Sounding the alarm: terrorism threat communications with the Australian public

Overview: On 12 September last year, the national terrorism advisory was raised by Prime Minister Abbott from medium to high on the advice of outgoing ASIO Director-General, David Irvine. Since September 12, 2001, we’d been on a medium level alert. This paper suggests five immediate changes which could help make our terrorism warning system better meet the public’s expectation that the government will provide useful information on terrorist threats and advice about required changes to behaviour. In the campaign against homegrown violent extremism, the government’s responsibility isn\u27t just to produce advisories; it’s to ensure that our terrorism alert system is understood by the community

A web of harms: serious and organised crime and its impact on Australian interests

Overview This report analyses serious, transnational and organised crime and the harms it causes to Australia’s interest, with the aim of reinvigorating a discussion of this critical matter amongst Australians. This web impacts on our national interests to the sum of an estimated $15 billion per year. That very conservative estimate includes costs to government through denied revenue and increased law enforcement costs. But there are also social, health and economic harms to individuals, community and business. The report poses a series of questions to be considered by the community, business and government

Measuring social desirability amongst men with intellectual disabilities: The psychometric properties of the Self- and Other-Deception Questionnaire—Intellectual Disabilities

Background Social desirability has been construed as either inaccurately attributing positive characteristics to oneself (self-deception), or inaccurately denying that one possesses undesirable characteristics to others (other-deception or impression management). These conceptualisations of social desirability have not been considered in relation to people with intellectual disabilities (IDs), but they are important constructs to consider when undertaking a psychological assessment of an individual, especially within forensic contexts. Therefore, we revised two existing measures of self- and other-deception and considered their psychometric properties. Methods Thirty-two men with mild IDs and 28 men without IDs completed the Self- and Other-Deception Questionnaires—Intellectual Disabilities (SDQ-ID and ODQ-ID) on two occasions, two weeks apart. Results Men with IDs scored significantly higher on the SDQ-ID and the ODQ-ID than men without IDs. However, these differences disappeared when Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ and Performance IQ were controlled in relation to the SDQ-ID, and partially disappeared in relation to the ODQ-ID. The SDQ-ID and the ODQ-ID had substantial internal consistency in relation to men with IDs (k = 0.82 and 0.84 respectively). The test-retest reliability of the SDQ-ID was good (ri = 0.68), while the test-retest reliability of the ODQ-ID was moderate (ri = 0.56), for men with IDs. The SDQ-ID had moderate (k = 0.60) and the ODQ-ID had substantial (k = 0.70) internal consistency in relation to men without IDs, while the test-retest reliability of the SDQ-ID was excellent (ri = 0.87) as was the case for the ODQ-ID (ri = 0.85). Conclusions The SDQ-ID and the ODQ-ID have satisfactory psychometric properties in relation to men with and without IDs. Future research using these instruments is propose

Reduced neural sensitivity to social stimuli in infants at risk for autism

In the hope of discovering early markers of autism, attention has recently turned to the study of infants at risk owing to being the younger siblings of children with autism. Because the condition is highly heritable, later-born siblings of diagnosed children are at substantially higher risk for developing autism or the broader autism phenotype than the general population. Currently, there are no strong predictors of autism in early infancy and diagnosis is not reliable until around 3 years of age. Because indicators of brain functioning may be sensitive predictors, and atypical social interactions are characteristic of the syndrome, we examined whether temporal lobe specialization for processing visual and auditory social stimuli during infancy differs in infants at risk. In a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study, infants aged 4–6 months at risk for autism showed less selective neural responses to social stimuli (auditory and visual) than low-risk controls. These group differences could not be attributed to overall levels of attention, developmental stage or chronological age. Our results provide the first demonstration of specific differences in localizable brain function within the first 6 months of life in a group of infants at risk for autism. Further, these differences closely resemble known patterns of neural atypicality in children and adults with autism. Future work will determine whether these differences in infant neural responses to social stimuli predict either later autism or the broader autism phenotype frequently seen in unaffected family members

Making Rwanda’s Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme Public Works Care-Responsive

Rwanda’s Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP), which comprises cash transfers, public works and financial services, aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2020. Public works, the focus of the research outlined in this note, provides paid employment for extremely poor households with at least one able-bodied adult. The aim of the VUP is for the very poorest to ‘graduate’ out of poverty through the programme. This note examines how VUP Public Works can avoid a ‘double burden’ on working women and instead generate a ‘double boon’ by providing paid work that empowers women and supports their unpaid care work responsibilities. The research was carried out using a mixed-methods approach in four sites. The focus of this note is on Simbi and Gishamvu in Huye District, where women were participating in VUP. Findings of the research show that that women strongly value paid work, prioritising income-generating opportunities over care work. Wages earned pay for a range of essential needs, such as food, education, and health-related expenses. Finally, those women who are able to balance paid work and unpaid care work benefit from family support and sharing of care responsibilities. However the note also highlights the barriers to the ‘double boon’: VUP Public Works can intensify the double burden of paid and care work and can increase women’s time poverty, with negative consequences for women’s physical and psychosocial wellbeing; cultural gender norms still place the responsibility for household tasks with women; and the conditions of VUP Public Works – poor pay, difficult labour conditions, and distance from the worksite – all increase the drudgery of women’s work.Department for International Development (DFID)William and Flora Hewlett FoundationInternational Development Research Centre (IDRC

