Remote Australia Online

Critiques of current attempts to build resilience in remote communities in northern Australia have generally been criticised as top-down and failing to produce meaningful outcomes. A component of the project was scoping resilience in remote communities that highlighted the challenges with current government efforts to plan for rather than with communities. Living with hazards requires that government leave space for communities to define and articulate what it takes to build hazard-smart communities. What does it mean to be hazard-smart? Who should be responsible for building hazard-smart communities? Communities in central Arnhem Land are using participatory-action research tools to talk about what it would take to ensure the survival of people facing significant hazards. Based on experiences with Cyclone Lam, communities have identified and made suggestions for what an inclusive community-led process would look like as an emergency management framework. This paper identifies key elements providing direction on how communities and governments can work together.

There have been few attempts to describe the key ecological relationships which may be controlling the biotic structure of the Australian arid zone. We develop a series of ‘propositions’ which state explicit models about the functioning of inland Australia, based on its special physical environment. These special features—an extremely unpredictable but only moderately arid climate, ancient and infertile soils, and a high degree of soil differentiation—are not unique to Australia, but are combined there over a majority of the arid zone, which makes up 70% of the continent. These features define a specific range of establishment and persistence opportunities for plants, with fertile or reliable sites scattered like islands in a sea of exceptionally infertile and unreliable conditions. However, unpredictable heavier rains result in a high diversity and persistence of perennial plants, which in turn support relatively stable populations of suitably adapted consumers. Mammalian herbivores are focused on small parts of the landscape, whereas detritivory and ectothermic predation dominate most areas to an extent not seen in other well-studied deserts of the world.

This paper examines the pattern of introduced herbivore and predator distribution in the Tanami Desert and tests a series of propositions put forward by Stafford Smith and Morton [1990. A framework for the ecology of arid Australia. Journal of Arid Environments 18, 255–278]. regarding the functioning of arid Australian environments. These authors proposed that introduced herbivore and predator species would be largely restricted to and reliant on productive refugia. We collected occurrence data on introduced and naturalized predators and herbivores at 227 plots stratified by substrate and fire age class across a study area of 700×400km. We also collected data from 16 repetitively sampled transects stratified by substrate and latitude over a 4 year period. Each of the predator species was associated with different landscape parameters and the proposition that predator diversity and abundance would be greatest in the productive habitats was not supported. There was support for the proposition that introduced feral herbivores would be concentrated in the productive habitats. Overall, the parameters reflecting the climatic gradient were the most important determinants of introduced species distribution in the Tanami Desert. Substrate-related variables or episodic variables such as fire age were of secondary importance at the scale considered. Furthermore, the variables that reflected episodic rainfall or periods of rainfall deviance did not form a significant component of the minimum adequate models for any of the species.

Using data from previous studies, we tested two hypotheses about the impacts of grazing in a naturally heterogeneous landscape in arid central Australia: (1) that grazing leads to net change of resources at a paddock or landscape scale, and (2) that water and nutrients remain coupled as they move through the landscape. We found that key nutrients were likely to be lost at the landscape scale as grazing increased, rather than just being redistributed. Water infiltration increased but runoff was probably lost more readily due to the lack of barriers to flow. Water and nutrients were largely decoupled. We surmised that any increased production in drainage lines capturing runoff did not compensate for lost production on surrounding slopes. Recovery was unlikely to be spontaneous and would depend on reconstructing the landscape's natural heterogeneity and managing grazing carefully. Options for intervention would be constrained by cost.

The trophic ecology of the large macropods (kangaroos and euros) is summarized. Introduction of livestock has generally favoured the build up of numbers of kangaroos in the arid zone. The reasons are discussed. This paper also reviews work in the arid and semi-arid regions of Australia on diet selectivity of sheep, cattle and goats. Comparisons between the diets selected by domestic livestock and the large marsupials (red kangaroo, Megaleia rufa and euro Macropus robustus) are considered in detail. The degree of competitive interaction and the implications are discussed. Considerable overlap occurs in the diet of goats and cattle, and between sheep and cattle. Sheep, cattle and kangaroos eat similar foods, where there is a wide choice, but the degree of competition tends to be minimized by spatial and temporal separation. Under conditions of severe feed shortage kangaroos and livestock both concentrate on areas supporting the most nutritious forage and competition is intensified.

