Remote Australia Online

The Laura and Little Laura rivers in south-eastern Cape York Peninsula, Queensland (Figure 13.1), have similar environments, shared timelines of Aboriginal history and rock art practice, and parallel trajectories of archaeological research. Like other rivers of inland Cape York Peninsula (henceforth CYP), these were focal areas for Aboriginal settlement and corridors of customary travel, facilitating the exchange of ideas, information and materials across a regional network (Chase and Sutton 1987; Cole 2016; Land Tribunal 1996). However, from the onset of the Palmer River goldrush (1873) these valleys were appropriated for colonial transport routes, settlements and cattle runs. They also were the scene of a brutal war that transformed, but did not destroy, Aboriginal society and land use. Today these precincts lie in the heartland of the National Heritage Listed area Quinkan Country, inscribed for the richness, size, diversity and density of its rock art and its qualities as a ‘dynamic cultural landscape’ where the ‘ongoing collaboration between traditional owners and researchers continues to provide insights into patterns of human occupation in Australia’ (Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment 2021). The inscription notes the associations of Quinkan Country with the lives and works of Tommy George (1929–2016), George Musgrave (1921–2006), Percy Trezise (1923–2005) and Dick Roughsey (1920–1985). This discussion is prompted by the weight of research and Aboriginal knowledge that has brought the values of the Laura valleys to light, the long trajectory of rock art research in the Laura Basin and my own research journey. I am also mindful of ongoing threats to the cultural landscape by road upgrades, agriculture, increased tourism, mining proposals and mineral exploration permits (Cole and Buhrich 2012). Previous rock art research in the valleys has tended to focus on major sites such as Giant Horse, Mushroom Rock, Split Rock, Sandy Creek and Yam Camp (Morwood and Hobbs 1995a; Trezise 1971; Watchman and Cole 1993; Wright 1971). This account takes a landscape approach to compare rock art across two significant precincts that, although separated to the south-west by a dissected plateau incised by the Mosman River, are also connected by a lowland travel route that skirts the plateaux via Sandy Creek. Given the latter connection, it is cogent to explore how the recognised spatial continuity of Quinkan rock art style (Cole 2016) applies (or does not apply) across these landscapes, and how figurative (primarily late Holocene) rock art might reflect documented models of Aboriginal cultural organisation.

The Thumbs food classification system was developed to assist remote Australian communities to identify food healthiness. This study aimed to assess (1) the Thumbs system’s alignment to two other food classification systems, the Health Star Rating (HSR) and the Northern Territory School Canteens Guidelines (NTSCG); (2) its accuracy in classifying ‘unhealthy’ (contributing to discretionary energy and added sugars) and ‘healthy’ products against HSR and NTSCG, and (3) areas for optimisation. Food and beverage products sold between 05/2018-05/2019 in 51 remote stores were classified in each system. System alignment was assessed by cross-tabulating percentages of products, discretionary energy sold and added sugars assigned to the same healthiness levels across the systems. The system/s capturing the highest percentage of discretionary energy sold and added sugars sold in ‘unhealthy’ products, and the lowest levels in ‘healthy’ products, were considered the best performing. Cohen’s kappa was used to assess agreement between the Thumbs system and the NTSCG for classifying products as healthy. The Thumbs system classified product healthiness in line with the HSR and NTSCG, with Cohen’s kappa showing moderate agreement between the Thumbs system and the NTSCG (k=0.60). The Thumbs system captured the most discretionary energy sold (92.2%) and added sugar sold (90.6%) in unhealthy products, and the least discretionary energy sold (0%) in healthy products. Modifications to optimise the Thumbs system include aligning several food categories to the NTSCG criteria and addressing core/discretionary classification discrepancies of fruit juice/drinks. The Thumbs system offers a classification algorithm that could strengthen the HSR system.

Rural placements are an important component of rural medical education programs seeking to develop rural practice pathways for medical students. These placements are usually domestic, but James Cook University in Australia developed an international rural placement program in the first half of the medical course that was funded through bursaries. This study explores how the international rural placement helped to shape the lives (personal development and learning) of the participants, using Transformational Learning Theory as a framework for identifying and describing the transformational elements, process and impact of the program.

