under the constitution has a quarantine power).

Murphy, who was still giving evidence, later reacted following the chair of the senate committee, Labor’s Katy Gallagher, tweeting:

He disputed Gallagher’s interpretation, stressing to the committee that the federal government acted as soon as it was aware the public health response was failing, and that it was not in a position to act earlier.

He described the public health response as “a partnership”.

Murphy also said the minutes of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee were confidential because it is a committee of the national cabinet.

On Wednesday the inquiry into COVID in aged care, done by the aged care royal commission, will be presented to the governor-general. It will be publicly released this week

– ref. Faster public health response might have saved some aged care residents’ lives: Brendan Murphy – https://theconversation.com/faster-public-health-response-might-have-saved-some-aged-care-residents-lives-brendan-murphy-147127

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Vasantkumar, Lecturer in Anthropology, Macquarie University

“No Cash Accepted” signs are increasingly common in Australian shops, thanks to COVID-19. Even before the the pandemic struck, though, we were well along the cashless path, with demand for coins halving between 2013 and 2019.

For the most part Australians have taken cashless payments in their stride. A fully cashless society is often envisaged as inevitable.

But the experiences of Sweden and Zimbabwe, two very different countries that have gone much farther down the path to a cashless society, highlight the pitfalls of such thinking. Sweden shows the need to safeguard access to cash. Zimbabwe shows the importance of the transition not being forced.

Read more: Cashless payment is booming, thanks to coronavirus. So is financial surveillance

Sweden’s cashless experience

Sweden was quick to move toward a cashless society. In the decade to 2018, its central bank, the Riksbank, says the proportion of purchases in shops using cash dropped from about 40% to 13%. Now even panhandlers and public toilets take cards or a mobile payment system called Swish.

But the bloom started coming off Sweden’s cashless rose relatively quickly.

Over the past few years Swedes have been increasingly concerned about the elderly, those living in rural areas and people from migrant backgrounds being left behind by businesses switching to Swish no longer accepting cash.

Last year all but one of Sweden’s political parties supported new laws requiring Sweden’s major banks to continue to offer cash services across the country.

Britain’s government has also promised to guarantee access to cash, with the UK Treasury drafting legislation based on the Swedish laws.

Read more: Why a ‘cashless’ society would hurt the poor: A lesson from India

In Australia, research by the Reserve Bank of Australia (from 2019) suggests about a quarter of the population remain “high cash users”, for whom no longer being able to use cash would be “a major inconvenience or genuine hardship”:

These high cash users are more likely to be older, have lower household income, live in regional areas, and/or have limited internet access.

With the vast majority of Australians still wanting the choice of cash, the moral from Sweden is maintaining access to cash is likely to require regulation.

Read more: Depending on who you are, the benefits of a cashless society are greatly overrated

Zimbabwe’s cashless experience

The lesson from Zimbabwe’s experience with cashless transactions is rather different. It’s about the importance of the move to cashless being voluntary, and occurring organically.

While the conditions shaping Zimbabwe’s experience are unlikely to be replicated in Australia, it is nonetheless worth understanding for the broader moral.

In Sweden the transition to cashless payments was overwhelmingly welcomed. In Zimbabwe, the change was mixed up with bigger economic travails. It was neither wanted nor particularly welcomed.

Zimbabwe’s chequered history of economic crises include hyperinflation hitting 231,000,000% in October 2008. To deal with that problem, in 2009 the government suspended the Zimbabwean dollar and instead allowed Zimbabweans to use foreign currencies as legal tender. US dollars fast became the cash of choice.

This de facto “dollarisation” stabilised the economy, but it also resulted in a scarcity of cash. Supply could not be topped up by the government printing money. The supply of US dollars was also reduced by their use to buy imports as well as being stashed away as savings.

Government attempts to address this cash shortage, such the introduction of a “surrogate currency” in 2014, failed due to the lack of popular trust. Zimbabweans instead turned to electronic payment platforms such as Ecocash, a phone-based money-transfer service. By 2017, 96% of all transactions were electronic.

Use shapes understanding

In Sweden, the transition to cashless payments has not fundamentally affected people’s concepts of money and value.

In Zimbabwe, however, the move toward cashlessness has been experienced as a disruption of pre-existing forms of economic life, rather than their seamless extension.

It is tainted by distrust in government institutions and the value of all money. “Bad cash is better than good plastic!” as one street trader in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe’s second-largest city) told me.

This crisis of trust in the very understanding of money is worth noting at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates our move to cashless transactions. Changes in everyday economic life brought about by the shift to cashless transactions have the potential to reshape how we understand money in unpredictable ways.

– ref. Going cashless isn’t straightforward. Ask Sweden, or Zimbabwe – https://theconversation.com/going-cashless-isnt-straightforward-ask-sweden-or-zimbabwe-146187

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Tattersall, Research Lead Sydney Policy Lab, Postdoctoral Fellow Geography, Host of ChangeMakers Podcast, University of Sydney

When the COVID-19 pandemic transformed our lives earlier this year, our political leaders joined hands and said we were all in this together — and for a while we saw glimpses of a different kind of politics.

But as things got tougher, the cohesive National Cabinet became more fractious. The blame game and “politics-as-usual” took over and distracted from finding new solutions to tough problems.

With the country facing an uncertain economic future, the University of Sydney’s Policy Lab has brought together community and climate groups, unions and business groups to identify strategies for creating a different way of making policy and building a new economy coming out of the crisis.

The product is our “Real Deal” report released this week.

The Real Deal isn’t a typical policy document that outlines a magic bullet to the problems the pandemic has created.

We tried to break with the old battlegrounds and ideologies that have failed us over the last century. Instead of calling for unfettered free markets or big welfare states, or simple solutions like budget surpluses or endless stimulus packages, we are calling for a new relationship between the markets, government and civil society.

At the centre of this, we are arguing for a more collaborative approach and for mass community participation to be valued in public life.

So how would we do that?

Collaboration works when different groups have the authority and ability to negotiate solutions.

We saw this during the second wave of the pandemic in Victoria when United Workers Union members at a Coles distribution warehouse were able to quickly push to make their workplace more COVID-safe by using the Occupational and Safety Act. While initially reluctant, management introduced a series of changes, including a deep clean of machinery and temperature checks upon entrance.

Compared to hot spots like the Cedar Meats warehouse, these workers minimised the transmission of the virus, securing a better deal for themselves and kept food on supermarket shelves.

Novel solutions emerge when unusual partners collaborate. In Queensland, for instance, a diverse coalition of religious organisations, unions and community organisations called the Queensland Community Alliance has worked with researchers and state and federal governments to create a strategy to combat loneliness.

Their solution wasn’t about spending a lot of money, but reshaping how people use the state health system. They created a new health department role called a “link worker” that could help people navigate the maze of services available to them, saving time and money.

Read more: After COVID, we’ll need a rethink to repair Australia’s housing system and the economy

Policy is also better when it involves the full participation of everyday people.

In the Hunter Valley, Australia’s largest coal-mining region, local unions, environmental groups, community members and businesses have formed an unusual alliance to find solutions for the regional economy, which is threatened by the closure of mines due to climate change concerns.

Having door-knocked residents to ask their opinions, the new group proposed plans for new industries and jobs to create economic security for local residents.

Participatory policy-making like this is easier when the government treats people as co-producers of solutions, not distant observers or barriers to change. It works best when it is built from the lived experiences of people who will be affected by these policies.

This was a weakness during the pandemic when policymakers often overlooked how their policy responses would affect different groups, such as those with mental illness,the residents of public housing towers in Melbourne or temporary migrants.

The lesson is that effective policy-making puts affected people at the centre of these discussions — much in the way the disability sector has long advocated a “nothing about us without us” approach.

Read more: Our lives matter – Melbourne public housing residents talk about why COVID-19 hits them hard

Five benchmarks for the solutions we need

In building the “Real Deal” report, we put these ideas into practice. We began our research not with books, but with the lived experience of leaders in civil society — listening to their stories and responding to the challenges their members were facing.

We took this research to a panel of Australian and international economists and academics, then began a slow process of writing a new framework together. We sought case studies — real solutions — tested in the field by our collaborators, like the ones outlined above.

The process took months, but that time enabled genuine collaboration and participation.

The report offers five benchmarks for measuring whether policy-making is contributing to the solutions we need. These include:

• an awareness that reshaping how the state serves the people is even more vital than big stimulus packages

• a focus on addressing pre-existing inequalities and injustices laid bare by the pandemic

• a bold vision that matches the scale of our economic and climate crises

• the active participation of people in decisions that affect them

• a deeply collaborative process.

Central to a real deal is that people make a difference. We are the ones who can make the deals for regional economic development in the face of climate change or create a new health system based on people’s needs.

There is a growing lament in Australia that politicians let us down. But the lesson from the pandemic is we have the power to change our economy and politics, and if we do, we might emerge from these crises stronger.

Read more: Healthcare, minerals, energy, food: how adopting new tech could drive Australia’s economic recovery

– ref. We can build a more inclusive government and economy out of the pandemic — this blueprint shows us how – https://theconversation.com/we-can-build-a-more-inclusive-government-and-economy-out-of-the-pandemic-this-blueprint-shows-us-how-147004

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Nicholls, Associate professor in Business Law. Director of the UNSW Business School Cybersecurity and Data Governance Research Network, UNSW

An A$800 million JobMaker Digital Business Plan has been released this week to support economic recovery in the wake of COVID-19. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the package is:

targeted at building on this digital transformation of Australian businesses to drive productivity and income growth and create jobs.

The plan includes a controversial Digital Identity system the government says will make it easier to engage “with government services, and in future, the private sector”.

The big question is how ready the government is to handle the responsibility associated with such a scheme — and how it fits with similar schemes already announced by other departments, such as the Australian Tax Office.

Read more: Our cybersecurity isn’t just under attack from foreign states. There are holes in the government’s approach

The breakdown

You can read the press release here but some of the measures include:

• $256.6 million to develop a ‘digital identity system,’ for example, to enable access to government services with facial recognition

• $419.9 million to the “modernising business registers” program which would help companies move online by allowing electronically signed documents and virtual shareholder voting

• $29.2 million to accelerate the rollout of 5G

• $22.2 million to expand a digital advisory service for small businesses (however the target is to help 10,000 small businesses, and there are 2 million such businesses in Australia).

• $3.6 million towards mandating the adoption of electronic invoicing for all federal government agencies

• $2.5 million to connect workers and small and medium sized businesses to digital skills training.

The plan follows the recent $4.5 billion NBN upgrade announcements.

Read more: Healthcare, minerals, energy, food: how adopting new tech could drive Australia’s economic recovery

Facial recognition, the Digital Identity program and you

Among the more controversial aspects of the plan is the $256.6 million proposal to expand the Commonwealth Digital Identity program, in a bid to supposedly simplify and reduce costs of interacting with government.

This would be done by creating a biometric identification system using facial recognition software. And the scheme will include identification for myGov and the Australian Tax Office’s myGovID.

Many technical and policy issues relating to digital identity have already dogged the federal government this year.

For instance, accounting firm Deloitte was awarded a $9.5 million contract in March to develop a platform to eventually replace the current myGov portal.

According to reports, this contract’s value increased to $28 million this month. A threefold increase in budget in six months suggests the proposed funding of $256.6 million may not be enough.

Also, cybersecurity researchers have identified a relatively simple phishing method by which the ATO’s myGovID login system can be compromised. Researchers from the the Australian National University and Melbourne University approached the ATO with a description of the issue.

Reports claim the office has yet to address the flaw.

We need joined-up policies that complement each other

Last week, the ATO issued a tender for a digital “liveness solution”. This will use facial recognition software to prove people accessing the ATO’s online services are physically present at their devices.

It’s not clear whether the ATO intends to continue with its own identity solutions, or if it will partake in the government’s initiative to expand the Commonwealth Digital Identity program.

