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Enhancing housing recovery policy and practice for improving community resilience to future disasters
No full textThe research examined seven case studies of disaster recovery (from bushfire, flood and cyclones) in Australia. It found effective housing policies need to provide immediate responses, such as relief and temporary housing; as well as future-focused responses, such as ensuring communities are better prepared for disasters, and taking steps to prevent and mitigate their impacts. They combine technical responses (such as land use planning and building design), social resilience (citizen inclusion), cross-sector collaboration, financial resources and political support.Commonwealth, state/territory and local governments share responsibility for managing the risk and impacts of disasters. State and Territory governments take lead responsibility for response and recovery, with the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements establishing how costs are shared.Other influential national policy frameworks include the National Partnership on Disaster Risk Reduction, the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience and the Disaster Ready Fund.Approaches to temporary housing differ between states and territories, and may include:temporary village-style accommodation blocksmodified short-stay accommodationaccommodation sourced from the commercial market: motels, hotels, short-term lets, hostelsmodular housing (e.g. huts, pods and caravans).Flood-affected residents experienced more issues with their temporary and permanent housing assistance than residents who were affected by bushfires.Providing housing that is effective, timely and equitable is a significant challenge. Options depend on the existing mix of housing, accommodation and modular structures in a region or that can be quickly obtained. Community diversity and unique needs add further complexity, meaning planning and review are essential.</p
Increasing Safety of Vulnerable Road Users with Extended Environment Perception: A Collaborative Approach for Smart Infrastructures and Automated Vehicles
No full textThe impact of Automated Vehicles (AVs) on road traffic safety has become the focus of discussions among governmental organizations, academia, stakeholders, and OEMs. Questions about how safe the automated driving features should be and how the road infrastructure should be improved for the arrival of this new technology must be clarified to enable full acceptance by the customers and society and prepare the mobility of future cities. The fundamental architecture of automated vehicles comprises perception, planning, decision, and actuation. The operation of the perception system, which is responsible for understanding the environment in which the vehicle is inserted, relies mainly on the onboard sensors. However, the available range and vision sensors, e.g., LiDAR, radar, and camera, have several limitations. Scenarios with occlusion present a real challenge for state-of-the-art perception systems. The occlusion caused by obstructing the sensors' detection field limits the vehicle's perception ability, avoiding the detection of all Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) in the surroundings and mitigating overall safety. Most published research focused on improving onboard sensors' detection capabilities or combining them with sensors attached to other road users using Vehicle-To-Vehicle (V2V) or Vehicle-To-Pedestrian (V2P) communication. Therefore, these strategies are still frequently subject to obstruction and cannot fully overcome scenarios with occlusion. Infrastructure composed of Roadside Units (RSUs) equipped with infrastructure-based sensors can overcome the perception limitations by monitoring the road environment with a larger field of view and reduced sensitivity to occlusion. This project aims to develop an extended environment perception system, based on infrastructure-based sensors, for vulnerable road users' collision avoidance. From object lists, the system operates either with a single sensor solution or a set of different sensors. A combination of multiple sensing modalities provides a higher measurement accuracy, a more extensive detection range, and a more reliable operation in adverse weather conditions. The proposed extended perception system comprises four main modules: traffic monitoring, long-term motion prediction, collision risk assessment, and trajectory planning. The traffic monitoring monitors specific areas on the road, e.g., locations on the sidewalk obstructed by parked cars, and tracks all road users within these areas. After, the long-term motion prediction module predicts the future paths of occluded VRUs and AVs in the scene. Next, the collision risk assessment module evaluates possible collision occurrences. Then, based on the overall collision risk, the trajectory planning module generates an evasive maneuver and assesses it to avoid bringing the automated vehicle into an unstable condition. Finally, the collision-free trajectory is transmitted to the target AV. Hence, the proposed system provides a complete solution to overcome scenarios with occluded VRUs. Simulation and real-world tests demonstrated that the system allowed AVs to react to critical situations with a larger time-to-collision than other systems relying solely on onboard sensors, significantly increasing the chance of successful avoidance, even when implementing smoother evasive maneuvers.</p
Building Gender Equality: Victoria's Women in Construction Strategy 2023-2031. Focus Group Consultation: 1.