Clay pans (playas) are common landforms of semi-arid and arid desert regions ranging in size from 1 to 2km2 to greater than 10,000km2. The first observations of surface energy exchanges over a clay pan in central Australia using the eddy covariance method are presented. Measurements were obtained in the late dry season (September) before the onset of the Australian summer monsoon under clear skies and weak synoptic winds for five consecutive days. Sensible heat flux displayed an upward trend over the observation period reaching a peak of approximately 50% of net radiation over the period, while latent heat flux declined as the clay pan became dryer. Ground heat flux was similar in magnitude to sensible heat flux reaching maximum values near noon, approximately 2h before daily maximum sensible heat flux. Net radiation and ground heat flux both reached minimum values 1–2h after sunset and then gradually increased towards sunrise, while sensible and latent heat flux remained close to zero. Bowen Ratio values increased from 4.08 to 6.12 over the study period as the surface dried. Results highlight clay pans as significant sources of sensible heat in desert landscapes.

This paper offers reflections on our experience and learning arising from implementing a study design that used evaluation research to pursue multiple benefits. The Community Safety and Wellbeing Study adopted a mixed methods approach, referred to as a ‘both-ways’ (or two-ways) research model, that addressed decision maker's needs and heard the people's voice. The study design was inspired by a both-ways learning model and attempted to address both needs together. The aim of the study was to involve local people in communities and encourage them to share their views about changes in community safety. Through systematic research it provided a voice for Indigenous Australians affected by the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER), often called ‘the intervention’. Regardless of views about the intervention, this paper aims to share the lessons learned from conducting this study.The mixed method approach involved a community based standardised survey and qualitative data collection techniques. The study was undertaken in a representative sample of 17 NTER communities with over 1300 local residents, around five percent of the relevant population. Over 60 Indigenous people were employed in conducting the study; the majority lived in or had strong ties with remote communities in the study and around 10 had significant experience with social research projects.The research had many objectives in addition to providing evidence on outcomes on a multi-faceted and sometimes controversial government policy. Ethically the research had to have benefit for the people and communities involved. In addition, the community had to be able to see there were benefits from the research for them, not just for government. This paper documents how these objectives were achieved in relation to the methodology, content, data collection and reporting aspects of the research, and discusses what worked and what could be done differently in the future.

Members of the arid Australian mulga (Acacia aneura) complex are fire-sensitive shrubs that produce mast seed crops after exceptionally high rainfall years. Such years also drive widespread wildfires in inland Australia, as high rainfall causes grassy fuels to accumulate, thereby enabling fuel contiguity to occur. Despite seedling regeneration playing an important role in mulga post-fire recovery, a dearth of information exists on the dynamics of its seedbanks. Here we examine the temporal and spatial dynamics of mulga seedbanks after a region-wide masting event at Laycock's Sandplain, central Australia. Masting had a profound effect on seedbanks, producing massive but short-lived pulses of seed in upper soil layers. After seed fall, seedbanks declined rapidly, and within 18 months had been reduced by predator depredations to low pre-mast levels. Our results suggest that mulga masting should enhance resilience to burning by providing transient seed pulses during periods of high flammability (i.e. after heavy rainfalls). The results also suggest that burn intensity will influence post-fire regeneration, by interacting with seed germination biology and post-mast seedbank dynamics. In our discussion, we examine possible evolutionary drivers behind mulga seeding periodicity, and hypothesize that rain-driven masting in mulga is a fire-related form of environmentally predictive masting.