The appearance, motion, and disappearance of three-dimensional magnetic null points

N.A.M. acknowledges support from NASA grants NNX11AB61G, NNX12AB25G, and NNX15AF43G; NASA contract NNM07AB07C; and NSF SHINE grants AGS-1156076 and AGS-1358342 to SAO. C.E.P. acknowledges support from the St Andrews 2013 STFC Consolidated grant.While theoretical models and simulations of magnetic reconnection often assume symmetry such that the magnetic null point when present is co-located with a flow stagnation point, the introduction of asymmetry typically leads to non-ideal flows across the null point. To understand this behavior, we present exact expressions for the motion of three-dimensional linear null points. The most general expression shows that linear null points move in the direction along which the magnetic field and its time derivative are antiparallel. Null point motion in resistive magnetohydrodynamics results from advection by the bulk plasma flow and resistive diffusion of the magnetic field, which allows non-ideal flows across topological boundaries. Null point motion is described intrinsically by parameters evaluated locally; however, global dynamics help set the local conditions at the null point. During a bifurcation of a degenerate null point into a null-null pair or the reverse, the instantaneous velocity of separation or convergence of the null-null pair will typically be infinite along the null space of the Jacobian matrix of the magnetic field, but with finite components in the directions orthogonal to the null space. Not all bifurcating null-null pairs are connected by a separator. Furthermore, except under special circumstances, there will not exist a straight line separator connecting a bifurcating null-null pair. The motion of separators cannot be described using solely local parameters because the identification of a particular field line as a separator may change as a result of non-ideal behavior elsewhere along the field line.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The Role of TAFE as an Equity Pathway to Social Inclusion, Employment, and to University : a submission from The Deakin University Social Work/Gordon TAFE Community Services Work, Geelong Based Project Team

Executive Summary The Deakin University Social Work/Gordon TAFE Community Services Work Geelong Based Project Team (the Project Team) was assisted by Higher Education Partnership and Participation funding made available through Deakin University Participation and Partnerships Program (DUPPP) to carry out research and project work in 2012/13. In the following submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry into the role of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) system and its operation, this Project Team seeks to establish a case for:1. Funding to enable TAFE to continue as:a) an equity pathway to social inclusion, employment, and to university, particularly in regional areas. b) an integral complement to the University education sector to deliver on the ambitious objectives of the Federal Government&rsquo;s widening participation agenda, as a mechanism to deliver the skills, knowledge and workforce needed now, and in the future, in the Australian economy. 2. Increased resources for separate and joint sector developmenta) Publicly funded TAFEs need funding to be restored and increased to enable them to maintain the high quality education they provide and to maintain their successful work in supporting communities, regions and disadvantaged individuals to gain skills, training and employment.b) Universities need increased funding to increase staffing levels and therefore free up teaching staff to spend the necessary time to develop relationships with and provide support to students. This is important for the achieving the goals of the widening participation agenda of increasing access without increasing attrition at the same time.c) TAFEs and Universities need funding to do the work required to further develop and formalise diploma-degree pathways so that disadvantaged individuals can exit into employment at the diploma level or be supported in an efficient and seamless way to undertake further study.3. Active use of localised and nuanced partnership approaches by education institutions. This includes: &bull; Cross teaching by TAFEs and Universities in courses that can be articulated, such as professional practice diplomas and degrees&bull; Programs negotiated and designed according to the needs of students in each location. TAFEs and Universities need resources in order to do this work&bull; Focus on regional centres where there is a particular opportunity for government to make an impact on TAFE pathways to employment and/or further education &bull; Workforce development in regional areas due to new industries is a particular area of need4. Recognise and capitalise on the complementary and symbiotic nature of each sector&rsquo;s skills, strengths and capacities. The submission responds to the second, third and fifth points of the Terms of Reference of the Inquiry and is based on the research work carried out by the Project Team in 2012/13.We provide evidence of Gordon TAFE in Geelong working as an equity mechanism in the particular case of the welfare/ community services diploma to social work degree pathway. The project team considers that there is a strong case for additional resourcing of TAFE to enable it to continue what it does well. TAFE is the key training and education sectorthe &lsquo;education and social hub&rsquo;that can successfully attract, retain, and graduate people who may not otherwise access education due to one or more combinations of:1. having a low SES current or past background;2. living in regional areas; 3. receiving interrupted primary and secondary education; 4. having disabilities; 5. being sole parents; 6. being from refugee backgrounds; 7. having English as an additional language/culture; 8. retrenchment from employment in dying industries; 9. short, medium and long term unemployment; 10. past and/or current caring roles; 11. marriage/relationship breakdowns; 12. domestic violence; 13. gender, class, age, race/ethnicity and dis/ability discriminations; and 14. socialised expectations and fears.The recommendations in this submission are based on research findings about important similarities and differences between Gordon TAFE welfare and Deakin University social work students in Geelong, and their respective institutional organisations and contexts. The two institutions employ a repertoire of diverse administrative, teaching, learning and support approaches to meet different mission goals, requirements and needs. <br /