Hidden Exploitation: Women in forced labour, marriage and migration

Understanding the gaps in prevention and protection needs in trafficking and exploitation of women and girls in Australia. An Evidence review

Reconsideration of visas intended to provide protection and support to people who have experienced human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices

This information sheet discusses Australia’s current trafficking visa framework and highlights where gaps exist in the provision of support to victims of human trafficking

Proposal for a national compensation scheme for trafficked people

Proposal outlining the need for a national compensation scheme for victims of trafficking, drawing attention to Australia’s international reparation obligations and recommending that a working party be formed to investigate the creation of a federal scheme

'Just Married, Just a Child': Child Marriage in the Indo-Pacific Region

A detailed report on the many facets of child marriage, from its cause and impact to the necessary steps we must take to end the practice. There is also specific focus on Australia and the Indo-Pacific region and the role of the Australian government in ending child marriage

Forced and Servile Marriage: Anti-Slavery Project submission in response to the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department Discussion Paper.

Anti-Slavery Australia submits that the Australian Government’s response to forced marriage must be developed in close consultation with the community and must include effective strategies to protect people who have been, or are at risk of being, forcibly married. The submission recommends that Australia develops a hybrid civil and criminal legislative response to fulfil its obligations under international law

The Criminal Justice Response to Slavery and People Trafficking; Reparation; and Vulnerable Witness Protection

This submission highlights the shortcomings of the people trafficking offences set out in the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). It also addresses the need for a holistic response to people trafficking, beyond the criminal justice system and law enforcement, which includes a visa framework and compensation scheme for victims

Interception and Offshore Processing of Asylum Seekers: The International Law Dimensions

For decades the international community has conducted a delicate and politically charged balancing act trying to reconcile the inexorable increase in refugees-and the need to find permanent homes for them with the fundamental right of all countries to have secure frontiers. While the notion of non-refoulement remains fundamental to the treatment of asylum seekers, their rights vis A vis the states in which they seek asylum are significantly circumscribed by their alien status. States have a right to control entry to their territories. In the development of asylum law and policy, the central difficulty for states, and indeed the international community, is how to construct an appropriate balance between the urgent humanitarian demands to protect those who are genuinely in need of asylum, and the exclusion of those who do not qualify for humanitarian protection

Characterisation of the bacterial and fungal communities associated with different lesion sizes of Dark Spot Syndrome occurring in the Coral Stephanocoenia intersepta

The number and prevalence of coral diseases/syndromes are increasing worldwide. Dark Spot Syndrome (DSS) afflicts numerous coral species and is widespread throughout the Caribbean, yet there are no known causal agents. In this study we aimed to characterise the microbial communities (bacteria and fungi) associated with DSS lesions affecting the coral Stephanocoenia intersepta using nonculture molecular techniques. Bacterial diversity of healthy tissues (H), those in advance of the lesion interface (apparently healthy AH), and three sizes of disease lesions (small, medium, and large) varied significantly (ANOSIM R = 0.052 p,0.001), apart from the medium and large lesions, which were similar in their community profile. Four bacteria fitted into the pattern expected from potential pathogens; namely absent from H, increasing in abundance within AH, and dominant in the lesions themselves. These included ribotypes related to Corynebacterium (KC190237), Acinetobacter (KC190251), Parvularculaceae (KC19027), and Oscillatoria (KC190271). Furthermore, two Vibrio species, a genus including many proposed coral pathogens, dominated the disease lesion and were absent from H and AH tissues, making them candidates as potential pathogens for DSS. In contrast, other members of bacteria from the same genus, such as V. harveyii were present throughout all sample types, supporting previous studies where potential coral pathogens exist in healthy tissues. Fungal diversity varied significantly as well, however the main difference between diseased and healthy tissues was the dominance of one ribotype, closely related to the plant pathogen, Rhytisma acerinum, a known causal agent of tar spot on tree leaves. As the corals’ symbiotic algae have been shown to turn to a darker pigmented state in DSS (giving rise to the syndromes name), the two most likely pathogens are R. acerinum and the bacterium Oscillatoria, which has been identified as the causal agent of the colouration in Black Band Disease, another widespread coral disease

Recent changes of water discharge and sediment load in the Yellow River basin, China

The Yellow River basin contributes approximately 6% of the sediment load from all river systems globally, and the annual runoff directly supports 12% of the Chinese population. As a result, describing and understanding recent variations of water discharge and sediment load under global change scenarios are of considerable importance. The present study considers the annual hydrologic series of the water discharge and sediment load of the Yellow River basin obtained from 15 gauging stations (10 mainstream, 5 tributaries). The Mann-Kendall test method was adopted to detect both gradual and abrupt change of hydrological series since the 1950s. With the exception of the area draining to the Upper Tangnaihai station, results indicate that both water discharge and sediment load have decreased significantly (p<0.05). The declining trend is greater with distance downstream, and drainage area has a significant positive effect on the rate of decline. It is suggested that the abrupt change of the water discharge from the late 1980s to the early 1990s arose from human extraction, and that the abrupt change in sediment load was linked to disturbance from reservoir construction.Geography, PhysicalGeosciences, MultidisciplinarySCI(E)43ARTICLE4541-5613

Routes for breaching and protecting genetic privacy

We are entering the era of ubiquitous genetic information for research, clinical care, and personal curiosity. Sharing these datasets is vital for rapid progress in understanding the genetic basis of human diseases. However, one growing concern is the ability to protect the genetic privacy of the data originators. Here, we technically map threats to genetic privacy and discuss potential mitigation strategies for privacy-preserving dissemination of genetic data.Comment: Draft for comment