The civil and family law needs of Indigenous people in Victoria

This report identifies the most pressing legal needs of Indigenous Victorians, which involve housing, discrimination and debt.The report presents key findings and recommendations of research conducted in 2012- 2013 by the Indigenous Legal Needs Project (ILNP) in Victoria. The ILNP is a national project. Its aims are to:identify and analyse the legal needs of Indigenous communities in non-criminal areas of law (including discrimination, housing and tenancy, child protection, employment, credit and debt, wills and estates, and consumer-related matters); and provide an understanding of how legal service delivery might work more effectively to address identified civil and family law needs of Indigenous communities. ILNP research is intended to benefit Indigenous people by improving access to civil and family law justice

Cause for hope or despair? Evaluating race discrimination law as an access to justice mechanism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

This thesis explores the contribution that racial discrimination laws have made and might make to addressing race discrimination against Indigenous Australians, who still experience this problem at disproportionately high levels despite introduction over four decades ago of racial discrimination legislation in Australia. The research investigates whether this legislation has failed to make appropriate contributions to reduction of race discrimination because of problems associated with Indigenous access to justice. It demonstrates that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are using processes of dispute resolution in this area to a limited degree, relative to the extent to which they encounter race-based discrimination. Informed by Indigenous methodologies, the research employs a mixed method design: utilising historical, qualitative and quantitative social science and legal approaches. This provides opportunity for distinctive analysis of the current limitations associated with Indigenous access to justice in the area of race discrimination. Also identified is whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples see value in enhancing Indigenous access to justice through race discrimination law and how this might be achieved. The thesis presents evidence that indicates that access to justice is seen, including by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as an important right in itself and as essential to the assertion of all other rights, encompassing the right to equality or non-discrimination. It is argued, however, that to be effective the concept of access to justice must be appropriately expanded to incorporate Indigenous perspectives on 'justice' and how this might be attained. Formal equality of access to justice can lead to discriminatory outcomes, including limitations in terms of the extent to which Indigenous people are able to draw benefit from race discrimination law. The thesis also argues that Indigenous people do not see the law as providing a complete solution to the problem of race discrimination. Key non-legal strategies are identified, including those that empower Indigenous people to respond to discrimination without recourse to the law and that place responsibility for reduction of race discrimination targeting Indigenous people upon the wider community and government. The research makes a novel contribution to analysis of the effectiveness of race discrimination law in Australia. By prioritising Indigenous historical and contemporary perspectives throughout, it presents new perspectives on race discrimination law and access to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Justice reinvestment in Cairns: briefing paper for key stakeholders

[Extract] JCU is interested in commencing a project to explore the potential for introduction of a justice reinvestment (JR) framework in Cairns to help reduce local offending and incarceration. The proposed project, detailed below, would for the most part involve engagement with the local community around JR, as well as collection and analysis of relevant statistics. The purpose of this briefing paper is to generate discussion amongst key Cairns stakeholders about the value of, and next steps required for such a project

Justice Reinvestment in Northern Australia

This paper looks at justice issues, and in particular, the potential implementation of Justice Reinvestment (or 'JR') in Northern Australia. To date, crime and criminal justice have been absent from discussions on developing Northern Australia, despite the fact that the Northern Territory (NT) has the highest imprisonment rate in Australia, followed by Western Australia (WA) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017) and that building and operating prisons constitute significant infrastructure and recurrent costs. The paper begins with a description of JR, which has emerged as a major policy alternative to the current emphasis on the increasing use of imprisonment. It discusses the origins of JR in the USA and the growing interest in recent years in its introduction in Australia. Key elements of JR are explained, as well as its particular importance for Indigenous people. We discuss various projects already implementing JR or exploring the potential to do so, including in Northern Australia. The paper concludes with analysis of challenges to progressing JR, with some focus on Northern Australia

The Civil and Family Law Needs of Indigenous People in Queensland

Background: This report presents key findings and recommendations of research conducted in 2011 - 2014 by the Indigenous Legal Needs Project (ILNP) in Queensland. 1 The ILNP is a national project, which aims to: • identify and analyse the legal needs of Indigenous communities in non - criminal areas of law (including discrimination, housing and tenancy, child protection, employment, credit and debt, wills and estates, and consumer - related matters); and • provide an understanding of how legal service delivery might work more effectively to address identified civil and family law needs of Indigenous communities. ILNP research is intended to benefit Indigenous people by improving access to civil and family law justice. Methodology: The Queensland research is based on focus groups held with Indigenous participants and interviews with legal and related stakeholders in eight communities. The communities selected were Brisbane, Cairns, Charleville, Mount Isa, Pormpuraaw, Rockhampton, Roma and Thursday Island. These reflect urban, regional and rural communities. Sixteen focus groups were held with a total of 152 Indigenous community members in the se eight communities. Separate women and men's focus groups were conducted in each community. Female participants comprised 53.9% of the total and males 46.1%. Focus group participants completed a questionnaire (see Appendix A), which covered issues including housing and tenancy, neighbourhood disputes, wills and intestacy, victims' compensation, stolen generations and Stolen Wages, employment, social security, family matters, discrimination, accident and injury, education, credit and debt, consumer issues and taxation. Some civil law issues not identified in the questionnaire also arose in focus group discussions and in stake holder interviews (see Section 4.14 of the Report). Over 60 stakeholder organisations servicing or working within the nominated Queensland communities were interviewed to explore the experiences, perspectives and understandings of those providing legal or related services. A full list of stakeholders interviewed in Queensland can be found in Appendix B of the Report