It’s odd to see a whole-of-government approach to digital identity announced three days after the ATO publicised its own aforementioned tender. The rate of Australia’s current digital transition requires joined-up policies which complement, rather than clash with, each other.

It’s true stimulating business capacity in the digital economy will likely help small businesses adapt to the “new normal” brought on by COVID-19. But with this comes the challenge of understanding what this “new normal” will be.

New funds allocated under the JobMaker Digital Business Plan suggest this challenge may not be met by government, after all.

Read more: Frydenberg is setting his budget ambition dangerously low

– ref. Government’s $800m Digital Business plan will let you access myGov with facial recognition – https://theconversation.com/governments-800m-digital-business-plan-will-let-you-access-mygov-with-facial-recognition-147048

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Keogh, ARC DECRA Fellow, Queensland University of Technology

In a first for Australia, the South Australian government has announced a new rebate for video game development. Companies will be able to recoup 10% of production costs on projects spending at least A$250,000 in the state.

This rebate is a strong step for the local industry, but more than one approach is needed to make games production sustainable in Australia. This funding has the potential to grow mid-to-large sized game development teams, but not the smaller creators.

While a handful of Australian studios have teams of 20-50 staff and a couple of foreign-owned companies can boast workforces of approximately 150, the video game industry here is overwhelmingly populated by much smaller, independent teams.

These groups of 10 or less, located in co-working spaces or single-room offices, rely overwhelmingly on casual or contract employment, often creating just one or two games.

An industry of small players

Australia’s small indie teams, though volatile, have had a number of hugely creative global successes over the past decade, such as Untitled Goose Game and Hollow Knight.

Historically, support for independent development in Australia has been sporadic and inconsistent, largely funded through state-based grant programs offering relatively small amounts of cash to cover production expenses, travel costs and skills development.

Read more: Honk if you love Untitled Goose Game: why we should invest more in our indie game creators

While some Australian game-makers have dreams of growing into huge companies, many want to continue making games at the size they are. Imagine an indie rock band with a breakout hit – they’re not about to go and employ 100 more drummers. But this creates a problem for the local industry.

The Game Development Association of Australia estimates every year, 5,000 students enrol in tertiary game development programs. In an industry where most teams are content to stay at the same (small) size, these students have nowhere to go and no choice but to start their own independent companies.

Some will have massive breakout hits – like Route 59 with their recent game Necrobarista. Many will release their first game to no fanfare. Their company will fold and they will disappear into other sectors or head overseas.

Plenty of (risky) room to grow

Mid and late career overseas talent won’t move to Australia without opportunities for later career employment. This leads to a senior talent vacuum.

Rebates can help here, encouraging large multinational companies, such as Rockstar, Activision and Ubisoft, to set up or invest in studios in countries where they can access the most skilled developers at the cheapest cost.

This is something that Canada, in particular Montreal, has taken advantage of. Since the late 1990s, the Canadian and Quebecois governments have offered the industry a range of subsidies, rebates and tax offsets.

Montreal alone is now home to over 10,000 game developers (10 times more than all of Australia); 3,000 at the local Ubisoft studio alone.

But there’s also risk in growing a local game industry this way. When Quebec tried to remove its tax breaks in 2014, the local industry threatened to head elsewhere. The government reinstated the tax breaks the following year.

Australia has seen a similar story before. In the late 2000s, Australian studios were largely dependent on contract work and financial arrangements with North American publishers. When the Australian and American dollars hit parity during the Global Financial Crisis, Australia could no longer provide cheap outsourced labour. Studio closures came hard and fast – all but decimating the Australian video game industry at the time.

With the new rebate, South Australia is hoping to attract some of these overseas businesses to take advantage of local talent. There’s always the risk somewhere else will eventually offer an even better rebate.

Nonetheless, attracting international companies to the state would give graduates a chance to be employed at a larger, more stable company and develop their skills before going indie later in their career, with more experience.

A multi-pronged approach

The rebate is also primed to benefit the few mid-sized South Australian studios that already exist, such as Mighty Kingdom and Monkeystack, and encourage other smaller teams to consider scaling up.

But such a rebate is less useful to the small independent teams that are currently the bread and butter of the Australian industry, many of which don’t have $250,000 to invest in a project.

For these small teams, producing innovative intellectual property exported across the world, grant programs are more immediately useful.

Read more: Australia’s videogames are inventive, acclaimed and world-class, so where’s the government support?

Building a sustainable and successful video game industry requires a multi-pronged approach that nurtures the whole ecology: creatively driven artists that are the local talent, business-savvy entrepreneurial start-ups with the ambition to build larger Australian owned studios, and the massive (but fickle) foreign owned studios that provide little creative freedom but much greater employment stability and opportunity.

The SA rebate alone won’t create a sustainable national industry, but in lieu of much needed support from the Federal Government it is another step in the right direction by a state government.

– ref. A sustainable Australian video game industry? Production rebates are a small, important step – https://theconversation.com/a-sustainable-australian-video-game-industry-production-rebates-are-a-small-important-step-147090

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Dowling, Lecturer in Dietetics, Swinburne University of Technology

A trip to the supermarket presents shoppers with an overwhelming number of milk choices. And far from just being the domain of the modern hipster, plant-based milk alternatives are going mainstream.

These alternatives may be suitable for people who are intolerant to dairy milk, or have ethical or other personal preferences. They tend to be lower in saturated fats and energy than dairy milk, but also lower in protein (except soy) and calcium (unless fortified). Some are also high in added sugars.

As to which milk is best, there’s no simple answer. Dairy milk tends to come out on top for nutrient quality, though soy is a good substitute from a nutrition perspective. And it should be noted these alternatives aren’t technically milks, as they’re not derived from mammals.

Nevertheless, the nutritional quality of the different alternatives varies considerably, so it’s important to take note of these differences when making a selection.

Dairy milk

Milk provides us with important nutrients including calcium, protein, vitamin B12, vitamin A, vitamin D, riboflavin (B2), zinc, phosphorus and iodine. The quantity and quality of cow’s milk proteins is high, with both whey and casein containing all nine essential amino acids. Milk plays an important role in bone health and is a particularly rich source of dietary calcium.

Research investigating the ability of the body to absorb and utilise calcium determined the best-absorbed calcium source is dairy milk and its derivatives.

Read more: Explainer: how do our bones get calcium and why do they need it?

Although dairy foods do contain some saturated fats, the fat in dairy doesn’t seem to be overly problematic for heart health. A large study featuring people from 21 countries, published in 2018, found dairy consumption was associated with lower risk of heart disease and death.

Although dairy milk has a high nutritional value, there’s no reason why people need to drink it if they choose not to. All of the nutrients in milk can be obtained elsewhere in the diet.

Soy

If you’re seeking a dairy-free alternative, then soy is a good choice (though some people may be intolerant to soy). It’s made from ground soy beans or soy protein powder, water and vegetable oils and is usually fortified with vitamins and minerals including calcium.

A 2017 study found soy fared considerably better than other milk alternatives including almond, soy, rice and coconut varieties in terms of nutritional profile.

Available in full-fat and low-fat versions, soy is a good source of plant protein, carbohydrates, B vitamins and most are fortified with calcium making it nutritionally comparable to dairy milk. The ability of the body to absorb and utilise the added calcium in soy drink is approaching that of dairy milk. One study indicated calcium from fortified soy drink was absorbed at 75% the efficiency of calcium from dairy milk, though there appears to be limited data on this.

It typically contains more protein than other plant-based alternatives, and contains healthy unsaturated fats and fibre.

It also contains compounds called phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are natural plant compounds that imitate the body’s own natural oestrogen but to a lesser extent. There was initially some speculation based on earlier animal studies about potential adverse effects of phytoestrogens on the risk of breast cancer and hyperthyroidism. However, studies conducted in humans don’t support this.

Conversely, there is some evidence to suggest they may have a protective effect against some cancers. A review study from 2019 found soy consumption is more beneficial than harmful. In a position statement on soy, phytoestrogens and cancer prevention, the Cancer Council of Australia supports the consumption of soy foods in the diet but doesn’t recommend high dose phytoestrogen supplementation, especially for women with existing breast cancer.

Almond

Nut drinks such as almond consist mainly of ground nuts and water. Despite almonds being a good plant source of protein, almond drink is significantly lower in protein and calcium than dairy milk. Consumers should take care with almond drink to ensure essential nutrients are met elsewhere in the diet.

In a 2017 survey of widely available commercial almond milks, consumer group Choice found almond drink contained only 2-14% almonds, with water being the predominant ingredient. It tends to be low in energy and saturated fat and contains some healthy unsaturated fats as well as vitamin E, manganese, zinc and potassium.

Almond drink often contains added sugars. Terms to keep an eye on include those indicating added sugars, such as organic rice syrup, agave syrup, organic evaporated cane juice, raw sugar, or organic corn maltodextrin. It’s best to look for unsweetened varieties if you can.

Almond drink may be suitable for people who are intolerant to both dairy milk and soy, but isn’t suitable for those with nut allergies.

If you’re using almond milk as an alternative to dairy milk and wanting similar nutritional benefits, look for one that’s fortified with calcium aiming for as close to 115-120mg per 100mL (similar to dairy milk) as possible.

Oat

Oat milk is made by blending oats and water and straining off the liquid. It’s a source of fibre, vitamin E, folate and riboflavin. It’s low in fat and is naturally sweet, containing double the carbohydrates of cow’s milk, so it may not be suitable for people with diabetes.

It tends to be low in both protein and calcium, so look for a fortified brand. It’s not suitable for people with a gluten intolerance, nor is it a nutritionally adequate substitute for young children.

Coconut

Coconut milk is low in protein and carbohydrates, and high in saturated fat. Some brands have added sugars. Similar to nut drinks, it doesn’t naturally contain calcium and isn’t a suitable substitute for dairy milk nutritionally.

Rice

Rice drink is produced from milled rice and water. It’s naturally high in carbohydrate and sugars, and has a high glycaemic index meaning the glucose is quickly released into the blood which may mean it’s not suitable for people with diabetes. It’s also particularly low in protein and needs to be calcium fortified.

Rice is the least likely to trigger allergies of all of the milk alternatives. However, it’s not a suitable milk substitute, particularly for children, due to its low nutrient quality.

Ultimately, when deciding which plant-based alternative to drink, you should choose fortified and preferably unsweetened varieties. Also, look for those with a calcium content as close to 115-120mg per 100ml (or 300mg per cup) as possible, as this is similar to dairy milk.

Your choice should also take into account your overall diet and nutrient requirements. This is especially important for children, adolescents, older adults and those following a restricted diet. Finally, factors such as flavour, taste, texture and mouth feel are all important considerations.

– ref. Soy, oat, almond, rice, coconut, dairy: which ‘milk’ is best for our health? – https://theconversation.com/soy-oat-almond-rice-coconut-dairy-which-milk-is-best-for-our-health-146869

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael William Blissenden, Professor of Law, University of New England

All things considered, Westpac’s record A$1.3 billion fine for breaching anti-money-laundering laws could have been worse.

Each of the alleged 23 million breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Act between 2010 and 2018 carried a penalty of up to A$63,000. So the fine might have been more than A$1 trillion.

The A$1.3 billion equates to three months’ earnings for Westpac. It is A$400 million more than the A$900 million the bank set aside in its half-year results (in April). But that didn’t bother the market.

Westpac’s share price ended the week 7% higher.

As Nathan Zaia, an analyst with investment research company Morningstar, explained: “It’s huge. It’s the largest fine in history. It’s an eye-watering number. But it’s already pretty much been expected by the market.”

With Westpac’s annual profit exceeding A$6 billion, and its market capitalisation more than A$60 billion, Zaia said a few hundred million dollars more didn’t “really have much of an impact with the valuation we put on the bank”.