“Ceremony” is the title of the National Gallery of Australia’s 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial. Curated by Hetti Perkins (Arrernte/Kalkadoon), the program is subtle yet powerful and emulates characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. “Ceremony” seems to have no definitive beginning or end and knows no boundaries. There are performative pieces that are iterative yet unique and can only be experienced in the moment. The artists and artworks showcase the multiplicity of First Nations perspectives, embracing multifarious interpretations of “ceremony”. It is much more than an exhibition and program of events; it is a presentation of First Nations cultural and spiritual survival, and our ongoing sovereign existence.

Like many communities worldwide, those in the Torres Strait Islands face several severe social and environmental challenges. Torres Strait Islanders compete against the impacts of colonisation, globalisation and climate change to find sustainable solutions to ensure they survive and thrive in this rapidly changing world. This article describes the outcomes of workshops involving representatives from community-based non-government organisations on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. It describes an approach to proactively kickstart research and identify grassroots innovations for complex social and environmental challenges. The findings suggest workshop participants obtained an increased awareness and understanding of research, the steps involved in research and their rights as participants. The researchers anticipate the findings from this project will contribute towards a better understanding of how to collaborate and co-develop research that is meaningful and beneficial to local contexts.

Remote Indigenous education is challenged by many factors, one of which is the attraction and retention of quality teachers to work in hard-to-staff schools. In this chapter, I explore how successful remote schools have worked with the significant challenge of ensuring quality and rich STEM learning for Indigenous students. Building the skills of beginning teachers to work in these schools is the focus of this paper. The notion of pedagogical capital provides the tool for analysis. While this chapter draws on the examples from a comprehensive numeracy project, the principles, issues and outcomes apply to STEM education more broadly.

Oral health is an important component of overall health and quality of life. Poor oral health can affect adults and children alike, causing pain, embarrassment, and even social marginalisation. For children, the effects can be long term, and carry through to adulthood. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are more likely than non-Indigenous children to experience tooth decay. Several factors contribute towards the poorer oral health of Indigenous children, including social disadvantage and lack of access to appropriate diet and dental services. For the past 10 years, the Australian Government has helped fund oral health services for Indigenous children aged under 16 in the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment Oral Health Program (NTRAI OHP) complements the Northern Territory Government Child Oral Health Program, by providing preventive (application of full-mouth fluoride varnish and fissure sealants) and clinical (tooth extractions, diagnostics, restorations and examinations) services. This report presents data from the NTRAI OHP from July 2012 to December 2018, and includes long-term analyses for 2009–2018.

The purpose of this study was to analyse legacy waste in central Australia - namely in the communities of MacDonnell and Central Desert Regional Councils, and Mutitjulu. Previously legacy waste was understood as the waste the regional councils inherited when they were first established as Regional Shires in 2008 and before they started following established waste management practices. That said, what is covered in this report is more than just this understanding of legacy waste as it became impossible to distinguish between what was pre and post 2008. Central Australian communities have genuine challenges in terms of managing their legacy waste and its recycling and recovery. Lack of infrastructure and tyranny of distance results in a large variation in resource recovery rates from these regions as compared to other regions closer to the urban metropolitan areas. While waste volumes and material recovery from Alice Springs town are discussed in this report, for Alice Springs there was not a legacy issue but rather a challenge accessing circular economy / recycling & recovery infrastructure. As the first study of its kind in the Northern territory (NT) this project sought to provide an understanding of quantities and collection of waste streams in the very particular context of central Australia. The study also aimed to identify potential options for managing this waste.

