Increasing inclusion in rural, generalist health services. The project aims to develop a 'toolkit' for health services to better serve minority groups. If health outcomes in Australia are to improve, health care must be provided to the poorest and sickest residents who need it most. However, these consumers will endure sickness rather than seek out services that are often exclusive and disrespectful. To provide accessible health care to disadvantaged residents, many of whom live rurally, all hea ....Increasing inclusion in rural, generalist health services. The project aims to develop a 'toolkit' for health services to better serve minority groups. If health outcomes in Australia are to improve, health care must be provided to the poorest and sickest residents who need it most. However, these consumers will endure sickness rather than seek out services that are often exclusive and disrespectful. To provide accessible health care to disadvantaged residents, many of whom live rurally, all health services need to be responsive to diverse cultures and identities. This project works with rural health services to implement service-wide changes and discover how health services can adapt to the needs of diverse consumers.Read moreRead less
Regulating Food Labels: The Case of Free Range Food Products in Australia. The food label has become an important site of contestation and controversy with respect to a range of health, safety, environmental and ethical issues across the food system. This project aims to examine the regulation of food labelling in Australia through a focus on free range labelled eggs and animal products. It aims to shed light on the dynamics of how a network of food producers, retailers, private certification or ....Regulating Food Labels: The Case of Free Range Food Products in Australia. The food label has become an important site of contestation and controversy with respect to a range of health, safety, environmental and ethical issues across the food system. This project aims to examine the regulation of food labelling in Australia through a focus on free range labelled eggs and animal products. It aims to shed light on the dynamics of how a network of food producers, retailers, private certification organisations and regulatory agencies are responding to changing demands for ethical and quality foods. The project is expected to develop new strategies for a more effective, legitimate and stakeholder-inclusive approach to regulating food labels.Read moreRead less
Paper fluidics - A novel approach to low cost printable microsensors. Printing is perhaps the cheapest means of mass production available, yet it is used almost exclusively to mass produce only one thing, i.e. the printed word! This project will enable the development of disposable printed sensors for assessing the quality of water or the health of an individual. Sensors are generally relatively expensive, but the ability to print them on paper by the thousand will bring down the cost to a few ....Paper fluidics - A novel approach to low cost printable microsensors. Printing is perhaps the cheapest means of mass production available, yet it is used almost exclusively to mass produce only one thing, i.e. the printed word! This project will enable the development of disposable printed sensors for assessing the quality of water or the health of an individual. Sensors are generally relatively expensive, but the ability to print them on paper by the thousand will bring down the cost to a few cents. Such cheap, portable, easy-to-use sensors if widely available could profoundly affect the lives of people living in remote areas and developing countries.Read moreRead less
Understanding cultural and ecological triggers for policies against water catchment degradation. You cannot step into the same river twice. This project aims to understand the co-evolution of science, culture and management policy in water catchment for improving the predictability and preciseness of the water management policy.
Beyond the Workforce Crisis: Advancing Conceptual Understanding in Rural and Remote Health. This research will document a theoretical framework for understanding how and why rural health differs. Understanding the causes of rural health issues will lead to more effective strategies in rural health education, research, policy, and practice. This framework has benefit to national, state and local policies and programs in rural health across the country because it will provide understanding of what ....Beyond the Workforce Crisis: Advancing Conceptual Understanding in Rural and Remote Health. This research will document a theoretical framework for understanding how and why rural health differs. Understanding the causes of rural health issues will lead to more effective strategies in rural health education, research, policy, and practice. This framework has benefit to national, state and local policies and programs in rural health across the country because it will provide understanding of what works, why it works and what else is needed. Contributing to understanding the rural health context is key to improving rural health curriculum, designing meaningful research, supporting practitioners appropriately and developing rural health policies that increase the workforce, access to services and the overall rural health status.Read moreRead less