If the biggest fine in Australian corporate history doesn’t make a difference to a company’s share price, it’s hard to see how that fine serves as a deterrent. It is the job of the board and senior management to serve the interests of shareholders. What doesn’t matter to investors won’t matter much to the board either.

There could be a way, though, to use the tax system to give corporate fines more bite, by making shareholders feel more of the pain.

Read more: How Westpac is alleged to have broken anti-money laundering laws 23 million times

What franking credits do

Franking credits – also known as dividend imputation payments – are tax credits provided to shareholders with their dividend payments.

The credits are intended to ensure income from investment is not taxed twice – first by the company paying tax on its profit, then by the shareholder paying income tax on their share of that profit (their dividend).

Read more: Words that matter. What’s a franking credit? What’s dividend imputation? And what’s ‘retiree tax’?

Franking credits on dividends allow shareholders to cut their tax bills by the tax already paid on the dividend income they receive.

In some cases, thanks to a provision in Australia’s law, where the shareholder pays no overall tax, they can receive a tax refund from the government, a dividend imputation cheque, of the kind Labor promised to wind back in the 2019 election campaign.

Franking debits as penalty

There already exists a mechanism to use the imputation system to penalise bad behaviour by companies.

Where a company has not followed the rules relating to franking credits, the tax office can debit the company’s franking account, leaving less to distribute to shareholders as tax credits.

A similar mechanism could be used to impose fines. Instead of the company writing a cheque, the government would debit the value of the fine from the bank’s franking account.

This would directly affect the bank’s capacity to “impute” tax it has paid on profits.

Though the same amount of money imposed as a fine might have little impact on a company’s operations or profits, the loss of franking credits is something shareholders are likely to notice.

Read more: Westpac ticking every anti-money-laundering box wouldn’t make much difference to criminals

And if shareholders care, the directors might get the message louder and clearer.

– ref. Record corporate fines don’t deter: here’s a ‘frank’ fix to make penalties bite – https://theconversation.com/record-corporate-fines-dont-deter-heres-a-frank-fix-to-make-penalties-bite-146915

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Evans, Professor of Statistical Genetics, The University of Queensland

Most people consistently use the same hand to do tasks that require skill and control such as writing or threading a needle. We know genetics plays a big part in which hand a person prefers, but it has been difficult to identify the exact genes responsible.

To find out more, we analysed the DNA of more than 1.7 million people and discovered 41 regions of the genome associated with being left handed and another seven associated with being ambidextrous.

What makes people left-handed?

About 88% of people prefer to use their right hand for complex tasks, around 10% prefer their left hand, and the other 2% report they do not have a preference and can use either hand. Hand preference develops so early that it can be seen in the womb.

Handedness tends to stabilise around the time children are learning to draw. In the absence of injury or training it remains constant throughout life. Evidence from historic human populations suggests it has been this way for hundreds of thousands of years.

Research examining patterns of handedness in twins and families shows most of the variation is down to non-genetic factors, such as training and the environment in which we gain early motor skills. However, genetics does play a significant role.

Read more: I’ve always wondered: can animals be left- and right-pawed?

There is no single gene for handedness

Since the mid-1980s more than 100 journal articles have explored the idea that a single gene might influence handedness. These theories suggested one variant of the gene would bias an individual towards right-handedness, while the alternate variant led to handedness being randomly determined.

While there have been many theories attempting to explain different human characteristics via single genes, in recent years we have discovered that the reality is often much more complicated. More recent research uses genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to look for a relationship between a trait of interest and the number of copies of a genetic variant someone has. These analyses are run for millions of variants located across the genome.

Read more: How much ‘junk’ is in our DNA?

These genome-wide studies have shown that almost all human traits are influenced by many hundreds or thousands of genetic variants. Often these variants are located between genes whose purpose is not clearly identifiable, in what used to be called “junk DNA”.

GWAS has also shown most traits are influenced by large numbers of genes which each contribute a very small effect, rather than a single gene which has a large effect. To track these small effects, large collaborative studies with many participants are required in order to identify the individual genetic variants involved.

What GWAS reveals about handedness

In 2009 we started a project involving researchers from around the world to hunt for genetic variants that influence handedness using GWAS. We did not recruit participants based on their handedness, so the number of left-handed people was relatively small. As a result, we have only recently gathered enough to undertake robust analyses.

Our study brought together analyses of data from 1,766,671 people. Of these people, 194,198 were left-handed and 37,637 were ambidextrous. We found 41 regions of the genome associated with left-handedness and seven regions associated with ambidexterity.

Many of the regions of the genome associated with left-handedness contained genes that code for microtubule proteins. These proteins play important roles during development in the migration of neurons and in the ability of the brain to adapt to changes in the environment.

Interestingly, genes that influence other asymmetries in the body, such as which side of the body the heart is located on, were not associated with handedness in our study.

Another important finding was that there was little overlap between the regions of the genome associated with left-handedness and those associated with ambidexterity. This suggests that ambidexterity is more complicated than we previously thought. The mechanisms that influence the direction of hand preference might be different from those that influence the degree of hand preference.

These findings give us promising new leads but more work is needed to identify further genetic variants that influence handedness. There is also a long way to go before we understand how these variants play a role in someone becoming right-handed, left-handed or ambidextrous.

Read more: Is there life through the looking-glass? The riddle of life’s single-handedness

– ref. There’s no single gene for left-handedness. At least 41 regions of DNA are involved – https://theconversation.com/theres-no-single-gene-for-left-handedness-at-least-41-regions-of-dna-are-involved-146765

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lloyd Cox, Lecturer, Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University

“We really are the only advanced democracy on Earth that systematically and purposely makes it really hard for people to vote,” President Barack Obama lamented in 2016. He was alluding to obstacles that, in some states, intentionally suppress voting.

Voter suppression measures in the US are again in the spotlight. As some Americans have already started voting in this year’s presidential election, President Donald Trump has without evidence raised the spectre of voter fraud, the central justification for voter suppression efforts in the modern age.

The forerunners of today’s sophisticated techniques for excluding minority voters have their roots in the post-Civil War 19th century.

A white backlash in the post-Civil War south

After the US Civil War (1861-1865), millions of freed slaves participated in civil and political life for the first time. They could vote, sit on juries, attend school and hold public office.

With the withdrawal of northern troops from the south in 1877, this all changed. A reassertion of white supremacy, led by southern Democrats, aimed to strip African Americans of their right to vote.

Read more: The US presidential election might be closer than the polls suggest (if we can trust them this time)

As historian Carol Anderson has documented, a dazzling array of methods were devised to stop African Americans from voting in these 11 states.

Many of these lasted until the 1960s. They included literacy tests, “understanding clauses” (voters had to prove their understanding of the US Constitution to a registrar) and the use of poll taxes (essentially a voting fee). These measures were backed by violence and intimidation.

All of this had the desired effect. For nearly a century after the Civil War, the vast majority of African Americans were disenfranchised across the south. On the eve of the second world war, only 3% of southern Blacks were registered to vote.

The passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act ended this national outrage by banning voter suppression methods. It established, in the words of President Lyndon Johnson,

a uniform standard which cannot be used, however ingenious the effort, to flout our Constitution.

A key provision in the act was “preclearance,” which required states with a history of discriminating against Black voters to seek federal approval to change voting rules and electoral boundaries.

The effects were immediate. That most basic of democratic rights, casting a vote, was extended to millions of African Americans across the south. Their levels of registration soared.

How minority voters are suppressed today

In 2013, however, the Supreme Court invalidated this provision in the Voting Rights Act, allowing those states to change their election laws without federal approval.

And voting rights for African Americans and other people of colour are again under attack, particularly in Republican-controlled states.

The new mechanisms of voter suppression display all of the ingenuity of their racist forebears, though expressed in race-neutral language that promises to safeguard against election fraud.

Read more: Trump can’t delay the election, but he can try to delegitimise it

Onerous voter registration requirements are perhaps the biggest impediment to voting in many states. Government-issued photo IDs are now required in many states, which around 11% of eligible voters do not have. The numbers for African Americans and Latinos are much higher, at 25% and 16%, respectively.

The non-partisan Brennan Center for Social Justice documents how difficult it is for voters without a driver’s licence to acquire an ID.

In the 10 most restrictive voter ID states, it estimates more than 10 million voters, or 17.5% of voting-age citizens, live more than 10 miles from the nearest state ID-issuing office. Most of these states have poor public transport infrastructure, creating a massive hurdle for many poor voters to get registered.

In Georgia, proof of citizenship is required to vote. To register, a voter must produce a birth certificate or passport, plus a social security number or a W-2 form (a tax document filed by employers). Again, many voters of colour and young Georgians cannot readily access these documents.

Wisconsin changed its law to require voters to present a state-issued ID to vote, even if they are already registered. One study estimates some 200,000 more people may have cast a ballot in the 2016 presidential election if the law had not been in place. Democratic contender Hillary Clinton lost the state by less than 23,000 votes.

Other states accept some forms of photo ID but not others. Texas accepts handgun licences, for instance, but not university student IDs.

Nearly all states also disenfranchise convicted felons, preventing 6.1 million people from voting. One in 13 Black people of voting age have been disenfranchised under such laws, a rate more than four times greater than that of non-African Americans.

Another growing area of voter suppression involves purging voter rolls in ways that are systematically biased against minorities and young people. The Brennan Center found 17 million voters were purged nationally from 2016–18, with higher rates in parts of the country that have a history of discrimination in voting.

Then there is the matter of lack of polling booths. A study of the 2016 election found those in majority Black neighbourhoods were 74% more likely than those in white neighbourhoods to have to wait for more than 30 minutes to vote.

This is by design. Since the 2013 Supreme Court decision weakening the Voting Rights Act, hundreds of polling locations have closed across the south and elsewhere, many in states with a history of racial discrimination.

Now, the Trump campaign is waging another battle: trying to block mail-in voting and other state laws and policies designed to help voters cast ballots remotely during the pandemic.

Small victories show glimmers of hope

A growing movement has begun to push back against voter suppression. Groups like Black Voters Matter and Voto Latino are organising tirelessly to circumvent tighter voting rules and other obstacles to get people to the polls.

They have had some success. In Republican-controlled Alabama, one of the hardest states in the US for Black people to vote, an unexpectedly high Black turnout in 2017 helped Democrat Doug Jones win a special election for the US Senate.

NBA star LeBron James has also spearheaded a new organisation of Black athletes and artists called “More Than a Vote” aimed at combating racist voter suppression.

Such organisations reflect growing public opposition to voter suppression. Even in Florida, which has one of the harshest felon disenfranchisement regimes, voters approved an amendment to the state constitution to restore voting rights to 1.4 million convicted felons.

The Republican-led legislature passed a new law presenting another hurdle — felons had to pay off all their fines to vote — but last week, billionaire Michael Bloomberg donated US$16 million to a fund designed to help them do that.

Despite these glimmers of hope, there are still too many obstacles to voting that would not be tolerated in any other democratic country. If Trump is re-elected in six weeks, it could at least partially be due to the suppression of voters who overwhelmingly support his opponent.

Read more: As concerns mount over integrity of US elections, so does support for international poll monitors

– ref. No mail-in votes, proof of citizenship: the long history of preventing minorities from voting in the US – https://theconversation.com/no-mail-in-votes-proof-of-citizenship-the-long-history-of-preventing-minorities-from-voting-in-the-us-146669

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christie M. Gardiner, Associate Lecturer of Law, University of Newcastle

You have a chronic health condition and visit your specialist for an annual check-up, but the referral’s expired. You’re told to get a new referral from the GP to claim the Medicare rebate. You take the next afternoon off to see your GP, who gives you another 12 month referral and tells you they can’t backdate it. You’re out of pocket for the specialist fee and gap payment for your GP consultation. You’ll have to do it all again next year.

Common issues like this are highlighted in a new report on the specialist referral system out today by the Deeble Institute for Health Policy Research, the research arm of the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association.