Objectives Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is reported to be disproportionally high compared with the general Australian population. This review aimed to scope the literature documenting SSB consumption and interventions to reduce SSB consumption among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Findings will inform strategies to address SSB consumption in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.Methods PubMed, SCOPUS, CINAHL, Informit, Joanna Briggs Institute EBP, Mura databases and grey literature were searched for articles published between January 1980 and June 2018. Studies were included if providing data specific to an Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander population’s SSB consumption or an intervention that focused on reducing SSB consumption in this population.Design Systematic scoping review.Results 59 articles were included (1846 screened). While reported SSB consumption was high, there were age-related and community-related differences observed in some studies. Most studies were conducted in remote or rural settings. Implementation of nutrition interventions that included an SSB component has built progressively in remote communities since the 1980s with a growing focus on community-driven, culturally sensitive approaches. More recent studies have focused exclusively on SSB consumption. Key SSB-related intervention elements included incentivising healthier options; reducing availability of less-healthy options; nutrition education; multifaceted or policy implementation (store nutrition or government policy).Conclusions There was a relatively large number of studies reporting data on SSB consumption and/or sales, predominantly from remote and rural settings. During analysis it was subjectively clear that the more impactful studies were those which were community driven or involved extensive community consultation and collaboration. Extracting additional SSB-specific consumption data from an existing nationally representative survey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people could provide detailed information for demographic subgroups and benchmarks for future interventions. It is recommended that a consistent, culturally appropriate, set of consumption measures be developed.

The impact of Australia’s land administration policies on arid land development and use is discussed with reference to the arid zone. Australia has made many mistakes in establishing methods of wise land use. The experience gained from these lessons is discussed so that other countries may benefit from the mistakes which have been made and from the principles which underlie Australia’s current policies.

Objectives To compare the costs and effects of higher turnover of resident nurses and Aboriginal health practitioners and higher use of agency-employed nurses in remote primary care (PC) services and quantify associations between staffing patterns and health outcomes in remote PC clinics in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia.Design Observational cohort study, using hospital admission, financial and payroll data for the period 2013–2015.Setting 53 NT Government run PC clinics in remote communities.Outcome measures Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were calculated for higher compared with lower turnover and higher compared with lower use of agency-employed nurses. Costs comprised PC, travel and hospitalisation costs. Effect measures were total hospitalisations and years of life lost per 1000 person-months. Multiple regression was performed to investigate associations between overall health costs and turnover rates and use of agency-employed nurses, after adjusting for key confounders.Results Higher turnover was associated with significantly higher hospitalisation rates (p<0.001) and higher average health costs (p=0.002) than lower turnover. Lower turnover was always more cost-effective. Average costs were significantly (p<0.001) higher when higher proportions of agency-employed nurses were employed. The probability that lower use of agency-employed nurses was more cost-effective was 0.84. Halving turnover and reducing use of a short-term workforce have the potential to save $32 million annually in the NT.Conclusion High turnover of health staff is costly and associated with poorer health outcomes for Aboriginal peoples living in remote communities. High reliance on agency nurses is also very likely to be cost-ineffective. Investment in a coordinated range of workforce strategies that support recruitment and retention of resident nurses and Aboriginal health practitioners in remote clinics is needed to stabilise the workforce, minimise the risks of high staff turnover and over-reliance on agency nurses and thereby significantly reduce expenditure and improve health outcomes.

This chapter draws upon ethnographic research with an international NGO working with Indigenous communities in the central desert of Australia. International NGOs have often relied upon the commodification of children in the Global South as the face of their brands, in order to raise funds. I argue that humanitarian imagery is produced according to particular norms that aim at cultivating the “immaterial labor” (Hardt and Negri 2004) of a consumer, inviting them to self-identify with the position of a donor. However, the Indigenous people in my study, when drawn into humanitarian brand discourse, problematize the recognizable frames of the brand by resisting the adoption of standardized humanitarian postures, subsequently breaking with the North–South divide upon which the brand usually relies, and identifying with the position of donor and not recipient. I thereby consider the ways in which the humanitarian brand does not simply link the positions of donor and recipient, but also constitutes and enacts those positions in a productive network.