The Civil and Family Law Needs of Indigenous People in Queensland

Background: This report presents key findings and recommendations of research conducted in 2011 - 2014 by the Indigenous Legal Needs Project (ILNP) in Queensland. 1 The ILNP is a national project, which aims to: • identify and analyse the legal needs of Indigenous communities in non - criminal areas of law (including discrimination, housing and tenancy, child protection, employment, credit and debt, wills and estates, and consumer - related matters); and • provide an understanding of how legal service delivery might work more effectively to address identified civil and family law needs of Indigenous communities. ILNP research is intended to benefit Indigenous people by improving access to civil and family law justice. Methodology: The Queensland research is based on focus groups held with Indigenous participants and interviews with legal and related stakeholders in eight communities. The communities selected were Brisbane, Cairns, Charleville, Mount Isa, Pormpuraaw, Rockhampton, Roma and Thursday Island. These reflect urban, regional and rural communities. Sixteen focus groups were held with a total of 152 Indigenous community members in the se eight communities. Separate women and men's focus groups were conducted in each community. Female participants comprised 53.9% of the total and males 46.1%. Focus group participants completed a questionnaire (see Appendix A), which covered issues including housing and tenancy, neighbourhood disputes, wills and intestacy, victims' compensation, stolen generations and Stolen Wages, employment, social security, family matters, discrimination, accident and injury, education, credit and debt, consumer issues and taxation. Some civil law issues not identified in the questionnaire also arose in focus group discussions and in stake holder interviews (see Section 4.14 of the Report). Over 60 stakeholder organisations servicing or working within the nominated Queensland communities were interviewed to explore the experiences, perspectives and understandings of those providing legal or related services. A full list of stakeholders interviewed in Queensland can be found in Appendix B of the Report

CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL FATIGUE IN WOMEN ATHLETES

The purpose of this study was to compare the EMG activity in central and peripheral fatigue protocols with the knee’s dynamic stabilizers. Twelve women in the central fatigue group completed a soccer game simulation protocol, while 13 women completed a maximal weight lifting protocol. EMG of the rectus and bicep femoris were taken in a rested and fatigued state. A repeated measures 2x2 ANOVA (α = 0.05) were used for comparison of average rectified values (ARV) and frequency data. The rectus femoris saw decreases in ARV and increases in frequency with fatigue with both central and peripheral fatigue. The bicep femoris had decreases in ARV and frequency with fatigue in central fatigue, while with peripheral fatigue both ARV and frequency increased

Contemporary Non-Surgical Considerations in the Management of People with Extra- and Intra-Articular Hip Pathologies

The hip joint can often be affected by extra- and intra-articular pathologies including gluteal tendinopathy, femoroacetabular impingement syndrome and hip osteoarthritis. Understanding alterations associated with these pathologies will provide greater insight into developing and optimising patient-specific treatments. A number of biomechanical and neuromuscular impairment are associated with Femoracetabular impingement (FAI), gluteal tendinopathy (GT) and hip osteoarthritis (OA) conditions including but not limited to muscle weakness, altered postural control, restricted range of motion and altered tendon/joint loading. These alterations can present differently in sub-groups of patients and result directly from the pathological process and/or indirectly from pain and its consequences (e.g. reduced activity). These impairments are often targets for conservative interventions but there is currently little clinical trial evidence to show that treatments can modify these impairments. Clinical trial evidence does, however, support conservative treatment options for each of the pathologies reviewed. Clinical outcome tools used to evaluate the effects of treatment and track change over time are recommended

The Power of Product Innovation: Smokers' Perceptions of Capsule Cigarettes

Introduction  Since being brought to market in 2007, cigarettes with capsules in the filter that can be burst to change the flavor have had remarkable global success, highlighting the importance of product innovation for tobacco companies. Very few studies have explored how these products are perceived by smokers however. This paper sought to address this gap by exploring smokers’ awareness of cigarettes with one or two flavor-changing capsules in the filter and the appeal of these products.  Methods  Twenty focus groups were conducted in Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2015 with current smokers (N= 120), segmented by age (16–17, 18–24, 25–35, 36–50, >50), gender, and social grade.  Results  Awareness, use and appeal of capsule cigarettes was greater among younger adults (16–35 years), who showed most interest in these products. Those who perceived capsules positively mentioned multiple benefits: the ability to burst the capsule, convenience of being able to share cigarettes among menthol and nonmenthol smokers, better taste, fresher breath, reduced smell, and greater discretion. It was suggested that capsule cigarettes, particularly the double capsule cigarette (which had two differently flavored capsules in the filter), would encourage nonsmokers to experiment with smoking and discourage smokers from quitting.  Conclusions  The findings offer some reasons behind the global growth of the capsule cigarette segment.  Implications  Cigarettes with flavor-changing capsules in the filter have been one of the most successful product innovations of the last decade for tobacco companies. They have received very little academic attention however. Employing focus groups with 120 smokers aged 16 and over, we found that capsule cigarettes held most appeal to, and were considered to be targeted at, younger people, with it suggested that these products would encourage initiation and discourage cessation. This study provides some understanding of how these products are viewed by smokers