The report, which we co-authored, finds shortcomings in a broken referral system, plagued by poor data collection and wasted dollars.

Fixing these issues requires a better understanding of patients’ long-term needs and the health and economic consequences of the medical referral system.

Chronic illness is more common now

The rules about specialist referrals were developed in the 70s, when acute illness was more common.

Now more people each year are being diagnosed with a chronic illness, needing long-term specialist management.

They will often need multiple referrals, depending on how many specialists they see and when these referrals expire. This can be a frustrating financial and logistical burden and can even cause some patients to delay treatment.

Referrals can be too short

Different types of health-care workers can refer you to specialists or consultant physicians. The duration of the referral ultimately depends on who issues it.

GPs commonly limit their referrals to fixed terms, even though indefinite referrals are possible. Specialists can only issue referrals to other specialists for three months, and this rule poses serious challenges for many vulnerable people.

One example, taken from a review of Medicare in 2016, is of cancer patients receiving different types of therapy, where the radiation oncology treatment lasts longer than three months. When the referral expires, the patient needs to obtain a new one to continue treatment.

Issues the review identified about the three month rule included difficulties providers had in interpreting the rules, leading to improper Medicare billing practices. This echoes previous concerns.

Read more: Explainer: what is Medicare and how does it work?

Why are referrals stuck in the 70s?

Regardless of the burden on patients, health-care workers and Medicare, both sides of government have shown little interest in changing the referral rules.

This is largely because of the general principles that sit behind them. These include the need to keep people away from expensive specialist care and the importance of GPs as gatekeepers of the health system.

So, the purpose of a referral is to provide access to Medicare subsidies for specialist care. But the purpose of a referral expiring is actually to reconnect you with your GP, who then issues a new referral if you are receiving ongoing specialist care.

The referral system offers important economic benefits. But the burden of referral expiration and the limited referral pathways available for patients needs attention. Revising how referrals operate and improving the system of communication between care teams can overcome many associated challenges.

Read more: Specialists are free to set their fees, but there are ways to ensure patients don’t get ripped off

The referral system doesn’t always give good value

We’re seeing a trend toward what’s called value-based care. This is the idea GPs and specialists should deliver effective and efficient patient care, taking into account the limited resources available.

But the current referral system can discourage this.

Read more: 7 lessons for Australia’s health system from the coronavirus upheaval

A recent example of the misuse of referrals is with Victoria’s Call-to-Test program for COVID-19. This is designed to provide about 200 vulnerable Melburnians access to nurse-led in-home COVID-19 testing each day.

People need a GP referral, unlike most government-run COVID-19 clinics around Australia. Victoria’s health department says a referral is needed so test results can be incorporated into treatment plans.

But referrals, as a vehicle, don’t achieve this. Referrals relate to Medicare billing and they are not designed to facilitate GP follow-up care.

We estimate GP consultations to obtain the Call-to-Test referrals are likely to cost Medicare anywhere from A$10,300 a day (if GPs claim for a shorter consultation along with a bulk billing incentive) up to a $17,560 a day (if GPs claim for a longer consultation). This would be on top of the cost of any follow-up services after the test results are known, which is where the money is better spent.

If not now, when?

Rather than waiting until the next scheduled review of the referral rules in 2028, we can do better, sooner. There is strong consumer and clinician support for a more efficient referral system.

Key legislative changes we’d like to see include expanding referral pathways and giving specialists the flexibility to extend referrals when needed, rather than letting them expire.

Consumer awareness of their referral rights is also needed. So too is compulsory and ongoing training for Medicare Benefit Schedule providers, administrators and Medicare staff who advise practitioners of the rules.

Supporting all of this, we need an independent inquiry and further research to ensure evidence-informed policies guide high-value, cost-effective care within the referral system.

– ref. Specialist referral rules haven’t changed much since the 70s, but Australia’s health needs sure have – https://theconversation.com/specialist-referral-rules-havent-changed-much-since-the-70s-but-australias-health-needs-sure-have-144506

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Damian R. Michael, Senior research fellow, Charles Sturt University

As we settle into spring and temperatures rise, snakes are emerging from their winter hideouts to bask in the sun. But don’t be alarmed if you spot one, it’s hard to imagine a more misunderstood group of animals than snakes.

Our interactions with snakes are conversation starters, with yarns told and retold. But knowing what’s fact and fiction gets harder with each retelling.

Read more: I’ve always wondered: who would win in a fight between the Black Mamba and the Inland Taipan?

As is so often the case with wildlife, the myths pale in comparison to what science has shown us about these incredible creatures. So let’s debunk six misconceptions we, as wildlife ecologists, often hear.

1. Black snakes and blue tongue lizards keep brown snakes away

This is a common old wives’ tale in southern Australia. The myth goes that if you see a red-bellied black snake or a blue-tongue lizard on your property, you’re unlikely to see the highly venomous brown snake, because black snakes keep brown snakes at bay.

This myth probably originates from observations of black snakes eating brown snakes (which they do).

But it’s not one-way traffic. There are many reported examples of brown snakes killing black snakes, too. Overall, no scientific evidence suggests one suppresses the other.

There is also no evidence blue-tongue lizards prey upon or scare brown snakes. In fact, many snakes feed on lizards, including brown snakes which, despite a preference for mammal prey as adults, won’t hesitate to have a blue tongue for lunch.

2. Snakes are poisonous

While the term poisonous and venomous are often used interchangeably, they mean quite different things. If you eat or ingest a toxic plant or animal, it’s said to be poisonous, whereas if an animal stings or bites you and you get sick, it’s venomous.

Read more: Why are some snakes so venomous?

Venom is a specialised type of poison that has evolved for a specific purpose. For venom to work, it needs a wound to enter the body and into the bloodstream. Snakes, therefore, are generally venomous, not poisonous.

But there are exceptions. For example, the American garter snake preys on the rough-skinned newt which contains a powerful toxin.

The newt’s toxin accumulates in the snake’s liver, and effectively makes this non-venomous snake species poisonous if another animal or human eats it. Remarkably, these snakes can also assess whether a given newt is too toxic for them to handle, and so will avoid it.

3. Australia has the deadliest snakes in the world

Approximately 20% of the world’s 3,800-plus snake species are venomous. Based on the median lethal dose — the standard measurement for how deadly a toxin is — the Australian inland taipan is ranked number one in the world. Several other Australian snakes feature in the top 10. But does that make them the deadliest?

It depends on how you define “deadly”. Death by snake bite in Australia is very uncommon, with just two per year, on average, compared to 81,000-138,000 deaths from snakes annually worldwide.

Read more: Yes, Australian snakes will definitely kill you – if you’re a mouse

If we define “deadly snakes” as those responsible for killing many people, then the list would be topped by snakes such as the Indian cobra, common krait, Russell’s viper and the saw-scaled viper, which occur in densely populated parts of India and Asia.

A lack of access to antivenoms and health care contribute substantially to deaths from snake bites.

4. Snakes have poor eyesight

Compared to other reptiles, such as monitor lizards, most snakes have poor eyesight, especially species that are active at night or burrow in soil.

However, snakes that are active by day and feed on fast-moving prey have relatively good vision.

One study in 1999 showed people are less likely to encounter eastern brown snakes when wearing clothing that contrasted with the colour of the sky, such as dark clothing on a bright day. This suggests they can see you well before you see them.

Some snakes such as the American coachwhip can even improve their eyesight when presented with a threat by constricting blood vessels in the transparent scale covering the eye.

And then there’s the olive sea snake, whose “phototactic tails” can sense light, allowing them to retract their tails under shelter to avoid predation.

5. Young snakes are more dangerous than adults

This myth is based on the idea juvenile snakes can’t control the amount of venom they inject. No evidence suggests this is true.

Read more: Explainer: what should you do if you’re bitten by a snake?

However, research shows the venom of young and old snakes can differ. A 2017 study showed the venom of young brown snakes is different to adults, probably to facilitate the capture of different types of prey: young brown snakes feed on reptiles, whereas adult brown snakes predominantly feed on mammals.

But it’s not just age — venom toxicity can vary among individuals of the same population, or among populations of the same species.

6. Snake are aggressive

Perhaps the most pervasive myth about snakes is they’re aggressive, probably because defensive behaviours are often misinterpreted.

But snakes don’t attack unprovoked. Stories of snakes chasing people are more likely cases where a snake was attempting to reach a retreat site behind the observer.

When threatened, many snakes give a postural warning such as neck flaring, raising their head off the ground, and opening their mouths, providing clear signals they feel threatened.

It’s fair to say this approach to dissuade an approaching person, or other animal, works pretty well.

Rhesus macaques display more fearful behaviour when confronted with snakes in a striking pose compared to a coiled or elongated posture. And showing Japanese macaques images of snakes in a striking posture sets of a flurry of brain activity that isn’t evoked when they’re shown images of snakes in nonthreatening postures.

Read more: New research reveals these 20 Australian reptiles are set to disappear by 2040

The same is true for humans. Children and adults detect images of snakes in a striking posture more rapidly than a resting posture. And a study from earlier this year found human infants (aged seven to 10 months) have an innate ability to detect snakes.

Snakes are amazing, but shouldn’t be feared. If you encounter one on a sunny day, don’t make sudden movements, just back away slowly. Never pick them up (or attempt to kill them), as this is often when people are bitten.

– ref. Does Australia really have the deadliest snakes? We debunk 6 common myths – https://theconversation.com/does-australia-really-have-the-deadliest-snakes-we-debunk-6-common-myths-145765

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeannie Marie Paterson, Professor of Law, University of Melbourne

What used to be known as a requirement to lend responsibly is now regarded as red tape.

The National Consumer Credit Protection Act introduced by the Rudd government after the global financial crisis introduced responsible lending obligations that required lenders to ensure the loans they were offering were “not unsuitable” for borrowers.

No longer. If passed into law, changes announced by treasurer Josh Frydenberg last week in the leadup to the budget will remove the obligation for most lenders, allowing them to rely instead on the information presented to them by borrowers.

In the treasurer’s words, it will replace the current principle of “lender beware” with “borrower responsibility”.

He says it will make it easier for consumers to borrow, which would have been a disquieting prospect during the borrowing and house price boom that peaked three years ago under the old rules and was only slowed by intervention from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

Safeguards offered…

Frydenberg says there will be safeguards. Lenders will have to comply with APRA lending standards. The special restrictions on “small amount credit contracts” (a discrete category that covers payday loans) will remain in place. Debt management firms will be required to hold licences.

But the provisions will not require lenders to assess the crucial question of whether a particular product is suitable for an individual borrower.

For the first time in a decade, that will be up to the borrower.

Read more: Government proposes changes to smooth the path for borrowers

Lenders might decide to do that, but they won’t have to. What the treasurer calls “borrower responsibility” will become “buyer beware”.

Lenders will be obliged to be members of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and have to act efficiently, honestly and fairly.

And members of the Banking Association will be subject to a code of practice that requires them to exercise the care and skill of a diligent and prudent banker.

But the duty of a banker is to the bank. That means a banker’s job is to ensure that a loan can be recovered, perhaps by selling property, rather than that the borrower can afford to make the payments.

…but bankers work for banks

When the financial crisis struck, equity was stripped from family homes by lenders looking after themselves. The new proposed changes would allow it to happen again.

The government says lenders have had to devote substantial resources to checking incorrect and misleading information provided by borrowers.

But much of it would have come from mortgage brokers acting on behalf of borrowers but being paid as if they were lenders, receiving a commission related to the size of the loan.

And brokers work for banks

The Royal Commission recommended that brokers be subject to a new “best interest” requirement, which is due to come in in January, untested, just before the responsible lending requirement is withdrawn in April.

Commissioner Kenneth Hayne also recommended banning brokers’ commissions and having them accept payment instead in the form of an upfront fee paid by the borrower not the lender. The government at first accepted and then rejected the recommendation.