Strongyloidiasis is a neglected disease caused by the human infective nematodes Strongyloides stercoralis, Strongyloides fuelleborni subsp. fuelleborni and Strongyloides fuelleborni subsp. kellyi. The zoonotic potential of S. stercoralis and the potential role of dogs in the maintenance of strongyloidiasis transmission has been a topic of interest and discussion for many years. In Australia, strongyloidiasis is prevalent in remote socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in the north of the continent. Being an isolated continent that has been separated from other regions for a long geological period, knowledge on the diversity of Australian Strongyloides genotypes is an important addition to our understanding of the genetic diversity within the genus. Using PCR enrichment combined with Illumina sequencing technology, we sequenced the Strongyloides SSU 18S rDNA hyper-variable I and hyper-variable IV regions using Strongyloides-specific primers, and a fragment of the mtDNA cox1 gene using primers that are broadly specific for Strongyloides sp. and hookworms. These loci were amplified from DNA extracted from human and dog faeces, and one human sputum sample. Using this approach, we confirm for the first time that potentially zoonotic S. stercoralis genotypes are present in Australia, suggesting that dogs represent a potential reservoir of human strongyloidiasis in remote Australian communities.

Objective: To describe growth patterns of weight of Australian Aboriginal children from birth to 21 months living in the Fitzroy Valley in the Kimberley region before and after the introduction of alcohol restrictions in 2007. Methods: Longitudinal weight growth data was examined from three cohorts using mixed model analysis. The cohorts were children participating in the Lililwan Study, born 2002-2003, the Kimberley CommuniCare Cohort, born 2009-2011, and a historical cohort, born 1974-1993. Results: The pattern of weight growth in the Lililwan Study (2002-2003) was unchanged from that of the historical cohort (1974-1993), with 50% falling >0.5 standard deviation scores (SDS) for weight in the first 12 months of life. Growth patterns improved following community-wide alcohol restrictions with a lower proportion of subjects decreasing weight SDS >0.5 in the Kimberley CommuniCareTM Cohort (2009-2011) compared to children in the Lililwan Study (2002-2003); 20% and 52% (P=0.015), respectively. Conclusions: Growth faltering in early childhood remains endemic in the Fitzroy Valley, but its prevalence decreased following the introduction of alcohol restrictions in 2007. Implications for public health: These results provide evidence of the benefit to children's health with an improvement in growth that followed the reduction in alcohol use from a community-driven initiative.

Women in regional, rural and remote areas are more likely than women in urban areas to experience domestic and family violence. Women living in regional, rural and remote areas who experience domestic and family violence face specific issues related to their geographical location and the cultural and social characteristics of living in small communities. There is a common view in rural communities that "family problems" such as domestic and family violence are not talked about, which serves to silence women's experience of domestic and family violence and deter them from disclosing violence and abuse. Fear of stigma, shame, community gossip, and a lack of perpetrator accountability deter women from seeking help. A lack of privacy due to the high likelihood that police, health professionals and domestic and family violence workers know both the victim and perpetrator can inhibit women's willingness to use local services. Women who do seek help find difficulty in accessing services due to geographical isolation, lack of transportation options and not having access to their own income.

Despite enduring and unacceptable disparities in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians as well as people living in rural and remote locations, evidence indicates that health services are not routinely evaluated. This article describes an exploration of a context where evaluators and community partners have achieved considerable success in implementing and sustaining ongoing monitoring and evaluation for enhanced service effectiveness in rural and underserved communities of New Hampshire. The purpose of this project was to establish the principles supporting this success and to set the stage for future research investigating the applicability of these principles to the remote Australian context. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 people from different organizations and in different positions within those organizations. The results invite a reconsideration of the way in which evidence-based practice is conceptualized as well as the role of external evaluators. The study has important implications and recommendations for both policy and practice.

