Evaluation of Services Our Way

An evaluation of Services Our Way, a NSW Government service model designed to build the capacity of Aboriginal people to have greater access to mainstream and disability services and encourage self-directed support. Overview Services Our Way is a NSW Government service model designed to build the capacity of Aboriginal people to have greater access to mainstream and disability services and encourage self-directed support. The Social Policy Research Centre was commissioned to evaluate the Services Our Way pilot in Nowra, New South Wales, and did so through interviews with families and service providers. Services Our Way had positive impacts on Aboriginal people with disability and their families. The program helped Aboriginal people access a range of services, meeting immediate priorities of the families. The program was successful in engaging with the Aboriginal community using a culturally appropriate approach – an approach which could be shared with other staff and services to improve the appropriateness of service delivery more broadly. Through the program, families were able to access support and services to participate in social, economic and cultural activities, that helped strengthen and support community and social relationships. The evaluation could not determine the degree to which families transitioned to mainstream services – the research found that families had urgent needs to be met prior to transitioning to other services. The Services Our Way program in Nowra was a pilot, which developed from the initial concept in response to local needs. The evaluation identifies a range of issues in providing person centred approaches to Aboriginal people with disability and their families and communities which should influence the future directions under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).&nbsp

Depressed youth, suicidality and antidepressants

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Robert D Goldney, Peter R Mansfield, Melissa K Raven, Jon N Jureidini, Joseph M Rey, Michael J Dudley, Duncan Toplis

Influence of organic groundcovers on mycorrhizal colonization and symbiosis of organically managed fruit crops

Ground covers have the potential to impact the crop rhizosphere biology, which includes organisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which in turn affect the crop host plant through symbiosis. There has been evidence that a ground cover that provides a suitable environment for colonization of AMF and subsequent symbiosis could be a tool in organic fruit production. The objective of this research was to compare colonization of AMF in strawberry plant (Frageria x ananassa cv. Radiance) and apple rootstocks (Malus x domestica, cv. M. 26) grown in a greenhouse affected by various ground cover treatments. Inoculation was achieved by mixing BioOrganics™ Endomycorrhizal Inoculant directly into soilless media according to label rates. Following a dormancy period, plants were treated with one of the following ground cover treatments: 1) city-generated urban green-compost (GC), 2) shredded white paper, 3) urban refuse wood chips or 4) an untreated control. The GC ground cover significantly increased percent colonization of AMF compared to other ground covers; however, AMF infection did not affect plant biomass, root volume, root surface area, root diameter, or leaf area. The AMF suppressed root length; plants inoculated with AMF had shorter roots but similar root volume to compared to non-inoculated plants. The GC treatment may have disproportionately contributed more nutrition by media composition of a smaller particle size and a decreased lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose content compared to other ground cover treatments. Though the ground covers in this study had no effect on symbiotic AMF benefits, long-term studies with mature host plants could reveal a correlation between ground cover media and symbiosis

Vertebrates on the Brink as Indicators of Biological Annihilation and the Sixth Mass Extinction

The ongoing sixth mass species extinction is the result of the destruction of component populations leading to eventual extirpation of entire species. Populations and species extinctions have severe implications for society through the degradation of ecosystem services. Here we assess the extinction crisis from a different perspective. We examine 29,400 species of terrestrial vertebrates, and determine which are on the brink of extinction because they have fewer than 1,000 individuals. There are 515 species on the brink (1.7% of the evaluated vertebrates). Around 94% of the populations of 77 mammal and bird species on the brink have been lost in the last century. Assuming all species on the brink have similar trends, more than 237,000 populations of those species have vanished since 1900. We conclude the human-caused sixth mass extinction is likely accelerating for several reasons. First, many of the species that have been driven to the brink will likely become extinct soon. Second, the distribution of those species highly coincides with hundreds of other endangered species, surviving in regions with high human impacts, suggesting ongoing regional biodiversity collapses. Third, close ecological interactions of species on the brink tend to move other species toward annihilation when they disappear—extinction breeds extinctions. Finally, human pressures on the biosphere are growing rapidly, and a recent example is the current coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, linked to wildlife trade. Our results reemphasize the extreme urgency of taking much-expanded worldwide actions to save wild species and humanity’s crucial life-support systems from this existential threat