What is regenerative learning in Australian higher education? This paper addresses the intersecting crises of climate, species loss and injustice; often called a conceptual emergency. We tackle the problem of disciplinary compartmentalisation, preventing integration of important related concepts. The particular case is separation of the Australian Curriculum Cross-curriculum Priorities at school and university for teaching, learning and research purposes. We are concerned with two of the three: sustainability, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. The project generates significant conceptual linkages, which strengthen sustainability with Indigenous histories and cultures. The linked concepts have the potential to re-centre Indigenous knowledge systems and knowledge holders in Australian higher education for sustainability. The interconnectedness facilitates learning of, for and through regenerative cultures, which are healing and wellbeing-oriented. Centring Indigenous histories, concepts and wisdom in sustainability education will reveal deeper meanings such as communicative ways of understanding worlds. These have multiple applications in teaching and learning, and improved outcomes in practice. Each case study presented in this paper utilises a decolonising, regenerative research method for answering research questions. The methods challenge Western, colonising power relationships that continue to act upon Indigenous lived experience; enable communicative relations with more than human worlds and are transformative. Together, they value experience, the collective, being creative, narrative, justice, ways of knowing and responding to sentient, animate places. In this paper, decolonising ways of working towards regenerative futures foreground Indigenous ways of knowing, being, valuing and doing, revealing Indigenous knowledge making for contemporary contexts.

The police shooting of Kumunjayi Walker in Yuendumu in November 2019 instigated an immediate and determined response from Warlpiri families who were shocked and saddened by the death of a loved one in the prime of his life and enraged by this latest event in a long string of colonial injustices. This article collates perspectives as expressed in interviews and public statements from Warlpiri spokespeople who have been on the frontline of the fight for Justice for Walker. Incorporating the initial responses in the days after the shooting, the links to the Coniston massacre in Warlpiri and neighbouring country in 1928, the ongoing horror of Aboriginal deaths in custody and the escalating energy behind the Black Lives Matter campaigns across the world, this article illustrates, through Warlpiri voices, the ways in which people from Yuendumu have expertly used the techniques of activist campaigns in their resolute fight for justice for Walker, for all Aboriginal people across Australia and for Black and First Nations people world-wide.

The Kimberley Mum’s Mood Scale (KMMS) was co-designed with Aboriginal women and healthcare professionals to improve culturally appropriate screening practices for perinatal depression and anxiety. This paper describes the implementation of the KMMS across the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia from January 2018 to December 2021. We used the Dynamic Sustainability Framework to progress the implementation and assess at the intervention, practice setting and ecological system level using a mixed methods approach to analyse implementation. Rates of administration and results of screening were described using a retrospective audit of electronic medical records. Analyses of KMMS training registry, stakeholder engagement and sustainability initiatives were descriptive. KMMS acceptability was assessed using qualitative descriptive approaches to analyse patient feedback forms (n = 39), healthcare professional surveys (n = 15) and qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals (n = 6). We found a significant increase in overall recorded perinatal screening (pre-implementation: 30.4% v Year 3: 46.5%, P < 0.001) and use of the KMMS (pre-implementation: 16.4% v Year 3: 46.4%, P < 0.001). There was improved fidelity in completing the KMMS (from 2.3% to 61.8%, P < 0.001), with 23.6% of women screened recorded as being at increased risk of depression and anxiety. Most healthcare professionals noted the high levels of perinatal mental health concerns, stress, and trauma that their patients experienced, and identified the KMMS as the most appropriate perinatal screening tool. Aboriginal women reported that it was important for clinics to ask about mood and feelings during the perinatal period, and that the KMMS was appropriate. Aboriginal women consistently reported that it was good to have someone to talk to. This study demonstrates that innovation in perinatal depression and anxiety screening for Aboriginal women is possible and can be implemented into routine clinical care with the support of a sustained multi-year investment and strong partnerships.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a multi-component, Aboriginal-led strategy to reduce alcohol-related criminal incidents for Aboriginal people in four rural/remote communities in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Methods: A retrospective multiple baseline design (MBD), using interrupted time series analysis of routinely collected crime data. Results: A statistically significant reduction in alcohol-related criminal incidents was observed in one community for both victims of crime (parameter estimate ?0.195; p≤0.01) and persons of interest (parameter estimate ?0.282; p≤0.001). None of the analyses show level shifts, meaning there were no measurable changes immediately post the introduction of the Breaking the Cycle (BTC) programs. Conclusions: It is not possible to conclude that the program was effective independently of any other community factors, because the statistically significant result was not observed across multiple communities. The statistically significant result in one community has clear practical benefits in that community: a sustained impact over two years would reduce Aboriginal victims of alcohol-related crime from an estimated 56 incidents per annum to 36, and reduce Aboriginal persons of interest in alcohol-related crime from an estimated 68 alcohol-related person of interest (POI) per annum to 40. Implications for public health: The statistically and practically meaningful result in Community 1 highlights the potential of multi-component, Aboriginal-led strategies to reduce alcohol-related criminal incidents. Earlier engagement with researchers, to identify best-evidence strategies to reduce alcohol harms and to facilitate the use of prospective evaluation designs, would help translate the positive outcome in one community across multiple communities.

