Risks of Coal Seam and Shale Gas Extraction on Groundwater and Aquifers in Eastern Australia

In the developed world there are growing concerns about water security due to the increase in exploration and production of coal seam and shale gas in peri-urban areas using both the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technique of gas production and the method of extraction of naturally occurring groundwater by pumping it from coal formations to release coal seam gas (CSG). In Australia there is a competing prerequisite to maintain and increase the natural resource base as well as the need to protect and sustain the supply of potable and agricultural groundwater in peri-urban areas. One identified issue for this chapter is whether the increasing popularity of fracking in peri-urban and semi-rural areas in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland poses a risk to the quality of groundwater supply as well as its contamination. The other main issue is whether the extraction of groundwater from coal seams where fracking is not needed has a major impact on groundwater depletion; and, if so, investigating the appropriate risk assessment and risk management approaches

Natural law, non-voluntary euthanasia, and public policy

© 2019 by Emerald Publishing Limited. Natural Law philosophy asserts that there are universally binding and universally evident principles that can be determined to guide the actions of persons. Moreover, many of these principles have been enshrined in both statute and common law, thus ensuring their saliency for staff and institutions charged with palliative care. The authors examine the often emotive and politicized matter of (non-voluntary) euthanasia – acts or omissions made with the intent of causing or hastening death – with reference to Natural Law philosophy. This leads us to propose a number of important public policy remedies to ensure dignity in dying for the patient, and their associates

What's law got to do with it Part 2: Legal strategies for healthier nutrition and obesity prevention

This article is the second in a two-part review of law's possible role in a regulatory approach to healthier nutrition and obesity prevention in Australia. As discussed in Part 1, law can intervene in support of obesity prevention at a variety of levels: by engaging with the health care system, by targeting individual behaviours, and by seeking to influence the broader, socio-economic and environmental factors that influence patterns of behaviour across the population. Part 1 argued that the most important opportunities for law lie in seeking to enhance the effectiveness of a population health approach

Changing directions in healthcare

The quality, resourcing and accessibility of healthcare is a key issue facing societies in the 21st century. Despite the system delivery focus of these factors it is critical to remember that healthcare is a human service and as such, people need to be placed at the centre of healthcare systems and processes. To do this we need to improve the way that people are valued and involved in healthcare practices. Professional relationships lie at the heart of such practices. This book illuminates and challenges professional healthcare relationships. The authors examine the nature, context and purpose of healthcare relationships, explore models through which these relationships are enacted, developed and critiqued, and provide narratives of health practice relationships in action. These narratives reveal how health practice relationships are experienced and created in real-world situations. The various chapters generate a range of implications and recommendations for healthcare practice and systems and for the education of health professionals. This is a book for practitioners, educators, clients, members of the community, advocacy and agency groups, regulatory bodies and those with power to shape the future direction of healthcare