New Research

Juvenile detention population in Australia 2011

09 February 2012This report presents information on the number of young people in detention in 2011 and describes recent trends in the detention population.

Falling objects fact sheet

07 February 2012This fact sheet provides general guidance for persons conducting a business or undertaking and workers on managing risks to health and safety posed by falling objects.

Emergency department overcrowding, mortality and the 4-hour rule in Western Australia

06 February 2012Overcrowding in emergency departments (EDs) occurs when the physical or staffing capacity of the department is exceeded by the number of patients waiting to be seen, undergoing assessment and treatment or waiting for departure.

Dental health behaviours among children 2002-2004: the use of fluoride toothpaste, fluoride tablets and drops, and fluoride mouthrinse

02 February 2012The majority of Australian children engage in oral health behaviours that are in line with current Australian guidelines on the use of fluoride products.

Diabetes indicators in Australia

01 February 2012Diabetes has increased significantly among the Australian population over the past 20 years, however the rate of diabetes-related deaths is falling, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

Healthy lifestyle programs for physical activity and nutrition

01 February 2012Over half (51%) of Indigenous people living in non-remote parts of Australia aged 15 and over do very little or no exercise, compared with 33% of non-Indigenous Australians (AIHW 2011a).

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Ageing

State Trustees Limited: management of represented persons

08 February 2012This audit found that State Trustees is not able to clearly demonstrate that it is fulfilling its obligations to represented persons.

Service costs in modern residential aged care facilities

31 January 2012This paper presents the results of a national study of the cost of delivering residential aged care services in modern and efficient facilities.

2010-11 report on the operation of the Aged Care Act 1997

23 January 2012Recent reviews of the Aged Care Act of 1997 have led to increases in government funding in particular, aged care facilites and the services they provide to indigenous communities.

Mental health

Care and support of male survivors of conflict-related sexual violence

02 February 2012Sexual violence against men and boys is a pervasive feature of armed conflicts. This paper provides commentary, recent data, and promising programming and therapeutic approaches in the care and support of male survivors.

Improving Indigenous community governance

02 February 2012Strengthening the organisational capacity of both Indigenous and government organisations is critical to raising the health, wellbeing and prosperity of Indigenous Australian communities.

The role of informal community resources in supporting independent housing for young people recovering from mental illness

30 January 2012This project looks at the housing issues facing young independant people with mental illness.

Commentary

What's data got to do with it? Reassessing the NT intervention

25 January 2012Income management should be one of the easier programs to measure writes Eva Cox for The Conversation.

Can nations measure well-being?

09 December 2011The attempt to measure quality of life over time and between places is still in its infancy, writes Peter Shergold for the Centre for Social Impact.

On be(com)ing a good doctor

02 December 2011Medical students need to think in different ways about the problems patients bring to them, writes Annette Braunack-Mayer.

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Topic Guides

A guide to understanding and working with General Practice in NSW

20 May 2011Providing an outline of general practice, this resource considers its uniformity and diversity; its funding arrangements, service delivery, workforce, training, capacity and supporting structures.

Guideline on the application of the premises standards - 2011

  • Australian Human Rights Commission

04 April 2011This guide has been issued to help designers, architects, builders and clients to better understand the Disability (Access to Premises - buildings) Standards 2010  which will commence on 1 May 2011.

Arts for all: opening doors to people with a disability

15 February 2010This guide provides practical and long-term ways for artists and arts organisations to enhance their access, market their events to the disabled community and build new audiences.

Audio

Water bugs

Listen to audio
25 July 2011Every year more than 200 people in Queensland get very sick with a nasty, little understood, hard-to-treat type of bacteria. Other states report none. Why? Our water supply is now so complex, things are overlooked.

Bigger cities, bigger slums

Listen to audio
21 July 2011Our increasing urbanisation means a significant growth in the size and number of the world's slums. So, without romanticising the slum, can we make them places fit for living? And do we have any choice?

Health policy

Health; Community services; Housing and homelessness

30 January 2012This report  provides an overview of the health sector, presenting both contextual information and high level performance information.

Video

Why is overcoming Indigenous disadvantage so hard?

Listen to audio
01 April 2011In this presentation, prize-winning novelist, Professor of Law and 2009 NAIDOC Person of the Year Larissa Behrendt addresses the lack of progress on Indigenous issues in Australia.

Value for money in health care: Why it's so hard to achieve and what to do about it

Listen to audio
29 November 2010There is abundant evidence that in conventional economic terms, health care in prosperous nations delivers very little additional benefit at the margins of spending. This presentation explores the reasons why diminishing marginal returns are the norm in health care.

Disability

Work-related injuries in Australia: Who did and didn't receive workers' compensation in 2009-10

09 January 2012Analysing the results of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Work-related Injuries Survey, this report finds that of the 567 500 employees injured while working in 2009-10, only 38 per cent of them received workers' compensation.

Websites

Community Water Planner

04 November 2011Remote and Indigenous communities can look forward to cleaner, safer drinking water, thanks to an enhanced Community Water Planner tool, developed to help assess and manage the risks in remote Australian community water supplies.

Harden Up Queensland

20 October 2011Harden Up is a Green Cross Australia led partnership that aims to empower Queenslanders to become self-reliant during natural disasters.

Age Positive

30 September 2011This website and campaign will gather and publicise positive stories about older people, using them to remind the public of the varied and important ways older people contribute to Australian society.

Most viewed: This week

1
The experience of education: The impacts of high stakes testing on school students and their families
2
Juvenile detention population in Australia 2011
3
Can nations measure well-being?
4
Australian Policy Online top reports for Health 2011
5
Gender indicators, Australia, Jan 2012

Books

A Decent Provision: Australian Welfare Policy, 1870 to 1949

A Decent Provision: Australian Welfare Policy, 1870 to 1949

  • John Murphy
  • Ashgate
A Decent Provision is a narrative history of how and why Australia built a distinctive welfare regime in the period from the 1870s to 1949.
Leadership Beyond Good Intentions - What It Takes To Really Make A Difference

Leadership Beyond Good Intentions - What It Takes To Really Make A Difference

  • Geoff Aigner
  • Allen & Unwin
Good intentions are not enough. You want to change things in your organisation or in the world, but despite your best efforts you run into obstacles and resistance. The temptation is to see the challenges as lying outside ourselves. We grasp at a model or a tool, or we find other people slow to get the point or worse - obstructive. But the real challenge we face is often ourselves.

Noticeboard

Antenna dangers shown through online tool
08 October 2009

Swinburne University, together with EM Software and Systems, has developed an online tool that will allow users to calculate exclusion zones around antennas where radiation levels exceed safety standard limits.

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.

Topic Guides

A guide to understanding and working with General Practice in NSW

20 May 2011Providing an outline of general practice, this resource considers its uniformity and diversity; its funding arrangements, service delivery, workforce, training, capacity and supporting structures.

Topics

APO