Non-profit legal services play an important role in helping disadvantaged and vulnerable members of the community obtain access to justice. This is particularly important in regional, remote and rural and very remote areas where access to legal services is extremely limited.

AIM: This paper explores the principles of co-design with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities by reflecting on the literature, learning from experiences of allied health professionals, and considering how co-design can be applied in rural and remote allied health practice. CONTEXT: This paper has been authored by a working group from Services for Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH). SARRAH is a member-based allied health organisation, working to improve health outcomes for rural and remote Australians. SARRAH has been representing and supporting allied health professionals in rural and remote Australia for over 20 years, with a member base that includes students, practitioners, programme managers, policy makers and academics. As a non-Indigenous organisation, SARRAH works in partnership and receives guidance from the peak organisation, Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA). APPROACH: Over a period of 3 months, a group of eleven SARRAH members and staff came together to review available literature, seek member perspectives and share their experiences and understandings of co-design. Working group discussions were grounded in the knowledge and experiences shared by two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander group members. CONCLUSION: This paper proposes that successful co-design with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities places legitimate value on different knowledge systems, is built on strong and trusting relationships, promotes inclusive involvement and requires authentic partnerships. Using these principles, SARRAH will engage with members and stakeholders to influence meaningful change in allied health practice in rural and remote Australia.

The Australian First Nations COVID-19 Prevention Strategy was developed and implemented by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) with funding supplied by the Australian Federal Government. The Strategy had initially seemed a resounding success, a benchmark for other First Nations people to aspire to, and an example of what Australian Indigenous leadership and Indigenous community-controlled health organisations could achieve. Within a short space of time, however, failures in conception and implementation became increasingly evident. Anti-vaccination conspiracy theories circulated in remote Indigenous communities and vaccine hesitancy emerged as a problem. Despite the earlier claims of success, rates of vaccination for Australia’s Indigenous population were shown to be far lower than that of the non-Indigenous population. This essay historicises current Indigenous population health polices in the larger context of the Indigenous experience of invasion, colonisation, foreign-brought disease, and medicalised racism. It suggests that NACCHO’s strategy was flawed in envisaging the ideal Aboriginal subject as an ahistorical self-maximising consumer, rather than a subject shaped by the historical experience of invasion, colonisation, and racism. It further suggests that there is an isomorphic relationship between Government and the Aboriginal health establishment and that this leads to culturally dissonant, if managerial expedient, policies, and practices.

Objective: To document behavior in children residing in very remote Western Australian communities as rated by parent/caregivers and teachers. We hypothesized that children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) would have higher rates of problematic behavior than children without FASD. Methods: The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; n = 97), and Teacher Report Form (TRF; n = 106) were used in this population-based study. Raw scores, proportions scoring within “Normal/Borderline/Clinical” ranges, and frequencies of Critical items were determined. Mann–Whitney U and χ2 tests were used for between-group comparisons. Results: Children were aged from 7.5 to 9.6 years, and 19% had FASD. Academic performance was commonly rated in the “Borderline/Clinical” range (73%). Teacher-rated scores were poorer in the FASD group on 15 scales encompassing total and internalizing problems, adaptive function, academic performance, attention, withdrawn/depressed, social problems, posttraumatic stress, thought problems, and sluggish cognitive tempo (p < .05). More children in the FASD group had scores in the “Borderline/Clinical” range on 11 TRF scales (p < .05). “Physically attacks people” was the most prevalent Critical item endorsed by teachers for the total cohort (22%). “Talks about killing self” was endorsed by teachers more often in the FASD group (14%) than the Non-FASD group (1%; p = .03). There were no significant differences between groups in parent-reported CBCL scores after adjustment for multiple comparison testing. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that children with FASD have more teacher-reported behavioral impairment than children without FASD. In remote Australian communities, academic performance is poor.

