The prevalence and impact of intellectual disability among Indigenous Australians in Western Australia. There is limited information on the extent and impact of intellectual disability among Indigenous Australians. The proposed project will develop a credible baseline picture of intellectual disability among Indigenous Australians in Western Australia by investigating the true prevalence, clinical and sociodemographic correlates, and morbidity and mortality patterns. It builds on a successful co ....The prevalence and impact of intellectual disability among Indigenous Australians in Western Australia. There is limited information on the extent and impact of intellectual disability among Indigenous Australians. The proposed project will develop a credible baseline picture of intellectual disability among Indigenous Australians in Western Australia by investigating the true prevalence, clinical and sociodemographic correlates, and morbidity and mortality patterns. It builds on a successful collaborative relationship between Disability Services Commission of WA and academia; and is unique in integrating information from multiple data sources. The findings will have direct health and social benefits by providing information on which to base appropriate health strategies and care networks to service particular needs.Read moreRead less
Improving health and lifestyle of indigenous Australians in the Western Desert. This program aims to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes, whilst providing a supportive environment, to better the health of the Martu people though the provision of activities and services and strengthening of partnerships between service agencies and the local community. By developing the Indigenous workforce and building the community capacity to self-manage health, a reduction in the discrepancy in health ind ....Improving health and lifestyle of indigenous Australians in the Western Desert. This program aims to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes, whilst providing a supportive environment, to better the health of the Martu people though the provision of activities and services and strengthening of partnerships between service agencies and the local community. By developing the Indigenous workforce and building the community capacity to self-manage health, a reduction in the discrepancy in health indicators between Indigenous and other Australians can be achieved. The findings from this research will provide important information regarding methods to provide for better health for Indigenous Australians and develop a template for intervention design in other remote communities.Read moreRead less
Novel water treatment technologies for minimisation of bromide and iodide in drinking water. This project will develop innovative new water treatment processes to selectively remove bromide and iodide from potable source waters. The project promotes Australia as a leader in water treatment technology. Successful outcomes will have excellent potential for international commercialisation by spin-off companies and will provide economic benefits and prestige locally. Economic benefits include lower ....Novel water treatment technologies for minimisation of bromide and iodide in drinking water. This project will develop innovative new water treatment processes to selectively remove bromide and iodide from potable source waters. The project promotes Australia as a leader in water treatment technology. Successful outcomes will have excellent potential for international commercialisation by spin-off companies and will provide economic benefits and prestige locally. Economic benefits include lower costs to water utilities through the availability of improved technology for treatment of marginal quality water supplies and improved ability to comply with water quality guidelines. Public perception and confidence in water supply quality will be enhanced, due to reduction in taste and odour issues and disinfection by-products. Read moreRead less
Assessing the effectiveness of the ageing workforce in regional organisations of Western Australia: A biopsychosocial analysis. This project will identify key organisational, management and occupational health and safety factors affecting ageing workforces in regional industries. By 2016, demographic estimates indicate a significant reduction of the young labour force while people aged 45 years and over will account for more than 80 per cent of the labour force growth (ABS, 2003). Consequently, ....Assessing the effectiveness of the ageing workforce in regional organisations of Western Australia: A biopsychosocial analysis. This project will identify key organisational, management and occupational health and safety factors affecting ageing workforces in regional industries. By 2016, demographic estimates indicate a significant reduction of the young labour force while people aged 45 years and over will account for more than 80 per cent of the labour force growth (ABS, 2003). Consequently, the productivity and viability of labour-intensive industries everywhere but especially in regional Australia, will be severely affected. We will develop a novel intervention model to maximise the effectiveness of the ageing workforce. This will provide an important decision-making tool for many states, regional and local employers and bodies concerned.Read moreRead less
Indicators of ecosystem health in Western Australian recovery catchments. Dryland salinity and rural community decline in Australia are important and inter-related issues. Any ecosystem recovery actions proposed to address salinity should be examined for their potential to assist rural communities, rather than exacerbate their problems. The framework theories of ecosystem health and participatory research embrace these issues. A PhD student placed in each of two recovery catchments will use meth ....Indicators of ecosystem health in Western Australian recovery catchments. Dryland salinity and rural community decline in Australia are important and inter-related issues. Any ecosystem recovery actions proposed to address salinity should be examined for their potential to assist rural communities, rather than exacerbate their problems. The framework theories of ecosystem health and participatory research embrace these issues. A PhD student placed in each of two recovery catchments will use methodologies adapted for these approaches to develop indicators for the detection of trends in recovery or deterioration of ecosystem and community well-being. This will allow for adaptive changes to recovery actions, and for an analysis of causal relationships.Read moreRead less
