Edited by the Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology

New Research

Dry days down under: Australia and the world water crisis

19 March 2010This US paper explores the historical and global contexts of the current Australian drought.

Cardiovascular medicines and primary health care: a regional analysis

18 March 2010People living in Australia’s regional areas access cardiovascular disease (CVD) medicines at higher rates than people in major cities or remote areas

Low Carbon Growth Plan for Australia

16 March 2010This report provides an economy-wide blueprint for how Australia can achieve an ambitious reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while building a growing low-carbon economy.

State of the climate

16 March 2010Australia will experience more extremely hot days and fewer cold ones and conditions will be wetter in the north and drier in the south, according to this snapshot of the national climate.

Knowledge foundations for the development of sustainable wildlife enterprises in remote Indigenous communities of Australia

15 March 2010This paper addresses issues of complementarity and conflict across Indigenous ecological knowledge and western science.
More...

Climate change

Urban planning

Dwelling, land and neighbourhood use by older home owners

Dwelling, land and neighbourhood use by older home owners

15 March 2010This study considers the social and economic implications for the housing needs of older people, the efficiency of housing stock use and the suitability of housing land and neighbourhood design for the needs of an ageing society.

State of Australian cities 2010

08 March 2010This report draws together existing data and information across a range of economic, social and environmental parameters to provide a national snapshot of the 17 Australian cities with populations over 100,000 at the 2006 Census.

Commentary

Risky referendums

09 March 2010Referendums promised by Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott are fraught with political risk, writes Norman Abjorensen in Inside Story

The Mt Piper blind spot

05 March 2010The process of extending NSW's Mt Piper power station seems to be driven by a pro-coal mindset, argues Ilan Salbe

After Copenhagen

05 March 2010In the Monthly, Robert Manne weighs up the current predictions for the survival of the planet, contrasting the outlooks of Al Gore and Clive Hamilton.
More...

Audio

The challenges of food security

Listen to audio
05 March 2010While expanding populations and the changing diets that accompany growing wealth have put greater strain on lagging gains in food production, climate change and environmental degradation are slowly contaminating food supplies and eroding agricultural productivity.

New approaches to structuring government to close the implementation gap

Listen to audio
19 February 2010This lecture argues that without reform of the structures of government, finance, policy and administration, remote Australia will remain a place of recurring crises.

Sustainability

Video

Growth fetishism and the climate crisis

Listen to audio
19 February 2010Professor Clive Hamilton explores the balances being struck between environmental protection and economic growth in the context of the current advice from climate scientists.

Architects speak on cultural impact of skyscrapers

Listen to audio
19 November 2009In this talk some of architecture's leading thinkers and practitioners discuss: 'what effect to towers have on urbanism, sustainability, the workplace and historic city centres?'

Housing

The Brotherhood's social barometer: living the second fifty years

09 March 2010The fourth Social Barometer examines the extent of disadvantage among older Australians through indicators of people’s capabilities covering eight key dimensions of life, including employment, income, health, housing, safety and social participation.

Websites

Bindarri

26 November 2009Bindarri aims to support and promote Australian creatives who are working for positive change and to inspire others who are yet to begin.

Arts on the Map

02 November 2009Arts on the Map is a new way to see and connect with the people, places and projects suported by the Australia Council across the country and around the world.

Community Indicators Victoria

29 October 2009This site uses local community wellbeing indicators to improve citizen engagement, community planning and policy making.

Most viewed: This week

1
State of Australian cities 2010
2
Low Carbon Growth Plan for Australia
3
Beyond corporate responsibility: the 'spiritual turn' and the rise of conscious business
4
The future of outstations/homelands
5
Dwelling, land and neighbourhood use by older home owners

Jobs

Policy Adviser
NSW Business Chamber
North Sydney

Events

Conference
ACOSS National Conference 2010: A vote for equity
25 Mar 2010 - 9:00am - 26 Mar 2010 - 5:00pm
Canberra
Conference
Workforce Policy in 2010 and Into the Future
31 Mar 2010
Sydney
Conference
Show Me The Change A National Conference on ‘Evaluation of Behaviour Change’ for Sustainability
4 May 2010 - 6 May 2010
Melbourne

Books

Racial Folly: A twentieth-century Aboriginal family

Racial Folly: A twentieth-century Aboriginal family

  • Gordon Briscoe
  • ANU E Press
A memoir and history of an Aboriginal family living under the race laws, practices and policies of Australia in the twentieth century.
Darwin's Armada: How four voyagers to Australasia won the battle for evolution and changed the world

Darwin's Armada: How four voyagers to Australasia won the battle for evolution and changed the world

  • Iain McCalman
  • Penguin Australia
Darwin's Armanda is both a gripping adventure story and a brilliantly enlightening work of history, for the first time portraying the Darwinian revolution as a collective enterprise forged in Australasia.

Noticeboard

WANTED: Communications Projects (Melbourne)
16 February 2010

RMIT University in Melbourne runs a degree program where groups of
communication research‐trained students work on a communication research
project for a not‐for‐profit client.

Lifestyles, consumption and environmental impact: National Household Consumption Survey
23 June 2009

The National Household Consumption Survey is open to all Australian residents until 30 June 2009.

Online conservation game wins communicator awards
17 June 2009

Mission H2o, an online game themed around water conservation and developed by Swinburne University students and staff, has received two prestigious design awards.

Policy Guides

Count down to Copenhagen summary sheets

The Climate Action Network Australia has prepared seven summary sheets to provide a clear track through the climate negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

10-08-09

Topics

APO