Even where they are not encouraged to over-borrow, consumers are often making decisions under stress or blinded by optimism bias.

Even where entirely honest they can be unable to make reliable predictions about the level of credit they can bear.

If the responsible lending rules we have are considered too prescriptive, complex and onerous as the treasurer says, a reasonable approach would be to make them simpler and principles-based rather than prescriptive as recommended by Commissioner Hayne.

Read more: Vital signs. It’s one thing to back down on Hayne’s recommendation about mortgage brokers, it’s another to offer nothing in its place

The Australian Law Reform Commission has just commenced an inquiry into how to simplify Australia’s complex financial services regime.

The government might have asked it for a heads up or kept the responsible lending obligations in place until it saw what it had to say.

– ref. It’s about to become easier to lend irresponsibly, to help the recovery – https://theconversation.com/its-about-to-become-easier-to-lend-irresponsibly-to-help-the-recovery-146916

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen Stollznow, Research fellow, Griffith University

Last month, on the centennial of the 19th amendment granting American women the vote, US President Donald Trump announced he would issue a posthumous pardon for Susan B. Anthony. A suffragette, Anthony was convicted of voting illegally as a woman in 1872. The response was mixed. Some applauded the president, others accused him of virtue signalling.

The term has been levelled in recent times at celebrities, politicians, and brands. But what does “virtue signalling” mean?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as:

An attempt to show other people that you are a good person, for example by expressing opinions that will be acceptable to them, especially on social media.

So, virtue signalling is an expression used to call out an individual, company, or organisation – suggesting they are only backing an idea to look good in the eyes of others. The term implies that they don’t truly believe in the cause they publicly support. They are acting out of bad faith, because they have an ulterior motive.

The abundance and popularity of similar terms in the social lexicon, like “radical chic”, “bleeding hearts”, “politically correct”, “poseurs” or just plain “posers”, suggests many value honesty and integrity. We’re wary of fakes and possible bullshit.

However, like these labels, “virtue signalling” is highly pejorative: often wielded as a sneering insult by those on the right against progressives to dismiss their statements as grandstanding. Some people accused of it may actually believe deeply in the cause they speak of, and back their words with actions.

Read more: ‘Sumbiotude’: a new word in the tiny (but growing) vocabulary for our emotional connection to the environment

Looking good

A “virtue” is a trait or quality that is deemed to be moral or good. The word has earlier Christian connotations of theological virtues, including humility, kindness, and charity, in opposition to the “seven deadly sins”.

In the case of Trump, infamous for his misogyny, the symbolic pardon of Anthony was construed by many as disingenuous. In a perceived attempt to garner female voters, he was displaying a virtue he didn’t have.

Before an AFL game in June this year, meanwhile, Richmond Tigers and Collingwood Magpies players and umpires knelt down on one knee to show solidarity with Indigenous Australians. It was part of the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement against racism.

Many fans interpreted the gesture as an act of support, unity, and respect. Yet some online critics rejected the display as virtue signalling, telling the teams to “stick to football instead of politics”.

Virtue signalling is often an accusation of “jumping on the bandwagon” of a popular cause. At the height of the #BLM protests, companies including McDonalds, Starbucks, and Nike were accused of “corporate virtue signaling” — or “woke washing” — for issuing empty statements of support.

In the US, even mask wearing has been branded by some as virtue signalling — signifying to progressives a serious approach to public health but to the right an over-reaction amid political culture wars. Indeed the term can sometimes say more about the person who wields it than its ostensible target.

Radical chic

The origins of the term “virtue signalling” are disputed. British journalist James Bartholomew is often credited with coining the phrase in a 2015 article in the conservative publication The Spectator. It is more likely he popularised an existing term, as there are older academic references.

The earlier expression “radical chic” — coined by Tom Wolfe in 1970 and celebrating its 50th anniversary — describes association with a fashionable crusade, but without genuine commitment to it. Where radical chic described the adoption of causes by celebrities and socialites, virtue signalling is different because anyone can do it.

The slur of virtue signalling relates to older well-regarded idioms: “do as I say, not as I do”; “all talk, no action”; “talk the talk”; and “walk the walk”.

Read more: Where ‘woke’ came from and why marketers should think twice before jumping on the social activism bandwagon

Claiming the higher ground

“Virtue signalling” joins other right-wing slurs like libtards, bleeding hearts, snowflakes, and social justice warriors.

It is a cousin of accusations of political correctness. In their apparent sermonising and moral outrage against racism, sexual harassment, climate change and more, progressives are viewed as emotional and weak, or accused of being sanctimonious.

Ironically, wielding the term sometimes serves as virtue signalling in itself. By calling out virtue signalling, the speaker publicly claims the moral high ground.

The term is often used as an ad hominem attack — a charge that dismisses an argument based on the character of the presenter, not the argument itself.

Does it matter if an individual or company signals virtue if it’s in the name of a good cause? Indeed, it can be argued that signalling a commitment to specific values helps moral discourse.

As the Trump pardon of Susan B. Anthony shows, the same action characterised as virtue signalling by one person can also effect positive change.

– ref. ‘Virtue signalling’, a slur meant to imply moral grandstanding that might not be all bad – https://theconversation.com/virtue-signalling-a-slur-meant-to-imply-moral-grandstanding-that-might-not-be-all-bad-145546

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathleen Ryan, Research Fellow, Asia-Pacific Health, Infection and Immunity Theme, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

At the weekend, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews announced all the state’s primary school kids would return to school for Term 4. This is an update from the previously planned staggered return to primary school, which would begin only with students in the early years — prep (first year) to Year 2.

The change was informed by our analysis of Victorian health and education department data on all cases and contacts linked to outbreaks at schools and early childhood education and care services (childcare and preschool).

We included data between January 25 (the date of the first known case in Victoria) and August 31.

Our analysis found children younger than 13 seem to transmit the virus less than teenagers and adults. In instances where the first case in a school was a child under 13, a subsequent outbreak (two or more cases) was uncommon. This finding played a key role in helping make the decision for primary school children to return to school.

Here is what else we found.

1. Outbreaks in childcare and schools are driven by community transmission

Infections linked to childcare, preschools and schools peaked when community transmission was highest in July, and declined in August. In addition, they were most common in the geographical areas where community transmission was also high.

This suggests infections in childcare, preschools and schools are driven primarily by transmission in the broader community. Controlling community transmission is key to preventing school outbreaks.

2. School infections are much lower than in the community

There were 1,635 infections linked with childcare, preschools and schools out of a total of 19,109 cases in Victoria (between January 25 and August 31).

Of 1 million students enrolled in all Victorian schools, 337 may have acquired the virus through outbreaks at school.

Read more: Coronavirus disrupted my kid’s first year of school. Will that set them back?

Of 139 staff and 373 students who may have acquired infection through outbreaks at childcare, preschools or schools, eight (four staff and four students) were admitted to hospital, and all recovered.

The infections in childcare, preschools and schools were very rarely linked to infections in the elderly, who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19.

3. Most infections in schools and childcare centres were well contained

Of all the outbreaks in Victorian childcare centres, preschools and schools, 66% involved only a single infection in a staff member or student and did not progress to an outbreak. And 91% involved fewer than ten cases.

Testing, tracing and isolation within 48 hours of a notification is the most important strategy to prevent an outbreak.

The majority of infections in childcare, preschools and schools were well contained with existing controls and rapid closure (within two days), contact tracing and cleaning.

Read more: Are the kids alright? Social isolation can take a toll, but play can help

4. Households are the main source of infection, not schools

The investigations of cases identified in schools suggest child-to-child transmission in schools is uncommon, and not the primary cause of infection in children. Household transmission has been consistently found to be the most common source of infection for children.

Closing schools should be a last resort

Based on our findings and a review of the international literature, we recommend prioritising childcare centres, preschools and schools to reopen and stay open to guarantee equitable learning environments — and to lessen the effects of school closures.

Children do transmit the virus and outbreaks can occur. But based on the international literature, this mostly happens when there are high rates of community transmission and a lack of adherence to mitigation measures (such as social distancing) at the school or childcare centre.

Childcare centres, preschools and schools play a critical role not only in providing education, but also offering additional support for vulnerable students.

With childcare centres and schools being closed, along with the additional economic and psychological stress on families, family conflict and violence has increased. This has led to many children and young people feeling unsafe and left behind in their education and suffering mental-health conditions.

Closing all schools as part of large-scale restrictions should be a last resort. This is especially the case for childcare centres, preschools and primary schools, as children in these age groups are less likely to transmit the virus, and be associated with an outbreak.

Now that community transmission in Victoria is so low, it’s time for all kids to go back to school.

Read more: From WW2 to Ebola: what we know about the long-term effects of school closures

The authors would like to thank their advisory committee from the Department of Education and Training and the Department of Health and Human Services. They would also like to thank outbreak epidemiologists at the DHHS and medical students Alastair Weng, Angela Zhu, Anthea Tsatsaronis, Benjamin Watson, Julian Loo Yong Kee, Natalie Commins, Nicholas Wu, Renee Cocks, Timothy O’Hare, and research assistant Kanwal Saleem, and Belle Overmars.

– ref. Behind Victoria’s decision to open primary schools to all students: report shows COVID transmission is rare – https://theconversation.com/behind-victorias-decision-to-open-primary-schools-to-all-students-report-shows-covid-transmission-is-rare-147006

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Marshman, Honorary Principal Fellow, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sudden and very big decline in Australian universities’ revenue as a result of the loss of international student enrolments. Being excluded from the federal government’s JobKeeper program has forced universities to embark on immediate and sustained cost-cutting. Our newly released research identifies several significant risks associated with this approach.

Most universities have tried to reduce the impact on their permanent workforce. They have contained infrastructure programs and other operational costs, cut executives’ pay, reduced casual staff, frozen hiring and drawn on any available reserves.

However, 57% of Australian university expenditure is allocated to employment and related costs of an estimated total higher education workforce of 137,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in 2019. Workforce savings are an inevitable consequence.

Read more: Why is the Australian government letting universities suffer?

Drawing on media reporting of university responses to mid-September 2020, we estimate the financial impact of the pandemic at A$3.8 billion for 2020. We estimate overall job loss expectations for continuing appointments to be at least 5,600 full-time equivalent staff. A conservative 25% reduction in casual and research-only fixed-term staff could result in further losses equivalent to 7,500 FTE, or an estimated 17,500 people.

In FTE terms, the total loss amounts to 10% of the workforce. In terms of the number of individuals losing jobs, the loss is greater.

Read more: More than 70% of academics at some universities are casuals. They’re losing work and are cut out of JobKeeper

Two approaches to cutting staff costs

To date, Australian public universities have taken two different approaches to cutting employment costs.

Firstly, ten universities have gained staff support to vary their enterprise agreements. These universities have individually adopted an approach similar to an earlier national Job Protection Framework proposal. That arrangement failed to gain sector-wide consensus.

Enterprise agreement variations enable these universities to reduce or delay job losses by freezing salary increases and purchasing leave entitlements. While saving some jobs, some of these universities have continued with agreed voluntary redundancy programs this year and are reserving options for next year.

Secondly, 17 universities have taken a management-led approach. These universities have implemented voluntary and involuntary redundancy programs within the framework of existing enterprise agreements.

Of the remaining universities, one has signalled it is not anticipating significant workforce change. Nine are still considering their responses, or are in discussions with staff and unions, or there is limited publicly available information.

Read more: COVID-19: what Australian universities can do to recover from the loss of international student fees

What risks do job cuts create?

Clearly, there is an immediate imperative driving most universities to reduce staff numbers. However, a COVID-19 response based on widespread staff reductions creates risks for universities. These include:

1. Inability to teach growing numbers of domestic students

Despite a decline in international students, some universities are reporting increased demand for domestic university places in semester 2 of 2020. A forecast decline in employment opportunities is likely to increase pressure on universities in 2021 to increase enrolments beyond 2020’s planned levels.