The purpose of this paper is to identify how the aged care services currently provided by Dharriwaa Elders Group (DEG) in Walgett may be affected by proposed changes to the system for funding and regulating home and community care services for older Australians. The paper may also assist other Indigenous and locally-based service providers to understand and respond to the proposed changes.

Recent concerns have arisen in Australia regarding detections of the exotic bacterium Ehrlichia canis which has resulted in ehrlichiosis outbreaks. In Australia, it is spread by the tropical brown dog tick Rhipicephalus linnaei, formerly Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato tropical lineage. Previously, the tick has been recorded in South Australia in the Coober Pedy and the Oodnadatta areas. This study, which includes historical specimens data held in historical Australian arthropod collections, along with 10 sampled remote communities, confirms the wide distribution range of this species within the State. E. canis was detected by PCR in the ticks. The percentage of dogs hosting PCR-positive ticks increased from 2.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.3 to 9.7) in November?December 2020 to 62.9% (95% CI: 44.9 to 78.5) end of February 2021, initially in two then in seven Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands communities in the far northern regions of South Australia. Our results suggest a rapid spread of the pathogen. No evidence of E. canis was found in nine regional communities. The extended tropical brown dog tick distribution indicates a greater area where E. canis may occur and may require management to minimise the impacts of ehrlichiosis outbreaks. Without the implementation of effective detection and control programs, this extended distribution of R. linnaei is likely to result in the spread of the bacterium to other regions.

A link between chronic inflammation and several noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) has been established. Although chronic infection with the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the recognized cause of several inflammatory diseases and these are associated with a high number of HTLV-1–infected cells in peripheral blood (proviral load [PVL]), possible interactions between PVL and NCDs have not been studied at a community level.Adult Aboriginal residents of 7 remote communities were invited to complete a health survey between 25 August 2014 and 30 June 2018. Blood was drawn for HTLV-1 serology and PVL, and relevant medical conditions were obtained from health records. Associations between HTLV-1 PVL and diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and coronary artery disease (CAD) were determined using logistic regression, adjusting for available confounders.Among 510 participants (56% of the estimated adult resident population, 922), 197 (38.6%) were HTLV-1–infected. A high HTLV-1 PVL was associated with a 2-fold increase in the odds of diabetes and CKD (diabetes, adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06–3.61; P = .033 and CKD: aOR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.03–3.8; P = .041). A nonsignificant association between high PVL and CAD (aOR, 7.08; 95% CI, 1.00–50.18; P = .05) was found for participants aged <50 years at the time of angiography.In a community-based study in central Australia, people living with HTLV-1 who had high HTLV-1 PVL were more likely to have diabetes and CKD. These findings have potential clinical implications.

Background: Accelerated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Australia has shifted towards greater use of telehealth to deliver care for rural and remote communities. This policy direction might risk a shift away from the traditional model of informed person-centred care built around care relationships to a technology-mediated health transaction. Potential opportunity costs of widespread telehealth services on the quality of care for rural and remote communities remain understudied.Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in three local health districts of rural New South Wales, Australia. Data were collected through in-depth interviews. A total of 13 participants was interviewed. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.Results: Patient participants perceived telehealth as an alternative when specialist care was limited or absent. Both patients and clinicians perceived that the deeper caring relationship, enabled through face-to-face interactions, could not be achieved through telehealth services alone, and that telehealth services are often superficial and fragmented in nature. Patients in this study contended that virtual consultations can be distant and lacking in personal touch, and risk losing sight of social circumstances related to patients’ health, thereby affecting the trust placed in healthcare systems.Conclusions: Simply replacing face-to-face interactions with telehealth services has the potential to reduce trust, continuity of care, and effectiveness of rural health services. Telehealth must be used to assist local clinicians in providing the best possible care to rural and remote patients within an integrated service delivery model across diverse rural contexts in Australia.