Advanced water treatment technologies to minimize the formation of emerging disinfection by-products in potable and reuse water. Disinfectant management and disinfection by-products are of concern to water utilities, water treatment researchers and consumers worldwide. The project will make a world-class contribution to these issues, through use of state-of-the-art equipment and developed technologies. Sophisticated characterization of disinfection by-product precursors, especially poorly define ....Advanced water treatment technologies to minimize the formation of emerging disinfection by-products in potable and reuse water. Disinfectant management and disinfection by-products are of concern to water utilities, water treatment researchers and consumers worldwide. The project will make a world-class contribution to these issues, through use of state-of-the-art equipment and developed technologies. Sophisticated characterization of disinfection by-product precursors, especially poorly defined less volatile species, will provide insights into the relationship between their chemical structures and behaviour in treatment processes, benefiting all water utilities. The project will inform new drinking water guidelines and assist water utilities to balance the competing requirements of maintaining effective pathogen barriers versus disinfection by-product control.Read moreRead less
Pathways to better practice: developing human resources in child protection services for Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Queensland. This study addresses the serious and escalating problem of providing child protection services to Indigenous children and their families in rural and remote areas. Service delivery to rural and remote environments in Australia is a high cost exercise and, to date, little research has been conducted to understanding the complex nature of professiona ....Pathways to better practice: developing human resources in child protection services for Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Queensland. This study addresses the serious and escalating problem of providing child protection services to Indigenous children and their families in rural and remote areas. Service delivery to rural and remote environments in Australia is a high cost exercise and, to date, little research has been conducted to understanding the complex nature of professional (non-medical) interventions in communities with high proportions of Indigenous families and children. The study, conducted across two states, will contribute to national benefit in 3 key areas: the health and wellbeing of Indigenous children; skills shortage in rural areas and intergenerational change in professional disciplines.Read moreRead less
Novel Technology for Improving Disinfection Outcomes in Regional and Remote Drinking Water Distribution Systems. Climate shifts have led to water supply shortages in many areas of Australia, both in rural and remote regions and in cities. To ease water shortages, transportation of water over long distances is becoming increasingly necessary. A major impediment to transfer of water through long mains is management of the disinfectant: most disinfectants decay too rapidly, leaving consumers at ris ....Novel Technology for Improving Disinfection Outcomes in Regional and Remote Drinking Water Distribution Systems. Climate shifts have led to water supply shortages in many areas of Australia, both in rural and remote regions and in cities. To ease water shortages, transportation of water over long distances is becoming increasingly necessary. A major impediment to transfer of water through long mains is management of the disinfectant: most disinfectants decay too rapidly, leaving consumers at risk of pathogen exposure. Chloramination, the most viable disinfection technology for this purpose, suffers from a process called nitrification which accelerates disinfectant decay. In this project, we are developing an innovative, patented process to prevent nitrification, which will allow safe and effective disinfection of water supplies in long pipelines.Read moreRead less
Skycontrol 2: Long-range positioning of aircraft using multibase GPS and INS. This extends our ARC linkage project (LP0347509) by one year, where we developed and tested a long-range airborne GPS (global positioning system) using a network of ground-based receivers. While the original objectives have been met, and exceeded in some instances, we have now identified the real need to use complementary positional information from INS (inertial navigation systems). As well as reducing the cost of ai ....Skycontrol 2: Long-range positioning of aircraft using multibase GPS and INS. This extends our ARC linkage project (LP0347509) by one year, where we developed and tested a long-range airborne GPS (global positioning system) using a network of ground-based receivers. While the original objectives have been met, and exceeded in some instances, we have now identified the real need to use complementary positional information from INS (inertial navigation systems). As well as reducing the cost of airborne mapping surveys in Australia, our SkyControl2 system will have the added benefit of increased accuracy and reliability.Read moreRead less
A system for long-range positioning of airborne mapping sensors using a multi-receiver, Internet-compatible GPS network. This project will research, develop and test a GPS-network-based system, SkyControl, for the accurate coordination of airborne mapping sensors. A ground network of GPS receivers will be established and the aircraft positioned at long ranges (100 km) using a network solution, as opposed to the single-baseline solutions used at present. The GPS data from the ground network wil ....A system for long-range positioning of airborne mapping sensors using a multi-receiver, Internet-compatible GPS network. This project will research, develop and test a GPS-network-based system, SkyControl, for the accurate coordination of airborne mapping sensors. A ground network of GPS receivers will be established and the aircraft positioned at long ranges (100 km) using a network solution, as opposed to the single-baseline solutions used at present. The GPS data from the ground network will be transferred to a central location via the Internet and stored in an intelligent database so as to allow efficient data management and processing. This approach will ultimately reduce the cost and increase the reliability of airborne surveys in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less