Across the board, voluntary redundancy programs are likely to lead to academic staff shortages in some discipline areas and loss of academic leaders. This could result in:

• reduced capacity to absorb the increased demand for places

• a decline in the quality of programs

• diminished skilling of the future workforce.

2. Impact on research productivity

Reducing casual staff will increase pressure on continuing and fixed-term staff to dedicate more time to teaching and less to research. Research capacity will be reduced. Cuts to fixed-term early career researchers are an easy but not a strategic approach.

Read more: Job-ready graduates changes loom as last straw for emerging researchers

Combined, such actions will reduce research output. The result will be a decline in the overall capability of Australian university research.

3. Less capacity to reconfigure and rebuild to be effective in a post-COVID world.

Continual redundancy rounds and “death by a thousand cuts” are an undesirable consequence of many “bottom-up” voluntary redundancy processes. These are essentially tactical rather than strategy-led initiatives. They lead to diminished institutional capability and loss of institutional memory.

This is happening at a time that demands rethinking of the whole of higher education. This approach should include:

• a greater focus on evidence-based and targeted cost reductions

• investment in and development of new growth opportunities

• an enhanced digital learning and student experience.

Read more: New learning economy challenges unis to be part of reshaping lifelong education

4. A weaker international market position

An inability to maintain current levels of academic commitment to research risks a slide in world rankings if universities elsewhere sustain their research productivity. This would reduce the attractiveness of Australian universities for international students and international research and industry collaborations. And that, in turn, would threaten future funding of higher education.

Universities have a significant role in the national and global COVID-19 recovery. They must contribute to the reskilling of workers and employment growth, provide educational opportunities for school leavers, research medical innovations such as COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, and collaborate in creating new industries and jobs.

This national role is threatened by an apparent unwillingness on the part of government to recognise and respond to the funding crisis in Australian higher education. Universities face a difficult balancing act to avoid cutting staff numbers so deeply that they lose the capacity to support the nation’s recovery, maintain international standing, drive innovation and discovery, and contribute to the well-being and prosperity of all Australians.

This article was co-authored by Teresa Tjia, a strategic adviser with senior executive experience in higher education. The article is based on more detailed analysis, which can be found here.

– ref. As universities face losing 1 in 10 staff, COVID-driven cuts create 4 key risks – https://theconversation.com/as-universities-face-losing-1-in-10-staff-covid-driven-cuts-create-4-key-risks-147007

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marg Rogers, Lecturer, Early Childhood Education, University of New England

Among the sacrifices made by firefighters, and those who support fire-affected communities, is precious time spent with family. In California, thousands of firefighters and community support workers or volunteers have missed important moments such as birthdays, school events or family gatherings.

In Australia, where bushfire season includes December-January, thousands routinely miss out on Christmas, New Year’s Eve and chunks of school holidays with family because they’re off fighting fires or helping those affected. Some only go home to sleep before returning to the fire front. Others are deprived of family time for weeks or months.

My research focuses on how to support children with at least one parent who must travel afar for work (such as military families). But the same techniques may apply in households with a firefighter or other fire-affected community support worker in the family.

How might children respond?

Children might respond to parents working away for long periods:

Children are never too young to realise a parent is missing.

Read more: How to support children whose parent works away for long periods

Parents can prepare

I conducted research with 19 children aged between 2 and 5 who had a parent who worked away at times. I also talked to one of their parents and educators about the children’s and family’s responses, strengths and coping strategies.

Many parents find it useful to explain why they work away, where they are going, and what they will do using age-appropriate language.

Some found it helpful to mark where they were going on a globe or map, repeating the story each day for a few weeks before leaving. Where possible, homemade sticker calendars marked off the days until the parent returned.

Pictures can help explain the roles of emergency services, defence personnel, front line workers and volunteers. Discuss how these workers use their skills to save people, forests, animals, farms and buildings. Partner with children’s educators to find resources to help children understand.

Talk about other jobs where parents work away, and explore some of the children’s resources available, including those designed for children with a disability or language delay. Share these, and bushfire resources, with educators. Children’s educators can be a great support when parents work away.

Develop and practice a narrative simple enough for the child to repeat. For example, “Mum is away fighting fires. She will be home after New Year.” This can improve children’s confidence.

Children should be able to talk about their fears

Some children fear their parent will be killed or injured when they work away. Parents can and should encourage children to talk openly about their fears.

Showing children pictures of safety precautions and equipment they use might reduce fears. Consider restricting unsupervised use of media to reduce exposure to the news. Telling their educators about children’s fears can be useful.

Parents found pets could be a comfort and a conversation topic. Some bought a new pet before they went away, asking for updates and photos (of course, pet ownership is a long term commitment and is not a decision that should be made lightly).

Other parents allowed pets to comfort children at night by letting the pet inside when they were away.

I’m here, you’re there, but we’re still in touch

Setting up a joint project before the parent goes away can increase children’s confidence and agency. Examples include a vegetable garden, flowerpots, worm or mushroom farms, craft projects, dolls house or adventure kingdom using recycled materials. Children can continue the project and send updates and photos.

When children missed their parent, the “at home” parents asked the child to draw what they were looking forward to doing with the “away” parent when they returned. These were photographed and sent to the parent via messages, emails or post. Parents set up a basket for these drawings. The “away” parent could then work through the activities on their return.

Providing art and craft materials for children helped them to express feelings. Some young children made faces out of modelling clay to show how they felt when their parent worked away.

Self-soothing tools

Other parents of young children used mascots, such as two teddy bears: one for the child and one for the away parent. The child could hug the bear when they wanted to cuddle the parent, and was told the parent would feel the hug (and vice versa). The parent took photos of the bear in different locations, as did the child did during outings.

Children found comfort in video and audio recordings of the parent reading bedtime stories, including short stories they enjoyed as a child. A small photo album featuring the child and the parent next to the child’s bed also helped. Some parents also allowed children to sit on the “away” parent’s loungechair when they were absent.

Overall, parents found children responded to situations differently, but finding strategies that boosted understanding and maintained connection with the absent parent built resilience.

Read more: Value beyond money: Australia’s special dependence on volunteer firefighters

– ref. Birthdays, holidays, Christmas without mum or dad: how to support kids with a parent away fighting fires – https://theconversation.com/birthdays-holidays-christmas-without-mum-or-dad-how-to-support-kids-with-a-parent-away-fighting-fires-146317

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Massey University

In the mid-1990s New Zealanders adopted electoral rules they hoped would end the tyranny of what Lord Hailsham once called the “elected dictatorship” of single-party majority government. And yet, a quarter century later, we are staring down the barrel of just that.

In the New Zealand parliament, which typically numbers 120 MPs, the threshold for this political grail is 61 seats. The latest polls indicate the Labour Party would exceed this number if it maintains its current popularity.

That’s significant because in parliamentary democracies single-party majority governments are powerful beasts, able to wield executive and legislative power without recourse to coalition or compromise with other parties.

Moreover, when the constitutional constraints on the (mis)use of executive authority are pretty feeble — as is the case here, with our dispersed constitution, limited scope of judicial review and unicameral legislature — such administrations have a propensity to go rogue.

Governments behaving badly

During the 1980s and 1990s, governments of both the centre-left and centre-right displayed stunning levels of executive arrogance: routinely ignoring pre-election commitments, embarking on structural reforms without mandates, and making a virtue of taking “hard” decisions that enriched some and made life miserable for many.

So in 1993 voters changed the rules, ditching the old first-past-the-post (FPP) system, which regularly delivered outsized parliamentary majorities to either Labour or National, in favour of mixed member proportional representation (MMP).

Read more: The major parties’ tax promises are more about ideology and psychology than equity or fairness for New Zealanders

Under the new system, providing a party wins at least 5% of the vote or one constituency seat (either Māori or general), its share of parliamentary seats is in more or less direct proportion to its support among voters.

That “more or less” is important. Depending on how many votes go to parties that fail to clear the threshold, a major party can win slightly less than a majority of the vote but still control a parliamentary majority.

For instance, last week’s 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton poll had Labour securing 62 seats on the basis of 48% support. That’s because the same poll showed a combined 7% support for parties that would not make it into parliament.

The eight seats represented by that so-called “wasted vote” would effectively be shared pro rata between the elected parties: Labour would pick up four, giving the party a majority.

Would Labour form a coalition anyway?

There has not been a reputable poll since March that does not put Labour in a position to govern alone. For some, and not just those on the political right, this is a concern. New Zealanders have become accustomed to power sharing rather than the power hoarding that is the hallmark of single-party majority, winner-takes-all government.

But are we necessarily staring back to the future? If Jacinda Ardern wakes up on October 18 (or when the official results are announced on November 6) with a parliamentary majority, what might she do?

Read more: With the election campaign underway, can the law protect voters from fake news and conspiracy theories?

The cautious approach (and the prime minister is nothing if not cautious) would be to form an arrangement with another party. For one thing, it is useful to have someone else to blame when things go wrong (as they will).

Also, Ardern knows the support she and her party currently enjoy is unlikely to last for the next three (let alone six or nine) years. Voters shop around. The last time a party won an election with a majority of the vote was in 1951.

Labour has never won more than 41.5% of the vote under MMP. To become the natural party of government it will need allies for those times when its vote falls beneath what is required to govern alone.

The temptation to go it alone

The other option is to go full retro: throw off the handbrake of current coalition partner New Zealand First, put aside the Greens (assuming they make it back in) and go it alone.

That would be tempting: no need to share scarce executive slots, plus the ability to legislate unimpeded by the moderating constraints of multi-party government.

Across all eight MMP elections the average vote share of the highest-polling party has been 42%. But that figure is climbing. In the first four elections it was 39%, but across the next four it rose to 46%. Under MMP, that is getting very close to winner-takes-all territory.

Read more: The missing question from New Zealand’s cannabis debate: what about personal freedom and individual rights?

In that sense, New Zealand has been flirting with a return to elected dictatorships since 2008. The go-it-alone option might not be the outlier it seems.

There is no MMP commandment that “thou shalt not have single-party majority governments”. Electoral systems translate votes into seats in the legislature. If a single-party majority government takes office next month it will do so because a near or clear majority of voters wanted one (unlike the last one in 1993, which was chosen by 35% of voters).

Underneath this lies the question of how executive power is constrained. Having changed the system to end a tradition of elected dictatorship, New Zealand may have to admit that the question has not yet been properly answered.

– ref. With polls showing Labour could govern alone, is New Zealand returning to the days of ‘elected dictatorship’? – https://theconversation.com/with-polls-showing-labour-could-govern-alone-is-new-zealand-returning-to-the-days-of-elected-dictatorship-146918

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anil Hargovan, Associate Professor, UNSW

Ahead of the budget, the government has announced new rules that will allow small businesses at risk of collapse to continue to work out their problems instead of appointing an administrator.

They are needed because of an avalanche of insolvencies awaiting the end of an effective moratorium on bankruptcies (a so-called “regulatory shield”) that expires at the end of December.

Since it was introduced in March the number of companies entering external administration has been unusually low compared to earlier years (at a time of unusually bad conditions) suggesting a buildup of zombie companies waiting to die.

Number of companies entering external administration

The new rules will allow insolvent small businesses with liabilities of less than A$1 million to keep trading under the eye of a small business restructuring practitioner for 20 days while they develop a restructuring plan to put to creditors rather than surrender control to an external administrator.

If half the creditors by value endorse the plan it will be approved and the business can continue under its present ownership with assistance from the restructuring practitioner. If not, it can be put out of its life quickly under a proposed simplified liquidation process.

Existing laws give directors little leeway

Under the current insolvent trading law, directors are expected to immediately stop the trading when they know or have reasonable grounds to suspect the company is insolvent. Directors who “give it a go” and try to trade their way out of financial difficulty face severe legal consequences: personal liability, a fine of up to $1.11 million per offence or a prison sentence of up to 15 years in extreme cases.