The Australian desert ecosystem coevolved with humans over the course of fifty millennia, yet our understanding of the place of humans within the ecosystem is only now beginning to deepen; recent research suggests that the removal of Aboriginal people from homelands precipitated rapid ecosystem remodeling. We suggest that network-based approaches are instrumental in broadening our understanding of humans in ecosystems, so apply these approaches to examine nomadic-era ecosystems (when Aboriginal people lived exclusive foraging-based lifeways) and contemporary-era ecosystems (when Aboriginal people live a mixed-based economy lifestyle). Using the approach of food web modeling we explicitly place Martu Aboriginal foragers within the overall ecosystem of the Western Desert. By linking humans to the other biota in the desert, examining each species as nodes in a network and each consumption link as edges in the network, we can better understand the ways the network connectedness shifts between nomadic-era and contemporary-era food webs. Using network randomization simulations we show that the contemporary food webs deviate significantly from the nomadic era food webs, suggesting a key role of humans as “knitters” of the ecosystem. This work has implications for research on resilient ecosystems, both within Australia and beyond, and suggests that humans have significant roles to play in sustainability and resilience.

This paper explores the possibilities of designing a Wik pedagogy, drawing on the language and culture of the remote community of Aurukun on Cape York. The research was inspired by the emergence of Aboriginal pedagogy theory in recent decades, along with a resurgence of interest in cognitive linguistics indicating an undeniable link between language, culture and cognition. We are Aboriginal researchers, relatives with strong family ties in the Aurukun community and beyond. We are bound by community obligations and cultural protocol and so the methodology privileged the local cultural and language orientations that inform Indigenous knowledge production. It involved participating in knowledge transmission in cultural contexts and undertaking a relationally responsive analysis of local language. The methodology enfolded Indigenous standpoint theory, yarning methods and auto-ethnography, a rigorous process that informed the development of a Wik pedagogy. We found that Wik knowledge transmission is embedded across multiple disciplines and modalities, such as weaving, fishing, carving, stories and images in both male and female cultural activities. The observed patterns of these activities revealed an example of a structured learning cycle. Some elements of this proposed Wik pedagogy may be generalisable to other language groups, such as the tendency for listening to be equated with understanding and cognition. This is a feature of many Aboriginal languages and cultures along with narrative, place-based and group-oriented approaches to knowledge transmission. In terms of implications for Indigenous research, the use of Indigenised methods such as umpan and relationally responsive analysis represent potential ways forward in Indigenous standpoint theory and methodologies.

Successful academic progression relies on a child’s ability to develop proficient reading skills. In Australia, the majority of children achieve this milestone during elementary schooling. Yet Australian Indigenous children, particularly those living in remote and rural regions of Australia, consistently struggle to meet national benchmarks for reading, as evidenced by national benchmark data. There has been extensive debate about whether sociocultural factors impinge on academic achievement for Indigenous Australians, but little discussion regarding the possible role of neurocognitive factors. In this review, we consider limited available research on neurocognitive mechanisms associated with reading for Indigenous populations and argue for an urgent need to consider the relationship between neurocognitive and sociocultural development when examining reading acquisition outcomes for this population. We also discuss the plausibility of targeting the potential neurocognitive strengths of certain Indigenous populations to scaffold reading acquisition and identify opportunities for furthering this line of research.

Objective: To report the short-term experiences and outcomes of a program to support chronic disease management in three remote communities in Top End Northern Territory and in two Aboriginal Medical Services (AMSs) in Western Australia, and to discuss the implications of findings for health service delivery and policy. Methods: Programs were health-worker centred. They espoused regular screening of all adults for chronic disease, initiation and modification of treatment where indicated and rigorous documentation. Process measures were documented and rates of hypertension, renal disease and diabetes among adults were calculated. Results: Rates of hypertension, proteinuria and diabetes rose throughout adult life and multiple diagnoses were common. Most people with these conditions were young or middle age adults. Rates were uniformly excessive relative to AusDiab data, but varied greatly among settings. Adherence to protocols improved, many new diagnoses were made, treatments were started or modified and blood pressures in treated hypertensive people fell. In the NT, productivity was seriously limited by lack of health workers and their absenteeism. In the WA AMSs, executive and staff support carried the programs forward to a sustainable future, despite various challenges. Conclusions: Integrated chronic disease testing must be repeated throughout adult life for timely diagnosis. Health workers can perform all tasks well, with appropriate supports. Blood pressure outcomes alone predict lower cardiovascular and renal mortality. The findings support incorporation of chronic disease into lifetime health care plans.