No full textIn 2019, the Victorian Government released Victoria’s first Women in Construction Strategy 2019-2022 (Strategy) to increase women’s participation in trade and semi-skilled roles. The Strategy set out a four-year work program with actions at three key points of intervention: attract, recruit and retain. We were engaged by the Victorian Government to lead the consultation of the next strategy (Building Equitable Futures Strategy 2024-2032), and an accompanying three-year Action Plan. Consultation occurred over two stages. The first stage set out to explore the scope and vision for the new strategy, challenges experienced by women in construction, and areas of priority to inform the development of the Strategy and its associated Action Plan. The second stage of consultation set out to identify positive and negative aspects of the Draft Strategy and initiatives that should be removed, augmented, or included in the Action Plan. Both consultation stages provided a forum for stakeholders of the Victorian construction industry to participate in shaping the new Strategy and Action Plan.</p
Terms and Conditions<i>,</i> Bookworks, MUMA
No full textResearch background Terms & Conditions was presented during Bookworks at the Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA), 24 July–21 September 2019. Curated by Warren Taylor, Bookworks gathered six "leading practitioners" to examine contemporary artists’ book publishing. Cruickshank’s project comprised a performative publishing studio in the gallery and the performance of a catalogue text delivered at a public MADA Artforum. Cruickshank invited extra-curatorial guest participants and they contributed materials and written responses (Xavier Antin, Terri Bird, Lizzie Boon, Alex Margetic, Ian Milliss, Spiros Panigirakis, Selena Repanis, Rachel Schenberg, and Francis Plagne). The project interrogated how institutional ephemera – guides, labels, wall texts, catalogues and other paratexts – frame and script the reception of artworks.Research contribution Terms & Conditions staged publishing as method. By relocating the production of cataloguing, explanatory and distributive texts into the gallery as live, repeatable procedures, the project exposed and re‑tooled the contractual relations between artworks and their institutional paratexts. The evolving studio articulated a tactic of “making public the making public”: reading, writing and redistribution were treated as the primary, and public, artistic operations. The project thereby advanced a practice‑led account of paratext as central form, rather than as supplement, and tested how institutional discourse might be re-authored in situ.Research significance Realised in a museum context alongside internationally recognised peers (Olaf Nikolai, Will Holder, Batia Suter, et al), the project embedded a live publishing practice inside a curated survey of the field. The exhibition included an independent Art Library of around 800 titles from about 100 publishers, and a public talk series featuring Cruickshank's performance lecture. Mainstream press coverage in The Age (Ray Edgar, 19 July 2019) profiled the project – describing Cruickshank as “a key figure in Australia” and noting his VMS installation – evidencing reach beyond sector media.</p
Mildura, Chaffeys, Irrigation!' Alice Lapthorne's Literary Placemaking
No full textThis paper will explore the literary work of place-making through a case study from regional Victoria. Alice Lapthorne’s Mildura Calling (1946, 1965, 1981) is a work of creative non-fiction that for decades was circulated as the definitive account of Mildura, the largest town in the agricultural Victorian Mallee region. The work is still in print and remains the only book length account of Mildura’s history despite efforts to produce new ones. Rather than a definitive history, however, what Lapthorne’s text showcases is the performative capacity of literary works to both create and sustain narratives that ultimately become compelling fictions of place. This includes the text’s performative and preemptive mourning of a First Nations world, while contributing powerfully to this erroneous placestory. Understanding how ‘non-fiction’ works such as Lapthorne’s are positioned and circulated as benign and without the need for critical reflexivity demonstrates the complicity of literary texts in violent and enduring modes of place-making. Through discussion of a Mildura-based book club chat about Mildura Calling, we seek to open up wider conversations about literary place-making that destabilise naturalised narratives of place, and creates spaces for other stories, including the recognition of enduring First Nations presence in colonised Country.</p
Enhancing Nanoplasmonic Biosensors Integration With Lab-on-a-Chip Platforms: A Focus on Fabrication and Optical Interrogation Strategies
No full textThis Doctoral Thesis explores the integration of nanoplasmonic biosensors within Lab-on-a Chip (LoC) platforms, aiming to build multifunctional systems that will enable multiple analyses on a single sample, streamline workflows and facilitate faster decision-making in disease research and treatment.Nanoplasmonic biosensors, which detect changes in the local refractive index using optical structures, offer a promising solution for integration into LoC platforms. These sensors use effectively the interaction between light and free electrons on metal surfaces, creating an evanescent field sensitive to subtle changes in the surrounding medium. This allows for real-time, label-free detection of low-concentration analytes, with their compact size making them ideal for portable devices.Despite their potential, integrating nanoplasmonic biosensors into LoC systems presents different obstacles. Research on nanoplasmonic biosensing often concentrates on developing specific components, such as ultra-sensitive nanostructures, rather than focusing on full system integration. Additionally, balancing sensor sensitivity through optical interrogation with integration into compact environments remains a challenge. Finally, current fabrication methods limit the creation of smaller sensor areas, leading to resource waste and obstructing integration, while targeted sensor placement could support multifunctional biosensing and complementary analyses.This research focuses on two major nanoplasmonic technologies—Grating-coupled Surface Plasmon Resonance (GC-SPR) and Nanohole Arrays (NHA)—analysing fabrication methods, optical interrogation techniques, and integration strategies to propose ways to improve their scalability and deployment in LoC systems.Chapter 1 motivates this research, presenting current biosensor technologies and discussing their benefits, challenges and emerging research areas.Chapter 2 introduces the two nanoplasmonic platforms central to this thesis and discusses their suitability for integration into LoC systems.Chapter 3 details the design and implementation of two sensing platforms—one using NHA and the other GC-SPR—enabling