The only way to avoid these penalties is to quickly place the company in the hands of the administrator who temporarily manages the business until the company’s creditors make a decision on the company’s fate.

Its a regime not particularly suited to small businesses.

Read more: Australia needs new insolvency laws to encourage small businesses

The proposed new rules can be seen as a tacit admission of the failure to the “safe harbour” law reform of 2017. Applicable to all companies irrespective of size, it protects directors from personal liability for debts incurred by an insolvent company if they took a course of action “reasonably likely to lead to a better outcome” for the company and its creditors than administration or liquidation.

Anecdotal evidence suggests it is largely shunned by small businesses in part because of its uncapped cost. The fees of small business restructuring practitioners will be capped.

The new laws will create breathing space

The new rules are based on Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, with important differences.

The US law applies to all Companies, not just to those with debts of less than $1 million. And it gives the court an oversight role.

The absence of judicial supervision in what’s proposed for Australia is a double-edged sword. Court involvement generally means delays and high costs.

Read more: Government will reform insolvency system to improve distressed small businesses’ survival chances

On the other hand, it provides a valuable check against abuses – such as the deliberate liquidation and rebirth of “phoenix companies” in order to avoid paying debts.

In Australia, that’ll be the role of the small business restructuring practitioner.

It’s not yet clear how they’ll work

It won’t be a panacea for small businesses. They will be required to lodge any outstanding tax returns and pay any employee entitlements before a plan can be put to creditors.

In the current circumstances many small businsses will not be able to comply.

There’s much we don’t yet know about what’s proposed. The government’s briefing says time and cost savings will be achieved through “reduced investigative requirements”. It is unclear to what the extent the liquidator’s wide investigative powers into reasons for business failures will be curtailed.

The changes likely to have profound implications for many stakeholders, including creditors, employees and the general community.

It is important that the government consults properly before the new rules are put to parliament in time for their introduction on January 1.

– ref. We’re facing an insolvency tsunami. With luck, these changes will avert the worst of it – https://theconversation.com/were-facing-an-insolvency-tsunami-with-luck-these-changes-will-avert-the-worst-of-it-146833

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Noble, Education Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University

Childcare will reopen to all Melbourne families this week, as the Australian government’s latest childcare support package comes into effect. Education Minister Dan Tehan has pledged:

an additional A$305.6 million for families and childcare providers to deliver hip pocket relief and ensure the sector remains open to help drive the COVID-19 recovery.

Most of the measures are designed to keep afloat Victorian service providers suffering financially due to lockdown (especially in Melbourne). Childcare — increasingly recognised as an essential service — has now effectively received three rescue packages in less than 12 months.

Some of the measures will also affect families, but this depends on circumstances such as where they live and what kind of service their children attend.

I’m a childcare provider. How will recovery payments help me?

The government introduced payments of at least 25% of pre-COVID revenue to approved Australian childcare services when the previous relief package and Jobkeeper ended for the sector. These payments are known as “transition payments”.

They were a lifeline for Melbourne services while only children of permitted workers and vulnerable children were attending (and paying fees).

These payments were due to end on September 28, but have now been extended for Victorian services only to January 31, 2021.

An additional 15% top-up payment will be provided to out of school hours care (OSHC) providers when schools open to more students. This is currently scheduled to happen in week two of term four (from October 12).

This top-up means OSHC providers’ payments will equal around 40% of their pre-pandemic revenue, recognising they have been hit particularly hard by the lockdown.

Payments to services won’t impact directly on fees for parents. But they will mean their service is more likely to remain financially viable, and open for children to attend when they open up to all families in September and October.

I’m a parent. Will fees change?

The fee freeze makes for a good headline promising more help for parents but it’s difficult to say how much difference it will really make.

Fee freezes might save some families up to A$5 per day, per child. But these aren’t savings on their current spending, it just means they’re being shielded from a planned fee hike. Parents using childcare shouldn’t face any fee hikes until January 31 at the earliest.

Whether families actually save anything at all depends on where they live and what provider they use.

Some local councils in Melbourne had already committed to no fee increases. Fees at childcare centres that are not run by councils, however, are determined by individual providers. They decide whether and how much to increase fees, so parents’ savings will vary significantly.

Parents with children in four-year-old sessional kindergarten will be saving on fees, with the Victorian government (which co-funds kindergarten with the federal government) committing to free kinder for term four.

Will childcare centres lose staff or reduce hours?

The federal government’s employment guarantee, which has been extended along with transition payments, is a big issue for educators and carers.

The government has made it clear it expects childcare providers receiving transition payments not to stand down educators or make them redundant, even where there is reduced need for staff.

However, it’s possible for childcare centre managers to reduce shifts significantly. For example, under the July transition payment arrangements, centre managers were only required to offer more than one shift to their workers over a period of ten weeks.

More than three quarters of the early childhood centre workforce is casual or part-time, so many Melbourne childcare workers are likely to face significant income reductions.

Despite the employment guarantee, there have been reports of Melbourne educators being stood down.

I’m a parent. How will changes to the Activity Test affect me and my subsidy?

The federal government’s “Activity Test” links how much time parents spend in work, education or training with the level of childcare subsidy. Parents working and studying less can only access a limited number of subsidised hours of childcare.

But the Activity Test was eased in July, meaning that if parents’ income has been impacted by COVID-19, they can still get the same or more childcare subsidy even if they were working or studying less. This measure has now been extended to April 4, 2021.

But parents will still have to meet the gap fees (the difference between fees charged by providers and subsidies paid by the government). For those really struggling, it may be difficult to keep paying fees if one parent is at home and able to care for children.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit most from high quality early learning, and are more likely to start school developmentally vulnerable. Temporarily easing the activity test is unlikely to keep the lowest income families engaged.

I’m a parent and I lost my job. Can I get free childcare?

Parents who’ve lost their jobs may also be eligible for free childcare temporarily. Application for the Additional Childcare Subsidy must be made through Centrelink.

Although not included in the government’s announcement, this provision could be vital in helping families to keep their children connected with early education and care, providing children with stability and much-needed fun, and supporting their development and learning while families recover.

– ref. Not much relief for parents, but new childcare measures will rescue providers (again) – https://theconversation.com/not-much-relief-for-parents-but-new-childcare-measures-will-rescue-providers-again-146752

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis McNevin, Professor of Forensic Genetics, University of Technology Sydney

Far-right white supremacist ideology is on the rise in Europe, North America and Australia. It appeals to a racist notion whereby many white supremacists see themselves as members of a “pure” race that is at risk of dilution and contamination.

Science does not support the idea of pure races with ancient origins. In the past few years, genetic sequencing of ancient and modern humans and related species has given us a flood of new information about how human populations have evolved.

The evidence reveals a history of ongoing genetic mingling, due to interbreeding between different populations and even species. Humans from different groups had children together, and even with Neanderthals and members of other now-extinct hominin species.

This mingling occurred constantly in the long process of human migration across the globe. Europeans inhabit one region of a large genetic continuum and are no more or less “pure” than any other population.

Read more: How believers in ‘white genocide’ are spreading their hate-filled message in Australia

From Africa to the world

The genetic history of humanity begins in what we now know as Africa. The exact location (or locations) of the first anatomically modern humans is debated, but there is a consensus they lived south of the Sahara desert between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago.

A group or groups of these early humans migrated out of Africa and into the Middle East, as we now know it, some time between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago. Next, some went east into Asia while others headed west into Europe.

At some point, the wandering humans met and bred with Neanderthals. These now-extinct hominins had left Africa many thousands of years earlier.

Modern Asians and Europeans still carry genetic signatures of Neanderthals, while sub-Saharan Africans do not.

Read more: How DNA ancestry testing can change our ideas of who we are

The humans that migrated east into Asia also met and bred with other extinct species of hominins, including at least two major injections of genes from a group we call Denisovans.

Early modern humans almost certainly bred with other ancient hominins as well, because interspecies breeding was likely common. The remains of a girl with a Neanderthal mother and Denisovan father have recently been discovered. Another recent study has shown some Neanderthals too carried traces of human DNA.

Genetic diversity leads to greater fitness

Genetic diversity, as measured by a metric called heterozygosity, decreases with geographic distance from Africa. Higher heterozygosity is generally associated with greater genetic fitness for survival.

From this perspective it could be argued that, when the humans who walked away from Africa lost genetic diversity through living in small groups, they also lost genetic fitness. By the same argument, interbreeding between populations increases fitness.

In fact, Europeans probably benefited from picking up some Neanderthal DNA: these genes are thought to have diversified their immune systems and may have contributed to their lighter pigmentation.

Humans who migrated west into Europe continued to meet and breed with other human populations.

Another wave of humans from what we call Anatolia (roughly modern-day Turkey) followed the initial spread of humans into Europe. The Yamnaya population from what we now know as the Russian steppe migrated west into Europe between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago. In fact, little genetic trace remains of the first human inhabitants of Europe, as they were continually supplanted by others.

Even the Roman civilisation, considered to be one of the historical foundations of European identity, was home to great genetic variety. A recent study looked at the genomes of 127 people from 29 sites across the past 10,000 years. It found an initial wave of hunter-gatherers had been supplanted by an Anatolian population, and during the age of Imperial Rome (27 BC to 300 AD) there were significant introductions of genes from what is now Iran and the eastern Mediterranean.

Read more: Vikings were never the pure-bred master race white supremacists like to portray

Even Vikings were diverse

Blonde-haired, blue-eyed northern Europeans are considered by many white supremacists as the ideal of racial purity. They are epitomised historically by the Vikings.

However, the reality was different. A recent study of 442 human genomes from archaeological sites across Europe and Greenland found substantial ancestry from elsewhere in Europe entering Scandinavia during the Viking Age. In fact, Vikings were more likely to have dark hair than modern Scandinavians.

In short, the idea of a pure white race has no basis in genetics. Lightly pigmented skin, hair and eyes are simply an adaptation to northern European climates (and represent an inferior adaptation in equatorial regions). These features exist in a background of countless other genetic influences borrowed from many populations, old and new.

Read more: How science has been abused through the ages to promote racism

– ref. White supremacists believe in genetic ‘purity’. Science shows no such thing exists – https://theconversation.com/white-supremacists-believe-in-genetic-purity-science-shows-no-such-thing-exists-146763

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia

Lockdown has been particularly hard in Victoria and some dissent against restrictions is to be expected.

While it might be easy to dismiss the anti-lockdown protesters by calling them selfish or deluded, we should not lose sight of just how far beyond our normal expectations of civic responsibility the last six months have taken us.

By and large, most Victorians have been exceptionally responsible and stoic. And while police enforcement has been problematic at times, regulatory requirements often unclear and emergency powers unlike anything we’ve seen in a century, the vast majority of Victorians, indeed all Australians, continue to trust the actions of governments are reasonable and constitutionally valid.

Not everyone agrees, however, with this proposition.

In recent weeks, there has been an increase in social media traffic asserting the lockdown measures — and indeed our legal institutions themselves — are unlawful and unconstitutional.

These arguments — some inspired by the “sovereign citizen” movement — are also showing up in online forums, the courts and the streets.

Some of these protesters argue, for example, that all laws passed since November 18, 1975, in Victoria are invalid because Queen Elizabeth did not personally sign off on the new state Constitution.

Another argument is the Victorian courts have no vested authority because the oath each judge takes is not addressed to the queen using her proper title, or at all.

These are strong accusations. But are they true?

How our system of government works

To address this question, it is important to start with some general principles of law.

In Australia, we are governed by a blend of constitutional styles: a federation of states (like the US) but in a Westminster setting (like the United Kingdom).

The central document that sets out our political system is the Commonwealth Constitution, which is augmented by state constitutions.