We have worked together in the South Australia (SA) Department for Education, providing leadership and advice to 10 schools in the remote communities of the Aṉangu (Aboriginal) people. As a team, we have supported early childhood teachers, often new graduates, working in preschools, playgroups and child and family centres in these communities.

The Little Flower Black Mission was the first Catholic mission in Central Australia. It was established in 1935 among the Eastern Arrernte people who were living in and around the township of Alice Springs. The Mission relocated twice - first to Arltunga in 1942 and then, in 1957, to a site 85 km south-east of Alice Springs, when its name changed to Santa Teresa. Officially, the Mission was founded by Catholic priest Father Patrick J. Moloney of the order, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC). But it is Moloney's assistant, layman Francis McGarry who is the focus of this paper. McGarry's pivotal role in the establishment and day-to-day management of the Mission during its first nine years was unusual, if not unique, for a lay worker on a Catholic mission in pre-World War 2 Australia. This article begins by considering the factors that led Frank on this path - his background, faith and the Church's position on the evangelisation of Indigenous Australians - and then traces the foundation and development of the Little Flower Mission, including McGarry's interactions with the Aboriginal mission people, and concludes with his departure from mission life.

Prevalence and incidence of diabetes and other common comorbid conditions (hypertension, coronary heart disease, renal disease and chronic lung disease) are extremely high among Indigenous Australians. Recent measures to improve quality of preventive care in Indigenous community settings, while apparently successful at increasing screening and routine check-up rates, have shown only modest or little improvements in appropriate care such as the introduction of insulin and other scaled-up drug regimens in line with evidence-based guidelines, together with support for risk factor reduction. A new strategy is required to ensure high quality integrated family-centred care is available locally, with continuity and cultural safety, by community-based care coordinators with appropriate system supports.

Objective: To identify barriers to Indigenous patients taking up a rural general practice-based cardiac rehabilitation program. We investigated the accessibility and appropriateness of the program and the role of Indigenous health workers (IHWs) in caring for Indigenous cardiac patients. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of knowledge and views relating to cardiac rehabilitation was undertaken with 47 Indigenous cardiac patients and 41 health professionals in remote Queensland. Results: Only three patients were fully engaged in the program. Reasons for non-participation included: lack of knowledge about rehabilitation, low income, and having a large extended family. Although the program incorporated a training component for IHWs covering prevention and follow-up, most did not monitor patients specifically for their heart problems and thought they did not have adequate skills. Shared care was occurring in some settings but without the participation of IHWs. Conclusions: There was general agreement that IHWs do have a role in cardiac rehabilitation. There is a need for ongoing in-service education or inclusion in training programs. Lack of understanding of the role of IHWs is a barrier to shared care. Cardiovascular disease needs to be addressed as part of the raft of chronic illnesses. Implications: Training about chronic illnesses and their management needs to be linked to structural adaptations in the delivery of health services to allow efficient use of each professional's skills. Clear role delineation needs to be negotiated to allow all health professionals to carry out their job effectively.

Indigenous Australians continue to experience entrenched disadvantage. Despite billions being spent, ‘Closing the Gap’ indicators remain resistant to change. It has become increasingly apparent that progress has been hindered by persistent administration and implementation issues in Indigenous Affairs, especially with the funding modalities deployed. This study uses the remote Queensland Indigenous community of Aurukun as a case study to examine the effectiveness and evaluation problems arising from overlapping programmes delivered to Aurukun children and youth (5–18 years of age). It documents programmatic crowding occurring in Aurukun, which has the potential to place considerable demands on the intended participants, and results in hybridised effects that are not understood. Within this context, robust evaluation – even through the use of sophisticated methods – is near impossible.