a comparative analysis. This comprehensive process includes designing, fabricating, and characterising the structures, developing optical interrogation systems, and assessing their performance as refractometric sensors. The chapter also examines current limitations and suggests improvements for their integration into LoC platforms.Chapter 4 demonstrates how micro-transfer printing (μTP) can be used for the rapid and accurate assembly of nanoplasmonic structures, transferring them from native substrates to microfluidic settings. A proof-of-concept using NHA demonstrates successful sensor integration, with smooth, homogeneous NHA coupons showing a high sensitivity of 613 nm/RIU, comparable to previous studies.In Chapter 5, Fourier optics is used for the angular interrogation of GC-SPR, avoiding the need for complex calibration of moving parts typically required during signal acquisition. A Fourier-transformed beam is generated using a lens, enabling precise angular shifts without adjusting the orientation of the sensor or photodetector, which improves compatibility with LoC platforms and reduces post-adjustment calibration efforts. Experimental validation achieved high sensitivity of 149 deg/RIU, ranking among the top compared to traditional methods.Chapter 6 summarises the biosensor setups and integration advancements covered in the thesis. Although both proof-of-concepts were presented independently, the natural progression is to combine these technologies into an optofluidic biosensor, particularly for live-cell or live tissue studies, where smaller sensor areas could enable complementary analyses such as imaging of fluorescence. Another potential direction is enhancing interrogation techniques with adaptive systems that provide programmable light control, simplifying real-time analyte detection and addressing potential sensor imperfections or misalignments in the LoC platform.</p
A survey to measure student mathematical wellbeing
No full textA psychometriclaly validated survey to measure students' mathematical wellebing across seven domains: Accomplishments, cognitions, engagement, meaning, perseverance, positive emotions, and relationships.</p
A co-ordinated global initiative to enhance interview practice
No full textInterviews with suspects, victims, and witnesses are among the most important and regular tasks undertaken by police/law enforcement agencies to progress criminal investigations. The present article addresses a critical gap both in the literature and practice of investigative interviewingÑnamely, the lack of a coordinated global action to establish and implement a universal standard. While countries like England and Wales, Norway, and Australia have successfully adopted rapport-based practices, these efforts remain largely confined to individual national contexts. Broader collective efforts involving academics, activists, and practitioners worldwideÑfocused on expanding the adoption of investigative interviewingÑ are scarce. To address this gap, the article outlines developments in the last few years that have attempted to provide a more universal approach to investigative interviewing and introduces a pioneering global action to support its implementation. The initiative and action are justified by their potential to improve global consistency, fairness, and effectiveness in investigative practices while fostering international collaboration. Its significance lies in broadening the reach of investigative interviewing, improving justice outcomes globally, and establishing a framework for sustained cooperation and knowledge exchange.</p
Laser-Patterned Diamond Electrodes for Adhesion and Proliferation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells
No full textThe ability to form diamond electrodes on insulating polycrystalline diamond substrates using single-step laser patterning and the use of these electrodes as a substrate that supports the adhesion and proliferation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are demonstrated. Laser-induced graphitization results in a conductive amorphous carbon surface, rich in oxygen- and nitrogen-terminated groups. This leads to an electrode with a high specific capacitance of 182 μF cm2, a wide water window of 3.25 V, and a low electrochemical impedance of 129 Ω cm2 at 1 kHz—essential attributes for effective bioelectronic cell interfaces. The electrode's surface exhibits no cytotoxic responses with hMSCs, supporting cell adhesion and proliferation. Cells cultured on the electrode display significant elongation and alignment along the direction of the laser-patterned microgrooves—an additional modality for cellular modulation. The combination of favorable electrochemical performance and effective cellular control makes laser-patterned diamond electrodes a versatile platform in stem cell therapeutics. This direct fabrication approach paves the way for the integration of diamond electrodes in bioelectronic devices, offering new opportunities for tissue engineering and electroactive biomaterial applications.</p
Colloidal Synthesis of Complex Oxide Nanocrystals
No full textWith the world’s population projected to hit 8.5 billion by 2030, there is an increasing interest in the development of materials that would allow for more efficient production and use of clean energy. One of the more promising routes for the production of clean energy is the utilisation of the vast amounts of solar radiation that hits the earth each day. To achieve this, significant research is being conducted around the world to design photoactive materials that would allow for solar radiation to be converted to chemical or electrical energy, as well as for the energy that is produced by current methods to be used more efficiently. While a vast number of materials have shown promise as photoactive materials, metal oxide semiconductors have garnered a vast proportion of attention due to the combination of their optical and electrical properties as well as their thermal and chemical stability. These materials have also been shown to have electro- and photocatalytic properties. While binary oxides have received majority of the focus in the past, research into ternary oxide semiconductors has increased. Ternary oxides have shown great promise for applications which require photoactive materials. Ternary oxides have also shown more potential for modification when compared to binary oxides, which would allow for further modification and optimisation for the materials desired use. However, due to the increased complexity of ternary oxides there are fewer reports available detailing their synthesis and characteristics.This research aims to produce ternary oxides through non-energy intensive methods with the final goal of utilising them as photoactive materials. Specifically, my research will focus on the design of synthetic protocols for the synthesis of promising and underexplored ternary oxides in the form of colloidal nanocrystals through the utilisation of solution-based methods.</p