Read more: Why QAnon is attracting so many followers in Australia — and how it can be countered

The Constitution gives federal parliament in Canberra power over a range of specific matters (defence, customs, immigration), with the rest largely left to the states (including law enforcement).

However, the federal government has most of the money, and can therefore exert influence over policies dealing with education, health and the environment, all of which fall outside of its lawmaking mandate.

We have very few constitutionally protected legal rights. Fortunately, we have a rich tradition of legal conventions and common law principles that underpin our democratic processes.

Most people, however, do not understand these complexities. And that leaves many angry and frustrated.

The rise of the “sovereign citizen” movement — which purports to reclaim the law for the individual — is entirely understandable. But this does not mean that its proponents are correct.

Conspiracy theorists claims debunked

Let’s look at some of the arguments of those claiming Australia is in a constitutional crisis.

These conspiracy theorists claim, for instance, that every oath of office not using the full title “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom & Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth” is invalid. As a result, our judges, governors and police commissioners are all impostors.

This proposition is nonsensical. One accepted shortened form in oaths, “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors”, is based on the schedule to the Constitution. Another form, “the Queen of Australia”, is regularly used by the High Court.

Indeed, some jurisdictions, including Victoria, have legitimately removed references to the queen from their legal forms entirely, which parliamentary sovereignty allows them to do. These changes do not have to be approved by referenda.

Also, according to conspiracy theorists, Victoria’s courts are invalid because the attorney general did not have a mandate from electors to set up the court services in 2014, as this plan was not in the party’s pre-election platform.

This claim is also unfounded. In a representative democracy, we elect politicians to make decisions for us — we do not vote directly on specific legislative actions.

Read more: ‘Living people’: who are the sovereign citizens, or SovCits, and why do they believe they have immunity from the law?

Another argument asserts the 1975 Victorian Constitution is invalid because the queen did not sign the bill that created it, only the Victorian governor did. According to one theory, the queen, as head of state, was required to put her signature on it.

But according to the High Court, this is a specious claim.

In 2013, in the case of Rutledge v Victoria, Justice Kenneth Hayne addressed this very argument. He found the bill did not need an actual signature. Instead, according to longstanding practice, the queen merely had to provide “royal assent”, in other words, a royal nod.

Better civics education is clearly needed

These conspiracy arguments have been routinely shown to be without legal foundation.

But the rise of “constitutional crisis” arguments highlights the shortcomings of our civics education in Australia to adequately explain governmental structures, legal principles and parliamentary conventions. For most people, the law remains mysterious and inaccessible.

While we have a system that makes it compulsory to vote, we do not equip Australians to understand how the legal system operates, how the myriad of accountability structures work and how citizens can engage with them.

Read more: Protests have been criminalised under COVID. What is incitement? How is it being used in the pandemic?

Despite laudable efforts to correct this, the lack of functional knowledge remains widespread. And the vacuum in legal knowledge is quickly filled with social media mischief-making.

Underlying the conspiracy theories is the idea there is an alternative legal truth, the revelation of which will liberate the oppressed from the constraints of authoritarian governments. While these claims are without any legal merit, their growing prevalence should ring alarm bells about the parlous state of civics education in this country.

We have learned during this health emergency the value of placing our trust in medical experts. Some people, however, are reluctant to extend that trust to other experts, including legal experts.

To some extent this is appropriate. Our political system belongs to us, and we need to question and test it at every opportunity.

However, legal quackery is as dangerous as the medical variety. In a time of crisis, such as in a pandemic, it is essential for us to have open and informed debate about the best way through it, based upon fact, not fiction.

The conspiracy theorists are doing themselves a disservice by throwing their considerable energies into irrelevancies rather than engaging in key political debates. While enticing to some, their pronouncements are the last thing we need right now.

– ref. Many anti-lockdown protesters believe the government is illegitimate. Their legal arguments don’t stand up – https://theconversation.com/many-anti-lockdown-protesters-believe-the-government-is-illegitimate-their-legal-arguments-dont-stand-up-146668

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yuting Zhang, Professor of Health Economics, University of Melbourne

Private health insurance premiums are set to rise on October 1, an increase companies have delayed for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But 2020 has been a year like no other. And some of the reasons insurance companies are using to justify this price rise don’t stack up.

These include increasing costs of hospital and health care, more claims, an increase in chronic health conditions, and an ageing population.

At a time when many policy-holders are facing financial stress and many elective surgeries or treatments suspended or delayed, this week’s price rise isn’t justified. With a further price rise already set for April 2021, it would be fairer to delay any fee hike until then.

1. Increasing costs of hospital and health care — false

Costs of hospital and health care paid by private insurers have reduced substantially in 2020, not increased, according to the latest figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. That’s because many elective surgeries and routine extra care (such as dental check-ups) were suspended.

Private insurers paid reduced hospital treatment benefits in two consecutive quarters. They dropped 7.9% in dollar terms in the March 2020 quarter, compared with the December 2019 quarter. They fell another 12.9% in the June 2020 quarter, compared with the March 2020 quarter.

Private insurers’ payments for general treatment (also known as ancillary or extras) benefits dropped even more. They fell 32.9% in the June 2020 quarter, compared with the March 2020 quarter.

Some may argue the reduction in benefits paid is because substantially fewer people had private insurance in 2020. But this is not true.

While there was a small drop in the number of people with private health insurance in the first half of 2020, this was by less than a percentage point: the number of hospital memberships fell by only 0.4 percentage points. There was a similar drop in the number of people with extras cover.

2. Increase in claim frequency — false

Another reason for the price rise is there have been more claims over a given time, or an increase in claim frequency. This, again, is not true this year.

Private insurers paid for 16.7% fewer hospital treatments in the June 2020 quarter compared with the March 2020 quarter. That’s a 4.1% reduction in the 12 months to June 2020.

Private insurers paid out 28.4% fewer extras claims in the June 2020 quarter, compared to the March 2020 quarter. This was a 9.8% fall over the 12 months to June 2020.

Read more: How to clear Victoria’s backlog of elective surgeries after a 6-month slowdown? We need to rethink the system

In Victoria, services are only gradually returning to full capacity from November. So it will be a long while before claims return to pre-pandemic levels.

People have also been avoiding seeking needed health care because they are afraid of contracting the coronavirus, or cannot afford out-of-pocket costs due to increased financial stress. This would be another reason for the numbers of claims decreasing, not increasing.

Read more: Should I drop my private health insurance during the pandemic?

3. More chronic disease, an ageing population — no data supporting this for the next 6 months

In the long run, these claims are correct and premiums should increase gradually over the coming years because of the ageing population and growing incidence of chronic conditions.

However, they’re not likely to change enough in the next six months to justify a premium increase now.

Read more: FactCheck: do one in two Australians suffer from a chronic disease?

Here’s what should happen

Some insurers are already providing discounts for families in financial hardship, such as people receiving JobSeeker or JobKeeper. Others offer discounts or waive price rises to people who pre-pay their policies for up to 12 months. More insurers should do this.

Providing financial relief and delaying the October premium increase will not only help customers but also help private insurers in the long run.

Increasing premiums twice in six months (October 2020 and April 2021) during an unprecedentedly difficult time can backfire, especially if the reasons to support the increase do not stack up.

Read more: Young people dropping private health hurts insurers most, not public hospitals

When premiums increase, young people are more likely to drop private health insurance. This will drive up premiums further for everyone. This in turn will lead to more young and healthy people dropping their cover.

Consequently, it may cause a “death spiral”, driving private health insurance out of business.

– ref. Private health insurance premiums are going up this week. But the reasons why just don’t stack up – https://theconversation.com/private-health-insurance-premiums-are-going-up-this-week-but-the-reasons-why-just-dont-stack-up-146480

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum

Frogs are one of the most threatened groups of animals on Earth. At least four of Australia’s 240 known frog species are extinct and 36 are nationally threatened. After last summer’s bushfires, we needed rapid information to determine which frogs required our help.

This was a challenging task. The fire zone ranged from southern Queensland through New South Wales and Victoria, to Kangaroo Island off South Australia. The area was too large for scientists alone to survey, especially with COVID-19 travel restrictions.

But all was not lost. Thousands of everyday citizens across the fire zone, armed with their mobile phones, began monitoring their local frogs through an app called FrogID.

In research published today, we reveal how 45 frog species, some rare and threatened, were recorded calling after the fires. This has allowed us to collate a snapshot of where frog species are surviving – at least for now.

Good news for a change

In late 2019 and early 2020, more than 17 million hectares of forest burned in Australia. By size, it was the largest fire season in southeastern Australia since European occupation.

Scientists knew the damage to many plant and animal species was likely to be dramatic, particularly for species already in trouble. Many of Australia’s frog species are already vulnerable, due to pressures such as disease and habitat loss. There was a very real risk the fires had pushed many frog species closer to extinction. However, information on how frogs respond to fires has historically been limited.

Read more: A few months ago, science gave this rare lizard a name – and it may already be headed for extinction

FrogID is a free app downloaded to smart phones. Led by the Australian Museum, the project allows anyone to record a frog call and upload it. The FrogID team then identifies the species by its call, to create a national frog database.

Since the app launched in November 2017, more than 13,000 citizen scientists have recorded the calls of about 220,000 frogs across Australia. Before last summer’s fires, app users had submitted 2,655 recordings of 66 frog species in what would later become fire zones. This gave us a remarkable understanding of the frogs present before the fires.

Within four months of the fires, app users submitted 632 recordings. These confirmed the existence of 45 of the 66 frog species known to live in the fire zones. Hearteningly, all 33 summer-breeding frog species recorded before the fires were also detected afterwards. In other words, there were no obviously “missing” frog species.

The frog species recorded most frequently in burnt areas were common, broadly distributed species of low conservation concern. These include the common eastern froglet (Crinia signifera) and striped marsh frog (Limnodynastes peronii).

However, rare and threatened species were also recorded in fire-damaged areas. These included:

• the vulnerable southern barred frog (Mixophyes balbus), which lives in patches of forest along the NSW east coast. The species was recorded ten times after the fires in northern NSW

• the mountain frog (Philoria kundagungan), endangered in NSW and known only from the headwaters of streams in a few pockets of rainforest in far northern NSW and southern Queensland. It is rarely encountered but was recorded once after the fires

• the endangered giant barred frog (Mixophyes iteratus), found in forest from southeast Queensland to central NSW. It was recorded twice after the fires.

There was no clear trend in the ecological group or lifestyle of species that were detected post-fire. Burrowing frogs, tree frogs and ground-dwelling frogs were all detected, as were stream, pond, and land-breeding species.

A powerful tool

The FrogID records are good news. They show some species have survived in the short term, and male frogs are calling to attract female frogs to mate with.

But there is still much we don’t know about the fate of these frogs. For example, many frogs species in southeastern Australia don’t call in the cooler months, so we don’t yet have a clear picture of how these species have fared over winter.

The frogs’ longer-term prospects also remain uncertain. Fire damage varies dramatically from place to place, and the survival of a frog species in one burnt area does not guarantee its survival in another. We remain worried about species with small geographic ranges, especially rainforest species more sensitive to fire.

Read more: A deadly fungus threatens to wipe out 100 frog species – here’s how it can be stopped

We urgently need more information on how last summer’s fires affected Australia’s frogs. This is particularly important given the more frequent and severe fires predicted under climate change, combined with all the other threats frogs face.

Traditional biodiversity surveys by professionals will be needed. This is especially true for frog species of high conservation concern at remote or inaccessible sites, for which the FrogID app has little or no data.

But continued data collection by citizen scientists, through projects such as FrogID, will remain powerful tools. They allow information to be gathered quickly and at scale. This raises the chances that species suffering most after a catastrophic event might get the help they need.

– ref. Australians recorded frog calls on their smartphones after the bushfires – and the results are remarkable – https://theconversation.com/australians-recorded-frog-calls-on-their-smartphones-after-the-bushfires-and-the-results-are-remarkable-146578