ABSTRACTThis article considers how the experience of community for young people from rural places (inclusive of regional and remote) can be influential in building a legacy of strengths and qualities, much like an inheritance. While there are many studies of rural youth, few consider rurality through complex social-relational dimensions; fewer still include both school and university students. We contend that legacies borne from collective hardship, pulling together and a sense of belonging can set rural young people in good stead for life beyond their smaller communities, playing a significant, yet under-explored, role in preparing them for the very personal repercussions of movement into and through university. This study explored the influence of communities on young people?s hoped-for futures through qualitative interview and survey data drawn from two groups: university students (aged 18?20) and secondary school students (aged 16?18). The theoretical concept of ?possible selves? enabled a nuanced insight into motivation to achieve future goals, in which rural biographies valorised the significance of relational connectedness and socioemotional attachment to communities. Legacies of community for these young people were embodied in their capacity for complex decision-making, motivations and altruism, driven by a strong desire to give back. Universities have much to learn from the rich insights of rural youth, particularly in the post-COVID recovery, through more committed understandings of how relational aspects across policy and practice could be prioritised and implemented for the benefit of all.

Cognitive psychological research provides an evidence-based understanding of human cognition. For example, it can inform an understanding of how phonological awareness, visuospatial processing and working memory facilitate reading. However, the evidence base around reading acquisition is constructed from a Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) perspective, with little consideration for whether such evidence extends to Australian Indigenous populations. Given the recognised need to improve literacy outcomes for Indigenous children, there is an applied benefit in conducting cognitive research to better understand how language, culture or context might influence the development of neurocognitive processes underlying reading in remote Indigenous communities. However, it is essential that cultural cognitive research be conducted in a culturally fair and culturally safe manner. This requires critiquing and challenging standard cognitive research approaches and methodologies. Here I reflect on research that investigated neurocognitive factors associated with reading in an Indigenous context. I highlight the disjuncture between cognitive psychological research and Indigenous custom and practice and suggest that culturally safe cognitive research must embed Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. I assert that to work alongside Indigenous researchers as allies, non-Indigenous researchers must develop intercultural research skills. This includes building cultural competence and engaging in critical self-reflexivity.

Strep A POCT is a critical element in preventing acute rheumatic fever and will contribute to the elimination of rheumatic heart disease in Australia. Group A β-haemolytic Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A) most commonly causes superficial infections of the throat (pharyngitis) and skin (impetigo). In Australia, one-third of primary school aged children have an episode of pharyngitis each year,1 with Strep A identified in about 20% of children with symptomatic pharyngitis and 10% of asymptomatic children.2-4 Superficial Strep A infections are the sole precursor of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD),5 with risk likely to be driven by both pharyngitis and impetigo.6 These autoimmune sequelae are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries and among Indigenous people living in high income countries.7 The burden of ARF and RHD in remote Australian communities is high and disproportionately affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.8 The reported mortality rates of RHD in Aboriginal populations are among the highest worldwide (28.4 per 100 000 population; 95% CI, 24.1–32.7).9 This is despite ARF and RHD being preventable through the early treatment of Strep A pharyngitis and impetigo.10 In this article, we focus on the use of molecular point-of-care testing (POCT) in the diagnosis of pharyngitis, which is the dominant superficial infection leading to ARF.

The preparation of teachers for rural schools has been a significant focus of research for many decades. In this paper we update previous reports of the extent of Initial Teacher Education courses that prepare teachers for rural schools in Australia. We found that despite significant and continued calls for rural teacher education, there are still very few rural-teaching units offered in teacher education courses, and there are no courses at all that seek this as an explicit outcome. As the Australian Professional Standards for Teaching claim the importance of teachers understanding students and their contexts, we argue that effective teacher education must not only focus on understanding rurality, and developing awareness of the affordances of place, but must also address the pedagogical requirements for present day rural teaching. We argue that the lack of teacher preparation for locational, geographic forms of social difference works to produce and sustain educational disadvantage when these intersect with economic and cultural difference. On this basis we call for government to address this major failing in the provision of education for Australian children through policy change to teaching standards.

Trans dilemmas presents the findings of a three-year research project which examined the lived experiences of trans people in Australia's Northern Territory. The book argues that whilst trans people, who live in remote areas, experience issues which may not be distinct from those living in urban areas and the inner-city, these issues can be aggravated by geographic and demographic factors.