Active-passive microwave soil moisture remote sensing: Towards sustainable land and water management from space. Soil moisture is a highly critical resource for the Australian agricultural economy which is stressed by climate change. Daily monitoring of paddock scale soil moisture from space represents a powerful tool to inform land management, allowing accurate crop yield and pasture growth predictions. At the continental scale, soil moisture information will result in better weather, climate a ....Active-passive microwave soil moisture remote sensing: Towards sustainable land and water management from space. Soil moisture is a highly critical resource for the Australian agricultural economy which is stressed by climate change. Daily monitoring of paddock scale soil moisture from space represents a powerful tool to inform land management, allowing accurate crop yield and pasture growth predictions. At the continental scale, soil moisture information will result in better weather, climate and extreme flood prediction skill and the ability to assess the effects of future climate change on Australia. It is therefore imperative that active-passive soil moisture retrieval algorithms be developed specifically for the Australian environment in order to take full advantage of the SMAP remote sensing mission when it is launched in 2012.Read moreRead less
High resolution mapping of surface and root zone soil moisture. Knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation of surface and root zone soil moisture content at high spatial resolution is critical to achieving more efficient water utilisation practices in agriculture. Australia's main river basins are under mounting pressure to satisfy a wide range of competing economic, social and environmental needs for water, particularly in terms of environmental flows and efficient irrigation. A better u ....High resolution mapping of surface and root zone soil moisture. Knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation of surface and root zone soil moisture content at high spatial resolution is critical to achieving more efficient water utilisation practices in agriculture. Australia's main river basins are under mounting pressure to satisfy a wide range of competing economic, social and environmental needs for water, particularly in terms of environmental flows and efficient irrigation. A better understanding of the soil moisture distribution at sub-farm scales will allow farmers to better utilise both the moisture in their soil and their limited allocation for irrigation. This will help alleviate soil moisture related problems in some of the nation's key catchments, such as the Murray Darling Basin.Read moreRead less
Adaptation of Vision Model to Perceptual Digital Picture Compression. This project spearheads research in the next generation digital picture compression technology, placing Australia an undisputed leader in this area of frontier technology. It will generate intellectual property and software prototype systems, which can be readily transferred into a vast number of visual communication and service applications, feeding into and rejuvenating national high-tech industries. These applications incl ....Adaptation of Vision Model to Perceptual Digital Picture Compression. This project spearheads research in the next generation digital picture compression technology, placing Australia an undisputed leader in this area of frontier technology. It will generate intellectual property and software prototype systems, which can be readily transferred into a vast number of visual communication and service applications, feeding into and rejuvenating national high-tech industries. These applications include digital photography for fine art, medical imaging, picture archive and communication systems for telemedicine and rural health care systems, high quality digital picture, video and cinematic experience, crime prevention, border control, security and surveillance systems.Read moreRead less
MoistureMap: A soil moisture monitoring, prediction and reporting system for sustainable land and water management. Knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation of surface and root zone soil moisture content is critical to environmental sustainability and risk adverse farm management. A paddock scale soil moisture prediction tool will allow i) grain growers to make informed decisions of what to plant and when, based on likely germination rates and crop yield, ii) graziers to be proactive rega ....MoistureMap: A soil moisture monitoring, prediction and reporting system for sustainable land and water management. Knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation of surface and root zone soil moisture content is critical to environmental sustainability and risk adverse farm management. A paddock scale soil moisture prediction tool will allow i) grain growers to make informed decisions of what to plant and when, based on likely germination rates and crop yield, ii) graziers to be proactive regarding management of stocking rates based on likely pasture growth, and iii) better weather and climate prediction skill. At regional scales moisture information can be used to support claims of drought exceptional circumstances.Read moreRead less
The impact and cost of short-term health staffing in remote communities. This project aims to examine the impact of the increasing levels of short-term health staffing in remote communities upon service acceptability to patients, workload and attitudes of long-term resident primary health care staff, and the effectiveness and cost of health services. There is a dearth of information about this 'fly in/fly out' (FIFO) workforce in remote communities, which have the worst health outcomes in the co ....The impact and cost of short-term health staffing in remote communities. This project aims to examine the impact of the increasing levels of short-term health staffing in remote communities upon service acceptability to patients, workload and attitudes of long-term resident primary health care staff, and the effectiveness and cost of health services. There is a dearth of information about this 'fly in/fly out' (FIFO) workforce in remote communities, which have the worst health outcomes in the country. The project aims to inform consumers, health practitioners, health service planners and policy-makers about the impact of FIFO, as well as to contribute to the development of strategies designed to stabilise the remote health workforce.Read moreRead less